#and- im sorry what about marinettes life was ever normal? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

s-and-n-writes · 4 years ago

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another long day

crimson and bluebell: part two

summary:

Marinette Rossi is tired of everything: from Lila’s constant berating and Madame Rossi’s preferential care of her ‘angel-like’ daughter, to how everyone at school (even Alya) seems to believe her evil stepsister over her.

It’s like she’s Cinderella, except without the fairy godmother and the happy ending. She doesn’t even have a prince.

Or so she thinks.

Between the appearance of a new boy who seems to have captured her heart, and a gala run by her fashion idol Gabriel Agreste, Marinette hopes for an escape the constant ignorance, workload, and bullying she endures, and get a blissful life of her own.

With the help of one tiny god and a meow-velous partner, she might finally get a chance, but not everything is that simple.

They say ladybugs are lucky, so will being the elusive Ladybug bring Marinette the luck she oh-so-desperately needs?

quick links:

< previous chapter | first chapter | next chapter >

| miraculous masterlist | series masterlist |

a/n: so hi again, it’s me, n! im so so so sorry that i didn’t post for a long time, school caught up with me and everything’s getting v stressful these days. regardless, my new year’s resolution is to post more of these, and i’ll actively make an effort to do that hehe, in the meantime, enjoy!

also i’m appalled at the fact that this was 15 pages long and took more than a month to write how are you doing

Marinette had thought that the whole coffee spill, glass breaking fiasco would be relatively easy to clean.

She was wrong.

It takes her all of 10 minutes to clean up the glass, and another 20 minutes to try and clean up the coffee.

Key word: try.

Marinette ends up at school 30 minutes late, the coffee-stained carpet rolled off to the side at home, effectively ruined. She hasn’t even thought about the cracked glass table yet, which she hid by placing a tissue over top of it after Lila left.

Needless to say, all of this puts a little bit of a damper on her day.

As Marinette walks up the staircase of Francois Dupont, the school she goes to, she spots Alya Cesaire inside. Alya is Marinette’s closest friend, and despite having moved to Paris only a year ago, it feels like Marinette has known her for their entire lives.

“Girl, girl, girl…” Alya sighs as Marinette walks through the doors. It’s a free period, and students litter the area. Marinette spots Lila walking with one of her friends on the other side of the school, and luckily, Lila doesn’t see her.

There’s one good thing about school that Marinette adores: she doesn’t have to see Lila. Lila’s always had Madame Mendeleev for homeroom, and Marinette’s had Madame Bustier. Because of this, their schedules never interact, which allows Marinette to avoid Lila for the duration of the school day.

“I’m so sorry!” Marinette pleads, running up to Alya and shrugging her backpack off her shoulder. “There was a coffee spill, and glass broke, and-OH GOD I MISSED THE MATH TEST!!!”

“Marinette, chill,” Alya laughs. “The math test got rescheduled, but Ms.Bustier is pretty mad about you being late,”

Marinette sighs. “That’s a relief,”

“But you still missed a lot of news~,” Alya says, singing the last word.

Alya aspires to be a journalist, so on the occasions that Marinette wasn’t late, Alya would give her anything and everything interesting she’d dug up that week.

"I know, I know," Marinette sighs, fingers loosely picking at her shirt again. The seams stay intact, but Marinette's mind doesn't. The coffee spill and the glass breaking is constantly on her mind; she's not sure what to do.

"Nice shirt, girl," Alya smiles, breaking Marinette away from her thoughts. Alya's good at that, and she notices when Marinette lets her mind wander, something that happens a little too often for her tastes. "Did you make it?"

Marinette bursts into a grin. "Yes! I used that gorgeous thread that Sabine bought last week for my birthday, you know, the one I kept talking about, and it was absolutely amazing! I had to make this! What do you think? Do you like it?"

The shirt is simple; a white base with flowers of varying sizes lining the edge. Marinette pairs it with her old, pink jeans (the fabric for the flowers on her shirt came from some leftover ones she had when making the jeans) and a dark-gray blazer that Lila used to own.

"It's beautiful," Alya smiles, "But hey, I’m more excited for you-know-who’s reaction,"

Marinette rolls her eyes, hiding her face as an involuntary blush rises to her face. "Alya! You know I don't like him like that!,"

Alya grins. "Just teasing,"

“Well, anyways, tell me what I missed during lunch, I’m off to the classroom, before Ms. Bustier comes looking for me,” Marinette smiles, turning and running up the stairs.

“Good luck, girl!” Alya says, waving goodbye and pulling out her phone.

The day passes quickly, and lunch comes sooner than Marinette expects.

She meets Alya outside of Francois Dupont, and they both head to Ville de Soirée, a cafe which isn’t nearly as expensive as the others in the area. They both order their usuals, and sit in one of the booths as they wait for their drinks.

Marinette sighs and leans back. “Ok, ok, tell me,”

Alya, who is most probably on the verge of exploding from her excitement, gears up. “Ok, so you know Nino, right?”

“You mean the boy you’ve been obsessing over since we met him?” Marinette teases. “Oh hey, I might have an inkling,”

Alya blushes, her cheeks tinting rouge. “Shut up,”

Marinette giggles. “Ok, go on,”

“Anyway, Nino texted me yesterday that his parents finally agreed, and he’ll be starting school starting Monday next week!”

“Ah! That’s so exciting! I’m so happy for you!” Marinette laughs. “Now you can actually make a move!”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, I’ll let you play matchmaker when the time comes,” Alya laughs, “there’s also something else, and this one I know you’ll be even happier about,”

The barista interrupts Alya, placing two steaming drinks in front of them. They both reach for their drinks, with Marinette holding the cup in her hand and Alya taking a sip. She grins.

“Nino’s friend, you know, Adrien Agreste, is also coming too,”

She pulls back, looking smug as she tries to read Marinette’s face.

The girl in question sighs, shaking her head. “Who even is Adrien, and why does everyone keep mentioning him to me?”

Alya facepalms, groaning.

“Girl, sometimes I swear you live under a rock,” Alya sighs, shaking her head. “How do you not know who Adrien Agreste is? His ads are literally everywhere!”

Marinette pouts. “Well maybe I just haven’t seen him,”

Alya rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “Ohh no, there’s no way you’ve missed him ,”

She pulls up her phone and momentarily scrolls as Marinette waits.

“Here,” she says, “That’s him,”

The photo on Alya’s screen is from last February, Marinette recognizes. She remembers how Lila bought a copy of the magazine it came in, although she wasn’t allowed to see it.

But the boy is familiar. His face is similar to someone’s, but Marinette can’t pinpoint who it—

Oh.

He’s Gabriel Agreste’s son.

Marinette leans back.

“That’s Monsieur Agreste’s son! I should’ve known, how could I have missed it when Madame Rossi told us about him?”

Alya squints her eyes. “Wait what?”

“There’s a fashion show that Adrien’s dad is hosting, and the embassy’s holding a huge event to greet all the fashion officials that are coming. Madame Rossi got us all passes to go,” Marinette says.

“That’s the one my mom’s cooking for! It’s next weekend right? She would not stop talking about it all weekend. I can try and score a pass, to you know, keep you company?”

Marinette gasps suddenly, burying her face in her hands, “Ah! I forgot! I won’t be able to go, since Li— I mean I, spilled coffee all over our new carpet,”

Alya raises an eyebrow.

“Fine, fine, I cracked some glass too,” Marinette sighs, face growing redder. “Madame Rossi’s gonna ground me for sure!”

Alya shakes her head. “Somehow I can believe it. You are the clumsiest person I know,”

She nods thoughtfully, fingers closing around the fox necklace on her neck. “Well I can’t deal with the whole glass situation, but maybe I can help with the coffee stuff? Happens to my mom all the time,”

Marinette perks up. “Really? Would you? Oh thank you Alya!”

Alya laughs. “No problem girl, I’ll come by after your shift at the bakery,”

Marinette pauses. After work would be...when Lila comes home.

Alya has always been a fan of Lila, but despite knowing Marinette, she’s only admired Marinette’s less-than-wonderful sister from afar. This means that so far, Marinette has managed to keep Alya and Lila separate.

Does she really want to risk that?

Weighing in the situation, she sighs. Would she rather have a shot at attending a potentially life-changing event, or safely escape Alya meeting Lila?

Knowing the both of them, Marinette remembers, they’d be a deadly combo.

But Marinette really wants to go to the event so, maybe this time, she might just give in.

“Great!” Marinette says, happiness laced with fear. “That’s...great!

Alya nods, smiling, watching as Marinette giggles.

“Now about setting you up with Nino…”

Alya turns away, blushing, “Marinette!”

Today

Lie-la 😒: sup loser

Lie-la 😒: im going to the mall with my friends after school

Lie-la 😒: if my mom comes in early

Lie-la 😒: you know what to say

Lie-la 😒: type, maribrat. use those lousy fingers.

You: yea, sure lila.

Lie-la 😒: good.

Marinette sighs and pockets her phone. For today, she is safe.

And that’s all she has ever wanted.

Marinette’s day ends with her feeling happier than when it began. Alya’s coming over to wash out the coffee stain, Lila won’t be there when she gets home, and she’s heading to her shift at the bakery!

It’s normal for work to not be exciting to most people, but for Marinette, it always is. Heading to the Dupain-Cheng bakery is always the highlight of her day, and working there is even better. The owners, Sabine and Tom, are like the parents she never had, what with them spoiling her with all the food they give and teaching her how to bake. Customers even tell Marinette all the time that she looks strikingly similar to Sabine, but she doesn’t see it.

In truth, she’s only ever even thought about becoming a designer because of the Dupain-Chengs, and if it weren’t for their motivation, she’s sure that she would be in a much different place right now.

But that’s not what Marinette worries about right now. Despite school ending early and the bakery being right across the street from where she is, she still manages to be late.

She exchanges a quick goodbye with Alya, who chuckles at her frazzled state, and dashes off towards work.

“I’m here!” she shouts, running into the bakery, the familiar jingle of the store’s door’s bell ringing in her ears. “Sorry!

Sabine laughs as she hands a box of pastries to a customer, waving as they leave. “Just on time. Hello Marinette,”

Marinette winces as Sabine holds out her apron. “Sorry again, Sabine!”

Tom laughs from the kitchen behind the store, the sound booming through the bakery. “Marinette!”

“Tom!” Marinette says back, her lips curving into a smile.

Sabine eyes Marinette as she ties the apron behind her, quickly joining the older woman behind the counter.

“So?” she asks. “What’s new with you?”

Marinette sighs. “Not much, not much...oh! Madame Rossi has an embassy gathering to welcome a couple of famous people into France. And not just any people, people who work in the fashion industry!”

Sabine nods, smiling at Marinette’s delight. “And why exactly are these people coming?”

“It’s for the Gabriel event. I don’t know when it is, but apparently Gabriel Agreste is holding a huge gala, something about searching for a fashion assistant?,”

Sabine perks up at fashion assistant. “Marinette, you should enter!”

Marinette gasps. “I couldn’t! There’s no way! I mean, my designs are barely adequate, let alone Agreste worthy!”

Sabine shakes her head. “Everyone knows that isn’t true. Don’t put yourself down like that!”

Marinette blushes. “Thanks Sabine,”

The woman smiles. “Well, anyways, are you allowed to go to the embassy event? It’s a great opportunity, you wouldn’t want to miss it,”

“I mean, Madame Rossi did invite me and Lila, but Lila spilled a bunch of coffee on the carpet, and cracked the dining table this morning. It’s all a stunt, she did it on purpose. She’s blaming it on me, which means I’ll get grounded, and I won’t be able to go, and you know there’s nothing I can do about that,”

Sabine sighs, placing a hand on Marinette’s shoulder. “Oh dear. The next time I see Lila, I’ll tell Tom to get that girl and her mother arrested!”

Marinette laughs. “As much as I’d like that, where would I live?”

The rumble of the oven from behind the store dies down, and Tom walks into the main room. The room seems friendlier all at once, his large personality filling the space.

“Here, with us,” he declares proudly. “You’re like a daughter already,”

Marinette giggles, her cheeks growing red. “Alright guys, we’ll see,”

Sabine and Tom laugh as Marinette runs away to help a customer. Their afternoons with Marinette pass by quickly, and while they wish it was longer, you know what they say: time flies when you're having fun.

By the time Marinette gets off her shift, it’s 5:30 in the evening. Paris’s sky starts to fade from its normal cotton-candy blue to a marmalade orange. The hustle and bustle of the busy streets start to die down, and once she texts her address to Alya, Marinette makes her way to the bus stop.

While her time in the bakery is her favorite time of day, her time on the bus doesn’t prove to be too bad either. She likes the quiet silence, and enjoys her time away from the world around her.

The bus is probably her favorite mode of transportation (but her only one as well). When she volunteered to work at the bakery after school, Madame Rossi decided that ‘the streets were too dark at night for Marinette to walk alone’, and she was given a bus pass.

It was a small and random act of kindness that Marinette wouldn’t ever get again. It was also the only gift she ever got from her adopted mother, and despite not being too fond of Madame Rossi, she did treasure the gift.

Madame Rossi paid for her bus rides until Marinette was actually hired at the bakery. It was then that she decided to have Marinette pay her own bills, an action that most certainly helped Marinette for the future.

The sound of tires skidding against the pathway jolts Marinette out of her thoughts. She turns to see her normal bus waiting in front of her, and grabbing her bus pas, waits in line behind a couple others to get on.

That is, until she sees what’s about to happen.

Marinette watches as a man across the street tries to cross. He’s old, as his grayed hair and aged face tells, but his most identifiable quality is the red Hawaiian shirt he wears, embossed with a white hibiscus floral pattern.

Besides that, there’s also a car coming straight for him, and though it’s a little while away, there’s no doubt that he’ll get hit.

Marinette does the only thing she can think of. She runs.

The street is narrow, and Marinette manages to pull the man across the pathway before the car comes. She huffs, turning to the man to smile.

He has an odd look in his eyes, lips curved into a mysterious smile as Marinette quirks her eyebrow.

“Thank you, young lady,” he nods.

“You’re welcome!” she smiles, turning to look at the bus, which has started leaving. “Goodbye and stay safe, sir!”

The old man watches as Marinette just manages to catch the bus, stopping it and shouldering her backpack as she climbs on.

Marinette seats herself as the bus starts once more, and turns to her window to look for the old man.

But by the time she does, he’s gone.

Alya gets to Marinette's house at just the right time. When she reaches, Marinette has done a couple of her chores, cleaned up the living room, and put out the carpet in the first floor bathroom. Against the white rug, the coffee stain is obvious, and Marinette sighs as she inspects it.

How were they ever going to get it out?

There’s a knock at the front door, and Marinette knows it’s Alya. Smiling, the girl heads to the living room to open it.

Alya gasps as she sees the house. From the marble kitchen to the hickory-brown wood flooring, everything is pristine and clean, as if the Rossis live in a mansion.

(They don’t, but the house is still fairly big. Marinette sometimes has to clean it all as part of her chores, but luckily that hasn’t happened in a while.)

“Dang girl,” Alya sighs, “you rich or what?”

Marinette nervously laughs, cracking her knuckles. “Uh, I don’t know,”

“I’m joking,” Alya smiles. “But, random thing, where’s Lila?”

“She’s out. Doctor’s appointment for her, um, wrist,”

“Aw, that’s too bad. Tell her I said get better soon!”

Marinette sighs. She doesn’t like lying, but it’s far better than what would happen if she told the truth.

“Yea. Anyway, how are you getting the stain out? I tried all morning, but it was stuck,”

“Just watch me, girl,” Alya smirks. “Before we start though, you already blotted the stain,right?”

Marinette furrows her eyebrows. “Blotted? What do you mean?”

Alya demonstrates with her hands. “Like, did you take a paper towel and try to get as much of the stain out as you could?”

Marinette nods. “Yeah, that’s why I was late this morning,”

Alya nods. “Ok, so now we just have to make the cleaner,”

Marinette raises an eyebrow. “Make? This is getting a little crazy,”

“It’s really not,” Alya laughs, “I’ve done this a thousand times before. My sisters knock over my dad’s coffee way too much,”

Marinette laughs. “Alright then, show me what to do,”

Alya makes her way to the kitchen, filing through multiple cabinets. “Where’s your dish soap?”

