#I love making akumas stupidly big

[sillysiluriforme]

Some people have asked about the collector so here he is !

He’s a real fun one because he’s the most glaring case of Gabriel’s misuse of his miraculous.

Akumatizeds are by nature emotional, irrational and scatterbrained- this isn’t much of an issue because they always have someone to tell them what to do.

The collector doesn’t…

Another aspect I find really fun is how piss-yourself scary the situation is for adrien :3. He gets to go from “my dad is so mad at me he’s destroying his office” to “my dad might be hawkmoth” to “my enraged dad has been akumatized” to “watch members of my akumatized dad kill everyone in the building” and he doesn’t even have anyone he can tell about it besides, like, Plagg.

[miraculouscontent]

“Truth”-related asks:

Anonymous said:

I just watched truth and man, we didn't need any of that... I'm so tired...

Anonymous said:

Me after reading that summary: We coulda had it aaaaaaaaaaallllllll, decent wri-itiiiiiiiiiiiiiiingggggg

Anonymous said:

oh. lukanette breakup. how surpri— oh wait, no it wasn't.

bunnybunblitz said:

Me, skimming your summary of truth: life is a nightmare life is a nightmare life is a nightmare abort abort

Anonymous said:

Truth was a living nightmare, and that's the truth!

*defeated sigh*

Anonymous said:

The way all that just make me start disliking Adrien so hard wow I have enough of him so hard can they get ride of him for one damn episode?

Anonymous said:

Wow! Writers got on completely new level. They somehow made people to be annoyed with Adrien, even without putting him in episode.

My meme image of “I’ve had enough of this dude,” about sums it up.

It’s almost impressive???

Anonymous said:

I have the impression that you should slowly gather materials for "Treatment of Marinette S4"

You know, when you’re right, you’re right.

Anonymous said:

Hey there... Got a lil rant, I hope you don't mind in sea of anons you're probably getting. I guess if show didn't treat Marinette as their favorite punching bag and lukanette as a thing to get over with to be back on love square bullshit I wouldn't be this salty. We all knew lukanette isn't a endgame, but we actually care about Luka ans Marinette as characters and as a couple, and we knew there was a break up brewing.

But I mlb writers for setting things up, canonizing them over provocative tweet and leave them to dust right at the beginning of s4. And, oh sweet irony as they kinda accidentally made Lukanette totally better than love square (let's be honest if they knew what they were doing we wouldn't get any breakup from narrative and character development standpoint),,, because their heroine for once is loved and appreciated but that's another discussion and they hate that for her. Also, thomas arstruck can suck my toe.

I don't know what's your opinion on soulmate and destiny thing, but I'm totally in opposite. I remember The Good Place (love the series btw!) quote about how soulmates are made with love and nurture of people and not some cosmic forces. And to see how show is pushing for Destiny ™️ I'm kinda disheartened. But I guess I never really liked love square execution in the first place when it turned out that Marinette is butt of the crush joke for 3 seasons and there's 0 development from that. Like Thomas, that's not funny running gag. Thanks for reading! Hope you're doing well!

Thank you for the rant, and I agree!

It’s so strange how all their attempts to push for the love square just push me more towards Lukanette. How do the writers do that???

Anonymous said:

Yeah that point where she exclaims Luka in shock just angered and confused me. She LITERALLY transformed because Luka was akumatized. And her being shocked is only there to get her under the truth spell.

This episode is held together by knots and strings at this point.

Anonymous said:

Wow, "Ladybug likes Chat Noir humor." Then why every time Chat Noir makes puns, Ladybug looks like she wanted to strangle him on spot.

Ladybug = us

At that point, they should’ve just said, “[The writers] like Chat Noir’s humor.” Like--writers, please don’t use Ladybug as a tool to simp for your sunshine boy, it looks really pathetic.

Anonymous said:

Based on the ellipses you used I'm guessing you're not a fan of Jagged talking about the "Guitar is my only family" song.

Oh, no actually... I mean, I do because it’s there to torment Luka, but the ellipses was because of the intentional pause in the episode. Jagged was looking sympathetic

Anonymous said:

Truth was awful, the only good thing we got out of it was a Lukanette date (yay :'D) and we got to know Luka's father (although we all been knew).

Honestly if we could find a way to edit it so Luka and Marinette properly kissed then we’d just chop it out of the episode and call it the only canon thing.

asexual-individual said:

So, given that "Truth" didn't introduce the protection charms, I'm going to take a wild guess that they're not introduced until after "Gang of Secrets", meaning that Marinette won't get any close friends that it's safe to tell her secret to.

I was legit so sure that it was a guardian benefit and now I’m just left confused/curious about what causes CharmBug. Like, what, do you get CharmBug by purifying your one thousandth akuma???

Anonymous said:

I am absolutely positive no one quality checks these episodes before they’re sent out. Ladybug getting caught off guard on Luka being Truth even though she knows he was akumatised, and the horribly upbeat music playing as Marinette lies in bed absolutely defeated is so bad there’s no way this was double checked before it was sent out to TV stations

At this point, I’m convinced that they don’t care and are jamming through episodes as fast as they possible can.

cobraonthecob said:

I'm willing to bet that the writers go through critical and salt blogs just to see what the fandom's thinking, and then they think we're serious and they sprint with whatever we say.

guys please reconsider and also lower your alcohol levels

Anonymous said:

It was awful in general, but why add the paternity thing in the break-up ep? It detracts from, well, everything else and makes obvious they are copypasting fan theories instead of thinking of plot points.

I really do think they knew that Luka being upset over Marinette’s secret wasn’t enough to akumatize him so he needed something else.

Anonymous said:

Let me get something straight: The episode was explicitly about Marinette going on dates with Luka and that they were together. Yet Juleka is once again part of the shipping squad with obligatory "Marinette is only weird because she's with Adrien"-theories, and she's totally cool with that?

Yup! :3

guys I just adore mob mentality, did you know.

guys--

Anonymous said:

Ok, but the fact that everyone considers Marinette’s crush on Adrien to be her big secret is stupidly unrealistic. They KNOW they’re all aware of it - the girl squad even figured it out by themselves before they were told and think it’s totally obvious (as long as you’re a girl cause guys are clueless about feelings right). As far as they’re concerned it’s not actually a secret so they SHOULD be spilling the things they think only they and Marinette know. I mean, I can think of dozens of possibilities for Tom and the rest of the girls already, but Alya?

We had a front row seat to the damning secret Alya knows from back in season 1, but I guess asking this show to acknowledge continuity is too much. Still, the episode could have been so much more interesting if Alya had said, “Marinette’s the one who really gave Adrien the scarf for his birthday, but he looked so happy thinking it was from his father that she couldn’t bear to tell him that Gabriel hadn’t actually gotten him anything.” (I suppose reminding people of that wouldn’t fit into the writers’ poor attempts to make Gabriel sympathetic though 🙄).

Lol, just imagine the entire battle being sidetracked by Luka being brought to tears by how selfless and sweet his girlfriend is while Shadow Moth is too distracted by how this will ruin his reputation to get him back on track.

JKHJDSKGFSG

YES.

ALL OF THIIIIIS.

THIS IS AMAZING.

Anonymous said:

Marinette deserves to tell Luka she's Ladybug and have some support on her side tbh, it's disgusting to see the writers breaking up clearly the only thing that brings her joy and peace currently

HONESTLY.

And judging from that one trailer, she IS going to tell someone her secret and it’ll probably be freaking Alya; you know, the girl who blabbed about her Adrien crush to Nino and is thus THE LEAST TRUTHWORTHY PERSON. (”bonus” if it’s before the amulets)

I’m having nightmares already about Alya distrusting Lila because Marinette is Ladybug and not because Alya believes in Marinette. DX

Anonymous said:

Now that it’s been confirmed (in the worst way possible) that Jagged Stone is in fact Luka’s (and possibly Juleka’s?) father, how would you handle the whole mixed family aspect considering Jagged and Anarka’s relationship, Jagged and Penny’s, Anarka and Penny’s, Jagged and Luka’s (and Juleka’s?), and Penny and Luka’s (and Juleka’s?)? Topics like mixed families and family relationships are something that needs to be handled sensibly and sensitively given how it hits home for a lot of real-world people. Since we obviously can’t trust the ML writers to handle such topics the way that they deserve to be, how would you go about it knowing what we know up to this point about each character on their own and how they interact with one another?

Luka and Juleka were “accidents,” but Anarka kept it a secret from Jagged since Jagged was already hyped up to go on his next tour and Anarka knew their relationship was crumbling (possibly he already dumped her as his guitarist and she was annoyed about it). Jagged eventually learns that he has kids and is hesitant towards the idea, but because of him doting on Marinette (who’s the same age as his kids), he opens up to the idea.

Anarka and Jagged in present are mixed between tolerating each other for the sake of their kids and being chaotic best friends. The bad blood died out a while ago and there’s occasional tension but because Anarka is a single woman not interested in Jagged and Jagged is single with a possible thing for Penny, they make it work

Anarka and Penny have an awkward relationship. Penny wants to schedule time for Jagged to hang with Luka and Juleka and Anarka is confused at the very concept of a schedule, like just take them whenever okay??? isn’t it easier that way??? and Penny is like, “...oh, I guess so?”

Jagged and Penny, it depends on if they’re in any sort of relationship. If they’re in a relationship, Penny is either open to the idea of him learning to be good with kids if she’ll eventually want kids with him, or mixed because these are another woman’s kids and it’s really awkward. If they’re not in a relationship, then Penny could also be mixed since she’s crushing on him but I could also see her either finding it sweet that Jagged wants to hang out with his kids or finding it a hassle to schedule them in.

Jagged and Luka is rough. Luka has so many conflicting feelings on his idol ending up being his father. Jagged will probably even comment on Luka’s shirt + necklace and all of Luka’s merch in an attempt to bond but that kind of comes off desperate/awkward and Luka’s not about that life. I could also see Luka taking all the stuff down and swapping out his shirt, but being hesitant to remove the necklace because it’s a gift from Marinette. He might try to wash off the signature. He knows it’s not Jagged’s fault exactly but Anarka seemed to have bad blood with him and even if they get along now, Luka’s bitter. Jagged meanwhile wants to connect with Luka because hey musician energy!! but is gonna mess up a lot and say a lot of awkward things. Marinette will probably have to be a middle man between the two because it’s easier for them to talk with her around.

Jagged and Juleka don’t have a significant relationship at first. Juleka never care who her father was and she wasn’t crazy about Jagged Stone like Luka was. Jagged does try to connect with her but they clash majorly due to Jagged being so “loud” and Juleka being so quiet. Jagged will see it as a huge accomplishment the day where Juleka says something coherent (i.e: not a mumble) to him.

Yeah though, keep in mind for all of this that I’m not a family relationship kinda girl, so this isn’t my forte (I’m probably the most sympathetic to Jagged out of the whole fandom; not to say I agree with his actions but I have a history of hating babies and children, so not cool of him if he ditched Anarka but like, I get it, doesn’t make him better but I get it from a non-realistic standpoint of “ew, parenting”).

Anonymous said:

You know what? Imma gonna ignore canon for a bit more than I’ve been doing. The only thing I take away from “Truth” is that Marinette loves Luka and Tikki looks adorable in hats. That’s it have a good Saturday! 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

Anonymous said:

If there’s one small detail that I thought was genuinely cute this episode, it’s Tikki posing in the mirror with her little hat collection.

Ahaha, those are good takeaways!

And yes, Tikki looked good in hats, but at what cost. (guys, where’s our jealous Tikki episode where Tikki is jealous of the attention Marinette has to give the other kwami wait no they’d just make it Marinette’s fault go back go ba--)

Anonymous asked:

Am I the only on squicked out by how Adrien acts all noble and claims he would never force Ladybug to tell him anything, but when it becomes apparent that he has to ask her a question before the akuma can he goes all ‘what are your three favorite things about me?’ :3c I mean, he had decent amount of time to think up a bunch of innocent questions that couldn’t hurt her in any way like ‘what is your favorite color?’ or ‘do you like cookies?’ or even ‘what’s the capitol of France?’ But instead he basically demands she compliment him. Coming from a guy who spent most of the last two seasons refusing to take ‘no’ for an answer that’s a bit… icky.

THIS

He could’ve phrased it in any way and he used it to get compliments from her. :|

At least Ladybug asked a legitimate question about how he felt about her guardian status.

Anonymous said:

I had this idea for an episode: Luka finds out that Marinette is LB because he is in danger. Let's say he gets yeeted off a building by an akuma and Marinette (in her civilian form) jumps after him, transforms while Luka sees it (he's shook, obviously), she grabs him and saves him from falling. I think that would be pretty epic, do you think you could write a one-shot based on that idea if you feel like that? I would forever be thankful. Have a nice day!

I like the idea, though I feel like that’s been done a lot before in identity reveal fanfics.

Anonymous said:

You know, despite them all getting interrupted, I thought the attempts at Lukanette dates was really cute. Luka picking up Marinette from school, the two trying to see who is the biggest jagged fan, getting ice cream at Andre's, it's really cute! I only wish Hawkmoth and the writers weren't such dickheads.

It’s so adorable!

Like--show, you aren’t doing a good job at getting me off the Lukanette train.

Anonymous said:

Are you sure the Lukanette breakup wasn't Marinette's fault? I mean, the episode frames it like she's refusing to tell the truth, even if it's for a good reason.

I’m not sure when I said that the episode didn’t frame it as her fault?

Things are ALWAYS Marinette’s fault, it’s literally a rule of the show.

Anonymous said:

You know the truth episode actually gives more reasons for lukanette in my opinion based of its description you said. Luka is ridiculously understanding and also almost manages to fight off hawk moth as well as taking probably a week at least for him to get to that and yet he, while he’s upset, still tries to be there for marinette. Also makes the relationships she has with her friends and family worse if the secret they think she has is that she likes adrien while dating Luka.

YES!!

And oh my gosh, I feel the friends and family comment so badly. Just throwing it out there, maybe you guys don’t actually support her???

Anonymous said:

How do you feel about Luka having no negative reaction to this whole "Marinette loves Adrien" thing? I understand that he isn't exactly the jealous type, but still, it seems weird to me that he just accepts it while Marinette is dating him. I love Luka a lot, but in this situation his reaction was just so unrealistic...

Honestly, I find it really interesting. Plus, it’s Truth who’s being told those things, not Luka, and Truth has other priorities.

And--I mean, I’m positive that Luka got into the relationship knowing that Marinette wasn’t completely over Adrien. She wanted to see if they’d work and he wanted to date her. It’s both of them being a little selfish in a way and I like that.

That’s why I think he doesn’t have a big reaction to the Adrien call. He seems amused more than anything, and Luka is empathetic also so he knows not to take Marinette’s stammering/mistakes to heart because she doesn’t mean them. We already had evidence of that in “Desperada.”

writingamongther0ses said:

Even if Lukanette had stayed together, I have a feeling Alya would complain that it's not Adrien...which could lead to a character growth opportunity for her when her complaining leads to Luka getting hurt when he overhears and becomes an akuma. But that's too interesting.

Interesting character relationships??? In THIS show???

never

Anonymous said:

After watching Truth the only thing I can feel at the moment is bitter. Not angry, not sad, not disappointed. Just bitter.

Bitter’s a good way of putting it, yeah. *sigh*

Anonymous said:

The fact that the second episode released managed to get a bingo really says a lot about how predictable the show's garbage fire writing.

I KNOW, RIGHT??

I knew the Lukanette episode would be a big card filler but DAMN.

Anonymous said:

I hated all of Truth, but perhaps the worst part was how hard they tried to remind you that, no matter how much of a good time Marinette and Luka have together, it's Adrien who Marinette will end up with in the end. From Alya rudely insinuating "girl, you're acting stupid, is Adrien at your house?", to Luka receiving a PICTURE of Adrien from a kwami, to Marinette talking on the phone with Luka while her Adrien pictures are in the background, to Marinette CALLING LUKA ADRIEN, to Truth demanding that people tell him Marinette's secret, only for them ALL to say "She's in love with Adrien Agreste.".

It's absolutely anger-inducing because it tries too hard to let the audience know to forget about Luka because Adrien is lurking in the corner and he and Marinette are endgame. The fans are right, Luka IS a second choice, but not in the way they think. Luka's a second choice, not for Marinette, but for the Miraculous Ladybug world. for the WRITERS!!!

But what bothers me the most is that everyone saying that Marinette loves Adrien is accepted as truth even when Marinette herself says she's over Adrien. Her words are ignored, how she feels is ignored, because everyone else(including the girl squad, when they're supposed to be her "friends") tells her that she's supposed to be in love with Adrien, and so she "has" to go along with it because ENDGAME. It's the show saying "stupid naive Marinette, you're too immature and dumb to know how you really feel, let someone else do the thinking for you!"

Meanwhile Adrien moving on with Kagami is accepted even when he still flirts with Ladybug(and forces her to build up his ego when he asks her what she admires most about him; I know it was a spur of the moment thing, but meta-wise, it was obvious love square pushing.), because "he's trying to respect her feelings and date someone else!" It's one of the main gripes I have with the show: that teenage girls are too emotional and confused to know what they really want, but teenage boys are mature and rational enough to make up their minds about who they love without holding any animosity towards anyone.

The all-white, all-male writing team pushes the Chinese girl's feelings aside and forces her to hide and erase them if they're not want they want her to feel, while the white boy gets congratulated with a pat on the back for doing the bare minimum and always, ALWAYS, takes the moral high ground(even in superhero form when he's supposedly goofy.). When she's the lead.

"Luka's a second choice, not for Marinette, but for the Miraculous Ladybug world. for the WRITERS!!!“

LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK

It’s just tiring. It’s not even me being sick of the love square, but it being forced into everything when it’s not even relevant. The episode strategically throws more and more of Marinette’s Adrien crush (I did the math, I know this) into the mix and it provides nothing but the same tired jokes. Heck, they keep leaning on the lucky charm Marinette let him borrow (not GAVE, let him BORROW) back in Season 1 because they basically have nothing else to go off of.

[inevitableenquere]

Mademoiselle Mari

Insp. by a comment on the Maribat Discord:

Buckle up, biches.

We’re gonna pull deep into DC canon for the French codename for female superheroes, Mademoiselle Marie, in use since the 18th century through the World Wars and probably beyond. Alfred Pennyworth worked closely with “Mademoiselle Marie” in the past.

In this universe, its expanded into a French government-sponsored training program, training little girls in espionage and assassinry since the Cold War. These program heads aren’t monsters; the girls still live with their families, still go to civilian school, they just occasionally “take trips to see distant relatives”.

Their parents are aware that their daughters are doing government work, and there’s a benefit package unlike any other available within the country. Salary is set aside in trust for “Marie” until she hits adulthood (precaution in case of shitty parents) and a stipend besides for her and her parents to use as they see fit. These girls get a full-ride “scholarship” to any accredited global university of their choice. Only the best of the best risk their lives for wet-work necessary for the good of France. These girls become unsung heroes of France, and they receive glowing recommendations when they decide to move on from the program.

Still, it’s not something the Dupein-Cheng family had thought of for their daughter, it’s not a well-known program after all. The handlers don’t have an eye on her until new mayor of Paris, freshly divorced, André Bourgeois brings the girl “bullying his little princess” to their attention. And that is how six-year-old Marinette Dupein-Cheng is brought into the program.

Now, Marinette, tiny little bi-racial girl, is competitive, and this program is something she enjoys, learning from adults and “older sisters” on how to tumble, dance, act, create, and make new friends– both in person with the other girls, and through letters to former agents and outside contacts. They craft a network based on previously established agency contacts and expand upon them as they move out in the world.

Marinette quickly becomes a star student, moving on to weapons training, and eventually becomes one of the first to graduate in her batch and she travels the world as pre-teen superspy “Mademoiselle Marie”. (Whose last name changes by assignment.)

This is how she meets Damian Al Ghul, prince of the League of Assassins for the first time, though he’s introduced to her as “independent contractor” Caracal. He clocks her as trained, and a threat right away, and takes his standard precautionary measure. He attempts to murder her.

Attempts, because Mari is just as trained as he is, if not as lethally inclined. He quickly finds himself pinned under her knee, knife to his throat. (Later, he insists that he was having an off day, helplessly grateful that he hadn’t succeeded.) But in the moment they agree to a truce and go their own way, Marie Simon to her “parents”, Caracal to the shadows from whence he came.

Naturally, the next time they meet they are “distant cousins” on a collaborative wetworks mission in Thessaly, against an uppity German drug lord, and his mad-scientist wife. The mission goes a bit sideways, took more luck than either will admit to pull it off, and they emerge from the aftermath, a grudging respect on both sides. Even if she’s too soft and he’s an arrogant andouille.

Through happenstance and circumstances, they run into each other enough, work together enough, to become friends. Friends, in this case, meaning “person I won't stab on sight and/or who owes me a favor”. A rarity for Damian.

Marinette thinks otherwise; with friendships among those in her organization, and tentative friendships with some of the boys in école, she considers Caracal an Ally. A lonely sad boy, sure, but more a feral street cat then a friend. It takes more than a few meetings for Marinette to consider him a Ride-or-Die Friend.

Through the years, these two baby assassins grow into a friendship that withstands facing each other as enemies to reunite with no hard feelings at the next meeting between them. After all it’s Just Business, and they both know that well.

And then Hawkmoth.

Marinette can’t be Ladybug, “defender of Paris” when “Mademoiselle Marie” travels across the globe networking for her government and taking down European threats. Marinette reluctantly resigns from her position, and she takes up a red-spotted mantle.

Now the Mlle. Marie Organization aren’t idiots. Marinette Dupein-Cheng retires with accolades, offered a permanent place whenever she finishes her “hiatus”. And if the Parisian Police are instructed from on high to look the other way for Ladybug? Well, it’s best to leave superhero business to superheroes.

People in the organization are Carefully Not Thinking About It.

Completely coincidentally, therapy and healthy coping mechanisms are now mandatory for all operatives working within Paris and the surrounding areas.

That said, she still has to tell her assassin that she’s retiring.

Damian does not take it well.

Not like murder not well.

Like communication blackout and regime change in Peru not well.

Damian gives her the silent treatment. After all, she’s Out. (She abandoned him.)

Little does he know, his mother is working to get him out as well.

Marinette, meanwhile is Not Happy that Mothman Barbie decided to take out his issues on her home turf. The Mlle. Marie project is supposed to be foreign support, and last line of defense. So I mean it's in her wheelhouse. She just enjoyed her job as a globetrotting pre-teen superspy.

She doesn’t want to be chained down to the homefront, not when there's so much inspiration out there! Putting all that on hold for Mothman Barbie in Paris, eating into her free time, sleep, and drastically cutting into her social life? Bitch.

Civilian life makes her itch now, stuck in one place with confusing, mandatory, rules. Fictional barriers and preteen posturing, and only one hidden knife? Being Marinette is Suffering™. New friend Alya and pretty-boy Adrien can only relieve it so much.

Yes she has a bit of a crush. He's pretty and a model. Shut up.

Tikki is pleased she's got another loyal warrior, a second coming of Jeanne d'Arc, though she wishes Marinette was kinder. That's something she learns while dealing with Mothman Barbie. Not just how to act kind, to prevent akumas. But how to genuinely be kind. How to unlock the empathy she'd learned to tune out years ago, and how to act altruistically.

During her collège years Marinette juggles the life of a teen superhero, making friends with her class sincerely for the first time in years, something she didn’t get the chance to do with her frequent trips. Beyond Nino and Kim that is.

When Lila comes she deems her as annoying, but not worth her time. Until she’s the one turning her friends into akumas, with broken promises and lies that damage reputations. Marinette has a set future, as long as she keeps to the laws of this land and doesn’t slaughter a bitch. Lila can’t do anything to her. But if she hurts any of her friends, Lila is getting a horse head in her bed, American cliché or not.

Thankfully her crush on Adrien dies a silent death during this time. She can’t see herself with someone who won’t stand up for himself, nor with someone who enables a pathological liar that is one move away from harming the rest of her friends. She’s unspeakably grateful for that when Mothman Barbie is revealed to be his absentee father and Mayura to be the closest thing he has to a living mother. She’s able to focus her attention on his mental state and not how stupidly pretty he is.

Adrien is cemented as her best friend and platonic life partner in a catsuit. Adrien, once he got over his crush on the "idol" Ladybug, is happy to treat her the same. He’s just glad that his Lady won’t leave him for what his family had done.

Despite Mari’s wishes, Ladybug can’t retire just yet. People come out of the woodwork to fill in the vacuum left behind from the fashion-blind terrorist that held Paris in fear for three years. Ladybug is a celebrity, and Paris would be left uneasy if the city’s heroes left them undefended. She trains to be a guardian with Master Fu, to find more permanent Miraculous holders to take up the defense of Paris, and later the world. She finally has the free time to devote to her fashion commissions and to pick up the occasional job with her old organization.

It’s mid-way through lyc��e that Jagged invites her as his plus one to a charity gala in the United States. As his designer, and as an inconspicuous bodyguard that has combat training (far more than he knows), Marinette is the best choice when Penny is on leave. It gives his favorite niece the chance to network with American big shots, and get her brand noticed by more than just a few fashion moguls in Paris.

Which leads us to today. Marinette Dupein-Cheng– agent on leave, teenage superhero, aspiring designer, and temporary bodyguard of her surrogate uncle– spots a very familiar profile across the room.

