#The other day I watched a Marinette bashing video how they hate her for being jealous of Kagami
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I hate it that whenever I hear a Marinette stan it's always "she's not perfect but she's amazing and she's trying and she's always leaning towards the better and she's getting better and better" - which is how I feel and how they say it in the show too and it's totally ok and true, but for every other character the fans are always like "the most perfect character ever, the best and the only normal character ever in this show", and it sucks cuz no one in this show is perfect nor normal nor flawless and they've all made mistakes and I'm tired of pretending that Marinette is the only one for whom we can say so cuz you don't seem like real stans to me. You either accept both character's wrongs and rights and stan them for their rights only or you stan them for their wrongs only (which is something you do for villains mostly). But I'm sick whenever I hear someone turning a character into a saint who's never done anything wrong just because they like them. Every character is in their story and they do things that are right or wrong in their story and that's how it is. They all fight for their places and you don't have to love them all but stop acting like your favourite is immaculate and everyone else is bad.
#It took Adrien stans too long to understand this also Kagami stans are never gonna understand this they're perfect my ass#Their parents say they're perfect cuz they are feathers#The other day I watched a Marinette bashing video how they hate her for being jealous of Kagami#And I said as if Kagami wasn't jealous nor a bad girlfriend#And one chick was like oh c'mon that was seasons ago#And I said and this was seasons ago too and Marinette stopped being jealous way before Kagami was but I don't see you mentioning this#The double standards here#When they say I hate Lila for being a crazy bitch but I love FĂŠlix cuz he's a crazy bitch unlike Lila who's only a crazy bitch#Or like why can't y'all embrace ChloĂŠ as a whole instead of turning her into a flawless saint#She's abused she had good and bad moments she chose evil in the end why can't y'all stan her for being complicated#Also Luka stans wow he's so perfect wow leave me out of this#No one is perfect here why can't you accept that#You stan them all you want but saying they are absolutely flawless is sick knowing that no one is and Marinette is the only one#Who got that title that's cuz y'all don't like her and want her to be less than your favourite#miraculous ladybug#Ml fandom salt
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Why Adrien is Better off Gay/Bi/Pan || Miraculous, Why?
(Before I begin, note that this is my opinion over the topic and am no way am bashing anyoneâs love for the ship and/or character. I respect who and what you like, therefore expect the same courtesy. However, if this is something you cannot handle, please click the back button as this will be a heavily discussed topic. No flames allowed. Other than that, enjoy.)
Iâm afraid I have to address the elephant in the room. Of how the hetero pairings for Adrien are about as real as Twilight. Sometimes it makes me wonder if Thomas Astruc looked at the ships in the end of Naruto and though⌠makes sense? Thatâs a long shot convo for another day.
Iâm going to take the time in this chat to discuss why each female who has an interest in Adrien has no chance of having a healthy relationship with him and to why male characters have better chances! Letâs look at the girls one by once.
Lila: Letâs start with the obvious. Lila is clearly not interested in Adrien for his personality, but merely for the good looks and fame. She really hasnât demonstrated any behavior that she cares for him genuinely and hangs off of him constantly as a possession. Itâs clear Lila sets her eyes on Adrien because heâs famous, popular and wants him as a trophy husband. Lila is pretty toxic on her own to go so far as to sneak in and stalk Adrien. Whatâs worse is that she now has Gabrielâs permission to do so. If he were to be paired with Lila, itâll break him and be nothing but hell.
Chloe: While it shows itself that Adrien has only platonic feelings for Chloe, she still hopes for something more. Adrien cares deeply for Chloe because he was her first friend, though itâs obvious Chloe wants more. Though Chloe has a mean streak and a possessive behavior where she tends to be cruel to people aside from Adrien and expects to get away with it every time. With the behavior she gets from being spoiled and trying to live up to her mother, would it be farfetched to say a future marriage between these two would be like Audrey/Andre? I donât think so. Plus, she forgets his birthday. What kind of friend does that?
Kagami: Not going to lie, out of all the pairs, Kagami does have the most potential to be paired with Adrien. She meets him through fencing, they get time to know each other and they slowly start to grow as friend. However, that just about ends when it comes to such as Kagami is another girl who takes it a step too far. Like Chloe, Kagami follows too much in her motherâs footsteps and also is overly aggressive and competitive. She looks to quickly claim Adrien because theyâre âperfectâ, which is a word Adrien hates a lot under his façade. Sheâs gets possessive around other girls near Adrien and moves too quickly, also forcing Adrien to make his decisions as if he doesnât have the time to decide.
And lastâŚ
Marinette: Marinette⌠in a way is a small combination of the girls combine. No doubt sheâs sweet, shy and tries help at times when matters. BUT sheâs also obsessive, possessive, and hypocritical. Things a potential yandere usually becomes. She invades Adrienâs privacy, stalks him, and steals from him more so than Lila. She doesnât mind crossing boundaries as far as doing illegal acts such as breaking into his locker, copying his schedule? How even. She also tried to confess to Adrien on the day his mother disappeared/died which is a time for MOURNING and COMFORT! She also has no problems calling other people out on this behavior, yet she does the same things. Hypocrisy is never a good color to wear.
Not to mention she only is âin loveâ with one side of him. As Ladybug, which is important, she tends to put him down as Chat Noir, doesnât give him proper respect in public and doesnât include him with important matters, especially with Master Fu. She treats him as his sidekick rather than his partner and leaves him in the dark. She thinks of herself as Batman and him Robin. If you read the comics or watch some of DC shows, you know how well THAT goes. Marinette cannot love Adrien without loving and respecting him as Adrien AND Chat.
Granted, sheâs not the only girl who treats Chat badly, but she is supposed to be his âpartnerâ so⌠yeah.
For these girls it wouldnât make sense. Not to mention at least once, the girls tend to make Adrien uncomfortable holding him on his arm and such. They donât act like they care of Adrienâs well being at all (except for Kagami sometimes), but make him to be some prized to be won. Forced shipping is toxic shipping.
I can gladly blame the poor writing on the show, but pretty much it did itâs damage enough for me to say I cannot or will not romantically ship these girls with Adrien. If there were potential girls, girls like Rose, Juleka heck even Alix, but itâs safe to say thatâs out of the question.
You know who DOES have the more potential, though? The boys.
Yes. As we take a chance to look at the friends he bonds with, its easy to say Adrien is more comfortable around the guys. The party before it was crashed, the video game tournament, these are just a few that arenât shown often but do show more of Adrienâs comfort level. What guys you ask?
A perfect example for a âfriends to loverâ romance would be Nino for example. He starts off subtly and gets to know Adrien from the start, not showing any animosity after the misunderstanding with Adrien and his childhood friend, Marinette. Nino also goes through lengths to help Adrien as far as to stand up to Gabriel to give Adrien a frigginâ birthday party! And got akumatized for it. Adrien also shows to go through the same lengths to help Nino hook up with Marinette so far as to set him up alone in the zoo. Nino is sweet, caring and he works well with Chat.
Another potential love interest (my personal OTP), Luka. From the get-go of how they met from a trip accident, Luka greets Adrien with kindness and welcomes him to the group in Captain Hardrock. In âDesperadaâ, that same friendliness still holds as Luka trust Adrien with his guitar, his most prize possession. Luka also does his best to keep Adrien safe and hidden away as Adrien returns the favor to save Luka from getting hit. Donât push me about the locker scene because there are MULTITUDINOUS ways of how I can make so many âIn the closetâ references. Also, that wink Chat gave, and the look Luka had? Need I say more? Good. And letâs not forget the icing on the cake and keep in mind to remember:
Adrien chose Luka to wield the Snake miraculous. ADRIEN, not ladybug, chose LUKA. Not to mention the fact, as Viperion, he was eager to work with Chat the moment they met and has nothing but good working with him as a teammate. Thatâs a bonus.
Many fans of the show try to depict them as rivals for Marinette, but only Luka shows that interest in which Marinette doesnât really accept because of her obsession with Adrien. To make Adrien âjealousâ is really out of character, but another topic Iâll cover.
Truthfully, it would be an interesting twist of all the girls pushed up against Adrien, he would turn around and go for the cute guitarist or starts talking about how cute the guy is! Tell me that Degrassi twist wouldnât add some good drama.
Overall, the show demonstrates so far that most of the girls for Adrien doesnât really possess healthy qualities for Adrien to have a good future. The boys give him a more comfortable understanding a gentle nature for a kid like Adrien. You could pair him up with Ivan or Max and Adrien would STILL have more chemistry than them. Note that heâs sheltered, and we have no clue off what other mannerism he was raised on or how truly strict Gabriel and Nathalie are. Hell, we donât even know how it was like when Emilie was even around.
But for any relationship to work, friendship before romance. Slow but steady at the pace both parties can go. People including Adrien, need that.
#ooc#the artist speaks#miraculous salt#miraculous ladybug#artist opinion#constructive critism welcome#flames are not#flame and be blocked#astruc salt#miraculous why
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Hi! For the ask game: 17, 28, 37 :)
(I'm so sorry I took so long, there's no excuse but I promise I won't take that long again. I usually try to be fast with asks. Well, here it is.)
17. Whatâs your favorite AU?
Ahhhh, this was a hard question because I donât really think about AUs a lot, canonverse really has everything I need. I think these days I like AUs where Adrien and Marinette are still Ladybug and Chat Noir, but havenât met as civilians. I adore the Love Square, but fanworks where this is depicted are so fun. Especially post-Hawkmoth defeat, since Marinette would have to work through the fact that Adrien is Hawkmothâs son. I love that. Kinda like The Bakery Enemies AU or this fic.
I also began to enjoy, more recently, universe fusions with other shows I like (Iâm lowkey planning a fic around this Bleach AU and I have the vague foundations of a My Hero Academia AU). Ah, and AUs where the main duo has different miraculous or itâs not even them (maybe because I think about permanent miraculous holders Pigella and Tigress Pourpree a little too much for someone that doesnât want any permanent hero other than LB and CN).
28. Whatâs your favorite scene?
Nothing has ever beaten the punch that The Umbrella Scene gave back in 2016. The music lives in my mind rent-free (as I type this I can hear the piano playing), Adrien opening up for what was maybe the first time was welcome back then and would be welcome now too, actually. Their dialogue was so sweet, the umbrella closing down on her, their laughter, Tikki and Plaggâs teasing. Adrinette invented love.
By this point, the only scene that could possibly steal this spot is Adrien and Marinette having a conversation post-reveal where they can be honest with each other.
37. How do you feel about Lukanette?
You asked this on purpose, you knew Iâm always down to rant about Lukanette. I was thinking that my problem with this ship is that itâs really boring, like Luka was until season 4 and then it hit me: maybe Iâm projecting my feeling for Luka into Lukanette? I couldnât remember many moments about them (they all ended up a mashed pile of Luka stringing him guitar with a âyou feel like thisâ). There must be a reason people like them so much! So I googled âLukanette scenesâ and watched this ten-minute video (and read the comments bashing Adrien, thanks ML youtube) and⌠Nothing.
I was right, Lukanette is boring. Sure, part is because I donât really care about Luka. His character was all about Marinette from his introduction to his akumatizations, it was obvious he was introduced just to be the love interest. Not even Julekaâs older brother, but Marinetteâs love interest (until recently in, like, Crocoduel and Wishmaker). Itâs a far cry from Kagami, whose first episode set her up as a character outside of Adrien and the following episodes made sure the audience and Marinette knew that. Sure, sometimes she fell back into the role of love interest and that was fine, I had Kagami moments outside of that where I felt like I understood her as a person. I didnât have that with Luka at all.
Also, I just think his interactions with Marinette just donât do anything for me at all. Thereâs no chemistry there, in my opinion (maybe just the Liesâ scene in the movie, I liked that). I donât like how Luka is set up as a cardboard cut-out of the perfect boyfriend, heâs always assuring her that heâll always be there for her and that he doesnât care if she gets with Adrien instead of him, which is just plain weird to me. He was presented as a love interest right away and his friendship with Marinette isnât developed at all, so him encouraging her to be with another guy strikes me as Luka not caring all that much.
In contrast, we have Kagami (I know this isnât about her, but she is my beloved and the comparisons are relevant here). She says she likes Adrien and that sheâs going after him, she wonât hesitate. Even after her and Marinette become friends and are after the same boy, they donât fight about it and thatâs cool. However, when Kagami tells Marinette she shouldnât hesitate or Adrien will be out of her grasp, it feels organic because not only is Marinette her friend, but she believes Adrien is in love with her. She isnât going to sit around, though, she wants Adrien and sheâs not going to talk him into being with another girl. It feels real and way more genuine. Even when she says sheâll wait for Adrien, sheâs clear about what she wants:
Kagami (in Frozer): The day you realize youâve got the wrong target, Iâll be here. (She kisses his cheek)
(Just wanted to add that yeah, Luka and Kagami have different personalities and that I donât mind him not being assertive. Itâs just that in the context, itâs iffy and not charming at all.)
Iâm not gonna say the writing for Kagami is perfect, far from it, but itâs much better than Lukaâs, which makes her and Adrigami interesting elements to the story. It used to baffle me that Kagami got hate while Luka was loved by a large amount of fans, but itâs just that she got a personality, flaws and all, and Luka didnât. Itâs much easier to hate the character you canât project on (Iâm not saying itâs just that, of course, thereâs always other stuff). Adrien and Kagami were on friendly terms first, so when we got them as a love interest, it felt organic. Luka was introduced as a love interest and stayed there.
On Marinetteâs side, there isnât much to say. He was always playing second fiddle to Adrien in her heart and even he knew that. Itâs hard to want her to be with Luka when sheâs so hung up on someone else.
(Here's the post if anyone wants to ask and/or play.)
#lukanette salt#luka salt#sorry lu/ka sweetie it had to be done#ask game#marry answers#miraculous ladybug#kagami tsurugi
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A Surprise Visit
This is a Lukanette fic, with majority of fluff and a lil hurt. Hope you enjoy! Havenât figured out how to use links yet but my Ao3 username is the same!
âDid you know,â Marinette said, twisting an ebony and silver ring around on her finger. It was one of Lukaâs and she rarely, if ever, took it off. When he went off to college and moved to Lyon, a mere two hour train ride from Paris, he gave her a couple pieces of his jewelry, his favorite hoodie, a Jagged Stone t-shirt, and a promise of returning. âThat I miss you?â
âYeah, Melody, I know.â The Musicianâs voice was clearly wistful despite. âI miss you too, more than you can imagine.â
âI think I can imagine it well enough,â She whispered back.
They were on a call, speakerphone allowing them to lay back on their separate balconies and star-gaze. The black spaces between the stars seems farther apart than usual, the moon more alone than before.
The distance felt longer than it was.
The days went by so slow, each hour lacking something and each night dragging on and missing a vital piece needed for good sleep. That wasnât a piece, however, but a personâ Luka. She wanted him closer, close enough to hold and laugh with and see that dopey smile he always had around her and blush at his sly comments and cheek-nuzzles after he kisses her forehead.
She misses the boy that, for the last couple of years, had become her best friend.
Alya was⌠supportive and an amazing friend but she just didnât understand.
Luka did, though.
Whenever she needed someone to listen without judgement or without trying to solve her problems for herâ to just listen, he was there. And when the musician needed someone to talk to him, to distract him from his thoughts and whatever was making his mind a too-heavy place to be, she was there for him.
He was her shoulder to cry on and who made her laugh and she was the same, holding him when his heart ached in his chest with memories it couldnât forget.
They were each otherâs rocks in an otherwise chaotic, always shifting tsunami of a life.