“Bottom-left drawer next to the sink,” Marinette points.

“And your white vinegar?”

“Fridge. Anything else you need?”

“Just water,” Alya replies. “Warm, that is. And two cups of it,”

Marinette nods. “Got it,”

Alya takes out a steel bowl from one of the cabinets. “And can I use this?”

Marinette nods again. “Go ahead,”

“Great,” Alya says, pouring a spoon of dish soap followed by a spoon of vinegar. She waits for Marinette to get the water before adding that in as well, and then mixing. “That should do,”

“Work your magic then,” Marinette laughs.

“Just watch and see girl, I totally will,”

Alya finds a cleaning rag from a drawer in the island, and she runs over to the carpet. “Grab yourself a rag, Marinette, and let’s get started!”

Marinette laughs, and runs over to help. The time passes quickly, and by the time the coffee stain is gone and the carpet is dry, two hours have gone by. Their hands are sore and their legs are tired, but both can say that they had fun.

In the midst of it, Marinette almost doesn’t notice when Lila texts her.

Today

— 2 New Messages —

Lie-La 😒: open the back door

Lie-la 😒: im right by my house

Almost.

“Alya!” Marinette gasps, both sitting on the couch after the carpet was rolled back underneath the dining table. “It’s so late, don’t you have to go at 7?”

Alya tilts her head, confused. “No?”

“Oh well then I must have said it,” Marinette laughs nervously. “Yes that’s right! I’ve got work, haha. Bye!”

Marinette practically pushes Alya to the front door, while Alya looks lost and puzzled.

“Didn’t you already have work?” Alya asks.

“Yep, but gotta save up for uni right? Haha. Haha,”

Alya nods, squinting her eyes as she walks out the door.

“Um, bye? See you at school, girl,” Alya nods, quietly laughing.

“Bye!” Marinette smiles. Once Alya is farther away and out of sight, Marinette runs to open the back door. She can faintly hear the sounds of Lila’s friend’s car pulling into the driveway, so she dashes back upstairs as fast as she can. The last thing she wants to do is talk to Lila, much less be alone in a room with her.

She hopes that Lila won’t try anything while she’s in her room.

Sighing, she smiles when she stops at the attic door, and heads inside.

Before Madame Rossi found her and decided to take her in (how she came to that conclusion, Marinette would never know), the attic was all set to be Lila’s playroom. The entire room was painted pink from head to toe (even the carpet was a light shade of pink). There was a wooden wardrobe for all of Lila’s toys, and a desk with markers, painting supplies, and coloring pencils galore.

But then Marinette came along.

For one reason or another, she was given the attic as her own room. Out went the ideas of toys and tents in the room, and in came Marinette.

Madame Rossi didn’t give her anything. From the age of 2 till the age of 4, she slept on the ground, the lack of a bed present to her each night.

Until Lila outgrew her bed of course, which was then given to Marinette.

It was simple. Since Marinette was smaller than Lila, and slower at growing, she was often given Lila’s old things. All the clothes that Lila didn’t want, Marinette had. From her bed to the old beanbag in her room (one of the only things Lila gave her as decoration) everything was a hand me down from Lila herself.

Marinette sighs, and then flops into the bed. She’s lucky that Lila doesn’t bother if Marinette doesn’t get on her nerves.

Hopefully, until she can get out of this place, she’ll manage without angering Lila too much.

Standing up, Marinette locks herself in the attic, a faint click of the door behind her, and gets out her phone. Opening up Spotify, she starts her playlist, and goes over to the desk.

For the next hour, she does homework and finishes a project, all while sketching out designs for new dresses.

And hey, if she’s lucky, she might just be able to make one for the gala.

Marinette shuffles through her desk drawers, pop music playing through her earbuds. It’s nearly 8 PM and she’s searching for the special gold thread she had bought a couple weeks ago. It cost nearly a month's pay, and she’s been saving it for a special occasion.

With the dress she was sketching, she wanted to know if it was now.

She’s still searching through the drawers on the left side of the desk when she finds a box.

One that she feels might not have been there before.

(Then again, she rarely looks through all her drawers, so there’s always a chance that it could’ve been.)

Marinette feels confused. The box is made of a dark brown wood, and shaped like an octagon. The top of the box is embossed with a red design. Glimmering red circles meet wavy, thin lines, but Marinette is preoccupied with figuring out what the box is for.

In the end, she decides to open it. There can’t be much inside, can there?

Turns out, Marinette is wrong.

The moment she opens it is a frightful one. In that second, there’s a bright flash of light. It swirls around her as Marinette gasps, dropping the box onto the carpet as two solid-black earrings fall out.

That’s not the amazing part of it all though. After a second, Marinette comes face to face with a spotted red creature.

Needless to say, she screams.

“Hi Marinette!” the spotted creature says. “My name is Tikki! It’s nice to meet you!”

“Mouse!” Marinette hollers, “Bug! Bug-mouse! Talking bug mouse!”

Marinette scooches back, her hand grabbing books and papers off her desk as she throws them at Tikki.

“I’m here to help!” Tikki says, dodging the objects. “I’m here to help you!”

“Liar!” Marinette calls, searching for more things to throw. “This must be Lila’s version of a joke ! I can’t believe her!”

She takes her water-bottle from her backpack, and quickly moves to trap Tikki in it.

“It’s ok Marinette, I won’t hurt you,” Tikki smiles. “But if this makes you feel better, then this is ok!”

There’s a pause, and then Marinette sighs and chooses not to answer, leaning back, and quickly grabbing her school tablet off her desk. She points it at Tikki, trying her best to look intimidating.

“Who are you?” Marinette asks, “and what do you want?”

“Like I said, my name’s Tikki! I’m a kwami!” the tiny bug says, (still trapped in the bottle but floating in midair, Marinette notes) “And I want to help you!”

Marinette sighs, lowering her weapon tablet. “Did Lila send you somehow?”

Tikki furrows her forehead in place of her eyebrows. “No? Who’s Lila?”

Marinette bitterly chuckles, standing and throwing her arms into the air. “This. This. This is why you can’t help me. No one can. Anyone who meets Lila thinks she’s an ‘absolute angel’, and no one else knows her. How is someone supposed to help me if no one knows that my problem exists?!”

“Marinette,” Tikki sighs, “I promise you, I can help, if you’ll listen to me. Please let me explain, and then you can decide if you want to trust me or not, ok?”

Marinette pauses, considering the situation, and sits a fair distance away from Tikki, keeping her tablet in her hands.

“Ok,” she responds, facing the little bug. “But you have 5 minutes,”

Tikki smiles again. "And that's all I need,"

quick links: < previous chapter | first chapter | next chapter >

a/n: i resolve to post the next chapter soon lmaoo, thanks for reading! have an absolutely amazing day, you deserve it!

taglist:

i’ll be tagging the people that i had tagged before, along with a couple others who liked the previous chapter for this series. if you don’t want to get tagged, i’m very sorry! just shoot me a private message, and i’ll take you off the tags. if you do want to get tagged, just tell me with a private message or an ask and i’ll add you to the taglist. thank you!

@reddragonofemeraldflame @nomiegnome @18markers @katbab @emmathedestroyer @bluesesameseed @cyborgcandy @karukofox21 @aestheticnpoetic c @magnificentcrapposts @miraculouslylee @lonestarfangirl2014 @lambdaarietis @miraculous-twilight @miraculous-twilight @silver-twilight @emmarosemary11 @whiterosequeen23 @whatschooldoesntteachyou @shaykaleen @itswelphereiamuniverse @seraphichana @ladynoirotphell @tinynuggetofterror @tinkabella256 @coopermaggie

#ml #mlb #fanfic #marinette-dupain cheng #miraculous ladybug #miraculous #adrien agreste #adrienette #adrinette #nino lahiffe #alya cesaire #lila rossi #lila rossi bashing #lila #lila exposed #lila rossi tag #marinette tag #crimson and bluebell

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consumeconstantly · 4 years ago

Text

Small Buff Girl Sightings Ch. 5

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ao3

3:00AM | CoffeeVamp: bb bat update us TheOG: ^^ more info on the situation in paris

3:28AM | Demonspawn: It is difficult to obtain information on Hawkmoth. The butterflies disperse after they are cleansed, and before they land their target, they don’t show up electronically. Coffee Vamp: o how the mighty have fallen i thought u said u could best me bb boi

3:42AM | Demonspawn: I’d like to see you do better. Coffee Vamp: IS THAT A CHALLENGE Coffee Vamp: ill take u up on that gimme 24 hours and ur going down TheOG: he has had a whole month so dont be too sure of that LadyLady: would you guys SHUT UP its two and some of us have jobs to do Coffee Vamp: cmon babs u luv us dont deny it LadyLady: Don’t make me hunt you down, Tim. Coffee Vamp: oOooO proper punctuation im shaking TheOG: just shut off notifications Babs TheOG: Bruce does Jesus: i don’t think the man has checked this chat in years Coffee Vamp: wdym brucie checks the chat all the time hes just a silent lurker Coffee Vamp: he doesnt even set himself to invisible

3:57AM | Daddy is away. Coffee Vamp: im so glad i have admin privileges imagine if i didnt bruce would have a boring normal nickname like his actual name LadyLady: good lord, why am I even in this chat?? Daddy: You’re supposed to keep them under control. Coffee Vamp: SEE I TOLD U BRUCE IS A SILENT LURKER> THIS. IS. SOLID. PROOF. IN YOUR FACE TheOG: nobody said otherwise Coffee Vamp: also how are the people have you made friends Jesus: Demon spawn? Making friends? Id be less surprised if he told us he has a new fling Coffee Vamp: is j right? Got a winter fling?

4:12AM | Coffee Vamp: ur lack of a response tells us nothing TheOG: im sure he’s just adopted his usual icy persona Coffee Vamp: haha hes the bb of so many things Coffee Vamp: bb vamp bb demon spawn ice ice bb Coffee Vamp: getitt im so funny

4:36AM | Coffee Vamp: guys?

“I told you I could get her to write her number on your cup,” Marinette grins with pride.

“And I told you I didn’t want her to.” Damian scowls and kicks a pebble in his path.

“You’re still wearing the clothes I picked out for you,” she points out.

“You told me to wear it. I wore it. I’m not interested in her.”

Marinette squints at Damian, evaluates whether he’s telling the truth or not. “Huh, you really aren’t interested. I guess it’s a good thing you didn’t wear the other outfit I picked out for you-- that one would have gotten her to ask you out on the spot.”

Damian groans. “We’re going to have to find a new coffee place.”

“Or we could just come when she’s not on shift and run away like mice when we do see her?”

Damian gives her The Look.

“But they have good coffee here,” Marinette whines.

“Maybe you should have thought about that before dressing me up and sending me to my death.”

“It’s not my fault! You only have your parents to blame for your looks.”

It’s true; both of Damian’s parents are good-looking. His whole family is, actually, adopted or not. All of the good looking people he meets are talented and have a tragic life story. Which is the cause and which is the effect, Damian isn’t sure. But it holds true even in Paris. All he has to do is look at Marinette or Adrien, though he’s not a hundred percent sure where the tragedy kicks in for Marinette. Probably the time when she was at odds with Lila, but he hasn’t looked much into the situation. He can even use Lila Rossi as an example. She has even worse color coordination than Damian is, but her features are model worthy. Lila Rossi is also definitely fucked up in ways that Damian doesn’t care to explore.

The effects of Marinette’s well-placed compliments has Damian thinking about himself in a positive manner that he never has before. Bruce is always stingy with praise, and the other senior members of the Justice League of America see him as another Robin that doesn’t need praise because competency comes with the mantle. Dick and Barbara compliment him occasionally, but that’s rarer now that his place is more firmly cemented in the family. Damian doesn’t think he’s ever had someone so willing to genuinely compliment him. Marinette’s compliments extend to more than just his looks, as well. She praises his technological skills as he sets up her website and has complimented him as he helps her out with whatever altercations she inevitably comes across on the streets. If he reveals his skills as Robin, reveals himself as Damian Wayne, will he receive even more praise?

“But since we did buy you that absolute knockout of an outfit, you’re going to have to wear it eventually. So whose heart do you want to steal?”

“I don’t want a relationship,” Damian repeats. They seem like more effort than they’re worth, and he always sees couples fighting and complaining about each other. Plus, they have to make time for each other and his alter ego doesn’t allow for that, though he supposes that he isn't Robin. At least, not right now.

“You don’t need to want a relationship just to flirt with somebody. Who’s it going to be? The intern at the Louvre? My parent’s newest hire? Oooh, how about Nicolette?” Marinette’s voice takes on a more mischievous tone.

Damian will give Marinette this much: her taste in the aesthetics of people is far from bad. The intern from the Louvre is two hundred pounds of lean muscle with a devil-may-care smile and a deep, belly laugh that makes people laugh with him, but Damian and he don’t have anything in common. Her parent’s new hire is knockout gorgeous, with warm brown eyes, and definitely the kind of girl Damian would have gone for as a one night stand back in Gotham. However, he’s also 98% sure that she has a very possessive boyfriend who stops by the bakery every time she has a shift. Nicolette is considered her college’s belle, and her intense gaze paired with her surprisingly friendly demeanor might have been appealing to Damian if she weren’t ten years older than him.

“I’m not into any of them,” he says, simply.

“Then who are you into? Surely someone has caught your eye in the past month?” Marinette looks genuinely curious, but her expression shifts into horror. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry. I never asked your preferences, if I was being insensitive, I’m sorry, I mean I’m pan, but you absolutely don’t have to tell me, it’s your right if you’re not comfortable.”

Damian does look slightly uncomfortable now that she’s looking at him more closely. His arms are crossed over each other, across his chest, and his hair is tousled. Then, he lets out a small laugh, and Marinette melts. “It’s fine, Pigtails. All of the people you listed are attractive, but I’m not attracted to them. I’m more of a personality guy, though I can’t say that personality has stopped me from things more than dates before.”

He’s had his fair share of hook-ups and makeout sessions in the past when feeling particularly frustrated with something that wasn’t going his way, though his primary method of relief is through sparring. Short missions and one night stands go fairly well together; he doesn’t ever have to deal with people wanting long term relationships, and even if they do, he’s gone before they know it. So far, he hasn’t hooked up with anyone in Paris, but then again, he’s only been here for a month and this is a long term mission. Whatever time he’s not with Marinette or at school is dedicated to piecing together the mystery that is the Miraculous and trying to figure out Hawkmoth’s identity.

“Oh,” Marinette continues to blush.

She’s clearly too embarrassed to bring up any other topic, so Damian decides that he’ll shoot the same conversation topic back at her. Marinette is attractive, and people she meets ask for her numbers and dates often enough. She’ll accept the former if they aren’t a total creep, but she always turns down requests for dates.

“And you? Why aren’t you out there questing for love? No crushes or significant others that I need to beat off with a stick?”

This does manage to lessen her flush. She frowns, turns something over in her mind.

“No crushes right now, no. I used to have a huge crush on Adrien just a year ago. He’s such a sweet person, but we don’t see eye to eye on important matters.” And also not into sex, either. Even physical affection hits him the wrong way sometimes, which makes Marinette worry even further for his well being with Lila’s constant touches. Still, he hasn’t said anything, and Lila hasn’t done anything more than grasp his arm or shoulders every now and then, to reassure the class that yes, they are the golden couple. Marinette also suspects that he is very unwilling to talk about the whole situation in general, and it’s not as though they’re super close.

Of course she had a crush on Adrien. Damian can see it now, Marinette looking at Adrien with her big blue eyes, her lashes fluttering when she gets close to him. Stuttering when she gets embarrassed or when she gets close to him. It makes his lungs constrict, but he’s not sure why.

“As for past relationships, there’s only really Luka. We had a pretty good run, but he’s out of the country, touring. He wanted to try long distance, but I didn’t really want that. But he’s respectful-- there’s no need to beat him off with a stick or anything.”

“I’m surprised a pretty girl like you doesn’t have more suitors,” Damian says, stepping over a crack in the sidewalk as they walk towards the park.