Her assassin, dressed to kill, possibly literally. And she resigns herself to once more being on the opposite side of the boy who cut her out of his life, and any attempts to get in touch with him.

She’s dressed in a MDC original (with more hidden knives on her person than people would think), as she goes through the familiar song-and-dance and slips into the mindset of Mademoiselle Marie.

Stolen glances across the room. How have they been? Will they talk to me again even if I left/left her in silence?

Both are on edge. They are professionals and an unexpected meeting won't prevent them from keeping their loved ones charges safe.

It's like they never left the business, the two of them. They don't know each other. I've never seen them before. They can't have been the murderer because I saw them head to the bathroom. Just don't. touch. what's. Mine.

They're Friends after all.

Thankfully nothing happens at the party.

Damian Wayne saw her. How could he have ignored her, magnetic as she ever was. His eyes periodically drawn to her, partly assessment, partly admiration. When nothing happens at the gala, he figures that she’s changed as much as he has. And Damian has changed. He's softer and he knows it. He's been Out almost as long as she has, and in trying to hold to his father’s standards, he doesn’t think he could slip into the mindset of the ruthless prince of assassins so easily any more.

The silence and loss of his first friend on the other hand, was a wound that lingered even as he learned of civilian friendships and built connections with other superheroes around his age. This was a chance to introduce himself to his oldest friend. Without business between them this time.

It's Damian that does the signal.

Mari trips and giggles at the end of the night over to her assassin. It's easy after years of "Clumsy Marinette can't possibly be Ladybug!" She plays up the petite harmless French girl.

"Mon Caracal!" She calls from 3 feet away, stumbling into his arms.

She hugs him, compartmentalizing the muscled form that holds her safely, knowing he can kill her if she plays this wrong.Not without a fight though.

She hugs him more surely, kissing both his cheeks the way neither of them would be allowed outside of acting. "It's been far too long!"

She pulls away to see him gazing down at her, and wow someone has given him acting lessons because he smiles soft, fond, and far more real than he ever had Before.

"Marie."

She boops him on the nose. "Marinette." She teases coyly. She can't tell him her last name. For the safety of her parents, but also to keep cover as close friends.

"Marinette." He nods, crooked smile on his face, and away from prying eyes there's the signal that he'll keep his mouth shut about her name.

Speaking of prying eyes... "Marinette!" Uncle Jagged calls, making his way over to the pair of them. Her assassin is surprised, though few would be able to tell, at the world-famous rockstar approaching them.

"Uncle Jagged!" She answers, facing him but keeping a hand on the muscled arm of her friend to keep him from attacking, just in case.

She plays up the accent. Just a rockstar with his very French™ niece and her boy toy, nothing to see here!

"Jagged," she says again looking up at her uncle, "this is my good friend–"

"Damian" her assassin, starstruck or not, can follow his cue.

Between them is the subtle flash of information-true-hidden as she speaks over it to distract Jagged. "–Damian, my caracal."

Jagged bristles a little, baring his teeth in what those who don't know him would call a toothy grin, rather than a threat.

"And is Damian rock-and-roll enough for my favorite designer, M?"

"He's very kind," she confides with a Marinette-sweet smile. In his own way. she finishes the thought ruefully. A small part of her brain is cackling hysterically.

Jagged relaxes, and drags the both of them forward, holding a polaroid out to snap a picture of the three of them. ("Very Rock-and-Roll!" Jagged had said three months earlier.) He shakes the picture to development, and autographs it with a flourish, before stuffing it into Damian's hands.

"Well any friend of Marinette's is a friend of mine! And M? Car leaves in 10." He smiles, patting them both on the shoulder before sauntering off.

"I." Damian tries. He sighs.

"Jagged Stone? Jagged? Really Marie?" Damian asks, slipping once more into the familiar nickname. Marinette decided to let it slide, Jagged had that effect on a lot of people.

Marinette shrugs helplessly, before fishing a pen and spare notepad for her to jot down her contact information. It had only been a night but that familiar rush and heady friendship was something that Mari didn't want to lose if she could help it. She placed the paper with the photograph, putting the lethal pen back in her clutch, and cupping his face in both hands.

"Keep in touch this time? Please mon caracal?" If her begging was a little more heartfelt, well she’d learned a few things too. She kissed his cheek one final time and stepped away.

A hand caught her wrist.

"It hasn't been the same without you, Marinette." Damian said, hand slipping into hers, thumb gently brushing the back of it. He lifted her hand and kissed the air above her knuckles, before stepping away and towards the exit.

I must not swoon. I must not swoon. I must not swoon. Marinette chanted internally as she left to find Jagged, already looking forward to turning a Friendship into something more honest. More real.

-Meanwhile, In The Lobby-

"What was that, baby bird?" Dick asked his youngest brother.

"An old friend." Damian answered tersely, pointedly ignoring the curious stare from his Father and the more obnoxious kissy noises from Todd.

"Hell of an old friend." Tim commented, sounding almost put out, probably because of the unexpected personal introduction to Jagged Stone and autograph Damien had received. "You let her get close."

Damian raised an eyebrow at Tim.

Tim rolled his eyes, "PDA close!" he expounded like that explained anything.

Dick must have sensed his confusion, " You attempted to judo-flip Kor'i when you first met her. And you let this tiny girl hug you and kiss your cheeks."

Damian scowled, "I'm not that bad!"

"You bit me last week when I went to ruffle your hair!" Jason said, tugging his suit sleeve back to reveal light scarring.

"And?" Damian said, very done with the conversation already.

"We just wanted to know how long you've been pining for her, baby bird." Dick teased.

Damian felt a betraying heat creep up the back of his neck, to his ears and cheeks. "It's not like that!" He hissed.

"I-" he paused, wondering how he could explain the beautiful, cunning girl who knew of his past, was honestly the best part of it, and how she had watched his back, kept him safe and sane, had killed people on his tail even, without making them regard her as a threat.

His grandfather would have made her an example. Vivisected, drawn and quartered for daring to get close to his perfect weapon.

"I've known her for years. We're Friends, and that means I'll allow her more than I would you, Todd."

He stalked forward, as his father called behind him, "You should introduce us when you feel comfortable, Damian."

He stopped, listening but not daring to turn around.

"After all," Damian could hear the grin in his father's voice, "It'll be nice to meet my future daughter-in-law!"

Screw the Joker, Batman ends right here, right now.

[miracle-sham]

Instead of Dead, Become Two Dragons in Red.

| {MaribatMarch2020 — Week 1, Day 5: Transformation} |

| [Ao3 Link] | | [Masterlist Link] |

| {Repost due to original post disappearing from the tags.} |

| Triggers/Warnings: Violence/Implied Violence, Animal Transformation, Explicit Language/Some Swearing, Implied/Referenced Character Death (but not really), Polyamory (not really a trigger/warning but if you don't like Polyamory then this isn't for you). |

| For Gotham vigilantes, rampaging magic-users always make for an interesting fight, that is of course, provided one doesn't get hit by any stray bolts of magic. However for Parisian heroes, it's just your typical Tuesday Akuma situation. |

| Word Count: 3232 |

==‹›==

| A/N: Hi! I'm not dead, sorry for how long I took to respond to comments, I got hit by a nasty cold then sinusitis so I lost basically all my Maribat March prep time thanks to that, so I just barely managed to finish this ficlet/oneshot for today, anyway I hope you guys enjoy, and if enough people enjoy it, I'll make a second part to this oneshot because I had to cut so much material and it'd be nice to be able to use it still. |

| If you want to be tagged in future oneshots/fics, or a specific Au, then comment or send me a DM/ask! |

| Also side note, Don't Like? Don't Read. Also also, please do not criticise any of my writing. This was written for fun and receiving criticism, even in a compliment/criticism sandwich, is the exact opposite of fun. |

==‹›==

Zzzzt-crackle-woosh, a purplish-black bolt of unstable magic flies through the air, just barely grazing passed Dragonbug's side as she flips across the gap between two buildings. Cheerfully, she calls out “Missed again!”

The villain, an amorphous black shadow with dripping molten gold eyes and donning a ruddy patchwork hooded robe (which suffice to say, looks suspiciously like a rip-off wizzrobe from the Legend of Zelda, that or a faceless Gregorian based cultist extra from a film or TV show), scowls furiously, “Oh fuck you! I'm trying my best here!” and blasts another bolt of purplish-black magic towards her.

Conveniently located on the roof she just landed on, is an air vent. She cartwheels behind it and manages to dodge the bolt by a good metre or so. “Well, your best sucks and so does your aim!”

The wizard-villain screeches in fury, “Well my aim wouldn't suck if you didn't keep moving like a goddamn Duracell bunny!”

Dragonbug snorts. “Yeah but firstly, I'm dragon and ladybird themed, not bunny-themed; the bunny theme's already taken anyway. And secondly, where's the fun in that?”

As soon as she says that, her earpiece crackles as Red Robin pipes up on the comms channel. “Ready to see some fireworks?”

“Oh, you bet!” She responds, all too gleefully.

There's a faint clink-woosh-woosh-woosh and out of the corner of her eye, Dragonbug sees a blur of a small round silver ball arcing through the air towards the wizard-villain who's quite stupidly standing in the same place. As the silver ball disappears from her view, she hears a clatter of clink-clink-clink followed by a bwoosh and a bright flash of white light. At this moment, Dragonbug is so glad the Miraculous suits protect against flashbangs of all things.

The wizard-villain screams and once the flash of light fades, Dragonbug can see that they've fallen to their knees, in the middle of the street.

Dragonbug frowns and eyes their form, then double-taps her comms. “Hey, is it me or does our rip-off wizzrobe-magic-cultist look somewhat unresponsive?”

Her earpiece crackles again as Red Robin answers, and really someone should give these things a maintenance check, the crackling can be so distracting. “Our wizzrobe-magic-cultist is looking pretty unresponsive to me too. It could be a trap though because I swear I didn't use one of my knockout flashbangs.”

She nods, despite the fact he can't see her; which upon realising this, she flushes red in embarrassment. After clearing her throat to compose herself, she tilts her head to the side. “That's concerning, unless our rip-off wizzrobe-magic-cultist is susceptible to flashes of light.” She pauses, frown deepening, “You don't think they've got epilepsy do you?”

There's a slight rustle before Red Robin responds, “No, that's not what an epileptic seizure looks like. Again this could be a trap, or they could just be stunned. Either way, we should hurry but be careful.”

“Right.” Dragonbug scurries over to the edge of the roof then flips her way down to the ground. As she lands, she just spots Red Robin vaulting across an overturned car. As he catches sight of her, she gives him a thumbs up, which he returns.

Dragonbug then nods to him and he nods back, silently communicating their plan. They both start to slowly approach the wizard-villain in a pincer movement, her to the left and him to the right.

Red Robin reaches to his bandoliers and whips out a pair of manacles. He skulks behind the wizard-villain and goes to handcuff when the wizard-villain starts cackling maniacally. The laughter is quickly followed by a forming orb of purplish-black light—the same light as the magic bolts.

Oh, fuck! Is Dragonbug's only thought as she immediately dives at Red Robin, who's started backing away; she uses herself to try and block him from the still-forming orb. Please let the Miraculous magic protect us both! She silently begs as the orb expands exponentially, unfortunately enveloping them both completely in a fraction of a second

The maniacal laughter is the last thing they both hear as they're violently launched backwards into an alleyway, and everything fades to black.

==‹›==

Kagami's lounging on the sofa at Tim's Nest and binging Netflix, when the red alert rings across all the comms units.

“Shit,” Oracle falters, “Red Robin and Dragonbug are down. Dragonbug's signature has disappeared from our systems and her comms aren't responding. All Red Robin's vitals are down, his suit isn't registering any more signs of life. But I'm still getting warnings that the villain they were fighting is still active, so everyone available needs to converge on Red Robin and Dragonbug's last known location.”

Fear immediately seizes Kagami's heart, no please, please don't be dead my loves. She double-taps her comms. “I'm suiting up as Kuro Neko, I'll be at the location in three.”

With that said, Kagami flings herself off the sofa. She glances around the room for Plagg who's halted in his eating of cheese and giving her a sad but cryptic look. Her eyes flicker to the window and he nods almost imperceptibly.

“Plagg, claws on.” There's a woosh as the poisonous green light washes over her, donning her in the Kuro Neko suit. She flexes her claws for a split second, tail whipping back and forth furiously, before darting over to the window and vaulting out of it.

As soon as she's out the window, Kuro Neko extends her baton down and begins pole-vaulting her way across the rooftops and over towards where her significant others were last.

==‹›==

When Dragonbug returns to consciousness, the first thing she notices is that she can't move, nor see, nor hear. But she can feel, and unfortunately that means she feels a strange painful pulsing throughout her entire body, as well as an excruciating aching sensation. The second thing she notices is that she's curled up on the ground and her head, or the world, is spinning somewhat. Anyway, I can safely say I'm not doing so good right about now, big ouch.

The first of her other senses to return is her hearing. Which immediately makes her hiss in pain from the sudden cacophony seemingly coming from somewhere above her? She pauses, then realises that something's not quite right, hey wait a minute, why'd my hiss sound so weird? Something's not right, although I suppose that's kinda obvious now, but still! Oh god, what if I'm dying, or I've been body switched, or—or—or—

Her thoughts are interrupted by a sudden scream of fury, ringing out from above. Which is good because it means Dragonbug doesn't get time to dwell on that particular string of anxious thoughts, but it's also bad because it's loud and causes her to whimper in pain from how loud it is.

“Where the fuck are they? What the fuck did you do to them?” A voice sounding very similar to Kagami yells out.

Wait a second, that doesn't make sense, Red Robin and I didn't call for backup, so why would Kagami suit up on her night off? Dragonbug muses to herself, brain immediately latching onto the next train of thoughts. As she muses, she slowly realises that she's starting to regain the feeling in her limbs. Which is another positive? However, the feel of said limbs, causes her mind to immediately blank and lose the train of thought. While her brain tries to figuratively perform an error message, she does finally manage to crack open her eyes, yay sight.

It's at that moment, Dragonbug's superhero experience/training kicks in. She quickly takes stock of her surroundings and quietly thinks to herself, oh fuck.

It looks like she's in a giant—no massive—version of Red Robin's suit. Have I been shrunk? She wonders for only a brief second as something moves, just out of the area of her view. She turns and squints at the movement. Not a second later, a roughly cat-sized red lizard shuffled into sight.

She squeaks in surprise, then has a minute of wait what because her squeak sounded weird and very concerningly not-human-like.

The red lizard tilts its head to the side and coos at her.

Dragonbug glares at the lizard and tries to back away. Emphasis on tries, because as she does so, she ends up tripping over herself? Confused and extremely concerned now, she glances down and oh.

What. The. Heckles. She slowly spins around, checking out her new form, because she's clearly no longer human. No, she's got a snout, scales, fur—well mane—, claws, a long snakelike body, and a tail. Spinning around, she catches sight of a gleaming piece of shiny silver metal. So does what anyone would in the same situation as her, and scuttles over to it to use it as a makeshift mirror.

The reflection that greets her is… frankly quite adorable but also she's now a tiny little lung/long dragon. Which to be fair, makes quite a bit of sense as she was using the dragon Miraculous and Longg is a lung dragon. Her scales are a pretty red with shimmery golden accents and her mane is a dark red-almost-black colour. Her eyes still have the golden yellow iris and sclera that the dragon Miraculous gives. And the rest of her is all done variation of the gold, brighter red, and darker red. So at least her colour palette doesn't clash. Okay, so the colour palette isn't the most pressing issue here, but also I don't know how to fix this or change back so y'know, I'd rather potentially be stuck like this permanently with a nice colour palette, than one that clashes. But also oh god please don't let this be permanent, there has to be a way to undo this!

In her panic, Marinette doesn't notice the red lizard slinking closer to her. As it reaches her, it gently prods her with one claw; startling her badly and causing her to squeak again, loudly.

The red lizard flinches back and Marinette realises that maybe, just maybe, that's not a random lizard. And that maybe the not-a-random-lizard is actually a drake. A European dragon that hasn't got wings. And Tim. Tim's surname is Drake. A coincidence? I think not! It's got to be Tim!

She stares at the probably-Tim dragon and makes a chirping noise because dragons don't have the same vocal cords as humans, so she can't exactly ask him if that's him or not. A minor nuisance, to say the least.

The red drake mimics her chirp. Then cautiously slinks up to her again.

This close, Marinette can see that she's probably around the size of a ferret, in comparison to him being roughly the same size as a cat.

He flops down half beside, half against her and makes a series of clicks and chirps. She can't help but to tense as he flops but as the seconds pass, she finds herself relaxing bit by bit until she's also flopped over.

Enjoying the peaceful impromptu not-quite-a-cuddle cuddle session with one of her significant others, Marinette does try to keep an ear out for any goings-on above, just in case. But all seems well.

That is until, not even three seconds later, the peacefulness is abruptly shattered by a cacophony of screams, yells, zaps, and loud bangs echoing shrilly from above, before ceasing just as abruptly as it started.

However, the unexpected cacophony still manages to cause Marinette to panic. She tenses with a low whine, hunching slightly, and holds her breath. Alert and anxiously vigilant, she can't help but survey the immediate vicinity again and again and again—looking for anything she missed initially or if anything's changed.

Tim shuffles and stumbles into a sitting position. He nudges her gently in the side of the neck with his snout. He makes a cooing noise, followed by a soft rumble—as if he were trying to imitate a cat's purr.

It takes a few seconds, but his actions start to help calm her down. She takes in a deep breath and mentally reassesses the situation. We've been turned into tiny dragons. We're inside-slash-underneath the Red Robin suit which is on the ground. Before we woke up like this, we were battling a magic-user villain who tricked us. We didn't get time to call in backup before we got hit but it sounds like backup arrived anyway. As far as we know, no one is aware of what happened to us or that we're in-slash-under the suit. We are currently safe for now.

As Marinette reaches the end of the reassessment, she feels much calmer. She makes a low trill-like-purr noise to signal to Tim that she's calmed down.

He sticks his tongue out in a blep and mimics the low trill.

Their second moment of calm is then also interrupted because apparently fate hates peace and calmness or something like that.

“I will ask you once more, Where. Are. They?” Kuro Neko questions.

There's a loud thump-snap, followed by the wheezing cackle of the Wizard-villain. “They're gone! Dead! Erased! Exterminated!” With its piece said, the wizard-villain continues to wheeze and cackle maniacally.

Marinette can't help but shiver in fear at the sound, barely able to squash the rising nausea.

A harsh snap sound echoes loudly in the street and the wizard-villain starts choking wetly.

Kuro Neko hisses something but the red robin suit muffles the words to the point of being indistinguishable.

The minutes drag by and the only sounds of note from above, are inaudible mutterings and the clattering of handcuffs and car doors. They must've handed the wizard-villain over to the police, Marinette thinks.

She's about to go nudge Tim to try and communicate that they probably need to go find somewhere to stash his suit and a place for them to hide until they can figure out how to turn back when a conversation between the vigilantes who arrived for backup catches her attention. Partly because of the topic, and partly because of how close the voices suddenly sound.

“They can't be dead, Red Robin's suit is still there.” Dick—or well more like Nightwing, since he probably arrived as backup as well—stresses.

“But Dragonbug an' her suit's gone. You'd think maybe that there'd be a little more left if just organic matter was destroyed.” Jas—Red Hood mutters, the vocal distorter in his helmet making his tone of voice sound strange.

Or maybe that's just a side effect of getting tiny-dragon-ified, thinks Marinette, things sounding stranger. Although I've not really noticed anything bar the distorted voice sounding weird.

“The Miraculous suits are made of magic, and anyway, Plagg says he can't feel Tikki or Longg's presence anywhere,” Kuro Neko admits, reluctantly. “If all living things in the vicinity of the orb were destroyed, then the Miraculous would have still been left behind.”

“And how d'you know that?” Red Hood asks, sounding both genuinely curious and mildly concerned.

There's a split second of almost icy silence before Kuro Neko responds with a clipped tone. “Akuma.”

“Ah, o'course.” Red Hood comments, voice getting closer again. “Hey, d'you think B will want to stick the Red Robin suit in a memorial case like what he did with my Robin suit?”

“Hood!” Nightwing exclaims in a horrified and almost scandalised tone of voice.

Red Hood snorts.

Marinette flinches, and so does Tim beside her, although probably not for the same reasons as her. I don't think I'll ever get used to how flippantly Red Hood jokes about his death. Even if most Parisians who've died in Akuma attacks use the same sort of gallows humour.

There's a few seconds of silence before someone grabs the Red Robin suit and yanks it upwards, causing Tim and Marinette to tumble out of it with a series of startled squeaks and clicks.

Red Hood is the first to respond to the situation, with an eloquent, “what the fuck.”

Marinette glances up and sees Kuro Neko holding the Red Robin suit and looking rather shell shocked, with Red Hood and Nightwing a few steps away.

“Oh, thank fuck they're alive.” Nightwing half mumbles, dragging a hand down his face in exasperation.

“My loves,” Kuro Neko murmurs leaning down and scooping up Marinette and Tim, “I'm so glad you're okay.”

They both squirm for a minute before relaxing into her arms.

Nightwing frowns. “We should bring them back to the cave, maybe call Zatanna and Wonder Woman.”

“To the cave then.” Kuro Neko nods, hugging Marinette and Tim carefully, making sure not to accidentally hurt or squish them.

Marinette looks up at her significant other and bleps. She then trills, content to be held for the journey back to the Batcave.

Tim however, wrinkles his nose and chirrups in protest, he squirms and tries to escape Kuro Neko's hold—probably wanting to return to the Nest and deal with this on his own instead.

Kuro Neko gives Tim a deadpan stare before expertly pinching the correct pressure point to temporarily paralyse him.

Red Hood gives her a quizzical stare.

“Akuma, as well as kwami.” She responds, sagely.

“Right…” He slowly mutters, shaking his head.

Marinette can't help but burst into laughter at that, only because she's currently a ferret-sized lung dragon, the laughter comes out as a stream of trills and chirps.

Red Hood narrows his eyes at Marinette. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, danger noodle.”

Marinette pouts, whilst internally promising herself that revenge will be swift and pasta themed.

==‹›==

When they finally arrive back at the Batcave. They're greeted by the sight of Batman and Robin at the Batcomputer.

Robin turns and sneers at them. “Of course, trust Drake to pull such an attention-grabbing stunt as this.”

Marinette immediately looks up from her snuggled up position in Kuro Nell's arms and hisses at Robin; Tim however, lets out a world-weary sigh.

“Robin.” Barks Batman, but the reprimand does nothing to quell Robin's hostility.

Fixing a glare at Robin, Kuro Neko starts to stroke Marinette's scales like an evil villain would stroke a cat (much to Marinette's delight). “Need I remind you, how you hesitated upon hearing Oracle inform us that Red Robin's suit ceased reading any signs of life.”

“That was not hesitation! I was merely preparing for Grayson or Fatgirl to become hysterical in their distress.” Retorts Robin, who then stalks away, scowling and red-faced.

Nightwing dithers between going after him or staying to check on Tim and Marinette.

Kuro Neko shakes her head. “Go after him, Marinette and Tim will be fine without you hovering like a mother hen.”

Nightwing flashes her a grateful smile and scampers after Robin.

Kuro Neko then heads over to the medical bay and gently plonks the two dragons onto a cot. “Batman, I believe we will need to do as Nightwing suggested earlier, and call Zatanna and Wonder Woman. As this is a magic situation and I am not as skilled or knowledgeable in regards to magic as my love is.”

“Hhrrm,” Batman growls, already calling up the Watchtower.

Kuro Neko smiles softly as she glances down at her significant others, eyes twinkling with mirth. “Let's hope they arrive soon, otherwise who knows what sort of trouble you two could get into.” She winks.

Marinette chirps, tail flicking side to side eagerly. Whilst Tim perks up slightly and tilts his head to the side, mind probably racing with hundreds of pranks and shenanigans they could pull off whilst in dragon form.

==‹›==

| Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this little oneshot! Comments, likes, and reblogs are much appreciated! |

| @maribat-march2020 | | @vixen-uchiha |

[nitholites]

Marinette Stark Chapter 1

(Assuming Tim is end game. Ages are as follows:

Alfred: immortal

Bruce: 48

Tony: 38

Jagged Stone: 37

Penny: 36

Pepper: 36

Dick: 34

Jason: 25

Tim: 22

Marinette: 21 (14 in canon)

Harley: 18

Peter: 17 (turning 18)

Damian: 11

Morgan: 3)

Marinette sighed, crossing her arms for warmth as she glanced around the street, cursing her luck as she was only a block from her destination. It was a rainy day, chilly and damp, and she was completely unprepared for the sudden downpour.

She smiled, her mind going back to a day similar to now, yet a million years ago. Thoughts of the sunshine boy ran around her mind, trying to remind her why she fell in love so stupidly all that time ago. Thoughts about him soon turned to thoughts about her class, and with those came the pain and a certain lying Italian.

Lila Rossi. AKA, the bane of Marinette's existence.

Chloe left only a year after Lila got bad, the bullying getting far too much for the blond. She went with her mother, actually, their relationship becoming much healthier and stronger than ever before. And while Marinette insisted she didn't owe her anything, the blonde didn't listen, determined to repay the bi-racial girl.

Which is how Chloe found herself on the other end of the phone, two years after Hawkmoth started terrorizing Paris as Marinette bawled and let her emotions fly out of her mouth. Chloe has never felt such rage as that night, anger for the sweet angel of a girl bubbling to the forefront of her mind.

