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maggies-scribblings · 4 years ago

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Yarning For Her

Adrien is smitten with the girl who's always been there, in the row behind him. But when his plans to ask Marinette out unravel, a secret throws him for a loop…

Written for the Miraculous Writer's Guild April Event 2021: Followers sent five emojis as prompts to the @mlwritersguild Tumblr for the writers to pick one to write for. I chose the emojis sent by @ladycat1: ✨ 😊 👀 👩🏻 🧵

Canon compliant up to Season 4, Episode 4: M. Pigeon 72.

👩🏻

It was finally happening. The event everyone was waiting for… well, everyone except the main protagonist of said event.

Marinette could feel it, though she could hardly believe it. She noticed Adrien looking at her with more intensity, when he thought she wasn’t looking. How he had trouble finding the right words when talking to her. All the tiny gestures of attention, like offering to help with a difficult subject or a complex art project, or praising her outfit every day, even if she’d worn it several times before.

Nino could tell, too: questions about Marinette and her favourite colour, food, flower, or whatever else were whispered in his right ear all day.

Actually, the whole class noticed Adrien’s marked change in behaviour. His cheerful hellos were now stuttered in Marinette’s general direction. His head hid on his shoulders whenever Marinette sighed or yawned, as if his neck couldn’t handle her fresh breaths. Even his athletic skills were now replaced with an unexplained jerkiness. The fact that the weather was warmer and the girls’ gym suits gave way to short shorts and strappy tops might have had something to do with it.

In short, Adrien fell in love with Marinette. Hard.

👀

When it started, Adrien couldn’t exactly tell. Ever since that first day of school, Marinette had held a special space in his heart (most of which had been stolen by Ladybug the previous day). She was one of his first and dearest friends.

But now… after getting to know Marinette, her loving and kind nature, after seeing her helping others without asking for anything back, after finally noticing how pretty she was… he wasn’t so sure.

That day at the pool was definitely a turning point.

First there was that unplanned double dive. During those milliseconds when they were falling, Adrien’s thought process went something like this:

Danger!—Why is Marinette here?—Protect!—Wow, she looks so cute in that swimsuit!

As they hit the water, their arms instinctively reached out to the other as they sank, swirling back up to the surface in a soft embrace — just like that night in New York, when they had danced floating in the air, under the full moon.

And when they were leaving the pool, Adrien was so happy and surprised to see she still had the umbrella he’d given her way back then! Sweet as always, she offered to give it back to him, even though it was raining and she had to walk home.

She was standing next to him (she linked her arm in his!) when that pesky umbrella decided to close on them, and they were pulled even closer for a few seconds. Very close. He could smell the chlorine in her hair mixed with the scent of sweets that always surrounded her. He thought he felt her heart beating faster and faster. Maybe it wasn’t. His heart certainly was. He could feel her warm breath through his shirt, and it drove him a little crazy.

When they said goodbye that day, he could hardly take his eyes off her. He even bumped his head on the car door frame. Ladies and gentlemen, here’s the charming, elegant model Adrien Agreste, unable to enter a car (come to think of it, he seemed to have a bit of a problem with doors whenever Marinette was around).

✨

The few weeks that went by did nothing to sort out Adrien’s feelings about the two black-haired girls in his life. His days were mortifying, his nights restless. On one such night, Adrien tossed and turned, but sleep wouldn’t come. The full moon and bright stars shining through the window frames painted his room with grid patterns, a constant reminder of his confined life.

Adding to that, his mind was racing with memories of his (now frequent) clumsiness and embarrassment at school. He recalled the fumble of the day: going into the classroom while trying to look cool, he managed to snag his bag strap on the door handle, causing him to jerk back and hit the ground on his butt in front of the whole class.

Adrien groaned and turned again. Worst thing was, he had no idea how she felt for him. She kept sending mixed signals. Her behaviour towards him wasn’t as weird as it had been, but that didn’t mean a lot. He’d even asked her a couple of times. He remembered the time they visited the wax museum, when she said she didn’t like him like that.

“What’s the matter, kid?” Plagg yawned from his side of the pillow, annoyed by his bearer’s restlessness. “Who is it this time? Spots or bakery girl?”

Adrien didn’t bite, going back into his musings instead.

His mind turned to Ladybug… These days, Spots occupied a much smaller part of his thoughts. He still got the occasional butterflies in his stomach when he saw her, or when she praised him and his humour. She would always be his first love, and not an easy girl to forget… but she was right, of course — she was always right — as long as they had enemies, they couldn’t reveal their identities, much less deepen their relationship. Back when Bunnyx first showed up, they found out that there would be a new Hawkmoth and countless akumas in the future, and who knew when that would end?

Plagg was still grumbling about sleep and cheese. Adrien playfully flicked his kwami’s ear.

“Shut up, Plagg! I’m trying to sleep!”

“Very unsuccessfully, I might say,” Plagg flew out of his reach. “You sighed four-hundred and fifty-eight times in the last hour.”

“Come on… can’t you see I’m in turmoil here?” Adrien turned his back to the kwami. It was no use arguing with a deity, no matter how minuscule.

“Four-hundred and fifty-ni—” Plagg’s teasing was interrupted by a pillow hitting him.

😊

This wouldn’t do. Adrien couldn’t stand his own indecisiveness any more. He decided to ask Marinette out, that very day. After a reviving shower, he got dressed and looked in the mirror. The dark circles around his eyes were evident, but he hated wearing concealer to school. He might as well add a couple of details to his usual get-up: a pair of Gabriel’s new collection sunglasses and his favourite blue scarf.

He arrived at school early, and while most of the class was either chatting in the courtyard or going into the classroom, Marinette was nowhere to be seen. Adrien went into the locker room, and lurked behind the last row of lockers while students got in, got their things and left.

Finally, the hurricane that was late-for-class-Marinette thundered in, scolding herself for oversleeping as she got her books for the morning. When she closed the door, there was Adrien, leaning against the cabinets with his best Chat Noir smirk as he looked over the rim of his sunglasses and greeted her.

“Good morn—”

He didn’t have time to finish his line, as a very startled Marinette squeaked and grabbed his free arm to spin him around and pin him to the lockers with an elbow to his throat.

It took a few moments for Adrien realise exactly what had happened, before she released her hold.

“I’m sorry, I… panicked,” Marinette said, as she stepped back and continued to gesticulate wildly and mumble more awkward apologies.

Still frozen in place, Adrien managed to adjusted his crooked sunglasses.

“Marin—” he had to clear his throat. “No, I— It’s o-ow!”

Adrien tried and failed to step forward, as he heard a ripping sound — his scarf was caught in Marinette’s locker, and the momentum slammed him back into the metal doors with a loud bang.

The proverbial stars that blurred his vision cleared up to show Marinette very close to him, fumbling with the lock to release the scarf.

“Sorry, so sorry, I’m such a klutz!”

“It’s okay, no harm do—”

Adrien stopped talking when he saw that the scarf had a large rip, disappointment obvious upon his face.

“Oh no!” Marinette covered her mouth as she saw the damage. “Your scarf! I ruined it!”

At this point, Adrien would usually smile and say something like ‘it’s okay’ or ‘no worries’, but he couldn’t lie: he really loved that scarf. It was his favourite colour, warm and cosy, yet light enough to wear on a spring day, and a rare thoughtful gift from his father. He pouted a little as his fingers traced the tear.

“I can fix it!”

He lifted his eyes to Marinette as she got on her tiptoes to unwind the scarf from his neck.

“I can make it look as good as new. I know you’re worried, after all it’s your dad’s birthday gift,” she rambled as she delicately folded it, “but I have leftover yarn— I mean, I think I have the same colour, and it’s a simple pattern.”

There was something odd about the way she worded that, but Adrien dismissed it. He must have made a weird face, because now she had a concerned expression.

“I mean, if you trust me with it… I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t after I destroyed it. ”

“No—I mean, don’t be silly, it was an accident… I shouldn’t have sneaked up on you like that!” He managed a relieved little smile. “Still, my father might be upset if he saw I ripped it. Are you sure you can fix it?”

Marinette’s eyes averted his for a moment, as she returned the folded up scarf.

“I’ll do my best! I’m not a pro like your father, but I’m sure I can make it as good as new in no time at all!”

They agreed to go to Marinette’s place after school so that she could start working on it right away, then ran off to class as the second bell rang.

Not exactly the way I planned it, Adrien thought as he scrambled onto his seat, but I guess it worked!

🧵

Adrien reclined in the chaise-longue and looked around Marinette’s bedroom. It was the total opposite of his, huge and aseptic and cold. On the contrary, these walls had warm colours and pictures everywhere, and it smelled amazing, fruity shampoo mixed with glue and ink from her many design projects, mixed with sweets from the bakery, and everything about it was so welcoming and cosy and so… Marinette.

“Yes!” Her delighted voice interrupted his reveries. “I knew I still had it!”

Adrien chuckled as he saw Marinette triumphantly holding a ball of light blue yarn, then get several needles from her yarn basket and sit at her sewing station to start working. He switched seats to her desk chair and rolled close to her.

“Can I help?”

“Sure! Let me just…”

Marinette picked up a long, thin knitting needle and started to thread it on the scarf, just above the tear. She was so concentrated and her movements so careful and precise, she might as well be defusing a bomb. Adrien noticed her tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth and wondered what her kisses would taste like.

“There. I have the brakes on, now let’s get going.”

Marinette found the end stitch at the corner of the scarf and cut it. Giving Adrien the end of the yarn, she continued.

“Hold this. Make a ball while I unravel it.”

“Huh? Un-what?” Much as Adrien trusted her skills, he panicked. “Won’t you make it worse?”

“No, because I’m holding the knitting with this,” she pointed at the longer needle she had threaded through the scarf.

Marinette turned her chair, so they were sitting face to face, knees almost touching, and started to quickly unravel the bottom part of the scarf, while he rolled up the thread in a ball, both enjoying the comfortable silence. He noticed a small piece of fabric falling from one of the edges and bent down to pick it up.

“What’s this?” Adrien thought out loud while examining it.

As soon as Marinette lifted her eyes from her work and saw what he was holding, her eyes went wide and her cheeks red.

“Oh, it’s nothing—” she tried unsuccessfully to snatch the fabric from his hand. “Probably just the washing inst—”

It was not an ordinary washing instructions tag. It was tiny and had been woven into the knitting, so discreetly he’d never noticed it before. He turned the fabric over to see a recognisable signature.

Marinette

“Wait— you made this?” Adrien picked up the other end of the scarf from her lap and examined like he’d never seen it before. “Wha—? How? D-did my father buy it off your website?”

So that’s why she was so confident about fixing it. He searched Marinette’s face for an explanation, but she just shook her head and kept looking down, unravelling the loops one by one.

“No— of course not— your site wasn't set up back then, we only took those photos later…”

Adrien thought back to the time Nathalie handed him the present, neatly packed in a box with a ribbon. He’d never seen that kind of care in his father’s presents, just standard gift bags with expensive pens, straight from a corporate catalogue. His train of thought was broken by a couple of tears falling on his hands.

“Marinette…” he murmured, lifting her chin to look into her misty eyes. “Did you make this for me?”

She nodded with a tiny smile. He moved his hand from her chin to cup her cheek, wiping her tears with his thumb.

“Was this supposed to be your present for me?” Another nod. “How did this mess happen then?”

“I…” Marinette had to clear her throat and finally looked at him. Something in her eyes changed from avoidance to determination. “I wanted to give it to you personally, but I couldn’t gather the nerve… then one thing led to another, and I left it in your house, and I even signed it, but…” she shrugged.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I just… couldn’t. You were so happy with the present from your dad. I couldn’t ruin it for you.”

Adrien made a mental note to find out exactly what had happened, then set all his negative feelings aside. His heart was too full of love to think about anything other than the girl in front of him.

“Oh, Marinette…” he softly chided as he hugged her. How could this girl be so selfless, on top of everything else? She cared for him, really cared for him, even back then. “I wish you’d told me.”

He released the hug and pulled her closer, into his lap. Marinette set the scarf on the sewing table and put her arms around his neck. Her tears were gone and a hint of a smile played on her lips.

“That way,” Adrien caressed her nose with his, “I would have thanked you properly.”

“Oh yeah?” Marinette breathed, her lips very close to his. “You can thank me now.”

They closed the distance between them, their lips melding into a sweet kiss, then another, and then a few more. Adrien’s heart was beating so fast he could hardly bear it. Then he remembered he should probably breathe at some point.

“Wow.”

“If that’s the way you thank a person for a present, I’ll start giving them more often,” Marinette joked.

“Not anyone.” He pecked her lips. “Only you.”

They kissed again, this time more passionately. He kissed her eyes, the tip of her nose, her forehead, her neck, then back up to her lips…

The scarf was left forgotten on the sewing table. It could wait a few more hours before repairing.

Fin

Thanks to @hari-writes and @deinde-prandium for the beta read! ❤️

Constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated. English is not my first language and I tend to use UK English. If you catch any inconsistencies, please let me know.

