#Nino needs a serious vacation

[rougerave]

Treasure hunting get away.

"You know when you said let's go to Greece for a mini vacation, I expected a nice get away with my girlfriend away from my nosy family. I did not sign up to be running through the Foloi Forest from, what where they call again, oh right THE FUCKING SOULS OF THE DAMNED!"

"Where's your sense of adventure love? But this is also kinda your fault." His travelling companion said as she shot a soul behind them.

"How is this my fault?!" He said shooting a soul as well.

"You expected thing to go smoothly in my presences. I am my uncles niece, you should know this by now."

"I thought-"

"And that's was your mistake. Can we continue this when we get out of here?" She said as she continued to shoot the soul that where chasing them.

"Why not now. This seems like a very good time to finish this conversation."

"We have to jump."

"Jump?! Jump to where?!"

"That waterfall up ahead." The calmness in her voice was unsetting considering the fact they were being chased to be captured on the order of Hades.

"Marinette, that seems like a horrible idea." He said shooting more souls.

"Damian do you trust me?"

"Yes, but I'm having serious doughs about the amount of trust I put in you."

"Good enough for me. Now, JUMP!" And they jumped into the harsh waters of the waterfall.

---

"You are very, very lucky I love you enough to not decapitate you were you stand."

"You love me. How sweet."

"Start talking Mars. What did you do to anger the Greek God of the Underworld?" He asked as he run a hand into is wet hair to get it out his face.

"Long story, or short story?" Marinette asked as she ringed her jacket to get the water out.

Damian had to think about this. If he got the long story there's a 99% chance that this would all come to the fact that it started with a stupid decision.

"Short version.”

Short version, he get's to guess what happened and decide if it truly was a stupid decision without having to gain a headache on the inevitably long story.

"Two words, Poker night."

Ohh for the love...

"Fuck sakes Mars. You thought that was a good idea because..."

"My uncles idea of bonding."

"Bonding, bonding you say. Why not ice-cream, or movies. No, John's idea of bonding is poker with gods that are easily angered, one being Hades. Fucking HADES. Do you guys have no self-preservation."

Marinette looked at him, really looked at him. There was something entirely different that was making him irritated. She walked over to her boyfriend, and stopped him from making a hole in the ground from all the pacing he was doing.

"To answer you question, no we have little to no self-preservation."

"That doesn't help." He said in an exasperated whisper, eyes closed and foreheads touching, bodies swaying to a tune in their hearts. A tune that bought them together on that faithful autumns day. 

"Talk to me love. What's got you worked up?" She said as she lead them to a huge root so they can sit on it.

“Nothing.” His ear twitched ever so slightly that it would be impossible to not notice it if you didn’t look for it, or if you didn’t know Damian.

“And we didn’t get chased by the souls of the damned. What’s wrong?” It was silent for a moment.

“Do you know, back home if I want to keep something secret, I have to wrap it in six boxes, put an elaborate trap around each box, and keep it one hundred miles away from Gotham, and still my brothers manage to find out.”

She snorted, but she knew it was the truth. The Wayne brothers where just like that.

“On rare occasions, I’m able to get away with it.” He said as he pulled out a small box. Marinette’s eyes wided. “I wanted to do this away from the demons and souls, but I should have known that, that will never happen, and I realised that’s okay. I have loved you for nine years and been with you for seven and I want to be with you for eternity, even with the demons and souls, I want to spend it with you. So if you’ll have me...”

There was a short a peaceful silence as a light breeze blew carrying the spring leaves carelessly.

“Yes.” It came out as a whisper, but to Damian it sound loud and his heart jumped for joy. “For all of time, yes.”

Marinette couldn’t bring herself to talk any louder, to overwhelmed with emotion, so she kissed him, with so much passion and love. And he kissed back. That sweet kiss that made her heart skip, even after seven years.

They broke the kiss and leaned their foreheads together, eyes still closed. “You know I’m not going to put it on my finger right.” She whispered.

“I know. Just look inside the box.” He said as he handed the box to her.

When she opened it, she saw a simple rose gold band with no jewels, but engravings in three languages. Arabic as it is his heritage, Latin for her heritage, and traditional Chinese for their shared heritage. The ring was looped around a simple gold chain. Together this made a neckless.

دائما في عقلي, Per sempre nel mio cuore, 永遠，我會愛你。

‘Forever in my mind, forever in my heart, for eternity, I will love you.’

“It’s beautiful. Would you do me the honors?” She asked as she turned her back against him and put her hair to the side.

Damian wordlessly took the chain and tired it around her neck, before he hugged her from behind. They sat there for a while before they heard a loud booming voice, that made them quickly stand at attention.

“CONSTANTINE!!” Welp.

“That’s my uncle, you wanker!” Mari shouted back, her British accent coming in strong.

“Mars do aggravate him, just run.” Damian said as he pulled his fiancé to get her to start running. “Remind me why we are running again?”

“We were about to lout his temple.” She said as she jumped on a brunch to run on the tree brunches.

“Yep that sounds about right.” Damian said with a small chuckle and followed her into the trees.

“We’ll lose him by the lake. Can you call for back up please? My phone crashed on some rocks in the waterfall.”

“Who am I calling? My brothers, your parents, your uncle, Adrien, Nino, or Chloe? Actually my brothers are out of the question.” Damian said as he went thought his contacts.

“Definitely not my uncle or my parents. I might be twenty-three but they can still bench my ass for this type of shit. Adrien said his going to visit Kagami in Japan, Chloe eight months and her mood swings are off the charts. Call Nino. His looking for an excuse to go two hours away from Chloe.” Marinette said, as Damian made the call.

“Lahiffe.”

“What did you guys do.” Nino’s tired voice said over the phone,

“Why do you assume we did something?” Marinette shouted over her shoulder.

“We were going to lout the temple of Hades, and his angry at Mari for other things as well.”

“Let me guess, Poker Night?”

“Yep. Can you come get us, I sent you our location before I called.”

“You’re guys are lucky you’re my kids’ godparents or else I would have left you there.” And he dropped the call.

“He was gonna come and get us anyways. He looking for a good excuse to get away from his wife. Speak of the devil and he shall appear.” Marinette said pointing at the figure that came out of a portal by the lake.

“We better hurry, because it looks like Hades sent his army again.”

---

“You look terrible.” Marinette said once they were in the safety of their hotel room.

“You try living with an eight month pregnant Chloe, and I believe the right words to say are ‘thank you’.” Nino said with a pointed stare.

“You’re welcome.” Marinette said as she said on the bed, looking at her best friend who was standing by the sliding door that lead to the balcony. He really look dead on his feet, but still fit and healthy. He was doing okay at least.

“Thank you Lahiffe.” Damian said towel on his shoulders, to keep his cloths dry from his still went hair. Man he missed the shower.

“Well I’m going to shower, and you my dear friend need to go back to your hormonal wife. Say hi for me.” Marinette said as she passed the boy on her way to the bathroom. Damian snorted at that.

“You laugh now sadiq (friend), but wait until Mari’s pregnant. You’ll have to stop her from going to play poker with Gods at eight months. Heed my warning Wayne.” Nino said as he stepped into the portal.

Damian stared wide eyed and realised that damn, Nino is right.

“Mars we need to talk about your poker problem!”

[temporalbystander]

Okay so... Not entirely sure what this little tidbit will be. Whether as a prologue to the postseason 5 fic that popped into my head or just background for... Whatever I continue from this... Actually no. New idea that just hit as I'm writing this. I've shown how Faybon is with Marinette and Adrien, how he supports LB and Chat the best he can, touched briefly on his interactions with Alya and Nino. I've also hinted at an uneasy alliance with Felix and I may have said a bit about his thoughts on Chloe. Under the cut? How he managed to deal with Bunnyx.

"Stay out of trouble." That's the last thing Bunnyx ever said to him, of course had Faybon known that would be the last time he'd ever see the time traveller? He may have been a bit kinder to her.

As it stood, all he could do was look around at the destruction Strike Back was causing in the city before turning to glare at the bunny peaking out from her burrow. "Would it have worked?" He had asked instead, holding down the anger that threatened to bubble over.

"Yes. But what it changed sent the timeline careening into disaster." Faybon had left it at that, it had been a long time since he cared enough to ask what damage his need to help caused. He just accepted the fact that future Bunnyx knew best and there was no point worrying otherwise, if he could have made a difference then she wouldnt be stopping him.

So Faybon went home, he ignored the giant sentimonsters as best as he could, shut his eyes and ears to the cries of the Miraculous team as they were being overwhelmed, and instead chose to keep the kids from hurting themselves taking too many big risks. Only when the marks on the back of everyones necks were erased by the magical ladybugs did he actually relax and consider that he should probably apologize to Bunnyx when he next saw her... Then came the announcement of the newly named Monarch.

Watching the swarm of butterflies mock the heroes for failing, the symbols of all the Miraculous surrounding the faux head like some kind of bizarre clock, it filled Faybon with equal parts rage and despair. Shards of ice digging into his heart as fire flooded his veins. This was the preferred outcome? This is what Bunnyx couldn't let him change? He couldn't believe it. Something had to have gone wrong.

Over the next few days he managed to piece together exactly what had happened, starting with learning that their classmate Alix was currently going on a vacation through time to keep Fluff away from Monarch. So, yes, this WAS what Bunnyx wanted to happen and now he had absolutely no way of telling her just how pissed he was at her. Well, other than holding onto it for the years to come that is which, while tempting, only opened him up to getting akumatised.

That just left the question of HOW Monarch got the other Miraculous and, while the lack of the peacock during his little monologue gave Faybon an idea, it wasn't until he heard Adrien talking about it to the rest of the class that he figured out just how deep Felix's betrayal went. Handing over the Miraculous was one thing, but under the guise of being Adrien and helping out Ladybug? Well... Faybon was amazed he hadn't been akumatised at all during that week. Most likely because it was when Monarch went silent for whatever reason.

He was tempted to go to London, kick down the door and beat the prick until he was as blue as Duusu's outfits. In his calmer moments he thought about visiting and proposing some kind of alliance, but the same thing stopped him from doing that as what prevented him from threatening grievous bodily harm on Adrien's lookalike. There was no chance he would manage it. Faybon was an average kid and Felix had a Miraculous and some serious martial arts training if his Wikipedia article was to be believed. Felix had outsmarted Ladybug, bargained with Monarch, and got away scot-free. Faybon wouldn't be able to touch him in a million years.

So that left Faybon with no idea on what to do next. Ever since the future Bunnyx had saved him from Egypt, coincidentally enough TimeTagger had sent him just a few years after Bunnyx had been trapped there with a broken watch, he'd more or less relief on her guidance. If he ever got the idea for some big morale boosting party, or ideas for the heroes to help with patrols and catching HawkMoth, she'd show up and either tell him to stop it or ask for popcorn so she could enjoy it. Maybe it was because he didn't really have a great relationship with present Alix, or because she was the one who brought him to the orphanage to begin with, but he did feel a connection with her at times. She was like the big sister he hadn't seen in years but still treated him like a child. Now that she was gone? He had lost the only person who knew what was going on just as much as he did.

Sure she preached secret identities as much as Ladybug did, and was quick to point out just how many times his actions forced her to actually do overtime trying to fix things. But she still let him into the burrow, sat him in a chair, and showed him some of the crazy scenarios that Marinette and Adrien made up to try and keep their secret. It took hours before he could stop laughing over how embarrassed Ladybug was catching Adrien in the shower. Sure it felt a bit surreal watching his friends like some kind of soap opera, but it was nice not having to be serious for once.

So, with all those thoughts weighing on his mind. As Akuma's got Miraculous powers granted by some strange ability that was like nothing he'd heard the kwamis mention before, as Nino had the beyond ridiculous idea to form a resistance and anger Gabriel? Faybon made his choice. He held up his hands, said no, and stepped back. The whole class was shocked obviously, out of everyone they thought he'd want to help Ladybug and Chat Noir the most and had a hard time accepting that he didn't.

It didn't take long for the heroes themselves to ask about it, wondering if he was okay or if they'd done something to upset him. He'd managed to get them to accept that, with Akumas being more powerful and only two heroes to combat them, the best way he could help was by keeping the emotional children of Tules orphanage as calm as possible. Something that took a lot of work on his best days but now had become so much harder.

They'd left it at that and Faybon had a moment to himself to think back on everything. "Stay out of trouble." She had said it with a laugh, like she knew it wouldn't happen and yet.... Surely she knew that was the last time they'd meet? Maybe ever since there was no guarantee that the Bunnyx who left his class would be the same one who went back to save him. If she'd go through those moments they'd shared or if it was something only he would remember. However it went he knew one thing for sure. Future Bunnyx, the adult version of his classmate Alix, had wanted him to stay safe. So that's what he'd do. He owed he that and so much more.

[amberwild420]

one step back, two steps forward (pt. 1)

Masterlist

Paris, the city of love

 Since the return of Lila the liar, Marinette has been feeling the downhill ride of the life at its fullest. Sure she threatened her to take away her friends and to make her life as miserable as possible but Marinette knew that there is no way that her friends who had known her longer can believe such ridiculous lies.

  Well…….that’s what she thought.

  She overestimated her friends or rather her ex-friends.

  They not only left her behind, but she also become a bully, thief, a cheater and an overall bad person.

  Like what?

 Now not only is she alone sitting in the last but she has to be bullied and humiliated because apparently she is bullying and making fun of the sweet innocent Lila.

  Like what?

  And Adrien. Oh sweet naïve Adrian just let her keep quiet. He said he had her back but when she realized how coward and spineless he was, her crush on him was gone like wind. And to add insult to injury, she may or may not have accidently found out that he was also chat noir.

  Like what?

  And not to forget miss bustier. Oh sweet miss bustier, she seriously need to take lessons on how to deal with bullies or she should choose a better profession. Because if she preached about setting a good example one more time she will do something that future Marinette would  regret.

  And Alya her supposed best friend just left her as soon as her blog rating went up because of a certain liar. Well and that she has always been brash but became quite temperamental after Lila trapped her in her web of lies. She tried, he really tried but she had no chance. Nino and Kim who knew her from childhood took the word from a liar. And max. Oh the smart max who made an AI with emotions had believed that a napkin can gouge his eyes out even when he was wearing glasses.

  Like what?!

  Thankfully she didn’t had to deal with Chloe these days. Well she was rather quieter these days. Not talking or taunting to anyone. Well a good thing that came from all this. She didn’t think she could actually bear two ways trouble right now.

  She had to deal with the akuma at 4 am and chat was nowhere as always. But she was thankful that he didn’t came. It was not like he was being helpful anyway.

 Miss bustier was late and Lila was spinning another tale of her adventure. She wanted to tune out the chatter but the door opened and miss bustier walked in with a girl. She was wearing a pink crop top with blue jeans and white sneakers.

Pale skin, long black hair that framed her face and yellow green eyes that looked at them with such an intensity that Marinette felt her hand twitching towards her sketchpad. She had so many ideas all of the sudden, she need to jolt it down.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Class meet Kaylan. She will be joining us for the rest of the year. Make her feel welcomed.

Irritating and incompetent.

The only words that echoed her mind when she met her teacher. Caline Bustier has no control over class. Like how the hell she can tame students with this idealistic temperament. Kayla knew she was right when she entered the class. When her teacher turned to her expectedly, she decided to be polite and introduced herself.

My name is Kaylan fox. I moved from New York City recently. It’s nice to meet you. 

It was just then a girl with sausage hair talking loudly.

Oh New York! It reminds me when I met Tylor swift last summer. She even gave me her new album with her autograph because she felt I deserve it when I accidently gave her the idea for her song.

 Is she serious? That is just an outrageous claim. There’s no way anyone would believe that.

 That’s so cool Lila.

 Yeah! You have to give me all the deeds.

 I wish I could meet her one time.

 The hell? They actually believed that?!

 Are you kidding? You’re actually believing that?

 She couldn’t help but speak up. There is no way like no way anyone even the most stupid person could believe that.

 The girl with sausage then suddenly burst into tears.

 Why do you say that? Are you that jealous?

Excuse moi?

 The effect was immediate. The class apart from the girl in the pig tails started consoling the girl.

 How could you be so mean?

 You made Lila cry.

 You’re so horrible like that Mari trash.

 Kaylan felt her eye twitching. Like what is actually going on? Did she cross the time space and came to a new universe that had people stupider than her expected level?

She looked at the teacher but was even more surprised when she was giving a look to the girl in the pigtails that said “stop them”.

 So incompetent. So fucking incompetent!

The class glared at the new girl who dare to talk but shivered at her bone chilling return glare. Like hell she would let some brats push her around. She trained, tired herself to bones to be stronger than that scum, there is no way she can let some skinny kids take her down.

I actually don’t care about what people are talking about but I do care when they name drop the celebrities.

The silence broke when a dark skinned girl with glasses stood up showing her fiery temper.

 How can you be so sure? Where is your proof?

 Raising her eyebrow, Kaylan pulled her phone from the pocket and typed. Then she started reading out loud.

(it’s a fake news, I just winged it myself so no need to correct it. it’s fanfiction.)

Tylor Swift seen in Hawaii this summer. Many fans have been theorizing she may be here for her new album. But the claims haven’t stand corrected still since then haven’t seen anyone from our usual cast. It seems like that Tylor is on a vacation. Sorry fans.’

And this is the news article from the last year summer. You were saying.

  She deadpanned at the girls who looked lost.

The sausage haired girl looked livid. With a cold smirk she leaned into the sausage haired girl.

 Hon. You’re so fake that even china would deny they ever made you. But to have some people follow you, I’ll give that much of a credit.

 Saying so she made her way to the last where the girl with pig tails was sitting. On the bench beside was a blond who looked at her from the corner of the eye but looked forward when miss bustier started her lesson, a bit flustered.

 Hi! I’m Marinette. Class representative.

Kaylan.

  I must say that was nice. You know, to see that someone can actually look through her lies.

 You know she was lying and didn’t tell them?

 Before she could stop, words pour out of her mouth. Marinette winced, so did she.

 Sorry, that came out rude.

 No it’s not a problem. They just don’t believe me at all.

 I can see why.

  Before they could talk anymore, miss Bustier interrupted them.

Kaylan, please focus in the class.

 I do have my focus in the class. But it seems like you don’t, considering that the sausage hair and  miss tabloid is still talking rather loudly and you just pointed me out instead.

A certain glint passed her eyes before a smirk made her way to her lips. The expression on her face made several people shiver.

 We don’t want some extra nasty rumor spreading in the school about what happens in the class. Now do we.

  The way Kaylan said that made many people shiver.

Marinette sighed in relief. she suddenly felt like having a safety amulet. 

Marinette felt badly for thinking like this but from the time her friends had left her she felt unsafe all the time. So this was a good feeling.

maybe she should treat her with best pastries. she really had a good feeling about today.

Its definitely a good day.

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[p-artsypants]

The Ghost of Smokey Joe (4)

You’ve Got Me VooDoo’d

Adrien Agreste was acting bizarre. Stilted body language, plastic smile, and he seemed to have forgotten how close they were. Before she can get the truth out of him, Marinette finds herself as the sole heir to the Gabriel brand and the mansion, following the murder-suicide of both Adrien and Gabriel Agreste. The mystery continues as Tikki explains that Adrien was Chat Noir...but if Adrien is six feet under, why is Chat Noir still running around?

Ao3 | FF.net

--

“Have either of you talked to Adrien lately?” 

Nino scoffed from his place on the couch. “You mean Mr. Roboto? Yeah, he’s been a blast. What did you do, Marinette?” 

“Me?! I didn’t do anything!” 

“Well he wasn’t this weird until your failed date night.” 

“I know that! And I also know that I did nothing wrong!” She scolded. 

“Mari’s right,” said Alya. “Sunshine’s transformation is probably a side effect of his dear old dad.” 

“What did Gabriel do?” Asked Marinette. 

“Don’t you remember? He’s a great designer, and apparently a cool boss, but he’s a super shitty dad.” 

“Yeah. But ever since Adrien turned 18, he’s mellowed out. Somewhat.” 

“So? He probably cranked it back up. When was the last time you saw Adrien outside of the mansion?” 

Marinette blinked. “God, like two weeks ago, before ‘my failed date night’.” 

“Exactly. If you ask me, Sunshine is depressed. Or forbidden from showing emotion.” 

Marinette clutched at her chest, the very notion sending a throb to her heart. 

“I’m going to talk to him tomorrow. I’ll sneak up on him, so Nathalie doesn’t know. Maybe without her talking to him beforehand, he’ll feel more relaxed.” 

“That’s a good plan! And if he has a camera in his room?” 

“Um…I’ll write a note! Not an email, in case his dad is monitoring it, but an actual, physical note.” It was as good enough of a plan as it could be, though she had neglected to mention to them the tiny detail of Adrien’s document.

‘Your name is Adrien Agreste’ it said. 

Why would he be reading such a thing? Did he have amnesia and Gabriel was trying to keep it quiet? Extremely early onset Alzheimer’s? That’s the only thing that made sense.

Still, Marinette opted to not mention this. It was her clue to the mystery. Maybe later. 

Just like some magic potion

You fill me with emotion

You control my very soul

You've Got Me Voodoo'd

“You could at least respond with ‘k’.” 

The reply was immediate. “K.”

“Oh, so now you’re talking to me?” 

“K.” 

“Did I do something?” 

“K” 

“That doesn’t even make any sense!” 

“K”

“You’re really pissing me off, Agreste.” 

“K” 

Marinette put her phone down for her own health. After a morning in the office, and not getting a response from Adrien, she was beyond frustrated. 

If he had a problem with her, fine, but they had work to do! He still had a job at the company, outside of being a model, and some of her work relied on him. 

It was coming in, slowly, poorly, and mostly wrong. Besides modeling, he was an assistant in sizing, making sure that their clothes were made to be close to the market standard, and flattering for as many possible body types. They did do custom orders, of course, but for the average consumer, it was important that they ordered what they wanted, and received what they expected. 

But Adrien’s measurements were wildly wrong. Women’s extra large shirts didn’t gain inches in the bust, waist, and arms respectively, but the whole outfit scaled evenly. 

Meaning that if an average small was 16 inches long, instead of gaining one or two inches, it reached down to the knees. Shoulder seams fell halfway down the bicep, and sleeves continued a few inches over their hands. 

The models in testing looked like children wearing their parents' clothes. 

“Miss Dupain-Cheng, I have to ask you about this collection and the…interesting sizing you’ve decided to take.” One of the sales reps asked, right outside her office. 

“It’s wrong,” Marinette clarified. “It should have been caught before prototypes were made, but there’s been a hiccup in the production.” She stood, and put on her purse. There was no way to solve this problem without talking to Adrien. And goddamnit, she was going to make him talk! 

“See to it that it’s corrected immediately. With Gabriel’s nearly complete absence, this collection is way behind. Aubrey Bourgeois already has her fall collection out!” 

“Yes, I know. I’m heading over to the manor now to get some concrete answers. Hopefully by tomorrow, we’ll get our sizing corrected.” 

“I hope you do.” 

Marinette hurried down the hall, coworkers giving her concerned glances. 