That night, she swore if Lila ever showed herself in front of the blonde again, she wouldn't hold back.

After that night, Chloe convinced her mother to rethink taking Marinette as a student, convincing her to give the sweet girl another chance.

This time, Marinette took it.

Her parents, having learned about the mistreatment of their daughter, agreed that it would be for the best. At least while their lawsuits went through. Penny helped bring light to the situation, having sent the family the contact information for her and Jagged's lawyers and swore she'd help them through the process.

Anything for their niece, and the godmother for their future children.

The only drawback in Marinette's mind was Ladybug. Alas, that was taken care of thanks to Ryuuko, Viperion, and Master Fu. The old man had lent her Kaalki so she could come back for Akuma, and she'd made the two heros full-time back when Chat Noir started getting worse.

Marinette didn't like thinking about her ex-partner at all. The selfish kitty didn't know what 'no' meant, harassing her as Ladybug to go out with him. Then, when she shut him down, he came and complained to Marinette, one time even breaking into her room when she denied him access.

He didn't remain Chat Noir for long after that, and she wasn't even surprised to find Adrien under the mask. No one else was as spineless as he was, after all. She was only dissappointed at his behavior.

The only relief she got was when the kwamis explained how he wasn't her true Black Cat. She had a pure Creation soul, while Adrien was simply the next best option.

As the next Guardian, Marinette was allowed the responsibility to find her true Black Cat, and to give him the Miraculous.

All this, and Hawkmoth wasn't exactly getting any closer to a jail cell. No one in the Miraculous team had any kind of detective abilities, so Marinette took it upon herself (after getting agreements from her team) to find someone who did. She originally wanted to convince Batman to her cause, but the Bourgeois wouldn't be going to Gotham for a few months, at least. So, she decided to wait and put it on the back-burner for the moment and to plan for when she found the bat.

As Chloe (who knew her identity) said: "You need some girl time and self-help time. The fact you haven't got any yet is ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!"

So, for the past few months, Marinette worked up her brand and got help. Professional help, once she was in the States.

Which brought her to the present, under a bus awning as the rain poured around her. Tony Stark had commissioned her to make the outfits for himself, his wife, Pepper, their two adopted sons, Peter and Harley, and their daughter, Morgan. It was a birthday party for Peter, the middle child.

On her way to their first meeting in Stark Industries, Marinette was caught by the rain and forced to seek shelter under the awning, minimal water on her or her stuff, thankfully.

She brought with her a bag half the size of herself, rolling on the ground, filled with her journals, swaths of fabric, thread, pens, pencils, and a measuring tape. Everything she'd usually bring to a first meeting.

Her eyes glanced at the ally way opening to her right and behind her, her senses screaming danger. She focused on her hearing, frowning as she picked up an erratic heartbeat and scuffling she associated with a mugging.

She internally sighed, mourning her favorite soon-to-be drenched blouse and silently stepped towards the dark ally. Her heels didn't make a sound as she rounded the corner, internally groaning at the cliché scene in front of her. Shady, lanky dude trying to rob a decent-looking young man.

She silently crept behind the mugger, signalling for the young man to stay silent as she ended up right behind the mugger.

Without a peep, she leapt up, bringing her elbow down hard in the middle of his neck and knocking him unconscious. She silently landed, turning to the young man with a small smile. "Are you alright?"

Big, innocent, brown eyes looked up at her, relief and excitement shining in them as he nodded, brown curls bobbing with his head. "Yeah! Thank you, Miss. That was really cool!"

"It was nothing," she replied with a subtle French accent, turning back to the entrance of the ally as the man followed behind her. "Anyone would have done the same."

"That's not really true, Miss."

As they reached the awning once more, Marinette turned to him. "Enough of the 'Miss' business. My name is Marinette."

"I'm Peter. Parker, I mean."

As they made their way to SI, they talked, their conversation drowning out the sounds of rain around them. A few moments later, they walked into SI, a feminine voice making Marinette jump. "Welcome, Peter. Mr. Stark and Mr. Keener are waiting for you in the lab."

As Marinette composed herself, Peter replied, looking up with a smile. "Thanks, FRIDAY. Will you ask Mr. Stark if I can bring my new friend with me?"

"Of course."

Marinette looked at Peter, curiosity in her eyes. "Who's that?"

"That's FRIDAY, Mr. Stark's AI. She and Mrs. Potts are the only ones who can keep Mr. Stark semi-under control."

"Thank you, Peter. I will let Mrs. Stark know you think so highly of her." As Marinette giggled at FRIDAY's words, Peter blushed and hid his face in his hands. "Mr. Stark also said your guest may come up."

Within a moment, the two teens stood in the doorway of the lab, two other figures already in the high-tech room. The two men in the lab turned towards the elevator, grins on their faces, as Peter and Marinette stepped into the room- Peter with much more confidence and familiarity than Marinette. "Pete, thank God you're here. Will you please tell this inexperienced, back-water country boy that-"

Marinette zoned out, taking this chance to look around the lab. Half-finished projects littered the various desks, Iron Man parts were strewn about almost halfhazirdly, tools and stains and singe marks on a few walls and sections of the ceiling, plus a few dents on said walls, ceiling, and desks, showed this lab was lived in, not just for show. The empty soda bottles, ramen packets, and plates on a very specific desk in the center of the lab said so, too.

"-and I'm gonna shut up now."

Marinette blinked, realizing Peter had talked through all of her observations for the past 10 minutes. She brought a hand to her face, covering the light laughter coming from her chest. That caused three sets of eyes to turn towards her, one in laughter as well and two in... Well, Marinette wanted to call it confusion, but there was something more. Analysis?

"Who's the chick?"

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I'm here for Mr. Stark's commission, but got held up by the rain."

Eyebrows rose, but Tony's the one with the smile, walking towards the group with a hand out. "So you're MDC. Can't say I was expecting this. How old are you, Tinker Bell?"

"I know I don't look it, but I'm 21."

Eyes widened, jaws dropped, and the men froze. "What."

She nodded, keeping from crossing her arms. "Yeah. I can legally drink."

Tony snorted, straightening up. "I'm guessing you'd still rather not. You don't seem like the type to get black-out drunk regularly."

She shrugged, a small smile on her face. "I haven't had time, for one. And it's hard to design when drunk or hungover. Plus, I'm pretty sure that if I tried Uncle Jagged would try and join in." She could hear his voice now... "Mari, my favorite niece! Stop growin' up. Where's the time gone? So not rock n' roll of it. Next time invite me, yeah?"

She shook her head, returning to the present. "Anyway, about that commission..."

They had a very productive session- at least on Marinette's end. She got their measurements, and the lab offered nearly limitless inspiration while giving her insight to the three science nerds, giving her a taste of their likes and passions. Following sessions had her meeting most of the Avengers and growing closer to everyone in the tower, especially after she brought a few baked goodies from her apartment.

("Kid, you have a talent. Become my baker and I'll pay you half of whatever SI makes in a year." "Tony, you can't do that. I'm the CEO." "And I like designing, Mister Stark. Baking is a hobby now." Tony pouted for a month after that, the pout lessening for every treat Marinette brought. Morgan didn't take long to adopt 'Auntie Mari' into the family.)

Soon, the designs were complete and the Gala was only a day away.

Welcome to the first chapter of my fic, based on my HCs posted on this blog. This is the first chapter of (hopefully) many more, and the first multi-chapter fic I'm posting on here! Hopefully not the last, but we'll see. There's no BatFam stuff yet, but there should be an introduction next chapter! From there, I'm not sure where it'll lead, and I hope you help educate me when I make mistakes about someone's character or backstory- I'm not as knowledgeable about the DC universe as the Marvel or MLB universe, so I'd appreciate the help!

[a-solitary-marshmallow]

Switch Shenanigans

Adrien loved Paris in the evening. On a clear night, once the sun had set and inky blackness splashed across the horizon, the city was awash with pinpricks of light like a midnight reflection of the sky. From above, he could feel as though he were soaring through a galaxy. As he sped across rooftops and chimneys, there were murmurs of voices from below, people walking hand-in-hand through chilly streets, blinking advertisements and muffled music playing from shops and parties alike. A timeless tranquility, just him and the stars and the breath in his lungs and the wind in his hair.

Which was why he did more night patrols than was strictly necessary. After all, he had a makeup team to hide any bags under his eyes before photo shoots. It was so easy to shed the responsibilities and constrictions of being Adrien Agreste and sneak out of his window, defying gravity and his father’s expectations in one fell swoop.

Tonight Adrien, or rather Chat Noir, found himself drifting further from his side of Paris and more towards the business district. He hopped leasurely between rooftops. Oh, there was that coffee place that always smelt heavenly. It was still open – would the people of Paris be too shocked to see their friendly neighborhood superhero dropping in for a drink? It would probably cause less of a stir than Adrien Agreste. At least people were used to seeing Chat Noir around.

Chat Noir’s ears pricked up as an angry cry sounded – muffled, as if by a pillow. He spun around, trying to pin where it had come from. A nearby house? His heart pounded.

Another muffled shout, and this time he could see it’s source, a cracked-open skylight in a familiar balcony. He knew that balcony, he knew that bakery! And the girl who lived there, who was shouting, who was in trouble-

Chat Noir vaulted over the gap between buildings and skidded across the balcony. The skylight was ajar and only yielded darkness. He wrenched it open all the way and dropped down into the dim light below. He landed in a wary crouch.

“Marinette, are you-”

Her bedroom painted itself in green hues through his night-sensitive eyes. The cluttered desk, two mannequins draped in half-finished garments leaning against a closet, the mess of photos pinned to her wall, the disarrayed bed with his classmate in question growling into a pillow. An abandoned screen – a Nintendo Switch – lay next to her.

“Um.”

Marinette looked up blearily. “Chat Noir? What are you doing here?”

Ah. Now he was in the middle of his friend’s bedroom, still crouching in a stupid battle stance, to her nothing more than a weird stranger in a skin-tight leather body suit.

Chat Noir straightened hurriedly and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to pass off a laugh. It came out rather strained. “Hi, Miss Dupain-Cheng. I heard some shouting, I was just checking in to see if everything’s okay.”

Marinette groaned and dropped her pillow on her lap. “Yeah, everything’s okay.”

Chat Noir stepped forward, unable to temper his curiosity. “Is that Breath of the Wild?”

Marinette blinked at him. She was still wearing her day clothes, though disarrayed, her pigtails crooked. How long had she been up? Then again, Chat Noir didn’t actually know what the time was, so he wasn’t in the position to judge.

“Yeah.” Marinette said finally. She yawned and picked up the Switch again. “It’s this stupid shrine. I’ve been trying forever but the major test of strength always gets me.”

“I didn’t know you played.” Chat Noir said, quite stupidly, because Marinette shot him a funny look.

“Why would you?”

Abort, abort! “No reason.” He lied. Marinette rolled her eyes.

“A friend of mine really likes it, so I decided to give it a shot. It’s fun. Except for these shrines.” She sent the Switch a withering look.

Chat Noir snorted. Alya and Nino didn’t play, so she must be talking about him. A friend. Even after hearing it so many times, the words send a happy warmth through him.

“You seem to be in luck, because a seasoned player has arrived at your doorstep!” He gestured dramatically. “Erm. Window? Skylight?”

Marinette sent him an unimpressed look as he floundered. She was bold when she was sleep deprived, because she had never been this snarky to Adrien. It was a good look on her – he wished his shy friend could feel comfortable enough to banter with him, like she did with friendly neighborhood superheroes who dropped into her room in the middle of the night.

“You know how to beat these bitches?” She said finally, instead of kicking him out. Chat Noir took that as an invitation to stay. He grinned and dropped down next to her.

“There’s a trick to it. Do you have the ancient armour set? No? That’s okay, it just makes it easier, your champion’s tunic will work too. Oh nice, you have some ancient weapons. Okay, so the guardian has a couple moves it can do, and here’s what you do to counter them.”

Under Chat Noir’s watchful eye, Marinette defeated her first Major guardian on the third try. She hissed in victory as collapsed in a smoking pile in front of her avatar.

“Take that you fucking piece of junk.”

Chat Noir laughed and stood, brushing chip crumbs off his suit (Marinette had offered them, was he supposed to refuse a free snack?) “I should probably head off. As fun as this is, it’s rather rude for a stray to drop into a young lady’s room unannounced. Plus, I have patrol to do. Hawkmoth doesn’t take a day off so apparently neither do I.”

“Wait!” Marinette scrambled off her bed to catch him before he reached the skylight. “Before you go – do you know how to do this flower shrine?”

Ahh. That one. He paused. “I used Revali’s Gale for that one.”

“Revali’s what?” Marinette echoed.

“Have you gotten to the Rito village?”

“You mean the one on the giant spire? I’ve passed it. It’s got the big bird Divine Beast, right?”

“Yeah.” Chat Noir glanced up through the condensation-beaded glass. The sky was pitch black, he had hours until he absolutely had to be back home. And really, how common were midnight akumas? “I suppose I could stay for a bit longer.”

“Yes.” Marinette jumped back on her bed with a bounce. “Okay, so where am I going again?”

“Well, first up you’ve gotta get to the Rito village.”

Adrien was muddled and yawning all through the next day. Marinette was too, from what he saw – she stumbled into class late and nodded off a few times, prompting Alya to elbow her awake. She did gather herself at lunch though, in order to excitedly tell Adrien how she’d started playing Breath of the Wild and how much progress she had made.

Her eyes really shone when she was excited. It kind of reminded him of a certain red-clad partner.

Marinette and Ladybug would be great friends!

[clawsout83]

Chat Blanc Reaction/Analysis

I’m not used to do stuffs like that, but I think Chat Blanc has so much to talk about that it would be almost criminal not to.

Of course, !!!! SPOILERS !!!!

Long post ahead....

Ok, so Adrien’s 5th middle name apparently is Athanase, which comes from Greek Athanatos meaning “immortal” and is celebrated May 2nd. (Wikipedia)

The girls putting pressure on Marinette to declare, once again... But Mylène calling her the Goddess of Self Confidence was sweet :)

Ladybug gushing over Adrien’s stuffs in his room was kind of creepy... Well, she knows Adrien’s 5th name and wants to celebrate it. That’s cute, creepy, but cute.

Of course, she forgot the card...

Aaaannd Adrien’s brain cell finally put pieces together. But awww he’s so happy that his Lady is Marinette ! If she was Lila or a total stranger, he surely wouldn’t be THAT happy !

“It’s not because you put cheese in a box that it stops smelling !”

LoL Bunnyx calling her portal “her burrow” is so nice !

Bunnyx’s glitches was a nice touch. If she can’t fix things with Ladybug, she just can’t exist anymore...

Ok, so the bowl served to hide the future from Ladybug and Bunnyx dropped her in the future without LB knowing what happened. It’s perfect. So, the LB at the end doesn’t know who Chat Noir is and how things ended up the way they are.

“Un p’tit chat sur un toit se languit sans sa Lady” = “A little cat on a roof is bored without his Lady”

Chat Blanc’s cat puns are limitless...

I don’t know if it is sarcasm when CB says that he didn’t want to be rude when he goes for LB’s miraculous

But CB asking LB to save him is literally heartbreaking

Post-Reveal CB calling Pre-Reveal LB by her name might be destabilizing

Why does Marinette as her hair down after she gave Adrien’s gift ? I understand it is to distinguish the timelines (the current one with pigtailed Marinette and the possible one with hair-down Marinette) but still...

Oh ? So Adrien doesn’t only loves her because she’s Ladybug ? Of course, he doesn’t. He loves her since a while, he just couldn’t love two girls at the same time.

AAAAWWWW DKFJSLDJGHLAKJG The Oblivio Kiss !!!

Ouh ! Super Cataclysm ?! More like an atomic bomb !!

LoL Sabrina is actually shipping them !!

These couple scenes are any fanfic writers juice !

Got to say, they’re cute together !

“It’s our love that made this world like it is, My Lady !”

What ?! THAT’s the reason Gabe found to end their relationship ? It’s causing wrong to Gabriel brand ?! She’s the best person to understand how things work in fashion industry ! *trows Gabe in a garbage can*

Of course, the “I’ll put Adrien out of College if you don’t do what I ask for” threat... “Then make the right choice” You’re putting your son’s future into a lovesick 14yo girl’s hands....

And because Gorilla is around, she can’t tell Adrien she has been threatened by his father when she “breaks up” with him... 

“The plan” of course. Despair. Marinette being his chef-d’oeuvre. Gabe, how many times have you tried to akumatize Marinette ?

Aw ! Gorilla proving once more he is more suitable to be a better dad than Trashiel

So, CN can destroy akumas with his cataclysm without consequences ? So, if LB isn’t available, CN could save the day nonetheless ?

Oh ! CN’s soft voice when he calls her My Lady !!

MARICHAT FOR LIFE !!!

Gabe, how can you be so happy to learn that CN is your son ? You’re a crazy son of a b*tch...

Flying cataclysms ? cool !!

CB just want thing to go back to what they were. Even have a hamster !! Seriously, this is the same thing his father wants, but CB’s wish is probably more selfless than Gabe’s...

Funny how he could have just killed LB with is cataclysm, but instead, shot right at her feet, making her fall in the water to the exact point where he got akumatized...

I read some reaction about the scene when LB arrives in front of HM and her future self. Future LB wants to reach for CN, to help him. HM just protects himself when he’s the one who could make it stop in a snap of a finger.

The bunker scene... just... another heartbreaking scene. At least, Adrien wants to know, wants answers before acting, and seeing the anger, I don’t think he’s gonna side with his father anytime soon...

Ok, I know magic costumes are supposed to protect them from hits, but damn Gabe ! You hit your son like a baseball ball KNOWING he’s your son !! *trows the trashcan into a compactor*

“If she loved you as she tells, she’d let you save your mother” STFU Gabe. 

Argh... That’s how he got CN to transform... “Obey !” Gabe so much conditioned his son to obey him that CN just unconsciously had to. He just can’t fight it.

CB hesitates between LB and HM. He doesn’t want to hurt LB, he doesn’t want to disobey HM/his father, he can’t let him win, he can’t kill his own father, but the power is growing out of control and he can’t keep it in... poor kitty...

“Better destroy everything. You, me, our memories, all what’s left !” There’s nothing left to destroy. CB knows he lost everything, and because LB doesn’t want to help him - the way he wants her to - he really understand that he has nothing left to loose. 

So yeah, just destroy the universe !

It actually creeps me out to see how he calmed down when she accepts to give her miraculous. 

Ohhh ! The butterfly going to CN is just magic, and CN seems to understand what happened and to feel more in peace with it...

LB never guessing that CN knows her identity because Adrien is CN, but because Adrien might have talked and that it might have arrived to CN’s ears is just stupidly funny

“They must be really big fans of yours to know [Athanase is your 5th name] !” *sigh* My boyfriend of 10 years know for my 2nd name since a few months only... You creep me out, Marinette ! Just say you want to give Adrien gifts because you like him, don’t create reasons to do so...

Awwwww the Ladynoir ending !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She likes CN, she cares for him. He’s her friend, her partner, and knowing he’s fine and well and happy is all what matters to her. She’s not in love with him, but she like him.

In conclusion, CB was f*cked up because he was with absolutely no control. Usually, HM is behind, controlling his akumatized victims from his lair. Paris  / the world is destroyed, CB is all alone for who knows how much time and just wants LB’s earrings to fix things up. He probably won’t do it the right way since he’s not himself, but I don’t see CB as a bad person, just a broken person. 

Also, it proves that they CAN’T be together before HM has been defeated. As civilians, HM targets Marinette to akumatize her. As heroes, they can’t know each other’s identity for pretty much the same reason. 

This episode broke my heart and just made me realize how Gabe can’t be redeemed... F*CK YOU GABE *pushes the compactor’s button*

*turns to Nathalie, pointing her accusingly* Don’t worry, sweetie, you’re next...

[nobodyfamousposts]

Missing Interlude - Plagg

So remember when I said that the Missing Interlude was just a one time thing?

Yeah...my muse disagreed.

Contrary to popular opinion, Plagg was not simply the lazy and foolish kwami that most people believed him to be. Sure, part of that may be his fault, as he wasn’t about to go out of his way to correct people’s assumptions about him if he didn’t need to. After all, if people think he’s lackadaisical and silly, they tend to not expect much from him, which worked doubly in his favor in either convincing people to leave him alone or allow him the element of surprise if they wouldn’t. After all, most people generally didn’t worry whether he was plotting to kill them if they thought he was simply sleeping most of the time.

Plagg…admittedly hadn’t had many good wielders in the past. Fu referred to them as owners, but the very thought of the title grated at him something fierce. By their very nature, cats weren’t ‘owned’. They would stay with people. Go to those who fed them or treated them well. But they claimed their humans, not the other way around.

Even if that weren’t the case, most of his wielders had been…not the best of people. He joked about Hawk Moth and didn’t take his akumas seriously because honestly, how could he? It was ultimately the equivalent of a child playing with toys in comparison to some of the things he had been forced to do. He pitied Nooroo for his current unfortunate situation, certainly. The butterfly kwami was gentle by nature and while he wouldn’t wish such misuse on any of his brethren, Nooroo was especially sensitive. But it still said something that he found himself envying him more.

Cartoonish characters who made people burst into song or controlled birds were always preferable over serial killers, war mongers, and so-called ‘visionaries’ that saw fit to topple an entire nation to rebuild it to fit their ideals.

Atlantis was a joke. The Leaning Tower was an accident. The dinosaurs…well, those jerks actually had it coming. But still, each incident was almost minimal compared to the acts caused by some of the people he had been unfortunate enough to be discovered by over the millennia. It was part of why he played up his destructive and cat-like tendencies for the monks when he’d finally been retrieved, if only in hopes that they’d seal him up so he’d be left alone for a few centuries and just not have to deal with any of it.

There was a part of him that questioned Fu’s wisdom in sending him of all the kwamis out to face Hawk Moth. Especially when his power was one of the two that the villain was specifically after.

Ladybug made sense. Tikki was practically built for purifying, healing people, and undoing damage. Like a cosmic reset-button that allowed the akuma battles to be a temporary disruption of the norm rather than a literal matter of life and death. And sure, Tikki was always willing to be useful.

But Plagg had wanted to sleep. He had wanted to be left alone. He wanted to NOT be reminded of things he really REALLY wanted to forget. And he couldn’t even have that.

Cheese was a nice distraction from these darker thoughts—as well as part of the reason he demanded it so often since he knew he had a chosen who could manage it. Yet strangely enough, his chosen had also started to become a good distraction in his own way. An annoying one at times, sure. But a good one. It was why he even put up with listening to the kid waxing poetic about Ladybug. That plus the realization that the Ladybug he was crazy about was actually his little girlfriend who was secretly just as crazy about him?

Gold. Pure gold. It was like a movie that practically wrote itself!

At this point, he was honestly just waiting for the day the two finally had the big reveal for themselves just so he could imprint their expressions in his mind for the next century. Maybe even millennium. His only wish was that he would have a camera when it happened that he could show the rest of the kwamis.

Plus he knew Tikki would love it, even if she would lecture him for it.

Still…

Adrien was a good kid. He regretted not being able to trust him fully because he was at least somewhat certain that the boy wouldn’t follow in those ever darkened footsteps of his predecessors, but…

He sighed internally.

Plagg liked Adrien, he really did. But Adrien was young and immature in a lot of ways. Sure, he was a hero now. But would he stay that way? The future was always left to be determined. There had been a lot of Black Cats before Adrien Agreste. Too many that had gotten his hopes up only to let him down in the end.

Maybe that was why he worried so much for his current holder. The way that Adrien opened up to him so quickly and easily was less a testament of their bond and more indicative of his desperation just to have someone he could talk to.

Plagg couldn’t help but pity the kid. It was also why he didn’t try to fight the way the kid started to grow on him, either. Even despite the puns. And the lovesickness. And his at times stupidly over the top gestures and complete disregard for his own well being that Plagg was going to break him out of mark his words!

Adrien still had a lot of growing to do, and for all that Plagg let his impulses get the better of him, he was also surprisingly patient—in this case patient enough to help Adrien grow and give any sort of nudge the boy may need to do so. Because he knew the boy had potential.

The problem was the numerous stumbling blocks that were getting in the way.

There was his father—and stars, how Plagg despised that man. Always watching but never there. The undeserving focus of a completely one-sided relationship. If Adrien’s passivity and other “quirks” were signs, the fact that the nightmare Sandboy conjured for Adrien was a cage was practically glowing neon.

There were also the other girls who kept clinging to him, giving his boy the impression that he was not allowed to have personal boundaries. That not making other people upset mattered more than making himself heard when they did something to make him uncomfortable.

There was the overfilled schedule that stole away the precious little time Adrien would have to find himself and just enjoy life before it was over all too quickly. Humans were such short-lived creatures, after all…

There were the regular akuma battles. And Hawk Moth. The constant danger they and Paris as a whole were constantly in.

And then there was this latest upset…Marinette’s “disappearance”.

It was…strange. He honestly didn’t know what to think.

Plagg had known that Marinette was Ladybug since Dark Owl. He’d gotten a good long laugh out of it, too. Later. Much later. Couldn’t let Adrien in on the joke too soon, after all.

Watching those two dance around each other became a whole new form of entertainment that it took everything he had at times to not burst out into uncontrollable fits of laughter.