My AO3. My Twitter. My Instagram.

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e-milieeee · 4 years ago

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four ways to say i love you

Summary: It’s the little things—such as waking up at five in the morning to cook for him or lending her a coat when she’s cold—that mean the world.

Because Marinette loves her partner very, very much, and she’s so lucky that he feels the same.

Notes: I was initially going to do one side of the lovesquare, but all sides are equal and therefore have all four sides in this oneshot :) Post reveal, established relationship. A commissioned piece for @mlbforblm—there’s plenty of talented artists and writers who still have slots, so make sure to commission!

Or read on AO3

Adrien is brushing his teeth when Ladybug comes crashing through his window.

He’s a little later than usual today, still decked in his Ladybug pajamas that he’s so unashamedly proud of. He has tied his bangs back with an elastic band, and it sits like a little tree on top of his head, water still dripping from his face.

“And here I was, thinking you’d be ready to eat breakfast,” she tsks playfully.

He grins back. “Sorry, M’lady. Plagg turned my alarm off.”

His smile is, as usual, contagious and in a way that can’t help but to smile back. Ladybug returns to his room and takes out the box from her bag, where she’d painstakingly prepared breakfast for him at the expense of a shattered bowl and spilled jug of milk. It’s still warm to the touch, thankfully, and her slightly rough landing in his room hadn’t messed it up too much.

Adrien joins her a couple minutes later. He has taken the hair tie out, but his bangs fall softly over his eyes like it does when he’s Chat Noir, and Ladybug wants to run her hands over it so to feel just how soft it is. She refrains herself, though, as they both settle cross-legged on the ground where she has laid their breakfast out.

His mouth drops open. “Wow,” Adrien marvels. “When you said you were going to make a feast, I thought you’d fry an egg or two and slap it between some bread and that would’ve been it. This is… can you describe food as gorgeous? Because this is gorgeous.”

“Just because that’s the only thing you can cook doesn’t mean it’s all I’m capable of,” she sniffs, but underneath, Ladybug preens at the compliment.

It’d taken a lot of effort, and Ladybug had collected the ingredients the day before and planned every single detail before going to bed. Then, at five in the morning, she dragged herself out of bed looking and feeling like a zombie just to prepare it.

There are four egg rolls drizzled with homemade sauce, then sprinkled with dried seaweed and sesame. Next to that are neat cuts of green onion cake, made from absolute scratch (she burned herself in the process of deep-frying them). Inside the longest container are fried fish, the ones her mother had prepared the night before. Finally, the leftover mooncakes from the Lunar Festival are in the little box, tied with a red bow. Marinette had spent careful care on that one.

“Miso soup,” Ladybug tells him as she hands him the thermos. “Uh… I think I added too much paste and it’s too salty, so you might not want to drink that one. And…” She opens the last box, where a variety of fresh-cut fruit awaits. “For health reasons, there are fruits. Oh! Also a cheese platter for Plagg, but he’s still asleep, so he can have it later.”

Adrien is positively beaming when she unpacks everything. “You’re the absolute best,” he gushes.

“Couldn’t have you starving on your diet, right?” The nonchalant act can only go so far when she’s grinning so wide. “I’m just hoping it tastes as good as it looks.”

“It’ll taste good just because you made it.” He throws her an exaggerated wink, then immediately reaches for his chopsticks to dig in.

Ladybug watches him take a bite out of green onion cake. He chews, swallows, eyes lighting up. “This is amazing, and I promise I’m not just saying that because my diet’s forced me to eat boiled chicken breasts with no seasoning of the past week.”

She giggles. “Just let me know when you want me to bring you breakfast.”

He places a hand on his chest. “I can’t believe Ladybug’s my personal delivery girl. Do you offer lunch services as well?”

“Only for you, kitty.”

His grin is worth getting up for at 5am.

***

Marinette is freezing at lunch break, but they’ve agreed to eat outside, so she sucks it up. At least the lunch she’d packed for her and Adrien is warm.

It’s late autumn now, and the last couple of leaves cling to otherwise bare trees. She regrets the outfit she picked—cute, but not practical. Especially not in this weather. Looking at Alya bundled up in a hoodie and combat boots, Marinette really regrets the dress.

The noodles in the thermoses are slightly soggy, but the flavour is still there. They chat for a while—about upcoming tests, about projects and the end-of-the-year field trip that is still months away, and everything is lovely. Lovely, but cold.

Halfway through, her noodles emptied, Adrien notices her shivering. “Are you cold?” he asks, eyes growing wide in concern.

Alya halts her conversation with Nino as well. “Wait, Adrien’s right, you’re wearing a dress. I’m chilly and I have a sweater on.”

Marinette, who has refrained from speaking for the past couple of minutes in fear of her teeth chattering too loudly, manages to shake her head.

She gets a scrutinizing look-over by Adrien before he makes his verdict. “This isn’t going to do,” he declares firmly. Then, with one fluid movement, he shrugs his own sweater off and drapes it over her shoulders.

“Oh, he’s smooth,” Alya remarks with a wicked grin.

Smooth, indeed. The jacket is wonderfully warm, and, with a content sigh, Marinette slides her arms through the sleeves. There’s also the faint smell of his cologne and it’s so very him that she can’t help the smile that crosses her face.

He opens an arm in a beckoning gesture and Marinette happily settles into his embrace.

***

Because of his father’s strict rules, it’s much easier for Adrien to come by as Chat Noir after school, which he does almost everyday. Sometimes it’s between his schedules, sometimes it’s after, late into the night when both his father and Nathalie believe he’s asleep. Marinette always listens for the thump on the skylight, an indication that he’s there. The trap door is always left unlocked for him, so she only needs to wait as he climbs down the ladder.

It’s nearing nine when he comes this time. She sits at her desk finishing up the rest of the notes when the door creaks open and Chat Noir climbs down.

“Evening,” he greets. “What—ooh, you brought croissants for me.”

He zeroes in immediately on the food that Marinette had, admittedly, prepared for him. Between Adrien’s schedule and that godawful diet his father insisted putting him on and his time sprinting across rooftops and fighting akumas, it’s a miracle that he hasn’t fainted from lack of nutrition. Marinette has made it her personal goal to make sure he’s properly fed, and she ensures there’s a snack waiting for him every time he drops by.

Half a minute later, he’s munching enthusiastically on the food and Marinette can no longer focus on the rest of her notes. She sorts them out—there’s at least four pages that she’d copied in her neatest handwriting—and then hands them to Chat.

“Here,” she tells him. “You missed both physics and mathematics today because of the photoshoot, so I copied the notes from class and re-organized them. I also added a review section from last class so it’s easier to figure out just where we are since the two lessons are connected. And…” She shuffles through her desk once more, producing the textbook. “It’s on page one hundred and twenty seven to one hundred and twenty nine, if my notes don’t make sense. You can study here, if you’d like. My parents won’t be coming back up anyway, so we should be left alone for now.”

The last time her mother had walked in on her and Chat doing homework together, she’d been understanding. Understanding, but skeptical. It had been awfully hard to explain why Paris’ superhero was lounging in her room like he lived there—and much harder more awkward to explain that Adrien was one hundred supportive of her friendship with Chat after her father had become defensive that he had ulterior motives.

Chat takes the papers from her. “You’re absolutely unbelievable,” he tells her, eyes shining in a way only his can. “Seriously, Marinette, have I ever told you?”

She pretends to count on her fingers. “Let’s see… only about six times today. Why? He shakes his head, a grin pulling at the corner of his lips. In one fluid movement, he leans down to pluck the textbook from her hands and plants a quick kiss against her cheek in the process. “What would I do without you?”

“Go hungry, probably? Start lagging behind in all of your classes?” Marinette tsks at him. “God, you’re right. What would you do without me?”

Chat’s laugh is wonderful and full and happy. “Then aren’t I lucky to have you.”

***

The akuma strikes at midnight.

Marinette, about to change into her pajamas after just sending off Chat Noir, curses to herself. She’s tired and not in the mood to transform, but when Chat comes crashing back down from the skylight urgently, she knows she has no choice.

“Akuma!” he informs her, as if the tremors outside could be caused by anything else. “It’s close to here. We should be able to take this one quickly.”

“Why is Hawkmoth even awake?” Marinette grumbles, but transforms nonetheless. Chat waits patiently on the side, though he’s drawn taut, prepared to scramble into action the moment she’s ready. Then they’re climbing out of the skylight, into the light, where the akuma has begun its rampage. The once-quiet night is ripped apart with panic and terror.

The akuma is relatively easy to deal with: a little girl, apparently inspired by Frozen, is decked in full Elsa, wielding similar powers. She covers the streets in ice, a snowstorm whirling around her, as spirals of icy sculptures rise and fall.

Both she and Chat have icicles hanging off them by the time Ladybug purifies the akuma. Even after she releases the Miraculous Ladybug, the cold from the girl’s powers haven’t seeped out of her bones. Judging from Chat’s chattering teeth, he feels the same.

Despite her watch reading 12:32 and the next day hailing as a school day , they stop by at a 24-hour-cafe for hot chocolate. A couple minutes later, seated on the rooftops warming their chilled hands, they’re huddled against each other and staring out at the gleaming cityscape.

“Another successful take-down, m’lady?”

Ladybug laughs as he raises his cup for a toast, and she obliges and bumps her own against him. Hot chocolate sloshes over the lid, splashing onto her suit. She flicks it off. “What a team we make, huh? Now, if only Hawkmoth would get the memo and stop creating his akumas so late. Why is he even up now? Say, do you think he has a life outside of being Hawkmoth?”

“He probably wants to catch us off guard in the middle of the night. Remember that one time we got woken up at three because there was an akuma attack? Plagg wanted to tape my mouth shut so I couldn’t transform.”

Ladybug groans. “I did really bad on a test the next day because I got three and a half hours of sleep—I fell asleep halfway through the test! It’s— ugh. He’s so annoying.”

“There’s one good thing about midnight akumas, though,” Chat points out.

She takes a sip from the hot chocolate, which, during their conversation, has cooled down to just below scalding. “A good thing?” Ladybug echoes. “Name one good thing, chaton.”

He nudges her shoulder. “You, m’lady. It’s nice just being alone like this without anyone else, right?”

Then, like he’s said nothing out of the ordinary, Chat goes back to drinking his hot chocolate with infuriating nonchalance.

Ladybug finds herself smiling. “You know,” she tells Chat Noir. “You’re ridiculously good at this. Where do you even get the inspiration to say these things?”

“You.”

“You are completely overdoing it.”

“You love me, admit that.”

“No.”

“So you would get up at five in the morning to make breakfast for just anyone, Bugaboo?”

Ladybug relents. “Okay, maybe a little.”

Chat Noir’s laugh rings crystal clear throughout the night, loud against the crisp air. Ladybug wants to trap that laugh and hold it close to herself. She can’t help but treasure it, after all: it’s a sound that chases away worries, soothes fears, and she thinks she's so, so lucky to hear it everyday.

“I love you,” he tells her when his laughter dies down. “Don’t forget that, m’lady.”

Ladybug leans her head on her shoulder. “I love you too,” she replies quietly. “You better not forget it, either.”

Notes: Here’s my fics masterlist!

#miraculous ladybug #ladybug #chat noir #adrien agreste #marinette #marichat #ladrien #ladynoir #adrinette #fluff #post reveal #established relationship #mlbforblm #my writing #mlb fic

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noblechaton · 5 years ago

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In From the Cold

Hey @mimogene, I’m your @mlsecretsanta!! I heard that you love Marichat and so I whipped up some Marichat friendship fluff for ya!! Happy holidays <3

AO3

_____________________________

Marinette stood, foot tapping lightly on the cold kitchen floor as she finished adjusting her robe and folded her arms. She stared a bit aimlessly at her oven as it hummed away with the flickering flame inside illuminating her perfectly organized sheet of cookie dough clumps. This was the most she could think to do in her current situation, for better or worse.

To say this Christmas Eve had been quiet would be a bit of an understatement. No schoolwork to do, no bakery to run thanks to a family vacation, not even any sort of Akuma made an appearance this evening. The silent night was nice, for sure, but after a few years spending the holidays surrounded by some form of busy work, it was a bit...odd.

It certainly wasn’t how she was expecting to spend her first Christmas alone, anyway. A seasonal cold had kept her from tagging along on a trip to see family and friends in Shanghai, and a lack of staff meant the bakery would be closed until after the holidays. So here she was, alone in her dimly lit house with little else to do than bake a few sheets of cookies while snow and wind whipped at the walls.

She wasn’t necessarily going to complain about her situation, though. After all, there were probably worse ways to spend the holidays than filling your home with the scent of various kinds of fresh cookies. It was more that something just felt amiss after the last few years of noise, that it almost felt wrong to have a quiet night entirely to herself after so long.