It was pretty obvious, even to those who weren’t immediately in the office:

The company was a sinking ship, and Marinette was the only one who had a bucket. 

You knew the goddess Venus

Would start this love between us

You inspired me with desire

You've Got Me Voodoo'd

Marinette let herself into the manor, though it wasn’t her day to work there. Thankfully, it seemed like Nathalie was too busy to notice her arrival. 

Up at Adrien’s bedroom door, she was about to knock. Then she noticed his door was cracked open. 

Surely spying on him slightly wouldn’t be wrong?

She pushed the door open a little more for her to peek through. 

On the other side of the room, staring out the window, stood Adrien. And that’s all he did. He just stood looking out the window. The lights in the room were off, backlighting his silhouette. She watched him for a moment, waiting. Nothing. 

Then she knocked. “Adrien? Are you decent?”

“Yes, I am.” He spoke formally. 

She opened the door fully, and he turned to look at her with the most plastic smile she had ever seen. 

He didn’t have his dimples. 

“Hello Marinette, it’s nice to see you. I didn’t know you were working here today.” 

“Nice to see you too. I haven’t had the chance to talk to you properly the last few days, you’ve been so busy.” 

“I have been, I apologize.” 

“It’s not your fault. I know how your father is.” She took a seat on the couch, and pulled out her salad from her bag. “Sorry, I’d wait to eat with you, but I’m so hungry.” 

“You may eat. I understand.” Though he just stared at her, still smiling, and still standing. 

“Are you going to sit?” 

“I can.” He sat next to her, leaving a cushion of space in-between. Normally, he would practically be in her lap. 

“You don’t need to be so formal, you know. We’re alone.”  

“Oh, I’m sorry.” 

She frowned slightly. “You don’t need to apologize. Just like...relax.” 

Adrien looked at her, before exhaling loudly and sinking into the couch more. “Is this relaxed enough?” 

She shrugged. 

“What did you want to talk about?” 

“I just wanted to see how you were doing.” 

“Doing?” 

“Yeah, you’ve been acting super weird lately.” 

He tilted his head slightly. “Weird? How so?” 

“I don’t know, stiff? Formal? Just kind of...stand off-ish. And forgetful. There've been some pretty obvious mistakes in sizing for this collection, and you approved them. You haven’t been in the office the last few days, so I was worried.” 

He considered this. “I’m sorry if my absence caused you any inconveniences. I wasn’t aware I needed to be at the office.” 

She blinked a few times, incredulously. This was absolutely bizarre. “You don’t need to be there, you just usually hang around after shoots or fittings and keep me company.” 

“Oh, because we are friends, right? My good friend Marinette.”  

“Yes!” She slammed her Tupperware down. “This is what I’m talking about! It’s like you don’t know who I am!”

He frowned, the expression running lines in his face. “I’m sorry, Marinette. I’m having a hard time right now, and I’m kind of exhausted. I’m…kind of confused.”

She took a calming breath. “Okay. I get it. You’re stressed. Let’s talk this out though, okay?”

He twisted up his mouth in thought. “Okay, what would you like to talk about?” 

“What’s got you stressed? Is your dad breathing down your neck? Are deadlines too much to handle with modeling too? Do you need a vacation?” 

He stared at her, blankly. “I’m not sure. I would have to think about it.” 

“Well, you know you can talk to me about anything. I care a lot about you, Adrien.” 

“Oh…that’s nice.” He smiled and patted her hand.

It sounded incredibly patronizing. And it hurt. 

“What is up with you? You’ve been acting so strange! You’re not the boy I know!”

You knew you had the power

And even picked the hour

When the full moon was up above

I was hypnotized when I looked into your eyes

My heart was filled with love

The unbelievable plastic smile shifted then, relaxing ever so slowly, until it was gone, and it almost seemed like it was never there. 

“You should go.” Adrien said, hollowly. 

“What?” 

“You should leave now. I don’t think you should be here. Does Nathalie know you are here?”

Marinette swallowed. “No, she doesn’t. I mean—I didn’t think you’d mind. You usually like it when I come to hang out…” she looked to the floor, “at least you used to.” 

“Please give me thorough warning the next time you need to speak with me.” 

She snapped the lid back on her lunch, the second time she had done so. She only had a few bites, just like last time. 

And food just didn’t taste as good without him around. 

“Fine. You know what? I won’t bother you again. Next time, I’ll send an email, like I do with all my other co-workers.” She slid her lunch into her bag, and stood. “The sizing for this collection needs some serious work, and I’ve been the one to have to fix it, on top of all my other responsibilities. Please do better next time, Mr. Agreste.” She shouldered her bag, and walked out. 

Once the door slammed behind her, she let the tears gather in her eyes, but didn’t let them fall. 

So it was over then. Her friendship with Adrien, her best friend, was over. And she wasn’t getting an explanation. 

“Marinette,” Tikki said, sadly. “It can’t be your fault. You didn’t do anything.” 

“I know. And that’s the worst part. Because that means I can’t fix it.” 

She left the Agreste mansion that day, not knowing the next time she walked through those doors, life would be completely different.

Just like the siren Circe

You've got me at your mercy

Always to be brave and bold

Mama, You've Got Me Voodoo'd

It was late. Too late for anyone to be calling, and yet, here her phone was ringing. Marinette fumbled for it. Grabbing it and blinding herself with the screen.

It was 3am, and Adrien was calling her. 

She loved a late night confession as much as the next girl, but she had a presentation in the morning. What was he thinking? 

She hoped it was an apology. Maybe he was finally going to break down and tell her everything that was going wrong. 

Or maybe he was going to confess he didn’t actually know how clothing measurements worked and he’d been guessing the whole time.

“Hello?” She grumbled.

“Marinette.” His voice was so stern, so cold, it gave her goosebumps. “Did I wake you?” He asked, softer.

“Yeah.”

“Sorry, but it’s important.” 

“Okay. What’s up?”

“I’m sorry.” He breathed. “You were right. I’m not the boy you knew.”

More awake now, she sat up in bed. This had obviously been driving him wild for a while. “We all change, Adrien. It’s okay. If you’re going through something, I’m here for you. Just be honest with me.” 

“That’s not—“ he sighed, a growl at the end. “Look, just…I don’t have much time. I don’t know what he—what I was going to tell you that night, but it probably wasn’t good.” 

Another voice was on his end of the line. “What are you doing?! Who are you talking to?!”

“Shit. Just look in the basement!”

“What?!”

“How dare you!” 

“Let go of me!”

And the line went dead. 

What. The. Hell.

She called him back, now completely wide awake. 

“Hey there, it’s Adrien, I’m not available to answer right now…”

--

All the chapter titles are songs from my spooky halloween playlist that inspired this fic (and their lyrics will be in the chapters)! You can find that playlist here. The playlist will be updated as the fic goes on.

I hope to post the last chapter on Halloween!

[unmaskedagain]

White Horse (This Ain’t a Fairytale)

          Quick one-shot. Needed to do something sort of different.

 Marinette had dreamed of the moment. The moment she would finally be brave enough to look Adrien Agreste in the eyes and tell him how she left; that she loved him. She had pictured, hoped, how would be a thousand times. It would be like fairy tale. Adrien the handsome prince. Her, the princess. He’d sweep her off her feet. And they’d go get ice cream together, ready to start her happily ever after. Like in the movies.

“I’m sorry, Marinette,” Adrien frowned, scratching his head, like he didn’t know what to say. “I just don’t think of you that way.”

           In retrospect, Marinette should’ve known better.

“Oh,” Was all Marinette could say. She felt numb, despite knowing her heart had shattered in her chest.

           Because of course he wouldn’t feel the same. Marinette so stupid to think he would. She should’ve known… She should’ve known!

           Adrien shrugged, “It’s not you,” He offered. “I like someone else.”

           Because of course he did.

“Yeah,” Marinette nodded, looking anywhere but at him. “Cool. I get it.”

“I might’ve considered once,” Adrien rushed to add. “But you sort of changed.”

           Marinette took a step back, “Changed?” She didn’t change at all.

“You’ve been distant from the class and all our friends,” Adrien explained. “And the whole Lila thing?”

“Lila?” Marinette said numbly. “She’s a liar, and people deserve to know the truth. And I haven’t been distant from the class. They’ve been ignoring me.”

“Because you keep calling Lila out,” Adrien put in. “It’s causing problems. She’s not hurting anyone.”

           Marinette looked at him, really looked at him. “You don’t think that she’s hurting anyone. Not even Nino who she promised would meet a big time director so he’s not finishing his piece for film festival. Or Nathanial who broke off a great partnership with Marc because Lila promised he was better off and that she introduce him to DC comic book writers? You don’t think that’s hurting him?”

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Adrien shrugged. “They’ll be other opportunities. Marc will take Nathanial back if he apologizes.”

           Again, Marinette just stared. Because no! No Marc wouldn’t because Marc was already poached to work on Claude’s graphic novel about a kid who finds out he’s the descendent of Van Helsing.

           Could Adrien be serious? Was he that naïve? Was Marinette? Had she gotten so lost in his eyes that she never even stood a chance of seeing what he was really like? How could she claim if she had ever loved him if that was the case?

“And when the class finds out Lila’s lying,” Marinette raised her hand to stop Adrien from interrupting. “And I have no further intention of outing her,” To her disgust he looked pleased. “When they find out she’s lying, and the fact that they stopped being my friends, bullied me, harassed me in some cases, and basically given me the cold shoulders for almost a year. Do you think I will forgive them? That we’d go back to being friends?”

“Of course you will,” Adrien said brightly. “Why wouldn’t you?”

           Marinette just blinked, amazed. “Because they hurt me.” She just shrugged. “We’ll cross that bridge when get there.” And Marinette would take sweet pleasure in burning it down. “I’m going to go now…” She started to walk away.

“I’m sorry again!” Adrien called.

           Oh that Marinette knew for certain. And so was Marinette for that matter.

Over the next few weeks, Marinette was in a state of confusion. Her heart had been crushed. But it seemed to fade rather quickly. Mostly because every time she thought about him, she’d hear his words and feel sick. All those dreams she had about her and Adrien made her want to bang her head against the wall. Because what if that’s she came across; with all her fairytale wishes. Life wasn’t a fairy. She wasn’t a princess. No one was going to come sweep her off her feet. And unlike Adrien, she had always known that life wasn’t anything like the movies.

The issue was that maybe she was more like Adrien then she thought. Didn’t she think that once her friends knew the truth everything would be okay? Didn’t some part of her think Alya and her would go back to being besties? That’ll it would all be bygones? But what about all the hurt feelings? The broken trust? The cruel words? Those all didn’t just vanish. That wasn’t how life worked. There was no possible way for them to go back to the way it was.

And the more she thought about it, the more Marinette wasn’t sure that she wanted it to.

Marinette had been really tired of being taken for granted; all those school trips, dances, birthday parties, fundraisers, and she never even got a thank you. A lot of her classmates just frowned in disapproval once Lila mentioned how she could’ve done it better, made it better if Marinette had let her help. So Marinette gracefully quit being class president; let someone else take the lead. She was tired of doing free commissions; it cost a lot of money and time and no one seemed to even care. Then Lila mentioned how she had a tailor and personal designer who was so much faster than Marinette, who might be doing it on purpose as no one could be that slow. In the face the suspicious glares, Marinette had casually mentioned how great it was for Lila to offer to help their classmates as Marinette would no longer be able to do free commissions. Then Marinette decided that the next thing to go was demands, not asks, of her time. This had come after Alya had dropped off her little sisters’ at Marinette suddenly and cited how busy she was. Only for Marinette to see posts about a class party.

           Then Marinette made sure she was always busy. And she asked her parents not to just let anyone up to her room. Marinette had to go get then now.

No, Marinette was quite sure, she rather nothing went back to the way it was. Too much had been said and done. It was too late for fairy tales or movie magic. Too late for anyone on a white horse to come around to carry her off to a happy ending.

Time passed, and Marinette watched with a twisted feeling of glee in her chest, when the entire class seemed to slowly fall apart. First it was the winter school trip. Originally, Marinette had planned an amazing tour of presidential office and then a quick trip to the beach. However, when it became clear that nothing had been done yet for the trip despite months of warnings, Marinette backed out of going. She laughed for days, when she saw the pictures of the class on a local farm.

Then it was the school dance. Lila’s personal designer apparently suffered a horrible fire in her studio and all the dresses were destroyed; leaving most of the girls in the class in tears. They’d gone in old dresses. Marinette, however, had worn her most fabulous design yet. A beautiful, lacy, scarlet dress that made her look WOW, as her new friends had put it. Luka had been her date; only as a friend of course. The two had realized that while they had a lot in common, the attraction wasn’t sexual.

Fundraisers were next. And the targets were never hit. Trips to festivals, museums that required more than a few hours ride, and the like were cancelled. The annual spring trip, something the class had looked forward to for two years, had been all but cancelled. Usually, it was trip to another country for two weeks. Marinette had planned on New York. But Marinette was no longer class president by the first week of October.

Marinette’s only problem came when Rose and Juleka broke up. The one other pairing, Alya had once sworn, the class was more invested in than Adrien and Marinette getting together. The two had been so in love. Then Lila happened.

She got into Rose’s head about deserving a prince, about how shy Juleka couldn’t really be serious about her if she never expressed it like others did, and what about Prince Ali? How would he feel if he found out Rose was dating someone else.

And Rose, poor sweet Rose had always had a head full of fairy tales. She never stood a chance.

It wasn’t surprising when Luka and Marinette found Juleka crying on the deck of the boat. Marinette had taken mercy on the girl. She made not have been Juleka’s friend anymore but she was still Luka’s sister. And anyone could see she needed time away,

So After a quick intervention, Juleka now knew Lila to be the biggest Liar on the planet. Marinette invited her on her trip to Metropolis for spring break. The trip had been under the guise of World explorers club, which had been just Marinette and her new friends (Claude, Marc, Ondine, Aurore, Luka, Bridgette, and Felix) who saved enough money to spend two weeks in the States away from their and any and all drama.

To make it look education, and to stop Mendeleiev from giving them suspicious glares, they even book a tour of LexCorp. Again, mostly to appease Mendeleiev.

However, Lexcorp was the highlight of the trip if you asked Marinette. She’d run into Connor Luther-Kent, a small town boy, with biceps as big her head, and the biggest blue eyes she’d ever seen and promptly knew exactly how she’d be spend the rest of her vacation.

Connor had led the tour.

…Okay so Connor was supposed to lead the tour. But he and Marinette had kept sneaking glances at each other with blushes on their faces so much that his Aunt Lena, who swore she wasn’t spying, took over the tour. Eventually Connor and Marinette felt the far back of the tour, trading jokes and accidently touching hands. They didn’t even notice when tour ended.

“And the concludes the tour,” Lena announced. “Oh pretty French girl making eyes at my nephew, Connor’s free tomorrow around 6. He’d love to meet you at the fair in town. Maybe win you a stuffed animal.”

           Connor turned bright red.

“Oh Marinette would love to go, handsome farm boy,” Mendeleiev answered with a smirk. “She just wants to say her curfew is eleven. She’ll brings friends, so brings some of yours. And she respectable girl who doesn’t kiss on first dates.”

           Marinette squeaked.

“Understood,” Lena beamed at the embarrassment of the blushing teens. “Connor’s a gentleman. And such a boy scout, if pretty French girl doesn’t make the first move, nothing will happen. He’s a shy one.”

           Mendeleiev crossed, “That might be a problem. Marinette’s just as shy as handsome farm boy. I guess we’ll see what happens.”

“Guess we will,” Lena smiled.

           The two women and the rest of Marinette friends just stared at the two teenagers who looked ready to die.

           The fair was great. Marinette’s friends and Connor’s got along great. Though Luka skipped out with a handsome kid named Tim. Aurore found redhead named Wally intriguing. Ondine ditched everyone to go hang out with a black boy with blond hair name Kaldur. Marc and Claude left together. And finally Juleka and a girl named Artemis went to ride the Ferris wheel together. Turned out, Juleka had a thing for blondes.

           Marinette and Connor spent the entire time, holding hands, and eating weird fair food, and getting more than a little lost in each other’s eyes.

           The rest of the trip was pretty much the same. The two friend group would meet up and usually break off into couples not long after.

           Marinette did find herself covering for a curfew breaking Luka at one time, another for Ondine. And most surprising for Juleka, who assured everyone she was fine through texts, but didn’t make it back to the hotel till the next day. Luka high-fived his sister on her way in.

           The only times, it was a couple-free zone when was when they had to do something educational. The daily planet had been fun. Lois Lane had been insightful and gave great advice to Aurore. She had been interviewing an Olympian swimmer who had no problems shelling out advice to Ondine. And then to the local history museum and the art museum.

           It took everything they had to convince the teacher that a movie premiere was education. If the movie was some action superhero blockbuster, it might’ve been easier. But still the glasses wearing teacher caved, though with way she eyed Chris Evans, Marinette thinks they might tried too hard.

           And once when Marinette got backstage passes to see Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale perform on their Pop and Rock tour. Neither star hesitated to bring Marinette and her friends on stage. They had announced her as their fashion designer, who did the amazing dress Clara was wearing and rocking look Jagger sported. Luka got to play guitar for Jagged. Clara and Jagged did a cover of an old *NSYNC song that her mom had revealed was her favorite song growing up.

(God Must Have Spent) A Little More Time On You.

           The bluenette had shed a few tears on stage, in front of everyone.

           Marinette would find out later that the concert was live streamed.

           Her most heart stopping moment came when Marinette met Connor’s parents; it had been an accident. They had been going to outside concert when Connor remembered he needed to drop something off at his dad’s place, and it was just going to be for five minutes. They had gotten to the penthouse. Connor left her in the living room. Marinette had been looking at the pictures on the mantle when she heard a clearing of the throat.

           She turned around and came face to face with Times’ man of the year, Lex Luthor. Never again, will she considered Gabriel Agreste scary. He was tickle-me Elmo compared to Lex Luthor, maybe a rouge furby doll. Those things were always creepy.

           Lena stood next to him with a pretty blond woman Marinette knew to be Kara, who Marinette knew from picture to be Connor’s aunt, who worked out of National city.

“You must be… Marinette?” Lex drawled.

           Marinette fought not to smooth out her fifties-style chic sliver dress. “Yes, Sir. Connor just stepped away.”

           They made light conversation after that. Marinette telling about her interests and achievements and wondering where Connor was because five minutes her ass. When Connor’s other dad arrived.

           A ruffled looking man looking man, that looked remarkable like Connor, that wore the most hideous plaid shirt she’d ever seen. “Hi’ya, I’m Clark. Connor’s dad.” He introduced. Clark held out his hand. “You must be Marinette, Connor hasn’t stopped talking about you since you two met.”

           Marinette shook his hand with a smile. And she didn’t mean the say, doesn’t how it slipped out. “Who let you out of the house dressed like that?”

           The two men froze. So did the women.

“What?” Clark asked a stunned look on his face.

“Seriously!” Marinette said, unable to stop herself. “That shirt shouldn’t just be thrown away. It should be burned to ashes and fed to the designer.”

           Clark blushed, and pushed his glasses up. “I like it. It looks like my other ones.”

“There are more of those sins of nature!” Marinette exclaimed. “How? Why? Who hurt you?”

           Lex smirked.

           That was when Connor came into the room, with a smile on his face. He wrapped an arm around Marinette’s waist and looked at his parents, “What’s going on?”

“An intervention,” Marinette snipped.

           Lex Luther pointed at Connor, “Marry that girl.”

           Lena and Kara fell down laughing.

           Connor’s face turned red.

           Clark looked like a confused puppy.

           Marinette came with apology cookies the next day.

           Connor and Marinette were officially boyfriend and girlfriend by the time the trip ended.

           While they were gone, however, things in Paris weren’t going great for the class. The three days of break had been great. Spring trip was just to an amusement park which had disappointed quite a few, but they’d perked up when Alya pointed out that at least Marinette wasn’t there to ruin it all for them. As far as they were concerned life was good without the bluenette.

           Then the fourth day happened. And Juleka posted her first picture. Marinette, her new friends, Juleka; the World Travel’s club, in Metropolis. The mood quickly soured after that. The pictures of their fabulous hotel rooms. The pictures of them at LexCorp with Lena Luther herself; Max was left reeling. Then came the pictures the fairs and dates the group had gone on. Alya had nearly cried when she saw the pictures of the tour of the Daily Planet. Rose had cried when she saw Juleka with some beautiful girl named Artemis.

           The worst of it happened when the entire class got together to watch Pop and Rock on tour as Alya’s house. The concert had been stream. And They had all been so excited. Until Marinette was called on stage, and along with all her friends. The popstar and Rock star dedicated a song to Marinette.

           It had been a trip worthy dreaming about.

           That was when the class remembered just how amazing Marinette had been at planning school trips. Why they ever wanted her to resign, they couldn’t remember.

           Adrien saw a picture Marinette and some dark haired boy holdings hands and for some reason felt his heart break a little.

           When they got back to Paris and the break ended, Marinette and Juleka walked to class with their heads held high and love in their hearts. When the girls got to their seats, Alya was the first to try and ruin their good mood.

“Have fun over break?” She snapped.

“Loads,” Marinette raised an eyebrow. “As many times as you like Juleka’s pics of the daily planet I’d assumed you know that.”

           Alya’s temper grew as jealous soared through her, “You could’ve at least invited your friends.”

“I did,” Marinette stated. “Or don’t you remember when you yelled at me the lunchroom that you weren’t my friend anymore. And rest of you agreed.”

           Some looked ashamed. Others still looked petulant.

“Our trip sucked,” Kim groaned. There were nods in agreement.

“Talk to your class president,” Marinette shrugged. “Last I check, that wasn’t me.” She motioned to Lila. “I’m surprised Lila couldn’t do something better with all the connections she has. I’m sure she could out due a bunch of kids who just saved a few bucks over the course of the year.”

           Lila smiled pleasant but the look in her eyes could’ve killed Marinette, “I was so busy. With all my charity work. There was no time.”

           Marinette hummed in response.

“You all looked so amazing at the movie premier!” Rose beamed. It was clear to those who really looked that the blond was sad, maybe even heartbroken.

           Juleka nodded, finding that the sight of her ex-girlfriend wasn’t as devastating as it would’ve been before the trip, “Marinette designed all of our clothes.”

           It took six months after that for Lila’s kingdom to crumble and for the entire class to apologize to the bluenette. Unfortunately, Marinette didn’t react like they’d hoped. Sure, she accepted their apologies, even forgave them, but she made it clear they weren’t friends. They’d never be friends again.

           Adrien had given her a disappointed look afterwards and had tried to convince her that everything could go back to the way it was. She shrugged, and didn’t dignify him with a response.

           It was three months after for Hawkmoth to finally be defeated thanks to Connor who turned out to be Superboy and the rest of Young Justice who may or may be dating the rest of the new team Miraculus.

           It was a week later that Chat Noir and Ladybug revealed themselves to each other. It didn’t go as either of them had hoped.