Marinette fully supported Luka following his dreams and going to college and getting a degree that will push him along and better his musical careerâ she just wished it didnât hurt so much to be away from him.
She had half a school year left before her time in Lycee would be up and sheâd be, coincidentally, going to the same university as him. It didnât seem to come quick enough, though.
They were both busy. Luka had gigs with his new band called the Silver-hearts of Serpents, practice, and extracurricular activities and she had to work on her designs for anyone who commissioned MDCâ the name on her websiteâ and they both had schoolwork and classes to attend to so that meant little to no time to catch up with each other during the day.
Thankful for being in the time zone, they tried to make it work and usually called before going to bed and when they woke up and texted in between classes or things that kept them on a constantly shifting schedule.
But it wasnât the same as just being able to go across town and curl up into their favorite personâs arms and just sleep the weight of the dayâs events away. It wasnât the same as laughing when stranded in a heavy downpour because neither of them checked if it was going to rain. It wasnât the same as chasing Andreâs Sweetheart Icecream around for half the day just to drop it from tripping over themselves seconds later even though neither of them believed in the magic behind it.
It just wasnât the same.
It wasnât fair either, Marinette decided, that the boy I fell in love with and who genuinely likes me back has to be so far away.
But she didnât tell him thatâ not when she knew it would make Luka feel even guiltier for leaving. They were each otherâs greatest support system and they always would be, and he didnât like being gone when she was handling so much.
That so much being Alya unable to understand that Marinette simply didnât like Adrien anymoreâ her falling for Luka and falling for him hard; falling for him in a way that felt deeper and closer than anything she ever did for her former crushâ and still creating schemes to get them together, to the point where it was getting dangerous and rather ridiculous.
She had homework, exams coming up, commissions, hours needed to help her parentâs in the bakery, other hours dedicated to helping friends, and being Ladybug and the burden that came with the earrings (not that, to her knowledge, Luka knew about).
To top that off, she dealt with a lot more frustrating people at Lycee than she did at Dupont, including belligerent teenage boys who donât understand the word no or respect boundaries.
So she really missed him.
So much so that it left her heart aching.
Only a couple months, she reminded herself. It would only be a couple more months till the summer. Till they would be at the same University (and sharing the same apartmentâ itâs less expensive and they always used to joke that theyâd make great roommates with how often they spent over at the otherâs place).
âMelody,â Luka said, voice deeper than before but just as smooth. âDid you fall asleep on me?â
âNo,â Marinette yawned, covering her mouth with a small squeak as she curled up and turned towards her phone, squinting at the bright screen that showed his contact pictureâ dopey smile and all. âI just got lost in thought, sorry.â
âItâs okay, baby.â He reassured and she felt her mouth tug up into a warm smile. She loved when he called her that or his other pet names for her, it made her feel special. âBut you sound tired and I know you have a test tomorrow morning, you should go to bed.â
âBut Luka,â She whined. âI want to talk with you more. I really missed you today and, and I have more things that I want to tell you.â
âCome on, my Melody,â He coaxed and she pouted. He knew sheâd do what he wanted when he used that stupid, attractive, comforting voice. It simply wasnât fair. âBoth of us are free tomorrow afternoon, remember? Youâre only going to watch Kitty Section practice then going home and I only have my own practice to attend to. Iâm sure weâll be able to talk after.â Then his voice got softer. âIâll always be here for you and Iâll always listen to what you have to say, but I donât want to keep you up when that risks your grades and, more importantly, your health.â
âI hate it when youâre right,â Marinette grumbles, groggily getting up and moving over to her hatch where she easily slipped into her bed and snuggled under the covers. âCan you at least talk to me until I fall asleep?â
âOf course, beautiful.â Luka agreed, making a sleepy blush to climb her cheeks. âAnything in particular?â
âJust about things that make you happy.â
âWell, I know this one girl and sheâs the most incredible person I ever met. She had amazing blue eyes and is a very talented fashion designer. Her smiles, man, her smiles make me melt andââ
âLuka,â Marinette giggles. âNot about me.â
âBut you make me the happiest,â He protests.
âSap,â She smiles, eyes closing as she laughs quietly one more time, head sinking into her pillow. âCan you⌠can you sing me something?â
âMhm,â Luka hums and itâs not long before sheâs falling asleep to the sound of her song, of the one he made for her.
That night she dreamt of two tattooed arms holding her and teal dyed, messy hair falling in front of aqua-blue eyes and woke up alone with tears staining her pillowâ Tikki offered her a warm smile and a pat on the cheek but it didnât seem to help the cold, lonely feeling in her chest.
* * *
The day had not been kind to Marinette.
She woke up with a headache, didnât have enough time for a proper meal but remembered to grab a granola bar after Luka texted her and reminded her to eat, got a pretty bad bruise on her wrist from getting it slammed in a closing door, tripped multiple times, and managed to ruin her lectureâs notes with her coffee.
On the brightside she kept Lukaâs hoodie cleanâ as today she decided to wear it over a simple white t-shirt and paired it with a black skater skirt, lace stockings, and combat booksâ and managed to not face-plant into anything by the time school ended and she was allowed to pack her things and start the walk to the boathouse to watch Kitty Section preform.
Since Luka was in college and lived too far away they had to find a new guitarist, just like Luka had to find new members to form a band.
Luckily Juleka mentioned Marc, Nathanielâs boyfriend and the writer to his artist, played the guitar and was really good at it so within no time they were back to practicing and finding a new dynamic for the group.
Luka got lucky with some of his old friends and formed his new band which was just as good, if not better, than his old one but that was only due to a lot of extra practice and more opportunities to grow.
Axel was the bandâs bassist, Bash was the drummer, Tyra was the back-up vocalist and keyboardist, and Luka was the guitarist, lead vocalist, and leader.
Marinette couldnât wait until she could see them perform live. Luka had sent her videos and recordings of their music and songs or just of him singing or playing guitar but she knew first hand that nothing compared to seeing it in person.
And she knew that, either way, his band would be amazing.
âMarinette!â A soft voice called from behind her, making the young bluenette startle and turn slightly on the sidewalk to see who was calling her. It was Rose, a sweet smile on her lips and she tugs her girlfriend along.
As soon as her and Juleka catch up, Marinette tilts her head to the dark-haired girlâs silent greeting and drifts to the side so the couple wouldnât have to awkwardly get out of the way.
âYouâre watching us practice, right?â Rose asks. Thereâs an energetic bounce in her step that Marinette canât help but to be suspicious of, and the slight smirk on Julekaâs lips donât help.
âYeah,â Marinette says, adjusting her purse to be in front of her as a group of obvious tourists cater to the side and almost crash into her, not wanting Tikki to get tossed around. âDo you know what you guys are playing yet? I heard Ivan mention something about revamping one of your original songs.â
âOo!â The blonde giggles, wide eyes excited as she starts to rant about the different things her and Ivan were brainstorming earlier to improve their old work.
Her girlfriend nodded and added a couple quiet things here and there while Marinette listened, pilotely following along with the conversation and her mind strayed to Luka and thinking about what he was up to.
No doubt working on his own songs, hanging out with his band mates as they practice.
âMylene is coming too,â Rose tells her and Marinette blinks back into reality, narrowly dodging a man skating with a yelped out apology. âSo even if you wonât be alone, youâll have company!â
âUh,â She pauses, racking her brain to know if she missed something in the conversation. âWhoâs going to watch the practice other than Mylene? Is Nate coming to support Marc?â
âNate?â Her friend paused her skipping to let out an excited squeal. âOh, you donât know! Wellââ
Juleka suddenly spun her girlfriend into her arms and pulled her into a kiss, causing Marinette to step away awkwardly but not retreat. Paris was a welcoming city and full of diverse and accepting people but there would always be that one jerk who had a problem with people loving other people and finding a problem if they happened to be the same genderâ so she would keep a look out just in case someone wanted to cause a problem.
When the pair of girlfriends broke away a couple seconds later, Rose seemed too flustered to continue or even remember what she was saying and the bluenette laughed at how smug the blondeâs girlfriend looked.
A couple minutes went by filled with light banter between the couple and an amused Marinette refusing to join a side before the three of them got to the docs and made their way onto the boathouse.
âThe rest of the band will be here soon and I want to be here when they do to ask Marc something,â Juleka says, a smirk just visible under the half of her face hidden by hair. âCan you do me a favor and grab me an extra sweater from Lukaâs side of the room, Marinette? I started to keep some of my things in there when he left.â
âUh, sure?â The bluenette nods, frowning slightly. âBut didnât he say not toââ
âOh!â Rose suddenly bursts, whipping around to face her girlfriend. âThatâs clever! Youââ
And then they start kissing again and thatâs Marinetteâs cue to go.
She passes Anarka on the haul and gives her a friendly wave that the older woman returns with a wide smirk that she now knows her daughter inherited and quickly went below deck and crossed over to where Lukaâs room was.
She grips her elbows with both hands, rocking on the balls of her feet with every step as she paces down the hallway, trying to hype herself up enough to actually go into his room.
It would be so⌠strange.
She was never in there without him being there before and it would be full of his things but the most important ones goneâ the wall of guitar picks packed up and now put up in his apartmentâs living room from what she saw from the video he sent, the little trinkets gone from the desk now bare, and his bed only having a bare mattress and the walls without postures or any pictures.
She doesnât know how it would feel but she knows that it wonât be good, she knows it will make the empty ache in her heart stretch all the wider.
But now sheâs in front of Lukaâs door and she doesnât have a choice.
Marinette took a deep breath and turned the hatch on the door, the metal giving a slight creak to it as she awkwardly used her bodyweight to open it, grumbling to herself as it hung heavily halfway openâ not noticing the group of three that were holding their breath at her entry from the middle of the roomâ and one of the sleeves that were way too big for her got caught in one of the crooks on the edge.
âAw,â Her brows furrowed and she pouted as she tried to tug the sleeve free, but of course the world was against her and she somehow made it worse. âMr. Sleeve, Iâve had a really bad day, can you please justâ ahah! Thank you!â
Freeing herself from the door, Marinette pulled the sleeves over her hands for better control of the jacket and twisted around to begin the search for Julekaâs sweater when she met a pair of vivid brown eyesâ eyes she definitely wasnât prepared for.
âEek!â Squeaking and startled, the young heroine takes a stumbling step back and ends up falling onto her butt, skirt thankfully in place and with her wide, blue eyes traitorously filling with water.
âOh my God, she fell!â
âShit, Bash, you scared her!â
âAw, thatâs a cute skirt. Do you think sheâd tell me where she got it?â
Came the voices of the three strangers that were now all focused on her, eyes pinned onto the girl that fell as she stared right back, a slow race of tears from the dayâs stress finally snapping trailing down her cheeks.
âW-Who are you guys?â Marinette stammered out, mind reeling and anxiety having already taken hold of her even before she noticed the trio, just noticing the sting in her palms and the burning heat of the ripped open skin. âYou, you shouldnât be in here, this is a p-private room!â
âIâm Bash Vulcan,â The guy with vivid brown eyesâ and the one who scared herâ had slicked back blonde hair, a thick black sweatshirt, ripped skinny jeans with converse, and a shit-eating grin on his face as he offered her a hand up.
She refused and just remained on the floor, not trusting her legs to keep her up if she stood at the moment. Feeling extraordinarily pathetic, Marinette just couldnât focus on anything besides her pounding heart. She defeated Akumas on a weekly basis but couldnât handle a couple strangers?
It made her feel so weak.
And those stupid tears were still falling.
âSorry this asshole scared you, he didnât mean to. Iâm Axel, by the way. Axel Jupiter?â The one who swore and reprimanded Bash gave her a sympathetic smile that she barely registered and waved at her, his light brown hair flopping in front of his face from where it reached his shoulders. He had a punk style to himâ and he said his name like it was supposed to mean something.
Maybe it was.
Maybe on a good day or with a slightly calmer heart Marinettte wouldâve placed who they are but she just came up blank. Blank and panicking.
The only girl in the Trio had a pixie cut that was a pastel green and a nose ring and anyone with eyes could tell that her style was gothic anad that she simply didnât give a shit by the tilted smirk of her lipsâ that only deepened as she pointed to Marinetteâs skirt and asked, âWhereâd ya get it, girly? Iâm Tyra Bellona, I guess since these idiots gave their last name too.â
Tyra. Axel. Bash.
Theyâre in Lukaâs boathouse. Theyâre in Lukaâs room. Theyâre in Lukaâs band.
The Band.
Luka.
âL-Luka?â Marinette sniffled, wiping away her tears as she sat up and winced at the way her palms stung, the broken skin and forming scabs still tender. âWhy are you guys here without Luka?â She asked, using the hatchâs edge to pull herself into a standing position.
It was Bashâs turn to look suspicious and he stepped closer and pointed his finger at her, eyebrows raised, âEveryone was supposed to know why and where. So who are you, huh? Whatcha doinâ here? Are you some crazy fangirl that snuck on board?â
âWhat?â The young heroine swiped at her tears again, voice slightly croaky as she took a shaky step back. âN-no! Iâm not a fangirl! I was getting a sweatshirt for Juleka andââ
âI smell lies! Whatâs your name? Donât lie. I can smell them. I can.â
âMan,â Axel throws something at the back of Bashâs head, making his bandmate back up. âLeave the girl alone, you prick. Look at her jacket? Look familiar?â
Tyra and Bash looked her up and down, the gothic chick laughing after a second before she shoves the latter in the shoulder with a cocky look playing on her features, âJust wait until Couffaine finds out you made his girl cry, Vulcan. I canât wait to see him flip his shit.â
âWait,â Marinette drew the attention back to herself. âLuka is here?â
âAw, he didnât tell her,â Bash snickered making Axel hit his gut before gesturing to the other door that leads back to the deck but on Julekaâs side, and explaining how Luka snuck up there thinking that âhis melodyâ wasnât there yet and wanting to make sure that his demon of a sister didnât get too smug and spill the beans.
Marinette tiredly, but with excitement running through her veins, dashed back through the hatch doorâ being quickly followed by the bandmates, because who would want to miss the drama?â and ran all the way up to the deck.
Anarka laughed whole-heartedly as she passed and yelled out, âGo get âem, lass!â that had her blushing up to her ears but she was simply too happy to care.
Luka was here! In hugging distance!
And the jerk didnât even tell her!
She saw Luka sitting on the couch, his guitar next to him and his leg bouncing with nervous energy. He ran his hand through his hair and tugged, an anxious look on his face as he talks to Rose about something, eyes closed as he grumbled.
Which was perfect because he didnât even see Marinette and didnât get the choice until she was throwing herself on top of him, legs on either side of his and knees tucked into his hips as she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face into his neck.
âOomph!â Luka let out a loud breath, eyes flying open at the abrupt weight settled onto his person but then softening as he saw the girl in his lap, his arms coming around her and holding her to him just as tightâ his nose nudging the top of her head as he took in her scent of chocolate cookies and vanilla. âMelody?â
Rose was squealing somewhere in the background while Juleka and Bash snickered, Axel cooing at them while Tyra complained about the disgusting gooey-ness but all of that lended into the background.
All that mattered was the two of themâ the fact that they were here, in the same space, breathing each other in, holding onto the other as tightly as they could.
All that mattered was them.
Not Julekaâs scheming falling into place, not Roseâs excited chatter or how smug his mom had been or how horrible the day had been leading up to this point. Just her and just him.