With her family some five thousand miles away, however, there weren’t exactly a lot of options otherwise. She definitely wasn’t about to hope for an Akuma attack, and ruling that out left her with little else beyond seeing if anyone had a spare stocking on the wall.

Even if she did such a thing, would it be rude? Alya always said that she’d have a spot with her family if she wanted or needed it, and Nino had expressed similar sentiments. The idea of going to Adrien’s and spending not only Christmas Eve with him, but Christmas day too, was nice even if it wasn’t exactly realistic.

Somewhat mindlessly, she started pulling her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through her contacts. There was next to no chance that she’d end up at Adrien’s, but that didn’t stop her thumb from hovering over his number for a few extra seconds. She didn’t quite consider herself close enough to Nino to risk barging in on his family’s Christmas, so she moved back up towards Alya.

Maybe she should just be content with her quiet night. That’s what caused some further hesitation as she stared down at the pixelated image of her best friend. Her parents had even left her gifts under the tree already, so she could spend the next day unwrapping whatever she’d gotten and watching cheesy Christmas movies.

Marinette tilted her head to the side and hummed in further thought. Something about opening gifts alone seemed hollow, even if she was given the okay to do so. Much like the night at hand, the idea didn’t feel quite right. So her attention went back to her phone and her thumb soon tapped on Alya’s contact.

Swallowing whatever nerves came with trying to form a last minute text message, Marinette typed away on her phone. She explained her situation and tried to frame things in the most positive light she could. A brief hum followed as she read over her words again and, dissatisfied with the outcome, she started to erase it and started again.

This time, she worded things somewhat better. It was certainly important to note that the worst of her cold had passed, as was mentioning that this was a one time thing. She certainly hoped it would be, at least. A new and somewhat improved message flowed from her fingertips and onto the screen.

Then, she hesitated, again. This was a much more difficult task than she would have imagined. Tapping the backspace button, the letters disappeared as she took a deep inhale and readied herself to try again. Rather than dumping the entire situation in one message, she figured an icebreaker of sorts would help.

“Hey, girl! Hope you’re staying warm tonight!” Her fingers wrote, briefly wondering if the exclamation points weren’t a bit overkill. “I have a question I need to ask if you’re not too busy or anything. It’s fine if you are, though! No worries <3”

She exhaled and pressed send. A few seconds passed before it actually sent, but with that she set her phone down on the counter behind her and leaned back. It wasn’t like she was against spending the holidays with her best friend or anything, quite the opposite in fact. It was more that she was still apprehensive about possibly dropping in like this, but maybe-

Marinette’s thought train suddenly came to a halt as the loud noise of something crashing erupted somewhere nearby. Her eyes rolled around some in an attempt to trace the noise as she moved quickly through her kitchen. She glanced out the nearest window to assess the situation.

Nothing seemed amiss from what she could see, everything seemed to be in order. Snow was still pounding down and the wind was still whipping. A few cars passed by and there even seemed to be a set of carolers on the sidewalk.

She stared out for a bit longer to see if perhaps it was something hidden. There’d been more than a few stealthy Akuma, after all. Nothing changed, however, and with no one outside reacting to anything whatsoever, that left her with only one other idea.

It came from her roof.

Quickly, she turned the dial on her oven down and made for the staircase. A mental checklist flew through her mind as she tried to figure out what she might have felt outside. Her sun chair had been indoors since winter started, as were her potted plants. She didn’t think it was windy enough for her tea table to have blown away, so she couldn’t be sure.

Still, she was pretty certain that’s where the noise came from, and continued trying to figure out what it could have been on her way through her bedroom. Aside from something blowing over from another house, nothing seemed to fit the bill. She let out a hum while climbing over her bed and moving up her ladder before briefly stopping just before reaching the trapdoor.

Marinette cocked an eyebrow at the sound of further clattering on her balcony and cautiously peeked through the hatch. Slowly, her eyes roamed the area from one side until she spotted the culprit. Or at least, roughly half of the culprit, considering the other half was covered in the slight mound of snow that had accumulated throughout the day.

“Chat Noir?” She questioned aloud, staring at the bottom half of a leather-clad figure with a belt tail she found herself hoping actually was her costumed partner.

Said belt tail twitched as the person shifted around and attempted to dig themselves out of the snow. With one sudden push, the pile disappeared and in its place stood a snowy Chat Noir.

“Guess I missed the chimney.” He said, dusting the powder off. Marinette did not have a chimney.

The wind calmed around them for the time being as a slight silence befell the balcony. He merely stood brushing himself off, while she popped her head further out the hatch and continued trying to process what was going on.

“You, uh,” Marinette cleared her throat and stepped onto the balcony. “You okay?”

“Oh, yeah, yep!” Chat smiled widely. He even gave her a thumbs up for good measure, the ears on his head flicking some remaining snow off.

“You sure? It sounded like you fell.” She flatly stated. Admittedly, it was hard to know how to react to a situation like this. It was almost surprising that it hadn’t happened before.

“Uh, well…I kinda did.” He leaned down to collect his baton, something he might have done to hide some sort of embarrassment. “Guess Santa Paws hit an ice patch or something and just sorta slipped, it is pretty hard to see right now, y’know?”

“Right.” Marinette flatly said as she nodded along slowly. “Speaking of, can I ask...why you’re out? Is there an Akuma around?”

“No.” Chat replied. “Er, not that I know of. Not yet. That’s actually why I was out! I was doing a patrol around the city to see if any supervillains were around.”

Marinette’s eyebrow raised.

“All alone in the middle of the night?”

He stammered for a moment, obviously a bit flustered. The fall must have done more damage to his pride than anything else, she figured.

“Well, yeah.” Chat answered, flashing a few teeth behind an exaggerated grin. “You never know when or where they might crop up, after all. Better safe than sorry!”

Marnette didn’t know what to say. It’s not that he was necessarily wrong, and they had been doing the occasional patrol over the last few months, but they usually did them together. Or rather, he would patrol with Ladybug. So his running around the city alone definitely seemed odd.

“And Ladybug’s...home sick?” She stifled a slight chuckle at how clever she felt. All things considered, she’d know if he was telling the truth here or not, even if she couldn’t exactly out him if he wasn’t.

Her question seemed to cause him to freeze up somewhat, though, an unexpected reaction. There was some low mumbling she didn’t quite hear and a few gestures of his hands, but he didn’t manage to give a straight answer after what felt like a good minute or so. She knew him well enough to know something was definitely off.

“Hey,” Marinette took the few steps needed to close the gap between them. Her hand cautiously reached for his shoulder and stopped his muttering. “Is everything okay?”

Chat chewed the inside of his mouth for a moment. His eyes avoided hers, instead focusing on the ground while he attempted to formulate a reply.

“I, uh...don’t wanna get too heavy on you or anything.” He said.

She was just a civilian, after all.

“It’s okay.” Marinette replied. Hard to shut those Ladybug instincts down with her snow-covered partner taking up residency on her balcony while clearly in some form of distress. Still, she had to make sure she wasn’t coming across as too eager. “I mean, I’m not gonna pry or anything, but I don’t mind listening.”

Chat mulled it over for a bit. Sure, he knew who Marinette was and trusted her almost as much as he did Ladybug, but Chat Noir didn’t. At least, not after the scant few interactions they’d had over the years. Maybe it’d be easier without the leather, though that wasn’t much of an option.

Still, the offer of an otherwise friendly ear was extremely tempting at the moment. Especially after plummeting however many feet through the Parisian sky.

“Without getting into the details,” He started after an inhale. “Christmas has been...kind of a rough time for me over the last few years. There’s been some good ones and everything, but sometimes it just...gets to me.”

Marinette nodded, adjusting her robe some. The wind started whipping up again, sending flakes of snow flying all around them as she realized just how cold it was.

“Er, hey, not to make this any weirder,” She spoke up, wishing she opted for the sweater over the t-shirt she picked. “But it’s pretty cold up here, so...would you mind if we take this inside?”

“Oh, uh, sure.” Chat replied a bit quicker than he might have intended. The super suit offered him some protection from the elements, but even he noticed just how cold it had gotten. He tapped the metal toes of his boots on the floor and then perked up with a question of his own. “Should I go down the hatch, or?”

“Eh,” Marinette gave a slight shrug, eyeing him over. She glanced at the snow caked onto his shoes, likely why he asked in the first place. “I needed to wash my bed stuff soon anyway, so I don’t mind.”

With that, she stepped back and climbed down the ladder with Chat following cautiously behind. Halfway down the ladder, he reached up and nudged the hatch so that it fell shut before hesitantly pressing his boots to her mattress. Marinette snickered some at that while she walked down the steps and waited by her bedroom door.

Chat opted to hop from her bed to the floor, striking an unnecessarily stylish pose as he glanced over at the wall full of posters and pictures of a certain blonde model. He then shot her a smirk from his crouched position and she gave him a light laugh before nodding out the door, a silent instruction for him to follow her through the house. He tapped the tips of his toes on a nearby towel on the floor to try and track as little snow as possible.

Marinette acted as a guide as they made their way through a house he found himself quite familiar with by now. It wasn’t much of a journey as the destination she was leading them to, her kitchen, was just another staircase or so away. He walked through the living room to join her and couldn’t help but smile at how unchanged it was from the last time he’d been here.

“Peanut butter?” He asked after taking a whiff of the oven.

“Yep.” Marinette replied, twisting a dial and opening the door. “Been making cookies all day and that was the last kind I had left. They should be just about done actually.”

“I can get that, if you want.” Chat chimed in, leaning over next to her. Marinette gestured at the appliance and let him go.

He stepped in front of the dimly glowing, and deliciously smelling, chamber and eased a hand inside. Heat radiated off and ran along his face while he swiftly pulled the pan out. Dropping it on the top, Chat flapped his hand around some and blew on it a few times.

“You alright?” Marinette lightly giggled.

“Oh, yeah,” Chat nodded, giving a laugh of his own. “Just...kinda thought it’d be colder.”

Marinette shook her head some and nudged a few cookies that ended up on top of each other after his sudden movements apart. To be entirely fair, she still wasn’t sure what the limit of protection the suits offered was, so this was something of a learning experience for the both of them.

“Alright, well, let’s let those cool for a bit.” She said, moving to her cabinets. “Care for a cup of cocoa?”

He hesitated again, eyes wandering out the window. Marinette could see conflict on his face, even if she wasn’t sure what it was.

“Yeah.” Chat eventually answered. “I’d like that.”

She gave him a shake of her head and retrieved two cups and a large bowl from her cupboard. Then she pulled out some cocoa mix while he took the liberty of getting the milk and whipped cream from her fridge. He poured the milk while she tore open the packets and dumped them in. She used a little extra, just in case either of them wanted more later. A few stirs of a spoon later and the mixture was in the microwave.

“So.” Marinette leaned against her counter. “Still got something on your mind, huh?”

“Oh, uh,” Chat stuttered for a moment as he took a seat at her table. “I guess so, yeah.”

“I’m not gonna push or anything,” Marinette decided to explain her position on the matter, keeping a smile to try and help him be more comfortable. “But I know having someone to talk to can help sometimes, even if they don’t know what to say, and you’ve been around here often enough that I don’t mind.”

“I have, haven’t I?” Chat gave her a smile of his own. It only really just sunk in how frequently he ended up at her house, specifically in the leather. “Can I ask you something first, though?”

“Sure.” She openly agreed.

“Are we...friends, Marinette?”

His question caused a brief silence. A near tension, even, as Marinette thought on it. She didn’t have to ponder the answer all that much, of course they were friends, but it could be a bit difficult to explain why she felt so strongly if he asked. So she tempered herself and gave a direct, if somewhat passive answer.

“I think so, yeah.” Marinette replied as the microwave hummed behind her. “I consider you one, at least.”

Chat smiled at that.

“Thank you.” He cleared his throat and shot her a wink. “Back at’cha.”

“Anyway.” Marinette chuckled, popping the door open with a second left on the clock. She fixed their drinks, complete with spraying the whipped cream he left on the counter, as she waited for his next words.

“Anyway,” Chat picked up. “I guess it’s just kinda hard to explain.”

“Take your time, kitty.” She passed him a drink and briefly froze up after realizing what she’d called him. Not that he seemed to notice.

“Well,” He took a sip and then stared down at the cup. “A few years ago, I...lost someone close to me, and they loved Christmas. They loved most holidays, actually”

“Mhm.” Marinette hummed to assure him she was listening.

“And it’s hard not to think of them sometimes, especially during this time of year.” Chat continued. “Plus, I’m kinda living on my own this year, so it’s just me, y’know?”

“I understand.” She gave him a nod, even if he wasn’t looking.

“But, yeah,” Chat exhaled a breath and decided to be honest. His green gaze met hers again for the first time since she handed him his drink. “Sometimes I just have to...get out, try to clear my head or distract myself, and that’s what I was doing. I...didn’t want to be alone.”

“Oh.” Was what Marinette muttered. Her heart seemed to sink in her chest some, and suddenly it all made sense. “I’m...sorry to hear that, Chat.”