           Marinette didn’t know who was more surprised. Her or Adrien. She frowned when she saw the hope in the blond boy’s eyes.

           Adrien had been stunned and then a happy smile appeared on his face. Ladybug and his princess was one in the same. She had liked him. Had asked him out. Adrien may have been stupid to turn her down but that it didn’t matter anymore. It would all work out, “Princess,” He said. “I knew we were meant to be.” That was what he thought until Superboy flew down to stand next to Marinette.

           Marinette gave Adrien a pitying smile, “I’m not a princess, Adrien. This isn’t a fairy tale. This isn’t the movies. We already had our chance.  I’m leaving Paris. I’m joining the justice league. It’s too late to catch me now.”

[infinitejapanication]

Dear Arashi,

The day I dreaded is here. It’s January 1st 2021 and you’re now gone into your indefinite hiatus.

Those (almost) two years passed by so quickly since you announced your hiatus. I still remember vividly when you announced it, as if it was yesterday. I remember thinking at that time that if that’s what you want and that’s what make you happy, then we should let you go and I just needed time to process this. Yet, here I am, January 1st 2021 and even after all this time, I guess I’ll still need a little more time to adjust my life as you won’t be here as 5 from now on. The thing that makes it so hard I guess is that during those almost 2 years before today, you kept giving us content, thanking us, you once again thought of us, your fans, more than anything else. From January 27th 2019 till yesterday, you did your best and gave us so many things, just like you did during all those years, even more. And that’s why it’s still so hard now to say good bye today, even though I knew since January 2019 that you were going on indefinite hiatus.

I remember thinking, many times during those last years with you, “but how am I gonna do without them? How will it be?” And to be honest, till today, I still don’t have the answer to those questions. I guess it will come as time passes.

Because yes, you’ve always been there. You’ve always been a part of my life. I discovered ARASHI in 2007, when I was 12. It’s now the year 2021 and I’m 25. I grew up with you, with your presence everywhere, even if we were so far apart. Everyday, ARASHI was there, through pictures I found on the internet or music I was listening to, articles on the blogs that I was reading at that time, through tv shows and DVD concerts. So, as my environment was always filled with ARASHI, I still don’t know how it will be without you in it. I mean, without some new contents of you as 5, since of course, I still have many things to look back to, thanks to all the things you gave us.

Without really realising it, ARASHI quickly became my safe place, a bubble where I could escape whenever I feel like it. Every time I felt down, or when I felt like escaping reality, I was watching one of your show or watching one of your concert and I could forget for a while my worries. Every time, you 5 were able to put a smile on my face, to make me laugh, to make me less worried and to help me overcome what I was going through. You were always the ones who could make me smile no matter what, even in my most stressful years. You were always there, in the happy moments as in the stressful moments and tough moments.

Thinking of ARASHI makes me think of my happiest moments, of a time when I was still smiling no matter what. Seeing ARASHI gives me constant warmth, comfort and happiness. And it always will. You give me countless of emotions and I’m so grateful for that.

Unfortunately sometimes, life got in the way and I couldn’t catch up on everything you were releasing etc. And at that time, way before you announce your hiatus, I was sometimes thinking that it’s alright if I can’t catch up on everything because there will always be new content. Indeed, it was so normal for me to see you releasing a new album, to see concert reports, to see photoshoots and magazines interviews. I almost took all of this for granted while I really shouldn’t have. I’m sorry.

But ARASHI! I want to thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Thank you for everything you’ve done until now. Thank you for all this hard work during all these years. Thank you for creating a safe place, a beautiful world where we can escape whenever we need to and where we learnt that no matter what hardships we go through, we’re not alone and we should never give up.

Thanks to you, I’ve surpassed myself. I believed in myself. I started learning Japanese thanks to you and you’re still the reason why I still learn Japanese today.

Thanks to you, I met amazing people from all over the world and I made friends that are so far away yet it feels like they’re just right besides me. I even met some of them in real life. Thanks to you, I made lifetime friendships.

Thanks to you, I was able to make tons and tons of memories with those friends, while we were watching your concerts, tour tv shows and stuff. Thanks to you, I have memories that I will hold preciously forever.

Thank you ARASHI.

Ohno, thank you for all the sacrifices you made all those years. Thank you for all the talent you shared with us. Thank you for always listening carefully to the other members’ opinions and putting them first before your own opinion. Thank you for sticking around even when you didn’t feel like it anymore. The best leader ARASHI could have. Thank you for everything. Go enjoy your vacations and I can’t wait to hear about them when you’re back. I’ll wait for you. 🎣⛵️✨

Sho, thank you for being ARASHI’s shadow leader. Thank you for protecting ARASHI with all your might. For guiding ARASHI and the fans. For making us feel secure to be an ARASHI fan and telling us that there’s no “perfect fan”. Thank you for always reading the atmosphere and acting serious when it was needed but also making us laugh when you knew it was needed too. Thank you for everything. I can’t wait to hear more from your journalism work. I’ll be watching. 🗞📺✨

Aiba, thank you for all those smiles and all those positive emotions you gave us throughout those years even when it was the hardest for you. Thank you for always sharing this warm smile with us. You’re the reason of many smiles I had during all those years and the same goes to lots of fans. Thank you for teaching us that even when something terrible happens, we shouldn’t give up. Thank you for always showing your emotions, for being someone with such a big heart. Thank you for everything. I can’t wait to see your variety shows. I’ll be watching and smiling with you. 🐻🐒💚✨

Nino, thank you for always speaking your mind and for not being afraid to be totally honest with you. Thank you for always taking care of the members through your small actions and for protecting them. Thank you for teaching us that we should just be ourselves, that we can cry because it’s okay to show our true emotions sometimes. Thank you for being yourself and for being fearless. That’s what makes you unique. Thank you for everything. I can’t wait to see more of your acting work. I’ll be watching and be amazed by your acting skills again. 🎬📺✨

Jun, I don’t even know how to start. You’re the reason I’m here and what I am today. Thank you for always loving ARASHI more than anyone. Thank you for always thinking of ARASHI first, for doing everything you did for ARASHI and putting ARASHI before your own life. Thank you for always thinking of ARASHI more than anyone. Thank you for propping ARASHI up. Thank you for always exceeding our expectations every time, year by year. Thank you for thinking of the fans more than anyone and for always doing it. Thank you for all your hard work, those countless nights when you didn’t get enough sleep, for every single sacrifice you did during all those years just so ARASHI’s concerts can be what they are today. Thank you for always thinking of every single detail. You’re the one who taught me what true hard work and dedication are, the one who taught me that it's okay to have weaknesses and that we should also always try to push our own limits. You’re the one who taught me that we should never give up on our dreams. Thank you for being such an inspiration since all this time. Thanks to you, I had the courage to finally give up the studies I didn’t like for studying something I love. I can’t even thank you enough for everything you did. I love you so much. Please enjoy your break, be selfish and live your life the way you want. I’ll be waiting for you to come back and I’ll still be amazed by what you do and the person you are. 🎥🎆💜✨

Thank you ARASHI for everything.

It’s time for you to be selfish for once and think of you first, instead of your fans.

Go enjoy your break, go enjoy life. 🎈✨

I hope this hiatus will be the opportunity for you to discover so much more about life, that it will give you tons and tons of opportunities, that it will make you the happiest.

I’ll hold all those precious memories and grow up thanks to them so I can be a better version of myself when we’ll see you as 5 again.

Whether it takes 5 years or 20 years, I’ll be waiting. We’ll all be waiting.

I love you.

BE HAPPY, ARASHI. 🪁💙❤️💚💛💜✨

[fridayfirefly]

Lost and Found [Part Ten]

Masterlist | Ao3

Marinette climbed up the ladder into her bedroom, where her friends waited. She carried in her hands a tray of snickerdoodles, chocolate chip cookies, and macaroons, leftovers from the bakery that had been made fresh that morning.

"Snickerdoodles!" Chloé cheered, snatching two cookies off the tray before Marinette had even made it the whole way up the ladder. Chloé always took two of everything, one for herself and one for her Soulmate, who had woven his way back into Chloé's good graces, despite their rocky beginnings.

Marinette finished the climb and shut the trapdoor behind her, not wanting to wake her parents. Given the time difference between Paris and Gotham, Marinette, Chloé, and Nino were trying to adjust early, staying awake until 4 AM and sleeping in until 1 in the afternoon. It was an uncomfortable change, but a necessary one if Marinette, Chloé, and Nino wanted to arrive in Gotham without crippling jetlag.

"It's a shame that you four won't get to try any cookies," Marinette said to the screen of her laptop. Adrien, Kim, Alix, and Kagami were all attending the sleepover via video chat. Kim, Alix, and Kagami were all in Japan, as they were spending the summer vacation getting to know each other. Adrien was in New York City for Fashion Week, though he would meet up with his friends again after the wedding when he came to Gotham to join them in visiting their Soulmates.

"That's okay," said Alix. "Kagami will get to try your fantastic cookies when she comes back to Paris with us."

The trio of Soulmates had decided that they would spend three weeks in Japan, then spend three weeks in Paris, allowing Kagami the opportunity to see Alix and Kim's hometown.

"I'll make something extra-special for you, Kagami," promised Marinette. Marinette couldn't wait to meet Kagami in person, though the two already became friends over video chat.

"Thank you, Marinette."

Marinette smiled brightly at her new friend, then turned to her two friends who were attending the sleepover in person. Chloé had the trapdoor open and was tossing cookies downstairs to be lost. Nino was on his phone, the sort of on his face that he reserved for Jon and Jon only. "Nino, are you going to try anything?"

Nino glanced up from his phone. "Oh, I wasn't paying attention." He grabbed a chocolate chip cookie, taking a bite as he returned to his phone.

"Too busy texting Jon to spend time with us?" Marinette teased.

Nino flushed, setting his phone down. "Sorry, we're both excited about the trip."

"You don't need to apologize. I'm excited, too." The plane to Gotham was leaving at midnight, only twenty-four hours away, and Marinette, Nino, and Chloé would all be on it. In less than two days, all teens would get to meet their Soulmates for the first time.

"What's the first thing you're going to do when you finally meet Damian?" Nino asked.

Marinette shrugged. "I don't know. Should I know? Should I be planning for our meeting, or just do whatever feels natural? What if he sees me and I'm not what he expected? What if he's disappointed? What if-"

Chloé pressed her hand over Marinette's mouth, stopping Marinette's anxious babbling in its tracks. "Stop worrying so much. You aren't meeting a stranger, you're meeting your Soulmate, who you talk to literally all the time. Just act natural."

"But-"

"Don't overthink it," Chloé advised.

Marinette nodded. Chloé always gave good advice. "You're right. I shouldn't be overthinking our first meeting. Damian and I already know each other. We're already friends."

"Friends," Chloé hands moved to finger quote the word. "You two talk constantly. How are you not dating yet?"

With a shrug, Marinette answered. "We've never really talked about it. He's never brought it up, so I assume that he's not interested. We're still pretty young, and it's not uncommon to wait until you're both older to start dating. He probably wants to date other people for a while before he goes into a serious relationship."

Over the camera, Adrien narrowed his eyes in skepticism. "But is that what you want?" asked Adrien. It was less of a question and more of a statement, as everyone already knew exactly how Marinette felt about Damian.

Marinette stared down at her hands. "No," she said quietly, "I want to have a relationship with Damian, I really do. I just don't want him to feel stifled. If he wants to date other people, then I'll accept it. I don't want him to get into a relationship with me just because he feels like he has to. I don't want him to resent me."

"Unless Damian is a fool, he will not resent you for speaking your mind," Kagami advised.

"Kagami is right," said Chloé. "You have to tell him what you want when you want it. Communication is key for relationships."

Marinette's anxiety over messing up her relationship with Damian was too great to be overcome by simple logic. While she knew that Chloé's advice was correct, she couldn't bring herself to accept it. "He's never shown any sign that he wants to date me. I don't want to spring it on him out of the blue."

"He's bringing you to his brother's wedding as his date. How is that not clear enough for you?"

"He invited me as his Soulmate, not as his date. I mean, J.T. did the same thing for you, Chloé."

"The reason J.T. invited me as his Soulmate rather than as his date is that we both agreed that we weren't going to attempt a relationship until I turn 18, next September. Our situations are radically different, Marinette."

"How about this," suggested Nino. "We'll flip a coin. If it lands heads up, you have to make the first move on Damian. If it lands heads down, you can wait for Damian to make the first move, and none of us will bother you about it until after our trip to Gotham. Does that sound fair?"

Marinette nodded, "That sounds fair."

Nino pulled a coin out of his pocket and tossed it in the air. Marinette willed her miraculous luck to help her out in that moment. The coin landed.

"Heads up." Chloé's smile was so smug it was almost painful to look at. "And I know the perfect way for you to show him how you feel."

Marinette knew better than to try and argue with Chloé. "What's your idea."

"You walk right up to him and without saying anything, just kiss him."

"No," Marinette spluttered. "I can't just walk up to him and kiss him without saying anything first."

"Fine," Chloé conceded. "You walk right up to him, tell him that you've been in love with him for years and then you kiss him. The kissing is non-negotiable."

"No fair. You aren't making Nino kiss Jon," complained Marinette.

"Chloé doesn't have to worry about Jon and I kissing," Nino piped up. "

"Alright, I'll kiss Damian. However, you have to give me a little time to do it."

"How about..." Chloé thought it over. "You have to do it before we leave the airport to go to his house."

Marinette was certain that she could have pressed for a better offer, but she knew that in the end whether she kissed Damian two minutes after they met or two hours after they met, it wasn't going to change the fact that she was kissing him at their very first meeting. "I agree to your terms."

"Shake on it." Chloé held out her hand, and Marinette shook it.

"Chloé, it's your job to catch their first kiss on video," said Adrien. "If I don't have the chance to experience the first kiss in person, I at least want to see it secondhand."

"Make sure you send all the Daminette videos to Kim, Kagami, and I, too," piped up Alix.

"I can't believe you guys," Marinette laughed. "You gave Damian and I a ship name!"

"If it makes you feel any better, we made a valiant attempt to give ship names to all three of you, but Daminette was the only one that we came to a consensus on," said Alix. "The best we could come up with for Nino and Jon was Jonino, and we're waiting to learn J.T.'s real name to ship him and Chloé."

Marinette laughed. She loved her friends. They were so supportive of her, pushing her to be her best self.

Eventually, Kim, Alix, and Kagami left the call, as they had a full day planned in Kyoto. Adrien hung up just a few minutes after them, as he had to start getting ready for bed. His Father allowed Adrien to video chat with his friends after his modeling duties were fulfilled, but if it started interfering with Adrien's sleep schedule, leading to telltale dark circles under his eyes, Adrien's laptop would surely be taken away from him.

Marinette, Chloé, and Nino went to bed a few hours later, but despite Marinette's exhaustion, she couldn't fall asleep. A thought had been bothering her for weeks - she was going to have to keep the fact that she was Ladybug a secret from Damian. Marinette loathed the idea of secrets between her and her Soulmate, but Tikki had already made it very clear to Marinette that revealing her identity wasn't a decision to be made lightly. Marinette needed to truly know Damian before she could tell him about the Miraculous.

In a way, Marinette was a little bit jealous of Chat Noir. He didn't have a Soulmate, so he didn't have to deal with the stress of keeping his secret identity a secret from them. However, Marinette knew better than to not appreciate what she had. She loved Damian, and she wouldn't give him up for anything, even if it meant she had to keep some parts of her life a secret from him for the time being.

——————————————————————

Marinette watched the ground get further and further away as the plane to Gotham took flight. Anxiety bubbled up in her, but it wasn't caused by the flight or the heights. She was nervous to meet Damian, and despite all the reassurances that her friends gave to her, Marinette couldn't seem to shake the anxiety deep within her that he would find her lacking in some way.

"I wish I could text Damian," Marinette sighed, staring longingly at her phone, which she had turned onto airplane mode as soon as she stepped onto the plane.

"Don't worry, Marinette. You'll get to speak to him in person in seven hours," Nino reassured.

Marinette nodded, but she still felt restless. As soon as the overhead light to stay in the seats turned off, Marinette was heading to the on-plane restroom to pen Damian a note. She had enough paper in her pocket for three notes, but every time she drafted one, it came out wrong. The first sounded needy, the second sounded impersonal, and the third sounded just plain pathetic. Marinette threw each of them away in the bathroom trash can, making sure she watched where they landed so that there was no chance that Damian would find them by mistake.

Marinette returned to her seat, yawning as she greeted Nino. He had his headphones on and was listening to music. Chloé was curled up in the seat across the aisle, fast asleep, her sleep mask covering her eyes. She buckled back in and got comfortable, hoping to get a few hours of sleep before the plane landed. The gentle humming of the plane engine and the quiet music coming through her headphones was enough of a distraction that Marinette began to forget about her worries. Despite her anxiety, she was exhausted enough that it took her no time at all to fall asleep.

Marinette woke as the plane was landing, Nino gently prodding her arm. "Wake up, Marinette. We're in Gotham."

Marinette blinked her tired eyes open. "Already?" She yawned out the word. Marinette hadn't intended to sleep for all seven hours of the plane ride. She wanted at least a few minutes to try and conquer her pesky anxiety, but now it seemed that she would be jumping straight into the deep end. As she looked out the window, Marinette could see the twinkling lights of downtown Gotham, just a few miles away from the airport, trying for a moment to forget that she would be meeting her Soulmate in just a few minutes.

As she pulled her carry-on bag out of the overhead compartment, Chloé turned to face Marinette. "Remember what you promised to do," Chloé reminded in a teasing manner.

Marinette nodded. "I remember."

Marinette's spiking anxiety must have shown on her face, as Chloé immediately looked guilty. "You know, you don't have to kiss Damian if you don't feel comfortable doing it. I just wanted to help you take the first step in your relationship. I don't want you to get hurt."

Marinette took one deep breath, then another. "I will do it. I have to take the first step now, or I'll waste the whole trip second-guessing myself." Everything was going to be fine. She just had to get off the plane.

They filed out of the plane and walked towards the terminal, Nino in front, then Chloé, with Marinette bringing up the rear. With only seconds to go before she was to lay eyes on Damian, Marinette tried to picture him in her find. There were some features that she instinctively knew that she would see - soft dark hair, warm green eyes, and strong arms to hold her.

As Marinette walked into the airport terminal, immediately locking eyes with Damian. He was so unbelievable perfect, Marinette couldn't help the smile that overtook her face. Five years had led to this. Exactly five years and two weeks since the moment Marinette first found that knife underneath her bed, she looked her Soulmate in the eyes for the first time. It was the most amazing feeling in the world. He looked at her like she was the most beautiful thing in the world, like she was a sprawling garden or a crystal clear ocean or the starry night sky. Damian looked at her with so much love in his eyes, Marinette felt her racing heartbeat start to calm. She walked towards him, knowing exactly what to do.

"Hello, Damian," Marinette greeted, her smile growing.

Damian smiled back. "Hello, Marinette. It's nice to finally meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, too. I know it's a little late, but I have one last birthday gift to give to you."

This was the moment of truth. Before he could ask her further question, but giving him enough time to stop the kiss if that wasn't what he wanted, Marinette leaned forward on her tiptoes, bridging the eight-inch height difference, and pressed a kiss to his lips.

It was her first kiss and it was perfect. Just like Marinette read in books and heard in songs, it was a rush of emotion that was so powerful, Marinette never wanted it to end. His lips were soft and warm, and in her eagerness, Marinette, inexperienced in kissing, accidentally scraped her teeth against them. Damian let out a sharp breath, then started kissing her back, snaking his hands behind her back to hold her, gently lifting her to bring her closer to his lips.

Marinette could've kept kissing Damian forever, but the sound of Chloé's muffled laughter brought Marinette back down to Earth. In an instant, she remembered that she and Damian were in public, in the middle of the airport, with Marinette's two best friends, Damian's best friend, and Damian's brother all watching. Marinette broke away from the kiss. "Hi," Marinette said breathlessly, gazing up at him with bright eyes.

Damian grinned like the cat that got the cream, as he teased, "Thank you for the gift."

Marinette blushed furiously, realizing exactly what she had done. "I- I thought that we should get it out of the way right at the beginning, whether or not we want to start our relationship now or wait a few years. As you can probably deduce, my vote is for starting it now."

Damian leaned down towards Marinette and pressed another kiss to her lips, less passionate than the first, but just as lovely. "I think we're in agreement. I would like you to come to Richard's wedding with me, not only as my date but also as my girlfriend."

"I would love that." Marinette placed her hand in his and squeezed. "I'm so happy to finally meet you face to face."

"It's been a long time coming," Damian agreed. "Five years."

"Five years and two weeks exactly, since the day that..." Marinette's voice trailed off, unsure of how to bring up the subject of the knife. Marinette had a vague memory of herself promising Nino, Kim, and Alix that she would confront her Soulmate about the subject when she first met him. Eventually, Marinette decided to rip off the bandaid in one go and  just confront it head-on. "Since the day that I found the knife."

"I will explain that, but not tonight. It's a long story, and we have to get back to the house. I promise I will explain everything tomorrow."

Marinette nodded. "I've waited five years and two weeks, I can wait a few more hours."

"Damian!" The man standing next to Chloé called out. "Are you going to introduce your girlfriend to us, or are you going to keep kissing her. I'm getting a little tired of waiting. None of us are getting any younger here."

Chloé elbowed him in the side. "Ignore Jason, he's being an asshole on purpose."

Damian, however, didn't seem at all bothered by Jason's words. He gently brought one arm around her shoulders. "Todd, Jon, this is my girlfriend, Marinette."

Marinette smiled at Jason and Jon. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, Marinette. I have just one question though. Do you know Chloé?"

"It's kind of a long story. Could we explain in the car?" Marinette asked.

Jason shrugged. "I won't be driving home with you, so how about you explain it over breakfast tomorrow?"

"What do you mean you won't be driving home with them?" asked Chloé, narrowing her eyes accusatorially.

"I have to stop at my apartment and pick up some things before I come back to stay at the Manor. Don't worry, I'm not ditching you just yet."

Chloé rolled her eyes, but Marinette could tell that she had been genuinely worried. Having a mother like Audrey Bourgeoise would give anyone abandonment issues.

They all got their luggage, then walked from the airport terminal to the car, parked in the parking lot outside. Marinette and Damian held hands the whole way there, Marinette pressing her body into his side as they walked. After five years of separation, Marinette was desperate for some physical intimacy.

Damian got into the driver's seat of the car, but not before opening up the passenger door for Marinette. "Thank you," Marinette said, giving him her brightest smile.

The drive home was quiet, as everyone was too tired for any in-depth conversation. Nino was sleeping on Jon's shoulder in the back seats, while Chloé was typing rapid-speed on her phone, likely telling Adrien and the rest of the group chat about Marinette and Damian's first kiss.

Marinette stared wide-eyed out the window, trying to take everything in as they drove through the brightly-lit streets of downtown Gotham. Skyscrapers loomed overhead, the distinctive gothic architecture. Even at two AM, the streets of Gotham were bright and busy. Massive screens illuminated the streets with advertisements. People bustled around underneath, as if unaware that two AM was supposed to be the dead of night. The city had so much energy, it was hard to believe that it was the crime capital of the world. Marinette had expected dark, foreboding alleyways and sketchy characters lurking on every street corner.