Marinette gags. “There are some other people who have been interested, but I wouldn’t exactly consider them relationship material. If you’re going after a girl just because she looks exotic, that’s sort of nasty. I guess I’m just unlucky in love.”

“At least you’re not as bad off as Ladybug is,” Damian jokes.

She looks at him strangely. “What makes you say that?”

“Well, first there was that creepy sculptor who must have been twice her age, then there’s Chat Noir who keeps flirting with her despite her requests not to, plus all of the random love akumas. I’m not even going to talk about the hordes of guys who chase after her, trying to get a date just because she’s a superhero. It’s not even like she can kick them between the legs because she has an image to uphold and all that.” He smirks, nudges her with his arm. “I’m surprised you haven’t done that with some of your stalkers.”

“Oh. You’re right, huh. Though, I don’t think Chat Noir has actually flirted for a while now.” Chat Noir has been very subdued as of late, and it makes Ladybug worry.

Marinette feels uncomfortable with the way the conversation has shifted. How does Damian know about all of these past akuma attacks? As far as Marinette is aware, most information about anything Miraculous related is difficult to get a hold of abroad, largely because the Miraculous try to hide their existence as best they can, and partially because Mayor Bourgeois doesn’t want word to get out that he hasn’t flushed a supervillain terrorist out even though he’s had three years to do it.

“Copycat happened three years ago.” It’s a question, almost.

“I figure I might as well keep up with the heroes of Paris. I’m here and they’re interesting.” Damian figures this is as good a time as any to bring up his interest in Hawkmoth. Marinette has been nothing but helpful and she’s definitely the kind of person whose heart is in the right place. Not to mention that she’s definitely smart and seems impartial; the one time he asked her about her thoughts on the heroes, he found out that she didn’t see them as perfect. She was able to critique Ladybug in full, which seemed pretty odd considering the rest of Paris seemed to have nothing but glowing praise for the heroine. “You’ve had some awful luck with akumas yourself. Weird how Ladybug didn’t show up when you got kidnapped by Evillustrator. One of the only times she didn’t show up for an akuma.”

“And what happened to the other heroes? It’s mostly Ladybug now. She must be in an awful state with her civilian life.” He looks off to the park, occasionally flicking his attention back Marinette’s face, evaluating her expression.

She catches his eyes and he swiftly looks away, looking almost nervous. Marinette stiffens. He knows, he knows, he knows, he can’t know. But how? How does he know that she’s Ladybug? She hasn’t let anything slip around him. She's been careful not to. Everything she’s ever said about Ladybug has been brief and curt, taking on an almost angry tone.

“If you’re so interested in Parisian heroes, I’m sure you saw the press conference Ladybug and Chat Noir gave last year about why the other heroes would be showing up less often.” Marinette keeps her voice carefully neutral. She needs to play this safe. She’s probably over reacting-- she’s been on edge with Hawkmoth sending out an akuma attack nearly every single day for the past few months.

Damian shakes his head. “It didn’t seem like good reasoning. Ladybug and Chat Noir are too untrained. They haven’t beat two villains in three years. They should let someone else take over.”

Marinette has come across a good number of Ladybug and Chat Noir haters throughout her time. Those who dislike the Parisian heroes often make the exact same arguments Damian is now. That they’re not fast enough. That they should have taken down Hawkmoth and Mayura already. This is nothing new to her, though it does hurt hearing it from Damian, for some reason. She can’t even argue with most of the points he’s brought up. Going mostly solo was because of her own, selfish reasons. She really should have beaten Hawkmoth and Mayura by now.

“The only thing they have going for them right now is that they’re keeping their Miraculous out of Hawkmoth’s hands.” She pretends that the reason why Chat Noir doesn’t show up to battle is to ensure that Hawkmoth can’t get both of the Miraculous in one fell swoop. It feels hopeless to fight villain after villain without any movement forwards. Her mind wanders to the increasing frequency of akumas and smiles, sardonically. “Some people think it’s only a matter of time until Ladybug and Chat Noir lose.”

“Hawkmoth almost seems to be the better strategist.” The two of them pass store front after store front. “Do you ever wonder what they look like, under the mask? Who they are?”

Marinette stares at the concrete underneath her feet. Hawkmoth, the better strategist? Laughable, and entirely incorrect. Even the people who hate Ladybug admit that her plans almost always work out, and that her plans are second to none. Really the only person who can possibly think that Hawkmoth is a better strategist is--

She can’t think like that. Damian is her friend. He’s just curious about Paris. Her lack of sleep and increase in paranoia re making her imagine things that are impossible. Besides, Damian isn’t on her list of suspects-- he told her he’s only been here for a short time, and Hawkmoth’s Miraculous definitely has a limited range. It’s a real pity that the world of Miraculous makes concrete evidence hard to come by, otherwise, Marinette likes to think Hawkmoth would have been behind bars already.

“No,” she lies. Hawkmoth haunts her dreams and every waking hour. She spends hours and hours on theories and scouring out information and people who fit the clues she’s painstakingly pieced together. “Not really.”

Damian’s eyes are a piercing green, and for a moment, Marinette thinks she stops breathing. “Is that so? I’m really interested in who Ladybug is under the mask. I’d love the opportunity to talk to her in person, especially about her Miraculous. The powers she has are… very interesting.”

No. There’s no way that Damian can be Hawkmoth, right? This is all just her paranoia speaking. Damian is just a foreigner who is interested in super heroes. It’s no biggie. Still, she can’t shake off the idea that there’s more to Damian than meets the eye. The way he walks-- no, prowls-- commands respect. Marinette can tell that he knows how to fight, and knows how to fight well. He’s very good at finding information on people-- she sent a whole case file to her on Renee and his situation with his mother within twenty four hours of going into the precinct, complete with video evidence Marinette knows should have been impossible to procure without hacking-- and keeps up with her critiques on Ladybug and Chat Noir’s techniques like he’s watched their battles over and over again. He remembers akuma battles Marinette has half forgotten, because they happened so long ago.

She stares up at him, hands shoved in the pockets of the jacket she chose for him when they went on their wardrobe makeover. Damian is surprisingly wealthy; he purchased anything she even glanced at with passing approval. He looks straight forward, apparently waiting for some response from her. Just because Damian is her friend, doesn’t mean she can immediately expunge him from her list of suspects. So far, she has taken all of Damian’s words at face value. It didn’t matter to her that he rarely talks about his family or his life before Paris. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t brought her to his home during all of the weeks that they’ve been hanging out together. Really, Marinette just figured that he had a rocky relationship with his family, and that he may have been on the poorer side and was embarrassed to show her where he lived. But clearly. Damian is well off enough to afford brand name clothes without batting an eye. Things aren’t adding up. All of the red flags that she’s blatantly ignored start to crop up in her head.

The book on the species of butterflies that akumas are made of, tucked under his arm. The way he showed up after every single akuma attack when she rarely saw him in the area before or during it. His knowledge of the three languages that form the basis of the Miraculous Tome-- Mandarin, Arabic, and English.

If he is Hawkmoth, what sort of emotions would he be feeling right now? Some sort of euphoria, maybe, realizing that he could get infinitely closer to Ladybug when she is Marinette. Anticipation, too. Has Marinette been hanging out with a super villain for the past month? Has she really come to the point where she can call a supervillain her best friend?

Marinette takes another look at Damian’s outfit. Master Fu said that the Miraculous Hawkmoth owns is in the shape of a brooch. Marinette sees no such object on Damian, which could either mean that he’s not Hawkmoth or that he’s just been taking it off whenever he’s with her. She’s really hoping it’s not the second option.

She needs to gather her thoughts, make a plan on how to proceed. When she’s sure that Damian isn’t looking, Marinette sets off the ringtone that is saved for her Maman’s texts and calls. This catches Damian’s attention, and she waves looks up from her phone as though she’s responding.

“Maman wants me to do a delivery. If you’re looking for more information on the whole superhero situation in Paris, I can get you Alya’s number. She runs the Ladyblog-- I’m sure she’d be glad to talk with you.” Alya also has some of the worst conspiracy theories that Marinette has ever seen. She doesn’t often keep abreast of what the Ladyblog’s portrayal of Ladybug is, but back when Marinette and Alya were friends, she was subjected to wild theories that made her stomach nauseous with how little logic there was. Which means that if-- if-- Damian is actually Hawkmoth, he might be thrown off by what she says.

“I’ll see you on Monday? Jagged texted me last night and wants me to change the embroidery on his commission.” This isn’t exactly a lie; Jagged wants one of the smaller details to be changed, but it certainly won’t take as long as she’s suggesting. Marinette hopes that it’s enough of an excuse to get Damian off her back for the rest of today and tomorrow while she reevaluates her game plans and life choices.

Damian waves her off. “I don’t think that Ladyblogger girl knows anymore than I do. She’s of no help to me. I’ll see you on Monday.”

Marinette’s reaction to Damian’s questions are weird. There’s an underlying tension that she exuded before they parted ways, and he’s still thinking about it a day later.

Marinette, who he always finds near an akuma attack right after it occurs. Marinette, who is emotionally and physically superior to most other Parisians. Marinette, who hasn’t been akumatized in a class full of idiots and other victims. Marinette, who doesn’t like Ladybug even though she seems like a fairly competent and kind hero, despite the fact that she hasn’t caught Hawkmoth yet. Marinette, who rarely talks about akumas despite all of the time he spends with her, which is highly unusual because even people he only briefly meets manage to slip in something about akumas into the conversation. Damian feels like there must be some sort of connection between Marintte and the akuma situation that he’s not getting, but it’s eluding him.

He sits down with his laptop in his apartment and looks up information about Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She’s definitely just as talented as he suspected; in her ninth year of schooling, she won a Gabriel competition, participated in a music video of Clara Nightingale’s, and collaborated with Jagged Stone on an album cover. So that was how she met him-- he wondered, but never asked. There are also a few instagram posts that have tagged her as a good samaritan and a few articles that detail a small, asian girl who’s going around Paris helping random people that are in need.

The weird things that Damian finds are contained in her school records. She’s apparently in very good company with her IQ, but what’s more interesting is all the dates that she is tardy or absent from school. They line up perfectly with all of the dates that akumas appear. He feels dread gather in his stomach.

A few more searches seem to cement his growing suspicions. Around the same time that Marinette obtained a truce with Lila matched up with when theorists believed that the Italian girl started working with Hawkmoth. He reads the instagrams and tweets of her classmates from the first year that Hawkmoth arrived, which talk about how excellent Marinette is at calming them down and guiding them to a better place. He also reads the posts of Chloe Bourgeois and Alya Cesaire and the articles about Marinette and Evillustrator that tell a slightly different story-- that Marinette is capable of manipulating others into more unpleasant situations.

Damian jolts. There is an incoming call from his father.

“Are updates on Paris, Damian?”

Should he give them a clue to his growing suspicions that Marinette is Hawkmoth? No, he can’t tell them until he gathers more information.

“No,” he says. “Information about Hawkmoth and the Miraculous are hard to come by.”

There’s a sigh and what sounds like the rustling of papers from the other side. “I figured. Tim and Barbara can’t find anything over here, either, but the Justice League is worried. They want results.”

“The Justice League and I agreed that having Robin make an appearance would be beneficial. Gain Ladybug and Chat Noir’s trust, or find Hawkmoth. Information might come easier with your alter ego.”

“All right.”

Another pause. He and his father have always had an awkward relationship. Bruce didn’t know of his existence until he was ten, and by that time, the most formative years of Damian’s life had already passed. Bruce Wayne may be many things, but good at dealing with children, he is not. Even after adopting so many children, he doesn’t know how to raise a child. Damian and his brothers have all raised themselves, with Bruce only stepping in when one of them is really going off the rails.

“Is everything else going well in Paris? School is good?”

“School is fine.” Damian wonders whether he should tell his father about Marinette. About the girl who is kind and capable and scarily efficient at dispatching criminals for a citizen and-- he can’t think about her like that. He decides against telling his father about her. She might be Hawkmoth, after all, and confirming her existence to his father means that he’s denying that possibility. “Gotham?”

“Nothing out of the usual. A few run-ins with the Joker.”

Another silence. The lapses in conversation aren’t awkward, but Damian thinks of the playful banter Marinette has with her parents and frowns.

“Goodbye, Father.”

“Goodnight, Damian.”

Damian looks around at his empty apartment. There is nothing in it, except for his suitcase and a few pieces of furniture. It’s nothing like the manor, where he knows that Tim is up at all hours slaving away on another project that Damian rarely gets to see, or that Jason is in the training room with Dick joining him occasionally. He can’t pick a fight with Tim or have Dick try to mediate the conflicts between himself and Jason. No nightly patrols with three or four people talking over the comms, or near instantaneous backup when he gets into a tight spot. There is no Alfred or Barbara or Cassandra or Bruce here. Only Damian.

He looks down at his laptop, at the various information and images of Marinette that he has up on his screen. In good conscience, he can’t continue being friends with her. Not with the possibility that she is the person he’s trying to hunt down.

He remembers her saying that being lonely is different than being alone.

Damian is lonely.

Patrol is a necessary evil.

Ladybug doesn’t hate patrol. She’s not very fond of it, though. It cuts into time that she could be spending sleeping or designing or anything else, really. In the beginning, it started as a way to figure out how everything worked under the guise of the dark and without the constant threat of an akuma hanging over head. Then, it progressed into disproving the theory about Ladybug’s age, because civilians aren’t inclined to believe that a teenage girl who has school the next day would patrol every day in the early morning. Now, it shows the Parisians how devoted Ladybug is-- that’s something that she’s struggled with ever since withdrawing the Miraculous from all of the part time heroes-- and lets Marinette blow off any steam that she has.

Right now, Marinette needs to blow off a lot of steam. Still, even as Ladybug, as much as Marinette wants to scream to high hell and back about how she’s been friends-- very close friends, she’d dare to say-- with the same person who has been terrorizing Paris for years, she can’t. If she screams, there will be media coverage on it, and she doesn’t want to deal with what the press would write up some article about how Ladybug was overworked and needed to bring back the other heroes, or that Ladybug wasn’t mentally sound enough to take care of Paris, she should just give up the Miraculous, or that Ladybug’s scream was [insert some poetic nonsense that English teachers wax about for hours even though the author never intended the audience to read that deeply into it].

Marinette doesn’t want to admit it, but she’s gotten close to Damian. She’s as close to him as she is with Kagami, Luka, Jagged and Penny. Damian knows that she’s MDC. He knows her hopes and aspirations. He knows her family, knows the majority of her friends, and knows what’s important to her. It will be so easy for him to tear her apart now. Marinette isn’t sure what Hawkmoth is waiting for, but she almost hopes that he’ll get it over with sooner rather than later.

What will Hawkmoth do first? Go after the website that he helped her make, probably. Cut off the financial support that she could use to run away and create another identity. Then, he’ll go after her friends, few and far as they may be. Renee next. Her family, last. She wonders who Mayura is, if he is Hawkmoth. She hasn’t seen anyone that’s close to him. Then again, Damian reveals next to nothing about himself. She’s never even seen where he lives.

There’s a shadow on the rooftops.

God, of course Hawkmoth would send out an akuma today. He knows how horrible her mental state must be. There’s no way he wouldn’t take advantage of that.

She yoyos over to the shadow, not close enough to strike or apprehend, but close enough to easily give chase without the akuma being able to give her the slip.

“Ladybug,” the akuma says.

“Cut the crap. We all know you want the Miraculous, Hawkmoth. Let’s get to it.” The shadow steps forward where a street lamp illuminates its costume, and once again, she is assaulted by the barrage of colors on her eyes. After seeing how awful Damian’s color coordination was, it’s easy to come to terms with the awful designs of all of his costumes. Still, she’s surprised that the boy who dresses in the same outfit every day creates such outlandish costumes for all of his minions.

The akuma frowns, tenses.

“I’m not Hawkmoth,” it insists. “I’m Robin, a vigilante from Gotham. I’ve come to learn more about the current situation and aid you in taking Hawkmoth down.”