“Yeah…” He mumbled, thumbs tapping the side of his cup before he sat it down on the table behind him. Before another second passed, he stood up and started to turn towards the staircase. “Sorry, I should...I should go.”

“Wait,” Marinette called out. She couldn’t let him leave like that, like this. ”Wait, hold on.”

“No, it’s okay.” Chat gave her a slight wave without even looking at her. “Happy holidays, Marinette.”

“Wait.” Marinette said again. She didn’t even notice she’d dashed through the kitchen and grabbed the cuff around his wrist until she looked up. It must have been something of an instinct at this point, a reflex. “I-I mean, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

“Uh,” Chat blinked for a moment, stammering behind his barely parted lips. From the looks of it, neither of them expected her to grab his arm the way she did. “No, really, it’s okay. Thanks for listening to me and everything, but I don’t wanna ruin your family’s Christmas or anything.

“My parents are on vacation, actually. That’s why the bakery isn’t open” Marinette replied, chuckling some as she stepped up closer to him. “Did you think I was inviting you in for a meal with my family again?”

“No, I just...hadn’t noticed. You did say you've been baking all day, so-” Chat stopped himself for a moment to check his mental calendar. “Wait. It is Christmas Eve, right?”

“Yeah, it is.” Marinette nodded, sitting her cup of cocoa down on the table next to his. “Their flight got delayed a few days because of the storm, I guess, so now instead of making it back tonight they’ll be getting here sometime on Friday.”

“Ah.” Chat swallowed and shook his head some.

“So I guess I’m...kind of alone this Christmas, too.” She added. “And I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to stick around for the night. It’d be nice having an extra set of claws when it comes time to open presents tomorrow, too.”

“That, um,” He paused, glancing around the room. He really hadn’t noticed how quiet it was until now. His hesitation gradually started to fade, along with the remnants of the conflict on his face. While he didn’t want to be invasive, it was hard to turn down an offer that came with as much warmth as the one she was offering.

They were friends, after all.

“That’d be nice.” Chat eventually smiled.

“I certainly hope so.” Marinette gave him a smirk of her own. More than that, she then wrapped her other arm around his form and embraced him in a tight hug.

“Thank you, Marinette.” Chat said after processing what was happening. His own arms curled around her shoulders and snuggled her to his body, a gentle purr emanating from his chest.

#Miraculous Ladybug #mlsecretsanta #marichat #marinette dupen chang #chat noir #noblefic #had a few peeps read this over so I hope it came out good yo!!

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shoofworldwide · 5 years ago

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more beta au stuff because another character that has interesting stuff?? chloe.

chloe, like felix, has a lot of cool potential. one way is that she was originally supposed to parade around not just sabrina, but alix as well, which makes for a very peculiar dynamic between alix and chloe if alix is willing to put up with her. that also adds the question of WHY - yes i know it's probably because alix was supposed to be a sabrina clone, but it adds a better dynamic if, say, chloe and alix were childhood friends. i still haven't decided whether or not i want adrien in this au, but i know i wanna emphasize the importance of the childhood friends, which would also include marinette, nino, and kim, since the three of them grew up together, and, most likely, with chloe as well. considering the fact that marinette and nino HATE chloe at the beginning, and kim has a crush on her, as well as kim's rivalry with alix, that creates an entirely new dynamic between the five of them. what happened that caused chloe to start bullying marinette? probably her mother leaving. chloe probably confided in alix about her mother, since we haven't seen alix's mom in the picture yet either. marinette has a mom, and a loving stable family to boot. somewhere along the line, chloe starts bullying marinette out of jealousy, to feel better about herself, etc. starts pumping herself up more to get rid of the feeling of inadequecy. nino sticks to marinette because i am riding this brotp train. alix, only knowing chloe's side, doesn't know why marinette and nino start treating chloe so poorly when she's going through so much, and starts to avoid them. eventually kim tells her what happened, but it's never the same between alix and marinette. meanwhile, kim kinda bounces between both groups. as chloe gets older, and subsequently worse, alix gets more and more guilty and unsure of how to stop her friend. but the alix rant is for another post this is chloe time.

chloe, in season 1, is basically the same awful mega bitch. she'd probably try to boast about being felix's gf in origins but he'd shut that shit down quickly. i can't see the two of them getting along at all. felix would probably call her out in class, to which everyone supports, but then rag on her a little TOO hard to the point where it just becomes malicious. i could see antibug being because of chat instead of ladybug - not because marinette wouldn't do what she did in antibug, but because felix would do it WORSE and ladybug, at most, would probably pull him aside privately and tell him that was way too much.

i don't have much change for her actions up until volpina, where chat and ladybug have the huge fight and ladybug kicks chat out of paris. chloe's there - i imagine the whole class is. with volpina being probably the most difficult akuma thus far and with ladybug having to face it alone, marinette, by the end, is EXHAUSTED. she's swinging back when chloe stops her.

chloe DEMANDS to be brought back personally by ladybug, and to get selfies with her best friend, etc etc. and ladybug snaps. ladybug starts going off on her for being selfish and pretentious and a bully. her earrings are beeping. chloe tries to tell her but ladybug's screaming her head off and won't listen--

and the transformation fades. marinette is left in her wake.

marinette goes dead quiet. chloe gapes - she wasn't really listening to what ladybug was saying, she knows it had been a long day - and doesn't say anything. marinette falls to her knees, just staring. staring at the biggest mistake at the worst time.

but this is ladybug, chloe's idol. so chloe calls her butler for a car and tells marinette they're going to her hotel where it's safe and she can rest. marinette weakly nods and follows along because, at least, chloe's being nice. even if it's weird.

so once tikki is settled with cookies and the two are safely in chloe's room, marinette explains that she's ladybug. how it happened. that yes, it has been her the whole time. yes, volpina was lila. and lila was a liar. no, she had no idea who chat noir was. she's not sure she wants to know.

and chloe takes it all in. she processes it, and it's a cold wake up call. marinette, the girl she's tormented for YEARS, is her biggest idol. and chloe has to choose between whether or not to keep ladybug's secret or tell the world marinette's.

chloe decides to do the right thing.

season 2 is different. chat noir is ladybug's enemy and ladybug has to do things herself now. lila is manipulating the class in between her "excursions to achu". and chloe, somehow, has become marinette's friend, and ladybug's self proclaimed "sidekick". she helps ladybug from the shadows in her own weird chloe way. eventually, when nino finds out marinette's identity, the three of them become team ladybug, with chloe even buying them a secret lair (lb and cn had one in beta....and they AXED IT....but it's back no one can stop me) and chloe becomes invaluable.

when her mom comes back, chloe practically trips over herself to be her mom's ideal child, trying to copy everything she does, but she becomes a bitch again. alix pulls her aside and begs her not to go down this path again because it's not good for her, for anyone, and that deep down, she's a beautiful person and she shouldn't let anyone - not even her mom - get rid of that.

and it sits with chloe. and she's so, so torn about it.

the decision comes to a head when master fu presents her the miraculous of the bee. he tells her that her efforts have not gone unnoticed, and that she deserves this. that deep down, she is a hero.

(nino also gets a miraculous obv but that's another post)

queen bee becomes a permenant member of the team, and no longer ladybug's sidekick, but her new partner. and while chloe still has a lot of growing to do, she's headed down the right path.

i'm considering giving her a romantic subplot too but i'm not sure who with? i love chlonath but marcnath is pretty great. i've considered lukhloe but idk where luka fits into this au yet (pls send ideas) and obv onesided chlonette has sooo much potential. the more i write this the more i like alix/chloe but??? idk we'll see. that's my chloe rant kids stay tuned for more beta au shennanigans and send ur thoughts

#miraculous ladybug #ml spoilers #ml salt #chloe bourgeois #ml fic #beta au #marinette dupain cheng #felix agreste #nino lahiffe #alix kubdel #le chien kim #I LOVE CHLOE OKAY.......SHE DESERVES THE WORLD

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mischiefandmagic6 · 6 years ago

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Day 1- Just Friends

This is my entry for Adrinette April 2019

“You okay, dude?” Nino asked as soon as he saw Adrien.

Adrien came out of his thoughts. “Yeah, I think I am.” The fingers on his right hand went through the F scale.

“You sure? You look like you just came to a realization,” Nino said as he sat down at his desk.

“You remember that girl I told you about? The one I met at that con?” Adrien waited until his best friend nodded to continue. “I didn’t tell you that I had a crush on her.”

Nino’s brows furrowed. “Huh. I should have guessed with how you talked about her.”

“Well, she doesn’t like me in the same way and has turned me down. I’ve decided to try and move on,” Adrien said.

“That’s mature of you. What made you decide that?” Nino’s eyebrows were now unfurrowed and had risen up.

“I’ve done a lot of thinking,” Adrien spread his hands out to demonstrate, “and realized that I didn't really know much about her. She also likes someone else.”

Nino nodded. “So are you going to date anyone or are you going to spend time by yourself to get back in the game?”

“Definitely not jumping in right away. I’ve gotta get used to not pursuing her and all.” Adrien shrugged.

“You’ll find someone when you’re ready,” Nino said before patting Adrien on the shoulder. They fell quiet as Mlle. Bustier started the lesson of the day. Adrien sat forward, ready to listen to the lesson.

Over the next month, Adrien stuck with his decision. Ladybug hadn’t made any comments on his behavior change. It was surprisingly easy to not show off to impress her.

Today, he was with his friends as they walk around shops and restaurants. Nino trailed behind with him as Marinette and Alya walked ahead with their arms linked.

“It’s a nice day,” Nino commented.

Adrien looked around. The sun was shining and the wind was cool. “It is. Think we should go to the park?”

“Up to the girls,” Nino waved his hand to them as they walked into a fabric shop. “We can ask.”

Adrien and Nino walked into the store. It was filled with rows of fabric. He split off from Nino to look for the girls.

He found Marinette by herself, gazing at the different bolts on the wall. He watched as she felt different fabrics. Her nose scrunched up at the textures she didn’t like. She was pursing her lips at a bolt of fabric decorated with watercolor flowers.

“That looks pretty,” Adrien said.

Marinette jumped at his voice. “Y-you scared me.”

“Sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” Marinette said. She had gotten better with speaking to him lately.

“You going to buy that?” He asked.

She found the price tag. “Fourteen euros per yard. I like to have a lot to make many items and see if the fabric is truly versatile.”

“How many is a lot?”

“It takes about four and a half yards for a dress with short sleeves, five with long sleeves. A blouse takes two to three depending on sleeves and so on and so forth.” Marinette tapped on her fingers. “That’s about nine or ten yards of fabric which would cost one hundred thirty euros at least.”

“I hadn’t thought of it like that.” Adrien saw another price tag that read twelve euros. “I didn’t know how much went into designing clothes.”

“Do you not see the process with your dad?” She asked. Her brows were furrowed.

“Not really. What I mostly do is model the clothes,” Adrien said.

Marinette nodded. “How long have you done modeling?”

“A few years.”

“And you don’t see the process of the clothes?”

“Father never required me to so I didn’t.” Adrien followed her as she went down the aisle. “How long have you designed and made clothes?”

“A couple of years now. My first project was my bag actually,” Marinette said, gesturing to her bag that rested on her hip.

“May I?” He asked.

Marinette’s eyes widened momentarily before she nodded slowly. Adrien's fingers brushed against her hip as he picked the bag up. Looking closely, he could tell that it was handmade.

“I’m guessing that the flowers are your logo of sorts?”

“Uh, y-yes.” Her face had a pink hue to it.

He nodded and set the bag back on her hip. His phone buzzed in his pocket.

“That’s Nino,” Adrien commented after he read the text. “He says that Alya had to go home and that he’s going with her.”

“She must have to babysit her sisters,” She assumed.

“I would guess so.” Adrien put his phone away. “Well, Nino and I were coming in to ask if you two wanted to go to the park, but I guess that since Alya and Nino are gone we can do something else.”

Marinette shook her head. “We can still go to the park after we have lunch.”

“After you, Madam,” he said, bowing with an arm out to his side. Marinette giggled and went through.

Before they left, Adrien feigned that he left something in the store. He walked to the counter instead.

The worker had a smile on her face. “Hello, did you find what you wanted?”

“Yes, but it’s a surprise,” Adrien told her. “My friend was looking at some fabric in the back and she likes the one with the watercolor flowers.”

“Ah, I see,” the name tag on the worker’s shirt told him her name was Darcy. “If you would show me the fabric in question please.”

Adrien led Darcy to where he found Marinette and showed her the fabric. Darcy picked the bolt of the display and took it to a counter where she cut off the twelve yards he requested.

“Okay, that is done and since this is a gift, I can ring you up at this counter and get an address to send it to,” Darcy said.

Soon, Adrien had paid for the fabric and had it sent to his house. He thanked her and walked out to see Marinette sitting on a bench with her sketchbook out. She was drawing clothes using the fabric he just bought.