"Gotham doesn't seem as bad as I anticipated," Marinette commented.

"It's not so bad in the heart of the city. The worst crime you'll experience in downtown Gotham is pickpockets and purse stealers. Once you get into the less wealthy parts of Gotham, that's where the worst of the crime takes place," Damian answered.

Marinette let out a hum of acknowledgment, which quickly turned into a yawn. Though it would be seven AM in Paris, she had adjusted her sleeping schedule to the point that her body knew that it was the middle of the night. "How soon until we get to your house?"

"We'll arrive at Wayne Manor in approximately half an hour."

A realization shocked Marinette out of her tired state. "Wayne Manor? As in Bruce Wayne!?"

Damian winced. "Bruce Wayne is my father."

"Your father is the billionaire owner of Wayne Industries." Marinette could barely believe it. She knew that Damian came from a fairly wealthy family, as he often got her expensive gifts and the car he was driving (though Marinette didn't know cars very well) appeared to be from a luxury brand, but Marinette never expected that Damian was the son of a billionaire.

"Yes." Damian glanced at Marinette. "I know I should have told you earlier, but I wasn't sure how to break the news. Are you upset?"

Marinette shook her head. "I'm not upset, just overwhelmed. What if..." Marinette's voice trailed off. "Do you think that your family will like me?"

"Of course they'll like you. Timothy already believes that you must be a saint, the way you're able to put up with me."

Marinette smiled, reassured by his words. "How fancy is the wedding going to be? I designed a dress myself for the occasion, but I'm not sure if it'll be nice enough for such an expensive wedding."

Damian shook his head. "The wedding will be a small ceremony, in the Wayne Manor gardens, with the reception directly preceding it in the Manor ballroom."

"I'll have to show you my dress tomorrow," decided Marinette.

"If you designed it yourself, I'm sure it will be perfect."

The car started leaving the downtown of the city, traveling down the highway for a while before pulling off onto a dark lane that wound its way through a forest. They drove for almost ten minutes, past houses that got progressively larger and progressively farther apart until Damian pulled up to a gated driveway. He pressed a button on the dashboard and the gates opened up. Marinette couldn't help but be impressed by the show of wealth. As the car made its way up the long driveway, Marinette waited for the house to come into view. She knew that it would be large - it was called Wayne Manor, after all - but the knowledge didn't prepare her for the massive mansion that sat on the top of the hill. Though it was difficult to see through the dark, Marinette could tell that it was beautiful. Wayne Manor was a stunning example of gothic architecture, more like something out of a nineteenth-century romance novel than an actual house that people lived in.

"Wow," Marinette breathed out the word, stunned.

Damian got out of the car and opened up Marinette's door for her. "Welcome to Wayne Manor."

Taglist: @fanboy7794 @mikantsume @hetalia-lover-is-here @howtoshuckatlife @you-will-never-know-how-i-think @redscarlet95 @derpingrainbow  @friedchickening @melicmusicmagic @beautym3 @kunstner1 @shizukiryuu @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @crazylittlemunchkin @black-streak @darkshadowguardian @mystery-5-5 @trubel43 @fandomfan315 @vincentvangoose @royalchaoticfangirl @mooshoon @drama-queen-supreme @kae690 @unabashedlyswimmingtimemachine @zoerayne2426 @littleredrobinhoodlum @lunar-wolf-warrior @dani-ari @sam-spectra @be-happy-every-day-please @xxmadamjinxx @interobanginyourmom @northernbluetongue @eliza-bich @romanoff-queen @scribblinggraveyard @dur55 @jeminiikrystal @sassakitty @miss-mysterys-blog @aegyobutpsycho2 @pirats-pizzacanninibles @chaosace @pepelachanel

[zoe-oneesama]

Serving up some LOOKS! I love Mylene's Ivan sweatshirt! Would you be willing to talk about what sort of style elements you use for each character? (If you already have and I haven't found it, please ignore the question, that's on me)

I mostly did this for Mendeleiev’s class back when Punch was starting Leave for Mendeleiev, and I did a small run down for how the Main 5 fashion will change in Scarlet Lady, but not Bustier’s class sooooo:

Marinette -[I’m copy/pasting from an earlier ask]- When she likes a color, she sticks with it. She has a versatile wardrobe, but pink must always be present. She has the hardest to nail style because she experiments all the time, but no matter what she doesn’t feel comfortable unless she has an outer layer. Summer, Winter, Shorts, Pants, she needs to the comfort of a jacket - for Tikki to hide in when her purse isn’t appropriate.

Adrien -[Also C/P]- Basic B*tch. He thinks he’s fancier than he is. Oh sure, his clothes are well tailored to him and fit well, but they’re basic as hell. Gabriel isn’t as “innovative” as he thinks he is. Most of his clothes have the Gabriel logo and he sticks to the brand…because Adrien has no fashion sense whatsoever. Oh, he knows in theory what works and can put an outfit together, but he doesn’t want to. If it were up to him, he’d wear tshirts with physics puns and cat themed jackets. But alas, when one is an icon…

Alya -[C/P]- Mom Vibes. Fashion is not her priority. She knows enough to do good for her figure, but otherwise can’t really be bothered. Flannels and jeans in varying heights and a snappy tshirt are all she needs. But she is drawn to things that remind her at least of superheroes or superpowers. Her ridiculous high tops with the spiky tongue? She thinks it makes her look fast. She’s also the one who’s going to embarrass Marinette by wearing trendy but “garbage” fashion: fanny packs, Jellies, ugs with sweatpants. Dammit Alya, you’re a beautiful human being, do you mind NOT dressing like a hobo on vacation?! (Secretly her favorite outfits are from Martinique, but she saves them for special occasions).

Nino -[C/P]- Precious trash goblin. Wash your shirts and the neckline won’t be so worn out! He likes graphic tees with his favorite bands and DJs logos on them (he’s partial to ones without the name of the band or DJ so he can find other fans) and prefers things to be loose. He’s also drawn to colors and he’s super chill when his “garbage” girlfriend rolls up to a date looking like she’s going to an amusement part with her four kids, because it means she can’t dump on him for not looking “put together” (she would never!). He’ll try to dress up every now and then for a fancier date or when Adrien manages to snag him a spot at an event with him, but it’s pretty clear he’s uncomfortable without his hat and headphones. He has a few Moroccan outfits that he brings out in the Summer.

Chloe - Expensive Fashion Forward Chic. She made a staple out of shaming anyone else who dared to wear her favorite color yellow over the years. She was extremely smug about being the first in her grade to experiment with makeup that she never bothered to get good at it. Her clothes are expensive with just a smidge of impractical - only someone with cash to burn would constantly wear white pants! She’s also the kind of person to put off dressing for the cold as long as she can- if she puts on all these jackets and layers, how will these peasants see my brand name clothes underneath?! A lot of her fashion decisions are based on long forgotten advice from her mother - gold over silver jewelry, always have something on your head, brand or nothing. She’ll only abandon a well worn trend if her mother directly contradicts it.

Sabrina - Nerdy, geeky, almost like she’s wearing a uniform. She’s preparing to be Chloe’s assistant best friend for life so she has to look the part. She’s long abandoned any hope of shining next to Chloe, so being flashy and showy is out of the question. Luckily, Chloe isn’t drawn to patterns, so that’s a field of fashion that Sabrina can claim for her own. Doesn’t matter where it is, something she’s wearing needs to have a pattern. Leggings are her favorite accessory and she’s taken to collecting Chat Noir merch (though it’s less out of admiration for the hero himself and more for her “role” with Chloe. It reminds her of the rare times when Chloe acts like they’re friends.)

Mylene - Bohemian, and a touch artsy. Peace is important to her and her vibe reflects that. She’s not super up for showing a lot of skin, but neither are a lot of girls in her class. She leans towards a muted color palette so that her hair doesn’t clash, though she usually tries to match one piece of clothing to some color in her hair. Her accessories are a bit childish and kitchy, like her monster head bead, and she has a huge collection of hair accessories, like bandannas and headbands. She has a lot of different passions with various levels of seriousness, so she’ll come to Marinette for advice on how to use her wardrobe to fit the level of professionalism she wants.

Alix - Sporty but on the lazier side. Fashion is such an anti priority. She’s the one Marinette will go to for her more out there ideas because she has no recoil to pants made of buckles or shapeless over shirts, but that’s as far as it goes. Her clothes are made to be weather resistant and easy to slip on (and so that her dad won’t be pissed if she wipes out and rips something). If it were up to her, she’d just shop out of thrift stores and pick out all the color blocked 80s windbreakers, but when your whole squad is held together by a fashion designer, you can only get away with so much. Her nicest clothes are made by Marinette for her professional races and competitions and her favorites have nods to Egypt mythology and history.

Ivan - Punk but like…beginners guide to punk. Let’s be honest, when you’re built like a brick house, shopping is hard - or at least not that much fun. Ditto when you’re a dude that just…doesn’t particularly care. Ivan has a bunch of cargo pants because they fit, they’re grungy, and they’re practical. SO MANY POCKETS!!! Beyond that, like Nino, he prefers to wear band shirts of his favorite groups. His hiking boots are the nicest things he owns and he has a few bracelets that he only brings out when he’s “dressing up”. The most colorful thing he owns is a hoodie/pants set from the Cartoon Monster Show that Mylene’s hair bead is modeled after.

Kim - Sporty and Serious. Sweatpants and running shoes. That’s the make of his wardrobe. After all, you need to be able to challenge anyone to a race at ANY TIME!! Dressing up for him means putting on a pair of jeans, and he’s pretty much always under dressed but also completely oblivious to the fact. Red is his favorite color and he’s partial to that one brand of sports wear that’s on his hoodie-shirt and sweatband. If something is waterproof (and therefore, sweatproof) he’ll give it a try AS LONG AS IT’S REEEEED!!!

Max - Geek Fashion. Max dresses like he’s already 65 years old, and with his best friend being Kim? He might be. He has invested in some good walking shoes because when your bestie is running off at any and every moment, you gotta do SOMETHING to keep up. His pants are higher up than most guys and his shirts are always tucked in. He prefers sweaters over sweatshirts and cardigans to jackets. We are comfortable in this house, not trendy!

Juleka - Electro Goth. Black is the main attraction, but she likes that punch of something neon - purple, green, even blue (Rose can tell she’s feeling romantic when she puts on some pink). She’s tall and likes clothes that accentuate that and she’s a fan of the details - shoulder cuts, lace inserts, epaulets. And despite covering half her face, she’s really into makeup (and she’s way better than Chloe). Does she have colored contacts? She’ll never tell.

Rose - Decora Kei is probably the best shortcut to describing her look, followed by Kawaii Fashion. Doesn’t matter if she burns to look at, she IS the embodiment of soft and cute! Obviously pink is her favorite color, bu she also likes pairing it with some other bright colors. Rainbows. Are. EVERYTHING. And she’s a sucker for bunnies and strawberries and angel wings ^^! How else is she supposed to have an amazing day if she’s not decked out in sunshine?!

Nathaniel - Basic but like Colorful Basic. He definitely hopped the skinny jeans phase and will continue to do so until he finally grows a bit. He holds onto clothes pretty long because there’s only so many times you can buy new shirts after getting paint and charcoal on them before you just stop caring. He aims for durability instead of fashionable, but also collects clothes with the logo from the show he likes. (And no one knows about his secret Ladybug merch collection that he only wears around his house).

Lila - Gyaru was the search term I used. She’s one of the few with a not super saturated color palette, sticking to dark neutrals. She’s drawn to patterns, like polka dots and zebra prints, and tries to balance it with neutral colors. Plus anything that makes her seem “exotic” and foreign and more interesting, she’ll wear (as long as it’s stylish enough for her.) She cleverly toes the line between fashionable and trashy, showing just enough skin or using a just flashy enough pattern. Every piece she wears she’s crafted a whole story around how she got it, like her bracelets being a gift from street kids in Belize or her earrings being a prize she won when impressing an East Asian Prince. 

[shoryubug]

Helpless  Chapter 1:

WEEK ONE:

The city was quiet, and Hawkmoth hadn’t akumatized anyone, a strange and yet sullen peace had seemed to branch across all of Paris, but to Marinette it had been a special kind of hell. She absolutely detested everything about that week. Every single day she went out on patrol, leaving messages for Chat Noir to check in, oftentimes it was nothing serious, but rather...just inside jokes between the two about stuff they started noticing on patrol, such as how Xavier Ramier would practice his dance moves outside at night when his pigeon crew was gone, or how Sabrina Raincomprix would often visit a lot of stray dogs and then go see Chloé after...it was the small things that lit up patrol to her, and with Chat not there for them, there was a hollow emptiness in her...nothing was as fun without him...though it wasn’t mean to be fun, it was a job after all.

But then outside of her duties as Ladybug, she had to deal with not being able to chime in on the discussions about Ladybug, things that she knew the answers to but couldn’t give. It was hellish, a nightmare if there ever was one, hearing Lila exclaim that Ladybug told Chat Noir to take a break when she had done no such thing and very much would have liked his company for patrol! or how Alya made comments about how the city was just fine without Chat Noir as it was Ladybug they couldn’t live without...though that one she couldn’t help but chime in on, exclaiming that they were partners, and she relied on him so the city needed him as much as it needed her because she trusted him, obviously...and somehow that turned to how Ladybug could always get new hero friends to join her on patrol...Marinette wasn’t even going to hide how much that one hurt her heart and eventually she just sighed and ignored the rest of the discussion, laying her head on her desk. Nobody knew what she thought as Ladybug, and everyone assumed Lila was right so why fight it anymore?

WEEK TWO:

Anxiety laced her every cell as Ladybug. One week without Chat Noir, and she could just assume he was sick or something. Two weeks, and she was anxious, her nerves were set, and her eyes were on high alert. She needed him...didn’t he know that? Where the hell was he? Because he hadn’t made an appearance in a while she started sleeping less, ditching classes here and there to do all day patrols, and nothing had given her any leads. Maybe he was on vacation? Who knew...but overall what she did know was that her time spent searching for him left her with very limited sleep and her body was pumping mounds of caffeine beyond what she’d ever been used to. Her civilian life led to her copying Alya’s notes frequently and sleeping through her classes. She looked and felt like hell and couldn’t partake in any discussions or have the energy for it.

WEEK SIX:

A month and a half. He was gone for a month and a half and now she started fearing for the worst. She didn’t want to believe it before, she pushed those thoughts away as much as she could but as the guardian, she had a right to know what was up...and as his partner, she was entitled to know! What had changed that made him stay away?! Was he injured?! Was he dead?!? Her heart raced, and she couldn’t take doing patrols anymore...so for a while, she stopped.

Finally, getting some decent rest Marinette has come to class, this time not entirely dead, but severely depressed, she didn’t bother saying a word to anyone, because what was the point? If HE had left her, what was the use of making other friends? She sighed, dropping her bag on her desk and sitting using her hands as props to keep her head up. She wanted to cry, she felt like crying, but she couldn’t produce tears because she wasn’t even eating or hydrating properly. She needed Chat Noir...her knight...her partner...the boy she gave the special macarons to when she couldn’t give them to Adrien...the macarons that she now had to give Tikki to keep from going bad. She didn’t register what was going on around her until Nino snapped in her face a few times, and she turned her attention to him.  “What?” She asked, her voice soft and broken.  “I asked what’s been up lately...first you were like night of the living dead and now today you’re more depressed than anyone I’ve ever seen! Did your grandma die or something?” He asked as Marinette shook her head.  “I don’t...I don’t think Chat Noir is coming back...” she whispered and cast her gaze at the negative space surrounding her childhood friend, noting Adrien in the background giving her a look of concern, a part of her wondered if he had been the one to actually want to ask, only to have Nino beat him to the punch. “I’ve been...searching for him...Ladybug has too...and it’s been six weeks...I...I think Ladybug wants him back...” she whispered, the trace amount of water she had in her body coming clearly to the surface as tears, lining her eyes. “She didn’t think she’d miss him this much but...I don't know...and when I think about it, it hurts me too because he's my friend too and I'm concerned...and this hurts so much more than when Lila threatened me.” She wasn’t all that aware of what she’d said, how it was something only she knew, how it was something she didn’t know if anyone else would believe.  “And I’m pretty sure I might get akumatized soon...because I’m so miserable wondering what happened to him...and I can't fight anymore butterflies off if things keep looking so hopeless...” her voice trailed off before she was back in her own world, unable to focus as her eyes went bleary, and she gave a heavy sigh.

[nobodyfamousposts]

Felix July - Betrayal (Felix Culpa) An alternative for Party Crasher

Just a “what if” for Party Crasher taking place in the Felix Culpa AU.

For @felixmonth

Bring! Bring!

His phone was ringing again. After intentionally ignoring the calls from the girls, Nino was starting to get wary. Wary and weary. He checked his phone once again only to sigh in relief when it was Felix this time. He must be calling about the party, so Nino picked up with a grin.

“Hey, dude! Where you at?”

“I’m at the park, fulfilling my prior obligation.”

Nino blinked in surprise. “Dude, why are you doing that? I told you about the plan, didn’t I?”

There was a harsh whisper on Felix’s end of the line before he gave a small sigh and started speaking.

“I am apparently being coerced to give you fair warning that the girls know what you and the others are really doing and they are rather cross with you.”

Nino’s jerked upright at that.

“WHAT?! How did they know?”

A couple of the others noticed his distress and came over in concern.

“Apparently with notably less people, they needed more equipment and sent Marinette and Rose to get more supplies. On the way back, they met up with a young man—I think you know him as Wayhem? He was particularly distressed about not being able to get into the party and told them what was going on at the Agreste Mansion. He says ‘hi’ by the way.”

That explained how the girls knew about the party, at least.

“But…how did they know it was us?”

“I told them.”

“Dude! Why would you do that?!” Nino demanded in outrage, getting the attention of others around him. Seeing the way they were staring at him in confusion and approaching him, Nino put the phone on speaker so they could all listen in.

“It seemed the better option to simply be honest and tell the girls.”

“What happened to Bro Code?”

“Self-preservation happened. I’m currently being held hostage by a crowd of angry women just looking for a reason to start clawing eyes out. And I like my eyes more than I like you.” Came the rather blunt response.

With the other boys nearby and able to hear Felix, they seemed less than impressed with his statements or the implications of the girls knowing. More started to crowd the phone as they tried to work out the situation.

“Are you really scared of some girls?“ Kim asked.

There was a pause.

“Girls have sharp nails and fight dirty. I’m not going to test my luck.”

The boys winced at that because yeah, he had a point.

Nino groaned. “Man, why didn’t you just come to the party from the start?!”

“Because when you’re inviting every male in Paris to a party at Adrien Agreste’s mansion with a petty ‘no girls allowed’ rule to try to hide what you’re doing, it’s bound to get back to the girls in question that you ditched them and lied about it. There is no amount of effort on my part that could save you at that point.”

“Couldn’t you have tried?”

“I can’t exactly argue with photographs and video footage.”

Nino paled. “Footage?”

“It’s pretty hard to miss the line of males entering the mansion that people generally aren’t allowed into. Or Jagged Stone with a megaphone and leaping in through a window from a helicopter.”

He winced.

“Oh yeah…that.”

“What made you think you could hide a party of this magnitude anyway?” Felix asked, genuinely curious. “Why would you send out a mass invite? And how did you expect that nobody would figure it out when the attendees include a rock star and the Mayor of the city?”

Several persons coughed or looked away at that, trying to edge out of sight as if Felix and the girls could be glaring at them through the phone.

“Okay, I see your point.” Nino admitted. “But the girls…are they mad?”

“Oh, they’re furious.” The blond on the other end replied, entirely too calm and forthright for anyone’s comfort.

The boys gulped.

“Like...silent treatment furious or ‘expect an akuma’ furious?” Ivan asked, warily.

Felix hummed for a moment as if considering. “I think Marinette is trying to prevent the latter. She made a very inspiring speech about ‘Hawk Moth can only target those who can’t see a solution to their problems’. So they’re trying to come up with solutions now.“

“Oh, that’s good.” Leave it to Marinette to keep everything calm and orderly.

“Not exactly. Their list of solutions mostly involve things they want to do to you. None of them are good.”

All of the males in the general vicinity started to sweat.

“It sounds like they’re still debating some manner of using you as fertilizer for the trees they’re planting or to get revenge with their own ‘girls only’ party.”

“So...uh...where do they stand?” Nathaniel asked, hoping it would be the latter.

“They seem to want to do both.”

Nino groaned. “How are we gonna deal with this one?”

“I believe that will be your problem to deal with.”

“Come on, it was for Adrien!” The capped boy exclaimed. “They aren’t really going to make him suffer and feel guilty just because we threw him a party the one time we got a chance, are they?”

Adrien looked from Nino to the phone in worry. He hadn’t meant to make the girls upset. They weren’t too angry, were they? This wouldn’t ruin his friendship with them, would it?

There was some discussion on the other end of the line for almost a good minute before Felix returned.

“They say Adrien can come to the girls’ party.”

Adrien brightened. “Thanks!”

“Oh come on!” Several of the males exclaimed.

“That’s just not fair!”

Felix sighed on the other end of the line. “Perhaps you should have considered that before lying to the women in your lives and reneging on your prior commitments. Or going to a party in a teenage boy’s room just because his father is not there. You are aware Gabriel Agreste will also find out about this, right? And that he does have cameras to know who all has entered his home while he was gone?”

Everyone froze.

And almost immediately started to vacate the premises with a myriad of excuses. Soon enough, only the boys were left. And of course, Felix on the phone.

It seemed the party was over at that.

Nino rubbed the back of his head. “Look, we will come and help now.”

“I wouldn’t recommend that. Right now, the girls don’t want to see you.” There was some discussion on the other end of the line before Felix resumed speaking. “Stay and finish your party. They said they will see you on Monday. And specifically that they had better NOT see you before then.”

The boys winced, realizing they would definitely be in for it come then.

“In the meantime, the girls are going to continue the community project as promised. They have some anger to burn off it seems.”

The boys winced again. Hopefully, their anger will be worked off as extra energy and they’ll be too tired come Monday. Or at least calmer and not as inclined to enact unholy vengeance.

In retrospect, maybe they should have been honest with the girls from the start? Or at least planned ahead better.

“Might I recommend some more careful planning this time?” Felix suggested, almost as if he could read their thoughts. “Perhaps some gifts might help? And groveling.”

Because yeah, it went without saying that there would be some serious groveling on their part.

“Thanks, Felix. We’ll—we’ll get right on that.”

Felix gave another hum.

“Enjoy your party.”

[itawonka-creates]

Seabourne Burnouts: Part 10 - No Longer Adrift

Maribat! On Deck AU

Thank you @particularlygeeky and @imfreakingmagical for beta reading and @particularlygeeky for chapter name idea!