Ladybug scoffs. She’s not sure what this akuma’s tactic is, but none of the others have tried to lie to her so blatantly about their identity. And ripping off an identity? That is a new low, even for Hawkmoth. She’s sure that the real Robin didn’t agree to this, and if she were close with the vigilante, maybe she could get him to throw a lawsuit or two at Hawkmoth once he was in custody, just for kicks.

Robin the akuma scrambles, apparently looking for something that can verify his identity.

Ladybug strikes. There’s no pride in striking an opponent when they are distracted, but it’s a means to an end. If Damian is dumb enough to send out an akuma confused about its identity tonight of all nights-- a night where Ladybug is distressed and it would be all too easy to take advantage of her-- then she’s going to take advantage of it.

It’s easy to bind the akuma. Startlingly easy. The akuma is different tonight, then. His powers have something to do with close contact, maybe? Ladybug looks on his person for things that could be the point of akumatization, eyes flitting from Robin’s waistband to his mask.

She comes to an unpleasant conclusion. The measurements and the coloring are a perfect match. Hawkmoth has come to meet her in person.

“Damian,” Ladybug hisses.

Damian’s eyes widen, like he doesn’t know how she’s pieced together his identity. How stupid does he think she is? He’s been dropping hints constantly. Information a transfer to Paris shouldn’t know. Never telling Marinette anything personal. Always being near an akuma attack when it happens. It’s almost like he wanted her to figure out his identity.

“How did you know?”

“Please, Hawkmoth, did you really think that Marinette couldn’t connect the dots? You must have thought awfully little of her if you thought that your constant appearances near all of the akuma and questions about the Miraculous didn’t lead me to your identity.”

“Hawkmoth? Ladybug, I’m not Hawkmoth, I’m Robin.”

“And I’m the queen of England. Renounce your Miraculous now, Hawkmoth. Or I’ll beat you until you detransform and take it from you.”

Damian looks confused before his face contorts to an expression of resignation. He recognizes a cold fury in her eyes that is distinct to people who won’t give up until they get their way, and there’s really no other way around this right now. He should have brought his comm with him, but he wasn’t expecting to meet Ladybug tonight; he just wanted to assess the situation as Robin, to get out from his apartment for a second. Rookie mistake.

True to her word, Ladybug beats Damian unconscious and also until he’s black and blue. She’ll be lying if she didn’t say she took out some of her fury from the past years on him.

But here’s the thing; Damian doesn’t detransform. He stays in his god-awful costume that has the same disgusting shade of mustard yellow as that one top Damian owns. That’s not what’s supposed to happen. When Miraculous users faint, they detransform because it takes a sort of mental awareness to handle the powers bestowed upon them. Is it different because Damian is an akuma? Is there some sort of Miraculous bylaw that if a Miraculous user gets akumatized, they get to stay in their alternate form? Oh wait, that’s right, he’s an akuma, not Hawkmoth right now.

Ladybug stumbles forward, breaking all of the weapons that are on his belt, taking off his mask and breaking that as well. No akuma comes out. She tries his gloves, then his boots. She pats him down, seeing if there’s anything she missed. She rips his suit, too. Nothing. There’s no brooch in his personal effects either.

What is she supposed to do now?

Seeing no alternative, Ladybug picks Damian up and yoyos back to Tom and Sabine’s Boulangerie to safely detransform and figure out what the fuck is going on.

He’s not Hawkmoth, is the conclusion Marinette comes to after a side by side comparison of pictures of the vigilante and Damian. The horrifying conclusion: the person lying on the floor of her bedroom is actually Robin, the vigilante from Gotham.

Marinette knows it’s better to err on the side of caution, but she still buries her head in her hands in embarrassment. How can she have gotten him so wrong? She really needs to get better at reading people, because deciding that random civilians are Hawkmoth clearly has not paid off.

She also cannot believe that the Justice League has decided to step in now, and with a sidekick from America, of all things--Marinette is pretty sure that she sent the videos to the European branch. It must have been three years since her first notification to them. She contacted them immediately after Stoneheart, and again, after Syren when she was distraught at the death that surrounded her. With no response, there was nothing she could do. She has to start relying on herself and her own skills.

Ladybug only contacted them once more, after Heroes’ Day. At that point, Ladybug had been thinking for a while that someone who was naturally superpowered or someone with a high grade of intelligence-- like the heroes affiliated with the Justice League-- would do more harm than good if they were allowed in the city. After the devastation of her teammates being akumatized, and the nearly week long battle that ensued, she was certain that she could barely fight her teammates, let alone trained professionals. So with shaky hands and red rimmed eyes, she said to please disregard her earlier messages; the situation in Paris wasn’t that bad, and Ladybug could handle it.

Damian groans. Marinette jumps; he is waking up far earlier than she anticipated. She wants to transform back into Ladybug. Being in her spots gives her a pseudo sense of security. First, though, she has to restrain him. Even though he isn’t Hawkmoth, she’s not sure whether he’s a threat or not. She makes quick work of it, using the thickest zip ties that she has on hand and restraining his arms and legs.

She doesn’t get the chance to transform back into Ladybug, but that’s just as well, because at the end of the day, Marinette is the foundation of anything that makes Ladybug a hero to the public. Damian opens his eyes almost immediately after she has finished restraining him, taking in his surroundings and the person in front of him.

“Marinette? Where’s Ladybug?” No questions of how he got there; Ladybug can clearly carry her own weight and more. No questions as to why there are zip ties cutting into his wrists and ankles; he has seen too many of Marinette’s victims on the streets.

“What do you mean, where’s Ladybug?” Marinette is right in front of him. She might not have the suit on, but at the end of the day, she does have the Ladybug Miraculous, which means she’s Ladybug through and through, and Damian must know that. Otherwise, there’s no real reason for Robin to be spending so much time with Marinette. The fact that she feels more real and true to herself as Marinette than as Ladybug probably means nothing to him.

“She knocked me out on a rooftop. Didn’t know that you two knew each other personally. I’m not Hawkmoth, by the way.” He twitches, then realizes that he’s been tied up. “Why’d she leave me with you?”

So he doesn’t know that she’s also Ladybug? This whole thing keeps getting more confusing. Still, the less people that know about her alter ego, the better. Marinette will keep him in the dark. She attributes his blatant misunderstanding to the identity concealment magic of the Miraculous. It’s powerful stuff. If it didn’t exist, she’s sure she would have found concrete evidence as to who Hawkmoth is by now.

“She asked me to assess whether you were a threat or not. Whether or not she casts the Miraculous Cure is contingent on my response.”

“Ladybug wants you to assess whether I’m a threat or not? Why’d she leave a possible super villain with a civilian?”

“I help Ladybug out with many things.” Her voice turns to clinical detachment. She uses this method to dissociate as Ladybug when things get overwhelming. Assess the situation. Get in, deakumatize, get out. Marinette needs to distance herself. It’s bad enough that the situation is this convoluted, but she doesn’t need Damian to doubt Ladybug’s capabilities as well. “Ladybug knows that you’re not Hawkmoth now, and she knows that I can handle myself with any run of the mill bad guy, even if they are a supposed vigilante.”

“Tell me, Robin,” Marinette spits the name like a curse, “Why should I tell Ladybug that you’re not a threat? That you are who you say you are?”

In all honesty, all Marinette wants to do is knock Damian out again so she can collect her thoughts. She’s not sure how she should address his presence as Robin in Paris and is still reeling from the whiplash of thinking he was Hawkmoth only for him to turn into a foreign vigilante. Next thing she knows, he’ll tell her that his name isn’t even Damian Grayson. Well, now that she thinks about it, he’s definitely not. After this encounter finishes, she’ll look up Damian and Gotham and see what she gets.

He looks flustered, like he never expected anybody to question his identity or presence. It’s laughable, really. Marinette doubts that the Justice League actually sent him; he’s probably here to explore on his own. That means he’ll only be a pain in the ass to deal with. Maybe she needs to get into contact with the Justice League again, if only just so she can deport Robin with more ease.

“I can call Batman,” he says.

Marinette doesn’t think this is a very good solution. There’s no way for her to prove that the person on the other side actually is Batman and not some actor. But after racking her brain, she can’t come up with a much better solution. It’s not like Robin has any superpowers that she can request to see, and she doesn’t have a direct line to anybody from the Justice League.

“Fine. Call Batman.”

“It’s in the pocket near on my right side.” Marinette doesn’t bother going closer to him. She destroyed everything on him earlier, in case it was the akuma’s vessel. Ladybug thought she came across a phone, but now she’s glad she smashed it and left it on that random rooftop. He probably has some sort of tracker on his phone. In any case, Marinette thinks it’s weird for a vigilante to have a phone on them while on the rooftops. Shouldn’t he have an earpiece or something?

“Your phone was destroyed by Ladybug. Tell me the number to call. I’ll put it on speaker.” Marinette isn’t sure if the number he’ll have her call will be some sort of secure connection or direct line that is only accessible through Damian’s phone, but she doesn’t particularly care because the Miraculous Communicators are exactly that. Miraculous. Master Fu assured her that all communications were private and impossible to crack unless they also had a Miraculous. Which is why she’s using the Miraculous Communicator to call Batman.

Damian winces, then speaks into the offered phone.

“Batman, it’s Robin. I need to verify my identity in order to proceed.”

“Are you with Ladybug?”

So he is on a mission, then, and not just playing hooky. If Batman is involved, Marinette has no doubt the rest of the Justice League will follow soon. This will be a dreadfully unpleasant call.

“I’m making it a video call,” Marinette says. “And no, he’s not with Ladybug. I’m Ladybug’s point of contact, and she doesn’t take kindly to people encroaching on her territory without permission.”

“Robin, what happened?” Batman isn’t accepting her video request.

Marinette cuts off whatever Damian is about to say. “Damian was suspicious; I reported his activities to Ladybug and she believed that he could be Hawkmoth. Then, she caught him on the roofs and took him back to my place after verifying that he wasn’t Hawkmoth. Video call, Batman. I’d like to see that you are who you say you are, before I send Robin back to the states.”

“She knows your civilian identity? Two people know that you’re Robin?”

“Turn your video on. If you can’t prove that you are who Damian says you are, Ladybug and I will do everything in our powers to deport him and make sure that the Justice League is not allowed in Paris again. Ladybug said that she doesn’t need any unknowns in her city, and I’ve been hoping Robin came here of his own volition. It sounds like that isn’t the case.”

Marinette thinks that Batman curses in English, but she’s not sure. Fluent though Marinette may be, she is not well versed in curses, colloquialisms, or American memes. The camera turns on. It’s Batman, or at the very least, an actor wearing a very good knock off costume.

It’s annoying that Marinette can’t see his eyes. There’s some white film where his eyes should be, and the fact that his cowl covers more than half of his face isn’t doing her any favors in letting her read his facial expression. She moves herself so that Batman can see both her and Robin.

“Why is Robin restrained?”

“Like I said: he was suspicious. I’m not taking any chances.”

A moment of silence.

“How do you want me to prove my identity?”

That’s good. He’s not asking who she is, though she’s sure that there are cameras pointing at the screen on Batman’s end, running facial analysis and background checks on her. The Miraculous magic will ensure that any connections between her and Ladybug will not come to light. Other than her identity as Ladybug, Marinette has nothing to hide.

“If you’re Batman, then you should have access to the League’s calls, European and otherwise. Play me the last video that Ladybug sent you. I know what she said.” She spares a glance at Damian. His jaw is tight, but when he looks at her, she finds what looks like regret. It’s not entirely Damian’s fault. A mission is a responsibility, and Marinette understands that in order to be a hero or vigilante, one must be willing to do anything to accomplish the mission. Really, she’s only Ladybug because she feels that heavy weight of the words duty and responsibility on her shoulders. Fu’s fault.

“Behave. If you try something, I’ll knock you out.” Marinette sets the communicator on her desk and eyes him. The zipties are so tight around his arms and legs that he is bleeding. Marinette feels a flash of sympathy, then pushes it away. It was his fault for-- why was he at fault, again?

“I have the video.” Batman sounds even peakier than when they started the call. He plays the video.

“Justice League. This is Ladybug. I rescind my requests for help; I can take care of Paris with my own team. Any help from you at this point would be a detriment and could potentially harm the citizens of Paris. Hawkmoth manipulates strong emotions, and I don’t need to handle a metahuman or tactical genius to gain more power to wreak havoc on my city. I will not contact you with any further requests for assistance.”

It’s an awful video. Marinette had to wait a day after the Heroes’ week fiasco just so her eyes wouldn’t be red. At least her voice doesn’t waver in it. There’s a conviction in the whole video that was unique to that moment.

Marinette looks at Batman, then at Robin.

“Clearly the Justice League refused to listen. Ladybug doesn’t want or need your help at this point in time. Why are you here?”

“The Justice League is at fault for not paying attention to Ladybug’s other videos. But Mayor Bourgeois and President Macron can only cover such alarming incidents for so long. Ladybug and her… team clearly need help in order to find and take down Hawkmoth, so once the American branch of the Justice League found out half a year ago, we started to investigate.” Batman speaks in lieu of Damian. Marinette briefly wonders if Damian knows who Batman is under the mask. She bets he does. They’re probably close, what with how worried Batman sounds.

“What makes you think that the Justice League is any better equipped to handle this situation? Ladybug and her team have been fighting for the past three years and resolved every akuma with no help from you. She needed your help in earlier years. Now she doesn’t.”

“Exactly; it’s been three years and she still hasn’t caught Hawkmoth.”

“You say that like the Justice League doesn’t have a team with more wealth and manpower than Ladybug does that’s been looking into Hawkmoth and the Miraculous for the past half year and clearly has not found any reasonable leads. Ladybug has only been actively looking for Hawkmoth for the past two years, not three. The police handled the first year, not that you’ve done any homework on the situation. Thought that a field agent would help your chances?”

There is fire in Marinette’s stomach. Batman sounds so dismissive of all of the work that she’s been doing. It’s been hard on her; she doesn’t have the support that she needs and doesn’t have the experience or expertise to hunt down Hawkmoth on her own. She trained briefly under Master Fu to learn spells and ways to expand her powers as Ladybug, but that was an equivalent exchange: she no longer trusts that other holders won’t be akumatized. Her growing cynicism and physical training from Maman came at the expense of Chat Noir; after the whole Lila incident in her first year as Ladybug, she found out that Chat Noir and Adrien were one and the same. And Gabriel Agreste is not afraid to use his son until Adrien is stretched far too thin, which forced Marinette to nearly bench her partner.

“Three years,” Batman says again.

“If the Justice League can’t figure it out nearly unlimited resources and funding in half a year-- both ordinary and super human-- then clearly it isn’t a question of time. It’s a question of capability. Get off your high horse, Batman. You haven’t given me any reasons why Ladybug and I shouldn’t deport Robin here, and you’re definitely not making a good case as to why she shouldn’t go to Mayor Bourgeois and France’s president to ensure that the Justice League and its affiliates and ban hero travel into Paris. Bourgeois already doesn’t want information on it’s supervillain situation to get out.”

“Marinette,” Damian pleads.

As Robin and as Damian, he doesn’t pose a threat. He hasn’t been helpful, but he certainly hasn’t messed with the status quo for the month that he’s been here. Still, he is a liability. If he stays in Paris, he is the gateway for the other members of the Justice League to fly in and try to commandeer the fragile balance that she has found. She can’t afford for something like that to happen.

“You’re not any better, Robin. Why did you even hang around me? Thought I was a threat?” Her eyes narrow in realization. It makes sense why he decided to hang out with her, despite his initial cold front. He was playing a role.“You thought I was Hawkmoth.”

His silence is an agreement.

“We just want to help,” Damian says, and against her better judgement, Marinette believes him.

Her shoulders round, and Marinette sighs. She can’t truly begrudge Damian for that train of thought, not when she believed the same about him. She’s been a little harsh on them so far, in part due to old resentment that they never responded to her in that first, awful year when she needed the help.

There’s a dull tiredness that comes with knowing someone who she considered one of her closest friends suspected her of being a supervillain, though she did believe the same of him, so maybe they’re even. It still hurts, though. It hurts like when Alya decided that Marinette was mean-hearted enough to stop the members of their class from reaching their full potential. It hurts like when Marinette finally realized that she couldn’t repair their friendship, not to what it used to be. It hurts like when she looked around the classroom and realized that she couldn’t talk to anyone there. It hurts like when Marinette decided that she couldn’t risk helping her friends the way she wanted to.