“Ready to go?” He asked.

She nodded as she added some finishing touches. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

“Uh,” Adrien need to think of an excuse quickly and pulled out his wallet. “My wallet had fallen out of my pocket and Darcy, the worker, helped me find it.”

“That’s important to have.” She closed her sketchbook and put it in her bag carefully. She stood up and they then were on their way.

Aimless chatter filled their walk to a restaurant near the park. In no time, they had arrived.

Adrien held the door open for Marinette. “Thank you, kind sir,” she said with a half curtsy.

He responded in kind. “T’was my pleasure, Madam.”

She was giggling as he requested a table for them. The host sat them at a table on the wall.

“Do you understand the assignment the Mlle. Bustier gave us?” Marinette asked after they ordered their drinks.

“Yeah, I did.” Adrien picked up the menu. “Did you need help on it?”

Marinette nodded. “I didn’t understand question seven and question twelve. Alya tried to explain it but she rage quit on me.”

“I could help you with it.”

“That would save me,” Marinette said. She ran her finger over the menu. “I don’t know what I should get.”

“How about you close your eyes, move your finger around randomly and which meal you land on you get?” He used this tactic many times. There have been a few misses with meals, but overall it had worked out.

“Okay,” she agreed and followed his instructions. “Looks like I’ll be having a Tartiflette.”

Adrien read over the description. “Want to share it? It sounds good.”

“Yeah, I’m not feeling too hungry right now. Maman and Papa made a big breakfast this morning.” Marinette sat her menu down.

“It works out. How is the bakery doing by the way?”

“Things are running smoothly. I’ve picked up a few shifts lately to help out. Maman was talking to Papa about hiring someone to lighten the load.”

Adrien perked up. “Do you think I could do it?”

“You just want to have access to all the pastries,” Marinette teased.

“You’ve got me,” he faked despair. “I shall one be with my one true love.”

“All jokes aside, I’m sure Maman would consider you but aren’t you already so busy with modeling and your extracurriculars?”

“Lately, Father has shortened the number of photoshoots I do and fencing isn’t in season,” Adrien says. “I’ll have time for working at the bakery.”

“I’m surprised that he’s having fewer shoots without you.”

“I am too, but I’m not going to question it. I have more freedom to do what I would like.” Adrien smiled at the memories that popped up of their adventures.

Their food had arrived and the conversation turned to lighter topics. Adrien had never felt so full of that indescribable feeling.

Plagg floated around Adrien’s room. He was most likely looking for Camembert. “It seems that your date went well,” the glutton said.

“It wasn’t a date, Plagg,” Adrien said as he changed into his pajamas. “She’s a friend and we hung out today.”

“Didn’t seem like it,” Plagg stopped in front of Adrien’s face. “If I had witnessed this, and I did, I would say that it was a date.”

“How would it be a date?”

Plagg tapped his paw. “First, you go shopping together all the while staring at her.”

“We were with Alya and Nino,” Adrien added.

“They left, kid,” Plagg said bluntly. “Next was lunch. I know for a fact that you paid and you two shared a meal. That and the park where the flowers were blooming and you were practically sitting on each other.”

A blush rose to the blonde’s cheeks. “It got cold.”

“You just don’t want to admit it.” Plagg taunted him as he waved the Camembert he found.

“There’s nothing to admit. We’re just friends.” Adrien sat on his bed. “Good night, Plagg.”

Plagg sighed. “Good night, Adrien.”

Was she really just a friend? He thought as his holder fell asleep.

#adrinetteapril2019 #adrien agreste #adrienette #marinette dupain cheng #miraculous ladybug #mlb #she just a friend #no #adrien #she isnt

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miraculousstorytelling · 7 years ago

Text

Five Times Marinette Kept Her Identity a Secret and One Time She Didn’t

Hello @kogehl! I hope you had a lovely holiday season/new year! Here is your gift for @mlsecretsanta! I thought you might enjoy something a little fluffy with a reveal at the end.

Marinette was used to near misses when it came to her identity. After all, she had to transform at a moment’s notice, and sometimes she barely had seconds to find a safe place to detransform. She tried to brainstorm excuses she could use in advance, but none of them seemed very convincing, so she gave up and hoped she’d come up with something on the spot if she needed to.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t always the best under pressure.

“Marinette? What were you doing in the janitor’s closet?”

She froze when she heard Nino’s voice from behind her. “U-umm…” She turned to face him, a wide grin plastered onto her face. “I was just hiding from the akuma!”

He frowned. “And what was that weird light under the door?”

“Just my phone!” She shrugged. “I was trying out a few apps. It was pretty boring in there.”

“Oh. Cool.” Nino pointed behind him. “Alya was looking for you.”

“Thanks!” Marinette rushed off before he could think of any further questions.

She really tried to come up with something better, but after a week with two tests and four akumas, her brain was barely functioning.

“I got lost on the way to class.”

“The classrooms are upstairs, Marinette.” The principal was frowning down at her. “This is the teacher’s lounge, and students are not allowed in here.”

“I’m very sorry.” She bit back a yawn. “I haven’t gotten a lot of sleep lately.”

“Well, perhaps you need to learn to manage your time better,” he scolded her.

It took everything in her not to scream at him. “Well, it’s a lot to handle.”

“And what is that strange toy you’re holding?”

“Oh, this?” Marinette held up Tikki who had luckily frozen in place before the principal saw her move. “Just a project I’m working on for, uh, extra credit.”

“I see.” He sighed. “Well, don’t let it happen again.”

“I won’t. Thank you!” She ran outside and tucked Tikki into her purse, her heart still racing. If he’d been a second earlier, he would have seen her detransform, and she really didn’t have any kind of excuse that would cover that.

Alya had always been difficult to fool. Even with a full night’s sleep, Marinette knew that lying to her would be a challenge.

“I saw Ladybug run over here.” Alya jabbed a finger in her direction. “She had seconds left to detransform.”

Marinette tried not to panic. “I don’t know-”

“Come on.” Alya crossed her arms over her chest. “Spill.”

As much as she loved Alya, Marinette knew she was one of the worst possible people to figure her out. If she didn’t find an excuse that would convince her, she at least had to figure out how to keep her quiet. “Alya, I can exp-”

“You saw her, didn’t you?”

Marinette paused. “What?”

Alya scoffed. “What you do you mean what? You were here when Ladybug detransformed! You had to see her! Who was she?”

Maybe Ladybug really was lucky. Somehow, she’d managed to stay quiet long enough to figure out that Alya had completely missed the obvious. If Alya hadn’t interrupted her, she might have unintentionally told her she was Ladybug. “Actually, she saw me down here and kept running. I barely saw her.”

Alya groaned in frustration. “Seriously? That was so close!” She ran out to see if she could find any other witnesses or clues.

“You have no idea,” Marinette murmured as she sank back against the wall.

Of course, her luck only went so far.

When she dropped down into her room, she almost screamed when she saw her mother waiting for her. Luckily, it was dark enough that Sabine probably didn’t see that Ladybug had just landed on her daughter’s bed. She detransformed under the covers, hoping the flash of light wouldn’t give her away.

It must have worked, because her mother spoke up as soon as Marinette peeked out from under her blanket. “Marinette, where have you been? You’ve been gone for hours!” The relief of not being discovered was short-lived when she realized that now she had a new mess to deal with. How could she possibly explain this?

“I, umm…” She scrambled for some kind of excuse her mother might believe. “I was… practicing parkour. It’s really big with my friends, and I thought it would be a good way to relax after-”

“How did you get back up to the roof?” Sabine demanded.

Marinette slowly climbed down to the floor of her room. “I jumped? From next door?”

“What were you thinking?” Her mother paled. “It’s dark and rainy out tonight! What if you fell?”

“I didn’t mean…” Marinette looked down. “I’m sorry.”

“I can’t believe you’d be so reckless.” Sabine checked her over for any cuts or bruises, then shook her head. “We’ll talk about this in the morning. For now, get some sleep.”

Her parents grounded her for a month and she learned to always detransform before going into her room.

She had been convinced nothing could be worse than her mother almost discovering her identity. That was, until her entire class walked in on the tail end of her transformation.

Ladybug stared back at them, eyes wide, hoping that they’d somehow missed seeing her. The chances were slim, but if she waited for them to speak up…

“Did you see Marinette?” Rose asked. “I thought she ran in here.”

“Who cares about Marinette?” Chloe scoffed. “Ladybug’s here. She’ll be fine.”

“I, uh…” Ladybug straightened. “I did actually just take Marinette to safety. You all need to get out of here, too. It’s dangerous.”

She almost missed the way Adrien’s breath caught in his throat when she walked past him. Normally, she’d chalk it up to nerves, but this time, she could swear he almost looked like he wanted to ask her something.

She didn’t wait to hear what it was. Instead, she led them away from the fight and hurried back to take care of the akuma.

Marinette was sure the locker room had been empty when she ran inside. After all, everyone was outside. She’d made sure of that.

But somehow, Adrien was staring at her while the light from her detransformation faded, and he was looking at her like he wasn’t quite sure she was real.

“Um…” Marinette winced. “I guess there’s no way to explain that, huh?”

“You’re Ladybug,” he whispered.

She nodded, feeling both defeated and a little relieved that at least someone knew. “I am.”

“Wow…” He slowly approached her, and her heart raced faster with each step he took. “I knew you were amazing.” He smiled. “I guess I just didn’t realize how amazing you were.”

“Thank you,” she murmured, blushing at the praise. “But, um, you can’t tell anyone.”

“I won’t.”

“I mean it,” she insisted. “No one.”

He held up a hand. “I purromise.”

She froze.

When he saw her expression, he frowned. “Um, Marinette?”

“Did you just say… purromise?” she asked, afraid to look at him now that she realized why he was in the locker room in the first place.

“Yes.”

She finally forced herself to meet his eyes. Sure enough, she saw it now. She saw it so clearly she wondered how in the world she could have missed it before. Chat Noir was staring back at her, obviously wondering if it had been a mistake to tell her. She reached out to touch Adrien’s hair, fluffing and arranging it until it looked like her partner’s. “I don’t believe this…”

He raised a brow. “Is it that surprising?”

“Well…” She thought about it for a moment. Sure, she didn’t know Adrien that well, and yes, Chat Noir was a little more ridiculous and free-spirited, but really all of it made sense. “Not really. Now that I know, anyway.”

He relaxed when she answered, an easy smile brightening his face. “Yeah, I-”

“And it explains why I liked both of you,” she said, trying to keep her tone light and casual, while she rearranged his hair again. “The hair really threw me off, though. And the puns. I swear I’ve never heard you pun, but-”

“Wait.” He caught her wrist. “You like me?”

“Is it that surprising?” she asked, feeling the heat of another blush creep over the tips of her ears.

“I guess not. Is that why you were so nervous?”

She nodded.

Then that lovely, heart-melting smile turned mischievous. “Does that mean you had a crush on Chat Noir, too?”

She rolled her eyes and tugged her wrist out of his hold so she could return to fixing his bangs. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

“You said you liked both of me.” He pointed out, grinning so wide she wondered if his cheeks hurt. “That means you, Ladybug, like me, Chat Noir.”

“Purrhaps,” she teased lightly. “I mean, we did have that whole true love’s kiss, so you really should have figured that out by now.”

He stared, “That...what?”

“You know… When we kissed.” She frowned. “Don’t you remember? Kim got akumatized and he hit you with the arrow. And I kissed you to snap you out of it.”

“I… We…” She could practically see the color draining from his face as he processed it.

“Didn’t your kwami tell you?”

“No. Plagg just said I told you I hated you.” He turned on his kwami who was currently chatting with Tikki just out of their line of sight. “You didn’t tell me we kissed!”

Plagg shrugged. “I figured it wasn’t important.”

“Not important? I kissed Ladybug!”

Tikki scowled. “Plagg! Why wouldn’t you tell him about that?”

Plagg rolled his eyes. “Just because you love the whole romance part of this doesn’t mean I have to.”

Marinette laughed. “Well, I guess you have a second first kiss to look forward to, then, kitty.” She glanced over at the doors. “People are coming back in. We should head to class.”

“Wait, was it at least a good kiss?” Adrien asked while their kwamis flew to their respective hiding places.

She hesitated, and that was enough of an answer for him.

“So, it was!”

“It was okay,” she finally answered.

“You’re a terrible liar, bugaboo,” he cooed when he caught up to her.

She couldn’t help the soft laughter when he said it. “You’ll just have to wait and see for yourself.”

#miraculous ladybug #ML #mlsecretsanta 2k17 #lovesquare #mostly adrinette and sort of ladynoir tbh #reveal #mainly just marinette struggling #and getting extremely lucky in some cases #but mostly just trying her best not to reveal her identity #my writing

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project-ml · 8 years ago

Photo

Project: Scrapbook — Horrificator (Part One)

Project: Scrapbook Masterpost (tbp)

Comic By: @daughterofthestars08 (lineart) & @artgraveyard (lineart and color) & @chalala-chan (color)

Written By: @purr-cat-stinate & @mimosaeyes

Beta’d By: @miraculousandcute & @emeralddrop

Summary: N/A

Words: 5671

Despite the chilly season, the sun was already gracing the citizens of Paris with its warm rays of sunlight that poured from the clouds down onto the earth. It was a lovely day, perfect for picnics, and walks in the park. It was a lovely day to discover something new; or perhaps to create something new.