It also had the other side effect of making him want to bang his head against a wall most days because his current wielder was so oblivious it was downright painful at times. It hurt when he watched the kid be so blind to how much she adored him. And then there were the instances where she all but TOLD him—gaah! He was starting to understand why humans loved romantic tripe so much. It wasn’t the ooey-gooey kiss-fests, it was the anticipation of when the people involved would finally get their heads straight so they could bonk lips the right way.

And wasn’t it just hilarious that both his kid and Tikki’s were pretty much their own rivals? Even their own worst enemies in keeping them from getting together? Well, hilarious and frustrating. It really depended on the day and the antics involved.

Of course, the other problem was that the antics involved had started to be other people.

Chloe was one thing. Adrien wasn’t interested but they were at least friends. Whatever feelings of affection she had could be tapered off and tempered with time. She would likely even try to support Adrien more if she knew. And the girl had…at least somewhat started to grow up. Ladybug was a surprisingly big help with that, given how much her civilian self was often on the receiving end of the other girl’s cruelty.

Kagami was…interesting. But really little better in the long run. Less antagonistic, sure. Not nearly as harsh or cruel. But she was just as aggressive and controlling, from her demands for a duel with Adrien and insistence on winning when they first met to talking over Adrien at the ice rink. He would grant that she at least respected him and didn’t infringe on his personal space, but she still saw his passivity for what it was and took it upon herself to step in on his behalf—or what she thought was his behalf at any rate. Adrien already had enough of that in his life. What he needed wasn’t someone to make his decisions for him, it was someone who would encourage him to make his own.

That was why he had been rooting for Marinette. Even if she hadn’t turned out to be Tikki’s newest bug, she would be good for him. She had dreams about him, certainly, but any of her plans seemed to at least involve taking his kid’s feelings into account. Whatever lengths she went to in order to get his attention were less about pushing him to go her way and more about just trying to push for a chance to go the same way together. It was endearing. A little cringy at times, but overall endearing. And it had seemed they were finally making progress after the Heroes Day incident. 

But then there was Lila…

Oh, he had a few choice words for Adrien after the whole Volpina incident. Blindly following the new hero over his own partner? Overlooking how downright impractical it was for her to take out a meteor that literally NOBODY saw coming before it reached the earth and was closing in on the city? Ignoring his partner’s very valid suspicions and writing her off as jealous for not wanting to trust a supposed ‘hero’ they only just met? FLIRTING WITH HER?!

Ladybug’s behavior towards Lila may have been harsh, but Adrien damn well KNEW better than to immediately take her word at face value. He’s been around socialites and the power-hungry ‘elite’ for Tikki’s sake! Best friends with Ladybug? Fox Miraculous? Descendant of the Fox user? Adrien actually KNEW Ladybug and about the Miraculous! How was he actually BUYING any of that? How did he not clue in that Lila was the reason his book was missing? And the way he looked so disappointed when Ladybug revealed the truth—to the point of being more upset with Ladybug for outing the girl rather than the girl for lying in the first place?

This kid was too kind and trusting for his own good. And it was probably going to be the death of Plagg just from the sheer stress of it all. Honestly, he could feel his fur thinning out because of it.

It seemed like it was a short lived problem since the girl left soon after. But then she came back. And worse than ever, being akumatized at least twice more since then. One of which involved putting Adrien in an enchanted sleep that Plagg only just got to avoid kissing him out of. The other which involved witnessing Adrien…disappearing in a way that Plagg was still having to try very VERY hard not to think about at risk of revisiting other less than pleasant memories thankyouverymuch!

It made one thing clear: Lila wasn’t just a pest. She was a threat. One he really wanted to see gone.

So it was really no surprise that Plagg wasn’t happy about his kid choosing the ‘moral high road’ in this situation, since the poor idiot didn’t understand what the high road was even supposed to be. It was so easy for him to say, especially since Adrien wasn’t the one really being affected by the lies.

No, it was clearly Marinette being affected, and she was also the one Lila seemed to have it out for since she, at least, was willing to call the other girl out on her lies. Adrien thought that staying quiet and keeping his head down was the best option because for him, that’s how any conflict was resolved. It was a bad habit that Plagg had been hoping to break him out of, but that progress was slow going. His passivity was too strong and only bolstered by his relentless optimism and belief in others as well as the way that others would tend to push him down.

Plagg sighed. The kid just didn’t get it. This class of serial liar and manipulator couldn’t be dealt with by letting her continue unopposed.

So he understood at least why the Ladybug girl had been so upset. And he even sympathized with her, he truly did. But she was the sort of person to meet a challenge head on, and if an attempt failed, she simply looked for another way to deal with it. She didn’t bow her head. She didn’t turn tail and run away. And though there was conflict and it was having an effect on her, things were hardly so bad as to warrant an extreme reaction.

Like say, having her civilian self “disappear”.

If he hadn’t known she was Ladybug, he would be confused. But with that knowledge of her identity…he was only more confused. He didn’t understand why she was pretending to be missing.

Had something happened?

Was she in danger?

Did someone discover her identity?

Sure, maybe being Ladybug full time might be more productive, but given how protective she was over her civilian life, he couldn’t see her simply giving it up if she didn’t have to.

He didn’t buy for a minute that she would simply pull a vanishing act for the hell of it, even if her classmates were being mind-numbingly stupid. He knew he’d said before that these people were blind, but to just automatically accept all those tales was sheer lunacy! They certainly deserved some sort of reprimand, but not by making them think their friend might be dead! And even if they did, she would never do it to them.

The girl took her role as Ladybug seriously. Other than a few missteps, she treated the title with all the caution and importance that it warranted. He’d met her in person as himself, and even had the chance to work with her. He could understand why Tikki felt it justifiable to reveal Fu to her. And as much as he wanted to think well of his kid, he couldn’t deny that of the two of them, she was the better suited for handling the secret and bearing the responsibility that came with it.

So what happened?

When he first discovered she was still out and about as Ladybug after hearing that initial report, he wanted to forcefully end the transformation and confront her outright. He even considered slipping away when Adrien was busy and tracking her down to get some answers. Because Plagg may be patient, but he really needed an explanation for this.

He stopped, feeling that tingling energy of a Cataclysm waiting to happen and realizing that he was getting worked up again. He took a breath and forced himself to calm.

Observe first, Plagg reminded himself. Stalk your target. Watch. Wait. Gather information before making a move. Something had to have happened to warrant such a drastic change. He needed to find out what was going on.

And if she was doing this for giggles?

They would be having words.

[imthepunchlord]

The black cat needs to be selfless and self sacrifing. Like all the time he let the Akuma hit him knowing that if they'll hit ladybug they're doomed (also, because he loves her).

I can agree about needing to be selfless and self sacrificing (when options are very limited and no other way around), but I find being aware and being able to think is more needed for the Cat holder. Adrien being self sacrificing I don’t see that as a strength, since a lot of those times, he could’ve saved LB and himself if he did more than just react, which just left LB by herself. Take the big two: 

Dark Cupid, he could’ve dropped them both down, avoiding the arrow. It would be that easy and there would be no Chat teaming up with Dark Cupid to come after LB. That was a pointless sacrifice. There’s also the issue that he wanted to confess to her while there was an akuma flying around, but that’s salt for another day. 

Timebreaker, he could’ve taken his staff to knock the akuma off her feet, or roll him and LB away. There would be no her seeing her partner die in front of her, and they could’ve stopped Timebreaker that first time around. 

For both, taking the blow for her was a reckless and thoughtless sacrifice that didn’t have to come out that way and it leaves her on her own without a partner to watch her back and help her. Between being recklessly sacrificing or able to think and come up with a solution to save both of them, I rather the latter. Self sacrificing should be saved for times when there’s no other way around it, when there’s little chance of success in other options, and its the only way. 

What Adrien does is pointless sacrifices that could’ve been avoided if he thought them through. He doesn’t, he just reacts, and often, reacts stupidly. Like, take Zombizou, we’ve seen him jump great heights while carrying someone, but after LB jumps over a crowd, he’s carrying Chloe, instead of jumping over the crowd, he tosses Chloe over them. Another pointless sacrifice. 

Chameleon is also another pointless sacrifice. He could’ve done anything else to help LB avoid that kiss. 

Adrien makes pointless and stupid sacrifices and didn’t need to happen, and wouldn’t have left his partner on her own to deal with the aftermath. Its not a strength in Adrien and shouldn’t be presented as one. 

[damelicorne]

Operation: Pink Cupid (chapter 4)

Hello @cataclysme-noire! Here’s the 4th chapter of your gift for the Valentine’s Day Gift Exchange of the ML Ship Fleet on Discord @mlshipfleet.

First chapter | Previous chapter | AO3 | Next chapter

Alya thought she knew Marinette perfectly well. After talking with Nino, she still thought so. Maybe did she slightly doubt, though. She knew she couldn't openly ask her friend for the truth on that particular topic, but was sure that she eventually would discover the truth. Marinette couldn't be better at hiding a secret than Alya at discovering it, could she?

She began softly, asking Marinette not-so-innocent questions at different moments. Without any success. She also tried with Ladybug, as the Ladyblogger and one time as Rena Rouge. Marinette nor Ladybug ever fell for any of her tricks, and the super heroine even grew slightly suspicious.

Eventually, the only thing Alya knew for sure was that either Marinette wasn't Ladybug, either she knew how to protect her secret identity. And, well... As tempting as the first hypothesis could be... It wasn't entirely realistic. Apart from Nino's clues, Alya now knew for sure that Marinette was hiding a secret. Which one? A little or a big one? She wasn't sure. But she had to carry on and discover the truth. Especially since time was running out, Valentine's Day arriving far too fast for her sake.

Alya complained to Nino about how she could never get her best friend to betray her secret identity. He didn't understand why his girlfriend wouldn't want to settle for what she had already discovered. But the journalist-to-be reminded him she needed proofs, real proofs. Especially on a topic as touchy as this one. What if they were wrong?

None of Alya's attempts was successful, adding to her dismay. But eventually, she was highly rewarded. Not the way she thought, though.

During an especially rough akuma attack, Carapace got sent far away by Hawkmoth's latest victim. When he finally came back, the battle was over, Chat Noir had left and Rena Rouge had already given her Miraculous back to Ladybug.

Therefore, when he gave the turtle Miraculous back, Nino was alone with the super heroine, whose earrings were loudly bipping. Relieved that Alya wasn't around any more, and stressed by her own Miraculous, Ladybug didn't pay enough attention when she answered Nino. She didn't even notice he was way too cool to be innocent.

When he met his girlfriend after that, he had a really wide smile. He thought about teasing her. But he was way too excited for such a thing.

"Hey Alya, guess what? I was right! Your ships aren't two, there's only one!" She grinned widely.

"Yes! Oh my gosh! I knew it! We must sail it, Nino! They'll be so happy together! You can't say no, now!" He shrugged. He knew it. How could he stop his girlfriend, stop her now? Besides, he didn't really want to stop her. He wanted their friends to discover that they loved each other, nearly as much as Alya did. And he wanted to help if he could.

But how could they actually help sailing the Adrinette-Ladynoir ship? A reveal between the two lovebirds would be necessary, or they'd keep on being stuck in their love square like, forever. But it would be terribly difficult for Alya and Nino to get Marinette and Adrien to discover the truth without them knowing where it came from. None of them wanted to suffer the wrath of Ladybug, if not Chat Noir's! Or even worse : the wrath of their best friends!

There were two days left before Valentine's day. Only two little days. Coming up with a good plan in so little time would be really hard... As usual, Alya was highly confident, when Nino doubted more and more. She was definitely sure that Operation Pink Cupid would succeed. How and when were just mere details, to her.

How could they help their best friends and partners figure each other's identity? The only point on which they agreed was that Marinette and Adrien should never know Alya and Nino were behind it. It made their mission harder, but far more secure.

Alya suggested creating a fake akuma with Rena Rouge's illusion power. But Nino pointed that she had her Miraculous only when Ladybug gave it to her.

Nino suggested helping Adrien realizing his feelings towards Marinette, and helping Ladybug realizing her feelings towards Chat Noir. Alya laughed. That was exactly what they had tried to do since day one of Operation Pink Cupid... without any success, most obviously...

Alya suggested making them kiss under the mistletoe. Nino pointed out that it was no longer seasonal at all. And honestly, he didn't think a kiss would do anything to change things between the two lovebirds. They were far too stubborn. They were definitely and desperately blind to half their feelings.

Alya also suggested she met Marinette somewhere, such as the bowling alley, while Nino would ask Adrien to meet him at the same place. Finally, the two of them would warn their friends that they would be late. Forcing Marinette and Adrien to spend time together. A pleasant moment for both of them, who would have had fun together while waiting for Alya and Nino to come. But Nino pointed out it wouldn't help Operation Pink Cupid any more than his own idea of making them figure out their feelings. Besides, Marinette had already been alone with Adrien in the past, without any change whatsoever.

Alya then imagined Ladybug saving Adrien. Since they were so much in love, they  would definitely take the chance to kiss each other. Nino pointed out that it was almost impossible for Alya and him to cause such a situation, and that, in any case, Ladybug and Adrien would definitely not dare kissing anyway. Ladybug had already saved Adrien now and then, without any incidence on their relationship.

As hard as it would be to get their friends to aknowledge their true identities, Nino knew they wouldn't change their minds without discovering the truth.

Alya suggested leaving clues lying around, so Marinette and Adrien would solve the puzzle. Nino objected how dangerous it would be if anyone but their friends found some and guessed who the superheroes were. Way too risky.

"So. In a nutshell." started Alya after a few more ideas that led nowhere. "How do you bring together your two obtuse best friends, who love each other but stupidly don't realize it, without them noticing that you are in control, and without any unfortunate consequences? Did I forget anything?" Nino sighed in disappointment. Alya had summed it up perfectly. They were doomed.

Valentine's day finally arrived. And a new akuma, along with it. A very difficult, themed akuma. Ladybug gave her friends Trixx and Wayzz, before leaving in a hurry. She didn't pay attention to the glance Alya and Nino exchanged.

In his lair, Hawmoth was exulting. He was finally about to achieve his dream...

Well, until Rena Rouge lured his champion, Carapace hit him with his shield, Chat Noir cataclysmed his weapon and Ladybug caught the akuma.

While he was howling in rage, far from the super heroes, Ladybug and Chat Noir pounded it with their partners and started leaving.

But they faced another problem. Their Miraculous were bipping so much that they needed to go and hide, but there weren't much places they could reach in time.

"Here!" Rena Rouge shouted, pointing at a door.

"I'll come and collect your Miraculous later, you two!" Ladybug told her and Carapace. She then followed Chat Noir through the door. Alas, it was a little room with no place to hide. They exchanged a worried glance. Chat Noir immediately reached for the door but, as he tried to reopen it, they heard a click, indicating the door was now locked.

He shook the doorknob several times, but it didn't work any better. Ladybug shrieked when her earrings beeped another time. Chat Noir turned back to face her.

"I'm... I'm sorry, but it seems that I can't go out... And I used my Cataclysm, sooner..." She gulped loudly, wide-eyed.

[chelleaslin]

Adrinette April Day 12- “Adrien’s Girlfriend”

@AdrinetteApril

Adrien eyes widen as he walked into school to see everyone staring at him and whispering. What was going on? He spotted Nino and Alya by the staircase worriedly talking to one another, while on their phones. He was too far away from them to hear what they were saying but their lips freaquently formed the words Adrien and Marinette a lot.

He put his head down, trying to shield himself from the stairs as he hurriedly made his way towards his friends.

About three weeks ago, Adrien, discovered his had feelings for Marinette.nhe was shocked a first but after some thought he realised they were there for awhile but because of his stupidly crush on Ladybug, he never had the chance to explore them. Around two weeks ago he told his best friend, Nino, about them he was shocked to discover that the black haired girl had feelings for him as well. Since then Nino and eventually Alya have urged him to express his feelings to Marinette but he was too afraid to do so. After pouring his heart out to Ladybug over and over again, only to be constantly rejected, he was scared. Scared that Marinette would love someone else as well, someone better then him.

“Hello?” Adrien awkwardly greeted as he walked up to the teens, trying to pry their attention away from their portable devices. The couple jumped, whipping their heads up in confusion until they spotted Adrien, whose face lit up at the attention.

Alya’s face suddenly turned absolutely murderous as she stalked towards him, Adrien flinched back in confusion and fear.

“Alya!” Nino yelped grabbing the thick haired girl and holding her back, barely containing her in place.

“I thought you had feelings for Marinette!” She growled out, glaring holes into his very soul.

“I-I do.” He stuttered out, blushing a little at admitting it out loud, dispite that fact that the two teens have already heard him say it multiple times before hand.

“Then who the hell is this?!” She yelled, shoving Nino away and pulling out her mobile as shoving it in his face.

On the screen was an online article on some silly tabloids web address. In big bold letter the story title read ‘Adrien’s Girlfriend?’ Underneath it was a massive photo of him lovingly holding hands with a pretty blonde girl, wearing matching red and white clothes.

His face blushed a dark pink in embarrassment. Oh no.

“It’s not what you think!” He blurted out quickly. Alya’s phone vibrated before a text came though, Adrien didn’t mean to read it but it was directly in front of his face and hard to miss.

Mari🌸

I told you he didn’t like me! But you had to insist and get my hopes up...

Adrien’s heart broke, Alya told her about his feelings and now this stupid article would give her the wrong idea and he couldn’t imagine the heart break she was feeling right now.

“Uh Huh, The ‘It’s not what you think’ cliché.” Alya sneered as she pulled her phone back and checking her messages. Her eyes softened as she read the message, a deep frown setting onto her features.

“It does look pretty bad, bro,” Nino piped in, standing behind Alya looking very conflicted. “Who is she?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Alya suddenly spoke up, “Marinettes heart broken..” she softly whispered, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Her name is Laura, she an Agreste model and that.” He growled, pointing to the phone Alya was clutching to her cheats, “was for a photo shoot I took 3 months ago for Fathers sweethearts line, coming out this February. She is nothing to me but a coworker I had to temporarily work with”

Alya face dropped to one of guilt as Nino looked a little shocked at his friends outburst. If Adrien was honest he was a little shocked at himself as well, he was always kind and level headed, not the type of person to lose his cool and explode like that.

“Adrien, I-“ Alya started, before being cut off.

“Don’t worry about it!”

“But-“

“The only important thing right now is finding , Marinette.” He sternly said as he turned around, where would he even start.

“Behind the biggest Oak tree, at th park near her house. It’s next to the water fountain. It’s her special spot.” Alya quietly mumbled. Adrien didn’t even thank her, he just sprinted out of the school and towards the park. Ignoring the calls of the teachers yelling at him to stop, the consequence be damned.

Marinette sighed after sending the text to Alya, she shut her phone off and sighed. The imagine of Adrien holding hands with a beautiful blonde, fresh in her mind. When she first saw it that morning she assumed it was fake, Adrien didn’t have a girlfriend, if he did he would have told them. Plus, the last few weeks, things between them have changed. Adrien, who was normally confident, had became shy around Marinette, always looking for a chance to compliment her and loosing his train of thought when gazing at her for too long. If Marinette didn’t know better, she’d say he was in love, but that was impossible, or so she thought.

Alya, bless her, had ran up to her at school one day and dragged her away from a conversation with Adrien, to talk. She informed her that Adrien had feelings for her, which she, of course, didn’t believe. Although the very thought of it made her heart swell.

Alya then explained how she knew by telling her what Nino told her, what Adrien told him.

Marinette didn’t want to believe it, she didn’t really, but a small part of her had started to hope and open up to the possibility. According to Alya they both liked eachother and knew the other person liked them, they were just too nervous to make the first move, so for about two weeks the pair have danced adorably around eachother, they become flirting-blushing messes.

Then that article came out...

Marinette sighed, throwing her head back against the tree in frustration and leaving it there.

Her ears suddenly picked up the loud sounds of sprinting footsteps and they were getting closer and closer. She opened her eyes and stiffened up, on high alert, what if it was an akuma?

Suddenly a white and blue blur appeared around the side of the oak tree before skidding to a stop.

Marinettes eyes widen a the sight of a very exhausted Adrien Agreste. His eyes wide, scanning around her before settling on her, huddled up at the roots of the tree.

“Adrien?”

He ignore her though as he suddenly dropped to his knee and cupped her freckled face with his hands.

“I love you and only you, Marinette.”

Then suddenly he was kissing her, Marinette gasped a little in surprise and tried to pull back, Adrien let go of her lips but keep their foreheads pressed together.

“But your girlfriend?”

“The only girlfriend I’m hoping to have his you.” He whispered in reply, her cheeks blushed at that. “The photo was an old photo a tabloid must have taken at Fathers new clothing line photoshoot, she’s just a model.”

Marinette felt her heart swell and her lips stretched into a smile. Adrien is single and very much so in love with her!

“I love you too!” She cried back, leaning in and capturing his lips in another sweet kiss.

[gigiree]

Frost and Candle

@mlsecretsanta​ for @sophiacrutchfeild​! You listed Chlolya as one of your preferences and boy did I get excited! Spoilers ahoy! since those were also mentioned as okay. Though its mainly on who gets the bee and fox miraculous, that’s all! Happy Holidays!

The frost creeping along the edges of her hospital window is as familiar as the cold that scrabbles deep in her chest, curling in her veins until her heart is a heavy, frozen thing.

The same sort of coldness makes her blue eyes shine a silvery blue, numbly watching the world outside softening under the swiftly clinging snow. She watches it cover everything, some flakes swirling within the golden pool of light offered by a street lamp.

Her room is filled with poinsettias, red joyful leaves looking gray in the dim light of her muted television. The show that drones on is a family Christmas special, some saccharine movie about a cold woman finding the meaning of the holiday through romance.

Chloe thinks it’s the dumbest thing. But the remote control had long since fallen behind her hospital bed and she refuses to be the girl she used to be. The girl she used to be would have pressed the nurse call button and asked the caretaker on duty to fetch the remote for her.

The girl she is now is more contemplative. Kinder and more considerate…but still just a girl.

The ugly blue hospital gown is scratchy against her skin. The sheets too slippery to stay put and keep her warm. Her left arm under her cast is starting to get itchy and uncomfortable, and the neck brace she wears is ridiculously suffocating.

She tries to take a deep breath to steady her nerves, but is then winded as a sharp pain reminds her that she’s fractured a few of her ribs.

For a moment, the frost in her melts and tears prick at the corners of her eyes. She tries to count her blessings. She looks at the silver and red balloons that had floated up to the pale ceiling. The giant get well card signed by her classmates…people she’s just beginning to call friends. The teddy bear Adrien had bought her. The macaroons Marinette had baked. The half-hearted well wishes Alya had given her.

(She feels the frost creep up a bit more. Alya had seemed angrier at her than usual. None of their usual banter had been shared. Stilted words and awkward questions. Chloe had tried to breach this wall for so long. There’d been progress before this incident. Now it seemed that too had been covered by the frost.)

The sudden ringing of bells from the television pulls her back from her loneliness. Pollen shifts a little in her sleep, her slumbering form tucked well among a pot of poinsettias.

Chloe lets a small smile curl across her face. Her loneliness isn’t entirely justified. She’d be spending Christmas in this hospital room with Pollen at least. Her father was too busy hosting a mayoral dinner for Paris’ most influential. Adrien was spending an awkward  Christmas with his father and everyone else had their own traditions to attend to.

She’s glad, somewhere deep down, that no one had stayed behind to see her in such a pathetic state. Queen Bee, reduced to a girl in a sling and wrapped up in so many bandages, hopped on painkillers. Alone.

It’s really hard not to feel sorry for yourself in a circumstance like this. Out of costume, she’d still retained the instinct of a heroine. She’d still stepped in front of Alya. Had still stupidly frozen in the face of ”the Gift Wrapper” and taken a very physical beating by a disgruntled retail worker holding an oversized, overpowered roll of wrapping paper.

There had been no time to transform, and past all the pain and tears, she could only see Alya’s blur of flaming hair whip around the corner of a building, escaping and leaving her behind. She’d felt relief as she fell into unconsciousness, dreaming of a living flame carrying her to safety in a warm embrace. She remembers the edges of long, auburn hair tickling her neck and she herself mumbling something incoherent. Then she’d woken up in this hospital room. Surrounded by her maybe-friends and a bunch of poinsettias.

She’d taken the beating thinking a Lucky Charm could heal her. Turns out Lucky Charm only works on more magical repercussions. Apparently blunt force injuries done by a roll of wrapping paper are too mundane for the universe to heal. Or so Pollen had said.

At least her face had sort of survived the debacle, with minimal bruising. Her hair had too, but if the too-little thread count pillowcase kept catching at the loose strands of her falling all around her shoulders, it wouldn’t be long before her coiffure would suffer too.

The flurries of snow that dance in the lamplight switch their tempo. A gust of wind, a brief bit of a yule fire streaming through the cold air outside catches of a few of the snowflakes along the way.

Chloe’s breathing is shallow and it’s not entirely because of her ribs. It’s partly because Rena Rouge looks heartachingly beautiful with snow dusting her red hair and eyelashes like powdered sugar. A candle flame framed by the drab blue hospital curtains. She points a claw at the window latch, and Chloe can only quietly nod to tell her it is unlocked.

Her voice refuses to rise to form any sort of solid syllable. It’s melted into a mess of sounds, all bubbling up into nonsense. She gives a quick glance and is relieved to note that Pollen is well hidden.