“What kind of help can you offer us? We don’t need any more of you to come out here.” Resources are nice. More money to fund therapy programs around town won’t hurt. Master Fu doesn’t help on that part. Really, he doesn’t help at all. Even though she has Chat Noir and had a team, she often feels like it’s herself against the world. Some days, she reaches up to her earrings and feels an aching emptiness, like there’s something more to the Miraculous that’s been sealed away.

“We can give you resources. Money, connections, experience. Robin is good with technology. He can help you track down where Hawkmoth is.”

Marinette’s laugh is bitter. “Sure, he can try, but the butterflies Hawkmoth sends out aren’t visible by the normal human eye or electronically until they’ve found their mark. Once they’re purified, they’re just normal butterflies, and they go off in random directions.”

“Normal human eye? It sounds like there are exceptions.” Damian readjusts himself. He has fidgeted his way into an uncomfortable looking seiza position, where his ankles are bleeding.

“A true holder can see the butterflies at all times.”

Marinette also decides to throw them a bone so there’s no questions as to why a mere civilian is working with Ladybug. “That’s why Ladybug recruited me. I was Multimouse.”

Multimouse was in the file that Damian sent his father, but he asks, just to make sure. “The one that can split itself?”

“That’s correct. I guess now is as good a time as any for the two of you to get your questions answered.”

“Why are you the point of civilian contact instead of any of the other more frequently used heroes? Didn’t you appear only once?” Damian avoids looking Marinette in the eyes, and that makes her feel slightly better. He’s ashamed of his actions. Good.

“Ladybug said that the other hero’s civilian forms were either compromised or not in a good position.”

“Ladybug knows who all the holders are.” Batman speculates. He looks less tense now that Damian is no longer tied up, but his voice remains gravelly and distrubed. Maybe that’s what he sounds like all the time. “Who else knows? Do you?”

“Only Ladybug knows.” Marinette lives in half truths. She’s not sure that they’re much better than lies, but they’re all she has. Secrecy is the only thing Master Fu has sincerely taught her.

“Why have all the other heroes disappeared?”

“Ladybug said that it was too dangerous for someone who could be akumatized to hold a Miraculous. Rena Rage, Shell Shock, Queen Wasp-- they were all frighteningly powerful akumas. It’s also why Chat Noir has been showing up less and less; his home life is not the best, and she’s trying her best to ensure that he doesn’t get akumatized.”

“She’s not worried for herself or,” Damian’s eyes flick to Marinette, away from Batman. “For you?”

“She knows that both of us are good at dealing with stress. We have our own methods of coping.” She looks at Damian, her mouth tightening into a frown. “If you want to stay in Paris, I’ll cut you a deal. We can work together for two weeks, and if we don’t get any results, you have to leave and the Justice League must promise that they won’t interfere again.”

“Two weeks isn’t enough time,” Damian objects.

“If you don’t think it’s enough time, just leave now. I’ll say now that I’m only willing to work with you during the night. That’s the time I work on Miraculous related stuff now, anyways. And stay out of the akuma battles.” She doesn’t actually think that working together will help anyways, and she wants Damian gone sooner rather than later. He’s been making her feel too much and emotions that are far more explosive and easy to take advantage of than Marinette has in a long time. She doesn’t want to be targeted by an akuma because of her inner conflict.

“Two weeks, then,” Batman agrees. “Robin can contact me if you need any extra resources.”

Marinette hangs up and assesses Damian. He looks almost pitiful, with bruising around his eyes, tousled hair, a ripped suit, and cuts where his skin is exposed. She opens her trap door in a clear gesture for him to depart. Downstairs is dark; her Maman and Papa have long since gone to sleep, and it’s only a few more hours until they wake up to start baking. “We start tomorrow. If you need Ladybug for anything, tell me.”

He’s half way down the ladder when he looks back up at Marinette, into her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he says.

Marinette can’t breath. She feels like vomiting. His eyes are so green in comparison to the purple bruising on his face. She did that to him. She made him look that way. All she’s ever wanted to do as Ladybug is protect the people she cared for. But Damian-- Marinette doesn’t know. She doesn't know whether what Damian has done can actually be described as bad. He was just trying to do what Batman told him to do. Keeping an eye on a threat. Marinette wonders how long he thought she was Hawkmoth. She wonders if he ever thought they were friends.

“I’m sorry too,” Marinette says, and shuts the trap door.

They’re both sorry for very different things.

#miraculous ladybug #dcu #mlb x dc #maribat #daminette #batfam #jason todd #bruce wayne #dick grayso #barbara gordon #sbgs #original content #adrien agreste #lila rossi #marinette dupain cheng #damian wayne

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dessarious · 4 years ago

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Misconceptions, Miscommunication, and Misinformation Pt93

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Damian had once again tried Selina’s room first only to find she wasn’t there. When Chloe texted him back that she was with them in her suite he was annoyed but not surprised. He really didn’t need the woman telling them things about him. The grin Chloe shot him when she opened the door just made him start cursing internally. When they entered the living area, it got worse.

Selina and Marinette were on the couch and it looked like they were going over designs for Selina’s new wardrobe. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was Luka sitting a bit away from them strumming softly on his guitar and notating it in his notebook. When he said he was going somewhere for inspiration Damian hadn’t even considered that the Grand Paris was an option. He’d done everything he could to stay away from the other boy when his family was present.

“Damian! I’m glad you’re here. I’ve got some of the designs we talked about before sketched out and I wanted to get your opinion on them.” His focus returned to the girls as Marinette was rifling through her notebooks looking for his designs. She really was the most unorganized person he’d ever met.

“I’m sure they’re fine.” Selina and Chloe were both glaring at him but he didn’t care. Marinette had proven to have good judgement on these matters and he was confident the designs were up to her normal standards. There was no reason for him to look at them to say so.

“Maybe but there are a couple things we didn’t go over that I want to get your preference on.” His annoyed sigh brought more glares from the others but Marinette just smiled at him.

“You may as well just give in and get it over with, you know how stubborn Mari is.” Luka didn’t even look up to make the comment. Damian could only roll his eyes.

“Fine, but don’t yell at me like you did last time when I picked something that went against your ‘design sensibilities’.” He wished he were joking about that but Marinette’s hour long tirade about his complete lack of fashion sense was still fresh in his mind. Marinette actually blushed.

“I said I was sorry.” Yeah, sarcastically and more of a ‘I’m sorry you’re such an idiot’ than an apology. He opened his mouth to point that out but caught Luka shake his head out of the corner of his eye. Apparently this was one of those arguments he wasn’t likely to win.

“Let’s just get this over with.” Selina was eyeing him strangely and he didn’t like it. She was far too observant for his peace of mind and it put him on edge. Marinette started going over patterns and cuts and in the end he just asked what she thought was best and went with that. It was easier for everyone that way. About an hour in Luka got up and came over to look at the sketches.

“What do you think about adding some emerald accents to this one? It’ll make his glare stand out that much more if the material compliments his eyes.” If anyone else had said that they’d be bleeding on the floor. As it was Damian was doing everything in his power not to blush.

“Oh! You’re the boyfriend!” Selina’s declaration was enough to make him groan. This was exactly why he stayed away from Luka. “No wonder the boys haven’t figured it out.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” He had no idea which one of them she was insulting but if it was Luka she was about to get thrown off the balcony.

“Just that they’re expecting you to have found someone closer to your personality, or for you to act completely different around them. This dynamic is far too inconspicuous for them to catch onto, especially with the way you’re actually getting more stiff when he’s in the room rather than relaxing.” Chloe and Marinette started giggling at that and he just glared at them. They were the only ones who had seen him and Luka in their ‘natural state’ as they liked to call it and made fun of him constantly for refusing to act that way when anyone else was in the room.

“Then how did you figure it out?” Selina actually rolled her eyes.

“Please, name one other person who could say something like that without you assaulting them. You didn’t even fire back verbally.” Damn it. This was going to be a disaster. “Don’t worry Damian, I’m not going to say anything. Even Bruce said they would all wait until you’re ready and I’m not about to subject anyone to that insanity. At the same time, I figured you would want to know that I figured it out.”

“Calm down Dames, she means it. Not to mention I’ve told you that I’m not worried about your family. You’ll understand when you meet my mom.” Damian could only scoff and even Selina was giving him a ‘oh you poor innocent being’ look.

“I assure you there’s no way your mother is anywhere near the level of insane that my family is. Not to mention there’s only one of her and my siblings just seem to keep multiplying.” The girls laughed but Selina was just nodding. None of them understood the shit storm that would be unleashed when they all found out about Luka.

“Yeah, sorry blue boy, but he’s right. Maybe if Jason were locked up somewhere for the initial announcement everyone would survive it but as things stand it’ll be far better if they get over the shock of Damian having a boyfriend before finding out it’s the most laid back person in the universe.”

“Don’t call him that, he has a name.” Selina just gave him a bland look.

“And then there’s the fact that Damian will take every single thing they say about or to you and find an insult in it even if there wasn’t one intended. There will be bloodshed and I’m sure neither of you wants that.”

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#maribat #bffmaridami #Damian Wayne #luka couffaine #marinette dupain cheng #chloe bourgeois #Selina Kyle

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sir-adrien-swagreste · 5 years ago

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Shipping with Myself - A ML Fanfic

(Based on the following post: <Click Here> )

It was a normal Akumaless day in Paris. Adrien Agreste was busy practicing the Piano when he was talking to Plagg about the possibilities of someone discovering his Identity as Chat Noir.

“Hey Plagg, do you think there’s anyone who thought about me being Chat Noir?”

“Kid, if that happened that reporter girl from your school would be on top of it ASAP. You’re good kid.”

“I don’t know....Oh I know! Let’s search online and see if anyone has tried to search up my and Chat Noir.”

Adrien goes to his computer at his desk and searches “Adrien Agreste Chat Noir”. The results were a little shocking for him as he got 1,000+ results. The first link brought him to a Fanfiction called “A Chatastic Night”. Curious, he clicked onto the link to see what it was about. As he began to read it, he couldn’t help but be impressed with how well the Author nailed Chat Noir & all of his Puns. Unfortunately for our Sunshine, his intrigue was going to shift to pure shock.

“Ok, I’m just getting out of the Shower when Chat arrived.....wait why does Chat have a Red Rose in his Mouth?”

Plagg is watching his child read this clearly lewd Fanfic while trying not to laugh & is kinda curious to see how far it goes.

“Chat walks towards the partially dressed Model and begins to undress himself as he grabs the Chatastic Model & gives him a passionate kiss. Chat then grabbed the towel wrapped around Adrien and....”

“OH MY GOD!!!!” Adrien shouted!

“Bwahahahahaha oh my god!” Keep reading! I got to hear how this goes! Let’s see “Adrien then grabbed Chats tail and pulled it off while whispering in his Ear “Purr for Daddy”. Kid.....this is Unreal! Also this has been read by 50,000 + people”

“PLAGG SHUT UP!!! OMG OMG OMG! Ok it’s no big deal. I just have to close the page, clear my history & no one will ever...”

“Adrien? I heard you scream. Is everything ok”

Adrien stopped in his tracks immediately. It was Ladybug. She was standing just outside his window. She walked into see how Adrien was doing while also trying to stay calm as she was I her crushes room.

“M’L..I mean Ladybug! I’m rood..I mean I’m good. I just uhhh stubbed my toe. That’s all. No worries here.”

Ladybug sign in relief. “Glad to hear it. I thought that maybe an Akuma showed up or something. I’m glad to see that you’re so fine..I mean that you are okay. I better....”

Ladybug paused as if she was in deep thought. Adrien was curious to see if she was ok when he realized that she was looking at his computer screen. With a Raunchy Chat Noir X Adrien Agreste Fanfic open on his screen. Adrien suddenly began to panic.

“LADYBUGITSNOTWHATITLOOKSLIKE!! I-I-I-I Just found the link by accident. I wasn’t reading this becau..”

Ladybug was about as red as her costume. Unable to know what to say she bolted out of the window screaming that she had to run! Adrien fell over in defeat and anguish. Not only does his Lasy think he likes someone else, but it a guy and more importantly it’s himself! Plagg came out of hiding u able to hold it in any longer.

“OH MY ME!! THIS IS TOO MUCH!! THIS IS ALMOST BETTER THEN CAMEMBERT!!”

Adrien proceeded to hide himself under his pillow and remained in his room for the rest of the day.

——————————————————————————

Meanwhile, Ladybug silently arrived home and transformed back into her civilian form and was about to follow suit and crawled into bed hugging a pillow while screaming.

“Marinette? Are you okay?” Asked Tikki

“Ok? OK?!? NOO!! I’m not okay!! Adrien is in love with Chat Noir!!”

Marinette began to tear up. Marinette reaches out to her laptop and began typing onto it. The page brought her to a website with the User “The Y-Bug”. In the links of things on the users page included a certain link. A link to a Fanfic by that very Author. The link was to none other then “A Chatastic Night”.

“Why did I have to make that stupid Fanfic?!? What if Adrien finds out that I wrote that?!?”

Tikki attempted to comfort her Master while also trying to figure out why Adrien was on that page to begin with since she knows Chat & Adrien are one and the same.

——————————————————————————

Several days pasted and Adrien was not to be seen in school at all. Apparently he was sick and was unable to come to school. Everyone was concerned, but Marinette was panicking since she thinks it was because of what happened.

When she went home she immediately walked up to her room and sat by her computer to quickly get all of her work done and retire early for the night.

“Ugh! This is the worst!”

Suddenly she heard a ping come from her computer. Apparently it was from a User from the Fanfiction site who went by “SwagChat”. They claimed that their Agreste/Noir Fic was really well made & had sent them a link to a Fanfic of their own. Trying to get her mind off of what happened, she decided to give it a read. Maybe this would help make her feel better.

The title of the Fic was called “A Spotty Situation”. It stared Ladybug as the Main Character & went through the Adventures between her and Chat Noir. Seeing this helped put a smile on her face. She was also impressed that the Author has her character down to a T.

“Whoever this is must be a real big Ladybug Fan.”

She continued reading the Fanfic. Apparently the Ladybug in this wanted to find herself a new style for her Super Suit but was having dificulties getting ideas. Ladybug then mentions one of the people she once saved who she knew was also a Rising Star in the Fashion World. The person she was going to was none other then Paris’ own, Mari eye Dupain Cheng.

“....Marinette?!? That’s me!!! Why am I in this. Also Rising Star?!?”

Marinette was both shocked and also flattered that whoever wrote this thought so highly of her. As Marinette continued to read the fanfic, Tikki was listening and reading from behind. Tikki was also curious as to how this individual knew her and Ladybug so well. This is when a sudden thought dawned onto her.

“No way.....it couldn’t be....”

In the fanfic Ladybug & Marinette apparently became fast friends. Marinette happily helped Ladybug come up with ideas for a new style for her Suit. Marinette asked Ladybug if she could take a few measurements & Ladybug allowed. As Marinette was taking Ladybug’s Measurement, she accidentally tripped and fell on top of Ladybug.

“OMG Ladybug, I’m so sorry are you al..”

Marinette stopped as her eyes suddenly locked with Ladybug. Both were silent, both of their hearts began to race and both started to get a little Red in the face.

“It’s...ok. Uhh....I....I....”

A shout can’t from outside. Soulds like there was an Akuma Attack going on. Ladybug quickly collected her thoughts as she and Marinette got up and Ladybug prepared to leave. Before she left, Marinette called out to her.

“Ummm will.....will I see you again Ladybug?”

Ladybug began to blush just as Marinette had.

“Of...of course. Can’t wait to see you again!”

Ladybug then left in order to stop the Akuma that was reeking havoc.

Marinette still red in the face with her heart feeling like it was going to leap out of her chest.

“See you soon.” A soft smile appeared as she said this. End of First chapter of “A Spotty Situation”.

—————————————————————————-

Marinette just finished reading this with a face so red it put her Ladybug Suit to shame.