Nino Lahiffe was bouncing in his seat, earphones around his neck, and fingers drumming against the desktop impatiently. Of all the days his best friend had to show up late, it would be today. OK… technically Nino was early, but how could he help it! Apricot eyes wandered to his bag, and a grin stretched out across his face for the millionth time this sweet, sunny morning. It had been nearly impossible for him to sleep last night - and as soon as his alarm went off in the morning he was ten feet out the door (that is, until his mother grabbed him by the arm and had him sit down for some breakfast).

His brain was going a million miles an hour, and it seemed the impatient tapping was his body’s way of letting out the energy in a somewhat subdued manner. The excitement was eating away at him. He had to tell someone before he exploded… but of course, for some reason Adrien wouldn’t answer his phone last night - and Alya was busy chasing Ladybug and Chat Noir as they defeated another akuma. Oh! Nino’s eyes widened, and he quickly took the flyer out of his bag. It was crumpled, and had a water stain on it, but it was brand new in Nino’s eyes.

The flyer read: Short Film Contest for interested youth! Create your own twenty-five minute short film, and submit it to Mayor Bourgeois. It can be anything you’d like, romance, action, or comedy! The winner will receive ninety-five euros as well as your short being shown on television. Good Luck!

Sure - he didn’t really have an idea yet, or a script, or well… anything… but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a chance! Nino was sure he’d be able to direct the best short film ever - and he could even make an awesome soundtrack for it. This was totally his chance to rise up as a performer and a director! Not to mention he had Paris’ favorite teenage model on his side.

It took five dreadful minutes before Alya walked into class, a trail of tiredness on her face from her journalism adventures of the night before. She gave Nino a quick greeting as she slipped into her seat, stretching her arms as she sat. Nino turned in his seat, wanting to ask if she has heard of the short film contest, considering she was usually in the loop with… well, everything. However, Alya beat him to the punch as she leaned forward, looking more awake than before now, and she gave him a proper good morning.

“Morning Nino- so did you see the Ladyblog last night? I got some pretty crazy shots.”

Nino wavered, he last time he checked the Ladyblog was yesterday afternoon, because after that he found the flyer in the mail and got distracted with the idea of a short film. It didn’t seem to matter though, because Alya showed him her phone anyway, urging him to watch the clips she had gotten.

After a few clips of Ladybug saving Paris, Adrien walked in - looking even more tired than Alya did if that was possible - and that’s when Nino remembered the flyer that sat on his desk. His blond friend groggily gave a “G’ Morning…” as he sat in his seat. Nino wasted no time in shaking his half-asleep friend by the shoulders, shocking him in the process.

“Dude! I have to show you this-” Nino shoved the flyer into Adrien’s face, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

“What is it?” Alya asked, trying to peer over to get a glimpse of the crumpled flyer now in Adrien’s hands. It was Nino who responded.

“It’s a short film contest! Whoever makes the best twenty-five minute movie wins money and their short gets run on tv!”

Alya blinked in surprise, a grin forming on her face. “No way, that sounds awesome!”

“Right! And I’m going to win it”- Nino threw an arm around Adrien’s shoulders- “because I have a secret weapon.”

The blond blinked. “What?” he stammered, then did a double take in realization. “Me?”

The director-to-be nodded, grin unwavering.

“Er... I don’t know, I haven’t really done any acting-” Nino quickly cut of his friend with a dismiss wave of his hand,

“Please, you don’t have to. Lights, cameras, action - it can’t be too different from modeling right? And you totally owe me dude! For ditching me like every time we plan to hang out.”

Adrien grinned sheepishly and held up his hands in a conciliatory way. “Alright, okay- I’ll do it.”

A sigh of relief left Nino, before he took back the flyer and smoothed it out. His apricot eyes reread the flyer, his excitement resurfacing once more.

“I’ll totally help you too, if you’d like - I can even get Marinette to help too.” Nino smiled at Alya, who leaned forward, chin on her hand, as she watched the two’s interaction.

“That’d be awesome, thanks!”

Just then Marinette stumbled through the door, drawing her friends’ attention momentarily. Her hair was unkempt, and she was completely out of breath.

“Geez, girl, you barely made it here on time.” Alya’s sea green eyes followed her friend as she nervously gave a morning to Adrien and Nino, before plopping in her seat next to the journalist.

“I know, I woke up late - again.”

Alya snickered, expecting as much.

“Of course you did. Hey, but guess what Marinette; Nino’s making a short film and I volunteered us to help him.”

Well, that seemed to wake her up. “Wait - what?”

Nino handed Marinette the flyer. “The winner gets a cash prize and a TV showing!” The more people he told about the competition, the more the excitement bubbled up in his chest.

The short girl looked between the two. “I don’t know anything about making a movie though.”

Adrien smiled. “Me neither, but I kind of owe Nino.”

Alya watched with a sly smirk as the gears in Marinette’s head clicked together. A warm blush quickly spread across her face.

“I-I’ll do w-what I can!”

Alya and Nino shared a knowing look with one another, a matching expression on their face.

“Oh, you’re doing the short film contest?” A loud voice cut into the group’s conversation from the side, the whole classes eyes quickly turned to it’s source.

Not surprisingly, there stood Chloe Bourgeois with Sabrina behind her, both wearing a matching expression of mockery.

Nino looked over to the blonde who stood with her hands on her hips and resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her all mighty attitude. “Chloe.”

“Hmph, puh-lease, you’ll never be able to win the contest.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I didn’t ask for your opinion.”

The blonde huffed, her arms crossing over her chest. “My daddy is the judge of the contest, in case you didn’t read the flyer. Without me, you’ll never win it.”

Alya rolled her eyes. “Why would you want to join us?”

Chloe scoffed, almost like she was offended to be asked the question. Sabrina mimicked the sound, crossing her own arms over her chest to be the mirroring expression of Chloe.

“Be-cause, Adrien is going to be with you right? If you add my good looks and popularity with his, it’s a for-sure win.”

Marinette huffed quietly, and Alya opened her mouth- ready to kick the princess off her high horse- when Chloe quickly started again.

“If you don’t let me join - I’ll make sure your stupid little film doesn’t even get glanced at.”

Nino gaped at the blonde in front of him. Rich people were so self-serving. Nino was the last person who wanted to feed into Chloe’s wishes, yet if he didn’t she would sabotage his film!

“Chloe-” Adrien shot his old friend a look of outrage and disbelief, but she shut down all his arguments with a resolute coldness.

“Fine, you can join us. Whatever - just, like, don’t screw anything up.” Nino sighed in defeat, not wanting the blonde to suck the excitement out of the project.

“Moi? I never screw anything up.”

The four mumbled their own disbelief of that, but Chloe chose to not hear them.

“Hey did you guys say you're doing a short film?” Alix couldn’t help but lean over, interested. “I could help you out if you need anything - like I could be the person that holds that ‘take’ thing. I’ve always wanted to do that.”

Alya shot Nino a look, which he returned with a grin.

“Yeah - that’d be awesome. The more the merrier.”

On the other side of the classroom, Juleka and Rose had been listening idly to the conversation, unable to tune out any classroom confrontation. At Nino’s words, they leaned forward in their seats to enter the discussion. Rose’s eyes were gleaming with excitement.

“What about me and Juleka? Could we help? I have a tea collection at home I could bring!”

The taller girl mumbled something, but only “scary movie expertise” was really audible.

“Er- Yeah! That’d be great.”

Within seconds nearly the whole class had dropped into the conversation and began offering help. The excitement Nino felt this morning resurfaced, threatening to overflow his heart. Surely with so many people helping to work on the short film, it would be a success! Nino spared a look over to Chloe, who filed her nails as she chatted loudly to Sabrina about how her diamond earrings kept getting stuck in her ear. Not even she could ruin the project if the whole class was working to make it great.

Just as everyone was starting to chatter away about their roles in what had quickly become a class project, though, Ms. Bustier walked into the class, calling for their attention. Nino quickly sat back in his seat, but not before telling everyone to meet in the classroom after school. His classmates dispersed back into their seats, all whispering excitedly about the new movie project.

The director-to-be began putting the flyer away as Ms. Bustier called for attendance. His mind was anywhere but at his teacher’s lecture at the moment; instead, he was thinking of all the ways they could make a short film. Should it be sad? What about funny? Did he want comedy or maybe something more serious… or perhaps an action movie?

Nino’s apricot eyes sparkled at the idea. An action movie sure sounded like fun, maybe with adventure and slight romance?

“Nino!”

The boy jumped in his seat at the sound of Ms. Bustier's voice.

“Y-Yes?”

The teacher sighed, “Please pay attention when you hear your name being called.”

“My bad - sorry du - uh ma’am.”

Nino let out a sigh as she went on calling the names of the other students. Adrien gave him a reassuring arm nudge, to which the boy gave a quick smile before leaning his head on his hand. Hopefully his ideas could wait until after school.

It was wishful thinking. Nino spent all of the school day with his mind on the short film. He tugged the increasingly careworn flyer out of his bag at odd intervals, unwittingly giving Alya much fodder for teasing him about the lovelorn expression on his face. The margins of his notebook were also entirely given up to scribbling random ideas that popped into his head throughout the day, from lines of cool dialogue to sketches of how he would set up each scene.

By the time the last bell rang and everyone began gathering again around his desk, Nino practically had a sales pitch in mind for the plot of his short film. He cleared his throat as he flipped open his notebook, quickly organizing his thoughts.

He surveyed his classmates and noticed to his dismay that Rose and Juleka both had their backpacks slung over their shoulders already.

“Rose, Juleka, aren’t you staying to hear my awesome plan?”

“I have to rush home to get my makeup set. I need to make sure I have everything we’ll need,” Juleka replied.

Rose chimed in, “And I should get refreshments for everyone pronto! We can’t work if we’re all tired out from school.”

They both made good points, but surely everyone needed to be on the same page if they were going to work as a team, right? Nino opened his mouth to say as much, but before he could speak a word, his classmates had started drifting out the door.

Alix went off to get the clap-board she had at home, Max to fetch his shiny new stopwatch, guaranteed to ensure efficient timekeeping, and Kim to borrow a boom mic from Theo, his friend and occasional DJ. Finally, Nathanael muttered something about art supplies and fell into step beside them.

Alya glanced at Nino’s expression and promptly intervened before they totally lost control of the film making process. “The rest of you can stay, right? We can catch the others up on what we discuss now, but we should make sure we’re all agreed first.”

There was general agreement, even from Chloe, who deigned to let her arms fall from where they had been crossed over her chest. Nino sent Alya a brief look of gratitude.

“I was thinking something like an action movie.” Nino’s eyes shone. “The main character is an agent for this top-secret organisation, who fights bad guys and is totally badass. They could be code named something ordinary, because their identity has to be a secret. Say, Agent Smith.”

“Ooh, or we could have just one bad guy in particular for two agents to work together to defeat,” Alya jumped in.

“Well, not just any garden variety bad guy,” Adrien piped up unexpectedly from beside Nino. When everyone turned to look at him, he seemed taken aback at the attention and hurried to elaborate. “Parisians are used to seeing crazy akuma villains, so if you want to make the action sequences intense, it should be a monster.”

Marinette quickly responded, “Yeah, that sounds great! I’ll text Nathanael to ask if he has materials to make a monster mask with.”

“Good stuff, good stuff,” Nino muttered thoughtfully, adding the new input to his notes. He tapped his pencil against his notebook. “What if the two agents were in love?”

“Nino, no.” Alya’s face set into a resolute expression.

“But every good action movie has a romantic subplot-”

“That is so not true-”

“-and how great would the ending be if, like, one of the agents was in life-threatening trouble, and then the other one saved them, and then they fall in love?”

“There will be no sappy love stories on my watch!” Alya exclaimed.

The two had a bit of a face-off, narrowing their eyes at each other, until Marinette, reading her text message conversation with Nathanael off her phone, hesitantly distracted them from their bickering.

“Um, Nath asks if Agent Smith needs a cape. Personally, I don’t think so, but what do you guys think?”

Nino broke his long glare with Alya to glance at Marinette. “Aw, why not?”

Adrien leaned back in his seat to gaze up at their raven-haired classmate, and she blushed slightly under his scrutiny. “I was just thinking that capes are really bad for moving around in. A secret agent would wear something combat-ready, more tight-fitting…”

“Like Ladybug and Chat Noir,” Alya said in agreement, nodding her head. A quick peculiar gleam shined in her eyes and she scrunched her face up into a disapproving gesture. “No capes!” she declared, in an impeccable impersonation of Edna Mode.