âNo,â Marinette mumbled, flexing her arms around him as she fully relaxed into him. âYou donât get to talk. You might forget to tell me something very, very important. Like, I donât know, coming back to Paris?â
âIâm sorry, baby.â Luka nuzzled his hand against her hip, rubbing his thumb in circles as he mumbled into her hair. âI wanted it to be a surprise.â
âI missed you,â She replied, forgiveness in her tone. âBut let me be prepared next time.â
âI will,â He kissed her forehead, putting the tiniest amount of space between them. âAnd you know I missed you too, right?â
She shook her head.
âLiar,â Luka tapped his fingers on her sides and dug them in a bit, tickling her and making Marinette giggle loudly as she still refused to move away from him. âYou just gonna stay there, baby?â
âMhm,â The young heroine hummed, placing a light kiss onto the edge of his jaw.
âDid you meet everyone already?â He asked. âAssuming thatâs how you found out I was hereâ seeing them, I mean?â
âShe met us,â Tyra cut in, a cackle in her voice that doesnât go unnoticed. âVulcan made her cry and scared her, she fell down and hurt her hands I think.â
âHe also then got all up in your girlâs face and accused her of being a crazy fangirl.â Axel oh-so-helpfully replied.
âTraitors!â
âBash.â
âOh, fuck.â The aforementioned boy squeaks out at Lukaâs growl. âDude, I am so sorry, I didnât know she wasââ
âWeâll talk later about it,â Luka brushed him offâ which, coming from a Couffaine, is never good as they are people who like to be blunt and solve issues as soon as possible. To delay it means that, well, you screwed up majorly. âMelody, let me see your hands.â
âNo.â Marinette grumbles, earning laughs from Tyra and his sister, who the guitarist quickly flips off. âIâm comfortable and itâs just scraped and I missed you.â
âGood luck getting her off in the next hour,â Juleka said, her hair pushed out of her face so when the young heroine peeked out from his neck she could see a sly smile spreading across her features. âMarinetteâs been whining about not seeing you for weeks and sheâs as stubborn as they come.â
Marinette flips her off, too.
âAw!â Rose giggles, bouncing on her toes. âYouâre becoming a real Boat Kid, Mari! Theyâre all adorably crass like that!â
âSays you, Rose,â She shot back. âIâve known you for years and youâve always sworn like a sailor so it was no surprise to me that you started dating one.â This got laughs from Axel and Luka, the latterâs chuckles she could feel in her own chest.
âHey,â Juleka said, wrapping an arm around her girlfriend. âLeave my Manic Unicorn alone, itâs cute that her favorite word is fuck.â
âI watched your Manic Unicorn swear out a teacher when we were seven.â
âI genuinely wouldâve paid to see that.â
âOh!â Rose squealed, a soft expression on her face. âI remember that, she was so rude! Mrs. Palanchi never did anything about the girls who bullied Mari. It made me cry.â
âAw, itâs okay. Marinette canât get bothered by them now,â Juleka patted her head and blew a raspberry onto her cheek that had her girlfriendâs sullen expression go all giddy again.
After knowing Rose for so many years, she knew the blondie was a walking mood-whiplash, so she wasnât really surprised.
âWait, wait,â Azel held up a hand, drawing attention as his eyebrows pinched together. âYour girlâs name is Marinette? I thought it was Melody!â
âNope,â The young heroine says. âItâs Marinette, you can call me Mari though. Rockstar here just calls me Melody.â
âWell then itâs nice to meet you, Marinette.â Axel did a playful bow, reminding her of a different boy in black. âThis prick was always shy about the details even when he could go on and on for literal hours about you. Whereâd you meet?â
âErmâŚâ
What was an appropriate way to say âhis room because I was having a breakdown over a different guy that I was in love with and we sort of just clicked from there after he teased me about my stutterâ?
âJules had her over to watch the band practice,â Luka, thankfully, cut inâ probably having felt her body tense slightly. âWe became friends after that and just got closer since then.â
Not as close as she wanted, as sheâd rather be a girlfriend than best friend but this was Luka and sheâd take as much as him as she could and love it until she didnât know how to anymore.
âWhen did you guys start dating?â Tyra asks, popping the gum that she just put into her mouth. âCouple years, right?â
Lukaâs silent for a painfully long second before informing, âWeâre not dating.â
Someone Marinette doesnât see who but would take a wild guess that itâs Bash as he starts choking on the water he had been trying to swallow and the other two bandmates start protesting their confusion.
Sometimes she questioned if Luka still liked herâ but Marinette had her fair share in experiencing unrequited feelings and she knows that this is not what that looks likeâ and itâs times like these that she hopes against hope that he likes her as much as she likes him because she fell and she fell hard and she canât be the only one who fell.
Not again, not this time.
Not with him.
The next hour passes by in a breeze. Mylene and Ivan show up with Marc and soon Kitty Section is practicing, the other band handing out advice and compliments where theyâre earned and Anarka drifting off to an unknown place to let the teenagers âcause mayhem as they pleaseâ.
Ivan and Mylene left early for a double date they had been planning with Alya and Nino and somehow they managed to convince Marc to drag Nate along so it was a group date.
Eventually everyone settled down into a circle around eight at night, having eaten and caught up or got to know each other better.
Marinette learned that Tyra was a little snarky but overall entertaining in the way she so passionately hated everything but loved to mess with Bashâ Bash himself was a bit of an idiot but a goofball and it made him loveable enough to forgive the scabs on her palms (Luka didnât agree with this). Axel was Lukaâs best friend and he was a generally sane person but he was fiercely competitive and loved to cause arguments.
It was the most fun the young heroine had in a while and the boy she loved was by her side, so what could go wrong?
âLetâs play Truth or Dare,â Rose giggled, turning to Juleka with wide, puppy-dog eyes. âOh, please! Can we?â
And like the lovesick fool Jules was she gave in.
Marinette knew something was either going to go wrong or horribly embarrassing from her by the wicked gleam in the purple haired girlâs eyes and, not even five minutes later (and after Bash was dared to drink hotdog juice), Luka got a dare.
Do Seven Minutes in Heaven with âhis Melodyâ.
Stupid Juleka.
But also thank you Juleka.
Whichâ after making sure it was okay with herâ he agreed to so it was safe to say all her nerves were on fire. And it absolutely didnât help that Tyra snarkingly called out, âIf you start bumping uglies, put on a sock on the door.â after them.
âOne of these days,â Luka sighed out as he closed his bedroom door behind them. âIâm really going to kill my sister.â
âIâll help,â Marinette giggled at her, though her face was still a burning red at what Tyra had insinuatedâ which they, of course, wouldnât be doing.
âSo,â He said and her smile widened at his semi-awkward tone, her hands bracing herself against the hatch as she watched the musician sit on his bed, twisting the bracelet on his wrist. âWhat now?â
She wouldnât say it was entertaining watching Luka be so nervous but it definitely wasnât something she saw very often so it definitely was amusing in some sense of the word. Usually she was the awkward one who didnât know what to do with herself, not him.
âWhat?â She raised an eyebrow. âYou donât know how to play?â
Luka gave her a flat look, âIâm in University now. Of course I know how to play seven minutes in heaven.â
âThen whatâs the problem?â
âBabyâŚâ He sighed. âDonât get me wrong, because I do want to kiss you, I justâ I donât think⌠fuck, this is why I have my guitar.â He grumbled. âWords are not my thing.â
âThatâs okay,â Marinette smiles at him, tugging his jacketâs sleeves down further her arms. âI mean, youâve seen my stammering. Weâll just not be good with words together.â
âTogether?â Luka questions, a slight quirk to his lips as his head tilted, teal hair obscuring his eyes.
âMhm,â She nods. âTogether. You and me.â
âI like the sound of that,â He smirks back at her, reaching slightly to tug her forward, the young heroine now standing between his legs. âYou asked if I knew how to playâ itâs my turn for the question. Want me to teach you how?â
âAnd you say youâre not good with words,â She sasses, a giggle falling from her mouth as Luka rolls his eyes and takes her chin into his hand, dragging her face down so they are eye-level, both of their eyes closing, and kisses her.
Itâs not a heated kiss, not one that had Marinetteâs heart racing but⌠it was one that made something slot into place in her mind, like something was missing before but finally found its way home.
As his mouth moved against hers, she leaned into his touch, hands fluttering through his hair and tugging as the strands, his own moving to cup the back of her neck and to the side of her jaw, angling her head for better access.
The emotions spilled out between them; the love they kept tucked into their sleeves, the joy, the passion and overwhelming amount of just⌠feeling safe and comfortable with each other.
It was by no means a kiss without soul.
Luka would go back to his university and sheâd be stuck here for another month, their lives were so different and they were busy. Marinette had the responsibilities with the Miraculous and he had his band and they both had classes and a future neither could write out a solid plan for no matter how hard they tried.
So maybe it wasnât the best timing, maybe it wasnât the best situation or the best reason to kiss or the best way they could have gotten together, by a surprise visit nonethelessâ but they were together.
And, at the end of the day, thatâs all that matters, isnât it?
#lukanette fic#lukanette#luka couffaine#band#marinette dupain cheng#ladybug#viperion#fanfic#lukanette prompt#surprise visit#hurt/comfort#fluff#angst
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Marichat/Adrienette: Serendipity: Fifty Marichat and Adrienette Kisses: Kiss Thirty-Eight
Read it on AO3: Serendipity: Fifty Marichat and Adrienette Kisses: ...because theyâre running out of time.
It was bad.
It had been an honest mistake, a simple oversight, but Marinette was now regretting it immensely as an akumatized Adrien fangirl tore the roof off the Gabriel warehouse where Marinette was doing her summer internship like the lid of a soup can.
Two days previously, Chat Noir had rescued Marinette when she got caught in the crossfire of the latest Gabriel Agreste-caused akuma attack. Unthinkingly, Marinette had rung his bell, called him her hero in a flirty, saccharine tone, and kissed him on the cheek.
One of the other interns (Marinetteâs rival Benoit) had gotten it all on tape as he took cover behind a clothes rack and posted the video online, the sniveling coward.
Of course, Adrienâs rabid fans were now calling for Marinetteâs head on a platter despite Adrienâs insistences that Marinette was not cheating on him.
Clearly this fangirl was a little slow on the uptake if sheâd only found out about and gotten akumatized over the quote-unquote âscandalâ just then.
âYou!â the akuma (Marinette hadnât gotten her name yet) shrieked like a banshee as she pointed threateningly at Marinette, flapping her harpy-like wings as she slowly descended. âIâll show you, you little hussy! The penalty for breaking Adrienâs heart is death!â
Marinette groaned, standing her ground and letting herself be a sitting duck to keep the akumaâs attention while the rest of her coworkers fled to safety.
âNews flash!â Chat Noir growled as he leapt through the hole in the roof the fury had created, bashing the akuma over the head with his baton like a baseball bat on his way down.
He landed in a crouch in front of Marinette, putting himself between her and the monster. âAdrienâs heart isnât broken, and heâs pissed that youâre harassing his girlfriend,â Chat snapped as he rose to his full height, teeth bared.
Marinette mentally noted that her boyfriend was really hot when he was worked up over protecting her.
The fury recovered from Chatâs little love-tap faster than expected, hissing like a feral cat as she dropped to the ground, denting the warehouse floor with her clawed, bird-like feet.
âYou and your lover will die!â the akuma screeched, pulling a cartoonish gun-apparatus off her shoulder holster and firing it at them.
Acting on instinct, Chat dove at Marinette, pushing her to the ground.
Unfortunately, it was a net gun, and the resulting net got a two-for-one special, trapping both Marinette and Chat Noir in one shot.
The harpy akuma cackled, slowly advancing on her prey. âI will sacrifice you both to Adrien, and then he will realize his love for me!â
âHate to break it to you,â Chat grumbled as he and Marinette struggled to free themselves and only wound up making it worse. âbut Adrienâs ninety percent vegetarian, and he frowns on human sacrifice.â
Checking to make sure Marinette was clear of his right hand, Chat shouted, âCataclysm!â, and the rope trapping them dissolved away.
âRun!â Marinette yelped, half pulling him to his feet as they took off.
The akuma screamed in anger, folding her wings and giving chase much faster than a bird of prey that large should have been able to on land.
âWe need somewhere you can hide while I lead her away,â Chat panted as they raced down evacuated hallways.
âStorage closet,â Marinette agreed, spinning on her heel and going back three doors to where they kept bolts of the three dozen hues of chiffon regularly used at Gabriel.
Just as Marinette managed to yank open the storage room door, the fury rounded the corner and shrieked, âThere you are!â
She dove at them, snatching them up in her talons and tossing them into the closet together.
They landed with a thud, bolts of fabric raining down around them.
âStay put,â the akuma commanded, shutting them in and piling debris up outside the door to make sure that they couldnât escape. âI have to go get Adrien so he can watch your demise.â
And, with that, the girl flew off to find her idol, certain that her prey would still be right where sheâd left them when she returned.
âMarinette? Are you okay? Did she hurt you?â Chat called desperately as he dug himself out of the fabric pile.
âIâm good,â Marinette groaned, shoving the blots of chiffon off of herself. âIâm probably going to be nursing some bruises later, but nothingâs broken or bleeding.â
Chat sighed in relief as he made his way over to her, helping to clear away the last of the fabric before assisting her to her feet. âThank goodness,â he whispered, pulling her in for a gentle hug. âI kind of flipped when I saw that harpy monster on the news announcing her manifesto to put you to death.â
âMy phone is in my purse in my locker, so I didnât hear the akuma alert,â Marinette sighed, thinking, not for the first time, that she needed to come up with a way to stay on top of akuma notices even while at work because this was becoming a problem.
âIâm just glad youâre safe,â he sighed, nuzzling her hair. âI was really scared.â
He shuddered even as he held her. His first thought had been of Marinetteâs lifeless body being presented to him by the akuma, and that was quickly followed up by the terrifying thought that if Marinette was gone, there would be no Ladybug to restore her to him.
âYouâre still freaking out, arenât you?â Marinette realized, wrapping her arms around him tighter and nuzzling him back.
He nodded. âI couldnât live without you. It would break me.â
âIâm not going anywhere,â she promised. âWeâre going to get out of here, and then you and Ladybug are going to purify the akuma. Everything is going to be fine.â
He took a deep inhale of her scent, letting it calm him.
âRight,â he breathed. âYouâre right. Everythingâs going to be fine.â
She held him a little longer until his breathing evened out, and then she pulled back, giving him an encouraging smile. âAre you ready to get us out of here, My Love?â
He returned her smile weakly and nodded. âOn it.â
âIâm honestly worried about Adrien,â Marinette sighed as Chat Noir squared off against the door. âHeâs probably going out of his mind worrying about the both of us. You and Ladybug need to stop Harpy Lady before she abducts poor Adrien.â
âWonât be a problem,â Chat assured, raising his right hand and calling out, âCataclysm!â
Nothing happened.
Marinette and Chat frowned in tandem.
âNot enough juice for a second Cataclysm today?â Marinette hummed.
Frankly, she was impressed with how his abilities had grown over the years. It was a little unpredictable, and it changed from one fight to the next, but sometimes he could get off two or three Cataclysms before having to detransform, and the five-minute timer no longer seemed to apply to him.
Ladybugâs powers, on the other hand, hadnât seemed to improve or grow at all. She still got one Lucky Charm and then detransformed five minutes later.
Sheâd asked Tikki about it, but that hadnât gotten them anywhere. Tikki thought maybe Marinetteâs stress was limiting her growth.
Marinette couldnât bring herself to be amused by the irony.