Start [Here] [Part 9] [Part 11]

Bruce was getting more and more frustrated as the days passed. The surveillance videos from the boat and from the jail didn’t give him anything to work with. He passed through each video, frame by frame, countless times. He watched as the pirates seemed to materialize out of nowhere, there was no other ship passing, they were in the middle of the ocean and were suddenly being invaded.

He rubbed his eyes, watching the oddly similar henchmen rampage through the halls. They didn’t even look to be looking for something like the gunman said, they were just going through the ship causing chaos. He slammed his fist on the table re-watching the pirates in the jail cells suddenly disappear without a trace, leaving behind two young boys. One was injured in his leg, shot. He slowed it down and watched as the camera seemed to glitch and show a purple-black screen before the camera came back into focus and everyone was gone.

Bruce was running through the list of known villains in his head. The gunman said joker was a part of this, didn’t he? He mumbled to himself, “Is Scarecrow a part of this?” He shook his head, “No. No. He messes with minds, not cameras.” He let out an exasperated sigh before sitting back down in his chair. He rubbed his temples and groaned, “None of my theories make any sense, all the villains are in Gotham. They wouldn’t come all the way to Europe to rob me. It would be easier just to raid the manor while it was empty.” He ran his fingers through his hair, “None of them are that stupid.” He thought for a moment before laughing to himself, “Okay, maybe Harley.”  

“So are you gonna keep talking to yourself in the dark or are you going to actually join us on this cruise?” He quickly turned to see Tim in the doorway.

Bruce allowed his eyes to adjust to the hallway lights and pinched his nose, “Tim, don’t do that.”

“When was the last time you slept?”

Bruce rolled his eyes and smirked, “Isn’t this conversation usually the other way around?”

“Bruce I’m serious. We haven’t seen you in days.” Tim narrowed his eyes, looking at the footage on the screen, “Oh, that’s what you’ve been up to.”

Bruce closed the footage and turned off the computer, “Barbara and I have been looking at this footage forwards, backwards, frame by frame.”

“And?”

Bruce looked disheartened and bitter, “Nothing. They just disappeared. No one saw anything, no residents ever reported anything, nothing. They vanished.” He shook his head, “Usually they leave a clue or lead or something I can work with. This time? Nothing. I’ve checked back in with Gotham and no one has heard anything about a job to overtake a ship. All the villains are accounted for too.”

Tim hummed, “But the one guy had Joker’s laughing gas.”

“I know.” Bruce stood up and stretched out his back until he heard a crack, “What day is it?”

“Bruce, seriously?” Bruce looked at Tim with a very serious expression and Tim rolled his eyes, “It’s Wednesday.”

Bruce’s eyes widened slightly, “I’ve been down here for over a week?”

“Apparently.” Tim went over to Bruce’s side and looked over his mentor, “I swear, Alfred would’ve never let this happen.” Tim straightened out some of his clothes and Bruce yawned, finally letting the exhaustion hit him. Tim sighed, “Have you been keeping up with everything?”

“I know about the Akuma attacks if that’s what you’re asking.”

“No, I meant with your son.” Bruce raised an eyebrow at Tim and Tim just smirked, “Come on, you’ll want to see this.” Tim opened the door and motioned for Bruce to follow him, “Besides, you need to go back to your room. Seriously, you need to bathe.”

Bruce rolled his eyes and walked out into the hallway, letting Tim lead the way as they walked out of their little maze below deck up to the higher floors. Tim continued up until they were walking towards a balcony overlooking the main deck, Jason and Adrien already there. Jason turned back and grinned, “He’s alive! Who knew?”

Adrien turned around and smiled, “Nice to see you again, sir.”

“Bruce is fine, Adrien.”

Adrien smiled and nodded before turning his attention back over the balcony. Jason led Bruce over to the balcony and pointed at two figures standing closely together by the railings. “What am I looking at here?”

“That, my dear Bruce, is your blood son actually bonding with someone.” Jason grinned and did everything in his power to not burst out laughing at Bruce’s shocked expression. The bags under his eyes only made the look more exaggerated, making it even harder not to laugh.

“That’s not Damian.”

Adrien snickered, “It is and that there next to him is our little Marinette.” He sighed and leaned against the rails, “They’ve gotten very close.”

Tim let out a small ‘Ha!’ before turning back to Bruce, “We found out they do this practically every night after they’ve visited the captain and think everybody else has gone to sleep. They don’t do anything but talk, sometimes they lean on each other, but it’s still cute to see.”

“I’m more so surprised you three haven’t interrupted them.” Bruce turned to see Jason and Tim look slightly offended before the two shrugged and nodded, knowing damn well Bruce was right. “So why aren’t you guys crashing the party?”

“Because I won’t let them.” Bruce turned to see Alya, Nino, and Dick walking up the hallway. All of them were in pajamas and looked amused. “I refuse to let your sons ruin this for my best friend.” She nudged Dick forward, “Just caught this one trying to interrupt.”

“I just wanted to know what they were talking about!” Dick smiled nervously under Bruce’s tired glare before the old bat turned his attention back over the balcony. Dick relaxed and looked at the couple, “You know Damian is doing a lot better.”

“Is he now?”

“Alya, can you show him the photos?” Alya chuckled before handing Bruce her phone. Bruce scrolled through the feed before landing on a few photos. It was mainly of the group of classmates, but Damian was one of them. To a stranger, you’d think it was just a photo of friends. They all looked like they were having fun, even in the photos where some were squabbling with each other or where Damian looked like he was in the middle of scolding someone, and it looked natural. To Bruce, it was like looking at a different child altogether. He found a photo of the three boys holding bags from the day they first docked and smiled. “He looks so normal. It’s crazy, right?”

Bruce nodded and handed the phone back to Alya, “Make sure I get a copy of all those photos.”

Alya smirked, “Only if I get my interview, Bats?”

Bruce tense and Tim jumped in, “She thinks you’re Batman. Don’t humor her.”

Alya glared at Tim, “You’re just mad because I have way more leads than you do.”

Bruce blinked and turned to Tim, “Leads on what?”

Nino snickered, “He thinks Marinette is Ladybug.”

Bruce looked back at the girl next to Damian, “Is she?”

“She has to be. No one is that badass without some kind of history of crime-fighting.” Jason turned to Bruce and shrugged, “Plus, she took that night of the raid. She came up with a plan on the spot and, most importantly, bossed you around.” Jason watched as the gears in Bruce’s head begin to turn and smiled, “I’m telling you, she’s Ladybug.”

Adrien rolled his eyes, “Uh-huh. And I’m Carapace.”

“Who?”

“The turtle one.” Tim frowned and turned back to Alya, “Hey, where’s Chloe?”

“She said she needed to catch up on her beauty rest tonight.” Alya walked up to the railing of the balcony and pointed the phone at the couple below, “It’s fine. She’s not missing much.”

Bruce took a step back and looked over the group. He didn’t realize how close the Françoise Dupont kids have gotten with his own.  If he were to take a picture, nothing would seem out of place. The group looked so comfortable with each other. It was jarring, but not bad by any means.

Dick turned back to the group, “Alright. Enough spying. Let’s leave them be.”

“You’re just bored.”

“Yes, I am.” Dick began herding the group away from their vantage point and laughed, “It’s late. Let’s go.”

Bruce watched as the rest of the group groaned, but complied with the eldest. He hung back and walked next to Dick, “What have I missed?”

Dick chuckled, “You want to adopt five more kids?”

Jason shouted over his shoulder, “At least can we adopt Marinette?” The kids shook their heads and laughed and Bruce realized it was part of an inside joke.

Bruce looked surprised, “You’re all very close aren’t you?”

Nino turned back to Bruce and smiled, “Your kids are great company, my dude. Seriously.”

Adrien snorted, “You sound like a parent or something. ‘Oh, your kids are great!’” Adrien turned to Bruce and grinned, “He’s right though. This is the most fun any of us have had in who knows how long.”

Bruce frowned, “Really?”

Alya stretched and nodded, “Hardly any Akuma attacks, new friends, new theory, and I see my girl find romance? Best. Vacation. Ever.”

Tim rolled his eyes, “You’re theory doesn’t stand.”

“You’ve seen the evidence I gathered.”

“All substantial.”

“So is yours.”

Bruce watched in amusement at the two glared at each other, both determined to out investigate each other. It was rare Tim found someone to compete with, but he seemed to have fun. Alya reminded him of Tim when he first came into their lives; spunky, smart, stubborn, and fired up. “I’m Batman, huh?”

Alya nodded, “I’ll prove it. I know I can. Every bone in my body is telling me I’m right.”

Jason laughed, “You sure you aren’t constipated?”

Alya blushed and pushed Jason playfully, “No!”

The group laughed at the antics and Bruce turned to his oldest, “So what’s happening with those two? Any progress?”

“You mean Damian and Marinette? They’re inseparable.” Dick chuckled, “It’s actually kind of cute. They hang onto each other, but I don’t think they realize it. The way they bicker with each other is hilarious to watch, too. It’s like an old married couple.”

Alya laughed, “Plus, she’s the only one who can calm him down if he starts to get too annoyed.”

“It is getting harder for him to say no to her.” Adrien hummed in approval, “He gives Marinette a run for her money. He’ll randomly say things that just make her light up and embarrass her, it’s kind of great.”

Jason nodded, “Oh my god, what did he say yesterday?”

Nino thought for a moment, “Wasn’t it something like ‘I’m not leaving her’ or something?”

Tim laughed, “Oh yeah, the guide for the last city we visited wanted to separate them! He got so mad and wouldn’t leave her alone.”

Bruce couldn’t believe most of the stuff he was hearing, “This is Damian? My son Damian? Damian used to be al Ghul now Wayne, that Damian?” The group all nodded and Bruce scoffed, “She’s magic isn’t she?”

“If we’re right, she’s magic.” The group came to a split in the hallway and the group went their separate ways. The family waved goodnight to the classmates before walking through the halls towards their own rooms. Tim broke the silence, “So Bruce still can’t find anything on the videos.”

“Really? Did Barbara-“

“She looked through them, yes.” Bruce pinched his nose, “We can’t figure it out. How does a whole crew of raiders just disappear?”

Jason frowned, “All I know is if I find the bastard that threw Marinette overboard, I’m killing him.” Bruce sent a warning look to Jason and Jason didn’t even flinch, “What? I’m serious. He could’ve killed her.”

“So you think killing him is the answer?”

“It’s an answer, one I’m going to enjoy a lot.”

Bruce sighed and stopped walking, making the other three pause as well, “None of this is making sense. They disappeared, Akumas have popped up in a few of the cities we’ve visited, what is going on?”

“Have you tried letting Alya watch the video?” The group turned to Dick who only shrugged, “Out of everyone in Paris, we got the one person who knows all things Miraculous and Ladybug. If you think it might be an Akuma, she’ll be the one to confirm or deny your theory.”

Tim groaned, “Then she’ll actually know he’s Batman. The girl might’ve been naïve when it came to Lila, but she’s not dumb.”

“That reminds me, what happened with her? That Rossi girl?”

“Still a liar, but at least now Marinette has her friends on her side.”

Bruce did not miss the small scowl Dick sent Tim, “What happened?”

Tim flinched and Dick nudged him to talk, “I may have snapped at Alya and completely outted Lila to her.”

“That’s a bad thing?”

“It is when you yell at her and her friends to prove a point instead of just protecting your friends.” Dick sighed, “You still can’t figure out why you were so mad?”

Tim groaned, “No, I can’t. All of a sudden I got so pissed and then next thing I knew I was shoving my phone in her face. Everyone was yelling. And then the migraines-“

“Migraines?”

Jason nodded and frowned, “Migraines. I’m pretty sure everyone on the ship had them.”

“Everyone except Marinette, Adrien, Damian, and Lila.” Dick hummed, “I don’t get it.”

Jason snickered, “It’s the power of love. Damian is so head over heels for Marinette he wouldn’t notice if he was having a migraine anyways.” Jason sighed, “Adrien probably gets them all the time from the flashing cameras at his photoshoots. I wouldn’t be surprised if he just wasn’t bothered or didn’t even notice it.”

“And Lila?”

“She’s just a bitch.”

Bruce turned to scold him, “Jason!”

Tim and Dick shrugged, “True.”

Bruce was about to say something to his sons before noticing Dick’s shirt, “Where did you get that?”

Dick looked down and smiled, “Marinette made it for me.” He did a quick spin, “Red and black and Nightwing themed. It’s perfect.”

Bruce’s expression deadpanned, “You’re really walking around like that while a junior reporter is actively investigating our family?”

Dick shrugged, “She’s investigating you, not me.” The four stopped in front of Bruce’s room and Dick looked over Bruce one last time, “Get some sleep. Me and Tim can look over the video again tomorrow. You need to rest.”

Bruce’s shoulders fell, but nodded. He knew they were right. He went into his room, locking the door behind him, and headed for the shower first. All the while, the two teens at the center of attention continued to talk against their spot on the railings.

“So let me get this straight, Dick was part of a circus?”

“It makes sense why he acts like a clown now, doesn’t it?” Marinette snorted and lightly hit Damian’s arm. Damian chuckled, “Don’t act like I’m the only one with weird people in my life. You know two famous singers.”

“Jagged and Clara don’t count, they’re family now.”

“Mine are family too and I still make fun of them.”

Marinette smirked, “I noticed.” She sighed and looked over the water, “Where are we landing next?”

“Well, it seems we’ll be in Portugal soon. I suspect we’re visiting Lisbon next.”

She nodded, “You think there’s going to be another Akuma attack?”

“I hope not.” Damian sighed leaned against the rails, “Who do you want to investigate next?”

“I don’t know.” Marinette looked over at Damian and looked back at the past week. After the second Akuma in Pontevedra, they decided that Hawkmoth had to be on the ship. The only problem was he wasn’t talking to any of the Akumas. They couldn’t figure out what he was trying to pull, but Damian figured he couldn’t be losing all of these corrupted butterflies. It had to be coming from somewhere and considering it was only happening in the cities they visited, Hawkmoth had to be on the boat. “Have you noticed the mood recently?”

“What do you mean?”

“Everyone’s been on edge.”

“Makes sense, there are Akumas on the loose.”

“No, no, no. Like everyone is upset. I get being paranoid because of an Akuma, Paris is like that all the time, but this is different. It’s like everyone’s worst emotions are being amplified.” She sighed, “Alix and Kim went into a full-blown argument over something, Alya wants to kill Lila-”

“Still don’t know why you won’t let her have a go at Lila.”

Marinette frowned and nudged him before continuing, “Tim snapped at us, the staff gets frustrated easily. It wasn’t like this in the beginning.”

Damian sighed and thought it over, “Tension is rising and everyone is stuck on this boat. You can’t run from your problems here, you have to deal with them.”

A sudden breeze made Marinette shiver and she glared at the water, “Too cold!”

“You’re yelling at the sea.”

“I know.” She stuck her tongue out at the ocean and, as if to respond, another gust of wind nearly froze the poor girl.

Damian laughed, “You’re having an argument with water and loosing.” She glared at him, shaking from the cold, and he just rolled his eyes. “Come on. You want to go to the den?”

Marinette’s eyes lit up and she nodded before scurrying off inside the hall, away from the wind. Damian shook his head and followed her, close behind. Marinette looked over her shoulder and laughed, “Wanna race, baby bird?”

“Let’s do this Bug.” The two smirked and suddenly started running full speed up the stairs and through the halls. Damian looked over at the girl, he was impressed she could keep up with him, unbeknownst to him she was thinking the same thing. The two locked eyes and started laughing as they continued to sprint through the ship. He admitted to himself he felt odd. Doing things with this girl and her friends, talking together, doing things as mundane as racing for no reason, it made him feel some kind of way. Nothing bad, just unusual. He wondered if this was how a normal kid was supposed to feel like playing with their friends. He refused to say it out loud, but he considered them friends despite knowing them for such a short amount of time. 

Then there was Marinette. The nicknames started as a joke due to the theories being thrown around. Marinette decided if he kept calling her Ladybug then she should call him something. Without much thought, he told her to refer to him as Robin - Batman’s sidekick. He hoped she didn’t think too much of it and, unlike him, she didn’t pry the way he did if she was suspicious about something. Now, they had themed nicknames they’d say to each other in private, away from everyone in their own little world when they spent time together.

Marinette and Damian skid around a corner, but Marinette lost her footing and slammed into the wall. Damian came to a stop and ran back over to her. He helped her up and looked her over, “I’m fine.”

“Let me just check.” The two stood there, panting from the run, while Damian quickly examined her. “No bruises.”

“I’m telling you I’m fine. I’ve had worse falls than that.”

“Chloe’s right, you’re a walking accident waiting to happen.” Marinette pouted and Damian just smirked at her, leaning in, “What?”

She sighed, putting a finger on his nose and pushing him back, “You suck.” She felt an odd sense of deja vu after doing the gesture but didn’t pay any attention to it when she saw how his nose scrunched up. She giggled, “At least you’re cute.”

“I’m cute?” Now he was the one pouting, “I am not cute.”

She poked his nose, causing his nose to scrunch up again, “Cute.”

He shook his head, “You’re becoming worse than my brothers.”

“Yet you still want to hang out with me.”

“Yeah, because out of everyone you’re the least annoying.” She snorted and pushed him playfully, causing him to chuckle. “Come on, we’re close to the den.” She nodded and absent-mindedly grabbed his arm. He’s gotten used to her gestures, noticing very quickly she’s someone who likes to touch and be touched. He noticed that with everyone, with Alya they would link arms, same with Adrien and Nino. With Chloe they would at most hold hands as one dragged the other around stores and Marinette would hug Chloe when Chloe did something particularly good-natured. With his brothers, she’d give lots of hugs but never grab onto them. If she didn’t feel comfortable holding someone’s arm or hand, she’d unconsciously stand very close to them. 

He wondered if it was a way for her to keep them close, which to him made sense after the isolation she felt before the ship. Still, she didn’t do things like this with his brothers. She didn’t grab their arms or hold their hands or lean on them the way she did with him. He’d never admit it, but he liked being the only one she’d do this with.

She leaned on him and he smiled softly as they made their way to the den. Marinette loved the den. It was the one place on the ship where she could work out her feelings without issue. No one went up there except the captain and Damian. The captain turned into somewhat of a familial role, like a grandfather or an old uncle, and she trusted him. She worried for the man, she could tell his mood has also gotten worse, however, he wasn’t mad or frustrated. Captain Staller was just extremely sad and gloomy without the influence of the two teens. She wondered if he was depressed and if Anne’s anniversary was coming up, then this behavior would make sense. 

Then there was Damian. Damian became someone very close within the first few days of knowing each other. She knew there was something odd about him, even Adrien told her about his thoughts on the four brothers and their abilities, but he was honest. He allowed her to vent to him and helped her sort through her feelings and she would do the same for him. She sympathized with him, saddened by his past and lack of childhood at the hands of his mother. Bruce’s influence was clear to see, but she wanted to see him. Not the child molded to be the future head of the family, not the boy trying to live up to the legacy of his brothers or father, she wanted to know more about Damian. She could tell he wasn’t used to sharing or letting his walls down, making her feel special when he would around her.

They had a routine; change for bed, meet at the den, and then talk by the railings. They both knew they were being spied on half the time but were thankful for none of them interrupting their time together. Still, there was a small sense of uncertainty surrounding the two. While both wondered what their relationship was, neither wanted to ask and break the new bottle they found themselves in. It was safe, they were content, and they were together.

Damian pulled away from her side and opened the door for her. She walked in and noted how dark the room was, it made the moonlight seem that much brighter. She stopped Damian from turning on the lights and led him over to the big chairs that the two sank into. She laid down and placed her head on his lap, something they both just allowed to happen a few nights after the raid when her anxiety spiked. She was comforted by the company and he felt soothed by the warmth and the act of petting down her hair. The intimacy was something both lacked and this time together felt like they were making up for it. She sighed, “I think we should investigate Charles next.”

“Why him? I thought he was your friend.”

“He looked really out of sorts the next day and this week he’s just seemed out of it and paranoid. He would get jumpy if I accidentally snuck up on him.”

Damian hummed, “You think he’s Hawkmoth?”

“No, I just think he might know something. No one acts like that unless they’re hiding something.”

“Or hiding from someone.”

Marinette turned her head to look up at him, “You think he’s hiding from someone?”

“He could be, or maybe he’s worried about being akumatized.”

Marinette turned onto her back, looking up at him, “I don’t know. I don’t know how any of these people act. I’m grasping at straws at this point.”

Damian sighed, “Well, all of your classmates and Ms. Bustier have all been akumatized, so it can’t really be any of them. Unless we have another French passenger, we’ll have to look into everyone else.”

After a moment Marinette’s eyes widened and she suddenly sat up, almost knocking her head into Damian’s. “Another French passenger, of course!” She turned to Damian with a newfound spark, “Is there any way to get a list of the passengers? We’ll need a list of every French passenger outside the class.”

Damian smirked and sent out a text, “I’ll tell Drake to get that to me by tomorrow.”

“Tim?”

Damian sent out the text and locked his phone, “Drake is the best investigator out of the four of us. It could take us a bit to look through all the passengers, but he’ll take seconds and do a background check as well.” Damian let out a tired sigh, “Grayson’s the beloved oldest, Todd’s the strongest, Drake’s the smartest, and I’m-”

“You’re wonderful.” Marinette grabbed his head and turned it so she could look him in the eye, “Don’t compare yourself to your brothers.”

He rolled his eyes, “I was going to say I’m still the best out of the four.”

She relaxed and sighed, still not letting go of his face, “You really do have a superiority complex.” She squeezed his cheeks, earning a playful glare.

“You going to let go?”

“No.” She squeezed his cheeks one last time before letting go, “Okay now I’m good.”

Damian snorted, “You remind me of my best friend Jon.”

Marinette sat up straight with peaked curiosity, “You just called someone friend. Best friend. Tell me more!” Marinette shook his shoulders, “Come on, tell me!”

Damian moved her hands away, “I won’t until you calm down.”

She stopped bouncing in her seat and frowned, “Can you really blame me?”

“No.” He scrolled through his phone before finding an old photo of them when he was 13 and Jon was 11. He handed it over to Marinette and she smiled.

She sat back down next to him, leaning on him, before saying, “You guys are so cute. So he’s a childhood friend?”

“Yeah, we’ve known each other for some time now.”

“Is he older than you?”

He let out an exasperated sigh, “Just because he’s taller doesn’t mean he’s older. Everyone thinks that.” He looked back at the photo and pointed, “I’m 13 there and he’s 11.”

She giggled, “You look like a baby.”

“I did not.”

“Babyface.”

“Marinette-”

“Cute baby face.”

He huffed and poked her side, making her squeak and jump away. He took the opportunity to grab his phone, “No.” She narrowed her eyes at him and he smirked.

“You’re too cocky.” She looked between him and the phone before lunging for it. “I want to see more photos!”

Damian leaned back and held his phone away, “Never.”

Marinette huffed and struggled against him, “Come on! Let me see more babyface photos!”

“No!” He sounded angry, but his face held a big smile as he watched the girl try to figure out a way to get the phone. “This is actually very entertaining.”