“It’s been ages since I’ve heard anyone make a reference to The Incredibles,” Mylene giggled from the other side of the table. She had been quiet up to that point.

“Speaking of movies and references,” Sabrina cut in, “maybe we need to do some research before we get into writing the script. I could help you with that, Alya.”

Alya was just leaning over to peer at Nino’s notes. “Oh, I think we’ve already got plenty to work with, Sabrina,” she replied absently. “Maybe you could ask Juleka if she needs any help when she gets back.”

Sabrina withdrew slightly behind Chloe, feeling a bit down as she was unable to help.

“Maybe we could decide on some roles first, and then split up and work on it separately?” Nino suggested, trying to sound directorial and authoritative.

“Well, Adrien’s already been cast, and I bet Marinette would make a great Agent Smith…” Alya suggested, giving her best friend a sly look.

Marinette flushed. “N-no, Alya! You’re the one who’s always wanted to be a superhero and say cool one-liners, like - like looking right at the monster and saying, ‘I’m not afraid!’”

Adrien gave a low whistle. “That’s a great line, Marinette! We could build Agent Smith’s character arc around that.”

“Th-thanks, Adrien.”

“Yeah, Adrien, thanks! Character arcs, now we’re talking!” Alya reached out and grabbed hold of Nino’s notebook, whipping out a pen and beginning to draft a plot structure for the film.

Chloe had been watching them all with an air of mild disdain. At a moment’s pause in the discussion, while Marinette looked bashful and Alya and Nino were bickering again over the notebook, she looked directly at Adrien, fluttering her eyelashes. “Well, if we need a lead actress to work opposite Adrien, surely I’m the best candidate,” she declared.

Alya and Nino paused in their squabbling, both of them clutching the notebook. They shared a look of total agreement. “So… anyone else?”

“What about Mylene?” Ivan said quietly.

Chloe huffed, giving her classmate a skeptical once-over.

“M-me?” Mylene stammered, surprised to find everyone’s attention suddenly on her.

Alya leveled a considering gaze over her usually timid classmate. “Yeah, I can see you as Agent Smith, or what we have about her so far,” she mused. “And isn’t your dad kind of like an actor? Maybe it’s a skill that rubs off!”

Everyone started nodding thoughtfully at that. Only Chloe was against it, beginning to seethe. “Her?! She’s so small and timid, what about me! I can actually string a sentence together without stammering.”

Mylene had unconsciously stood a little straighter at her classmates’ approval, but sagged again at Chloe’s contention. “She’s right... isn’t Agent Smith supposed to fight a monster? I don’t think I would be able to.”

Ivan and Alya chimed in at the same time: “Mylene, no, you’ll be fantastic!” “It’s just pretend anyway, no need to worry.”

Nino nodded along and then said, “Alright, I’ll put Mylene down as Agent Smith, and Adrien down as… Officer Jones. They’re the closest thing we have to professional actors. Now, who’s going to be the monster?”

Chloe gave a snort. “That’s not going to be a problem. Ivan wouldn’t even have to act – he’s already been a monster.”

“Chloe!” Adrien protested, furrowing his brow at his old friend, who merely shrugged.

“It’s okay,” Ivan cut in unexpectedly. “If Mylene knows it’s just me in the mask, maybe she won’t be as scared.”

“Speaking of masks!” Uncharacteristically excited, Nathanael had returned holding a large armful of art supplies from his house, ready to make the monster mask and anything else they would need. Trailing behind him were their other classmates with the materials they had each fetched from home. Rose began setting up a refreshments table at her desk. Alix and Kim were in charge of technical production affairs, and stuck to Max’s side as he set his fancy stopwatch to warn them at regular intervals. Finally, Juleka approached with various makeup items, which she promptly dumped all over Nino’s table.

“So I have some DIY ooze if we want to make monster goo or something, also fake blood – that’ll come in handy – oh, and I picture Agent Smith as a weathered, really experienced type, so maybe a scar over one eye to add some mystery and cool factor? I can work on backstory, I have so many ideas…” The normally hushed girl spoke without taking a breath, though her voice was still muttered, she rapidly continued with makeup terms no one really understood.

Nino blinked. Alya stared.

“Girl, it’s a short film.”

“Just stick to powder or something,” Nino said hastily, using his entire forearm to nudge Juleka’s unexpectedly substantial supplies to one side. “Or er- foundation, is that what it’s called? You know, just make our actors look good.”

Juleka pursed her lips and, gathering up her belongings, sulked off to Rose’s table. Nino could almost have sworn he heard her muttering, “I will be the powder master, you fools,” under her breath.

“Can Agent Smith have a dog?” Rose suggested sweetly.

Alix snorted despite herself. “When does a secret agent have time for a dog?”

The smile on her classmate’s face wilted slightly. “I just think it would be cute.”

Max glanced up from his stopwatch and pushed up his glasses. “Rose,” he started, trying to be gentle, “we don’t even have a dog.”

Rose’s face grew more crestfallen. It made Alix squirm, and rush to say, “We could always… pretend there was a dog. Who, um, died. But it was - it was so cute.”

Juleka gave a contented smirk despite her powder dilemma, seeing Rose light up again. “Hey,” she said, nudging Rose to remind her of their inside joke, “we could call the dog Mr. Sniffles.”

Neither of them bothered to explain the context to their classmates.

“This is perfect for Agent Smith’s character development, though,” Alya muttered, scribbling away indiscriminately at Nino’s notebook, which the he had finally surrendered. “After losing her beloved pet - Mr. Sniffles - Agent Smith vows to have her revenge!”

“What,” Kim finally interrupted, still clueless as to the plot. Nino began explaining it in earnest as Alya buckled down and began drafting the script, with Marinette peering over her shoulder all the while.

Nathanael tapped Marinette on the shoulder, drawing her attention away from Alya’s script writing. He shifted his weight nervously from foot to foot, holding out his sketch pad to her. “So I was thinking of this design for the monster mask,” he announced, all in a rush. “It would be sewn together, see, kind of stylistically?”

She nodded eagerly, looking over the clear lines of his steady artist’s hand. “It looks amazing, Nath.”

The boy flushed almost as red as his hair. “Would you happen to have any scrap fabric at home? I know you design clothes and all…”

Juleka leaned over to peer at the design. “Are you going for like a Saw reference at all?”

He blinked at her in surprise. Secretly, he had rehearsed talking to Marinette, but wasn’t expecting someone to drop in on the conversation with his secret crush.

“Um, I don’t know what that is,” he confessed.

Juleka looked mildly horrified. “You need a horror movie consultant,” she proclaimed, and then proceeded to dragged him away to make modifications to the mask’s design.

Meanwhile, Ivan and Adrien were standing in one corner of the classroom with Mylene, letting her practice some frightened expressions, then some determined looks. They praised her and gave her constructive feedback, which she received with a look of tentative pride in her newfound thespian prowess.

Sabrina interrupted Juleka and Nathanael’s designing. “Hey, Juleka, um… I know a lot about makeup, maybe I could…?”

Absorbed in the sketch pad, Juleka barely looked up and only faintly sounded resentful as she replied, “Oh, we only need to powder the actors, apparently, so I don’t need any help with that.”

It was Nathanael who noticed the look of disappointment on Sabrina’s face. “You’re good with research and computers and stuff, aren’t you?” he inquired hesitantly. He didn’t usually speak to Sabrina much; she was nice enough, but her allegiance with Chloe meant she was often accomplice to various mean things the other girl did to their classmates.

Sabrina nodded earnestly.

“Well, you could go to the library and type up the pages that Alya is coming up with. She may be a good writer, but her handwriting isn’t too great, and we’ll need multiple copies for everyone to refer to.”

The redhead was rewarded for his effort by the look of sheer joy on Sabrina’s face. It was the perfect task for her. She ran off to talk to Alya, and Nathanael turned back to his designs.

Nino watched them all with a look of approval, then cast around the rest of the room. Alix and Kim were already bickering, unable to coordinate the clap-board with the boom mic, and totally forgetting about issues of lighting. Sighing, Nino went over to break it up and remind them of all technical aspects of film making. He would handle the soundtrack himself, of course, but amateur gaffing and blocking were all tasks they had to keep in mind. He couldn’t be micro-managing; it wasn’t good for team spirit, and wasn’t his style anyway.

“Fine, Mum,” Alix drawled at him as he walked away from the resolved confrontation, and he gave a good-natured grin in return.

Was this what it meant to be a director?

By the time Nino had made one round of the room, he was assured that the class as a whole was bumbling along and making steady, if uncertain, progress. He returned to the back row, where Max was sitting alone for the moment, waiting with his stopwatch.

Max touched his arm. “Hey, Nino, when is the deadline for the film anyway?”

“Well that’s easy enough to answer, it’s…” Nino hesitated and pulled out his flyer, scanning it for the information he needed.

His eyes widened. Max probably knew what he was going to say before he opened his mouth from the sheer panic on his face, but Nino said it anyway, loud enough for everyone to hear. “OH MY GOD- IT’S DUE TOMORROW. Move it, people move it! Meet back here in twenty minutes with everything set up, every prop made!”

Within the minute everyone was rushing about trying to get it all done.

Alix and Kim fell into a team rhythm as they set up for the filming- much to Nino’s relief. Rose got all her refreshments in order by name, and helped to organised all of Juleka’s makeup kit so that no stray brushes ended up in the background of a scene. Marinette and Nathanael, meanwhile, made a run for the scrap fabric back in her bedroom and presumably used her sewing machine so as to finish the mask quicker.

In the chaos, Nino grabbed hold of Sabrina as she dashed out of the classroom with an armful of Alya’s script to be transcribed and printed in bulk for everyone’s reference.

“There’s this one last minute change, okay Sabrina? Just add it in,” he muttered under his breath, slipping her a post-it note discreetly.

“Why are you whispering?” she demanded, eyes widening.

Nino’s gaze flicked over to Alya, who was gathering her pens and shooing everyone away from the front of the classroom, where they would shoot the first scene.

Sabrina had read the post-it note before Nino could reply. “Wait, you wrote in a kiss between Agent Smith and Officer Jones! You’re changing the script!”

“Not so loud!” Nino hissed, mortally terrified that Alya would hear. “You can’t tell her, alright, just make the change and print it out, then it’ll be official.”

Sabrina looked dubious. Conspiratorially, Nino leaned in and looked right at her intently. “It needs this, alright? Trust me.” He patted her on the shoulder. “I trust you to make the right choice. Think of all the greats. Steven Spielberg-style. Everyone puts in a little romance.”

Sabrina hesitated only a moment longer, then looked determined. “Okay,” she declared, hitching together all the papers in her arms. “Leave it to me.”

She scurried off, imbued with a greater sense of purpose than she’d had all afternoon.

The time flew by in a blur. Max announced it every time another five minutes had passed, keeping everyone in a flurry of activity. Chloe spent the twenty minutes whining about how slow everyone was, even as she herself merely perched atop a table, preening in the hope that they would all see the error of their ways and make her lead actress after all. Despite Ivan’s continued assurances, Mylene started to have a mini nervous breakdown as the time for her big acting debut approached. They were all fraying a little in the rush.

Still, at the end of Nino’s twenty minute deadline, Nathanael and Marinette had miraculously reappeared with a killer mask that satisfied Juleka and fit Ivan’s head perfectly. And Sabrina had come back, fingers shaking slightly from excitement and exertion, having typed up the entire script speedily and printed out enough copies of it in the school library for everyone to use.

Max flipped through his copy quickly, scanning through it and musing, “Agent Smith is kind of like John Wick, is that okay? That movie was really kind of violent.”

Alya got defensive. “It’s different enough not to be plagiarism, plus we don’t even have a dog. And John Wick is like a dog superhero, fighting all those goons to avenge his pooch.”

“OK, PEOPLE, PLACES.” Nino interrupted, and then added in an aside to Marinette, “I always wanted to say that.”

The first try was an utter disaster. Mylene nervously stumbled through her lines, obviously reading from cards that Rose helpfully held up. Adrien fared no better, missing his cue after Mylene’s line- leaving quite the long pause of awkward silence. That, and Kim sneezed about three times.

Alya sat at the desk, looking like she was trying to suppress a cringe, before casting a glance to Nino. The two shared a look of wariness.

“Cut- cut!” The up-starting director clapped his hands together, bringing the attention of his classmates to him. “Mylene, I know this is new to you, but you gotta sound more confident! And Adrien, bro, you gotta hit the mark with your lines.” Another sneeze came from Kim, who rubbed at his nose tiredly. Nino looked over to the athlete, “And Kim stop sneezing so much, dude.”

The three mumbled their own different responses, and thus everyone repositioned for take two.

Then a take three.

A take four.

Take five.

“DUDE!” Nino nearly ripped his copy of the script in half. “Do you have allergies or something?”

Kim rubbed his nose hastily, “Not that I know of... it’s just the light, man. Makes me sneeze when I look at it.”