Chat Noirâs ring began to beep in warning, causing the hero to groan. âPlagg, it hasnât even been ten minutes. What the heck?â
âHas he not been feeling well?â Marinette inquired, a deep frown of concern etching itself into her brow.
Chat shook his head. âHeâs been his same old annoying, cheese-eating self. I donât know. Maybe Iâm the problem. I am kind of off my game because an akuma is trying to kill the woman I love.â
Marinette grinned, stepping in to give him a sweet kiss on the cheek. âAww. Thatâs kind of romantic.â
âItâs kind of annoying,â he laughed self-deprecatingly. âUnfortunately, this is my reality.â
She stepped back with an affectionate smile and turned to face away from him, closing her eyes and covering them with her hands. âGo ahead and detransform. I wonât look while Plagg recharges.â
He pressed his lips together, considering as his ring gave another beep.
âI promise Iâll keep my eyes shut,â she insisted, misinterpreting the cause of his hesitation.
He dropped his transformation and tossed Plagg a piece of Camembert.
Taking a deep breath, he stepped in, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend from behind.
She jumped, startled at the contact at first, but then settled back against him, enjoying the feeling of his bare skin on hers. She usually only got so much skin-on-skin contact during intimate moments, and the sensation now lit little flickers in her stomach.
âI love you,â he whispered into her shoulder, pressing kisses like a flower chain up her neck.
âLove you too,â she giggled, hoping Plagg would take his time with the cheese.
âMarinette?â he called tentatively.
âHm?â
âI love you, and I canât keep doing this anymore,â he confessed, making her suddenly go rigid as all of the happy, warm feelings vanished.
She swallowed hard. âW-What do you mean?â
âKeeping secrets from you. Lying to you,â he explained, nuzzling her neck and pulling her closer, his hand on her stomach.
âWhat exactly are you lying about?â she found the words to ask even as they stuck in her throat.
âWho I am,â he sighed. âI canât do it anymore. I need you to open your eyes and look at me. I need you to know who I am because weâve been dating a year and a half, and Iâve let this farce go on far too long.â
âChat Noir, no,â she stressed, pressing the heels of her hands harder to her face. âI canât know. Weâve been over this many, many times. Itâs not safe while Papillon is still at large.â
âMarinette, all the things youâre afraid of arenât going to happen,â he sighed in frustration. âI know youâre scared, and Iâm not saying your fears are unfounded, butâŚPapillon doesnât seem to be going away any time soon, and I cannot keep up this act for another month, let alone another year or more. Iâve always respected your wishes because I didnât want to force this huge burden on you without your consentâŚbut weâve passed the point of ridiculousness, and I need you to know now. I canât hide this any longer. I wonât.â
âMinou, donât be unreasonable,â Marinette coaxed. âIâŚItâs not safe.â
He turned her around to face him and rested his hands on her shoulders. âOpen your eyes and look at me, or Iâm breaking up with you.â
Her body gave a jerk, and her mouth fell open in a silent gasp of shock at his harsh words and no-nonsense tone.
âPlease,â he returned to pleading, taking her hands and gently pulling them from her still-closed eyes. âPlease,â he whispered against her lips, giving them a desperate kiss.
âPlease,â he repeated in a tearful, strained voice, getting down on his knees, pressing his face to her stomach and giving it a nuzzle. âPlease, look at me.â
He sat back on his heels, looking up at her plaintively, giving her hands an entreating squeeze. âPlease, Marinette?â
Her lips were quivering as tears slowly trickled down her cheeks. Her hands too were shaking even as he held them.
Gradually, her eyelids did part, and her gaze came to rest squarely on Adrien Agreste, a supplicant mess at her feet.
She pulled back, falling over backwards as her hands went to cover her mouth.
âA-Adrien?!â
âIâm so sorry,â he rushed to get out. âYou didnât want me to tell you, and then things got so messed up that I didnât know how to tell you. Iâm sorry, Marinette. Iâm so, so sorry.â
But she didnât hear him. She was too busy panicking and shaking her head and trying to come up with reasons why what she was seeing couldnât be true.
ââNo,â she finally responded, cutting him off as he babbled apologies and tried to explain himself. âNo,â she laughed just on the right side of maniacal. âIâve seen you two together. Iâve made out with the both of you. Iâve seen the both of you making out with each other!â she accused, desperate to keep her understanding of reality in one piece.
He shook his head and replied in a very small, brittle voice, âFox Miraculous.â
She blinked at him, not comprehending.
He gulped and tried again. âI used the Fox Miraculous to create a doppelgänger.â
She stared at him, hurt and betrayal flooding her senses. âYouâŚused the Fox MiraculousâŚon me?â
Adrien visibly shrank, his shoulders rising up to his ears as he responded with the smallest, most timid of nods. âIâm sorry. I didnât know what to do. IâŚâ He trailed off as she shook her head, her eyes cutting into him with the depth of their hurt and anger.
âHow could you?â she asked quietly, calmly, leaving him wishing that she would just yell and get it over with.
He had nothing to say for himself.
He didnât think sheâd react well to âHow could I not?â or âWhat else was I supposed to do?â
So he didnât say anything. He just sat there, looking at her penitently, waiting for her to get to the part where she forgave him and told him it was okay. He waited for her to say she still loved him.
He wondered if he should say it first.
That didnât feel right, though. He knew he still loved her, but he wasnât so sure that she still loved him. He wasnât good at fights. When his parents fought, they sometimes didnât speak for days or weeks afterwards. Adrien had never gotten to see how those fights were resolved, how couples made up.
When Adrien got in trouble with his father, the usual protocol was for Adrien to stand still and take whatever verbal abuse his father threw at him until Adrien was dismissed.
He wondered if thatâs what he was supposed to do now. Though Marinette seemed to be done talking. She seemed to be waiting for Adrien to say something.
Adrien had no idea what that something was. He didnât usually get a turn to speak when his father took him to task.
Heâd seen Alya and Nino argue about little things from time to time. They usually apologized, kissed, and made upâŚbut Marinette didnât look like she wanted a kiss.
âWell?â she asked, voice emotionlessâŚlike his fatherâs.
Marinette wasnât supposed to make him feel like his father did.
Adrien looked for Plagg, hoping his kwami might offer some assistance, but Plagg was nowhere to be seen.
Adrien was on his own, feeling very tiny, stupid, and not good enough.
âIâmâŚsorry,â he tried miserably. âI love you.â
She stared back at him and sighed, shaking her head as she got to her feet.
Was she breaking up with him? Did her shaking her head mean that she didnât love him?
The only thing he truly understood was the disappointment on her face. He was very, very familiar with disappointment.
âWeâre wasting time,â she decreed, scrubbing at her face with her hands. âIâm sorry. Weâll have to talk about this later. Iâll come over to your apartment. Right now, thereâs an akuma to fight, and you need to get us out of here.â
âR-Right,â he readily agreed, pushing himself up on shaky legs.
He tried to focus on the task at hand and not let himself think about losing Marinetteâs love forever.
âPlagg?â he called, uncertainly.
The little deity flew out from behind a stack of chiffon and came up to nuzzle Adrienâs cheek.
The affectionate gesture almost made Adrien cry, it meant so much to him.
âThanks,â he whispered in heartfelt appreciation before calling on his transformation.
Once the storage closet door and the pile of rubble blocking it was Cataclysmed away, Marinette was on the move, tossing an, âIâm going to find somewhere safe to hide. Iâll drop by your apartment after the attack,â over her shoulder as she went.
He tried to tell himself that her cold, distant behaviour was the result of shock. She was dealing with a lot of emotions, and maybe springing a reveal on her during an akuma attack where the akuma was trying to kill her hadnât been the best timing.
He tried to tell himself that it wasnât him. It was just Marinette panicking because thatâs what Marinette did.
Somehow, those thoughts didnât make him feel any less miserable.
 The akuma was purified, and, while that was all that truly mattered at the end of the day, the battle had been a clown fiesta that surely left Paris wondering what was wrong with its heroes.
They were a mess. Chat Noir and Ladybug were horribly out of sync, tripping each other up, misreading signals, and getting thrown all over one another by the harpy lady.
Everyone was just happy that theyâd somehow pulled it off regardless.
No fist bumps were exchanged at the end of the battle.
This was a little disheartening because Adrien took it to mean that Marinette was so upset with him that sheâd forgotten or didnât care that Ladybug shouldnât be behaving coldly toward Chat Noir because he wasnât supposed to know that Marinette and Ladybug were the same person.
 Adrien collapsed on his bed, arms spread wide as he let out a long, bone-weary sigh. âToday is the worst.â
Plagg came over and settled on Adrienâs chest, giving his ward a nuzzle and a comforting purr. âAt least nobody died,â he offered.
Adrien groaned, throwing an arm over his face as tears began to leak from the corners of his eyes. âIâm such an idiot.â
Trixx poked his head out of Adrienâs right shoulder and flew up to stroke Adrienâs hair. âYouâre not an idiot,â he cooed, trying to be helpful.
Usually he left these kinds of interactions to Plagg who knew Adrien better and was, therefore, better suited to providing comfort. Todayâs confrontation with Marinette in the storage closet had been particularly intense, though. Trixx could feel the way Adrienâs body had shaken and tensed and braced to be struck. Trixx could smell the stress hormones Adrien gave off, and he could tell that his holder needed more comfort than usual.
âIâm sorry Plagg and I didnât give you the best guidance,â he whispered his regret. âWe didnât help you handle the situation well.â
Plagg snorted, stopping mid-nuzzle to look up and glare at Trixx. âWe didnât do anything wrong. This is all on Tikki. Itâs her fault for filling her girlâs head so full of horror stories of identity reveals that went wrong in the past. Itâs Tikkiâs fault we got to this point. She knew Adrien and Chat Noir were the same person. She should have said something, told her girl it was okay to lighten up.â
Trixx couldnât help but think that it was rather ungenerous of him to throw his other half under the bus like that. He would have thought that Plagg would show more loyalty to Tikki. On the other hand, Plaggâs kitten was suffering and had been suffering for quite some time, as the Adrichat charade had been going on for about a year at that point.
Plagg turned back to Adrien, insisting, âKid, you know this isnât your fault, right? You didnât do anything wrong.â
âI didnât really do anything right either,â Adrien mumbled despondently.
Trixx kept petting Adrienâs hair in the absence of anything more helpful to do.
âDonât beat yourself up,â Plagg coaxed.
Adrien only sighed in response. ââŚAre we broken up now, do you think? Iâm not good at fights. That felt like a pretty big fight.â
âThatâs not what I took away from the encounter,â Trixx offered, mentally crossing his fingers that his understanding of human interactions aligned with the reality of the situation.
âKid, no,â Plagg assured, going back to nuzzling. âSheâs just upset. Sheâs not dumping you. She said sheâd be by to talk it over later, soââ
ââSo she can dump me officially?â Adrien groaned.
âI believe this is what that therapist person we saw the other day referred to as the cognitive distortion of âcatastrophizingâ,â Trixx remarked, trying to be helpful.
âWhat the fox said,â Plagg seconded. âYouâre doing that catastrophe thing. Stop that and go into your talk with your girlfriend with an open mind. Maybe sheâll scream at Tikki first and get all of her anger worked out before she comes here, so sheâll be able to think clearly and see that this is all her own fault.â
Adrien took a deep breath and let it out slowly. âYeah,â he replied half-heartedly. âMaybe.â
He felt bad for hoping that Marinette yelled at Tikki because, deep down, he knew he was in the wrong too, but he had a feeling that Tikki could withstand Marinetteâs anger better than Adrien could.
âJust try to stay calm,â Trixx coached. âWeâll deal with whatever happens when it happens, so thereâs no point in worrying about it now.â
âOkay,â Adrien mumbled, trying to focus on his breathing and the comforting caresses of his kwamis.
 Adrien woke to muffled voices coming from the main room about two hours later. Trixx was still curled up beside him, his head resting on Adrienâs shoulder, but Plagg was nowhere to be seen.
Adrien wiped the crusty debris from the corners of his eyes and sat up, trying to make out to whom the voices belonged. He rolled off the bed and onto his feet, going to investigate.
He found Plagg and Marinette in the main room of the apartment, hissing at each other in hushed tones.
Her complexion was splotchy, and her eyes were red. She looked a mess, but his heart still leapt for her.
Sensing their audience, Plagg and Marinette looked to where Adrien stood in the bedroom doorway, and Marinetteâs eyes lit up.
âAdrien,â she breathed, rushing to his side, wrapping her arms around him, and squeezing him tight.
Reflexively, he untensed, settling into her embrace and dropping his head to rest on hers, his face buried in her hair.
âIâm sorry,â she stressed into his chest. âIâm so sorry. Iâm not breaking up with you. Ever.â
âO-Oh,â he choked, beginning to tremble as an overwhelming wave of emotions washed over him. âGood,â he managed.
âCome here,â she coaxed, tugging him to the couch so that they could sit before their legs gave out.
She pulled back to look him in the eyes, gingerly cupping his face in her hands. âIâm sorry for how I reacted before. I was really upset, and there was a lot going on. There was a lot to think about and digest, andâŚâ She shook her head. âIâm hurt and Iâm angry and Iâm still upset, but I will always love you, even when I want to scream at you and slap you silly, okay? I can be mad and still love you at the same time, all right? Plagg wasnât sure if you knew that, so I wanted to make certain we were clear on that point.â
Adrien had to swallow and take several deep breaths before he was able to reply. ââŚI wasnât sure,â he admitted. âIâm not good at fights. I donât know how this works.â
She nodded, stroking his face and petting his hair. âThatâs okay. I know you havenât always had the best examples in your life, so⌠When my parents fight, things can get ugly. Sometimes they say things they donât really mean. I think everyone does that. The important thing is that once they cool down, they sit down and talk about what happened and what they were thinking and feeling, and they work together to fix the problem that started the fight. They say sorry, and they remind one another how important they are to each other, and then they try to learn from the experience and not make the same mistakes again. Ideally, thatâs how itâs supposed to work,â she explained.
âSoâŚâ He frowned as he tried to wrap his head around this new information. âYou said sorry and that you still love me. I said sorry earlier. Does that count, or do I need to say it again now?â
Marinette grimaced and had to remind herself that he was struggling to grasp this new concept, so she needed to be patient.
âItâs not quite so formulaic as that,â she informed gently. âThose were more guidelines than a script, butâŚPlagg told me how torn up youâve been about keeping secrets from me and how hard itâs been for you not being able to tell me who you were, soâŚI know youâre sorry. Thatâs the important part. I believe youâre sorry, so you donât have to say it again.â
He nodded, tentatively, still not quite sure of his footing. âSoâŚyou forgive me? Are we done fighting?â
She bit her lip, dropping her hands from his face to his palms as she looked away. âYes and no. Iâm stillâŚfeeling things. This is a lot to process, and Iâm still mad and hurt and upset, soâŚI need some time,â she confessed, looking back up at him imploringly.
He averted his eyes, shoulders inching up towards his ears as he began to curl in on himself defensively.
âOkay,â he mumbled, even though her answer wasnât the one heâd wanted to hear.
âItâs going to take a while for me to sort through things in my head,â she explained. âI still love you, and I still want to be with you, butâŚyou lied to me.â
He flinched but didnât bother saying anything to defend himself.
âLikeâŚa huge lie. For a long time,â she stressed. âThat isnât something Iâm just going to get over. It doesnât feel good to be tricked and betrayed like that, Adrien, so itâs going to be a while before Iâm able to forgive you. That doesnât mean I donât love you anymore, though,â she reiterated, wanting to make sure that he believed her. âDo you understand?â
He nodded, trying to make himself smaller so that he would, hopefully, shrink away and disappear.