“Shut up.” She blew the bangs out of her face and sat back down. “Come on! You’ve never mentioned your friends before.”

“I’ve mentioned my team.”

“Yeah, but you’ve never once said ‘friend’. This is exciting!”

“Me and you have very different definitions of exciting.” She frowned before lunging at the phone again and managed to knock Damian over, “Marinette!”

“Let me see more Jon photos, then I’ll get off.”

Damian narrowed his eyes at her before flipping them over. Marinette let out a small “oof” before looking up at a very smug Damian. “You were saying?”

She huffed, “Killjoy.”

Damian raised an eyebrow at her, “Really? Maybe I should get Lila in here. I was just assaulted.”

She glared at him before pushing him off, “Don’t even joke about that.”

Her serious tone made him frown, “Too soon?”

“It’s always too soon with her.” She frowned and rubbed her temples, “Should I just let Tim do it? Should he just out her to everyone in my class?”

“I would love that because I want to see her face when he does it, but considering there’s a chance Hawkmoth may be on the ship I wouldn’t want to have her become an Akuma.” Damian shoulders fell, “I really don’t want you being the target of that.”

She sent him a small smile, “I can handle her.”

“As Ladybug, maybe. As Marinette, no. I’m not risking that.”

“Be careful, you sound worried.”

“I am worried.” Marinette turned to him and found that he was staring at her, “I don’t want you getting hurt. Especially not while we’re on this trip.”

“And after it’s over?” He didn’t answer and she sighed, “Damian-”

“I know.” He turned to her and he looked her over, trying to figure out their next steps. “First let’s figure out what’s happening on the ship.”

Her shoulders fell and nodded, “Yeah.” She scooted closer to him and leaned on him, “Damian?”

“Yeah?”

She bit her lip before finally asking, “Are you actually Robin?”

He thought for a moment before finally closing his eyes and breathing out a soft, “Yeah.”

She hummed, “Makes sense.” She turned to face him, “You’re right. I know you know, but I thought I should say it.”

Damian snorted, “Thanks. Good to know.” He took a deep breath before shaking his head, “No. Actually, that’s not good. Nothing about your situation is ‘good’.” Marinette nodded and nuzzled into his neck, “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. Find Hawkmoth, keep the city safe, fix everything.”

“It shouldn’t be your job to clean up the mess he makes.”

“What about you?” She frowned, “You don’t even have powers. You’re just human.”

“You’re human.”

“With magical powers, not the same.” She linked her arm with his and gave his bicep a comforting squeeze, “You shouldn’t be out there.”

“It’s not the same. I choose to go and fight, you were randomly given magic earrings and had to fight.”

She paused for a moment before admitting, “I almost wasn’t Ladybug.” Damian turned his head slightly in her direction and she took it as a sign to continue. “Stone Heart was the first Akuma we ever faced. He caused a lot of mayhem and I thought it was my fault for not stopping him the first time.” She let out a small bittersweet laugh, “I put the earrings in Alya’s bag.”

“What changed your mind?”

“Alya got hurt and Cat Noir was in trouble. I couldn’t stand there and do nothing. I had to help.” She sighed, “In a way, I chose it too.”

“That’s not fair. You have a good heart, of course you were going to save them, but to just put that responsibility on a kid?”

“What about you?”

Damian smiled bitterly as he thought back to when his mother dropped him off with a father who didn’t know he existed, “When my mother left me I was full of rage over those who killed my grandfather. I wanted revenge and nothing was going to stop me. Batman took me in after Nightwing stopped me from almost killing a man who had a connection to the murderer. I told him I wanted to help like Nightwing used to, as the new Robin, and he agreed.”

Marinette listened before pulling away, “You almost killed someone?”

Damian realized his slip and tensed before turning away from her, “Like I said, there’s a lot of stuff about me you won’t want to know.” He looked down at his lap and scowled, “I’m not a good person. I did a lot of bad things, even as Robin I’ve done really bad things.”

He didn’t want to look up, he figured she would run away like a sane person. He figured she wouldn’t want to talk to him anymore. “I didn’t know you before, but I can tell you’re a good person. Even if you did some bad things in the past, what matters is that you learn from them and be a better person now.” He wasn’t expecting that. She put her hand on his cheek and turned his head to her, “I think you’re a good person, Damian.” Damian didn’t respond outwardly until Marinette wrapped her arms around him. Her hug snapped him out of the initial shock and he wrapped his arms around her. This was only the second time they’ve hugged, the first time being when she first had a panic attack below deck, and he was grateful for it. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, “What’s going to happen now?”

Damian gave her a small squeeze, “I don’t know.”

He felt her hot breath against his skin as she let out a soft laugh, “I don’t know either.” She moved herself to be sitting in his lap, not releasing the hug. “I’m scared. What if the reason Hawkmoth is on this ship is that he knows Ladybug is on it? What if figured me out?”

“We don’t know that. We don’t know he’s on this ship.”

She rubbed her cheek against the fabric of his shirt, “Damian, these Akumas are coming from somewhere. They don’t wander this far out.”

“Are you sure? Has it ever happened before?”

“It has. The first time we brought Pegasus into the mix was because an Akuma made its way onto the train we were on. We were definitely outside of Hawkmoth’s range by that point.”

“Okay, so the option that he’s letting them wander isn’t impossible.” He knew it was farfetched, but he didn’t want her to think her identity was compromised. He didn’t want to think about a terrorist following her around and attacking her for some earrings, magic or otherwise. He could tell she was getting stuck inside her own head, upsetting thoughts taking over, and pulled out his phone. “You want to see more pictures of me and Jon.”

She quickly turned and looked at the phone, “Seriously?”

He chuckled, “Yeah.” She turned, back resting against his chest as he leaned back and they looked through the photos together. He pointed out different places they’d been, different pranks they’ve pulled on each other, their different pets, all the while making fun of his best friend. “He has this southern drawl sometimes and it’s so annoying.”

“He sounds fun.”

“He can be, but I’ll never tell him that. It’ll go to his head.”

She held his phone and made a confused face, “I’ll never get these fancy new phones.”

“You sound like a grandma.”

“Makes sense if everyone keeps calling us an old married couple.” She laughed, “You sound like an old angry grandpa.”

“I do not.”

“You are totally the type to yell at kids to get off your lawn.”

“I’ll take away the phone.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” She tapped on the screen and grumbled, “What the heck?”

Damian reached for the phone, “Hey, I can just-” All of a sudden the phone screen lit up, indicating a call had been placed and before either could do anything, a boy with messy hair and a tired look answered.

The boy yawned and rubbed his eyes, “Damian it’s like 6:30 am and its summer. There better be a goo-” The boy stopped talking and his eyes locked onto Marinette, who was still sitting on top of Damian, and he narrowed his eyes. “Damian, who’s this?”

Marinette awkwardly waved and Damian snatched the phone away, “Kent, if you tell anyone I’ll-”

“Oh my god.” Jon’s smile grew, “It’s late, it’s dark, and you’re with a girl! DAMIAN YOU ACTUALLY FOUND A GIRLFRIEND?”

Damian groaned and glared at the boy in the phone, “Say it louder why don’t you! You’ll wake up the entire city!” Damian was silently praying to whatever god he didn’t wake anyone. Jon decided to stay with the Titans while Damian was on the ship and Damian was grateful, but now he just wanted to wring the boy’s neck. “Now please don’t-”

Jon was already up and running through the tower, “Hold on! I’m hooking you up to the big screen!”

Damian sat up, nearly throwing Marinette off by accident, “You wouldn’t dare.” Suddenly the point of view changed from him looking at a phone to him looking up while a large living room came into view. Jon ran away, undoubtedly waking the others, “I’m hanging up.”

“Wait no! I wanna meet your friends!” Damian gave Marinette a pained look before giving in.

“Fine, but get up for a second so I can turn on the lights.” She quickly moved off and noticed a few people coming into view, “Oh! Hi!” The lights turned on, making her flinch as her eyes adjusted, and she smiled sheepishly at the other kids. “Damian’s told me about you guys. I wanted to meet his friends.”

She realized these kids weren’t normal, but then again neither was her. She figured they were probably other heroes and realized she was meeting his ‘team’. Damian sat back down on the couch and without thinking she took her place back on his lap to make sure they were both in the shot. Everyone looked stunned before the green one finally spoke up, “No way. Deep fake.”

Marinette tilted her head, confused, before turning to Damian, “Deep fake?”

“He doesn’t think you’re real.” He gently took the phone out of her hands, “Hey, Beast Boy, please tell me you haven’t made too much of a mess.”

“He said please, completely fake.”

Soon a woman with fire red hair entered the room, “What’s going on?” She looked up at the screen, “Oh! Damian?”

“That’s Kory, by the way.”

Marinette’s eyes lit up and she turned her attention to Kory, “Dick’s told me so much about you! You’re even prettier than I imagined!”

Kory looked confused but flattered. “I’m sorry, who are you?”

Jon smirked, “This is Damian’s girlfriend.”

The room stood still for a few seconds before everyone went up in arms. Damian groaned and pinched his nose before shouting, “Enough!” The team stopped and Damian gestured to the girl, “This is Marinette.”

Jaime narrowed his eyes at her, “I don’t trust this. Why the hell is she with you?”

Marinette made a face, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Raven shook her head, “She’s real, but I have to admit I was not expecting this.”

“No way! What the hell? You leave for like two weeks and when you finally decide to call you have a cute girl with you!” Garfield narrowed his eyes, “Why are you both in your pajamas?”

“Because it’s 12:30 am around here.”

Jon wiggled his eyebrows, “Why are you alone with a girl late at night? In a dark room no less.”

Marinette lit up bright red while Damian groaned, “I didn’t mean to call, idiot. I was showing her some old photos-”

“You keep photos of me? Aw, Damian, I knew you cared!”

Damian growled and felt his blood pressure spike, “Jon I swear-”

Marinette grabbed the phone back, “Hey what are your names? I know you’re Kory and you’re Jon, but what about the rest of you?”

“Jaime.”

“Raven.”

“Garfield.”

“Victor.” The team turned and Marinette watched a half robot half-human came into view, “I was wondering what the commotion was about.” Marinette didn’t react, but her eyes were trained on Victor. He rubbed the back of his neck, “If it’s too jarring-”

“You’re incredible! How does that even work? How do you function? Can you still eat? What do you do in the rain? Can you even be in the rain?” Marinette’s eyes lit up as she quickly rambled on more and more questions. Victor felt a wave of relief and chuckled when Damian grabbed the phone away from her. “Hey!”

“Sorry, she gets excited easily.”

Marinette pouted, “Come on, he’s half robot! How am I not supposed to be excited for that?!”

Jamie laughed, “She’s not what I expected you’d go for, but it works.”

“I know right!” Jon turned his attention back to Damian, “I’m assuming she knows-”

“She knows.”

“You actually told someone!” Garfield pinched himself, “Nope not a dream. Just really, really weird morning.”

Damian sighed and Marinette snorted, “Your friends are funny.”

Damian looked over at her and smiled, tired but happy to see her so excited. “Oh my god, he feels.”

“Why does everyone say that!?” Damian glared at Jon, “When I get back I’m going to-”

“So you are coming back! Marvelous!” Kory flew up to the camera and smiled, “We were worried there for a bit. You never contacted any of us after you left. We were starting to wonder if you left us.”

Damian’s lips pressed into a fine line, but before he could answer Marinette asked, “Is he a good hero?” Everyone looked surprised by the question and she shrugged, “I don’t know a lot about America’s heroes and if I asked him, he’d just inflate his own ego.”

“I would not!”

Her face deadpanned, “Yes you would.”

“I am the best Robin there is.”

“You literally just said your brothers-”

“I refuse to let that comment leave this room.”

She rolled her eyes, “You’re impossible.”

“You’re too excitable.”

“Rather be excitable than grumpy all the time.”

“I am not grumpy!”

“A-hem!” The two turned their attention back to the phone and noticed everyone watching them with an expression that was a mix of amusement and disbelief. Jon chuckled, “I’ve never seen anyone else argue with him. I’m the only one who can usually get away with doing that.”

Damian frowned, “Only because I can’t wring your neck when you get too annoying.”

“What’s stopping you from wringing her’s?” When Damian didn’t answer him, Jon’s smug smile only grew. “I’m telling my mom.”

“You are not telling Lois! It’s bad enough all of you met her!”

“Lois? Didn’t Tim mention her once?”

Damian nodded, “Yeah, but I’m surprised you remember that. You were knocked out in the arcade machine.”

“Not my fault none of you know how to whisper.”

Jon chuckled and turned to the team, “I can’t believe this. He actually found a girlfriend.”

Kory clapped her hands together, “We should celebrate when he gets back!”

“No! No celebration! She’s never going to the tower!”

“Why not?”

Damian turned to Marinette, “Because you’ll be back in Paris and I’ll be in Jump City.”

Marinette blinked and sighed, “Oh yeah, right.”

“Great now you upset her!” Jamie stepped up, “Hey, sweetheart, if you ever need a shoulder to cry on-”

“Don’t even think about it, Reyes.”

Raven sighed, “You’re all idiots.” Everyone turned to the girl who rolled her eyes, “Yes, this is exciting. Still, what if someone notices a normal girl coming into the tower and hanging out with us? With Robin? You all realize she’d be a target in a heartbeat.” The room fell silent and Marinette turned to Damian, only to notice his expression hardened. “Either we go to her as discreetly as possible or it’s not going to happen at all.” Raven turned her attention to the couple on screen, “If I were you Marinette I wouldn’t get too attached. You guys make a good match, but you just knowing our real names is going to get you into serious trouble if we aren’t careful. You don’t want to be sucked into this.”

Garfield frowned, “Raven, harsh.” He turned his attention to the screen and noticed the two thinking about what she said.

Jon tried to sound reassuring, “Hey! We can figure it out! I mean, I can tell you’ve been good for Damian.” That brought Marinette’s attention back to the boy and he smiled, “Yeah. When he left he was like a walking shell. Just talking to him now, I can tell he’s back to his old self and looks like he’s thriving over there. I can only guess it’s because of you.” Damian turned his attention back to his best friend and Jon sighed, “Look, Raven’s right. It could be dangerous, but it’s not unheard of! I mean, look at my parents! One’s a civilian!” He smiled encouragingly at the couple, “Damian, she’s good for you. I can tell. Marinette?”

She blinked and forced herself to respond, “Yes?”

“Do you want to stay with our little hot head over there? I know he’s a handful, but he’s worth it!”

Before Damian could say anything Marinette let out a firm, “Yes.”

Jon smiled, “Then I think you’ll be okay. If anything comes up, we’ll figure it out. We’re friends now too.” The group nodded and he waved, “You guys will be fine. Anyway, it’s getting late for you guys over there. Sleep. Think about it. Damian, check-in more often. We worry.” Damian gave a small nod, still reeling over the girl’s answer, and Jon nodded back. “Goodnight you guys.” The screen went black after Jon hung up and the two sat there in silence for a bit.

Damian spoke up first, “You meant that?”

Marinette gulped and nodded, “Yes.”

Damian thought for a moment and forced himself to ask, “Marinette, what are we?”

Marinette turned to face him, opening and closing her mouth, and answer struggling to come out before the door burst open. The two jumped and Marinette quickly left Damian’s lap as the two turned to the door. The captain stumbled in, seemingly unaware of the two teens inside the room. He stumbled to the bar and nearly fell over. The two teens shared a look of concern before walking up to him, “Captain Staller?” The captain didn’t respond and she turned him slowly to face her. She noted his glassy eyes and calm expression, “He sleepwalks?”

“I guess so.” Damian started to lead Captain Staller away from the bar and gently laid him down on the couch. The captain seemed to relax and fell right back to sleep on the cushions. Damian relaxed knowing that the captain was safe and asleep, “I think he’ll be okay now.” He turned back to Marinette who was staring at one of the bottles on the shelves, hugging herself and biting her lip. “Marinette?”

She jumped at the sound of his voice and turned to him, “What are we going to do?”

Damian’s brows furrowed, “What do you mean?”

“I’m a liability. You’re a liability. We’re liabilities to each other.” She shook her head, “I can’t go to Jump City because I could be used as leverage. You can’t come to Paris because you know who I am and if Hawkmoth akumatizes you we’ll have to fight.” Her nose turned pink and her eyes watered, “I didn’t even think about that, Damian. I have to think about these things. What was I thinking?” She ran her finger through her hair and started pacing, “I can’t believe I told you. I can’t believe I said that. I can’t believe I thought-”

“Thought what?”

She stopped and turned to him, “Damian, how would this work?”

Damian knew she knew he was worried about the same thing. He also knew she knew he didn’t want whatever this was to stop. “We don’t see each other as heroes. Just civilians.”

“That won’t matter if you get akumatized!” She sniffed and let out a shaky breath, “And you’re Damian Wayne! That alone is going to bring attention to me! Damian, I can’t let that happen! My advantage is that I’m a nobody! I can sneak away and no one suspects a thing! I can’t do that if there are cameramen waiting outside the bakery every day, waiting to get a picture of Damian Wayne’s girlfriend!”

Damian gulped, he agreed with her. He really wished he didn’t. So instead of arguing with some solid logic, he decided to do the next best thing. “My girlfriend, huh?”

She tensed up and shook her head, “I’m sorry, it slipped out and-”

“I thought we were already married.” She froze for a second, watching as he awkwardly stood there waiting for a reaction. She laughed, it started out small and full of disbelief and grew into a heartfelt laugh. Damian relaxed as she wiped her eyes, still laughing at his joke. “Marinette-”

“How is this going to work?” She sniffed and let out a small laugh, tears streaming down her face despite the smile on her face, “How will any of this work?”

Damian shrugged and ran his fingers through his hair, chuckling. “I don’t know.” He leaned against a table and felt himself be bombarded by the same emotions overwhelming Marinette. He sniffed and laughed, “I have no idea!” He wiped his nose on his sleeve and laughed more, “What is happening?”

“I don’t know!” She wiped her cheeks in vain and her body shook with another fit of laughter, “I don’t know!” She turned to Damian and ran to hug him, he immediately reciprocated this time and squeezed her. He picked her up and spun her around, making her laugh even more, before putting her down in the middle of the room. She sniffed, looking up at Damian, “Are we going crazy?”

“I have no idea.” Damian snorted, “I have no clue. This is out of my range of knowledge. None of this makes sense to me. You don’t make any sense to me!” He let out a shaky breath, “Every time I’m with you I feel out of character. I don’t know what I’m saying or doing half the time. It’s all impulse with you.” He sniffed and chuckled, “What the hell is wrong with us?”

Marinette thought for a moment, letting out a shaky breath of her own, “We’re teenagers, I don’t think we’re supposed to have all the answers.” She giggled, “Which is ironic because Ladybug is supposed to have all the answers.”

“And I’m supposed to know what to do in any situation. My training equipped me with the knowledge on how to deal with enemies of all kinds, superhuman or otherwise.” He laughed. “My training didn’t prepare me for you. I am an expert in martial arts, I can wield almost any kind of weapon, I’m a capable businessman, I have advanced engineering skills, I’m trained in forensics, acrobatics, criminology, disguise and escapology,” he paused and scoffed, “none of it prepared me for you.”

Marinette and Damian stood together, in the middle of the den, panting as they struggled to catch their breath from laughing, and just stared at each other. Marinette bit her lip, “I don’t know a lot about you.”

“That’s a good thing.”

“Will I ever know more about you?”

“Yes.”

Marinette sniffed and smiled at him before pulling him down. The kiss was awkward, neither really had any experience in any of this, but neither pulled away either. Despite the lack of skill, the two felt alive again. Every little cell felt electrified, any negative feels clouding their minds didn’t matter, and the world around them faded away the longer they stayed together.

“Well, I was wondering when you two would figure it out.” The two pulled away and looked at the couch to find Captain Staller stretching on the couch. He chuckled and scratched his beard, “Now, will either of you tell me why I’m here?”

Marinette hid her blushing face in her hands and Damian sighed before pulling away to help the man up, “You were sleep walking. You came in here and almost knocked over the alcohol at the bar.”

Staller looked confused, “I don’t sleepwalk.”

Damian shrugged, “Are you stressed?”

The captain thought for a moment before sighing, “My mood has taken a turn for the worse.”

Marinette turned to face the captain, worried expression on her face, “Anything we can do to help? We’re good listeners.”

Captain Staller smiled and shook his head, “No, you just continue to be yourself. I enjoy our visits. Although, I do think you would’ve fared better had I not interrupted tonight.”

Marinette’s eyes widened and her face flushed. Damian just rubbed the back of his neck before leading the captain outside. “Hey, you sure there isn’t anything my family could do?”

“Damian, you’re family has been nothing but good to me. If I ask for anything else, I’d be getting selfish.” The captain placed a hand on Damian’s shoulder, “You two were meant to cross paths, I can tell.” His voice got low as he held steady eye contact with the boy, “Don’t mess this up.”

Damian gulped and nodded, “I wouldn’t dare.”

“Good answer.” He patted Damian on the back and nodded at the couple in approval. “I’ll see you two soon. Goodnight.” The captain walked away and Damian closed the door, leaving the only two people in the room embarrassed.

Damian watched as Marinette grabbed a pillow and screamed into it before letting herself fall onto the couch. He walked over, confused, and she took the pillow off her face. She looked like she drank three cups of Tim’s expresso, vibrating with energy. “This is happening.”

“Yes.”

“We just kissed.”

“Uh-huh.”

“We know each other’s identities.”

“Marinette-”

“I’m dating Damian Wayne.” She sat up and threw the pillow at him, “Oh my god, I’m dating you. We’re dating. This is happening!” Damian caught the pillow easily and laughed at her, earning a short raspberry and a glare.

He sat down next to her, “Yes. Yes, it is.” He sighed and shook his head, “What the hell am I thinking?”

“You? What am I thinking? Tikki is going to be so mad-”

“Tikki?”

She bit her lip before sighing, “Tikki come out.” All of a sudden, a red blob flew around the room before stopping in front of his face. He blinked, wondering if he was hallucinating for a second as the being examined him. “Tikki, meet Damian. Damian, meet Tikki.”

“Hello?”

Tikki smiled softly at the boy before turning to Marinette, “This is against a lot of rules Marinette.”

She groaned, “I know.” She ran her fingers through her hair and sighed, “I trust him though.”

Tikki nodded before falling to rest on top of Marinette’s head. Damian just chuckled, “Honestly, not the weirdest thing I’ve ever come across.”

Marinette snorted, “That’s a new reaction.”

“I’m serious.” Damian smiled at Tikki, “When you live in Gotham and work under Batman you see a lot of stuff.”

Tikki flew around Damian’s head a few times before landing on his hair and nodding, “I approve of this one.”

Damian smiled, “That’s good right?”

Marinette closed her eyes and giggled, “Yes, yes it is.” She rubbed her eyes, “I’ve only known you for a little over a week and look at us.” She shook her head, “We’re crazy.”

“I mean we’re talking while a small red fairy thing watches over us. I’m pretty sure if we went to any hospital they’d say the same.”

Tikki giggled, “I like him.”

“I’m assuming you’re the reason Marinette orders so many sweets?”