There’s a brief blast of cold air, the window protesting with a loud squeak as it is forcibly slid open by inhumanely strong hands.

Rena is quick to close it again, smiling apologetically as Chloe shivers. The Fox places a plain backpack down on the linoleum, it’s contents clanking noisily.

“Heard you were under the weather.” She says with forced cheer, and then seems to wince. “That wasn’t an intentional pun.”

Chloe has to bite her lip to stop the laughter from coming. Her heart races though and she lets the frost in her chest temper her words, lets it spread across her face until she feels a little like her old self. Just a little.

“The other furry is rubbing off on you. Shame. I thought you were the cooler one.” She takes a moment, before letting her syllables solidify into something that makes her feel all kinds of dumb. Too cold. Too sharp. Too proud.

“Was that a pun?” Rena asks, amusement bringing her smile up into her pretty eyes.

Chloe takes a moment, lips pursing when Rena points out her slip.

“N-no…What are you doing here anyway? Don’t you have some stupid, sappy holiday tradition to do with your family?”

Chloe feels torn between shame and victory when Rena’s brows furrow in annoyance and her pretty lips curl up in a half sneer to show little fangs.

Then, those golden eyes, widen with something too much like understanding to make Chloe feel much better. Pity is lurking behind those gorgeous lashes and it makes her feel nauseous. More so than the hospital food had earlier.

Rena shrugs, shifting her sharp gaze to the ridiculous holiday movie.

“Christmas Eve finishes early when there’s small kids in the family.”

“You…you have kids?” There’s a catch in Chloe’s voice that pitches it upwards into a comical squeak.

Rena Rouge laughs full and loud at that, her tail lashing against the back of her legs with alacrity. “N…no.” She finally manages behind her laughter. “Little sisters. Big age difference.”

“Oh…I knew that.” Chloe bites out, and sounds just petulant enough to be adorable. Her cheeks puff out in frustration, and she looks a lot bigger with her indignation filling up every corner of the bed. She moves a little to rise from the mattress, and then yelps when she overdoes it.

“Okay. Okay. Don’t get angry. It’s not good for your recovery.” Rena chides, moving forward and placing a half-restraining hand on Chloe’s good shoulder. “Go lay back down.”

Chloe doesn’t answer. Her voice has melted again with the warmth of Rena’s palm dripping through the thin hospital gown and threading under her skin. She ducks her arm out from under those fingers, remembering Rena’s earlier disdain for Queen Bee. The long, judging stares. The condescending advice to just stay with the Akuma’s victims. To be crowd control. To keep out of the way because she’s a bee who still cannot fly.

She also remembers a frigid patrol night. When it hadn’t been quite cold enough to snow, but enough to rain. And bees, as is well known, don’t do very well with the rain. Rena Rouge had held an umbrella over her with mumbled complaints. Ladybug and Chat Noir had said something about Queen Bee and Rena finally making progress in their teamwork.

Chloe regrets having knocked that umbrella away. That week she caught a cold and her complexion had turned horribly blotchy. And her heart had begun to ache something fierce whenever she thought about the look of hurt that crossed Rena’s face. Chloe knows that her love can be a horribly prickly thing. Something achy and fragile, protected by thorny words and masked by indifference. But Rena’s look had nearly burned right through it all.

The same look that’s stifled behind Rena’s stiff smile. Chloe wonders why she’s trying so hard now of all times.

“You’re grumpier than usual.”

Chloe slides deeper under the covers, mindful of her sling as she does so. She wants to hide. Those warm eyes are too emotive. Too piercing.

“Than usual? You don’t really know me.“ she pauses, bitterness swirling with another memory to silence her anger. “Why are you here? Why do you care?” She asks quietly, weariness finally getting the best of her.

Rena’s mouth moves as if she wants to work out a proper response, but her long ears flick with some realization that wracks her, and she turns with alacrity to the bag she’d placed down near the window.

Chloe watches as the other girl pulls out a thermos, two tin cups and a container of gingersnap cookies.

“No one should have to spend Christmas alone.” Rena edges in, before Chloe can protest. She places the thermos and the cups and the cookies on the spindly night stand next to the hospital bed, and proceeds to serve them both still steaming hot chocolate.

“That’s a dumb excuse.” Chloe says, but still takes the offered hot drink with her good hand. She blows on it for a bit, before glancing up at her guest, blue eyes cutting through the steam. “There are plenty of lonely, sick people in this hospital that you could have visited.”

Rena takes a moment, cupping the hot tin cup in her hand and glancing out the window at the glittering snow. “Do…do you hate me?” She asks, her eyes dimming.

“I don’t know you enough to hate or like you.”

Chloe knows it’s a lie. She loves Rena Rouge. Loves the times they compete with each other to see who can complete their rounds the fastest. Loves knowing that she can forget about guarding her back when Rena fights by her side. Ladybug and Chat Noir are great teammates, but they’re inextricably linked together. A functioning unit that hadn’t really needed a Fox and a Bee trailing after them, but had accepted them all the same.

She’s learned to rely on Rena. Learned to love the brief moments of camaraderie and the laughter and the kindness. But she failed Rena Rouge today. Couldn’t even transform to help her team.

Chloe had thought she’d been better than that. Not the girl she used to be, but not the hero she wants to be. Rena seems to be straining herself however. Trying to bridge a gap that hadn’t needed any connections to be filled in. Chloe likes keeping her loves at a distance. It makes it hurt less when they leave.

“You…I wanted to say thank you for…” Rena bites her lip, contemplating a bit before letting out a long sigh of resignation. When she looks at Chloe again, her eyes are blazing, golden candles dancing under the dim shadows of the snow drifting outside. “Thank you for trying to save me, Bee.”

Chloe’s eyes widen. The tightness in her chest is nearly unbearable and she can just barely hear Pollen’s tiny gasp beyond her heart thrumming in her ears. The pain of her injuries is dulled in the wake of this revelation.

“You…you’re Alya….you know who I am?” Chloe says, the words now too thick and solid in her throat. She feels the frost creeping down her spine, numbing her. “H-how?”

“I saw your kwami fly into your purse earlier.”

Rena seems to think a bit, before muttering something to the pendant around her neck. There’s a brilliant flash of orange light, a flare of warmth that drifts through the room, and then there is only Alya and her kwami.

Alya dressed in the tackiest sweater, one with a grinning fox tangled in sparkly Christmas lights. Alya with her hair barely contained by a red beanie. Alya with her cup of hot chocolate in hand and a nervous grimace.

“You worried me today. You were reckless.”

Chloe hides her shock in the lip of her cup, taking a sip of her drink to give herself a moment to talk. She places the tin cup on the nightstand and shares a concerned glance with Pollen.

She feels her anger steaming away with the warmth of the cocoa. She wants to cry. She wants to scream. Her former enemy, grudging friend is the same person as the girl she loves, the partner she works with.

“I did what I had to do.” Chloe says quietly, looking at the television screen. Absently noticing that the movie has reached a point of emotional climax. The cold woman is waiting at a train station. Her lover holding her hand and begging her not to go. How stupid.

Chloe won’t beg. She’s begged before. Begged her mother to stay. Begged Adrien to be only hers. Begged her father to spend time with her for the holidays. It’s never worked. She’d had to demand. She’d had to be hard to get anything.

She won’t beg. But she’s too tired to be true to her desires. Too hurt and confused.

“Thank you for the hot cocoa and cookies…but…I’m not really feeling good enough for a long discussion right now. Please g-.”

“Was it true?” Alya interrupts her, her gloved fingers tense around her little tin cup. For once, her eyes are fully trained on Chloe. Her mouth is turned down into that grimace still, but there’s something…something hopeful in her gaze that tells Chloe there’s more to this visit.

Chloe can’t play guessing games. Her head is cloudy. Her arm aching and her breathing shallow because of her taped up ribs. “You’re not making sense. Say what you want or leave. I’m tired.”

Alya takes a moment. A deep breath, before offering the injured girl an apologetic smile and plopping herself down in a nearby chair. She takes a look around the room. At the cheerful balloons and the red petals and the huge get well card. The gifts and the lonely girl small against the hospital bed.

Chloe is loved. But not loved enough to keep her company on Christmas.

The movie drones on, and they both find themselves watching the denouement. Both of the making remarks at the sappy conclusion where the protagonist moves back to the small town to be with her lover and gives up her career.

“It’s so dumb. He could have easily followed her to the city.” Alya remarks.

“I know. Or she could have set up a satellite office in that small town. There was enough of a market there for it to be a worthwhile investment.” Chloe says, the tension leaking out of her as she spends this quiet night with the person she loves…however secret that may be. It’s nice.

But something has shifted in Alya. There’s a resolve that’s finally frosted itself in her chest and as she sees the couple give one last kiss in the falling snow, her mouth tightens before she says-

“You love me.”

The sound that comes out of Chloe’s mouth sounds something like a chicken choking on a rubber duck. A high pitched squeak that hurts her ribs. She feels like she’s going to throw up her heart at any moment, her stomach tightening into a heavy weight. Her cheeks are burning and the frost in her chest has melted into a pool of water that she’s drowning in. “W-what?!”

Alya smiles carefully, kindly. Chloe is too panicky to brace herself for a rejection.

“You said it when I carried you to safety. You said you loved Rena Rouge.”

Denials. Deny. Lie. Chloe wants to run away. But Pollen cannot heal injuries that were received outside of the suit. She cannot run away. Bees don’t do well with the cold, and she finds herself absolutely chilled.

From the blurry memories of earlier this morning, when she’d been drifting into sleep, she remembers the words she’d mumbled. Syllables dug up from the snow in her thoughts.

“I…”

But Rena Rouge is the one she loves. The one who’s always by her side. The one who knows her at her best. Alya…Alya remembers who Chloe used to be. That will always be her first impression and those last an awfully long time. She cannot speak.

“Chloe…” Alya tries to offer, and startles when tears shining silver in the moonlight, drop down onto Chloe’s hospital gown. She seems horrified, pain lancing through her expression as she tries to reach for Chloe.

Chloe shifts away, sliding deeper into the covers, until the edges of her sheets come up to just under her hairline. Her golden strands spill over the pillow behind her, getting caught on her neck brace painfully, but she would rather this pain than the one crackling through her chest.

“Chlo-”

“I…you don’t have to…why are you here? I get it. I was a horrible person. I’ve been trying so hard, but you don’t…I know you can’t…I just…just…” Chloe interrupts her, listing off every possible way that this doesn’t make sense. Which is a strangely futile endeavour, when she already knows this makes so much sense.

She stifles a shriek when she feels gentle hands pull down the covers.Chloe hides her face in her hands, Pollen finally flitting from the blossoms to nuzzle against her chosen’s cheek.

She can hear Alya’s boots click against the linoleum, the soft noises farther away than before as she collects her backpack and gets ready to leave.

She’s not prepared for when warm fingers thread through the tangled locks of her hair, when warmth spreads once more from thin digits and seeps back down into the pit of her stomach to evaporate the puddle in her lungs.

She’s so tired, but Alya’s touch fills her with a new kind of nervous energy.

Alya…somehow, the revelation that she and Rena are one and the same makes a latent sort of sense. It fits nicely into the newly opened spaces of her heart, and she finds herself hurting more. But Alya is here.

Her eyes shifting into candlelight, pretty plump lips curving up into a teasing smile. Glasses reflecting Chloe’s red dimmed gaze. It could be all the fairy lights and the lantern outside, but there is a light flickering in Alya’s eyes, something marked by truth and coalescing into tears that bead over her lashes.

“I love you too. Why is that so hard to believe?”

There’s a moment…. In which Chloe takes in the startling beauty of it all. The streaming shadows of the snowflakes, moving across the pale blue sheets of her bed. The little fairy lights threaded through the poinsettia pots. The movie has ended and the after credits are accompanied by a delicate holiday song, piano notes floating through the room with alacrity.

Alya is close, closer and closer until Chloe can count the barely traceable freckles that trail down her dark skin. The few strands of of her hair that dance every time Chloe dares to breathe.

Alya’s warm hand has found its way to cradle her cheek, and her voice is gentle-

“Can I kiss you?”

Chloe can only nod, before the bells toll again. They sing, echoing the melody that drifts in her heart. This time, it’s real bells. from far across the city where Notre Dame rings in Christmas Day.

Lips slightly rough from the cold outside meet hers, tentative and warm, just like Alya’s hands. The last of the frost in her heart runs away in warm rivulets, and she finds herself giggling into the kiss. Alya’s answering grin is brilliant, and Chloe keeps it in sight as she struggles past her neck brace to press her forehead against Alya’s.

“Merry Christmas.” Alya whispers.

And Chloe can’t help but agree as her laughter is poured into another kiss.

[miracle-sham]

Instead of Dead, Become Two Dragons in Red.

| {MaribatMarch2020 — Week 1, Day 5: Transformation} |

| [Ao3 Link] | | [Masterlist Link] |

| Triggers/Warnings: Violence/Implied Violence, Animal Transformation, Explicit Language/Some Swearing, Implied/Referenced Character Death (but not really), Polyamory (not really a trigger/warning but if you don't like Polyamory then this isn't for you). |

| For Gotham vigilantes, rampaging magic-users always make for an interesting fight, that is of course, provided one doesn't get hit by any stray bolts of magic. However for Parisian heroes, it's just your typical Tuesday Akuma situation. |

| Word Count: 3232 |

==‹›==

| A/N: Hi! I'm not dead, sorry for how long I took to respond to comments, I got hit by a nasty cold then sinusitis so I lost basically all my Maribat March prep time thanks to that, so I just barely managed to finish this ficlet/oneshot for today, anyway I hope you guys enjoy, and if enough people enjoy it, I'll make a second part to this oneshot because I had to cut so much material and it'd be nice to be able to use it still. |

| If you want to be tagged in future oneshots/fics, or a specific Au, then comment or send me a DM/ask! |

| Also side note, Don't Like? Don't Read. Also also, please do not criticise any of my writing. This was written for fun and receiving criticism, even in a compliment/criticism sandwich, is the exact opposite of fun. |

==‹›==

 Zzzzt-crackle-woosh, a purplish-black bolt of unstable magic flies through the air, just barely grazing passed Dragonbug's side as she flips across the gap between two buildings. Cheerfully, she calls out “Missed again!”

 The villain, an amorphous black shadow with dripping molten gold eyes and donning a ruddy patchwork hooded robe (which suffice to say, looks suspiciously like a rip-off wizzrobe from the Legend of Zelda, that or a faceless Gregorian based cultist extra from a film or TV show), scowls furiously, “Oh fuck you! I'm trying my best here!” and blasts another bolt of purplish-black magic towards her.

 Conveniently located on the roof she just landed on, is an air vent. She cartwheels behind it and manages to dodge the bolt by a good metre or so. “Well, your best sucks and so does your aim!”

 The wizard-villain screeches in fury, “Well my aim wouldn't suck if you didn't keep moving like a goddamn Duracell bunny!”

 Dragonbug snorts. “Yeah but firstly, I'm dragon and ladybird themed, not bunny-themed; the bunny theme's already taken anyway. And secondly, where's the fun in that?”

 As soon as she says that, her earpiece crackles as Red Robin pipes up on the comms channel. “Ready to see some fireworks?”

 “Oh, you bet!” She responds, all too gleefully.

 There's a faint clink-woosh-woosh-woosh and out of the corner of her eye, Dragonbug sees a blur of a small round silver ball arcing through the air towards the wizard-villain who's quite stupidly standing in the same place. As the silver ball disappears from her view, she hears a clatter of clink-clink-clink followed by a bwoosh and a bright flash of white light. At this moment, Dragonbug is so glad the Miraculous suits protect against flashbangs of all things.

 The wizard-villain screams and once the flash of light fades, Dragonbug can see that they've fallen to their knees, in the middle of the street.

 Dragonbug frowns and eyes their form, then double-taps her comms. “Hey, is it me or does our rip-off wizzrobe-magic-cultist look somewhat unresponsive?”

 Her earpiece crackles again as Red Robin answers, and really someone should give these things a maintenance check, the crackling can be so distracting. “Our wizzrobe-magic-cultist is looking pretty unresponsive to me too. It could be a trap though because I swear I didn't use one of my knockout flashbangs.”

 She nods, despite the fact he can't see her; which upon realising this, she flushes red in embarrassment. After clearing her throat to compose herself, she tilts her head to the side. “That's concerning, unless our rip-off wizzrobe-magic-cultist is susceptible to flashes of light.” She pauses, frown deepening, “You don't think they've got epilepsy do you?”

 There's a slight rustle before Red Robin responds, “No, that's not what an epileptic seizure looks like. Again this could be a trap, or they could just be stunned. Either way, we should hurry but be careful.”

 “Right.” Dragonbug scurries over to the edge of the roof then flips her way down to the ground. As she lands, she just spots Red Robin vaulting across an overturned car. As he catches sight of her, she gives him a thumbs up, which he returns.

 Dragonbug then nods to him and he nods back, silently communicating their plan. They both start to slowly approach the wizard-villain in a pincer movement, her to the left and him to the right.

 Red Robin reaches to his bandoliers and whips out a pair of manacles. He skulks behind the wizard-villain and goes to handcuff when the wizard-villain starts cackling maniacally. The laughter is quickly followed by a forming orb of purplish-black light—the same light as the magic bolts.

 Oh, fuck! Is Dragonbug's only thought as she immediately dives at Red Robin, who's started backing away; she uses herself to try and block him from the still-forming orb. Please let the Miraculous magic protect us both! She silently begs as the orb expands exponentially, unfortunately enveloping them both completely in a fraction of a second

 The maniacal laughter is the last thing they both hear as they're violently launched backwards into an alleyway, and everything fades to black.

==‹›==

Kagami's lounging on the sofa at Tim's Nest and binging Netflix, when the red alert rings across all the comms units.

 “Shit,” Oracle falters, “Red Robin and Dragonbug are down. Dragonbug's signature has disappeared from our systems and her comms aren't responding. All Red Robin's vitals are down, his suit isn't registering any more signs of life. But I'm still getting warnings that the villain they were fighting is still active, so everyone available needs to converge on Red Robin and Dragonbug's last known location.”

 Fear immediately seizes Kagami's heart, no please, please don't be dead my loves. She double-taps her comms. “I'm suiting up as Kuro Neko, I'll be at the location in three.”

 With that said, Kagami flings herself off the sofa. She glances around the room for Plagg who's halted in his eating of cheese and giving her a sad but cryptic look. Her eyes flicker to the window and he nods almost imperceptibly.

 “Plagg, claws on.” There's a woosh as the poisonous green light washes over her, donning her in the Kuro Neko suit. She flexes her claws for a split second, tail whipping back and forth furiously, before darting over to the window and vaulting out of it.

 As soon as she's out the window, Kuro Neko extends her baton down and begins pole-vaulting her way across the rooftops and over towards where her significant others were last.

==‹›==

 When Dragonbug returns to consciousness, the first thing she notices is that she can't move, nor see, nor hear. But she can feel, and unfortunately that means she feels a strange painful pulsing throughout her entire body, as well as an excruciating aching sensation. The second thing she notices is that she's curled up on the ground and her head, or the world, is spinning somewhat. Anyway, I can safely say I'm not doing so good right about now, big ouch.

 The first of her other senses to return is her hearing. Which immediately makes her hiss in pain from the sudden cacophony seemingly coming from somewhere above her? She pauses, then realises that something's not quite right, hey wait a minute, why'd my hiss sound so weird? Something's not right, although I suppose that's kinda obvious now, but still! Oh god, what if I'm dying, or I've been body switched, or—or—or—

 Her thoughts are interrupted by a sudden scream of fury, ringing out from above. Which is good because it means Dragonbug doesn't get time to dwell on that particular string of anxious thoughts, but it's also bad because it's loud and causes her to whimper in pain from how loud it is.

 “Where the fuck are they? What the fuck did you do to them?” A voice sounding very similar to Kagami yells out.

 Wait a second, that doesn't make sense, Red Robin and I didn't call for backup, so why would Kagami suit up on her night off? Dragonbug muses to herself, brain immediately latching onto the next train of thoughts. As she muses, she slowly realises that she's starting to regain the feeling in her limbs. Which is another positive? However, the feel of said limbs, causes her mind to immediately blank and lose the train of thought. While her brain tries to figuratively perform an error message, she does finally manage to crack open her eyes, yay sight.

 It's at that moment, Dragonbug's superhero experience/training kicks in. She quickly takes stock of her surroundings and quietly thinks to herself, oh fuck.

 It looks like she's in a giant—no massive—version of Red Robin's suit. Have I been shrunk? She wonders for only a brief second as something moves, just out of the area of her view. She turns and squints at the movement. Not a second later, a roughly cat-sized red lizard shuffled into sight.

 She squeaks in surprise, then has a minute of wait what because her squeak sounded weird and very concerningly not-human-like.

 The red lizard tilts its head to the side and coos at her.

 Dragonbug glares at the lizard and tries to back away. Emphasis on tries, because as she does so, she ends up tripping over herself? Confused and extremely concerned now, she glances down and oh.

 What. The. Heckles. She slowly spins around, checking out her new form, because she's clearly no longer human. No, she's got a snout, scales, fur—well mane—, claws, a long snakelike body, and a tail. Spinning around, she catches sight of a gleaming piece of shiny silver metal. So does what anyone would in the same situation as her, and scuttles over to it to use it as a makeshift mirror.

The reflection that greets her is… frankly quite adorable but also she's now a tiny little lung/long dragon. Which to be fair, makes quite a bit of sense as she was using the dragon Miraculous and Longg is a lung dragon. Her scales are a pretty red with shimmery golden accents and her mane is a dark red-almost-black colour. Her eyes still have the golden yellow iris and sclera that the dragon Miraculous gives. And the rest of her is all done variation of the gold, brighter red, and darker red. So at least her colour palette doesn't clash. Okay, so the colour palette isn't the most pressing issue here, but also I don't know how to fix this or change back so y'know, I'd rather potentially be stuck like this permanently with a nice colour palette, than one that clashes. But also oh god please don't let this be permanent, there has to be a way to undo this!

 In her panic, Marinette doesn't notice the red lizard slinking closer to her. As it reaches her, it gently prods her with one claw; startling her badly and causing her to squeak again, loudly.

 The red lizard flinches back and Marinette realises that maybe, just maybe, that's not a random lizard. And that maybe the not-a-random-lizard is actually a drake. A European dragon that hasn't got wings. And Tim. Tim's surname is Drake. A coincidence? I think not! It's got to be Tim!

 She stares at the probably-Tim dragon and makes a chirping noise because dragons don't have the same vocal cords as humans, so she can't exactly ask him if that's him or not. A minor nuisance, to say the least.

 The red drake mimics her chirp. Then cautiously slinks up to her again.

 This close, Marinette can see that she's probably around the size of a ferret, in comparison to him being roughly the same size as a cat.

 He flops down half beside, half against her and makes a series of clicks and chirps. She can't help but to tense as he flops but as the seconds pass, she finds herself relaxing bit by bit until she's also flopped over.

 Enjoying the peaceful impromptu not-quite-a-cuddle cuddle session with one of her significant others, Marinette does try to keep an ear out for any goings-on above, just in case. But all seems well.

 That is until, not even three seconds later, the peacefulness is abruptly shattered by a cacophony of screams, yells, zaps, and loud bangs echoing shrilly from above, before ceasing just as abruptly as it started.

 However, the unexpected cacophony still manages to cause Marinette to panic. She tenses with a low whine, hunching slightly, and holds her breath. Alert and anxiously vigilant, she can't help but survey the immediate vicinity again and again and again—looking for anything she missed initially or if anything's changed.

 Tim shuffles and stumbles into a sitting position. He nudges her gently in the side of the neck with his snout. He makes a cooing noise, followed by a soft rumble—as if he were trying to imitate a cat's purr.

 It takes a few seconds, but his actions start to help calm her down. She takes in a deep breath and mentally reassesses the situation. We've been turned into tiny dragons. We're inside-slash-underneath the Red Robin suit which is on the ground. Before we woke up like this, we were battling a magic-user villain who tricked us. We didn't get time to call in backup before we got hit but it sounds like backup arrived anyway. As far as we know, no one is aware of what happened to us or that we're in-slash-under the suit. We are currently safe for now.

 As Marinette reaches the end of the reassessment, she feels much calmer. She makes a low trill-like-purr noise to signal to Tim that she's calmed down.

 He sticks his tongue out in a blep and mimics the low trill.

 Their second moment of calm is then also interrupted because apparently fate hates peace and calmness or something like that.

 “I will ask you once more, Where. Are. They?” Kuro Neko questions.

 There's a loud thump-snap, followed by the wheezing cackle of the Wizard-villain. “They're gone! Dead! Erased! Exterminated!” With its piece said, the wizard-villain continues to wheeze and cackle maniacally.

Marinette can't help but shiver in fear at the sound, barely able to squash the rising nausea.

 A harsh snap sound echoes loudly in the street and the wizard-villain starts choking wetly.

 Kuro Neko hisses something but the red robin suit muffles the words to the point of being indistinguishable.

 The minutes drag by and the only sounds of note from above, are inaudible mutterings and the clattering of handcuffs and car doors. They must've handed the wizard-villain over to the police, Marinette thinks.

 She's about to go nudge Tim to try and communicate that they probably need to go find somewhere to stash his suit and a place for them to hide until they can figure out how to turn back when a conversation between the vigilantes who arrived for backup catches her attention. Partly because of the topic, and partly because of how close the voices suddenly sound.