This hurt worse than when his father scolded him. When he got in trouble with his father, it was usually for something Adrien had no control over. It hurt worse when he had actually done something wrong and knew his punishment was justified.
âBut weâre going to get through this, okay?â She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. âThis is just a rough patch. Weâre going to come out on the other side stronger.â
âOkay,â he whispered, trying to believe her.
It was hard because he had always been a screwup, and he didnât anticipate that changing anytime soon. He would always disappoint her and make her question the trust she placed in him. Heâd been doing it for five years now, and it made him wonder which time would be the final straw. He always felt like he was on the precipice of losing her forever.
When he tuned back in, at least a minute or two had passed, and Marinette was in the middle of saying, ââŚyou ever thought this was a good idea. I justâŚI donât understand. How could you trick me like that?â
She stopped talking and looked at him expectantly.
He looked up and blinked at her.
She frowned. âAdrien, are you listening to me?â
âIâŚâ He gulped. âSorry. I donât usually get to say anything, soâŚâ
Slowly, her left eyebrow drifted up toward her hairline. âWhen have I ever not let you talk?â she inquired in honest confusion.
âNot you. My father,â he informed. âWhen Iâm in trouble and heâs yelling at me. I donât usually get to say anything, soâŚâ he trailed off again with a shrug.
Marinette stared at her boyfriend as a cold chill walked its fingers up her spine. âYou feel like youâre in trouble and Iâm yelling at youâŚlike your father does.â
His shoulders rose back up to his ears, and his gaze cast around on the floor for something to look at instead of her. âThatâsâŚyeah. I meanâŚitâs a little different because you said you loved me, and thatâŚthat doesnât happen with my father, butâŚyeah. âŚYouâd think I would get used to being told what a disappointment I was,â he chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.
Marinette didnât laugh. ââŚYouâre not,â she stressed, taking one of his hands in both of hers and squeezing tight. âJust because Iâm disappointed in something you did, that doesnât make you a disappointment.â
Tentatively, he peeked up at her. âIs that anything like the saying, âYou are not your failuresâ?â
She nodded enthusiastically. âExactly. Just because you did something that disappointed me, that doesnât make it a part of who you are. It was justâŚjust a mistake. Human beings make those.â
âEven you?â he ventured softly.
âEspecially me,â she agreed. âIâm sorry, Adrien. I wasnât trying to make you feel bad; I just wanted to understand what had happened, but⌠What your father does to you is horrible, and I donât want things to ever feel like that with me. Say something next time.â
Taking a deep breath and finally meeting her gaze, Adrien asked, âWhen we fight, afterwards, do I get to talk about what Iâm thinking and feeling too?â
It hurt her that he even needed to ask.
She nodded, assuring, âI care very much about what youâre feeling and thinking.â
He blew out a long exhale. âOkay. SoâŚI donât get to make choices often. I mean, I do this past month now that Iâve moved out, butâŚmy whole life, Iâve just kind of had to do what people tell me. This past month is the first time Iâve been able to pick what I wear or what I eat or what I do with my free time, soâŚthinking for myself and making decisions on my own is a bit of a foreign concept.â
She had known that on some subconscious level, but now that he spelled it out for her, it was horrifying in a whole new way how tightly controlled he had been.
âI know you said you still loved me, even though you were mad,â he continued uncertainly, âbutâŚwill you still love me if Iâm mad at you?â
She blinked at him in surprise but nodded, assuring, âOf courseâŚbutâŚwhy would you be mad at me?â
He took a deep breath, gathering his courage. âUsually, when my father is scolding and punishing me, itâs for something that wasnât my fault. Normally, I keep my head down and take it without protest because I have no control over the situation, no say in what happens to meâŚbutâŚthis relationship isnât like that, is it?â
Slowly, she shook her head. âNo. Itâs not.â
He held her gaze as he continued shakily. âYouâre not my father. Youâre not unfair like that, and you care about what I have to say.â
She nodded vehemently.
âAnd itâs okay to fight with you because youâre not going to stop loving me,â he added and waited for her to confirm it, needing to be sure.
âYes,â she promised, internally bracing herself, even as she squeezed his hand tighter.
âOkay,â he breathed out shakily. âIn that caseâŚMarinette, Iâm kind of tired of always accepting the blame for things that arenât my fault.â
Her eyebrows drew into a frown of confusion as she tried to parse his words for meaning.
âIâm not trying to say that I didnât do anything wrong because I know I did,â he rushed to explain. âI never thought it was a good idea to pretend to be two different people. I never wanted to do that, and it wasnât like it was all fun and games for me. I hated lying to youâŚbut even though what I did was wrong, it wasnât entirely my fault.â
She pursed her lips, trying to figure out what he meant, if he was trying to blame Plagg for giving him bad advice or what.
âMarinette,â he called imploringly, eyes wet with the start of another round of tears. âYou didnât give me a choice.â
Her mouth dropped open in stunned disbelief.
âWhat was I supposed to do?â he pleaded. âIt all got really messy really fast right from the very beginning. I didnât mean to fall in love with you as Chat Noir. I didnât mean for us to get so close, but we did, and that wasnât something I could give up. You have no clue how horrible it was in that deserted mansion all by myself, always feeling like an impulse buy my father deeply regretted but couldnât return. I felt safe with you. Your house was always a happy, warm place, and you made me feel like I was worth something. I couldnât keep away,â he explained, praying that she would understand even a little bit where he was coming from.
He shook his head. âI couldnât stop coming as Chat NoirâŚand then I fell in love with you, but that day when I accidentally tried to kiss you as Adrien, you said there was someone else, and, I mean, that someone else turned out to be Chat Noir, soâŚI was just so overjoyed to have my feelings finally returned that I didnât stop to think that it was stupid to date you as a masked superhero. I didnât think,â he sighed, mentally kicking himself for the thousandth time. âAnd then I accidentally kissed you as Adrien, and you accidentally kissed me back, andâŚâ
He pinned her with an intent gaze. âRemember how I tried to tell you who I was that night? After the kiss in the library with Adrien, I came over that night as Chat Noir, and I was going to tell you everything, but you wouldnât let me. You said no, and I respected your choice because you were right; it is a really freaking big deal, and knowing my identity could potentially put you and the people you love in danger, and that wasnât something I could force on you. I respected your choice. Was that wrong?â
He stopped, offering her space in which to speak.
She took a measured breath and blew it out slowly, confessing, âI donât know. I wasnât operating with all the facts. I donât⌠I thinkâŚmaybe you should have said something.â
âI tried,â he whined. âI dropped so many hints, Marinette. As things got further and further out of hand, I kept trying to tell you. You always said no, but I kept trying. I let so many things slip, hoping maybe youâd figure it out so you could stop beating yourself up about cheating on me, but⌠Marinette, I even asked you as Adrien, âWhat if Iâm Chat Noirâ. I tried.â
ââŚYouâŚdid, didnât you?â she replied hollowly, image after image of him trying to tell her flashing before her eyes.
He nodded miserably. âThe whole dating myself thing was purely idiotic, but I panicked, and I just wanted you to stop being so distraught over quote-unquote cheating on me when that was mostly my fault in the first place for not being able to keep my hands off of you as Adrien. I was stupid, and I messed up, but I was just trying to make you happy. I asked you again and again to let me tell you my identity, and you were aggressively against itâŚso I just let it go. When you wanted Chat Noir and Adrien in the same room, I figured out a way to make it happen, and that was that.â
He shrugged helplessly. âI was going to say that Chat and Adrien couldnât find a time in their schedules that worked, butâŚyou were so excited for the three of us to all get together,â he groaned. âI couldnât let you down, and then when I asked Ladybug for the Fox Miraculousââ
Marinette paled, feeling incredibly stupid as she played the scene over in her mind.
ââI asked her if I could just tell you my identity, and she said no too, soâŚand then it just kept going for so long it felt like I couldnât say anything anymore, but today⌠This has been eating me alive, Marinette,â he sighed, sounding every bit as exhausted as he looked. âI couldnât do it anymore. Iâm sorry. I knew I was in the wrong the whole time, but I didnât know what else to do. Like I said, Iâve grown up my whole life with very little opportunity to think for myself and make decisions, so those are things I really struggle with. Iâm sorry, and Iâm working on it.â
âOh, Adrien,â Marinette cooed, pulling him into her arms. âIâm sorry. I can see why you didnât feel like you had a choice. Iâm so, so sorry.â
She tipped her head up, pressing her lips gently to his.
He leaned into the kiss, his heart fluttering at the contact.
When they pulled back, he gave her a goofy smile. âI was so scared youâd never kiss me again.â
âIâm sorry I hurt you,â she sniffled, stroking his cheek lovingly.
âIâm sorry I lied and tricked you,â he answered, touching his forehead to hers.
âIâm actually really touched that you put that much time and effort into trying to make me happy,â she giggled through the tears leaking from the corners of her eyes.
He gently brushed them away with his thumb. âIâm glad that thatâs worth something.â
âItâs worth a lot,â she assured. âYouâre worth a lot.â
A light blush spread across his face, and he smiled, leaning in to press a kiss to the tip of her nose. âI really, really love you.â
âI really, really love you,â she responded with a giggle.
They pulled back just to look at one another, smiles pulling their mouths wide.
ââŚHey,â Marinette remarked after nearly two minutes of gazing softly into one otherâs eyes.
âHm?â he hummed in answer.
âHave you eaten?â
Adrien frowned, trying to recall. âIâŚMaybe? I donât remember.â
âHe hasnât!â Plagg and Trixx called out in unison from the arm of the couch where they were watching the scene develop.
Adrien blushed, looking away sheepishly. âThanks, guys.â
âYouâre welcome,â Plagg snickered.
Ignoring the kwami of destruction, Marinette forged ahead with her plan, âWe should make dinner. How about I prep some salad for us while you brew two mugs of mint tea? Then we can snuggle on the couch while watching that one anime you mentioned the other day. Maybe even make popcorn. What do you say? I think we could use some low-energy bonding time after the day weâve had.â
Tears spilled over down Adrienâs cheeks as he nodded enthusiastically. âYou know just how to make me feel better.â
#Marichat#Adrinette#Adrienette#Miraculous Ladybug#Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction#Identity Reveal#Chat Noir Identity Reveal#Chat Noir#Adrien Agreste#Marinette Dupain-Cheng#Plagg#Trixx#Original Akuma#Kissing#Writing Prompts#Mikau's Writings#Serendipity: Fifty Marichat and Adrienette Kisses
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The Superfriends AU (part 10)
Damian was not having a good day. It was six in the morning, he had to be at Ednaâs photoshoot in an hour, he had left a perfectly warm and very cuddly boyfriend and large dog in his bed, and his cousin was rambling far too much for his taste. He sat out in the lobby of the floor their rooms were on, leaned back as far as he possibly could in one of the red chairs, his legs crossed, hands gripping the armrests. A scowl to rival Batman's resting on his face.Â
Marinette sat in the chair next to him, his laptop on the coffee table in front of them. The girl was hunched over typing frantically on his phone. She had kept it all night, which didnât both him much, he could go a few hours without being constantly updated on the Gotham Academy Class 1A drama. As long as she was keeping it charged.Â
The second half of the photoshoot the day before had been very interesting, his cousin spending every moment of every break they got on his phone. When he had a moment to check it at dinner he noted four unknown contacts, she labeled each of them.
First there was Sweetness.
Then there was Mighty Mouse.
One labeled Rock Vamp Opera.
And finally the one she had been exchanging the most texts with, Foxtrot.  Â
He waited for his cousin to finish whatever long text rant she was obviously on, instead he checked himself in the camera of his laptop, fixing his hair. He smoothed it back as best he could but without any product it was hard. Edna had forbidden him from gelling it till the shoot was over. The things he put up with in this family, really.Â
âWhat exactly are we doing?â Damian asked.Â
âWeâre going toâŚâ She trailed off, still focused on her texting. âVideo call some girls I go to school with.â She finished.Â
âAt six in the morning?â He asked.Â
âTime difference Dames.â She set down his phone. âOkay!â She pulled his laptop close. âThey just broke for lunch so Juleka should be logging on soon enough!â Marinette pulled up a web page browser, typing in the URL for Instagram. She immediately went to Damianâs account. He wasnât sure when his cousin had gotten his password, but knowing how much Dick loved to mess around on it, he had to assume she got it from him.Â
âOkay, Iâm going to change a few lines of your bio.âÂ
âWhy?â He asked, head falling back.Â
âWell, Colin takes over your instagram on weekends right?â She asked.