“What The Hell Is This?!? Why is there a Marinette x Ladybug Fanfic here. And Who The Hell is SwagChat?!? OMG I swear if this is Chat, I will kick his fine ass!! But even if this was him it’s not like he’d know that this was my user.”

Tikki remained silent. (“Well you’re not incorrect.” “Plagg, this was your idea! I’m sure of it! When I see you, we will have words!”)

——————————————————————————

Meanwhile at the Agretes Mansion, Adrien was sitting at his desk in his pajamas with a flush face. In truth he was actually a little under the weather although that didn’t make him guilt free. Not long before, he had just finished Writting the first part of a MariBug Fanfic. “Why did he choose Marinette?” To him, she was his everyday Ladybug. It felt somewhat fitting to use her. Plus she knew Ladybug and Chat Noir so it wasn’t too far fetched. He just hoped she’d never see this or find out he wrote it. He couldn’t imagine how she’d react if she found out one of her Best Friends was writing a fanfic where they pair her with Ladybug.

Plagg is currently eating Cheese while thinking to himself “Oh kid, if only you knew!”

*Ping*

Adrien looked over to his computer and saw that he just got a IM from the user “The Y-Bug”. Y-Bug?!? Wait wasn’t that the one I sent the link to? They read it already? Let’s see.

“SwagChat. First off thank you for your comments about my fanfic. I was surprised when you sent over this link & even more so after I read it. What inspired you to write it?”

Adrien was nervous since he didn’t want to reveal too much & also wanted to respond so they didn’t try to inquire more about him and possibly find out that he was Adrien or worse Chat Noir.

“Hello Bug. I guess my inspiration was a few things. First was your Fanfic. As for the second.....I....Actually am somewhat farmiliar with both Ladybug & Marinette. I’ve been a fan of Ladybug since her debut and as for Marinette....well I’ve a fan of some of her work. She’s a new Self Designer but if you asked me, she could even give Gabriel Agreste a run for his money. I really admire her so when I think of two girls in my life as a Pairing, it kinda make me feel....happy.”

Marinette fell silent. Whoever this person is, they must really know her well to think so highly of her. Both of her. Despite being pissed earlier, she couldn’t help but feel happy. She then wondered if she knew this user and tried to see if she could get them to reveal anything about themselves.

“Nice try, Bug. Can’t do that. Cats got my tongue. Though maybe if we can chat some more maybe I’ll feel more comfortable seeing you in person. Afterall, it sounds like you also live in Paris so maybe we will bump into each other. Can’t help but be curious about who made this Fic. Chat out.”

Marinette was half convinced at this point.

“It’s Chat! I’m sure of it! He saw my post and is trying to get back at me by making this post.”

Tikki decided to jump in.

“If it is him....are you upset?”

“At first I was, but now....I can’t help but find myself smiling. Oh No! Am I falling for Chat now? Speaking of there’s still the Adrien/Chat situation. Ugh...what do I do?”

——————————————————————————

Adrien just finished loggin off his computer when Plagg landed onto his head to talk about “Y-Bug”.

“So kid.....how do you feel?”

Adrien was silent for a second.

“I’m...okay Plagg. Y-Bug really wanted to know who I was. Can’t help but wonder if she suspects anything. Also.....”

“Also?”

“I feel like I know them somehow. I don’t know why but I just have this feeling that I know who the Author is but I can’t put my finger on it...”

Plagg sighs as he begins to think to himself.

“Good thing I flew over to Marinette’s house the other day to see if my hunch was right. It’s also good that Adrien was sick sleeping all day yesterday so he didn’t realize where I went. After this, I’m getting tired of waiting for these two to figure it out. I hope my plan to hook these two up somehow using these “Fanfics” of theirs works. I guess only time will tell.”

Hope you all liked this.

Tags: @buggachat for starting this, @gale-of-the-nomads for inspiring this particular idea, and also @masked-bixch since I usually tag you in posts like this.

#adrichat #maribug #miraculous ladybug #adrien agreste #chat noir #ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #love square #adrinette #adrienette #ladrien #marichat #ladynoir #ml #ml au #ml fanfiction #ml fanfics #miraculous

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macaronsforchat · 4 years ago

Text

Ladynoir July Day 14 - Chat Blanc

@ladynoirjuly2020

read on ao3!

“Tikki, spots on!”

Ladybug jumped out of her skylight, taking a deep breath of fresh air and throwing her yo-yo towards the nearest chimney. Pulling the string hard and letting it carry her forward, she didn’t feel surprised that the wind on her face couldn’t make her feel anymore excited. She was already glowing with the anticipation of seeing her boyfriend, and nothing, not even Gabriel Agreste would stop her from doing so.

She raced against heartbeat to make it to their meeting spot, seeing him waiting there for her and feeling like she couldn’t fly any higher.

“Hey!” she called, his eyes meeting hers as she landed. She would never get over the way his face lit up at the sight of her. Her heart felt like it could burst as she rushed over to him, meeting him in a tight hug and laughing happily. He held her tightly to his chest, lifting her feet off the ground for a second and making her squeal.

“There’s my princess,” he said happily, pulling away and giving her a warm smile. She returned it, grinning up at him with her hands on his chest.

“My prince,” she greeted, feeling his grip on her tighten a little. She glanced at his lips, moving closer as he tilted his head down towards her and kissed her sweetly. His lips were so soft against her own, a gentle hum of delight rumbling in his chest.

They both pulled away reluctantly, gazing into each other’s eyes once more.

“I missed you,” he said, and she giggled, letting her arms fall back to her sides.

“You saw me five hours ago,” she reminded him, and he pouted teasingly, taking her hands in his.

“It was the longest five hours of my life,” he sighed dramatically, bringing her hands to his lips and kissing both of them. She snickered, blushing a little at how sweet he was even when he was being silly.

“I missed you too,” she admitted, seeing a smile work its way onto his lips as he scattered kisses across her knuckles.

“It’s like we’re made for each other,” he said quietly, a joking lilt in his voice. She giggled, kissing his cheek and pulling her hands away, taking a few steps back from him.

“I already know we are, kitty,” she spoke, watching his mouth drop open a little. “Let’s get this patrol started, shall we?” she asked, and he smirked a little, rushing over and pushing her yo-yo down as she lifted her arm to throw it.

“I think we can walk our patrol route today,” he said, and she raised an eyebrow at him.

“Walk?” she asked, and he nodded enthusiastically, attaching her yo-yo back onto her waist for her.

“I wanna be able to talk to you,” he explained, making butterflies stir in her stomach.

“That’s sweet, but we can’t exactly walk across the rooftops of Paris,” she said, placing her hands on her hips. He raised a finger, shaking it a little at her.

“Nothing’s impossible for Chat Noir, m’lady,” he grinned. “When there’s a gap we need to cross, I’ll carry you across like a true gentleman,” he told her, bowing towards her and making her giggle. She was blushing, rolling her eyes at how lighthearted and silly he always made an effort to be.

“Then lead the way, sir,” she said, watching him stifle a laugh and begin to walk, motioning for her to follow.

They started along their normal patrol route, and after a few minutes, she’d already been carried over a few gaps by her dorky boyfriend. When they reached a long and narrow stretch of roofing, she reached over and took his hand, intertwining their fingers. Both of them smiled at each other, and she wondered where all the room in her heart for loving him had come from. It seemed like there was no end to it.

As she thought about how it had all started, she was pulled under a wave of a thousand different emotions.

When Adrien had come and confessed to loving her in return, she knew that she would remember that as the happiest day of her life. The one she truly loved felt the same way about her.

On the other hand, being forced to break up with her boyfriend was the most painful thing Marinette had ever had to do. She was so blinded by sorrow and grief and pain that she didn’t even think about the possibility of getting akumatized. But he was there for her then too.

And since the reveal of their identities to each other, since that day in the rain, things had been quiet. The peace that suddenly surrounded her felt strange, but she tried to appreciate it while she could. Mr. Agreste hadn’t said anything else about their relationship, but they tried to stay out of the public eye as much as possible anyway. Plus, there hadn’t been an akumatization since that day. Maybe the universe wanted her to be happy.

And she really, really was.

Looking up at her boyfriend, she felt like her heart had been filled to the brim and could burst at any moment. He returned her gaze, blinking at her with an adorable look of curiosity.

“What?” he wondered, and she sighed happily, holding his hand tighter.

“I love you,” she answered, watching him blink in surprise and then melt into a warm happiness.

“I love you too,” he breathed out, making her stomach flip and her shoulders lift to press to her ears. A happy giggle spilled from her lips, her whole body buzzing.

“Do you know how adorable you are?” he asked her, and she looked back up at him, blushing brightly. “And you’re even more adorable when you’re embarrassed,” he grinned, reaching down with his free hand to poke her side. She laughed a little but then quickly pouted at him, and she watched the realization flash in his eyes.

“Ah, sorry!” he chuckled, holding up his guilty hand. “I know I’m banned from tickles for a week, I just forgot,” he explained, and she nodded, letting her pout drop.

“You bet you are,” she replied, finding it funny how quickly the tone of their conversation had changed but that the love in the air hadn’t. He laughed, taking another stride and pulling her along.

They walked for a few more minutes in silence, both of them appreciating the sky as it shifted into a deeper shade of navy blue.

“I never want this to end,” he said suddenly, and she turned to look at him, blushing when she found his eyes already on her.

“Well, uh, I still have that history project to work on, so I can’t stay out for too long but if--” she started, stopping when he shook his head at her.

“I mean us,” he clarified, and she blinked at him in realization.

“It won’t,” she said firmly, feeling his hand squeeze hers tightly.

“Good. I don’t care what my father has to say,” he said, a new color showing through in his voice. She watched him, thinking back to how afraid she was when his father had said that he would pull his son out of school if she didn’t break it off.

Ladybug pulled him gently to a stop, letting go of his hand and pushing herself against him for a hug.

“I never want to lose you,” she said against his neck, feeling his arms sliding across her back.

“You won’t,” he whispered into her hair, pressing a quick kiss to the skin just below her ear.