 “They can't be dead, Red Robin's suit is still there.” Dick—or well more like Nightwing, since he probably arrived as backup as well—stresses.

 “But Dragonbug an' her suit's gone. You'd think maybe that there'd be a little more left if just organic matter was destroyed.” Jas—Red Hood mutters, the vocal distorter in his helmet making his tone of voice sound strange.

 Or maybe that's just a side effect of getting tiny-dragon-ified, thinks Marinette, things sounding stranger. Although I've not really noticed anything bar the distorted voice sounding weird.

 “The Miraculous suits are made of magic, and anyway, Plagg says he can't feel Tikki or Longg's presence anywhere,” Kuro Neko admits, reluctantly. “If all living things in the vicinity of the orb were destroyed, then the Miraculous would have still been left behind.”

 “And how d'you know that?” Red Hood asks, sounding both genuinely curious and mildly concerned.

 There's a split second of almost icy silence before Kuro Neko responds with a clipped tone. “Akuma.”

 “Ah, o'course.” Red Hood comments, voice getting closer again. “Hey, d'you think B will want to stick the Red Robin suit in a memorial case like what he did with my Robin suit?”

 “Hood!” Nightwing exclaims in a horrified and almost scandalised tone of voice.

 Red Hood snorts.

 Marinette flinches, and so does Tim beside her, although probably not for the same reasons as her. I don't think I'll ever get used to how flippantly Red Hood jokes about his death. Even if most Parisians who've died in Akuma attacks use the same sort of gallows humour.

 There's a few seconds of silence before someone grabs the Red Robin suit and yanks it upwards, causing Tim and Marinette to tumble out of it with a series of startled squeaks and clicks.

 Red Hood is the first to respond to the situation, with an eloquent, “what the fuck.”

 Marinette glances up and sees Kuro Neko holding the Red Robin suit and looking rather shell shocked, with Red Hood and Nightwing a few steps away.

 “Oh, thank fuck they're alive.” Nightwing half mumbles, dragging a hand down his face in exasperation.

 “My loves,” Kuro Neko murmurs leaning down and scooping up Marinette and Tim, “I'm so glad you're okay.”

 They both squirm for a minute before relaxing into her arms.

 Nightwing frowns. “We should bring them back to the cave, maybe call Zatanna and Wonder Woman.”

 “To the cave then.” Kuro Neko nods, hugging Marinette and Tim carefully, making sure not to accidentally hurt or squish them.

 Marinette looks up at her significant other and bleps. She then trills, content to be held for the journey back to the Batcave.

 Tim however, wrinkles his nose and chirrups in protest, he squirms and tries to escape Kuro Neko's hold—probably wanting to return to the Nest and deal with this on his own instead.

 Kuro Neko gives Tim a deadpan stare before expertly pinching the correct pressure point to temporarily paralyse him.

 Red Hood gives her a quizzical stare.

 “Akuma, as well as kwami.” She responds, sagely.

 “Right…” He slowly mutters, shaking his head.

 Marinette can't help but burst into laughter at that, only because she's currently a ferret-sized lung dragon, the laughter comes out as a stream of trills and chirps.

 Red Hood narrows his eyes at Marinette. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, danger noodle.”

 Marinette pouts, whilst internally promising herself that revenge will be swift and pasta themed.

==‹›==

 When they finally arrive back at the Batcave. They're greeted by the sight of Batman and Robin at the Batcomputer.

 Robin turns and sneers at them. “Of course, trust Drake to pull such an attention-grabbing stunt as this.”

Marinette immediately looks up from her snuggled up position in Kuro Nell's arms and hisses at Robin; Tim however, lets out a world-weary sigh.

 “Robin.” Barks Batman, but the reprimand does nothing to quell Robin's hostility.

 Fixing a glare at Robin, Kuro Neko starts to stroke Marinette's scales like an evil villain would stroke a cat (much to Marinette's delight). “Need I remind you, how you hesitated upon hearing Oracle inform us that Red Robin's suit ceased reading any signs of life.”

 “That was not hesitation! I was merely preparing for Grayson or Fatgirl to become hysterical in their distress.” Retorts Robin, who then stalks away, scowling and red-faced.

 Nightwing dithers between going after him or staying to check on Tim and Marinette.

 Kuro Neko shakes her head. “Go after him, Marinette and Tim will be fine without you hovering like a mother hen.”

 Nightwing flashes her a grateful smile and scampers after Robin.

 Kuro Neko then heads over to the medical bay and gently plonks the two dragons onto a cot. “Batman, I believe we will need to do as Nightwing suggested earlier, and call Zatanna and Wonder Woman. As this is a magic situation and I am not as skilled or knowledgeable in regards to magic as my love is.”

 “Hhrrm,” Batman growls, already calling up the Watchtower.

 Kuro Neko smiles softly as she glances down at her significant others, eyes twinkling with mirth. “Let's hope they arrive soon, otherwise who knows what sort of trouble you two could get into.” She winks.

 Marinette chirps, tail flicking side to side eagerly. Whilst Tim perks up slightly and tilts his head to the side, mind probably racing with hundreds of pranks and shenanigans they could pull off whilst in dragon form.

==‹›==

| Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this little oneshot! Comments, likes, and reblogs are much appreciated! |

| @maribat-march2020 | | @vixen-uchiha |

[real-fakedoors]

under leaves so green - Chapter 5 - Miraculous Ladybug

After the Dupain-Cheng family purchases a flower shop around the block from the Agreste mansion, Chat Noir frequents the spot in search of company from the manager-but-not-really Marinette. Beneath the mask, Adrien starts to struggle with how cute she looks in that green apron. (AKA: the not-really flower shop AU where basically everything is the same, but Marinette is extra stressed by her job and Adrien tries to be supportive)

Cross-posted on AO3 and FF.net

Chapter 5: Lucky Little Lantanas In which Alya questions Hawk Moth's activity, Nino is a good sport, Marinette accepts her insanity, and Adrien makes a sale.

Growing up, Marinette had a lot to be thankful for. She was healthy, studious, and she tried everyday to embody the manners bestowed upon her by her loving parents. They were in a happy marriage, which was rare these days. With a every part of her heart, Marinette loved her friends, fashion, and despite some frustrations, her flowers, too. Never was there someone the Dupain-Cheng’s wouldn’t go out of their way to help if they could, and the family’s only daughter was no exception. She was compassionate, giving, thoughtful and, she liked to think, humble, too.

That being said, there were some things Marinette allowed herself to be proud of, and even the most modest bone in her body would tingle at the call.

One of those things happened to be patience.

It was being tested, right now, and she was flipping between being madly in love and succumbing to true, straight-jacketed madness.

“Mmm,” Marinette hummed into a large slice of her favorite veggie pizza, using the food to keep her tolerance in check.

“Okay, okay, here’s another one –” Adrien began, earning him a groan all around.

Between this boy and Chat’s antics, Marinette felt deserving of a medal.

He pushed on, obstinate against their collective disapproval. “Why did the cell phone go to the optometrist?”

Silence.

“C’mon,” he looked around, almost bouncing from excitement. Nino mentioned he had coffee today, and oh boy, did the caffeine hit him.

They were seated at small stone table, huddled around a pizza box, laughing and sighing to the sounds of summer. To Marinette’s immediate right was Alya, on her phone, texting or blogging some secret goldmine of information, no doubt, and beside her was Nino, behaving just about as indulgently as Marinette, savoring each slice. That left Adrien, occupying the seat to Marinette’s left. He had accepted one piece in good graces, but otherwise merely feasted on the company.

“I don’t know, man,” Nino eventually conceded. “Because he wished he looked this good in glasses?”

Marinette covered her mouth to giggle, watching Nino use his hands to present Alya like she was Miss France. The girl in question smirked but continued to type into her phone.

“No,” Adrien shook his head. He had clearly given up on Alya’s participation, so there was only one person remaining to antagonize.

A halo of blonde hair sidled up beside her, brushing Marinette’s arm against his own. He was grinning just about as stupidly as Chat did sometimes, green eyes dancing as he tempted her to indulge in his horrible humor.

Marinette wrinkled her nose. “Um… something about service carriers, maybe?”

Adrien sighed and shook his head, but leaned close so he could whisper the answer to his terrible riddle into her ear.

“He lost his contacts.”

How could someone so pure, so kind, and so smart be such a…

“Dork.” Marinette snickered and shook her head. “Very funny.”

It was a joke bad enough that she might expect it from her partner, but who knew? All it took was a little caffeine to turn Adrien into a total dork, too.

Adrien, still concerning close, slouched over upper-body on the table. His head was still turned in Marinette’s direction, and she felt her cheeks grow ever warmer despite the darkening clouds that rolled in above.

He presented an angelic pout. “At least you appreciate my comedy, Marinette. Nino will hardly even humor me anymore.”

The girl had to bite her lip to keep herself from sighing. Was she really starting to enjoy the puns, or was the speaker just that charming? She patted Adrien’s hand on the table in comfort but met eyes with Nino.

“It’s a thankless job,” she offered solemnly, and Adrien beamed. He rather didn’t mind or didn’t notice the tiny jab at his taste in comedy.

In truth, Marinette didn’t mind. She and Adrien had grown closer, their conversations more natural and less awkward with time, but this was a more playful side of him than even she was used to. Chat must have worn her nerves down over the years for blondes with budding smiles, because she couldn’t be the one to damper Adrien’s pure, caffeine-fueled mood.

Alya looked up from her cell phone at that point and claimed the final piece of pizza, her mind clearly on other things.

“I’m convinced there’s something going on with Hawk Moth,” she paused to take a bite, and Adrien’s attention moved to the reporter-to-be. Alya’s eyes flickered down at the table in their direction, and Marinette felt her stomach flip. Her hand was still softly cupping Adrien’s in the earlier gesture of comfort, and rather he didn’t mind, or hadn’t noticed.

Nothing ever escaping Alya’s trained, investigative eyes, and she smirked knowingly at Marinette.  She gulped and tried to focus on her friend, but the jackhammer pounding within her ribs was fairly distracting.

Should she pull away? Maybe… maybe he wanted her hand to stay there?

“No akumas in 12 days?” Alya continued after a brief moment of silence. “That’s the longest break in almost two years. I wonder if Ladybug and Chat Noir, you know,” she glanced over at Nino, who was listening with interest. “Finished him off?”

Adrien grimaced and adjusted his slouch, and his hand stiffened slightly under Marinette’s.

Ah. He had just been listening to Alya and just realized what I was doing.

This, her heart pined. This is why you don’t hope.

Just as her fingers started to pull away, a tense grip squeezed her hand. Adrien’s fingers were soft but steady, and he continued to hold her hand in place.

Eyes wide, Marinette was glad at that moment for Hawk Moth’s conspicuous absence, because he probably could have akumatized all of Paris and she wouldn’t have been able to get up and interrupt this moment.

“I doubt it,” Adrien eventually offered, and Nino nodded seriously.

“Yeah, I mean, don’t you think it would have been a big public thing if they did?”

Alya’s brow furrowed. “Maybe. I mean, of course I hope that’s the case for the sake of the blog. But…” she paused, tapping her chin as she put her phone away.

“We don’t know much about Hawk Moth, still. Who knows if he’s the ‘you’ll have to kill me if you want to defeat me’ type? I have hard time imagining Chat Noir coming to the press saying he and Ladybug murdered someone.”

Marinette started coughing on her final bite of crust, having inhaled too sharply at Alya’s gruesome suggestion. To be fair, Nino and Adrien looked almost as horrified, but everyone’s attention turned towards the sputtering girl.

Adrien patted her back lightly as she turned away, trying not to hack all over the group, and Ayla threw her a bottle of water.

She drank greedily, liquid mercy releasing her from the rasping of stress within her windpipe.

“Okay, that’s a little unfair,” Nino pointed out as Marinette massaged her chest and thanked Adrien for his comfort. “I mean, even if that did happen, in theory, I don’t think people would see it as ‘murder.’ This is Hawk Moth we’re talking about.”

It was a minute change, but Marinette noticed Adrien tense at the suggestion, a slight dip in his brow, a shift of his jaw. She probably wouldn’t be able to notice such a subtle shift on anyone else, but she had memorized just about every angle of this boy’s face. This was an expression he seldom wore.

Alya was frowning. “Don’t get me wrong. I don’t like the idea either, but there was a discussion post about it on the community Reddit about it, and now it’s kind of stuck in my head. Like, I would never frame it like that if I were reporting on it, but I’m one person. There are just as many people out there who would dig their talons into either one of them - Ladybug or Chat Noir - just for their fifteen seconds of fame.”

“Ugh.” Marinette’s face was twisted in disgust. “I don’t know what’s wrong with people. Even if it ever came down to something like that, which I highly doubt anyways, why would people go on and villainize them? I mean, take Chat Noir for example. - he’s sweet and brave, and how many days and nights has he spent defending those same people? Just for them to turn their back the second it’s convenient?”

They all looked at her for an extended pause, clearly a little surprised that she came in with such a strong opinion. Marinette did not back down, however, face set firm as she met each of their eyes.

Well, she may have wavered just a little when she looked to her left, still plenty aware that Adrien was still sitting quite close. During her coughing fit, their hands seperated, but he had angled his seat to be almost directly beside her.

His green eyes were fixed to her face, his brow suggesting confusion but the pools of emerald that were central to his features were sparkling entirely with admiration.

Marinette nodded seriously at him, as if answering an unspoken call. “Chat Noir would never   hurt someone like that. And if something terrible happened that forced his or Ladybug’s hand, I’m sure they would be honest about it.”

Eventually, Alya sighed and shook her head. “Ya’ll are probably right, I don’t know why this has been bothering me all day. I think I’m just on edge, since it’s been so long it’s bound to happen soon? Let’s forget about it.”

Marinette had to drag her eyes away from Adrien’s own, wondering desperately what he might be thinking about. He was looking at her strangely, and it was making her feel self-conscious, so she felt compelled to get up.

Slowly, she stood from her rickety chair and began to gather their napkins and the greasy remainders of their lunch. The others began to follow suit, taking her hint that break time was over.

“Besides,” Nino said in a lighter tone. “Isn’t it more likely that, I dunno, there’s just no one to akumatize when it’s summer? There’s no one made miserable by having to see Chloe throw a fit every morning at school over her Adrikins.”

The bespeckled boy lolled himself all over Adrien with sickening sweetness to demonstrate, causing Alya and Marinette to laugh heartily. Adrien just gave Nino an awkward pat-pat and caught eyes with Alya.

“This is what you meant by bromance, isn’t it?”

“Yep,” she chirped, and Marinette giggled even harder as the boys began to untangle themselves.

“It was nice of you all to stop by, but I should probably get back to work,” Marinette said as she stretched her arms out and over her head, but there was a sickening pop that caught all their attention.

“Oh, god,” Marinette squeezed her eyes together as her right arm gripped desperately at her left shoulder, doubling over in the sudden throbbing pressure.The general soreness from her earlier tumble had faded since she had remained sedentary for the last half hour, but whatever she had just done reignited the sharp pain that flared castrated her nerve-endings. It was like an airlock released, inviting a crushing force against her joint from all sides, smashing her bones together.

“Marinette!” Alya and Adrien called in unison, each of them rushing to one side.

She dropped the garbage uselessly onto the ground, and some of it caught in the growing  there wind accompanying the afternoon storm, Nino moved to capture it all before it blew away.

“Marinette, what happened?” Alya tried to rub comforting circles against her lower back.

With grit teeth, Marinette slowly regained her posture but did not release her arm. “I just, ugh, I think I dislocated my shoulder? Maybe? It’s never happened before so I don’t know what that’s supposed to be like.”

Adrien pursed his lips. “Slowly try to lower your arm to your side, but stop if it hurts. Okay?”

Marinette felt guilty for making them worry, Nino rejoining their huddle as she tried to comply with Adrien’s suggestion.

She made it about three-fourths of the way before her grimace turned into a full scowl, wincing at the sensation. Alya had gone into full “World-War I nurse in the trenches” mode, brushing the hair from Marinette’s eyes as the girl hissed through her teeth, walking her towards the back of the store and barking orders to the boys.

“I’m calling your parents, Marinette. You can’t work like this.”

“What? No!” She shot up a little straighter, gnashing her teeth together in an effort to keep a straight face. “They can’t just leave the bakery, and the delivery guy is coming in a few hours. I need to finish the - ah,” she flinched as Alya made her to sit at the desk.

Adrien appeared beside her, kneeling so they were almost at eye-level. “Alya’s right, Marinette. If it’s dislocated, you’ll hurt yourself worse if you try to work through it.”

Nino crossed his arms, standing next to his girlfriend. “Yeah, seriously, ‘Nette. At least let Alya call your parents and tell them what happened.”

Sucking on her teeth, Marinette was prepared to protest but Alya was already walking out the back, phone at her ear.

She sighed, defeated.

“Well, fine. Can one of you go take the sign off the front door and unlock it? If there’s anyone waiting, tell them I’ll be just a minute.”

Nino straightened and saluted, receiving his marching orders with a good-humor about him. Marinette smiled in appreciation as he went, but she could feel another, more urgent set of eye’s studying her face.

“I’m sure I can sleep it off, like Alya said, I can take a hit or two.”

Marinette’s voice was an impressive masque of reassurance, but with a quick glimpse at Adrien, it was evident that he wasn’t convinced. She felt her cheeks burn under his gaze, and she glared daggers at the floor in frustration.

“Marinette?” Adrien called, voice serious. The girl continued to study her shoes, preferring not to look at him. Adrien decidedly took that option away from her, needing her to hear him. He lifted Marinette’s chin, turning her porcelain features with just the lightest touch towards him. Marinette could feel her skin tingle along her neck, his hands like electricity - her pain was utterly forgotten for a moment.

“You’re working yourself too hard,” he murmured, eyes never leaving her face. “Just relax for a few minutes. Okay?”

She nodded mutely, smiling.

In fairness, Marinette would have protested if her voice hadn’t evaporated. He was so close, and she could smell his shampoo, or cologne, or whatever his natural scent was that made her head dizzy. His gaze was endless and pure, and it simultaneously tore down all of her will only to rebuild it twice as strong, the structure sturdier with his reassurance. The moment was oddly intimate, to be only inches away, both their faces battling a blush, sincerity coloring every gesture. The whole moment passed a beat later, but he was like a rush in her bloodstream. Intoxicating, comfortable - he took the edge off and made her feel more herself.

He smiled back.

“Okay,” a crisp voice announced, Alya entering from the courtyard. Adrien leaned away in time with the bell, and Nino returned to the back before the door even closed behind Alya.

“Your parents said you’re to stop working right away. Your mom is coming to take over for the rest of the day, but…” She hesitated, which made the others a little anxious. “She’ll be a little bit. Apparently there’s something going on with a ‘caterer in crisis,’ so she won’t be here for about two hours. Also, your dad says stop being stupid and stubborn.” She paused, face severe. “Okay, I might have taken some creative license there, but the sentiment was basically the same.”

Marinette frowned. “What time is it?”

“Um, fifteen ‘til one,” Nino answered.

“By the time Maman gets here…” She did a quick calculation in her head. It would be 2:45 when her mother showed up. That left fifteen minutes to complete eleven more orders, only six of which were started. It was hopeless; Marinette couldn’t even pull that off, and she was superior to her mother when it came to all things botanical.

“Ugh…” she glared at the pile of unfinished work, kicking herself for letting this happen. Even if Marinette couldn’t blame herself for the fall, which she was already set on doing, the fault for slacking was totally her own.

Above her head, Alya and Nino looked ruefully at one another, moving towards the desk where Adrien still knelt, only looking at the girl seated there.

“Hmm…” The blond hummed through the tension, tapping fingers along his knee. Marinette, against her better judgement, let herself look his way again - now it was he who was glaring at the ground, though.

“What if we helped you until your Mom shows up? We could just do the orders and run the register.”

“Oh, no, I can’t ask that of -- ”

Alya wasn’t even going to let her finish.

“That’s a great idea! Not bad, blondie.” They grinned at each other. “Marinette, just tell us what to do.”

No way - that would be beyond unfair to them. They had come today to spend leisure time, Marinette wouldn’t put them to work. These were her friends, and this was her problem.

She leaned back and adjusted her apron.

“No, guys. This really feels like something I should take responsibility for. I can call Dan our delivery guy and explain -”

Nino looked skeptical and lowered himself to a crouch, his arms extending over his knees. “C’mon, ‘Nette. You literally help everyone all the time - I probably owe you times a thousand by now. Put us to work.”

Biting her lip, Marinette appraised the three before her, taking care to linger on each of their faces. Each one wore a smile, and their expressions did not hold an ounce of contempt. So why did it make the pit in her stomach twist ever the more shamefully?

“But if you guys hadn’t been here and I fell, I’d still have to… I can’t accept, I’m sorry.” She was embarrassed, the urge to cry clasping down on her throat. Why? Why couldn’t she get it together?

Alya sighed slowly and opened her mouth to argue, but Adrien spoke first. “Well, fortunately, that’s only a what if. It doesn’t change anything right now, and we’re here, and you’re hurt. You could see it as really bad luck that you fell, or that you’re just really lucky that we were there. Either way, we’re helping.”

Marinette blinked a few times, taken aback by his brusque tone. It didn’t leave room for questions, but was still somehow kind enough not to make her guilt worse. For some reason, she thought she recognized that inflection, but Marinette couldn’t recall from where.

Still, it put her disquieted consciousness at peace enough to comply.

“Okay, fine…” She crossed her arms, uncharacteristically petulant. The others beamed at her.

“Grab an apron, there are some extras in that cabinet.” Marinette pointed behind Alya’s head, so the girl did as she bid.

One by one, Alya distributed the dark green fabric and each of them tied their respective “uniform” in place. Thankfully, they had all decided to wear more-or-less appropriate clothing, besides, perhaps, Alya’s tank top that showcased her, um… assets.

Marinette remained seated, using the armrest of the chair to sort of prop her elbow into place, keeping her shoulder fixed at an exact angle.

“So the big thing is these deliveries, I think -- ” Marinette began, grimacing when her voice was interrupted by the familiar ringing of a bell. Someone was here.

She cursed quietly, and all of her apprentices looked at each other.

“Someone come with me to the register,” she ordered in a low voice, scowling as she stood up. “The others stay. Wrap those.” She pointed towards a rubber-banded assorted bouquet of lilies and lotus blossoms and then towards a tray of plastic liners, praying they could figure it out.

Shaking her head succinctly, Marinette marched into the front, squeezing her left arm into her torso.

“Bonjour,” she greeted warmly, relaxing upon entering her private garden. The nerves melted off her beneath the familiar greens.

Even better, this was a customer she knew. “Ah, Madam Kleinstein! How nice to see you.”

Marinette’s feet guided her automatically, strolling right past the counter to meet the old, old woman at the door. While Marinette would never ask Madam Kleinstein her age, she knew the woman had to be getting up there. (Of course, she had nothing on Master Fu, but Marinette felt the man’s age didn’t really count for comparisons.)

They had made acquaintances under unfortunate circumstances, when Monsieur Kleinstein had passed away in December. That was to be expected, Marinette supposed, when you worked in the business of funerals and weddings.

Their family rabbi contacted Mo to handle the arrangement process, but Madam wanted to have a more active role in the plans than most widows. She monitored each selection for the shiva, down to the color of the vases and the font of the cards, so that it might be a perfect goodbye for her husband. Of course, the store took the woman’s mourning seriously, and worked to meet her every demand. Mo even called in his wife to help the day before the delivery was due.

Since the funeral, Madam came in frequently for houseplants and flowers, chatting with Mo or Marinette endlessly. From context clues, Marinette gauged the woman to be at least 85; some of her stories alluded to living through the Holocaust as a young girl. And while the years had clearly taken the vibrancy from her body, Madam Kleinstein made up for it with her youthful spirit.

Petite and whispy, the woman always dressed in long skirts and comfortable-looking jumpers, even in the summer heat - the fabric made her appear even smaller beneath the layers. Still, her short-cropped hair and colorful reading glasses made her dark eyes twinkle, and Marinette never tired of listening to her stories of the “wild years” she spent in Austria, or the day she met her late husband, or of hearing the woman’s barometer reading of French politics. (It didn’t hurt that she apparently loved Ladybug, either).

“Marinette,” the woman called as she approached, donning a crinkly smile. She lifted up one of her many-ringed hands and held Marinette’s own, patting the top with her other just-as-many-ringed hand. “How nice it is to see you, dear. I heard about Mo leaving.”

Marinette smiled warmly and tried to ignore her shoulder. “Oh, yes, it was hard for him to say goodbye to this place, but it’s in good hands.”

“I can see that,” she said, peering above her glasses. “And who’s this?”

“Huh?”

Marinette followed her gaze, having entirely forgotten about her earlier command for someone to follow her.

“Bonjour,” Adrien bowed politely with a smile that would put the portraits hanging in the Louvre to shame. He stood just a few feet behind Marinette, clearly courteous while remaining a respectful distance away.

“Madam Kleinstein, was it? My name is Adrien.”

The woman raised a brow, glancing between Marinette and Adrien with a puzzling look on her face. She seemed to approve of… whatever it was that she saw there, because her quizzical expression was replaced by a knowing smile.