Alix deadpanned, “Then don’t look at the light.”

“It’s hard when you keep moving it right into my eyes!”

“That’s where the shot is!”

“Hey, you guys!” The duo’s quarrel concluded and Nino once again stepped forward. “Kim, why don’t you go stand next to Alix that way you can get the sound and won’t keep sneezing.”

The athlete muttered an ‘okay, mom’ under his breath before begrudgingly standing next to the roller-blader.

Max checked his watch. “We currently have until tomorrow evening when this is due, which leaves us seven hours of daylight-”

Nino quickly clapped his hands together. “You heard the man! Let's get rolling!”

The scene was finally going smoothly, and Mylene was monologuing her ‘tragic past’ of losing her best friend, Mr. Sniffles, as she held a paper cut-out of a dog. With practice, the class got better moving around each other, quickly repositioning and setting up for the next scenes.

Jukela zoomed right up to Adrien the first opening she got, a makeup brush and powder in hand. Mylene went over to Ivan and Marinette, who continued giving her constant reassurance. Alix, Kim, Max, Rose and Sabrina changed the positioning of the equipment and made paper props with the help of Alya and Nino’s guidance; and Nathanael… well, he continued to make changes on the monster's mask, taking off certain embellishments and painting different colors on the hair.

The director barely spotted the artist hunched over the mask.

“Nathanael!” The boy looked up in shock, his eyes meeting Nino’s. “Dude, why are you still adding on details? Stop changing the mask!”

Nathanael looked down at a sticky note that he had pressed on the desk he was working on and looked back up at Nino with a frantic expression. “B-But… Juleka gave me all these references from horror movies. So many influences!”

Alya pulled the mask away from the artist. “It’s fine the way it is- plus, we don’t have time for it to dry.”

Seeing the boy deflate, Marinette gave him a comforting smile. “Hey, but it looks really good as it is!”

The storm continued, more scenes being shot with random bits of silence and sudden ‘CUT’s being yelled out. Everyone continued to do their best to avoid creating a problem except for Chloe, who may or may not have been flipping through the script and making random critiques.

About an hour in, Rose found her perfume bottle in her bag, and she sprayed a bit for Juleka to smell it as the scene was going. The raven-haired girl gave her a silent smile, nodding her head in approval to the sweet smell. The short blonde hair girl beamed brightly, spraying a bit more... and then a bit more- and then even some more.

Eventually the smell had worked it’s way to director Nino’s nose- as well as everyone else's- and suddenly their semi-organized production turned into a bunch of teenagers coughing and trying to air out the overwhelming perfume scent out of the room.

“Rose-” Nino gentle put a hand on the girl’s shoulder, who admittedly looked pretty horrified at what her perfume had done- “While I agree your perfume smells really nice, please, I beg you to stop spraying it.”

“S-sorry! I’ll make some tea for everyone, to make up for it!”

#project: scrapbook #miraculous ladybug #Nino lahiffe #alya cesaire #rose lavillant #adrien agreste

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miraculousstorytelling · 7 years ago

Text

New Year’s Kiss

Hello @toriistorii! Hope you’ve had a lovely holiday season! Here is your gift for @mlsecretsanta! It turned into a sort of fluffy lovesquare reveal that was such a delight to write. I hope you enjoy!

Why did she ever think this was a good idea? Sure, when she suggested it, she thought it was an excellent way to take a new step in their relationship. It felt dramatic and impulsive and maybe even romantic. But now, staring at Chat Noir, seconds away from kissing him and dropping her transformation at midnight on New Year's, Ladybug was terrified.

"You okay, bugaboo?" he asked, soft and caring as he always was when he sensed she was nervous.

"I'm fine," she lied, heart pounding an unsteady rhythm.

"We don't have to do this, you know," he assured her.

Just the offer was enough to melt away some of her nerves. After all, she knew exactly how much he wanted this. He'd been waiting almost two years now, and he'd never pushed her. The truth was, that was part of the reason she'd started falling for him. In fact, right up to the instant they made eye contact, she had been just as eager to learn as identity as he was to learn hers.

They both glanced at the watch Chat Noir had brought along with him.

"Looks like it's almost time." She reached out to squeeze his hands. "Now, you have to promise me something, Chat Noir."

"Anything," he answered without a second's hesitation.

She watched him for a moment, trying to keep her expression serious. "When our transformations fall, and you finally know who I am..." She could see the concern building in his eyes as she paused. "You have to promise you won't spam my phone with cat puns."

He laughed, both of them relaxing a little now that she had helped cut the growing tension. "I purromise."

Another quick look confirmed it was close to midnight.

"Are you ready?"

Five...

"No."

Four...

"Are you?"

Three...

"No."

Two...

"Close your eyes, kitty."

One...

When he did, she moved closer, still scared, but determined to move past that fear.

"Happy New Year," she whispered into his lips, catching a hint of mint on his breath before she pressed her lips to his.

It was everything she'd hoped for. Their transformations released at the same time, leaving a pleasant buzz in the air between them, and he reached out to hold her, warm hands pressing into her back. The sharp taste of spearmint filled her mouth when she parted her lips, slowly mixing with the sugary taste of her lip gloss. She could feel his breath catch when her fingers drifted across the nape of his neck, and she savored the way he moved closer.

She could swear his eyelashes fluttered along her cheekbone when they separated and dove back in for another kiss. Everywhere she was used to feeling the material of his mask was now just warm skin. His cheek against hers, his nose touching hers, his fingers twining in hers were all Chat Noir without the suit hiding his identity.

She wanted to look, wanted to see exactly who she was kissing and who she had been partners with for so long. Part of her hoped she knew him, but she wouldn't be surprised to learn she didn't. Still, she couldn't bring herself to move away when his lips were so soft against hers, and the soft, warm scent of his cologne was somehow everywhere at once.

Eventually, however, she had to look.

So, she pulled away, keeping one hand in his, and she opened her eyes.

Only to see Adrien Agreste staring back at her with wide eyes and parted lips.

Both of them stared, too stunned to say or do anything more than wait for their brains to process what they were seeing. From the corner of her eye, she could see Tikki watching, her eyes wide. Beside her, another kwami was silently laughing at the sight of the two of them frozen in shock.

Finally, Marinette's mind caught up with the present situation. She had kissed Chat Noir before they both detransformed. When she finally looked, Adrien was there instead, which meant he was her partner. She had just kissed Chat Noir, which meant she had just kissed Adrien, because Adrien was Chat Noir, who she had just kissed.

Holy crap. Adrien was Chat Noir.

She screamed and slid back, starling him into a scream of his own as they both separated and struggled to catch their breath.

"You're Chat Noir?" she half-screamed before remembering that maybe she should keep her voice down.

The new kwami was audibly laughing by now, and Marinette could swear Tikki was trying to shush him.

"You're Ladybug..." Adrien whispered, sounding almost as surprised as her. "This whole time... I-"

Tikki flew in between them. "I know you two have a lot to talk about, but there's an akuma coming."

Marinette would have strangled Hawkmoth there if she could. Somehow, she had to swallow every protest, every question, and probably ten more minutes of pure screaming, and become Ladybug while somehow reconciling the fact that she was fighting alongside Adrien.

"Talk about pawful timing," Adrien muttered.

Somehow, seeing Adrien pun like Chat Noir only made the situation more confusing.

"Tikki, spots on!"

It was easier not to think about it. It was easier to just pretend that Chat Noir was still some silly, mysterious boy in Paris and not her crush. She moved mechanically, dodging hits and formulating a plan while she struggled not to think about the one thing she still had no idea how to handle.

Chat Noir seemed just as dazed as her, which probably explained why the two of them took longer than normal to cleanse the akuma and return Paris to normal. They managed, but even Hawkmoth had to notice that their teamwork was suffering.

Once the akumatized victim had been healed and sent on her way, Ladybug led Chat Noir somewhere quiet to detransform.

"I, um..." Marinette couldn't quite look at him, but she didn't have to see him to feel the tension between them. "I think we should both head home and talk about this tomorrow night. It's late, and we have a lot to think about."

"I..." He hesitated, almost as though he wanted to say something, but instead, he nodded. "That's probably a good idea."

"Night, Adrien."

He smiled, a bit too forced and thin for her liking. "Night, Marinette."

Marinette didn't sleep at all that night. She fully expected the next day to be a complete disaster, given everything that was on her mind.

"Tikki, do you think I could just pretend to be sick?"

Tikki settled on her shoulder. "You could, but don't you think it's better to face him?"

Marinette frowned, the beginnings of a pout on her lips. "No?"

"Marinette..."

She grumbled the entire time she dressed and got ready for school, ready for a day filled with awkward silences and distractions during class, and with her luck, probably an outfit critique from Chloe.

That didn't stop her from taking an extra five minutes to double check her hair and makeup.

When she arrived, Adrien was waiting at the bottom of the steps, chatting with Nino and Alya.

"H-hey, Marinette!" Adrien called when he saw her.

She froze.

"I brought some coffee for everyone. Want one?" He held out a paper cup for her, and her eyes widened.

"Uh, sure." She reached out to take it, her curiosity overriding her usual nervous blushing and stammering. The instant their fingers touched, she could swear she saw a blush creep over his cheekbones, and he nearly dropped the cup in his haste to hand it over.

"Sorry. I, um, brought some sugar and creamer, too, if you want any." He rummaged his pockets, maybe hoping to avoid Alya's stunned expression beside him.

"I'm okay. Thanks." Marinette smiled and took a sip, still trying to puzzle out exactly what was happening. "This was really sweet of you."

"Yeah... It was." Alya agreed, a hint of suspicion in her tone. "What's the occasion?"

"Nothing," Adrien answered too quickly, "Just thought it would be nice."

"Nice," Alya echoed, a smirk lifting up the corners of her lips. "Sure."

"Shouldn't we be getting to class?" Adrien readjusted his bag at his side, deliberately ignoring the fact that his cheeks were reddening. "Come on."

Nino shrugged and followed him, but Alya just chuckled and shot Marinette a wicked grin. "That boy has it bad."

As it turned out, that was an extreme understatement. Marinette was still a little awkward around Adrien, tripping over her words and her feet when he looked at her, but Adrien was a thousand times worse.

He blushed any time she so much as glanced in his direction, and when he had to pass her a sheet of paper, he dropped it twice before he managed to hand it to her. When Chloe started to tease Marinette about her positively dreadful blouse, Adrien interrupted her to tell Marinette she was looking especially nice today.

Normally, that would have reduced Marinette to an incoherent mess, but instead, she smiled and told him he was, too.

Because seeing Adrien stammer and turn away and blush all the way up the back of his neck was strangely incredible. If she had ever doubted that he liked her, too, this reaction erased all of it.

She made it all the way to lunch before she decided to put him out of his misery.

"Adrien, um, did you want to go grab something to eat?"

He looked back at her, both blushing and grinning. "Yeah, I'd love to!"

Marinette smiled. "Okay. There's a cafe down the street we should try. I just need to tell my parents I'm not coming home for lunch."

"Oh, right. I'll meet you outside."

She joined him moments later, and he was somehow more nervous now that they were alone.

"I guess we really should have talked last night, huh?" she asked as they passed by a bakery across the street from the school.

"Maybe." He sighed. "I didn't really sleep."

"Me neither," she confessed. "I was worried today would be really awkward."

"Yeah... I did, too. I mean, when you saw me, you screamed, so..."

"That was just because-" She cut herself off, another blush threatening to color her cheeks. "It wasn't a bad scream."

"Really?" He raised a brow. "It kind of seemed like it."

"I just..." She made a face, some of that familiar nervousness rising in the pit of her stomach. "Well..." She took a deep breath and reached out to take his hand. "It was just because I have a crush on you. So, it was kind of a shock."

"Wait." He stopped and turned to look at her. "You do?"

"You didn't notice?" She stared at him. "I couldn't talk to you."

"I thought you were just nervous."

"No! I had a huge crush on you!" She waved her free hand, stunned that he really hadn't figured this out by now. "Why do you think I blushed all the time?"

"I didn't..." He frowned. "I guess that makes more sense now."

"Well, on the bright side, at least I know I'm not the only one." She shook her head and led him down the road. "You were almost worse than me."

"You really had a crush on me?"

"Have, kitty," she teased, "And yes."

He grinned. "If it helps, I have one on you, too. You're pretty amazing, Marinette."

And just like that, the nerves and stuttering were replaced by butterflies in her stomach and a warm rush up her spine. "You are, too, Adrien."

He caught up to her, both significantly more at ease now that they had managed to express what they were feeling. "So, how serious were you about not spamming your phone with cat puns? Cause I have some purretty good ones."

"Don't push your luck," she shot back, smiling too wide to mean it.

#mlspring2k17 #my writing #lovesquare #adrinette #ladynoir #sort of #reveal #kiss reveal #cause the world needs more of those I swear #and honestly I think Adrien would be more head over heels than she is once he found out #one of my favorite headcanons tbh

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