“Smart too.” Tikki grinned at her chosen, “He’s a keeper.”

Marinette nodded, “I mean I’ll have to figure out a way erase your memory if I don’t.”

Damian raised an eyebrow at her, “Funny, I was thinking the same thing.” She nudged him and the two sighed, “Marinette?”

“Yeah?”

“How are we going to tell my brothers?”

Marinette’s eyes widened, “How are we going to tell Alya?” The two looked at each other, realizing the chaos they were about to unleash on this ship when they go public. Marinette groaned, “We’re going not going to live any of this down will we?”

“No, I don’t think so. Dick is a crazy romantic, Jason will tell everyone else in the family if Jon already hadn’t, and Tim will work with Alya to spread the news all over the internet.” He groaned and leaned back in the couch, let his head lull back, “Can we not tell them?”

“And risk death by reporter? No thank you. If Alya doesn’t kill me for hiding it, Chloe definitely will.” She giggled before leaning on him, head on his shoulder and arm draped around his torso. “But we don’t have to tell them right now.”

He wrapped his arm around her and relaxed, “No, I guess not.” He looked down at the girl who finally relaxed enough that she actually looked tired, “Hey you want to go to bed?”

“No.”

“Still a bad liar.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t want to sleep, I said I don’t want to go to bed.” She looked up at him, “I don’t want to leave.”

Damian groaned, “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Puppy dog eyes. You’re the only person to successfully use that against me.” He groaned and hung his head before he looked around the room. “Hold on.” He got up, turned off the lights, grabbed a blanket from one of the cupboards from a counter and draped it over her. He sat back down, arms open for her to lay next to him if she chose, and he glared. “Damn you.” She snorted and snuggled up next to him, his arms wrapped around her torso and her head on his chest. He could feel himself relax with her weight and body heat against him. She threw the covers over him before yawning.

Tikki watched as the two teens fell asleep together on the couch. She giggled softly before nestling on a pillow nearby, out of view from anyone walking in the door. She looked at the couple one last time before closing her eyes and smiling. Marinette was healing, as far as she could tell so was Damian, and she couldn’t be happier.

*******************************************************************************************

I’m waiting for the screams of the maribat community because it happened. It’s happening. And from here on out? Brace yourselves. 

To those who want more Seabourne Burnouts content, @itawonka-creates is specifically dedicated to my writing (which is just this story rn) so you can just follow the blog and set it up to be notified just in case the tags do not work!

Tag List (Bitch I have a tag list whAT!?!?!):

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Let me know if I missed anyone!

[sincerelymarinette]

A Recorded Life (47/50) - Miraculous Ladybug

Words 1677 Chapter Summary: After finding Emilie Agreste in the secret basement garden, the team was a bit torn apart. They now have to figure out where to go from here, while still keeping mentally sane. Time for some more investigation to find Hawkmoth. Author's Note: Some angst and some fluff (: Also, sorry for missing 2 weeks! It's been hectic around here and I didn't have the time to finish the chapter. Thanks for your patience! I hope uploading a few days early makes up for it. 3 chapters left!!

Prev / Next / Masterlist

Investigation

---

The next morning

Marinette consoled Adrien for hours after Alya called the rest of the team to the Mansion. She wasn't sure what to expect, but she knew it was serious. And finding Emilie Agreste in a garden full of moths was the last thing she ever expected to find. Emilie Agreste was supposed to be dead and resting peacefully...years ago. It took Adrien a long time to finally come to terms with it all, and his father ruined that for him, too.

Adrien cried a lot, not sure how to contain his emotions. He sobbed in front of her body with his friends surrounding him, also crying and confused, until some friendly people came to take her out of the Mansion. Once Marinette convinced him to go back to the bakery, she gave him (and the rest of the team) a snack and some medicine to help them all sleep. Though it took Adrien a few hours to fall asleep, he finally did, in Marinette's arms.

She was relieved when he fell asleep, because it gave him a chance to get it all off his mind. Marinette was worried about Adrien, even more now, and they had to act fast. She's sure Alya, Nino, and Chloé were already awake, but Marinette didn't want to leave Adrien at the risk of waking him up. He's barely gotten any sleep these past few days, and he needs the time to de-stress and rest up. A lot of traumatizing things have happened recently, and Marinette wants to be there for him just like he was for her when they went viral as superheroes.

Only a few more minutes passed before Adrien tossed and turned in his sleep, and he looked like he was having a nightmare. "Adrien," Marinette grabbed his shoulder. "You okay?"

Adrien stopped tossing and sighed, but his eyes were still closed. "No, but I will be," He said.

"Do you want to go downstairs and talk to the others about our next step, or do you want to stay up here?" Marinette asked, trying to be as careful as she could with her words.

Adrien was quiet for another moment, then shifted to sit up. "We should go talk about the plan. The quicker we work on this, the quicker he goes away," He said.

Marinette grabbed his hand, and they locked eyes. "We're going to do this, and I know it will all work out," She promised.

With no response from Adrien, the two of them climbed down the ladder and out of her room to meet with the other three in the living room. "Morning, guys," Alya called, not looking away from the TV where a computer was connected.

"How'd you sleep?" Chloé asked.

Adrien shrugged and sat on the couch. Marinette answered as she walked to the kitchen to grab them both a piece of fruit. "Once we finally fell asleep, I think it was okay," She said. "Took us a while to get to that point, though. How about you guys?" She asked.

"The same," Nino responded. "I woke up first because I couldn't stop thinking about looking at the news footage from the fight," He said.

Marinette handed an apple to Adrien, who contemplated eating it. He didn't want to, but he knew it would make all of his friends a little relieved to make sure he was eating. They know he's going through some things and need to make sure his physical needs are met, even if he doesn't want them to be. "So, you find anything?" Marinette asked as she sat next to Adrien on the couch.

"Actually, yeah. I think we missed some of their conversation with Hawkmoth because I sure don't remember all that was said," Alya said and skimmed through the video. "The Akuma talks about Hawkmoth on vacation and being off the grid. It was some weird choice of words, so maybe they're hinting to where they're hiding," Alya explained.

"Adrien," Chloé turned to look at him. "You don't know anything about a vacation home, do you?" She asked.

Adrien shook his head. "Just the one we share with Felix and his mom. But...that's countries away," He said.

Marinette sat up straight when she came up with an idea. "So it's probably not that since he has to be nearby to Akumatize people. But if it is off the grid-like the Akuma hinted to, then that explains why Adrien wouldn't know about it. I think we have to go back to Gabriel's office and get on his computer," She said. "Just to check some locked files to see what we can find," Marinette explained. "And we can check to see if the bug Alya had me plant last time caught anything. Maybe they came back to check what was left behind," Marinette said.

"That's a good idea," Alya said. "I'll come with, so I can hack into the computer. Not that I don't think you can do it, Mari, but I can probably do it a lot faster," Alya shrugged.

"Great, we'll go in a few hours. Adrien, do you want to stay here with Nino and Chloé?" Marinette asked.

Adrien shook his head before Marinette could even finish her question. "No, I want to go. Since mom has been...moved...I want to scope out what else was in that basement. We didn't exactly get to check out everything since there were people there to take her," Adrien explained. "But, I do have one question that I can't get off my mind. Why did my father have my mom in a basement?"

Marinette frankly didn't want to know the answer to that question. Her only idea was terrible, and she didn't want to say it. "Maybe he was planning on trying to use our Miraculous to bring her back," She said, but didn't finish her thought.

"I thought to make the wish it would take something away after," Alya chimed in. That was exactly it, but Marinette still didn't want to say it.

"Ah, I don't know if Hawkmoth knows exactly how it works. But we don't have to worry; he won't get our Miraculous, and now Emilie is in safe hands," Marinette defended. It was a good thing they were so strong. She was afraid that if Hawkmoth did get the chance to bring his wife back, they would lose Adrien in exchange.

---

Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Rena Rogue walked in the front of the Agreste Mansion that was still surrounded by police tape. They all headed straight to the office to get to work as quickly as possible, as they wanted to be done before the sunset. Rena Rogue went right to the computer as Ladybug and Chat Noir ventured into the lair, then into the basement garden.

Chat Noir was looking intently at everything as he walked around the garden slowly. Ladybug was following behind him, not entirely sure what they were looking for. "I can't believe he held her down here," Chat Noir said. "I thought we had grieved her and finally come to terms that she was resting in peace, but no. My father ruined that," Chat Noir grumbled. "I miss my mom and wish I could have her back every day, but I know that's not possible, and I've accepted that. My father's a delusional coward," He said, holding back the tears as he looked and the empty spot where Emilie was the night before.

"Adrien," Ladybug put her hand on his shoulder. "Your mother will finally get her peace now, and your father will get what's coming to him. We just have to figure out where he and Nathalie are, and this will all be over," She reminded him.

Chat Noir sighed and pushed Ladybug's hand off of him, turning to face her. "How do we know this will all be over? He's clearly gotten stronger, and he has found ways to get around us. What if something happens?" He asked.

"You can't think like that," Ladybug said. "The five of us work well together; we're a good team. He can't beat us and our friendships. It's going to be one against five, and while your father is driven by greed and selfishness, we are driven by the need to protect and save. That's how I know we will win," Ladybug told him.

Chat Noir didn't respond, he was anxious and worried, and the only thing that he could picture were countless bad outcomes. "I just can't stop thinking of what could go wrong," He admitted.

Ladybug nodded and thought about how to respond. "Well, there is no need to worry. We're going to do this together to get justice. Justice for Paris, for us, and for your mother. And you know I will be right by your side through this whole thing, you don't have to face any of this alone. You don't have to face the fight, the emotions, or your father alone," Ladybug began to ramble on. "I will be right here with you. I love you, Adrien," Ladybug said without thinking, then gasped and covered her mouth in shock. "Sorry. I know you're going through a lot of different emotions right now, and that probably wasn't the best time to blurt that out," She stressed.

"No," Chat Noir said. "I needed that, and I love you. You're right, we're going to be here for each other, and we will get our justice that everyone deserves," Chat Noir agreed.

The two leaned in for a hug. It was a very emotional day, and it was hard to hold their tears back. Hopefully, Alya found something, so this would all be over soon.

As if on cue, their hug was cut off by Alya's voice. "Guys, I got into the computer. Plus, the bugs got a hit that wasn't just us. Want to check them out?"

"You ready?" Ladybug asked and held out her hand.

"With you, yes," Chat Noir replied and grabbed her hand. They walked together to meet Alya to find what she found.

---

@lady-of-the-roses-and-lilies @bookishserendipity03 @avatheexceed @gkz10 @coccinellegirl @kat-thatoneweirdo @strawberryblondish @snow-swordswoman @lilgaga98 @evufries  @toodaloo-kangaroo 

[lady-charinette]

A Helping Paw - Marichat Fic

Marinette was terrified.

She had no idea how she got into this mess.

She was normally non-suspicious, she wasn't very outgoing like Alya or someone that immediately captured people's attention like Chloe, which made this situation even more bizarre for her.

She'd noticed the guy a few blocks ago, walking at a slower pace behind her and changing streets or sides when she did.

She'd tried entering a store briefly but after ten minutes, she'd still found him leaning against a wall.

Now, she was cooped up in some apartment building she'd quickly sneaked into after a woman entered it, thankfully holding the door open for her, thinking she lived there.

But she couldn't stay there forever, she was already half an hour inside and the stranger was leaning against a wall across two streets, it was too far to see his eyes exactly but his face was turned towards the direction of the building Marinette had rushed into.

With trembling hands and a panicking mind, Marinette tried thinking of who to call for help.

She could call Alya, but she went on a short vacation with Nino overseas. Her parents were at a backing contest in America. Master Fu didn't have a cellphone and the telephone in his store was temporarily down due to construction work fumbling with the wires.

Who should she call?

If only she'd brought Tikki with her.

She thought it would be alright to leave without her, since it was just a short trip outside.

She hadn't expected to be stalked.

Tikki must be so worried about her but Marinette had no way of contacting her.

Scrolling down her contacts list, Marinette's finger hovered over her recent contact number.

Chat Noir

It had been funny, really.

She hadn't expected to get a superhero's, her partner's number, especially as Marinette, but the cat had one day shown up on her balcony with a worried look and a slip of paper with the scribbled numbers, saying how the recent akuma targets had worried him and that she should have a way of calling on him in case of emergency, because Ladybug always seemed to be mysteriously MIA during that time.

She'd nervously accepted, nervous about her compromised identity, but touched at the cat's genuine care for her.

She'd seen that sensitive, thoughtful side of him only a handful of times, more often as Marinette than Ladybug and she liked it the more time they spent.

He said to use the number whenever she needed a hero and...

Marinette nervously glanced outside through the glass door, eyes frantically looking for the strange guy.

He was a bit closer to the building now, having crossed the first street towards the building.

Her panic spiked and her finger tapped the number to call.

She had never used it before, but now she did.

On the third ring, it picked up.

"Hello?"

Marinette's heart briefly filled with hope. She knew that voice! It was him!

Marinette's voice came out higher and shakier than she thought it would, "C-Chat Noir?"

There was brief spluttering on the other end, perhaps surprise at the fact Marinette had actually called him, but nevertheless after the shifting sounds ceased, Chat Noir's surprised voice was there, "M-Marinette? Is that you? You actually called me? What a delightful purrprise!"

She would've giggled at the excited tone in his voice, but the nervous beating of her heart wouldn't stop, "I'm s-sorry kitty, but this isn't really a social call. Do...do you have time?"

"Of course! What's up?"

She curled her hand into a fist and held it close to her chest, "Um...I'm...I need a hero. Right now." she peeked outside again and squeaked when she made direct eye contact with the stranger, even if it was across the street, "P-Please get here as fast as you can! I'm scared."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Chat Noir didn't miss a beat to answer, his voice serious and alarmed, "Tell me where you are."

After giving him the address, Chat Noir hang up with the promise to come quickly and for her to stay put. Marinette wasn't a fool, she would instruct the same to a panicked civilian.

She only hadn't thought she would be the panicked civilian anytime soon.

Still, Marinette moved away from the glass door and sat down in a corner of the corridor, curling in on herself and waiting with baited breath, the darkening sky outside making her heart race.

It looked like it would rain.

It was only after ten minutes of constant downpour that she saw a shadow in front of the door and a dark figure in front of it.

Marinette's entire body froze in fear, pressing her body closer against the cold wall behind her.

The stranger couldn't enter without the door being opened from the inside, but the prospect of him standing so close, only separated by a door from reaching her, sent her mind reeling.

It was only when she heard a familiar scrape of claw-like scratches and an all too familiar voice call that she relaxed, "Princess? Are you there? It's me!"

With lightning speed thanks to years of being Ladybug, Marinette bolted for the door, swinging it open and ushering the by now soaked cat in, "Get in, quick!"

The superhero stepped in and quickly closed the door behind him, ears standing at attention, looking outside, shoulders straight and taut before he turned to look down at her, placing his hands on her shoulders worriedly, "Marinette, are you okay?"

Instead of answering, she went straight into his arms, slipping her arms under his own and burying her face against the crook of his neck.

She thought Chat Noir was trembling from the cold and the rain that had soaked him through the bone, but she noticed it was actually herself that was shaking in his arms.

Chat Noir stood motionlessly for a second or two, but soon wrapped his arms tightly around her, one splayed across her back and the other craddling the back of her head, voice low but full of concern, "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

She shook her head, trying to channel her inner Ladybug and collect herself.

It was easier said than done, but there was nothing to worry about now. Chat Noir was here.

Marinette slowly broke away from the hero's arms, sighing and gently slapping her cheeks, "I'm fine Chat Noir, thanks for coming here so fast, I just didn't know who to call and I had your number and you said if I ever needed you I should call and-"

Chat Noir gently patted her shoulder, "Princess, breathe. Don't worry, I'm here now." he glanced back outside, his handy night vision easily distinguishing the moving shapes of people, despite the pouring rain, "Tall, dark jacket and light colored pants?"

Marinette's heart sped up in fright but she curbed it down stubbornly, "Y-Yeah..."

She was Ladybug, she dealt with akumas every day. But this was not Hawkmoth, someone she could stand up to in a supersuit that protected her. This was a person equally if not more dangerous than Hawkmoth and the problem was he was within reach of her completely unprotected by a supersuit.

The gentle squeeze on her hand made her glance up at Chat Noir again, who was smiling down at her reassuringly, "I'm sorry princess, you'll get a bit wet once we go outside. I'll try to take you home as fast as I can."

She smiled and followed him outside, now infinitely more confident. He was her partner, her other half, even as Ladybug, she wouldn't be able to overcome all the obstacles alone.

She could always count on her kitty, in and out of the mask.

Marinette smiled when Chat Noir picked her up, activating his staff and quickly vaulting off the ground, bounding over rooftops, away from the potential threat to his princess.

They arrived on the balcony in record time, courtesy of Chat Noir's urgency to not get Marinette sick from all the downpour.

Once the girl was set down safely on her feet, Chat Noir removed his hands from around her waist, "Home safe and sound princess, you can call on me anytime you want. Now get inside before you catch a cold!" He was about to turn around and leave, until he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Marinette cupped his face and planted a quick but affectionate kiss on his cheek, surprising him, "M...Marinette?"

The girl's face was oddly pink, Chat Noir blamed it on the chilly weather, but there was a smile on her face, "Thanks for saving me tonight kitty." She hugged him again, it was short lived but it sent a burst of warmth through him.

Chat Noir scrambled with his staff for a moment or two, scratching the back of his neck, "O-Of course princess, anytime you need me I'll be there! Um, g-good night!"

With that, he vanished into the rainy night until Marinette could no longer see him and as she quickly headed inside only to be met by a worried Tikki, Marinette's thoughts were on the soaked cat soaring through the skies right now.

She could always count on her kitty.

[amberwild420]

one step back, two steps forward (pt. 26)

masterlist

Sleep deprived.

Marinette woke up with a heavy feeling in her chest. It was the feeling she would have when a particularly nasty akuma would be on lose. Tikki said it was her instinct of a guardian. Shooting a quick text to the team she packed extra macaroons for Tikki.

 With a sigh, she left the room and left after saying goodbye to her parents and gave a few instructions to Kaylan. They walked in the class before anyone else and took their seats.

 It wasn’t long before everyone started filling in as well. Adrian, who had Lila clinging to his arm like an anaconda, looked at Marinette who ignored him and started talking to Chloe about something.

 He was happy that Marinette made friends with Chloe but if only she had laid low she wouldn’t have been isolated. The painful sensation of nails digging in his flesh brought him back to his senses. Lila was talking to Alya with a vice grip on his arm.

 He barely managed to get her off him and sat next to Nino. Kaylan wrote something on the desk with her finger. She traced it again and again before looking up abruptly.

 And soon enough, the akuma alert started. She and Marinette looked at each other before running off. On the other side Adrian also jumped out of the window. Other started panicking and running off in different direction.  Alya grinned and ran towards the danger while recording.

 Hiding in the library, far away from the prying eyes, the girls brought out their Kwami. Tikki and Nova nodded before they transformed.

 Nova, full moon!

Tikki, spots on!

 Just as the transformation died off, Luna raised an eyebrow. Ladybug’s costume changed.

(Again credit to the artists. I can’t draw to save my life so you have saved my life.)

  Her costume was mostly black. Except for the chest plate, kneepads and shoulder pad. She even had a pair of wings folded on her back hidden in the back armor.

 You look like ladybug. Thank god that childish spandex is gone.

 Ladybug smiled before sighing in relief. A strong tremor brought them to their senses and they ran out towards the akuma. Just as they reached the akuma they jumped away from a beam that could have roasted them if hit.

 The roof which was hit had a hint of frost on them.

 ....Or froze.

 Luna muttered before jumping the alley avoiding another blast. Her eyes fell on the other two members of the team hiding in another alley as well. The stream of blast making it impossible for them to move out and attack.

 Who pissed them off? / Who got akumatized?

 Ladybug and she asked simultaneously before looking at each other. Luna looked away awkwardly while ladybug shook her head exasperation.

 Some worker! Apparently her boss had been pushing his work on her and she had been sleep deprived for a long time.

 Well that’s one way to make an akuma.

 Ladybug slapped her upside her head. But she wasn’t wrong. Everyone knew that they were emotional hostage here and yet they still did things like this intentionally. Ladybug sighed.

 Humans really are selfish.

 What else?

 Well..........she snapped when her vacation got cancelled and her boss pushed more work on her.

 Ryu recounted the information she got from the colleague. Well, she did threaten them.

 And the akuma?

 Luna asked before looking out from the corner only to turn away barely saving herself from the blast.

 Her name is sleep deprived. Anyone who got hit by her blast had their energy sucked from them. Victim freeze.

 That explains the frost.

 Luna muttered before her ear twitched. A mechanical whirling sound fell in her ears making her look at the general direction. Her behavior made the rest of the team stand on their guard as well.

 A light blinked in the dark alley before a round object came floating.

 A drone.

 A spherical drone stopped in front of them before many other came. It was the size of a tennis ball. The camera moved as if focusing on the heroes before a holographic screen appeared.

 I hope you wouldn’t mind if we see the battle first hand.

  A familiar face appeared on the screen. Luna smiled when she recognized the face.

 Wonder woman.

 The Amazonian smiled and waved at the rest of the team before turning serious.

 We had an alert that there was an akuma. We were hoping to see what you have before we discuss what you need. I hope it’s not a problem.

 W-wait.       Ladybug cut them off. Her eyes were wide as she looked between Luna and wonder woman.        You want to observe us?

 Of course. Though we will be out of the way so don’t worry.

 Wonder woman.          Luna pushed ladybug away who was shocked and nervous about the whole observing.     It would be best if you don’t question our decisions and don’t interfere with what happens and what we do.

 Of course. Unless you ask, we do not plan on interfering.

 Luna nodded before looking at the crowd of heroes behind her. Adults, teenagers and kids all were there.

 Looking back at the team, she saw the surprised faces of the team. With a snap of her figure, she teleported the other two near her.

 If you can get a hold on yourself, we can talk business.

 That did the trick. They remembered the akuma and the people in trouble. Ladybug called for her lucky charm. An empty miracle box fell in her hands.

 Wait which miraculous am I supposed to bring?

 Just as she was thinking, the akuma broke the wall behind them before opening fire.

 Second chance!

 W-wait.       Ladybug cut them off. Her eyes were wide as she looked between Luna and wonder woman.        You want to observe us?

 Python looked to his side, seeing ladybug and Luna talking to wonder woman. He saw what happened before the second chance. Gritting his teeth, he moved forward.

 Ladybug! Luna! Get out of that alley! The akuma is going to attack there! We need to get out of there!

 Luna looked at the camera before gesturing something and then holding ladybug’s hand and teleporting to the other side.

 Python, did you use second chance!?

 I did. You called for your lucky charm. It was an empty miracle box. You were asking which miraculous should you bring. But forget all of that we need to relocate.

 Python panted. What he saw was scary, he actually saw his life flashing before his eyes. Not sure how he managed to use second chance.