“Well, it is a pleasure, Adrien. ‘Cecelia’ will do just fine. Madam Kleinstein was my mother-in-law.” She shuddered, and the teens chuckled. “When you get to be my age, you realize the best part about getting old is never having to deal with your in-laws again.”

She laughed at her own wit while Marinette and Adrien exchanged sheepish smiles. Their eyes met, and despite the woman’s pointed suggestion, Marinette could tell Adrien knew better than to call a customer anything but Madam. His confidence helped her to relax.

“Now,” Madam Kleinstein extended a hand towards Adrien. “Could you show me the seasons’ annuals? I need something just right for my planters.” He blinked at her like she had just spoken Portuguese, and Marinette considered slipping between them - she doubted Adrien knew perennials from annuals from shrubs.

But, acting the gentleman, he offered his arm to the tiny Madam - she only came up to about his waist.

“Well, of course. But I’m still training,” he emphasized the word, shooting a smile in Marinette’s direction. “So why don’t we let Mari show us both? I’d like the chance to learn a little more from the expert.”

Turning redder than a tomato, Marinette felt herself fluster from Adrien’s unexpected praise - she was sure he was only trying to moderate the situation with the customer, but she appreciated it all the same.

Marinette watched her feet shyly and beckoned for them to follow, leading around a display and two rows of pre-potted blossoms and coming to a stop at the western wall. Two shelves hugged the glass divider, one at about level with Marinette’s knees and another at her shoulder, and each were covered from edge to edge by her annuals. Each variety had at least two pallets, and each root system was secured by the cheap plastic planter liners that one could buy in bulk from garden supply stores. Draped above each shelf were a slightly lax piece of twine, tied to structural beams on either end of the greenhouse wall. Every few feet down, a small handwritten sign was clothespinned into place that spelled out each flower’s taxonomy and a severely simplified care guide.

She had been doing this for awhile now, even before the change in management. Mo’s handwriting had been atrocious, so Marinette insisted, and she thought the symbols made it easier on potential non-native French speakers: if there was a little yellow sun, the plant needed plenty of sunshine; if there was a cloud, the bud would grow best in the shade. One raindrop meant little water, two meant moderate, and three meant they were thirsty little buggers.

Waving her right hand, Marinette gestured towards the bottom of the two rows - there was no way tiny Madam Kleinstein would be able to see those on the top.

“Did you have anything in mind? The impatiens are coming along nicely, and they’re very low maintenance.”

The woman pursed her lips while she and Adrien both studied the sign Marinette had indicated. He cocked his head to one side and made a seemingly innocent remark. “You might even say, they don’t require a lot of patience?”

Marinette smacked her forehead with her good hand, too exasperated to regret it. The action jostled her torso, and she clenched her jaw through the sudden pain.

Madam Kleinstein, for whatever reason, seemed to find his joke rather funny.

“Not bad, Adrien.” She sniffed seriously, but winked up at him. He grinned smugly and looked pointedly Marinette, who rolled her eyes so heavily it was amazing she didn’t make herself dizzy.

“Yes, not bad, Adrien. Say, why don’t I leave you to it for a moment? I need to check something in the back.”

Adrien’s eyes became pleading the moment she started to walk away, his wordless struggle clear: Wait, I have no idea what I’m doing here! Don’t leave me with this woman!

A more responsible part of Marinette’s brain would have agreed that was probably not the smartest thing to do… but the look on his face paired with the instant gratification against his tireless puns? She couldn’t pass it up.

  The store had grown humid, Adrien figured, because he felt a bead of sweat appear on his brow.

Now, that may very well have been the case - the storm due for the afternoon, damned be Parisian summer, had just started and the room reflected that. It was much darker outside, the pitter-patter of precipitation matched the rather frantic beating of his heart. The fluctuating heat and humidity could certainly be responsible for the perspiration.

Then again, he was also very stuck and very nervous. The adorable Madam Kleinstein was using his arm for support, and Marinette had just left him to the metaphorical vultures. The woman looked and sounded like the archetype of every grandma he had ever seen on television, and for some reason, that only made it more stressful.

Now, not only was he at risk of disappointing Marinette, but now it felt like he might also disappoint his own-but-not-really grandma.

Moving down the row of apparent “annuals,” she patted his arm, indicating they could stop.

“See something you like?” He asked, hoping he didn’t sound as anxious as he felt.

“Hmm,” she took back her hand and leaned over a clustering of some of the most shockingly pink flowers he had ever seen.

“These begonias are lovely,” she paused to adjust her glasses. “But I planted begonias last season and they didn’t do very well. Stunted little things. Too much sun, perhaps.”

“Mmm…” Adrien hummed, not really sure how to respond. He was way out of his comfort zone.

Madam smirked, looking back in the direction they came.

“You know, this is usually the part where Marinette shares some fascinating fact or story about begonias, and I’m so blown away that I just have to buy them. She’s a natural salesperson,” Madam Kleinstein mused, bending to waft some aroma from the pink blooms.

Adrien snickered in spite himself, fiddling with his apron. “Yeah, that sounds like Marinette. That’s how I feel just about every time she tries to teach me something here. She’s pretty amazing.”

“Yes,” the woman agreed, slowly straightening while rocking her head from shoulder to shoulder, demonstrating her indecision.

“Hmm…” Adrien looked at the shelf above, still a head too high for Madam Kleinstein, and paused upon the sign.

He was surprised to find an adorable little leprechaun, smiling back at him.

“Lantanas?” He blurted aloud, frowning at the neat script above the caricature.

“Oh?” The woman turned, peering up at him. “May I?”

“Umm…” Adrien paused, literally not sure what he was getting himself into. Thankfully, Marinette’s labeling helped, but he rubbed the back of his neck and would not meet Madam Kleinstein’s eye.

“There’s um… sure, let me…”

He didn’t have to reach, as the shelf was at level with his chest, but it was sort of awkward by default since he didn’t know how to handle the plants. Probably more slowly and more carefully than he had to, Adrien pulled forward the first tray on the palette and brought it down to viewing height for the woman.

Madam Kleinstein beamed.

“Oh, I haven’t seen lantanas like these in years.”

Adrien, not having a frame of reference, could only politely nod. That being said, he still managed to appreciate how strikingly beautiful the cluster of buttery yellow flowers were. Tiny things, the sort of star-shaped petals seemed to him so fragile, but they formed floral spheres that made them appear mighty in congregation. Given the dreary turn the day had taken, between the weather and Marinette getting hurt, it made these blossoms seem that much cheerier. The bitty buds were like little balls of sunshine, refusing to be snuffed out by the clouds above, and they brought a smile to his face.

“How are we doing?” Marinette came around while Madam studied, and Adrien felt himself both relax and tense at the same time. He was glad Plagg abandoned him already, because the kwami would certainly be jeering in his pocket if he hadn’t vanished into the bushes the moment Marinette left him.

“Oh, the Little Lucky Pots of Gold? What a good choice, Adrien.” She smiled at him.

“Thanks!” He chirped happily, though he was certain both women were able to hear his heart for how loudly it was beating. Had he not been hyped up on caffeine, he probably could have stopped the absolutely goofy, proud grin from spreading across his face, but that chance passed this morning when he skipped the decafe.

Madam Kleinstein agreed. “They’re lovely, Marinette. Were these your’s or Mo’s?”

“Mo’s pick of course, but they’ve really only come in during the past month so they sorta feel like they’re mine.”

Moving closer, Marinette still gripped her left shoulder tenderly, but her eyes were sparkling.

“I do love lantanas, so I can imagine why they caught your eye…” She paused, rubbing her chin. “Don’t let the name deceive you, though. They might be rumored to bring good luck, but I wouldn’t bet on it if you plant them in Paris. That might be dangerous.”

Adrien and Madam shared a wistful smile while Marinette admired the tiny petals, almost smug in acknowledgment of Madam Kleinstein’s accurate portrayal of Marinette’s pattern in sales. She had a formula, tittering and bouncing through words and secret lore if someone got her started on a subspecies, Adrien had started to learn, and he didn’t mind a bit.

“What’s their story?” Madam eventually questioned.

Marinette responded by walking to the end of the row and retrieving a rolling cart she used to move cumbersome palettes or pots, and offered for Adrien to set the tray down.

Adrien watched her wheel the battered, plastic carrier closer, appreciative for the help. The tray wasn’t heavy, exactly, but it was awkward to hold and his arms were starting to cramp.

“Well, Lantanas are almost stubbornly resistant to damage - great in heat, not much watering, not really affected by soil pH,” Marinette explained, brushing some of the leaves as Adrien set the tray down. “And the Little Lucky Pots of Gold are one of my favorite varieties - the color is just so vivid. But, all Lantanas attract every sort of pollinators, which is the part get you into trouble.”

“Like bees?” Adrien questioned, bending to examine the blossoms. They were lively against the gray backdrop of the cart and with overcast skies, and he found it hard to believe something so tiny couldn’t possibly be “dangerous.”

“Sure,” Marinette nodded. “That’s one possibility. But there are others, too, like hummingbirds, even ants and beetles. But most of all, they’re known to attract Papillon - butterflies.”

She was smiling devilishly now, and recognition registered after a puzzling passing seconds.

Papillon - butterflies?

Hawkmoth.

In truth, Adrien found that information more disconcerting than it was amusing, but then, it’s not like normal, non-magical butterflies were dangerous. Akumas were dangerous, and the idea that little Madam Kleinstein would be attracting akumas to her garden with a planter full of these innocent little buds did make for a rather funny mental image.

“Hmm,” Madam mused. “Now that doesn’t sound very lucky to me, does it, Adrien?”

He snickering and bit his tongue. Now this woman knew how to appreciate a good pun.

“Do you think this means Hawkmoth is a leprechaun?” He countered seriously. “Theoretically, Ladybug and Chat Noir would find him if they merely found the pot of gold.”

“At the end of the rainbow!” Madam Kleinstein finished for him.

Adrien laughed openly, while the petite woman covered her mouth and chuckled.

“Madam,” Marinette whined. “Don’t encourage him. Please.”

“Oh, don’t be a Dismal Dolly, Marinette.” The woman clicked her tongue, but both were smiling. “Adrien here just sold me on these, what with that quick wit!”

“Well,” he flustered slightly, blushing at the compliment. “I guess I’m just lucky.”

“Oh my god,” Marinette’s head rolled backwards, but she led them all to the register.

Once the purchase was finished - Madam bought two whole trays worth, which Marinette said was rather unprecedented - Marinette and Adrien thanked her repeatedly for her kindness and, in the case of the latter, for joining is his jokes

Marinette was hovering steadily towards the back as they said their goodbyes (likely anxious to check on Alya and Nino), but their salutations were interrupted by a rather aggressive clap of thunder.

“Oh,” Adrien blinked once his eyes readjusted - it was weird to be in a glass castle during a storm, each rolling cloud or zip of lightning that flashed across the sky was visible from within the transparent walls. They were really more of windows than walls, and Madam paused at the door.

“Ahh… Madam Kleinstein, perhaps I could walk you to your car? The storm is terrible and your flowers…”

She raised a hand to her cheek, tapping a finger there. “Hmm… No, I should be fine getting to the car. It’s just right in front here, but…”

Her eyes moved around the store, seeking a set of twin braids. Marinette was halfway leaning through the back, whispering imperceptibly, when Madam Kleinstein called for her.

“Marinette?”

“Hmm? Oh - oh, I’m sorry, Madam. Was there something else?” She dashed forward, standing just beside Adrien in front of the counter.

“Could I have my nephew come for these tomorrow? Transporting in the rain seems…”

The girl nodded, and smiled. “Unlucky?”

Madam beamed. “You could say that.”

Adrien simply admired the girl, the woman, and their humor quietly, filled with a warmth he hadn’t felt in years.

They waved a final goodbye as the woman hobbled through the rain, and true to her word, she made it to the car without issue. Still, Adrien’s chivalrous instincts were tingling, so he turned towards another lady to whom he could still offer to help.

Marinette was already in the back, so he waltzed after her to the familiar sound of Nino and Alya’s bickering.

“No, you, Marinette said like this.”

“That’s what I did.”

“Mmm…” Marinette squinted at the creation by her feet as Adrien entered, Nino and Alya sitting crossed leg on either side of an arrangement, soft orange blossoms he didn’t know - lilies, maybe? - accented by little white buds and a large ribbon of the same color.

“It’s actually rather nice, although I would suggest some… ahh,” she sighed, sounding more annoyed than anything as she reached out and invited another stab of pain.

“Wow,” Adrien commented, crossing the room and sitting on the chaise. He unintentionally sank comfortably - too comfortably - into the light cushions. “You guys made that?”

“Yeah, I know right?” Alya nodded proudly in his direction, before gesturing towards her partner-in-crime. “I’ve seen Marinette do it a dozen times, but Nino here actually has a natural talent for this, I swear it.”

“You’re definitely good for this being your first time,” Marinette nodded her agreement, though her voice was lacking its usual radiant positivity.

“Thanks,” Nino bashfully fiddled with his borrowed apron. “I mean, it’s sort of like composing a song. Just with sight instead of sound, got to pair what works together, you know?”

Adrien had started to recline further into the cozy, familiar fuzziness of the chaise. How many times had he stretched out here and nearly fallen asleep as Chat? This afternoon was starting to catch up with him, the rain only adding to the ambiance.

“Really cool,” he murmured, resting his eyes for just a minute.

There was a brief pause, broken by the distinctive bzzz of a vibrating cell phone. All of them instinctively felt for their pockets, but Marinette was the one to silence the call.

“Hi, Maman,” she answered with reluctance. Adrien peeked open a lid as Marinette sat at her desk chair.

Alya pulled out her own phone, doing whatever it is that she does on that thing, and Nino sort of plucked and primped the arrangement, adjusting and re-adjusting the silken bow that tied it together. This was a stand-alone piece, by the looks of it, since none of the deliveries really matched.

“Yes, I know but, um, I actually didn’t need to close it. Did Alya…?” Marinette half-asked the question into the device at her ear, half-directed it towards her friend. Looking up from her phone, Alya frowned and shook her head.

“Um, well… some of my friends from school stopped in, just to visit and --”

Huffing, Marinette looked at the ceiling and spun away from the group. Adrien could still see her profile from his spot on the couch, and she was rather pink in the face.

“I know, Maman, but this was just to drop off lunch for me. They were here when I fell and offered to help until you got here. I really couldn’t say no, there are a lot of deliveries due before… yes, exactly. ”

There was a pause, the tittering voice of Mrs. Cheng on the other line, before Marinette inhaled sharply.

“Maman!” She snapped, voice accusatory. “That’s not - I mean, no, Maman! No.”

Adrien and Nino locked eyes, both looking uncomfortable. They hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but being here now felt rather invasive.

“Sure… I know, just… bad timing. I thought the same thing. I’ll be sure to pay them.”

Another pause, before an exhausted sounding Marinette turned back to them all. “Yes, Maman. See you soon. I love you too.”

“I’ll accept payment from you when I’m dead,” Alya said flatly, not even waiting for Marinette to breathe once the call ended.

Nino’s brow furrowed. “Wow, Queen of Darkness over here today.”

She rolled her eyes. “Just being honest. If honesty and darkness are the same to you, maybe you need to re-evaluate some of your own views.”

The boy hissed and leaned away. “Yikes.”

Marinette just sported a frown, looking between the two before eventually turning to Adrien.

“I agree with my Mom on this, guys. If you won’t let me pay you, at least let me do something for you? Maybe I can bring you some desserts from the shop the next time we hang out? Maman insists.”

Adrien sighed contently just from the suggestion. Marinette was absolutely right; in no stretch of the imagination would he have accepted money from the Dupain-Cheng’s, but he was happy to be bribed with their food.

“Uh, better idea,” Alya stood and dusted herself off. “How about, we all get to pick the next thing we do as a hangout. And you can’t say no, no matter how much you don’t want to do it.”

Jumping in, Adrien sounded more defensive for food than was probably normal. “I don’t know, I was sort of okay with the pastry idea.”

“Nah,” Alya dismissed his suggestion. “Not that I don’t appreciate it, but your parents refuse money anytime - everytime we try to pay. That’s like ‘paying’ us with something that was already free.”

“Didn’t you say you weren’t accepting payment?” Marinette remarked, raising a brow. She was met with a devious grin.

“I did, as your best friend. But your Mom insisted, and that overrides my authority as BFF.”

Nino sucked his teeth. “Ehhhh… she’s got a point, ‘Nette.”

Marinette seemed to struggle for a moment, but settled on a pout. “Ummm, I don’t know... I guess that’d be okay. Just, it can’t be anything embarrassing. Okay?”

“Drat,” Adrien sighed. “There goes my idea for us all to go out for a day on the town in full cosplay.”

They all let that sit for a beat, before laughing and sputtering and shaking their heads.

“Weeb,” Nino said under his breath.

Adrien had accepted that.

“Yep.”

Alya went to Marinette’s side and rested her head against the girl’s uninjured shoulder. “I was thinking more of like, you take a day away from work and actually do something with us for a change?”

“Oh.”

It saddened him to watch her face flicker with excitement, only to fall with twice as much disappointment.

“I would actually love that,” Marinette said slowly, maneuvering herself away from Alya. “But you know I can’t. There’s no one who can cover for me.”

“I know.” Alya sounded uncharacteristically sad, and it made Adrien’s heart hurt worse to hear. He was prepared to say something, sitting up from the chaise when it was his phone’s turn to interrupt.

“Ahh…” he cursed under his breath. “Sorry. Just a sec.”

Standing, Adrien approached the glass that overlooked the courtyard and watched the slowing storm. He cleared his throat and accepted the call.

“Hello, Nathalie.”

She greeted him as warmly as ever. “Adrien.”

“Was there something you needed?” He tried not to sound irritated, but it was hard.

“Yes, actually,” she paused. “How is Mr. Lahiffe?”

“Oh,” he glanced at Nino out of instinct, who had curled up next to Alya when the reporter sat back down again.

Not wanting to lie, he decided to stay vague. “He is well. The cafe was nice.”

“I’m glad.” Her voice was like ice.

Adrien did not respond.

“Well, it is time for you to come home. Your father has something he would like to discuss.”

Pressing his lips together, Adrien felt his eye twitch. That was it. The unsaid threats again, but this time, it was a bit more fatal. Nathalie knew he had misconstrued his day, and if his father had specifically requested to talk, that meant he knew, too.

“I understand.” He ground his molars together, ever so slightly. “I’ll be home immediately.”

The line went dead, not bothering with real goodbyes.

Adrien was suddenly lamenting not walking Madam Kleinstein to her car. She had been so kind, it would have been the least he could do.

Taking a steady breath, he tried to put on a convincingly sheepish look. “Nino, I have to go. Do you want a ride?”

The DJ peered at his girlfriend, who gave him a very “hey, don’t look at me” look, so he shrugged.

“Yeah, I probably should. Will the lovely ladies be okay without us?”

“Frankly...” Alya began with a smile as Nino helped her to stand, but whatever cheeky remark she had prepared went unsaid. “Actually, nevermind. Why don’t you help me put the stool back up front?”

Nino blinked in confusion. “It’s a pretty small stool,” he commented, bending to scoop it up off the ground.

“Great, let’s go!” Alya made a demonstration of grabbing the other end and leading herself and Nino out of the back.

That left him alone, save for…

Marinette smiled weakly, examining the floor off to one side.  Standing very still, one arm cradling the other, her blue eyes were unseeing. It was clear there was something wrong, and just as Adrien’s words of concern started to form, she spoke.

“I’m sorry about everything today.”

Adrien shook his head and chuckled. “You are something else, Marinette.”

Her head shot up in his direction, looking hurt. Adrien moved forward, verbally backpedaling against the faux pas. “I meant, you shouldn’t be apologizing for anything. You work so hard to make sure everything is perfect here, but you’re human. It only takes one little slip up for things to unravel. I’m just glad we were here to help, at least to make things a little easier.”

She looked at him curiously for a moment, the sparkle of her eyes returning, and she smiled.

“Was that a pun? Slip up?”

Adrien bit his lip through a smile. “I thought that one was subtle enough you might not notice.”

“Nothing slips by me, I’m afraid.” Her expression was comically stoic.

“I believe it,” he said honestly. They looked at each for a moment, and Adrien felt like he could run a marathon with all the adrenaline pumping in his veins.

Nino’s stupid, stupid voice was playing in his head.

“It’s a coin flip. You should already know.”

No, Nino, Adrien fumed internally. He didn’t “already know.”

It’s not like he had been half-tempted to ignore Nathalie’s call, just so he might stay a little longer. That would have been irresponsible. In fact, it’s not like at that exact moment, he was considering crossing the length of the office, to brush the hair bangs from her face just to better drink in her features, to memorize the melodies that composed her patient, confident voice, or to decipher the world behind her aquamarine gaze, always fiery but filled with compassion. It’s not like, if he was already that close, it would be anymore difficult to lean down and breathe in that wonderful mixture of flour and chocolate that always clung to her porcelain skin. It would be easy. She was like muscle memory to memories he didn’t have and muscles he couldn’t move.

It’s not like, if she was just a little closer, he might be able to kiss her.

He definitely wasn’t imagining that happening, looking across a vast emptiness that was only three feet but felt like three years, come and gone since he’s known her, and yet she was this close the whole time.

It’s not like he realized all of this the moment he laid eyes on her a few hours ago. He hadn’t even flipped a real coin, but then, why did this feel so different?

Here he was, locked in a silence of only thirty seconds that was so much harder than it had to be. Adrien wanted to be disappointed, or angry, or irritated that he had to go. He really did. With Marinette so near, however, he couldn’t seem to muster more than a sad smile.

Marinette blinked once, then twice, and a third time before speaking.

“I ...w-would offer you a hug, but I think it would hurt.”

Adrien’s smile grew, but only a bit. “That’s okay, I wouldn’t want to you to mess up your shoulder anymore.”

“Well…” She bit her lip, and Adrien wanted so badly to know what she might be thinking.

He had to get a grip. “I guess I should go.”

“Yeah. Thanks again for all of your help, really. I would have been really…”

She paused, brow furrowing but she dispelled it with a quick shake of her head. “Really out of luck if you all hadn’t been there.”

Adrien gulped and began to walk towards the front of the store, not sure his voice would work or if his brain could handle a reasonable response.

One foot into the front, and he recalled a memory with such intensity it almost made him waver. A rainy day. Marinette. Russian Snowdrops. Kindness, compassion, and that same inability to speak. She knocked the wind right out of him with her simple words, but when he breathed in again it was all refreshing and new, all over again.

Not again. He wouldn’t walk out like that, on her, again.

Adrien ran a hand through his hair.

“Marinette?” He spun on the spot, and she looked up.

“Thanks for… helping me with Madam Kleinstein. I was really out of my element.”

Real smooth, Agreste. Real smooth.

She giggled, and it was beautiful.

“You were the one who made the sale. I should be thanking you, but, I guess you did have a pretty great teacher.” She winked. “ But, yeah, it was… fun, working with you. I hope you’ll come by again.”

The words were confidence and his heart was hook-line-and-sinkered. Before he could stop himself, Adrien walked briskly towards Marinette and kissed her on the cheek. His actions caught up with his brain after a beat, and with the realization came with a rush of color to his face.

He smiled anyways, because that’s what this was all about. Marinette made him happy.

“Goodbye, Marinette.”

She took two shallow breaths, and he was happier than he should have been to see that she was blushing too.

“B-bye, Adrien.”

[callmeakumatized]

My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend - Ch 10

[[ SURPRISE!!! Another Chapter! :D ]]

Ao3 ff.net previous chapter

Marinette had never responded to Adrien's message from Friday night, and she didn't try to call him, despite her threat to do so. Adrien both liked and disliked this development. While he hated not hearing about how she was feeling – because, really, he loved her, dang it – he desperately needed the time to quell his own feelings and decide what to do from here. Because he knew he needed to make the next move. He just didn't know if he was brave enough to do it, especially without the loving support he had come to rely on so heavily from Ladybug – Marinette…Maribug?

So he ignored Nino's small-talk texts. And Alya's Ladyblog update messages. Instead, he focused on what he could do for his Lady.

So far? He had a big dollop of Nuttin' atop a sundae of Diddly-Squat.

What could he say that he hadn't already said? 'Purr-pose' instead of 'Porpoise'?

(Yeah, he didn't think so either.)

Needless to say, the main sounds he heard throughout his weekend were cheese-eating (normal), Ladyblog update blips (normal), and a lot – a lot – of (maybe melodramatic, to a degree) sighing (not as normal).

When Monday came around, Adrien seriously considered telling Nathalie he was sick. Or running away. Or joining the circus. Anything to be anywhere but there was a viable option in his arsenal of excuses at this point. The Saturday evening Akuma was still fresh on his mind, and it had been especially nasty. It wasn't hard, per se, but Ladybug, while playing up a scary version of "Nothing's wrong why would anything be wrong!?" had taken turns roughly vaulting him toward the danger (grinning wickedly while she did so) and getting ridiculously close to him in very intimate ways (trying to maintain appearances, maybe, but running her fingers through his hair while there were explosions was toying with his brain and totally on purr-pose, don't try to tell him otherwise).

And he was pretty sure the "mistake" where they went for a fist bump and she broke his nose was totally not the accident she had pretended it was. Especially because she had insisted on the fist bump before the Miraculous cure, which would, admittedly, fix it, but not completely. Which she, of course, knew.

Even thinking about it now, Adrien could feel the bruising.