âWhen I see him, yes.â Honestly, Colin and Dick were really the only ones who posted on his instagram. It was clearly stated in his bio that Colin controlled his instagram on weekends, the fact that Dick was in control of it the rest of the time, was not mentioned anywhere. Â
âSo Iâm going to change this line, red menace takeover weekends. To something clearly stating your relationship.âÂ
âHeâs called my boyfriend in practically every post that features him.â Damian said, now leaning forward to see what his cousin was altering.Â
âYeah, but people are lazy, and donât want to dig. They want things to be obvious and loud so they donât have to put a lot of thought into it.â She grumbled. âTrust me, I know from experience, some of the people at my school literally have to be punched in the face and then kick in the nuts by the truth before they believe it.âÂ
âTry not to sound too bidder Nette.â Damian hummed.Â
âJust, prep yourself to give a good speech about your and Colinâs relationship. Weâre really going to need something that pulls right on the heart strings.âÂ
âBecause?â He asked, this whole morning was excruciatingly annoying.Â
âAre you going to use Rose?â Damian looked up, taking notice of two blonde Parisian teens standing at the entrance to the lobby. They both were still in what looked like pajamas, both holding coffee.Â
âThatâs the plan.â Marinette said, answering Adrienâs earlier question.Â
âDevious.â ChloĂŠ cocked her hip, taking a sip from her cup. âAnd relatively smart. Should be quite the show. Shame weâll miss it.âÂ
âSomeone could always ask nicely for their friends to record it.â Marinette mused.Â
âShould I text Nino?â Adrien asked, his face clearly stating how unsure he was of the situation.Â
âIf you want.â Marinette said, finishing her work on her cousinâs social media. âIâm going to give my crew a heads up once things are in motion. If you do text him though, let him know nothings happening till, most likely, after lunch.âÂ
âMarinette?â Her fingers stopped their work, her head popping up to look at Adrien. âYou sure about this?â He asked. âIt could be kind of...explosive.â His fingers tightened around his coffee. âWhat if it causes an akuma?âÂ
She gave him an understanding smile. âDonât worry Adrien, Iâve got contigonsies for that. Like I said a few days ago, Iâm playing a game of RISK, and you canât win the game if you donât capture any territory.âÂ
âAnd your about to clear the board form the looks of it.â ChloĂŠ smirked.Â
âSomething like that.â Marinette looked back down at the computer, switching back onto the video chat app and logining online. âBut the goal isnât to clear the board, not yet.â
âŚÂ
Contrary to popular belief nowadays, Mylène did not hate Marinette. She didnât even necessarily dislike the girl. But she did not agree with the brash and loud way she had been going about her problems with Lila. She found them rude and distasteful, and honestly, a little out of character for her once friend. She was sure Marinette didnât do everything Lila accused her of, at least half of the allegations had to be simple misunderstandings that the two girls could never figure out because they were always at one another's throats.Â
But try as she might, she just couldnât take Marinetteâs side. Lila brought up quite a few good points in regards to Marinetteâs character, while the Italian girl wasnât a saint either, Marinette wasnât quite the angel everyone thought she was. And some of her and Lilaâs fights were truly violent and horrendous to watch.Â
But she wasnât one to speak poorly of others, especially not Marinette. While the girls werenât friends anymore, and she didnât agree with what was now Marinetteâs additude, she still was nice to most people, even those who sided with Lila. And she did a lot for people, even when they didnât notice her good deeds.Â
Marinette had always been very eccentric ever since Mylène had known her. But this was probably one of the strangest things she had ever experienced due to Marinette. Mylène was seated on Julekaâs bed, Rose seated on the goth girlâs other side. They were staring at Julekaâs laptop, a facetime app opened.Â
Last night all three had received text messages from unknown numbers claiming to be Marinette texting from a friendâs phone. Mylène was sceptical, even after getting a picture sent to her, but Rose was curious and so was her other friend, so when they said they were going to be eating lunch at Julekaâs house so they could talk with Marinette, Mylène agreed to go along with everything.Â
âOkayâŚâ Juleka typed in the screen name she had been sent the night before, AmyrWayne05.Â
âWhat do you think she wants?â Mylène asked. âAnd whoâs phone was she texting from?â
âI donât know..â Rose crossed her ankles. âI didnât recognize the boy in the photo she sent.âÂ
âNeither did I.â Juleka said.Â
âI didnât even know Marinette was out of the country.â Mylène whispered.Â
âKim and the others probably did.â Juleka supplied. âI doubt she wouldnât have told them,â
âBut why didnât they tell us?â Rose asked, blinking innocently.Â
âI can think of a few reasons.â Mylèneâs voice was low, wondering why her boyfriend hadnât said anything.Â
âWell whatever they might be, weâre about to find out.â Juleka called attention to the screen name displayed on her laptop. The three girls watched as the smaller text underneath the name changed from offline to online. A second later Juleka was being asked to join a video call. She quickly hit except and the screen went black, loading until the familiar face of Marinette Dupain-Cheng was on the screen.Â
âGirls!â She said happily. âThank you so much for calling!âÂ
âYou said it was important.â Rose said, eyes a little down cast. The girls didnât exactly talk on the regular any more.Â
âIt is! Super important.âÂ
âSo, whatâs going on?â Mylène asked, wanting to get through the call as quickly as possible. She had felt weird all day, not telling Lila or Alya about the texts from Marinette, it was like she was cheating on them.Â
âOkay,â The bluenette let out a large breath. âI know you guys think Lila hung the moon-â
âMarinette I am not going to sit here and listen to you bash on her!â Mylène interjected.Â
âThatâs not what this is!â She waved her hands frantically. âI promise!âÂ
âIt better not be.â Mylène crossed her arms.Â
âI promise girls, itâs really not. I-just, okay, so I heard that Lilaâs been telling people that sheâs dating Damian Wayne. Right?âÂ
âShe is.â Rose informed. âTheyâve been dating for a few months now. Theyâre really in love and Iâm not going to listen to you say anything negative about their relationship Marinette.â Anyone who knew Rose, at least knew her well, knew that love was the thing she was most passionate about. She refused to stand for any sort of injustice involving the subject and would defend a couple till her dying breath, no matter how well she knew them.Â
âOkay.â Marinette said, voice low. âThen I wonât say anything.â She gave a sad smile. âIâll let him tell you.â The laptop suddenly shifted, the view changing quickly from their classmate to a good looking young man they recognized from the photo Marinette sent the night prior.Â
âHello.â He said, eyeing each of them carefully. âDo you three know who I am?â
âYour the guy from the picture Marinette sent.â Jukela answered.Â
âWould one of you please google Damian Wayne for me?â He asked, Rose quickly complying with the request. She looked up the famous boo of their friend on her phone, a small gasp escaping her lips as she turned the small screen towards her girlfriend and Mylène.Â
And there was the boy currently on Julekaâs laptop.
âYouâre Damian Wayne?â Mylène asked.Â
âThatâs what my driverâs licence says.â He said, but his tone made the three girls unsure whether it was supposed to be a joke or not.Â
âWhy are you with Marientte?â Juleka asked.Â
The boy looked to something off screen, probably the girl in question. âCan I?â He asked. He waited a moment before sighing. âIâm sure youâll all find out why later, but for the moment, all you need to know is that I am with her as of the current moment.âÂ
Rose gave him a strange look but didnât say anything.Â
âThis is why you wanted to talk to us?â Mylène asked. âTo tell us you were hanging out with Lilaâs boyfriend?â
âNo.â Her voice came.Â
âActually, Lila is why we wanted to talk.â Damian said.Â
âWhat about her?â
âSheâs not my girlfriend.âÂ
The three girls all went quiet, none speaking. His face was pensive, eyebrows nicked and corners of his lips pulled down into a frown. âIâve never even met Lila.â
âBut she said sheâs known you since you were very little!â Rose exclaimed.
âA lie.â He said simply. âI couldnât have known her from the time I was little because I was locked away in a compound till I was ten years old, and even then I was kept exclusively within the walls of Wayne Manor for another year before my father could introduce safely to the world as his ward without my Grandfather taking harsh and violent action.â
âShe said her parents were friends with your dad.â Juleka added.
âIâve checked with my father and heâs never met anyone with the surname Rossi. And none of his friends have a child named Lila.â
âIâm very confused.â Rose whispered.Â
âGirls, we need your help!â Marinetteâs voice came. âOr rather, Damian does.â
âWith what?â Mylène asked.Â
âAdrien mentioned that Lilaâs been telling pretty much everyone that she and I are dating, is that correct?â Damian asked, his hands folding in front of him.Â
âSheâs been talking about it for the past few days.â Mylène said, she vaguely remembered Nino mentioning Adrien being out of town for a modeling gig that involved Damian Wayne, she was still confused as to why Marinette was with them though.
âSheâs told practically everyone who would listen, and some who wouldnât.â Juleka crossed her arms. To most it would be hard to pick up on, but Mylène could tell when the girl was angry. Juleka had been questioning Lila a lot more lately, Mylène was sure the girl was just waiting for a good reason to switch sides, and the only reason she hadnât already was because of Rose. Juleka had been Mylèneâs saving grace when it came to her current problems with Ivan. The goth girl was probably afraid of a rift forming between her and her girlfriend the way it had between the classes former favorite sweet hearts.Â
Damian sighed on screen. âIâm not a person who likes to ask for assistance from others, but under these circumstances, Iâm in need of your help.â The three girls watched as his hand raised to pinch the bridge of his nose, eyes closed before his hand dropped and he looked up at them. âI donât know how much you all know about Gotham, but people have always had mixed reactions when my siblings have come out in the past, my own coming out included. Normally they donât have a huge problem with it because all of my siblings have come out as pansexual or bisexual, or something that includes both genders. But when I came out I didnât specify my sexuality. I just announced I was dating Colin.â
Oh no.Â
Mylène could feel it, Roseâs heart was swelling. If he was really about to go into a long winded story about he and his boyfriendâs love, then Mylène was sure Roseâs Champion of Love and Justice persona was about to be uncaged. Many of their classmates called it her Sailor Moon mode.Â
âWhoâs Colin?â Rose asked, voice timmed and quiet.Â
âColin is my boyfriend.â A small smile gracing the boyâs hard features. âWeâll be celebrating our three year anniversary in two months and two days.â
âOh.â Roseâs hands clasped together, a dreamy look crossing her face.Â
Suddenly Damianâs face become more downcast. âNot a lot of people like Colin. Well, not a lot of people who people listen to like him.â
âWhy ever not?â The blonde asked, moving so her face was closer to the screen.
âColin is an orphan.â  The words were blunt and hit all three girls hard and unexpectedly. Of all the things Mylène had been prepared for this morning the heart breaking backstory of Damian Wayneâs boyfriend was not one of them. âBasically anyone with money and influence insists heâs a gold digger trying to mooch off of me. And the Wayne Ward Fangirls are quick to crucify him for anything he does, wrong, right, good, bad, all of it. And of course there are those in the religious communities who are constantly berating us. That faction is especially hard on him, he lives in a Catholic orphanage you see.â
âThatâs terrible!â Mylène could swear that the small blonde girl had tears in her eyes.Â
âWhile I agree thatâs awful, and I also agree that Lila shouldnât be lying about dating you, I donât see what it is you need our help with?â Juleka asked, voice laced in confusion.Â
âIf word gets around,â suddenly Marinetteâs face was squished in frame with Damianâs. âThat Damian has a long distance girlfriend, things are going to get worse for his and Colinâs relationship.â
âPeople in Gotham play very dirty, theyâll latch on to any rumor or fact, as long as it serves their needs. People will be throwing Lila Rossiâs name in my face, in Colinâs face, and in the faces of all of my family members for years.â Damianâs face had gone back to sternly neutral. âPeople will insist that Colin broke us up or something absurd like that, theyâll use her to villainize him.â
âThey will?â Juleka asked, concern written on her face. âThat sounds like something that only happens in movies.â
âThey will.â He insisted. âTrust me, Iâve seen it happen before to members of my family and their friends. Itâs just a matter of time before it gets to the right people, unlessâŚâ
âUnless?â Rose asked, voice going high, the girl eager to help.Â
âUnless we cut off the head of the snake.â Mylène supplied. âWe need to make a statement, make sure everyone who might have heard Lilaâs lies knows that itâs fake.â
âThe louder the better.â Marinette added. âTo make sure she doesnât turn it around on Colin or Damian.â
âI hate to ask this of you,â Damian said. âEspecially since we are perfect strangers, but my c-â He grunted, his body jostling on the screen as Marinette shot him a glare. âCompanion.â He finished begrudgingly. âMy companion here, insists that you three can be trusted with this task.âÂ
âPlease help us girls.â Marinette said. âIf not for me, then for Damian and Colin.âÂ
Damian sighed before going into his own plea. âColin is very important to me.â His voice was quiet. âIâm not the easiest person to get along with, and everyone says I donât deserve someone like him.â He looked down. âHe is one of the most important people in my life and I donât want some girl, who Iâve never even met, to ruin it because she wanted her five minutes of fame.â
Rose stood quickly from the bed, almost knocking the computer off her girlfriendâs lap. âDonât worry Damian! Weâll take care of everything!â She shouted, running for the door, her voice leaving behind the call of âno one stands in the way of true love!â
Juleka and Mylène watched her go before the goth girl sighed. âWe should go get her before she runs all the way back to school.â
âYeah,â Mylène stood. âSheâs going to need backup.â She looked back at the computer. âDonât worry, weâll take care of everything.â
âŚÂ
Nino didnât know what was going on.Â
He was sitting on the stairs in the gym area of his school, most of the student body just loitering around. Lunch was over but they still had about five minutes before anyone needed to start heading to their class rooms. The room was filled with soft chatter and laughter, he wasnât invested in any conversations though.Â
Adrien had texted him a few minutes ago and told him to start recording. He didnât know why, but like a good bro, he did as asked. His phone was barely raised, picking up mostly just the shoes of his classmates. He noticed across the gym Marinetteâs crew also had their phones up and were recording, though Nino wasnât sure why. He now knew that Marinette and Adrien were in Steel City together, but Marinette had asked that the reason she was there with Edna remain secret and Nino didnât want to pry into the girlâs personal life. If she didnât want to tell anyone, then she had a good reason. But he also knew, via Kim, that Marinette had no international coverage and couldnât contact anyone. Leaving the question of what her crew was currently doing?Â
Maybe Adrien texted them too?Â
But what would he need recorded so badly?
Nino debated getting up and going over to talk to the group but Lila and Alya were stationed in the middle of the gym, either girl would spot him if he made his way over to his secret friends. And he really didnât feel like lying to his girlfriend today.Â
â BANG â
Everyone jumped as the doors to the school crashed into the walls behind them. All eyes on the entrance, taking in the petite form of Rose Lavillant. The small girlâs face was heated a blush pink, eyes narrowed into a glare and hands clenched into fists. Juleka stood on Roseâs right, her backpack slung over her shoulder and her girlfriendâs carried in her hands. Mylène stood on the girlâs left, arms crossed and an expression on her face that looked both angry and guilty.Â
âLILA ROSSI!âÂ
His hand instinctively shot into the air, camera focusing on the trio. Nino had known Rose since he was five years old, and not once in all of those years, could he ever remember her yelling, nor could he ever remember her really being angry. And definitely not this rage fueled. No one spoke as the three girls made their way towards the center of the gym, Lila and Alya both standing helplessly in the girlsâ sights. Nino took notice of his friendsâ phones now trained on the pack as well.Â
âRose?â Lila asked. âIs everything oka-â
âSHUT UP!âÂ
Nino flinched at the pink girlâs tone, several others in the crowd did as well.Â
âRose whatâs wrong?â Alya quickly inserted herself between the two as Nino stood, standing on a higher stair to get a better camera angle.Â
âWhatâs wrong?â The blonde asked. âWhatâs wrong?!â Roseâs hand raised into the air, for a panicked moment Nino thought his girlfriend was going to get decked in the face. But then Roseâs finger shot out from her fist, pointing accusingly at Lila. âSHEâS A LIAR!âÂ
With her words came a few cheers from Marinetteâs crew and a handful of others in the school who had come to resent the girl.Â
Nino even heard one âpreachâ though he couldnât tell where it had come from.Â
âRos-â Alya was cut off.Â
âEveryone!â Mylène shouted, âTake out your phones and google Damian Wayne, you know the famous kid from Gotham? Iâm sure everyone knows that heâs Lilaâs boyfriend, or so sheâs been telling us.â Mylène shot a glare over her shoulder at the brunette. âGo to his instagram!âÂ
Nino didnât want to stop recording, thankfully he could see the peopleâs phones in front of him. The boyâs icon was a picture of him flipping off the camera with a rainbow painted on his cheek. His bio was only four lines.Â
Damian Wayne
Animal Rights ActivistÂ
My Boyfriend and Brother are the only ones who post on here
Please donât talk to me
Nino tried really hard not to laugh, but couldnât help his snicker. He knew pretty much instantly that Damian was not in fact Lilaâs boyfriend, and doubted them ever actually meeting. But did she seriously not do even the smallest bit of research? There is no way it would have been that hard to figure out that the boy was gay, let alone in a relationship.Â
âThatâs right everybody!â Mylène shouted. âDamian Wayne has a boyfriend!â
âHeâs cheating on me?â Lila asked eyes wide and heartbroken, Nino would admit, it was a good idea to save face. Claim the long distance son of a playboy was a player himself. If he didnât know better heâd probably buy it.Â
âTheyâve been dating for three years.â Julekaâs voice was quiet but strong, the people around her who heard it started passing it back to those behind them who didn't.
Lila opened her mouth to spit out another lie but Rose beat her to the punch. âTWO YEARS, NINE MONTHS, THREE WEEKS, AND FIVE DAYS!â Her fists were clenched at her sides again, her whole body shaking. âTHEY ARE TWO MONTHS AWAY FROM CELEBRATING THEIR THREE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! AND THIS-THIS...LIAR! IS TRYING TO TEAR APART THEIR HAPPILY EVER AFTER!â
Juleka placed a hand on her girlfriendâs shoulder, trying to calm her just a little bit.Â
âLila also lied about knowing the Waynes! Damian Wayne didnât interact with anyone outside of his family until he was eleven! And Bruce Wayne confirmed that he doesnât know anyone with the last name Rossi, and none of his friends have a daughter named Lila!â Mylène shouted. âThe three of us talked to Damian Wayne today! Adrien Agreste is modeling with him right now in America! He asked Damian about Lila and heâs never even heard of her!âÂ
There were mixed reactions from the crowd surrounding them. Mylène suddenly shot her phone into the air. âHe sent me a video telling the whole story! If anyone wants to watch it! I will happily show it to you!â
âI can so explain this!â Lila said, stepping forward. âYou see, some of Gothamâs villains have come after my famil-â
âI SAID SHUT UP!â Rose screeched. âCOLIN WILKES IS A PRECIOUS BOY WHO DESERVES THE WORLD! AND YOU ARE TRYING TO TAKE HIS PERSON FROM HIM JUST FOR A LITTLE ATTENTION!â Juleka pulled Rose back a step, worried about her girlfriend getting too out of control. âGOD!â She shouted. âYOU ARE SUCH A LITTLE...LITTLE-â
âSay it Rose!â Alix shouted from the side lines, Nino swore if her the short girlâs smile got any wider her face would crack in half.