 The team relocated to another alley. One that had been through akuma’s destruction. A few people who took cover, were found and frozen. Luna winced seeing those horror stricken faces.

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In the justice league head quarter, many heroes felt bile rising in their throat. If this is something these kids had to deal with on daily bases they should be ashamed of themselves.

 Robin was unnaturally quiet, as he watched the terror. Superboy was frowning. Raven tried to calm herself down. Beastboy looked greener than his green skin. Many speedsters, felt a little change in the timeline. Like it went back.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We need a plan. But we can’t make it if we don’t get close to the akuma........ This is bad. It’s like syren all over again.

 Ladybug glared at the akuma but she couldn’t get out. Luna observed the akuma before calculating.

 Milady!

 Their focus broke at the call, making the team groan in irritation. Chat noir stood behind them with a wide grin before slinging his arm on ladybug’s shoulder. A low growl came from Luna’s throat.

 That slimy cat was back and .........could he not see how uncomfortable ladybug is looking. Ryu snarled. One could see smoke coming out of her nostrils.

 Aw come on milady! I can’t believe you haven’t sent the temporary users back. How about we go to André after the battle to get a couple ice cream?

 Chat! We’re in the middle of the battle. Can we focus!?

 I always focus on you.

*****

Wonder woman frowned. She didn’t like what was happening. Well........no one did.

 Can’t he see she’s not comfortable?

 He’s harassing her.

 If that filthy cat did took his hands off her I have no issue skinning him.

 There was an abrupt silence. Every head turned towards robin who simply raised his eyebrow.

 What?

 Nothing baby bird. Please carry on.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna separated them rather roughly. Pushing ladybug behind her before growling.

 If you didn’t stop messing around, I’ll skin you alive and I won’t even pretend to be under mind control for that!

 Chat noir hissed at her making her growl again in warning. The battle for territory was useless right now.

 Please stop. We have to fight an akuma!

 Luna clicked her tongue in distaste before backing off. Chat noir smiled smugly.

 Alright. Let’s get to the plan. I need a miraculous for today’s battle. If I’m not wrong, she went for Eiffel tower. Python you’re on standby before that, recharge. Ryu we... chat! No!

 Without listening, chat dashed out making the team grab their heads again. Luna seeing this, ran after him but instead of helping him she used chat as a distraction and went to fight while she still had a chance. A drone closely follow the two miraculous users.

 Ladybug gritted her teeth. She wasn’t worried about Luna. She was worried about chat. He was so reckless always treating all of this a game and nothing more. Luna, while she looked reckless, all of her moves were calculative.

 She definitely took her chance. She’ll use chat as a shield to fight.

 Ladybug punched the wall in frustration before taking a deep breath.

 Let’s go.

 The pair didn’t even dared to speak. Every time it was chat in battle, she had to go an extra mile just too save his skin. They all knew Luna wouldn’t save him at the cost of her own, so they had to swallow the bitter pill and run in different directions.

 Just as drones were about to follow, Ryu stopped them.

 It would be advisable to not follow them. They are going to transform. We don’t want you finding out our identities.

 The drones make a mechanical sound before following her.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wonder woman paced around when she saw how frustrated ladybug looked. Cursing the cat, she once again settled down. If not for the words she gave to Luna she would have jumped in the battle. But the league wanted to see what they were capable of.

 Batman watched the whole ordeal. Chat’s arrival had threw the team off balance. His attitude and recklessness has got him killed by many akumas.

 Why is she acting reckless?! She shouldn’t act reckless like him!

 Flash stood up watching as Luna followed the black cat dodging the onslaught of the beams.

 She isn’t reckless at all.

 W-wait but she just ran after him?

 That was a calculated move. A bit evil but necessary.

 Batman used footage from air above the running heroes. While chat had been dodging the beams left and right, Luna quickly separated from him before jumping on the rooftops, her steps quieter and quicker.

 Just as chat was about to attack, Luna unwrapped her whip before swinging it in a wide arc, hitting the akuma in the side. The akuma hit the fruit crates before trying to get up.

  Landing beside chat she gave him a side glance.

 Stay away.

 The warning came out cold before she swing her whip again hitting akuma once again and sent her flying. Jumping on a roof top she followed again swinging around with the help of her whip.

 Chat, feeling left behind, also followed. But Luna was faster compared to ladybug or she didn’t care. Just as akuma was about to land, Luna cracked her whip one more time but the akuma was prepared. She grabbed the whip and pulled Luna towards her. Expecting the retaliation, Luna simply let herself being pulled forward.

 She just adjusted and gave a flying kick before letting go of her whip and punching the akuma in the gut. The akuma stumbled and opened fire but Luna just jumped down from the roof avoiding it.

 Why?! Just why?! Why are you trying to stop me?!

 The akuma repeated hysterically, giving her time to swing her whip again. With the first hit came the onslaught of multiple hits. Luna wasn’t giving her time to recover.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Holy shit!

 Language.

 Superman glared at flash. But he just shrugged and pointed towards the screen.

 Well, they can’t blame him. It’s not every day that you get to seen magical butterfly causing havoc. And the kids protecting their own city. Or to what lengths those kids have to go just every day.

 Robin smirked at her strategy before giving a feral grin to his brothers. There is no way he won’t adopt Luna. He needed a best friend/sibling just like everyone in the family.

 Dick has Jason, Tim has Cass, Barbara and Stephanie and that leave him all alone with his pets. So sue him for wanting a sibling that has his back. And there is no way he will choose just anyone.

 You’re thinking about again, aren’t you?

 Superboy gave a bright smile to his friend making him scowl.

 Watch it Kent.

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Luna was about to hit the akuma with the final blow before her ears stood up and she barely dodged the attack of a baton.

 Chat’s baton to be exact. He hissed at her with a glare that she returned with her own.

 He was irritating. Her attack stopped because of a cat and the akuma took advantage of it and opened fire making them duck for cover in opposite direction.

 I’ll kill that cat!

 Luna hissed as a drone floated near her. The holographic screen formed again. This time it was batman.

 Have you ever been attacked like this before? Or ladybug for the matter?

 Fortunately no. Unfortunately, it’s his first attack and he won’t stop at this.

 Batman narrowed his eyes.............well it looked like eyes. Just as she was about to open her mouth, her ears twitched making her look towards her side. Chat was glaring at her like her wanted to set her on fire or something. But Luna just ignored it and left the alley.

 Staying at one location was risky. Especially if the akuma checked every crook and cranny.

previous

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[p-artsypants]

The Ghost of Smokey Joe (5)

Nightmare

No lyrics in this chapter, because the song in the title has no words. But it really embodies everything I wanted to say with the chapter.

Also, ALL ABOARD THE ANGST TRAIN CHOO CHOOOOOO

Ao3 | FF.net

—

“Do you have those drafts ready for the meeting?” Asked Marinette, peering into her co-worker’s office, a very peppy woman named Jill. 

“Of course! I’ve gotten them matted, just like you asked. 10, right?” 

“Yes! Thank God someone is doing their job right today.” 

“Oh, Marinette, where are your shoes?” 

Marinette looked down to her bare feet. “Oh, I wore pumps that are great for working at my desk and walking to the water cooler, but they got kicked off somewhere around 9 this morning.” 

“That bad, huh?” 

“Have you seen Tim? He’s fixing the sizing sheet and I can’t find him anywhere!” 

“Did you try his office?” 

Marinette’s jaw dropped. “Tim has an office?! Since when?” 

“Since always? Are you okay? You look like you could use a nap…or at least a cup of coffee.” 

Marinette groaned. “No naps! No more coffee! My heart is just a hum now anyway! I haven’t been able to sleep the last few days and last night I didn’t sleep at all. I got this weird phone call—“ she stopped herself before she said too much. “Anyway, yes, Tim does have an office. I forgot.” 

“And he’s always so good at emails, you never need to talk to him. I know. We had this same conversation last week.” 

Marinette groaned again as she covered her face in shame. “Why is Mr. Agreste doing this to me?” 

“Speaking of Mr. Agreste, have you gotten any answers from him today? I’ve sent three emails and he’s not responding at all. Apparently Tim’s having the same problem with Adrien.” 

“I haven’t heard a thing from the manor. Not Gabriel, not Adrien, not even Nathalie. We’re supposed to have a meeting at 2, but I haven’t heard if that’s still on.” 

“Doesn’t Adrien usually come into the office on meeting days?” 

“He did…I don’t know what's up with him. He was being super cagey with me yesterday when I went to talk to him.” She sighed, hunching her shoulders. “I’m worried.” She didn’t disclose the truth of the conversation, that Adrien had effectively ended their friendship. It was too painful, but too fresh to ignore. 

“I’ve been working here since Emilie was still around. Gabriel went through a huge personality shift when she disappeared. Maybe Adrien takes after his dad? Maybe something happened?” 

“Ugh, don’t talk like that, I’ll just worry more!” An alert beeped from her phone, letting her know she had an email. “Ah! An intern’s job is never done! See you later!” 

“Good luck, Marinette!” Jill called. After she left, she added, “you’re going to need it.” 

At two o’clock, the department heads and designers all came together in the conference room. Marinette set up her laptop to the screen and had the presentation open, as well as the Skype call to Gabriel. 

He had yet to join the session, but it was still a few minutes before the meeting officially began. 

“I see you’re wearing shoes now,” said Jill. 

“I don’t know if I could handle the ridicule from Mr. Agreste if he saw me bare foot in the conference room.” Marinette chuckled weakly. 

“As if Gabriel would ever reprimand you,” said someone else. “He adores you.” 

“That must be why he took a vacation and told no one,” she laughed again. Was her filter fading with all this sleep deprivation? Probably. 

Finally, the call started, but Nathalie took the helm instead. 

Before questions could be asked, she announced, “I’m afraid this meeting must be postponed.” No ‘hello’, no ‘thank you for your patience and hard work’. It was enough to make Marinette snap in all of her exhaustion and emotional turmoil. 

“Nathalie, with all due respect, everyone is here and ready to go. Why isn’t Gabriel ready?” She huffed. 

Nathalie glanced away from the camera, a tell that she was about to deliver a great blow. “Mr. Agreste is deceased.” 

The room went silent. Someone dropped a pen. 

Marinette fell into a chair, feeling like the ground was shaking under her. 

“Early this morning, both Gabriel and Adrien passed away. A joint visitation and funeral will be held at the manor on Friday evening and Saturday morning, respectively. Everyone is invited, but it’s not mandatory, of course.” 

Marinette couldn’t swallow the lump in her throat; it was so thick. 

“The fall line will not be released this season. Two weeks paid vacation will be passed on as we prepare the new head designer to take Gabriel’s place.” 

Someone asked, “Who is the new designer?” 

Most heads looked to Marinette, knowing the answer. 

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng has been determined to be the new head designer.” 

She sputtered out of her shock. “What? Me?! No! Surely not! I’m just an intern!” 

“Intern to the head designer,” someone clarified. “We all knew you were going to be hired as his assistant soon. It was obvious.” 

“But—but—“ she stammered. It was rather obvious, thinking about it. Gabriel was just waiting for her to secure that college degree to make it official. “I can’t! I just—“ Without any preamble, tears burst forth and rolled down her face. 

Adrien was gone. 

Her best friend. The love of her life. Without a goodbye, and on such horrible terms. 

Screw the responsibilities, the job title didn’t matter. She didn’t care at all.

Several arms wrapped around her, her coworkers, her friends, comforting as best as they could. 

“No one is expecting you to jump right in,” Nathalie explained. “You were quite close to both of them.” 

“What about you?” Marinette rasped out. 

“I had my moment earlier. I’m in business mode now. If anyone would like more details, please reach me privately.” 

And she left. Like a whirlwind, leaving destruction in her path. 

“Can you get home on your own?” Someone asked Marinette. 

She thought she confirmed affirmative, but someone led her from the room with an arm around the shoulder. Maybe it was Tim. She didn’t really know. She didn’t really care. 

When she arrived home, she dropped her purse on the floor. Where were her other bags? At the office? Oh well, didn’t matter now. 

Nothing mattered anymore.

“Girl, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.” 

Alya and Nino were home, they were here and alive, and they didn’t know. 

They didn’t know and she had to tell them. 

“He’s gone,” She whispered.

“Who?” Asked Alya, resting a comforting hand on her arm. 

“Adrien…he—he’s dead.” 

“…what?” Nino squeaked out. “H-how? Why?” 

“I don’t know…he and Gabriel—“ she stopped and flexed her hand. Her phone was still in her hand. It held answers. 

She called Nathalie on video. 

“Hello Marinette. I’m glad to see you made it home safe. I was worried.” 

“What happened?” She blurted. “Nino and Alya know that he died. What happened?” Because there had to be a reasonable explanation. 

Nathalie’s face morphed from serious business to pain and pity. “Are you sure you want to know?” 

God, with a preamble like that, it couldn’t be good. Not painless like Carbon monoxide poisoning in their sleep, and not instant like a car accident. 

“Please Nathalie, I have to know.” 

She breathed shakily and admitted, “it was a murder-suicide, as enacted by Adrien. He first stabbed Gabriel, and then himself.” 

“Augh!” Marinette sobbed out. It was an ugly sound that couldn’t be controlled or silenced. 

“I’m sorry. I wish I could lie…but I can’t. Adrien had been acting strange lately…I think Gabriel knew this was going to happen.” 

“No! You’re lying!” Marinette yelled. “Adrien loved his father! He would never—he’s not like that!” 

“Marinette, I saw them. Adrien was obviously deeply disturbed.” 

“SHUT UP!!” She ended the call and dropped the phone on the floor. 

Then she looked to her friends, who were both bawling like her. Nino moved first and pulled her into a tight hug. Alya came around the other side, crushing her in a Marinette-sandwich. 

“You’re right, he wouldn’t do that.” Alya offered. “But they’re both gone, so we can’t prove anything.” 

“If Nathalie didn’t tell the office, then the truth might never come out,” Said Nino, nodding in reassurance. “Only the four of us will have any idea.” 

After a long time, numbness started to set in. There was a degree of disbelief in her still, where she may have heard it, but she didn’t see it. 

That left room for doubt. 

Without a word, she took her phone from the floor and wandered back to her room. 

After the door closed, Tikki appeared. “Marinette…” 

But she wasn’t listening. She was staring at her phone screen, like she was trying to solve a puzzle. 

Then she started a call. 

It rang and rang and rang and rang…

“Hey there, it’s Adrien, I’m not available to answer right now. But leave me a message or shoot me a text, and I’ll get back to you. Hope you have a great day!” 

The phone beeped. 

“Adrien,” she sobbed. “Adrien I know—goddamnit this sucks. I’m too late. I love you so much, and I’m too late. I wish I told you sooner. Even last night when you called—I’m sorry I didn’t know you were struggling. I’m sorry I didn’t know how to help you. I loved you so much and I couldn’t save you and I’m so sorry…” 

“Marinette…” Tikki tried to tell her to stop. 

“This is the closest I could get to telling you. And you’ll never hear it and—“ 

The phone beeped again, signaling the end of the recording. 

She saved it, and set the phone down. 

“Marinette…” 

“What is it, Tikki? What’s so important?” 

“I have to tell you something…but it’s really really bad.” 

“Well, hit me with it. Today is literally the worst day of my life.” 

“Adrien…well, he was Chat Noir.” 

As if the day couldn’t get any worse. 

“What?” 

“Chat Noir. He was Adrien.” 

“But—but he can’t be. You must be confused.” 

“Marinette, he literally wore the earrings before.” 

“I KNOW!” She screamed. “But you have to tell me he's someone else! Because I can’t lose both of them! I can’t do it Tikki!” 

“I know it hurts. You two were literally soul mates. The Ladybug and Black Cat always are.” 

“You’re not helping!” She sobbed. 

“I know, I’m sorry.” 

Tikki allowed Marinette to sob for a while, letting her anguish spill out of her. Tikki just kept watch for the Akuma that never came. 

“You know what you have to do next, right?” Asked Tikki. 

“What?” 

She sighed. “You have to go to the visitation and take back the ring.” 

“I can’t do that!” Marinette cried, horrified. “I can’t! There’s no way!” 

“We’ll he can’t be buried with it. You have to, Marinette.” 

Marinette crawled into bed, still fully clothed and wept and wept and wept until her tears burned her cheeks and exhaustion took hold.

--

All the chapter titles are songs from my spooky halloween playlist that inspired this fic (and their lyrics will be in the chapters)! You can find that playlist here. The playlist will be updated as the fic goes on.

[guardiankarenterrier]

Ladybug and Chat Noir for K please?

(on the edge of consciousness, for this ask meme) (also on ao3!)

Marinette’s tried not to fall asleep transformed, and she’s been mostly successful.

It’s not like she wants to go ahead and take a nap during a battle, after all, and right after one- okay, she might want to right after one, but their timers mean that’s a definite no.

The only time it would ever be a possibility is on patrol, and finding somewhere to sleep instead would not only defeat the point of patrolling, it would leave her vulnerable in a way she doesn’t like.   She knows she’s a heavy sleeper and she’s not sure that the magic in their Miraculous can counteract that.

So no matter how tired she might be, she doesn’t sleep without detransforming first.

She’s never even thought to ask Chat Noir if he does the same.  She knows he can be less cautious than her (she’s joined him on enough dares that she can’t entirely lay claim to caution for herself, but he’s definitely worse), but she still hadn’t thought he’d risk sleeping as Chat Noir.

She wants to say ‘and out in the open,’ but he isn’t, exactly.

Though the tiny grove of trees he’s tucked himself into certainly wouldn’t be enough protection for her peace of mind.

She’d stumbled over him, literally, while exploring- while patrolling the park herself.  They’re well away from the main paths and between the way the tree’s branches hang nearly to the ground and the way Chat Noir’s curled himself up tightly between the roots of the largest of the trees he’s all but invisible.

The way he blends so easily into the dark doesn’t hurt, either.  Even she’d only picked up on the glint of his tail buckle.  The way he’s packed himself into a tight ball, tail wrapped around him like a real cat, hides even his bell from view.

It’s very late.  It’s later than Marinette would normally patrol alone at all, and it’s cold for this time of year, and she knows that Chat Noir always wants to keep patrolling long past when Marinette herself would have gone home but she’d still assumed he was going home.

And that defensive curl makes her uneasy.  She’s never seen that from him before.

Marinette doesn’t actually think about crossing over to sit down beside him.   She’s running a hand over the broad expanse of his back before she’s even figured out how or when she got to his side, watching as his ears flick and he comes to life at all once.

He doesn’t move, though. Not really.  Instead Chat Noir freezes for a moment, trembling in place as his ears swivel towards her and he sniffs once.

She wonders if he always shows more cat traits when he’s just waking up.  She wonders if that has anything to do with why he’s sleeping out in this hidden corner of the park.

She knows the moment he knows it’s her, because he relaxes all at once and lets out a heavy sigh that rumbles into a purr near the end.  "My lady.“

"Hey, minou,” she returns, forcing more amusement into her voice than she actually feels.  "Weird place for a catnap.“

He doesn’t answer her.  As soon as he heard her voice, he shrugged himself more comfortably into her hand on his back, tucked his tail against his chest so that the only metal that could possibly glint and give him away was on his ears, and went back to sleep.

Marinette’s a lot more worried now.  

But for Chat to so easily fall back asleep means he must be exhausted.  She doesn’t want to wake him unless she has to, not even for answers, not when he only barely woke at her touch.

She doesn’t think he ever even opened his eyes.

She moves, wincing at the sleepy whine that pulls from her partner.  She checks, but he’s not any more awake than he was before- his eyes are the barest bit slitted now, but if he truly woke at all he drifted off again immediately.

She runs through the day in her head, but it’s been quiet, at least as far as their job goes.  There haven’t been any akuma today, though Marinette had seen a couple close calls before she or someone else had intervened.  It’s a relief that most of her class has caught on by now that if they can cheer someone up quick enough they can prevent an akuma successfully latching on.  Not surprisingly, Rose and Adrien are the best at it, but Nino and Alix and Mylene have all gotten good about knowing how and when to intervene too.  Alya tries, but her timing tends to be slightly off, so she’s better at helping Nino than she is at catching someone’s mood herself.

It’s saved Marinette a lot of stress recently.

She’d have thought it might be doing the same for Chat Noir.

Today has been kind of weird.  There’s some kind of bug going around, so it feels like half the class is taking turns being sick at any given time, and no one’s seen Adrien in days- Nino had thought that he was sick too, especially since Nino had been one of the first people both to catch it and to recover, but then he’d heard from the Gorilla that Adrien had been in photo shoots the whole time.

That the Gorilla both has and uses Nino’s number is a surprise to everyone else.

That they have to keep an eye on Nino for the rest of the day so that he doesn’t get akumatised is… less of a surprise. He’s not exactly quiet about his opinions on Adrien being pulled for a days long shoot with no warning, and Mylene’s suggestion that maybe Adrien’s father is just trying to avoid Adrien getting sick doesn’t do a lot to help.

It does enough to avoid a butterfly, though.  Barely.

Between so much of the class falling ill, Chloé declaring that she’s not attending class until everyone quits sneezing and coughing everywhere, and Lila’s sudden suspiciously-timed impromptu vacation out of the country most of their teachers had given up on teaching for the day.   Mme. Mendeliev had tried, but it had quickly become apparent that uncontrollable sneezing and open flames did not mix well, so even her lesson had been put on hold in favour of a video.

Resettling herself closer to Chat Noir and resting her whole arm across his back this time, Marinette frets as he sighs again and presses into her.  She’s been unaffected enough that she’d given in and asked Tikki if her Miraculous insulated her from illnesses, and after a lot of dancing around the subject Tikki had admitted that the Ladybug Miraculous could help prevent less serious illnesses.

"It won’t always help,” Tikki had warned her, perching on her pillow and looking up at her with anxious eyes.  "You can’t rely on it, Marinette, it won’t always work.   That’s why I didn’t tell you.“

"I won’t, Tikki,” Marinette had promised back, cupping her hands around her kwami and bringing her close.  "I was just curious.  It’s good to know that Chat Noir and I have some resistance, at least.“

Looking back, Tikki had hesitated at that.  Looking back, Tikki had never said anything about the Black Cat Miraculous at all.

Chat Noir sniffles in his sleep before nestling closer to her.

Marinette sighs and resigns herself to keeping watch for him for the rest of the night.  She’s not going to ask him what he’s doing out here, but she’s definitely going to scold him for sleeping outside when she’s increasingly sure he’s caught the same thing that’s been going around recently.  He should be resting in a warm bed somewhere, not out here hiding in the trees.

But he is hiding.  She’s sure of that.  He’s also clearly not hiding from her, and she can’t ask him what he is hiding from, but it sends a terrible shiver through her that he felt the need to hide before he could rest at all.

If he’s that wary, he’s likely to get a much better rest if she stays with him.

At least, that’s what Marinette reasons with herself as she makes herself comfortable and waits for dawn, leaning into the soothing warmth of her partner’s side and wilfully ignoring Tikki’s warning that her Miraculous’ protection isn’t foolproof.

(Marinette’s the next of their class to fall ill, but she can’t regret staying).