She sighed happily, holding Adrien tightly and wholeheartedly believing him.

~~~~~

i just re-read this for the first time in a few days and the ending made me cry im gajsbglsjbdg

thank you all for reading! your support means so much to me!

#ladynoirjuly2020 #ladynoirjuly #ladynoir #ladynoir july #ladybug #chat noir #miraculous ladybug #my writing #chat blanc #ml fic #post reveal

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arlakos · 5 years ago

Note

You said you were looking for ML writing prompts? How do you feel about writing something short for Kagaminette (Marinette/Kagami ship)? If you’re so inclined, anything will do, but for a more specific prompt what about an alternate meeting between the two of them. Please and thank you if you decide to write this prompt.

“Well, this is certainly an interesting request, and a non-salt one as well! I do admit that I did have an idea for a fanfic involving a Kagaminette moment (that would expand into a rather comedic story involving multiple ships), but I like the challenge of creating an alternate meeting (as it restricts my writing out of my comfort zone. With that being said, lets take this story back to where it all began, with a couple of bumps in the plot…”

Marinette grumbled to herself as she walked down to the school, feeling bummed out today. Thanks to a rather untimely order at the bakery taking so long, she was unable to join the enrollment class for D'Argencourt fencing school, which just so happened to be the one Adrien was doing fencing at! Sure, she wasn’t entirely there for the actual fencing (If anything she was hopefully just there to see Adrien perform and actually get the chance to be with him for a while), but the point still stands that she missed out! Talk about a bummer…

Still, she refused to let a bad moment bring her down! Despite being wayyyyy to late to join the classes, Marinette went to the College Dupont where the fencing classes were, carrying a bag of freshly baked goods. Aside from Adrien, some of her other classmates were also doing their post-school activities, so she figured she would make a quick stop and give them a couple of snacks. She had a pain au Chocolate for Alya, and apple danish for Nino, and a bunch of other treats for her classmates!

Of course, she left aside a perfectly baked croissant just for Adrien…

Of course, as she was imagining Adriens look of happiness getting a croissant, she ended up colliding into someone.

The bag slipped from her hands and onto the floor, but miraculously none of the treats fell out or got bruised. The same couldnt be said for Marinette as she fell onto her butt, groaning at the mild, yet aggravating pain.

“Oh, I’m sorry about that. Here, let me help you up.”

A hand was raised out in front of Marinettes face, the latter graciously taking the hand as she was pulled to her feet.

“Oof! Its fine, its not the first time this has happened to me. Most of the time it…usually…my fault…”

Marinette finally got a good look at the person she collided with.

At a first glance, Marinette thought she was looking into a mirror, given that the girl in front of her also had the same shade of blue hair. However, that was where the similarities ended. The girl’s face had much more of an Asian look compared to Marinette, and her eyes were brown compared to Marinette’s own. The girl also had a much serious look on her face.

Her serious look however, did nothing to impact her beauty. From the way she held herself in a prideful stance to her perfectly styled hair to the way her eyes pierced Marinette’s soul, the latter found herself gobsmacked by the girl in front of her. Marinette could tell that this girl was proud of herself, but in a good kind. Like the kind who knew she was best and owned up to it with her actions alone.

Despite not even knowing her, Marinette found herself developing a small amount of jealousy for the girl in front of her. Although she didn’t know her, Marinette could tell at a glance was clearly someone who was confident no matter where she is and when. Marinette hoped for a small tibit that she never met Adrien. If she ever wanted to ask him out, she could probably do it in a heartbeat.

“…Miss? Miss!”

“Huh? Wha-?” Marinette said as she was brought out of her stupor.

“Miss, are you alright? Here’s your bag by the way.”

“Oh! Uh, im fine!” Marinette said as she gratefully took back the bag, glad that her bakery sweets were all intact

“That’s good. I was afraid I might have offended you. I’m quite new to the area, so I wasn’t sure where to go.” The girl said without ever changing her expression. She hummed for a moment, then looked at Marinette again, making the latter’s heart almost stop at the intensity. “Say, are you a student in this area?”

“Yeah, sure. Why?”

“I got lost looking for the Fencing school in the area. I was hoping to find it.”

It was then Marinette noticed the fencing sword that was being carried in a duffel bag. ‘So she’s a fencer too?’ Marinette thought to herself.

“Sorry If I am inconveniencing you. Normally I would catch a ride with the family butler, but he was unfortunately sick today. Fortunately I didn’t live that far as, so I thought I’d try to walk. Unfortunately, I have found myself confused by the structure of the roads and streets.”

‘Butler? So she’s a rich person huh? Just like Chloe….’ Marinette thought, the last bit making her want to grimace. ‘And its obvious that she wants my help…’

For a second Marinette was just tempted to just brush off the girl’s obvious ask for help, as there was a good possibility she could be a pompous brat just like Chloe. The thought however reminded herself that the last time she tried that, she blamed Adrien for Chloe putting gum on her seat, and she berated herself for thinking like that. She should give her a chance, especially after the girl took her time helping her up a minute ago.

“If you need some help getting to the school, I’d be glad to help!” Marinette said smiling. “The fencing school is at the same place as my normal school. I need to go there anyways to see some friends, so i’d be glad to take you there.”

The girl looked at Marinette in shock, as though she never thought the latter would go out of her way to help her. When she recovered though, a small smile covered her face.

“Thank you”

Marinette motioned for the girl to follow her, she realized she forgot something.

“Hey sorry, what’s your name by the way.”

“It’s Kagami Tsurugi”

“Alright then Kagami, follow me!”

———————————————————————————————————–

Marinette continued to walk to the school area, with the new girl (now known as Kagami) following her, without saying a single word.

So naturally, Marinette tried to break the ice. “So…. you are new to Paris or just this part of the area?” she asked.

“New in Paris. I have been to other places in France though. It’s how I was able to learn French” Kagami replied

“Makes sense.” Marinette said “So from what i can tell, you don’t go to Dupont, I assume you go to the other lycee nearby?”

“Oh, i dont go to school”

“What?”

“I’m homeschooled. My family doesn’t like me talking with other people, unless they approve.”

“…Oh.”

There was a pause of silence.

“You know…” Marinette paused, questioning whether she should say it, “You remind me of my friend Adrien. He was homeschooled as well.”

“Really?”

Okay, Marinette really didn’t want to continue, but based on the expected look of Kagami, she couldn’t turn back now. “Yeah. He apparently was homeschooled his whole life, and didn’t have anyone to be friends with aside from Chloe, who isnt … exactly a rather nice person.”

“Hmm, it sounds like you don’t like this Chloe very much. Is Adrien like that as well?”

Marinette gasped, “Oh, Nononono. He is anything but that, he’s been so kind to everyone ever since he got here!” Marinette said smiling. “He’d do anything for his friends, and even strangers, even if they dont deserve it. It was how Adrien and I met unfortunately. Chloe put some gum on my seat and Adrien tried to take it off. Unfortunately i saw him, and because he didn’t say it was Chloe I thought it was him.” Marinette said “Yeah… we didn’t start off on the right foot, but we got better afterwards. He’s such a sweetheart.” Marinette finished smiling

“Sweetheart?”

“Yeah! He’s so nice to everyone and kind and charming…” Marinette said half-effortly as she fell into a brieF daydream. Oh she wished she could be in his arms right now!

Kagami looked at Marinette, who just notice the formers presence, and awkwardly returned to her normalcy. “Oh sorry, I don’t usually do that-”

“You love him, don’t you?”

“Huh?”

“You love this boy, Adrien, right?”

“W-Well uh…N-no of course not-”

“You really don’t have to pretend that you don’t. Does he make you…happy?”

Marinette was a bit confused by the question but replied notheless.

“Well… yes, he really makes me happy.”

Kagami frowned for a moment. As Marinette looked into her eyes, she appeared sad.

“Oh no! I’m so sorry! I didnt realize what was going on?!”

“Huh… you do?”

“Yes! I didnt realize that you hadn’t found someone to love as well, and i just ended up bragging about it in front of you! I swear i didnt mean to do that i was just talking about someone that you were similar to and i got off track imsosorrypleaseforgiveme-” Marinette said rushingly.

Kagami stood there a bit shocked. “Huh? Oh no that wasn’t the-”

Kagami didnt get a chance to finish as she felt two slender arms wrap around her. Kagami’s breath started to hitch as she felt Marinette’s body close to her own, with the latter’s head on her shoulders. Kagami realized she was in a hug, but was too shocked to do anything about it

The stood like this for a few seconds before both realized what was going on. Marinette removed herself from Kagami as the latter stood there with a blush on her face.

“I-I shouldn’t have done that. I was just trying to comfort you, but then I realized that we had just met and all-”

‘It’s fine.”

“R-Really”

“Yes. It was just…unexpected.”

“Unexpected. Don’t your family or friends give you hugs.”

“I-I dont have any friends. And my family is not as liberal with giving hugs as you are.”

Marinette gasped slightly.

Kagami smiled sadly “It’s fine… I am used to the lack of-”

Kagami was again, lost for words as Marinette hugged her for a second time. When Marientte finally pulled back, she had a confident smile on her face.

“Well It’s about to change now. I can be your friend!”

“You want to be my friend?”

“Of course. I know that you are homeschooled and all, but we can both be friends. And maybe you can meet my other friends as well. You’ll probably be able to since you are going to the fencing classes here, so once you finish you can hang out with us!”

“Hmm…” Kagami pondered in though, but Marinette could see that she had a small but genuine smile on her face. “Friends… That would actually be nice.”

Marinette smiled back “Great! I am sure people will love you there!”

As Marinette continued on to the school with Kagami following her, she was briefly worried for a second. Despite Kagami’s lack of social friendliness, Marinette still felt inferior around her, as the former carried herself with such elegance and grace that she herself lacked. What if she meets Adrien and decides that she likes him? What would Marinette do then?

Yet, despite her worries, as she looked back and saw Kagami give her a small smile, Marinette began to relax and smile

‘Kagami seems so lonely though… she seemed really happy at the idea of having new friends.’ Marinette though. ‘It wouldn’t be fair to me to deny her that just because of my own crush… I’ve got to help her, despite what might happen… besides…’

Marinette looked foward as she continued on ‘I think everything will be alright.’

————————————————————————————

As Marinette and Kagami came to the school, Kagami turned to Marinette.

“Thank you for helping me get here. I probably never would have found it without you.” Kagami said.

“Oh no problem. So I’m guessing you are here to enrol for training right?”

Kagami stopped, then grinned.

“I never said I was here for training.”

Kagami put on her Fencing mask and grabbed her sabre.

“I never mentioned this. My family comes from a long line of fencers. My family has won every tournament they have been to. Every challenge they faced, they overcame. My family bloodline flows through me, and my must prove myself worthy of that blood line.”

“Then why-” Marinette said, before Kagami cut her off.

“I’m here for a challenge. And I cannot lose. I must not lose. For the sake of my family honour and my respect.”

Kagami turned from the door and kicked it open, scaring Marinette. Kagami instantly starts to walk forward, causing Marinette to unconciously follow. Marinette watched as Kagami strode up to the fencing class, the people inside stunned by her entrance. Kagami looked at Mr Armand D’argencourt.

“Hey, you! Are you Mr. D'Argencourt, the fencing master? I wanna join your team.”

Armand looks at her in suprise, and huffs in indignation. “Only the best are admitted here, you knave.”

Kagami however was quick to retort “And I was, everywhere I went.”

Marinette, looked at Kagami in slight awe. She knew from a first glance that she was confident, but this…

Armand however, would not take it lying down “Part le fer! This whippersnapper has nerve! All right! I may consider your admission, shall you defeat one of my students.” he says while flourishing his blade.

Kagami walks past Armand. “ Which one of you is the best combatant?!”

The crowd, nervous, shuffles a bit, before parting to reveal a boy. He lifts his helmet, and Marinette see’s her crush Adrien Agreste walking forward to challenge Kagami. Marinette felt a small blush at the sight of her crush, but also a tinge of worry.

Armand however, just grinned. “Adrien, please give our visitor a lesson in chivalry.”

Adrien smiled back. “I shall Master” he says as he lowers his helmet.

As the two get their equipment ready, Marinette’s worries started to increase for the sake of her two friends. It was clear for Kagami that she wanted to win so she could join the fencing team, but she was worried what would it mean for Adrien if he was to lose.

As the two tested the equipment for detecting hits, the whole room was tense.

D’Argencourt look at the two combatants, then said “Prêt… allez!”

The two fencers lunged simulatneously, and both buzzers went off as the same time.

“Simultané! Par un toucher!” D’Argencourt declared as both went back to their starting positions

“I could have sworn Adrien touched her first…” Marinette commented to herself.

As Kagami and Adrien went back to their starting positions, D’Argencourt readied himself.

“En garde! Prêt… allez!” he declared again. Simulatneously both combatants moved at a speed faster than Marinette could see, and again both buzzers went off.

“Uhh… Abstention!” D’Argencourt said sheepishly

“Huh? Whats happening?” Marinette asked out loud.

A student to Marinette’s left chimed in. “Mr D'Argencourt isn’t sure who won, so he’s chosen to abstain. This is a tight bout.”

Both combatants readied themselves again.

“En Garde-”

“Wait”

D’Argencourt and Adrien looked at Kagami.

“I request that we do it the old-fashioned way. We’ll be much more at ease without the machine.” Kagami declares.

D’Argencourt looks at Adrien. “Adrien?” He questions.

Adrien grins, “Fine with me.” He says, as he unplugs the body cord.

Kagami does the same, and they both ready themselves.

Marinette looks at the student next to her “But how will we know who touched the other one first?”

“By watching very closely.” the student replies.

“En garde! Prêt… allez!”

Without the body cords holding them back, the two start going at it like crazy, both of them simultaneously attacking and defending within milliseconds of each sabre hit. The crowd started to go wild as all who stood there witnessed the unrestrained skill of the two proteges constantly lunging, blocking, dodging, and overall giving neither the breathing room.

“Woah…” Marinette said weakly “Is this what fencing’s all about?!”

“Part le fer! This IS what fencing’s all about!” D’Argencourt said excitedly as the rest of the crowd agree with him in cheers of excitement.

Soon after, the fight started to move up the stairs, causing the crowd to follow at the bottom of the stairs. Marinette, being blocked by the crowd, went to the other set of stairs and climbed up those, allowing her to follow the two fencers into the library.

Both fencers were starting to wear down from the intense speed, yet neither wanted to give up.

“Let’s finish this off.” Kagami declares as she readies another lunge. Adrien does the same.

Marinette watches as both fencers lunge, and both fencers foils press each other at the same time.

Kagami suddenly broke off. “Marinette! Who got the first hit?! Who?!” she said breathlessly as she looked at Marinette.

D’Argencourt suddenly appeared, crawling in pain. “Who touched first? Tell us now!”

Marinette looked flustered, everyone was looking at her. “I-I-I don’t know,” she said closing her eyes in stress.

Suddenly time for her seemed to go to a crawl for her. It was like whatever happened next rested on that decision she made.

Marinette closed her eyes, remembering what had happened. It seemed that both of them had hit at the same time, but Adrien’s foil did seem to bend a bit faster, meaning that he could have hit first, but Kagami seemed a bit faster on her feet. So who won?

Marinette didn’t consider herself lucky as a civilian but in that memory of hers, her Lucky vision seemed to flare up. It slowed the memory to a crawl, but then both foils lighted up in red and black spots at the exact same time they made hits on each other. So it seemed that both fencers had hit each other at the same time after all.

So the question was, who to give the point to.

Marinette knew that Adrien’s father was really strict with him. If she didn’t give him the point, his father could get mad. Adrien would get grounded and in deep trouble, or worse, take him out of school because he wasn’t being perfect with his study and practices! Then she would never see him again!

Kagami however….

My family comes from a long line of fencers. My family has won every tournament they have been to. Every challenge they faced, they overcame. My family bloodline flows through me, and my must prove myself worthy of that blood line.

- I cannot lose. I must not lose. For the sake of my family honour and my respect.

Kagami seemed to be in a similar predicament to Adrien, even more so than Adrien. Sure Adrien did fencing as a hobby, but Kagami’s family took fencing as something important to them, and Kagami herself. If she lost the match, then Kagami wouldn’t be able to join the team, and it would likely be in trouble with her family, if Adriens family was anything to say about rich families.

Marinette made her mind.

Time seemed to resume around her. “Kagami got the first hit.”

The crowd gasped. D’Argencourt was in shock. “Wha- Are you sure?”

Marinette nodded. “Kagami was able to get the first hit in. I saw it.”

Kagami relaxed, and Adrien lifted his helmet to give a smile to his competitor.

“Well, it seems you won that match.”

He reached out his hand, and both of them shook in mutual respect

“Sacre Bleu! It seems that It is a loss for the D’Argencourt Academy.” D’Argencourt said miserably. However, he quickly perked himself up. “However, it is not an entire loss, for today we have a new member in our ranks. The D’Argencourt fencing team would be happy to have you if you would accept.”

Kagami pulled off her helmet, causing some murmurs at the surprising beauty, but she didn’t let it faze her. “I would be happy too.”

Marinette smiled, happy that neither Adrien or Kagami seemed to be in any sort of trouble. Adrien seemed to take the loss with no issue, and Kagami got her wish. Marinette hoped to apologize to Adrien later, but as Kagami, Adrien, and D’argencourt walked off to finalize the former’s entry into the fencing team, she felt that she did the right thing…

Oh, darn, the baked goods!

Marinette quickly grabbed the bag and ran off to where her other friends were having their after school activities. She would give Adrien his croissant later, she had others to deliver to.

———————————————————————————————

Time passed… and Kagami was officially one of the new members on the fencing team alongside Adrien. Marinette managed to give Adrien his croissant after delivering all the other baked goods, which he graciously accepted with a smile. Marinette managed to meet Kagami outside of the school, who was waiting for the family car.

“Hi Kagami.”

“Hello Miss.” Kagami said. “Did you have a good day?”

“Yeah! I managed to deliver the bakery foods to my classmates. Congrats on making the team by the way!”

“Yes, it’s really good,” Kagami said. For a second, she looked a bit forlorn “I have to ask though, did I really win?”

“Huh?”

“Did I really win? Or did you do it because you felt pity for me?”

“Pity?-Nonono I was just trying to help you- No wait that came out wrong as well.”

“…I understand.”

“No you don’t understand. You didn’t lose, it’s just- Look, both of you hit each other at the same time.”

“W-What” Kagami said in shock.

“Y-Yeah, I saw it with my own eyes, both of you were so extremely skilled that you were both neck and neck, I saw both of you hit each other at the same time. I was just pressured to make a choice, so I chose you.”

“But why didn’t you say we both hit? We could have just started over”

“Because both of you would keep going for no reason at all! Both of you are amazing out there, and if i declared that you lost you would have never forgiven yourself for something you didn’t need to forgive!”