âATTENTION WHORE!â He almost dropped his phone. The crowd, which had started to get more vocal, went silent. Alyaâs jaw dropped and even Lila was left speechless and wide eyed.Â
âOh my god.â Kimâs voice carried over the noiseless room.Â
Rose was left fuming. Her body was still vibrating at a speed Nino was sure couldnât healthy. Her cheeks were puffed out, making her eyes large, the blues popping out against her now red face.Â
âLila is a liar and nobody should believe a word she says.â The girl huffed. âI am the champion of love and justice,â she squared her shoulders. âAnd refuse to stand idle while someone destroys the bond of two sweethearts.â Rose took a deep breath before striking a pose similar to Sailor Moonâs iconic one. âIn the name of true love, Liar Rossi, I will punish you!â
Nino was not prepared for the burst of applause that erupted from the crowd. He actually howled out a cheer of his own, phone focused on the girls in the center of the mob. He moved his phone to follow Lila as she went running out of the corral of applauding teenagers. He assumed she was heading for the bathroom, probably to fake cry till someone came to comfort her.Â
A long, loud, exasperated sigh fell from his lips as he watched his girlfriend chase after the Italian girl. He shook his head as he stopped the video, tapping on his messaging app and sending the video to his best bro.Â
DJBubbles: Dude
DJBubbles: how did u know this was going 2 happen?
âŚÂ
Alya hesitated outside of the bathroom door. Cautiously she glanced back over her shoulder, people were still cheering she could hear them from down the hall. She wished she could be with them. But she had a mission to see through, and with everyone turning on Lila she knew it was do or die time.Â
She slipped her phone into her back pocket and took in a deep breath before pushing open the door, masking her face in concern as she approached the girl hunched over one of the sinks. Lila had her face in her hands, muffled crying sounds coming from behind her fingers.
âLila?â She asked quietly.Â
âOh god!â Lila turned away from her. âAlya itâs so awful!â She took a few steps farther away, laying her head against the wall of the restroom. âI-I just-justâŚâÂ
âLila itâs okayâŚâ Alya placed her hand on the girlâs shoulder. âIâm sure this is all just a misunderstanding.â
Lila sniffled, looking at the girl over her shoulder. âItâs not.â She whispered. âI lied.â She turned her head away quickly.Â
âWhy?â Alya asked.Â
âI donât know.â Lila whipped around, tears streaming down her face. âI-well, I just-â She sniffled loudly. âI like Adrien so much.â She started, back leaning against the wall. âBut he didnât really seem to take notice of me, so I thought if while he was gone I could get everyone talking about how I had this awesome boyfriend itâd make him, well, I donât know.âÂ
âYou wanted Adrien to be jealous of Damian?â Alya asked, eyebrow cocked.Â
âY-yeah.â Lila looked down. âI know it was stupid and I just should have kept my mouth shut. But I didnât know how else to get his attention.â A few more tears streamed down her cheeks, her hands raising to rub at her eyes. âIâm so sorry I lied to you.âÂ
Alya sighed. âLook, I can kind of see why you did it.â She crossed her arms. âBut Adrien isnât the type to respond to jealousy. In fact, if he did like you and found out you were with someone else, then he would gracefully bow out. He wouldnât want to come between you two.âÂ
Lilaâs eyes stayed focused on the floor. âI guess I didnât think about that. He really is so sweet.â She whispered.Â
âAnd while I donât think you should have lied about dating Damian Wayne, I definitely donât think Rose, Juleka, and Mylène had the right to humiliate you like that. It was uncalled for.â Alyaâs eyebrows nicked together. âThey should have just asked to talk to you in private. Seriously, I have never seen them act so vicious.âÂ
âMarinette must have turned them against me.â Lilaâs face suddenly hardened. âSheâs out to get me Alya. You know she is. Sheâs taking everyone away from me!â Lila surged forward, grabbing the girlâs shoulder. âSheâs going to steal you too!âÂ
âMarinette will never steal me from you Lila.â Alya sucked in a deep breath. âYour my best friend, and Iâve got your back no matter what!â God that left such an awful taste in her mouth.Â
âThank you Alya!â Lila pulled the girl into a tight hug. One brunetteâs face turned devious while it was hidden, the other simply rolled her eyes.Â
âŚÂ
Nino took his seat at his desk, unable to hide the smile on his face. He was rewatching the video on his phone. He honestly hadnât felt this good in a while, probably not since the last time he wielded the Turtle Miraculous. It felt like everything was over, but seeing as how Lila still had Alya, and probably Sabrina, who was out sick today, he figured it wasnât. Meaning his job as mole wasnât done quite yet. But the few minutes he had to celebrate the Liarâs major take down with his friends was invigorating and made him feel like he was operating at one hundred percent again.Â
Rose, Juleka and Mylène all came into class together, everyone already in the room standing up and cheering for them. Alya and Lila werenât back from the bathroom yet, so Nino applauded them from his seat.Â
âLadies and Gentlemen!â Kim shouted. âThe hero of the hour, champion of love and justice herself!â He jumped up on his desk, extending his hands in an overly complicated gesture in Roseâs direction. âMs. Rose Lavillant!âÂ
Ninoâs classmates cheered harder as Nathanael walked forward and embraced the tiny girl in a hug. âWeâve missed you sweetness.âÂ
âIâve missed you all too!â Rose hugged him back as forcefully as she could. âIâm so so sorry everyone!â She pulled back from the red head, positioning herself to look at those who filled the opposite side of the classroom as Nino. âCan you ever forgive me for falling for her lies?â
âIt took all of us time to see she was lying,â Max came forward, setting his hand on Roseâs shoulder. âThe important thing is that you finally saw through them.âÂ
âYeah, sheâs pretty good at covering her ass, none of us blame you for taking so long.â Alix said, kicking her feet up on the desk.
âDo you think we could have our old seats back?â Juleka asked, voice quiet as she stepped forward and took Roseâs hand.Â
Kim jumped down from his and Alixâs shared desk. He held his arms wide open, embracing the two girls. âWelcome home babe.â He said, dramatized tears in his voice. âGod weâve missed you.âÂ
Alix rolled her eyes. âKnock it off drama queen.â She yelled. âSeriously though,â She swung her feet around on the bench, standing up and gesturing to the seats. âItâs good to have you two back.âÂ
âI think you mean three.â Max said, he and Nathanael had their arms draped over Mylèneâs shoulders. The girl had a small blush dusting her cheeks as she climbed the steps towards the back of the room where her boyfriend sat.
âIâm really sorry I didnât listen to you.â She whispered, eyes downcast. âDo you think you can forgive me?â Ivan gave a soft smile, scooting down the bench so that Mylène could sit by him. The girl sat down quickly, latching onto her boyfriendâs arm with a large smile.Â
âPower coupleâs back,â Kim whispered. âWe got all our lovely ladies on the side of truth and justice, I know have video of Rose striking her cute ass sailor moon pose. Itâs like all's right with the world!â He said, sitting down at Alixâs old desk, the girl having reclaimed her seat now that everybodyâs favorite girlfriends had retaken their old desk.
Everyone was happily chattering away, Marinetteâs crew filling in the three girls on everything they missed when Lila and Alya walked in.Â
âNot all our lovely ladies have come to their senses.â Nino mumbled, resting his cheek against his fist. As long as Alya had yet to see the light, he couldnât in good conscience retire as Marinetteâs mole. And he certainly couldnât leave his girlfriend alone with that coyote.Â
âHow can you still be friends with her?â Mylène asked. âAfter knowing everything was lie?âÂ
Alya shot the girl a dirty look. âShe lied about having a boyfriend, that didnât give you the right to humiliate her in front of the whole school.â She crossed her arms tightly over her chest. âI swear, youâve all become as bad as Marinette.â Alya took her seat behind Nino, Lila sitting where Marinette once did, large crocodile tears still streaming down her face.Â
âSeriously Nino?â Juleka whispered, disbelief in her eyes.
The boy simply shook his head, turning away from the majority of his classmates. Alix flipped around on her knees, leaning close to the goth girl and whispering into her ear, she then moved on to give the small explanation to Rose. In the back of the room Ivan was quietly filling Mylène in on Ninoâs situation.Â
The three girls were quiet, save for Roseâs soft. âOh.â Thankfully it wasn't loud enough for Alya or Lila to hear.Â
It wasnât long before Miss Bustier came into the classroom. She set her papers down on her desk, then turned to write something on the board before finally facing the class. Her eyes scanned the room slowly, a loud sigh escaping her lips. âOkay,â She breathed. âLetâs just begin class.â The poor woman was so tired.Â
_______________________________________________________________________
(part 1) Â (part 2) Â (part 2.5) Â (part 3) Â (part 4) Â (part 5) Â (part 6) (part 7) Â (part 8) Â (part 9)Â (part 10) - Here (part 11)
Not exactly Photoshoot Part 3...Iâm just trying so hard to get to this Incredibles cameo guys, I feel like I keep underestimating how long parts are going to be. Iâm so sorry itâs taking so long for this character to show up. Anyway, who was prepared for Rose this time around? I love the idea of her being essentially this tank that no one sees coming till itâs far too late. Now itâs just Sabina and Alya, and Nino left on Lilaâs side (or so she thinks). I also love the idea that the class has the most ridiculous pet names for one another. Not sure when part 11 will be up because we are getting very close to finals week at my college, but Iâll do my best to get something out as soon as possible! Thank you all so much for the likes, reblogs, and especially the comments! They are such huge mood boosters for me, they really change the whole course of my day and I appreciate them so much. Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! I loved writing it. As always if you have any questions about the story or AU feel free to ask, I love getting them and will happily answer any question you got (even if itâs not about this AU)! And if you want to be tagged let me know!Â
@graduatedmelon @northernbluetongueâ @violatiger8â @bamagirl513â @vixen-uchihaâ @beaversuenightlyâ @tumbling-down-hills-and-stuffâ @todaylillypadsâ @laurakinneylanceâ @vgirl-10123â @wellcrud-blog-blogâ @silvergold-swirlâ @crazylittlemunchkinâ @an-ahezâ @queencommonsenseâ @ladybug-182â @meganemily231â @driftingmoonlitpetalsâ @kand-rooâ @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastryâ @theatreandcomicfreakâ @paradoxal-occuranceâ @miraculousl4dybug @thanks-captain-obviousâ @sassydepressionâ @multishipper1needshalp @wegan97â @surprisebishhhhhhhhh  @redscarlet95 @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @synnesstra @fandomkitty8 @tired-yeetling @saluteswifties @kanamexzeroyaoifangirl @dast218 @naclychilli @royalchaoticfangirl @panda3506 @nataladriana9 @shreky-boi @my-name-is-michell @dawnwave16 @thethirdwheelfriend @quiet-oracle @heaven428
#edna mode meets batfam meets miraculous ladybug#Damian Wayne#marinette dupain cheng#adrien agreste#chloe burgeois#nino lahiffe#rose lavillant#juleka couffaine#mylène haprèle#le chien kim#alix kubdel#ivan bruel#alya cÊsaire#max kantÊ#nathaniel kurtzberg#sabrina raincomprix#lila rossi#miss bustier#miss bustier's class#miraculous ladybug#batman#dcmultiverse#dc#ml au#the superfriends au
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Karma Chameleon Part 4.
OF COURSE Lila would end up akumatized again.
--------------
Not much happened in class after the âfightâ of Lila and Chloe. Some people doubted Lila, while some seemed to doubt Chloe. Defending either felt weird for Marinette, Nathaniel, Alya and Nino, but for now, Chloe seemed like the lesser of two evils. Adrien still was trying to be a neutral party⌠and failing miserably. The only good thing that had happened was that once Chloe had calmed down, she had apologized to Marinette for being a âpain in the buttâ all those years. To her credit, she had tried to be more accurate to her behavior, but Miss Bustier was present and she was one of the few people Chloe sincerely respected.
Their break came, and Marinette and Nathaniel were going to get lunch with Marc, but something caught their eye. Chloe had gone on her own to the locker room, probably to recover about the apology, and Lila had gone after her. They looked at each other and decided to follow them, in case she was up to no good.
They were as sneaky as possible, and by the time they arrived, the other girls were already in the middle of something. Lila looked⌠or was trying to look menacing, but Chloe seemed to be ignoring her, playing on her phone.
âWe could have ruled the school together Chloe. I thought you were smart, and I can see your pathetic attempt to make friends by âapologizingâ to them. I know youâre just as false as me, but soon you wonât have any friends left at all, and trust me, Iâll make sure you never get close to âAdrikinsâ in class or anywhere. I will say I was joking about being Volpina, and everyone will be at my beck and call by the end of class again. But Iâm feeling magnanimous, so I will give you one last chance to be my ally.â
Chloe seemed wholly uninterested in Lilaâs monologue. âAre you finished?â she said in her most bored tone. âYouâre pretty, and youâre smart, the old me would have no problem letting you be Sabrinaâs assistant.â Chloe sighed. âBut I have changed now. OR rather, Iâm trying to. Itâs not easy being nice, and I know Iâm not a saint like Marinette, and I doubt Iâll ever be as good as her. For now, at least Iâll be nice to people who deserve it. But even Ladybug wouldnât complain if I act in self defense to basic bitches like you.â Marinette didnât know how to feel about that. Chloe was changing, but still being her old self. Baby steps, she guessed, at least Lila did deserve to be trated like that. Her phone suddenly rang with a message, and noticed Nathanielâs had too. âYou should see that messageâ Said Chloe to Lila with a smirk, pointing at Lilaâs phone.
Lila was angry and confused. She reached for her phone and opened the message. It was obviously from Chloe, it had been sent to everyone in the class, and had a video attached. She dreaded it, but decided to open and see what Chloe was babbling about.
It was her. A crude edit said âThe True about Lila Dolores Rossi��� in red lettering, and it was her latest interview with the Ladyblog. After each question she answered, there was video spliced with proof, and the people she had been lying about. Prince Ali saying she had never heard of her. Jagged Stone stating he had never had a cat, and certainly never wrote a song about a girl called Lila. Clara Nightingale saying she would never steal her moves from Lila. Austin Moon saying he was not a childhood friend of Lila. Several other famous people Lila had name dropped were in the video saying they had no idea about who she was.
It was obvious Chloe had planned this for a long time; Lila just never took into account that someone would have the actual influences and the motive to call her out in a very definitive way. At least not until today, when she was stupid enough to cross the daughter of the mayor of Paris. She was FURIOUS that that damn Chloe had DARED to do something like this. So furious that she didnât noticed the black butterfly going inside her phone.
It happened in an instant. Nathaniel had patted Marinette on the shoulder telling her to âbring Ladybugâ before doing a mad dash, grabbing Chloe by the wrist and yanking Lilaâs phone from her hands. After she had finished transforming into an Akuma, she was confused for a few seconds as to where the heck her phone was, but she soon ran in the direction Nathaniel and Chloe had gone.