The unexpected sloppy kiss she had planted on him and the desperate look in her eyes afterward did nothing – N-O-T-H-I-N-G – to help his hurting heart. Or his reeling emotions.

So when Adrien pulled up to the school, he already had expectations of what he would see, what he would find. A girl crushed under the weight of a broken heart? Maybe. A woman angry over her lover's quarrel? More likely. What Adrien expected to see when he walked into the school building was, perhaps, based on his own feelings. He felt down, and he felt confused, and he felt anxious, so maybe he assumed Marinette would feel the same way too.

He was SO. WRONG.

What he saw was Ladybug in fleshy form. A girl with a planned plan planned to planny precision. It was disgusting. And Adrien had to pick his school stuff and his jaw off the floor when he first saw her.

She looked gorgeous. Just enough make-up to keep it subtle. Just enough hairs coming loose from her up-do to keep it casual. Sneaker heels and a cute skirt instead of flats and pants. The girl was siphoning the oxygen straight out of his lungs, using it to fuel her full laughs and playful jabs at her classmates.

He first spotted her in the locker room where she was putting on red lipstick in the mirror of her locker, giggling with Alya, Rose, and Alix about something. As he gazed at the back of her head, he could have sworn she saw him reflected there. He definitely saw the flash of hard blue eyes before she leaned over, grabbing Alya's head and planting a puckering kiss onto her best friend's cheek. The girls all giggled, and she turned right to him and winked. Adrien gulped in response, reaching down to pick up the books he had dropped. He rubbed his still-sore nose self-consciously.

When he looked back up, Nino had joined Alya, and Marinette had put on his headphones to listen in on the music he were talking about.

The girls walked by a few minutes later, passing a statue-like Adrien who had frozen when Marinette had shown him how adorable she looked with red lipstick and headphones.

He was captivated by visions of dark lashes and red lips.

He was jealous of Alya's kissed cheek.

He was jealous of Nino, Alix, and Rose's close proximity.

He was terrified of Marinette.

As the girl walked up to him, Adrien tried to tighten his grip on his bag and his books, trying to not repeat the action for a third time that morning, but to no avail. They clattered everywhere, only accentuated by his efforts to keep himself upright. The familiar warmth of embarrassment manifested itself in his cheeks, neck, and ears, and Adrien concentrated heavily on picking up his stuff and not looking up. Until Marinette's shoes paused in front of him.

When he had finished with his books, a hand shot out in front of his face. Adrien still didn't raise his eyes, but he was not one to turn away a hand offered to him…especially when this was the girl of your dreams (and maybe his nightmares the night before, but he didn't want to think about that). Marinette's grip was strong, and she pulled him up with ease. Then she paused for a moment before lifting up on of his hands and kissing his palm. Adrien might have made a whimpering sound at this.

Marinette only smiled, their eyes finally meeting…and then purposefully flicking him on the nose before sauntering off.

"Do you deserve it?"

"Huh?" Adrien's reply was about an octave higher than normal. He was too busy rubbing his throbbing nose and blinking the sudden tears of pain from his eyes.

Adrien's blurry vision finally started to focus. His best friend stood there looking at him, lips pursed but eyes twinkling.

"Do you deserve it?" the DJ repeated, slower this time.

Nino's voice was usually a welcomed anchor to this sea of chaos that was his life (though it was slowly turning into a hurricane of madness, a sharknado, a flippin' Bermuda triangle centered around him). The question, however, was not welcomed.

"Uh…" Adrien easily understood the meaning of the simple question. He just didn't know where to start.

"Just answer me, bro."

"Yes…?"

"That's the first step. How you gonna fix it?"

"I – what? How do you even know – ?"

Nino closed his eyes for a moment, shaking his head and placing a hand on Adrien's shoulder.

"Dude, you are just lucky that it was me you sent that message to and not her."

…Wut.

"The girl is shooting daggers at you already. Have you talked to her since Friday at all?"

Talked with? Nah, not really. Fought with? Yeah, absolutely. And in more ways than one.

"No? What message?"

"You seriously thought that that girl – that girl – would cheat on you?"

Oh. That message. How had he…? Nevermind. Whatever. WHAT. EVER.

"Nino…I…I don't know how to explain. But, yes?"

"You know that that girl has been in love with you since you started public school, right?"

"WHAT?"

"The girl has your schedule memorized." Nino chuckled for a second before sobering instantly. "Do not tell her I told you that. Cause honestly, I do not want that," – he motioned toward the direction Marinette had gone – "after me. And you better figure this out soon. Mari is seriously ticked."

"I…but…"

Nino only shook his head and walked away, a salute and a smile his only departing graces.

Adrien blinked stupidly at nothing. Then he lost control of his books again. He couldn't help but see it as an awful metaphor for what his life was: a mess.

qpqpqpqpqp

Adrien could handle the cutesy gushing over hat designs with Myléne and the discussion of the new Jagged Stone/Zombie Skullcrushers duet with Ivan. Heck, he could even deal with hearing Marinette gush about LadyNoir with Alya, the conversation so close it was almost in his flippin' ear. But this? Ah nah. He drew the line at the "gun show" she started participating in with Kim and Alix during their lunch hour. Particularly when Kim started feeling her gorgeous, glittery (how is that possible?) muscles.

Not to sound like he was a masochist, or that he owned Maribug or anything attached to her, but…those muscles were his.

Without warning, Adrien unceremoniously grabbed Marinette by the arm and dragged her away from the group of classmates, giving Kim the stink eye. They only made it a couple tables away before Marinette slipped her arm out from his grasp.

"Excuse you!" she shot out, placing a hand on her hip and popping it out in such an adorablewayshewasgoingtokillhim.

"Excuse me?" Adrien shot back, matching her quiet tone. "Excuse you! Letting him feel you up like that…"

"He was not feeling me up!"

"He might as well have been."

She snorted.

Adrien walked a step away, grabbing at his hair before going back to her and pointing a finger just passed her face. "Stop flirting with everyone! It's – It's killing me, Marinette! If you're going to touch anyone, or kiss anyone, or for goodness' sake share headphones with anyone, it should be with me!"

Marinette stared blankly at him for a moment. "Huh. You'd think I would have seen this coming or something. I mean, you do tend to get jealous over the silliest things…like yourself."

Adrien sat on the nearest table, covering his face with his hands and groaning loudly. This day didn't turn out how he imagined; it was worse. Removing one hand from his face he reached out and caught hold of an escaping Marinette, pulling her to him again, but more gently. She came willingly and he pulled her into some semblance of an embrace. Mostly so he could continue the conversation through whispers in her ear. Mostly.

"I thought you didn't know, Mari."

"And I thought you did know."

This was something he had sorta figured out, but it still left questions.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Uh, er…well, you see…" Marinette pulled away a bit and Adrien saw the crack in her confident façade for the first time that day. It almost gave him confidence. But, since he didn't know why she was hesitating to answer, courage quickly dissolved into nervousness.

"You asked me out!" she finally whisper-yelled at him.

"You said 'yes'! Why – Why would you say 'yes' to that!?"

Marinette flushed before suddenly grabbing both sides of his face. "You just…you have that – that face! You shouldn't just walk around with th-that face and expect unsuspecting females to be able to answer, uh, logically!"

Adrien couldn't help it. He knew he was in deep trouble, but…he snickered. Marinette immediately let go of him and flicked his nose again. With a cry, his hands grabbed her wrists to block off anymore attacks. She struggled against him, gritting her teeth.

"And you came to my house, and you called me MY NICKNAME!" Her voice was getting louder. "Or do you go to everyone's house and call them 'M'Lady' and say 'See you tomorrow' and KISS THEIR HAND!?"

Adrien froze. When had he…?

Oh. Oh gosh.

He…he had done that, hadn't he?

"Well, I-I-I, I mean, you're not wrong…" his voice drifted with his gaze as he thought back to that time with Marinette, poking around her room and flirting – teasing – her. Marinette stopped struggling, the lack of movement bringing Adrien's eyes back to his partner's. He was shocked to see them a little watery, and when she spoke, her voice was very small.

"You do do that to everyone?"

"WHAT? No! NO, Marinette, that's not –"

"I thought that that was just for me…"

"It IS! What I meant was that you're right, I did do that, but I don't do that to anyone else! I've never done that to anyone else!"

"Just to me? And well…me?"

There was a mixture of skepticism with hopefulness in her eyes. It was a fear for both of them: Marinette fearing Adrien's disloyalty, and Adrien facing the fear of letting her down. Again.

"Yes," Adrien said firmly, letting go of her wrists finally and placing them tentatively on either side of her face. "And I just, I didn't mean to those times with you-you either, it must have j-just slipped out, I-I mean, I didn't…" His face felt warm. Why…why had he done that? It had flowed so easily. Had he…but no, he couldn't have…?

He had had a crush on Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

And Marinette seemed to have simultaneously reached this same conclusion.

"Oh my gosh, you filthy hypocrite!" she spat at him, pushing his hands away. "You were hitting on me!"

"WHAT! I was not – not – hitting on you!"

He was totally hitting on her.

"Oh, 'Princess'," Marinette pulled away before adorning what he assumed was supposed to be a fake Chat Noir voice and a fake Chat Noir walk, twirling around and fluttering her lashes at him (even in pretend, Chat Noir still had swag). "Oh, it's raining! Please, please let me in! EVEN THOUGH I LIVE A BLOCK AWAY."

"I wasn't hitting on you! I was flirting, and that is not the same!"

HE WAS TOTALLY HITTING ON HER.

"You had a crush on me! ADMIT IT!"

"Says the girl who has more posters on her wall of me than La Mode magazine!"

Several gasps sounded throughout the cafeteria. One of them was Marinette's. One of them was also Adrien's.

That was a low blow, and they all knew it, even those in the unwitting audience.

The next thing Adrien knew, he was sprawled across one of the long lunch tables, Marinette shoving a thick slab of pudding into his face.

All he could do for a moment was blink stupidly at the ceiling. That is, until he heard the "Oooo's" coming from the kids around them. When he sat up, he saw a smug, red, and angry Marinette. But he was done playing around.

Adrien made a show of licking off what he could before looking around and making a grab for whatever was around him – mashed potatoes, perfect – and flicking it into her own face.

Or, he would have.

But she was Ladybug. The blithe girl deftly dodged the potato slop easily. Instead, the wad of starchy goodness landed in a young girl's hair. The young lady yelped at the surprising impact.

A stillness broke over the cafeteria…until a voice that sounded suspicious like Alya's yelled, "FOOD FIGHT!"

"DETENTION!" a stronger voice rang out, bringing the lunch room into another quiet lull. Adrien and Marinette's gazes snapped to each other. Both their hands had more globs of food in them, aimed toward each other. Audible gulps sounded. They then looked to the person whose heels now clicked against the tiled floor in a heavy rhythm.

Ah. It looks like Principal Damocles decided to join them all for lunch today.

Great.

[calliecat93]

Miraculous Review #2: The Bubbler

Here’s an issue I have with Season One. One that’s not the production team’s fault, but it’s still annoying. That issue is the inconsistent airing order. With every country, the episodes have all been aired in various orders. For example, the episode that I am covering today is The Bubbler. It was the second aired episode in South Korea and, iirc, France. Here in the states though it was the first one and Stormy Weather was aired third. Now Astruc HAS said that the episodes can be aired in any order, which is normal for a show lie this so that viewers can join in at any point and not be lost. But there IS a continuity and the season finale, Volpina, is meant to be the last episode you view in the season for... reasons. So not having an order when you are doing reviews is kind of a pain in the neck.

Due to this, I had to make my own order. It’ll go based off a mix of the order I saw the episodes in, the order on the DVD’s, and when I feel what episode goes where. I’m not going in chronological order, otherwise I’d have done the Origin episodes first. but I think that is better viewed after you see where the characters are now. Volpina will be the last one I do. So ow that I got that pointless exposition out of the way, lets discuss The Bubbler.

Overview

It’s Adrien’s birthday! Whoo! Marinette has made a gift for her dream boy, but she’s too nervous to give it to him. When Alya gets her to finally try, her attempt is foiled by the local mean girl, Chloe Bourgeois. Chloe is my absolute least favorite character in the series and you’ll see why as these reviews continue on. Oh boy do I have things that I want to say. Since Marinette can’t give Adrien the gift in person, she instead drops it off at his mansion... too bad that she forgot to sign it. It’s okay Marinette, I’m sure plenty of people have been in your position.

At the same time, Adrien’s best friend, Nino Lahiffe, wants to throw Adrien a birthday party. But Adrien is dismissive of the idea. Not because he doesn’t want on, on the contrary he would love one, but he feels that his workaholic father, Gabriel, would never allow it. Nino decides to try anyways, going to the mansion on his own accord to talk to Gabriel personally. Now that’s friendship people! Sadly, it fails and Nino is kicked out. Adrien tries to ease things over, but Nino is understandably upset and goes to the park. When he sees a parent taking a child home due to needing to do chores, he complains about adults being controlling. Cue the akuma!

Nino becomes The Bubbler and kidnaps all of the adults, sending them into the sky. This includes Marinette’s parents, provoking her into Ladybug immediately. Bubbler forces his classmates tot he Agreste household, intending to throw Adrien’s birthday party whether anyone wants it or not. When Adrien realizes this, he runs off to transform... but hesitates. His Kwami Plagg, that I stupidly forgot to mention in the last review along with Tikki, convinces him to hold off. The party is for him after all, why can’t he enjoy it for a little while? So the party goes on with Chloe talking Bubbler into putting on the slow music so that she can get close to Adrien. Just as Ladybug arrives too.

Jealous, Ladybug wastes her Lucky Charm to get the party music back on and ruin Chloe’s plans. But as a result, her transformation is undone and she reverts back to Marinette. When she enters the party to get Tikki rejuvenated, Alya finds her and drags her inside to that she can sign the gift. She finishes just as Bubbler traps a student who refused to comply to join the adults and she finally gets back into action. Ladybug’s appearance makes Adrien realize that made the wrong decision and to transform.

Bubbler traps the two heroes and sends them into the sky. As such, Cat Noir is forced to use Cataclysm to break them out. That gives them only a few minutes to defeat Bubbler. Their reappearance and the students becoming defiant provokes Bubbler to trap them as the fight heads for the Eiffle Tower. Soon, the heroes get the cursed bubble wand away from Bubbler and destroy it, getting rid of the akuma and setting everything back to normal. Later, Adrien is presented with a gift seemingly from Gabriel. 

In actuality, the gift is Marinette’s. Gabriel’s PA Natalie just took the name off cause she was too lazy to go and get something else. As such, Marinette is understandably confused the next day when she sees Adrien wearing the scarf that she made. Adrien, still feeling bad, tries to apologize to Nino for Gabriel’s actions, but Nino holds nothing against him and is just glad that he’s happy. Although Alya urges Marinette to tell Adrien the truth, Marinette decides not too. Adrien is happy after all, and she can’t bring herself to ruin that for him. Aww! One day Marinette, after that you deserve his recognition.

Review

Man, this episode. Compared to Stormy Weather, this one has a major improvement in storytelling. As such the animation, while still very good especially int he final fight, is not as impressive as last time. I will say this though, the amount of background characters and the well done settings make the world feel all the more real so defenite props there. But this episode is more focus on it’s plot of Adrien’s birthday and how it affects the main characters. It’s the opposite of the last episode, butting the story first and the animation second. 

Story

The episode revolves around Adrien’s birthday and follows the characters of Marinette, Adrien, and Nino. Everyone is given something to do and no one feels that they get too much focus or not enough of it. The pacing is very well done and went as long as it needed to. Marinette struggles to give Adrien her gift, Adrien is completely unhappy with his won birthday, and Nino tries to give Adrien a party to make it a good day for him, leading to his akumatization. All very well done and make for one heck of a time when we hit the second half.

We also get more added to the cast. We get several new characters such as Marinette’s parents Sabine and Tom, Nino, Chloe, Sabrina, Natalie, and Gabriel. We get to see the classmates too, but they’ll get more proper introductions in later episodes. We also get mroe glimpses into the everyday lives of Marinette and Adrien, and boy do they contrast big time. Marinette’s family is happy and functional while Adrien’s is... not. Marinette talks to her mom before heading off to school, Adrien is handed a schedule from Natalie and that’s about it. Sabine is sweet and warm to Marinette, even teasing her a little, while Gabriel is cold and harsh. The show really hammers in the differences between the two heroes lives and the contrasts are staggering. The beginning scenes where they prepare for school just really drives it home.

Overall, the story is solid. It’s funny with Marinette’s inability to deliver her gift, it’s heartbreaking with nearly all of Adrien’s scenes, it delves into the characters more as we’ll discuss in a bit, and the DBZ-level action continues to impress. We are also introduced to some consequences with the Miraculous powers. When you use the main power (Lucky Charm and Cataclysm), you have five minutes before the transformation is undone and the Kwamis have to be re-energized. As such, the powers have to be used when ti is 100% necessary, which is nice and gives an excuse on why they can’t just go for the final move immediately. If it fails,t hey’re screwed. The episode’s ending is incredibly bittersweet, but fitting for the episode and it still ends on a happy note, so it’s still satisfying. 

Characters

The rough draft had four whole pages devoted to character analysis out of seven. So this is gonna be lengthy. You’ve been warned.

I don’t think theat the plot would have been nearly as good if ot for the characters. They are what made this episode for me. We got basic introductions of the main cast over with last episode, so now the writers can play with them more. They also expanded the cast and they fit in naturally with the show, also making the world feel all the larger. There is a lot of character stuff to discuss here, so since I like to save the good for last, we’ll go into the bad first. As such...

We’re going to start with Chloe. I already said that she’s my least favorite character and there are many reasons why. First is how stereotypical she is. She’s the usual ‘mean rich girl’ type, like Mandy from Totally Spies which Astruc also worked on, so... anyways! She’s selfish and rude, treats her best friend Sabrina like a slave, and her behavior around Adrien is... well...

Pretty dang creepy! Yeah we learn later that they’re childhood friends, which I guess can explain why she’s able to be so touchy feely with Adrien, but he’s clearly uncomfortable here and friend or not, trying to force him into kissing her is wrong. Plus you don’t know that in this episode, so... yeah... she doesn’t give a good first impression. She is presented with zero redeeming qualities, and this isn’t even her worst episode. Just wait until we reach Reflekta, ho BOY do I have loads to say about that episode. So you can only imagine how thrilled I am for certain things that are coming soon... but hey, I’ll say this, Chloe is definitely intended to be unlikable here, and the writers nailed that. So good job for doing the job right guys!

Nino Lahiffe is Adrien’s best friend and becomes the villain of the episode. He’s presented as a very laidback and carefree kid, someone who relishes in fun and freedom. It’s something that the more shy, sheltered Adrien needs just as the awkward Marinette needs the more grounded Alya. Like Alya, Nino is very loyal and dedicated to his friend and wants to make his birthday something good. When Adrien discusses never having a birthday party, Nino decides to talk Gabriel into allowing one to make his friend happy. Yeah it fails... badly, but that’s not due to any fault on his own. You really feel for him since he didn’t do anything wrong and got treated horribly by Gabriel just for asking if his friend can ave a party. Yeah blaming all adults may have been a little harsh, but you can understand where he was coming from. We’ve all bee there at one point or another.

Due to the above, Nino getting akumatized into The Bubbler is very understandable, You feel more for him than you did Aurore last episode anyways. The Bubbler is the personification of Nino’s frustrations, getting rid of the adults and forcing his friends to give Adrien a party. All that he was feeling when his bubble wand became possessed. Akuma take what you are feeling int hat moment and amplify it, so it’s a LOT more than just simple mind control. At first The Bubbler’s gimmick of using... well, bubbles may seem kind of dumb. But they use it in really good was. Impenetrable prisons, using smaller ones to encase the victim in the prisons, using them as explosives of all things! Bubbler’s powers aren’t the most impressive of the villains, but dang do the writers put it to good use to make him a credible threat. And during the party, heck! Just throwing the party shows that Nino IS still in there, so it makes you feel relieve when he is finally de-evilized. The design is also really nice, making him look all the more inhuman. It’s a really nice!

My only real complaint is that Nino gets no resolution after wards. He gets de-evilied and... that’s it. Next day, he’s his usual self. So did he get over his hatred for adults? We don’t know, I’m assuming so since it never gets brought back up. But I can’t lie, the ending with him making it clear that h doens’t blame Adrien at all for before is super sweet and made me love him. He’s a really good friend and the kind pf perosn that Adrien needs in his life. So forget my gripes, Ia m happy with how Nino ended up in this episode! Also it’s kinda funny with the whole ‘hate adults’ thing since Nino’s dub actor, Ben Diskin, was the VA for Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 2 in Codename: Kids Next Door. If that isn’t irony, IDK what is!

Now we move onto Adrien, and OH MAN...

One complaint I had last episode was that the only thing that we learn about Adrien is that he is Cat Noir. Well this episode made up for that! Although it’s his birthday, Adrien is far form happy and we very quickly learn the reason why.He looks like the kid who has everything. His family is wealthy, he’s famous due to being a teen model, lives in a nice house, but none of that means anything to him. Truth is his family life is in complete tatters. His mother is nowhere to be seen and his father is both cold and distant. Last episode followed Marinette’s perspective mainly, so he seemed perfect because that’s how she viewed him. But that’s as far from true as it can be. He’s really a sad, lonely kid who doesn’t think that his own father cares about him. Even as Cat Noir, while he mostly acts like you’d expect, he’s still pretty downcast. I mean this scene says it all:

Ladybug: [Adults] care for their kids! They love them!

Cat Noir: Most adults do anyhow...

Ouch. What sells that is both the sad look on his face and the pure bitterness in his voice. Bryce Papenbrook nailed that line. Now Adrien knows better than to blame every ault and assume that they’re all like his father but still it really shows how bad his relationship with his father is. Later episodes hint that it wasn’t always that way, which makes it worst. Because of this, while we all knwo that it was a bad idea, you can 100% understand why Adrien listened to Plagg and tried to enjoy the party despite Nino being akumatized. He clearly realizes that it was a bad idea the longer it goes on, but because of how little freedom he has and how bad his family life is, the kid trying to enjoy himself just this once really hits you hard.

Then we get the ending. Man the ending. He thinks that he finally got some kind of proof that is dad does care about him. Okay in fairness, Gabriel didn’t forget his son’s birthday and did try to make sure he got something, but the asshole couldn’t go and get it himself. So not much better. But he’s so happy, even shocked, to have some kind of recognition even if it wasn’t in person. He is much happier int he end scene than he was through the other 99% of the episode. And even then, he feels guilty for how his father treated Nino even though he didn’t do anything wrong. But while he’s ignorant to the fact that Natalie just used Marinette’s gift and presented it cause she forgot to get something, he’s just so happy that you both feel bad that he has no clue about the truth, but relieved to see him doing better. Ignorance is bliss after all.

Finally we have our heroine, Marinette. The episode revolves around her trying to give Adrien a birthday gift that she made for him. The whole first half with her is comedy gold. It’s super relateable because many of us had crushes and tried to give them something, but were nervous as a as all Hell. IDT anyone had Marinette-levels of bad luck trying, but we know how it feels. But it’s really cute and her groan of despair when she realizes that she forgot to put her name on the package made both feel pity for her and laugh out loud. Poor girl XD

We get to see of Marinette’s home life as well. Unlike Adrien, who is more or less alone and has a very rough family life, Marinette’s is essentially normal. Her mother, Sabine, is friendly and light-hearted and Marinette has a good relationship with her. While Tom only appears briefly in this episode, we’ll see later that she is also close to him. They love her and she loves them back. Which them getting kidnapped really sells that fact in. For example, this is what Marinette normally looks like at the end of the transformation sequence:

In this episode’s case, she looks like this:

In other words, messing with her family is a very bad idea.

We also get to see what is Marinette’s biggest character flaw, her feelings for Adrien. While she’s not the possessive type, she can get jealous of other girls pursue Adrien. Volpina is the largest example of that, but this episode has it as well. When she sees Chloe trying to kiss Adrien, she wastes her Lucky Charm to put an end to it despite knowing that it’ll drain Tikki when she can’t afford that right now. Then instead of transforming the second Tikki was energized, she instead went to sign the gift... okay we can Alya for that one, but Marinette could have easily made up an excuse. She realized it pretty quickly. but it’s still going to be something that continues to effect her judgement as the show goes on. But that make her all the more complex of a character who has problems that she has to overcome, so that’s actually a good thing.

The final scene is by far one of Marinette’s best. She sees Adrien wearing her scarf and is ecstatic that he got it. But then she hears him talk about it being form his father and she is understandably confused. But when Alya tells her to go and tell Adrien that it was her who made it, she decides against it. Why? Because Adrien is happy. While she’s unaware of Adrien’s strained relationship with his father, him getting a gift form him clearly made him happy. And that matters far more to her than him recognizing her. Her crush isn’t hollow. It’s not because he is a cute teen model. She genuinely cares about him and is placing his happiness above ehr own. That is love and it shows just how selfless of a person that Marinette really is. She truly is a hero.

Conclusion

This is one of my favorite episodes and really sold me on the show. It brings in more characters, fleshes out the ones that we already have, and makes the world feel all the more broad. It was a perfect follow-up to Stormy Weather and showed the writers can tell emotional, but still fun and engaging stories. Everything it did right before, suck as the fight sequences, they carried over while taking the writing to the net level. It got us to care about these characters and for that, it gets an A+. Very well done!