Marinette was equally confused for a bit, but quickly transformed herself and went after the new akumatized form of Lila. She was sure she didnât even cared what her name or powers were at this point.
She reached the main courtyard of the school, and she was pleasantly surprised to see the whole class fighting against the Akuma. Someone had organized them in an effective way to neutralize the Akuma in a efficient manner while Ladybug and Chat Noir arrived.
Juleka, Sabrina, Rose, and Mylene where in different parts of the courtyard, showing some phones, taunting her that they all had âthe real oneâ as she never saw the transformed phone. Ivan, Kim, and Nino were actually getting physical with her. It was amusing when she tried to gloat and say her name, only to receive a soccer ball on the face courtesy of Alix and Max. Alya was of course recording the whole thing for her Ladyblog. Chloe and Nathaniel were out of the sight of Lilakuma, trying to destroy the phone.
âThey seem to have everything under controlâ It was Chat Noir who appeared out of nowhere. âWe should help them thoughâ
Ladybug smiled. âLucky Charm!â A hammer. A really heavy one too. As Lucky charms went, this one was pretty straightforward. She just asked Chat Noir to run interference while she got to where Nathaniel and Chloe were. She broke the phone with her hammer and freed the akuma almost immediately. It was one of the shortest akuma fights ever, all thanks to her friends. Her Miraculous Ladybug had barely any restoration to do.
âA shame I didnât get to be Queen Bee againâ Ladybug looked at her, about to say something, but Chloe continued. âI screwed up⌠again, sorry. She threatened me but thatâs no excuse, I still canât get the âniceâ thing right and paid evil unto evil, I shouldnât, but I did and Iâm sorryâ Chloe said practically without taking a breath, obviously expecting to be scolded by her hero.
Ladybug looked at Chat Noir and then to Lila, who was in the usual confused state an Akuma victim is after being purified. Ladybug couldnât help but notice no one was event trying to comfort her.
âWell⌠It is hard to be nice, and I understand that you canât do a 180° on your personality overnight. I am glad and kind of proud that you are at least trying to become a better person.â
Chloe was practically glowing. Ladybug herself was praising her! Her old self wouldnât hesitate to gloat about it, and she almost did it, but looking around, she realized she had still screwed up, and decided to keep quiet.
âNormally I would scold you for provoking another person into an akumatization⌠but honestly speaking? This is her fourth time being an akuma, and for the same reason! I hate to be a snitch, but at this point, her mother needs to know she has issues that arenât just âa bad dayâ like most akuma victims have had. Yes?â Chloe had raised her hand like a schoolchild. To Ladybugâs and everyoneâs surprise, she looked actually bashful.
âI kind of send her mom a video of Lila exposing her lies. And to Miss Bustier. And Mister Damocles too.â Ladybugâs was surprised. Chloe didnât hold any punches with Lila. The part of her that hated Lila really wanted to hug Chloe, but the Responsible Defender of Paris knew that it had been wrong to out her like that.
âYOU DID WHAT?â Lila had apparently recovered her senses and charged like a mad bull towards Chloe. Kim was quick to react and tried to catch her, but all he managed was to make her lost her balance and she landed flat on her face.
âLILA DOLORES ROSSI!â It was her mother, entering the school. Miss Bustier and Mister Damocles were coming to the courtyard too. âCan you explain me whatâs the meaning of this video?â
Lila put on her act of looking as pitiful as she could. With blood coming out of her nose, it wasnât that hard. Her mother was having none of it.
âMom, IâŚâ
âYou told me the school was closed for the akuma attacks, and it turns out it has been open all this time?â
âAnd you excused your absences as a medical emergencyâ Added Mister Damocles.
âAnd youâre still not up to all the homework you missed!â
Ladybugâs earrings beeped. She dammed the time limit, as she would miss important and juicy gossip. She would ask Nathaniel later. After telling Chat Noir to watch for any butterfly approaching Lila, she excused herself and went to a safe place to detransform.
#miraculous ladybug#ml karma chameleon#Lila Rossi#marinette dupain-cheng#nathaniel kurtzberg#chloe bourgeois#ml fic#ml fanfic
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Marichat May Day 19- Flowers
Marinette bite her lip as she twirled the flower between her fingers. It was a single red carnation, simple but beautiful. Dispite being one small flower, it held so much meaning to Marinette, it held her feelings.
She didnât know when it happened exactly but she slowly started to fall in love with her ridiculous partner.
It started some time after the young man started to hang around Marinetteâs roof after dark. She assumed he thought he was being sly, watching guard to her room every night. Some nights, when she lied awake in bed in the early hours of the night, she heard his food steps and if she was lucky enough she caught glimpses of his silhouette.
After about a week of him appearing on her roof every night, and every night not making his presences known, to talk about what was on his mind, Marinette decided to ask herself.
She went through the left over sweets from the bakery picking out, her favourites and setting them up on a tray. She also grabbed two mugs from the kitchen, emptying a hot chocolate satchet in each, She filled up a thermo with boiled water and on her way to her room she grabbed the almost empty carton of milk.
âWoah, sweetheart.â Her Papa tease, eyeing her tray of sweets. âSomeoneâs hungry.â
Marinettes face blushed at his comment but she was more concerned on him saying something about the extra mug she had. She didnât want to have to explain that it was for a superhero that was stalking her. Luckily for her, he didnât seem to noticed and she quickly excused herself. She had to carry everything up the later in three seperate loads but evernturally everything was ready.
She was about to climb onto her bed and scroll through her social media accounts while she waited for him to arrive before she caught sight of herself in her bedroom mirror. She didnât look bad, per say, she just could of looked better. She checked the time, she had roughly 10- 20 minutes before he normally came around, plenty of time to change. She didnât dress up over the top, settling for a nicer pair of pjs and putting her hair up in a bun.
It wasnât long after she was dressed that he arrived. She remember the look of shock on his face as her sunlight window opened up and she popped her head through, giving him a cheeky smile. She disappeared for a second before returning with her treats for the night. Chat was shocked to say the least but he thanked the girl anyway as they ate and drank in silence. She didnât asked him what was on his mind, nor did they ever talk about it again. It just became routine for them. Chatnoir would meet her on her roof almost every night, Marinette would bring whatever left overs the bakery had and they would enjoy each others company. Her original reasons to comfort him long forgotten.
Marinette hated to admitted it but in that time she fell for him hard, harder then she fell for Adrien. He acted so different with Marinette than with Ladybug, less flirty and right up in your face. He was a normal person, he mad corny jokes and was a goofball still, that wouldnât change but she felt more connected with him, they disscused their hopes and dreams, their fears and everything in between.
That lead her to now, waiting on the roof, curled under a blanket to help fight of the bite of chill night air as she waited, flower in her hand.
She had mulled this over in her mind for sometime now. She was going to confress to Chatnoir, at first she denied her feelings, when she couldnât contain smiles around him or they funny feelings she got in her stomach when she looked at him, she finally admitted to herself but still keep quiet. When she went to school one day and heard Adrien talk about some mystery girl he had feelings for, she was suprised she didnât mind, that as long as she had her kitty she was find, she decided to admit her feelings to Tikki then. The little Kwami was beyond thrilled. She was happy to keep everything as is was, she thought her crush was kind of silly and would pass,until she didnât. One night, they were sitting together wordlessly scrolling through Marinetteâs phone, watching funny videos from time and time again. When she felt it, a strong feeling of love just bloomed in her chest and filled her with such contentment and joy, like she had waited her whole life to just arrive here at this uneventful moment. That it was all worth it to be in Chat present, by his very side.
She realised that she wanted to spend the rest of her life by his side, not only fighting crime but together, on dates, late nights at home, by an alter in a church even as they put their children to bed.
She was shocked and scared and she didnât know what to do. She knew she had to tell him, that dispite how awkward and scared she was with her feelings for Adrien she wouldnât let that happen all over again with Chat. She needed to be direct and she needed to tell him soon, before these feelings bursted out of her in the form of word vomit.
She spend the whole next day thinking of what to say, she practiced with Tikki and even rehearsed in front of the mirror, but each time she ended up a bumbling mess.
She tried to write a letter for him, but having those words, theses hopes for the future written out, like physical evidence, made her bashful and she had to destroy the very paper it was on.
She ended up turning to google, an incognito tab of course, and let her explosion of emotion out into the search bar.
Her first question for the search engine was long and didnât make much sense, googling came up with zero results and a lot of suggestions to fix her spelling errors.
Her second go was a little bit better. She hastily typed in the words;
âHow to tell your work partner/best friend you love them? Expecially when they love someone else that is actually you in secret do I like give them flowers? Ask him on a date? Propose?!â
Google had results this time, none of what she actually needed. She scrolled down the page, disappointed with the results. She was about to close the tab when one result caught her eye.
âTelling someone you love them with flowers.â
She clicked the link and was amazed at the article that came up. Apparently each flower had a meaning, their own secret language. It was very popular to present someone with a flower or bouquet made up of flowers with different meanings to portray your emotions.
She spend half an hour scrolling through the different flowers and their meanings. Trying to find the perfect flower, they didnât have one specific flower with what she was feeling, they had many different onceâs that broke it up though. She considered making him a bouquet but decided agaisnt it, she had limited time, resources and money. After one finally scroll, she decided on what flower she wanted and luckily for her, she knew a small florist that sold them. She quickly grabbed her purse, with Tikki inside and ran out the door to go buy it. Hoping they had it in the right shade!
Marinette was disrupted from her thoughts by the sound of Chatnoir arriving on her roof, greeting her with a soft hello. He smiled at her and hungrily eyed the treats she had laid out. She quickly hide the flower on her lap with the blanket covering it, she carefully made sure not to crush it.
âHelp yourself, Kitty.â She poured the hot water into their mugs, the same two she grabbed on their first night. She fiddle with the flower, nerves getting the best of her.
âAre you okay?â Chat asked, mouth full of food. he swallowed what he was chewing before speaking again. âI always here if you need me Princess.â
Marinette felt butterflies, no wait! in Paris Butterflies were bad, she felt a swarm of Miraculous Ladybugs fluttering in her stomach, instantly easing her nerves much like her own Ladybugs that constenly fixed the city. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and readying herself.
âMarinette, Whatâs- ?â Chat called lightly but got cut off as Marinette shoves the flower out towards his chest, her head bowed down causing her dark hair to curtain her face, successfully hiding her blush.
âWha..?â Chat stuttered out, his face burning bright red. With a shaky hand he took the red carnation between his own fingers. He curse himself at the electricity he felt when his fingers brushed agaisnt hers. He cleared his throat as he inspected the flower, a few petals have been broken off in her haste to give it to him but all in all it was still beautiful.
He was disrupted from his throughs by Marinette standing up, quickly. Knocking the tray of pastries with her knee. Chatâs instincts instantly reacted, he reached out and caught the tray, only losing one Macaroon, he popped it into his mouth anyway.
âJust.. google search the meaning behind it.â She stuttered, quickly grabbing her blanket and retreating back into her bedroom. Chat stood there confused.
âWait, Marinette where are you going?â Chat stood as well, placing the tray back down on the small coffee table.
âI have...Uh- stuff to do, yeah, very busy! Take the treats, chill out here if you want. I donât mind just remember to search the meaning of a red carnation.â She awkwardly said as she looked up at him through her sunlight window, geasturing wildly with her hands, it reminded him of how Marinette acted with him as Adrien. Suddenly her blues eyes widen âNot here though! Do it whenever you go home, okay bye!â With that she practically slammed the small window shut. She turned off her light and climbed into bed instantly, begging for sleep to come and take her. That just went awfully!
Chat stood frozen on her roof, did he say something wrong? He found himself frowning as he sat on one of the sun chairs as he thought. He idily took a bite out of a cupcake before spottting the red carnation on the ground, he must have dropped it when he dove for the sweets. He glanced down into Marinettes window,the light was off and with the help of his night vision he was able to see the outline of her body under the blanket.
What was she trying to tell him?
He knew that whatever message she was trying get acrosss, she wanted him to discover in the privacy of his own house, or at the very least not in her presence. He sat forward, grabbing his baton from his back and fiddle with it. He glanced at Marinette again, as far as he could tell, she was asleep.
He pressed the paw print button and opened up the control menu on his weapon, opening the internet browser.
He typed into the search engine bar,
âWhat do red carnations symbolise?â
He ears, face and neck all blushed a dark pink as he read the results.
Light red carnations mean admiration and dark red carnations represent deep love and affection. He glance down at the flower, it was definitely dark red. Did Marinette love him?
âDidnât I tell you to wait till you got home, Kitty?â A voice scrowled him. He jumped, whipping his head toward the small window to see Marinette, half leaning out it. She wore a teasing smirk on her face but he could see her cheeks lightly blushed in the light the moon provided.
âI, Uh...â Chat stuttered he couldnât come up with a good enough excuse for disobeying her direct orders. He settle on clamping his mouth shut, hoping sheâd would explain herself and the flower. Antense and awkward silence hung in the air around the two teenagers as they avoided eye contact. Finally they both settled on staring at the carnation. âSo..â Chat said as he scratched his Adamâs apple, he didnât know what to do.
âListen, Iâm sorry about that.â Marinette said as she geastured to the flower. âIt was a really dumb idea and in hind sight I can see that it wouldve been easier for me to just out right tell you.â
âTell me?â Chat gulped. Marinette glanced down into her bedroom and for a heartbreaking second, Chat thought she was going to leave again.
âI love you Chatnoir!â She breathed out. âI thought my heart belonged to someone else, Adrien but I was wrong! You easily stole it and if I loved Adrien truely I wouldnât have fallen for you! This thing, theses feelings are so overwhelming! I donât think Iâve ever felt like this before with anyone and now I feel like a fool for ever thinking I could love anyone else.â
Chat felt, more then heard, a ringing sensation in his hear, he felt light headed and giddy and for a second he swore he was going to pass out. Marinette started at him expectantly but his brain couldnât supply him with why? He was too busy celebrating the fact that Marinette loved him back, not only as Adrien but as Chatnoir as well, she has fallen in love with both sides of him, it made him love her even more.
âItâs okay. I didnât except you to feel the same.â Marinettes voice trembled as she spoke.â everyone in Paris knows that your in love with Ladybug. Who am I to compare with that?â
Marinette bite her lip as she stared hard at the ground. She snifflesd and started to blink rapidly, Chat was confused for a second until he saw the first tear fall. It slide down her freckled cheek, catching moonbeams as it landed on the roof below them. In an instant he was by her side, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her to his chest.
âShh, I love you so much Marinette. I have for long time. Yes, I did have feelings for Ladybug but I never connected with her the way I do with you. We just fit together so well, physically, mentally, emotionally and dare I say it spiritually. Youâre my other half, Princess, my soulmate. Please donât cry.â
Marinette felt an overwhelming sense of joy. He loved her, not just the idealistic, superhero version of her but the clumsy, blubbering mess that is Marinette. The tears fell harder as she felt a sensation washed over her,relief thatâs what it was.
She squeezed him tighter as happy laughter left her lips. He pulled back, resting his head on her forehead as he started into her eyes.
âMay I kiss you?â
Marinette didnât bother to reply. She eagerly pressed her thin lips agaisnt his plump soft ones and the rest of the world just melted away.
#miraculous tales#miraculous ladybug and chatnoir#ladybug#marinette dupin cheng#chatnoir#marinettelove#Marichat#MarichatMay2019
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