Marinette placed a hand on Kagami’s shoulder. “I chose you because I thought you deserved it, because you were really amazing out there and did not deserve one loss to affect your life and self-worth. Besides, now you’re in the team like you wanted, your family would be happy with you and Adrien is fine regardless, I’m sure he’ll be ok.”

“She’s right you know. I still wouldn’t mind a rematch though.”

Kagami gasped in shock and Marinette screamed as Adrien came up behind them with a slight grin on his face

“Sorry if I scared you both.” Adrien said sheepishly.” I just wanted to say congratulations on making the team. And don’t worry, I won’t tell Mr D’Argencourt about the tie, you really deserved to join the team with us, you were really an amazing fencer, miss…?”

“Kagami Tsurugi. And you must be Adrien Agreste.”

They both shook hands like after the fight. Marinette felt a slight twinge of jealousy for Kagami’s confidence but said nothing. She wouldn’t ruin Kagami’s celebration, not after everything.

“And you must have met my good friend Marinette.” Adrien said pointing to Marinette.

And that’s the moment where Adrien Marinette wanted to crawl under a rock. Adrien had called Marinette a friend. Just a friend. She really felt sad inside.

“Yes I did. She helped me get to the school when i got lost.” Kagami said.

“That’s Marinette for you. She really is so kind and helpful.” Adrien replied,

“Yes. She really is.” Kagami said as she gave a smile to Adrien.

Adrien’s car pulled up. “Sorry Kagami, Marinette, I gotta go home. Talk to you later.” Adrien said as he entered his family car.

As Adrien left, the two girls stared at eachother.

“Marinette huh? That is your name...”Kagami said, pondering the name on her lips.

It was at this point that Marinette realised in all the stuff she did today with Kagami, she had forgotten to give her name to her. She gave Kagami an awkward grin.

“Ehehe...sorry. I was just so-”

“It’s a cute name.”

That off hand comment stopped Marinette, causing her to blush.

At that moment, Kagami’s own car popped up. Walking towards the car together, Kagami turned to Marinette.

“Thank you for everything Marinette. It means a lot.”

“Oh uh, it was nothing!”

“Even so, thank you.”

Marinette stood in shock as Kagami moved in slowly and gave a slow gentle kiss on her cheek.

“U-Um, Kagami?” Marinette said flustered.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I though french customs involve kissing others on the cheek?” Kagami said in surprise, although a small part of Marinette said Kagami knew what she was doing.

“W-Well, yes, but its usually on both sides.” Marinette said, who was blushing.

“Hmmm. In that case, let me fix it.”

Kagami moved to the other cheek, and gave it another slow gentle kiss. Marinette felt that this one was even slower than before.

“U-Um, I should mention that it’s usually done a bit faster?” Marinette said, who at this point looked red from embarrassment and the rather intimate action

Kagami just grinned, almost mischievously. “Oh, im sorry then, I’ll make sure to fix it next time.”

Marinette watched Kagami get into the car. “It was nice to meet you Marinette, and thanks for all that you did. Do tell Adrien that I would like to have that rematch with him, if he doesn’t mind.”

“O-ok, I will!”

“And I’ll make sure to improve my greeting next time. I could have done better with that kiss.”

“Oh-Um…”

Kagami grinned and got into the car. Marinette watched it drive off.

“I think she likes you!”

“Wah! Tikki?!”

“Sorry Marinette! I couldn’t talk, there were too many people around.” Tikki said from inside the bag. “But Kagami really took a liking to you. I think she really likes you, thats why she gave you that kiss!”

“H-Huh?! N-No way! W-we are just friends, t-thats all. She just made a mistake with the kiss that’s all!”

“Didn’t she say that she has been to other parts of France? Surely she learned French customs there.”

Marinette blinked for a moment.

Then she screamed into her shirt.

—————————————————————————

As Kagami went home, she looked out the window with a small smile on her face.

‘Marinette….’ Kagami thought. ‘I hope to see you again soon.’

———————————————————————–

Sorry for the long wait @vitaliciouscreations! I had a lot of stuff to do, and it takes a while for me to write something this big. I tried to make a slight Kagami/Marinette ship, but I didn’t want it to be so noticeable until the end for a slight slow burn! Anyway’s, I hope this Kagaminette fic with the alternate introduction makes you happy!

#Miraculous Ladybug #Kagaminette #Kagaminette fic #Slight AU #Alternate Riposte Fic #My first offical completed story!#God this took a while #But it really helped my writing!#Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic

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snacc-noir · 5 years ago

Text

The Idiot Effect

(Marinette the Flirt AU)

AO3

Summary:

It starts as a game about their mystery love interests.

“He’s really smart. I’m sure he’ll pick up on it one day.”

“Oh really?” Chat goads. “Then for them to realise, let’s see who can flirt better.”

Yeah... turns out there’s a lot more to realise.

(Or the fic where Marinette’s a ruthless flirt, Ladybug and Adrien are dense, and Plagg can’t stop laughing at everyone)

Notes: the fact that a few actually wanted this crack mess is concerning, and it seems some have brought “expectations” so i’ll kindly ask you to leave those at the door. thank you!! (and there’s more chapters coming im so sorry)

Listen.

Marinette stuffs up but when she stuffs up it’s with class, alright? When there’s a problem, her own or not, she fixes it because that’s just what she does. She spews garbage and has the composure of a flailing eel trying to stand upright – but she’s a pillar source of entertainment for it. She’s a normal girl, with a normal life (except for the superhero thing), so excuse her for trying to be adventurous once and a while.

Adventurous, flirtatious; whatever.

She’s made it to school two minutes after waking up before and was recently (6th Grade Graduation) voted “Sweetest Classmate”, so yeah, she’s quite up there. And ever since (unwillingly) sprouting the wings of a brave superheroine she’s tried her hand at a bit of confidence, despite those continual dignity stuff ups she’s played off gracefully (the tripping happens no matter what, she can’t control that, okay?) The Guy may be the son of a famous fashion artist—that has, in fact, recognised Marinette’s talent and sent her self-esteem higher than Chat’s puns make her want to throw him—and is entirely out of her league,

But see, usually that would cease her pursuits, if not for, you know, the fact she’s an epic superhero and he’s the biggest snack she’s ever seen.

Kindness? A literal angel? Most wholesome grace?

A model?

As if she’s not flirting with that.

She shivers remembering the ignorant days (half a school day) where she was under the idiocy that Adrien Agreste of all celestial beings had the tenacity to be an entitled jerk with an inheritance long enough to rival the list of times Dupain-Cheng had sliced from Chloé’s lips through the years.

And yeah, that couldn’t have been further from the truth, but genuinely, genuinely, flaws and all, Adrien Agreste is the sweetest being she’s ever met.

That she’s stuffed up her chances with, countless times.

But she’ll work on that.

Chat Noir knows how to flirt. He’s not too relevant – her miraculous partner in battle, black suit clad teenage girl idol, the best friend she’d kill herself and everyone she knows for – you know, the least of importance right now. But she’s got to admit, he has some good ones when she’s suited up. Only difference between him and her is that on Ladybug, it’s all fun and games with no meaning. But with Adrien,

she’s serious.

(Most of the time. The lines are pretty eccentric.)

She loves him. It’s whatever. She doesn’t know if he loves her back but she’ll make it work. He can’t pick up a hint for his life — causing completely no progress— but the way her indications of affection propel over his halo is just a spanner in the mission to conquer his heart; a mere stain to the golden-hearted persona she adores so much; so much as a friend, too.

Because, you know,

“We’re friends,” Adrien tells his capped bro as though the suggestive nudges up the courtyard would lessen, an attempt that fails, because an arm is slung around him instead in such a buddy-buddy way he knows is saved for interrogating or persuading purposes.

“You didn’t hear what she said to you?”

How could he not.

He didn’t mind. If anything, he found it humorous. “Yeah, she’s just messing around like that.”

“Mmmhmm… sure,” Nino says in a way that totally isn’t assuring. “I don’t even have Alya telling me we should share a locker to hide in during an akuma attack. And we’re dating.”

“That’s because Marinette’s joking around. Since we’re friends.”

“Since you’re soulmates. ”

“Mmmhmm…” he mocks, cheek twitching, “sure.”

One-hundred percent sure, according to Marinette the next day.

It’s some chemistry lesson half the class doesn’t pay attention to because they’re overreacting (ha) to their assigned lab partners, and Adrien’s fine since he’s paired with Good Friend Marinette. And although he doesn’t like her like that – after all, Ladybug’s a thing – she seriously is lovely company without so much as an awkward fence (excluding the way she stumbles heading to the bench) to hinder their bonding (haha).

Because, for those in the back, they’re just friends.

She’s funny and kind and all that, talented too – class rep, master of the arts, always doing things for others. Her confidence is mystifying but not unappreciated. In fact, having a crush on her would baffle him since she’s so out of his league (he says, dressing up as a cat and going after a superhero) , or at least impossible considering how much she’s definitely kidding with her flirtatious behaviour. No matter what Nino says.

The equipment clinks on the benches as his partner sets up. Distracted by Chloé whinging about Alya for a lab partner, he’s oblivious to the manner about how Marinette scoots next to him.

“Look at us together. I bet we were paired because we have so much chemistry,” she says, out of nowhere, and yet completely expected at the same time as he turns back. “I guess we just work so well together.”

His lips tickle, but he sterns himself by moving an elbow dumbly, knocking a small beaker of water so the contents spill across a ripped page of discarded notes. Her old work fuses to the bench as the ink bleeds and they watch. “Apparently not.”

Marinette cracks a grin. “You suck.”

“You suck.”

“You—”

The lesson is a blast.

Marinette doesn’t know how someone can get any more dumb. Or is it dumber? Whatever. They’re tied for English, anyway (“The A + stands for Adrien plus Marin—” “Shut up.”). And she knows it’s not her who’s the dumb one because, you know, you need to have the supremacy of a genius to have the flirtatious skills she can dish out, possibly a degree of some kind.

Adrien’s smart, but he’s not—

He’s not there sometimes. It’s because of her absolute lack of progress (and she knows the lines are just Too Good for her to not be at fault here) that she often wonders if retreating to the long-abandoned pink-cheeked and shy character would’ve made things any more obvious.

Not that she thinks they can.

“When we get married, I shots the left side of the bed.”

Seriously.

“You’re only getting the prime bed spot if you take the most dishwashing days,” he plays along, musing irresponsible blond tuffs with the towel Kim’s tossed him as he slinks from the locker room. “That includes Sunday morning. Saturday nights are major guest nights.”

His lacrosse game couldn’t have gone better, even if Nino and Alya were babysitting and didn’t attend. He scored most of the goals and the pride warming Marinette’s expression as she greets him is what tops the cake. He still hears Alix, Kim and Ivan chatting jubilantly of their win as the door swings behind him.

“You’ve obviously thought about this before.”

Adrien snaps the towel at her, purposefully missing, but water that’s been tipped on his head spurs from it and Marinette’s composure is quelled as the assumption of sweat drives her over.

“You wish.”

Boy does she ever.

They break into step down the hall. Adrien pats down his arms and side-eyes her. Her blue pools of comfort are already beaming at him.

“I did that good for a marriage proposal, huh?”

“Yep!”

He does little to hinder the bashful chuckle.

“And you touched my shoulder twice yesterday. That’s sixty-eight percent more than usual according to Max.“

“That doesn’t mean we’re married, Marinette.”

Her lips quirk. “Totally does.”

tagged 💕:

@aplayfulplatypus @wegan97 @soap-lady @poisonouscephalopod @woodsbeyond1 @spartanxhunterx @laadychat @mochegato @gelana-12 @heldtogetherbysafetypins @galaxiesanddaisies @melicmusicmagic @legallyspawned @aarushi-03 @purple-people-eaters-productions @gothfoxx @glassesandcardguns @princess-of-fangirls @mewwitch @emeraldpuffguide @johnlockfeels @kittyynoirr @aryamanbose @paintedbirdsong @trubel43 @lulumatthews

#the idiot effect #miraculous ladybug #ml fic #adrienette #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #if you wanna be tagged for the next chap just ask in replies or smth #i'll keep those who've already asked in all the taglists for each chap but lemme know if you wanna opt out #em writes #original content #ml crack #im likely gonna change the summary #again #marinette the flirt au

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sincerelymarinette · 5 years ago

Text

A Recorded Life (38/50) - Miraculous Ladybug

Words: 1110 Chapter Summary: With only a little time left before the gala, Marinette does a live stream to work on her design. Alya and Adrien accompany, and the fans find a specific gossip article that outs the heroes. Author's Note: I hope everyone is staying safe out there! Sorry for no update last week, it was a crazy and stressful week and I needed the weekend for a break. But we're back! I'm really excited for the upcoming chapters and I still love writing the fan comments so much.

Prev / Next / Masterlist

Live Gossip

---

Marinette had a camera set up facing her mannequin, which was in front of her chaise lounge. On the chaise lounge were Alya and Adrien, so Marinette had backup while she worked on her dress for the gala. She needed backup, mainly for the reason that it was the first time she had ever live-streamed creating a design.

Sure, she had posted so many design videos and tutorials she couldn't even keep track of it anymore. But she had never been live while working on anything, only the occasional one with Alya for a question and answer game.

Adrien and Alya were eating the snacks as Alya watched the comments on Marinette's YouTube live-stream. She was reading off comments, compliments, and most questions that came up to keep the commentary entertaining. Of course, the banter between the three of them was just as entertaining as well.

"This person asked what you're making this dress for," Alya asked. "I think you explained it at the beginning, but a lot more people have joined now."

"Oh!" Marinette said and turned to the camera. "Well, Adrien invited me to go to the Agreste Gala in about two weeks because he knows how much I love fashion. So, I have to make my own gown." She explained. "It's going to be a really fun event, and I'm excited."

Alya groaned. "I can't believe I couldn't get a press pass. It's unfair!"

"Yeah, but trust me, it wouldn't have been your scene," Adrien shrugged.

"Are you kidding me?" Alya asked. "Any place I can get a good story is my scene. Besides, you do know who helps Marinette with her fashion channel, right?" Alya smirked.

Adrien awkwardly chuckled and scratched the back of his neck. "Ah, I guess you have a point there. Can...we go back to questions?"

"Sure, this one is for you!" Alya said. "Have you been modeling less lately?"

Adrien shrugged. "Well, I guess I should probably address it. I guess I've kind of taken a break. You know, I don't want to endanger anyone by being out and doing photoshoots. I still do some, sometimes, but I haven't been living at home recently, so planning them is kind of hard. I'm still doing fencing, though!" Adrien explained. "Hey, Mari, want me to model your dress?"

Marinette giggled. "I think I can handle this one."

"Next question is asking if you guys have planned anything for Adrien vs. Jobs?" Alya asked. "For the record, I better be invited to some of those. They'll be fun."

"Oh yeah!" Adrien started. "We're going to be doing the first one soon. I don't know if we should spoil anything, but I'm really excited," Adrien said.

Marinette stepped back to look at her work in progress. "Yes, it's going to be so much fun!"

Adrien kept seeing his name appear in the chat, and he read as fast as he could to try to understand why the fans were freaking out.

Adrien you're not living at home?? are you ok?

what happened to adrien?

Adrien where are you staying if you're not staying at home

did gabriel do something because I will fly to paris right now and fight him myself

why aren't you living at home?

omg are you staying with marinette because i SHIP IT

adrien, are you okay? I get not modeling and stuff, but what happened at home?

Adrien pointed at the comments and Alya read along. "Guys, don't worry. I'm okay, and it's just better for Marinette and me to stay together. Plus, getting muffins for breakfast is the best part of it all," Adrien said.

"It's been fun. He's been helping my parents with dinners, and we play a lot of video games," Marinette smiled at the camera and stepped back to admire her piece. "It's getting there. What do you guys think?"

While the comments flooded with praise to Marinette, there were a few critiques and others demanding pictures of her and Adrien at the gala. Her fans loved seeing her work and also listen to her and her friend's bicker, but then all of a sudden, a link was being spammed in the comments.

"Hmm, what's this?" Alya asked and clicked on the link as all three of them gathered around the screen. Marinette gasped loudly when she saw the picture come on the screen with the headline "LADYBUG KISSES CHAT NOIR AFTER AKUMA ATTACK? WHAT ARE THEY HIDING?" from an American gossip blog.

Marinette composed herself and took a deep breath. "You guys know how I feel about talking about my superhero side. Let's just get back to the dress and talking."

Adrien shared a concerned look with Alya as they reset and went back to normal. "Uh, Mari, the chat is kind of going crazy."

Marinette sighed and went over to the computer again to read what everyone was saying. Adrien knew it was best if he stayed quiet, he didn't want to say anything he would regret or make Alya or Marinette mad, or even make the whole situation worse. Being quiet was the best choice.

OMGRNJAWKDNWJ THE K I S S THEY'RE TOGETHER THEY'RE TOGETHER

THE SHIIIIIIIIPPPPPP

OHMYGOSH THEY ARE SO TOGETHER? I MEAN, ADRIEN LIVING WITH MARINETTE, HER PARENTS LOVING HIM, HIM MAKING DINNER, THEM GOING ON DATES AS VIDEOS, ITS BEEN A THING FOREVER!

i love them so much im so happy theyre finally together

omg!!! couples tag!! with alya and nino!!

the picture is SO CUTE! when did you guys start dating??

Marinette stood back in front of the camera. "All right guys, we've got to get going. Thanks so much for tuning into the live stream to see me work on my gala dress! I'll be sure to show you guys the finished product, too. Make sure to check us all out on social media to keep updated, and I'll see you in the next video!" Marinette ended, and Alya shut off the live stream.

Marinette sighed loudly as she sat on the chaise lounge next to Adrien. "Well," Alya said, "At least you guys have talked about it, so it's not as awkward," She tried to help.

"She has a point," Adrien said, "People were bound to find it sooner or later. Might as well address it now," Adrien added.

"I guess so," Marinette shrugged. "So much for keeping it a secret," She giggled and grabbed her phone.

"What are you going to do?" Alya asked.

With a smirk, Marinette scrolled through her tweets until she found the one from a few months back.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng @MarinetteDC I am dating Adrien Agreste. I am dating Chat Noir. I know Chat Noir's identity.

Alya Césaire @alyacesaire @MarinetteDC WE STAN A CONSISTENT QUEEEEEEN

Adrien @AdrienAgreste retweeted @MarinetteDC

And the fans went crazy.

---

@lady-of-the-roses-and-lilies @bookishserendipity03 @avatheexceed @gkz10 @coccinellegirl @kat-thatoneweirdo @strawberryblondish @snow-swordswoman @lilgaga98 @evufries

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megatraven · 6 years ago

Note

Just got thro blockint some aphobes, so any AlyA-CEsaire or Maronette headcanons?

oh man rip sorry u had to do that at all, ppl suck :(

i feel like it’d probably take marinette a long time to figure out she’s aro, but when she does figure it out, she’s so happy that there’s a term for it, and that there are people like her, and especially that there are people like her in happy relationships (ESPECIALLY QPRS!!)

she’d make so much aro and ace merch for her and alya- and when she realizes alix may also identify as one/both of those, she’d highkey make her some too

as ladybug, she’d build up the confidence to tell chat noir, a little nervous abt what he might think (because he loves her and she doesnt want to hurt him, not bc she thinks he’d ever be cruel about it) but he accepts it really quickly and gives her a hug and its rlly sweet

she doesn’t try to hide the fact that she’s aro ever, because she has no shame in it and knows her environment is pretty supportive (to the point that she knows not even chloe would say something mean abt it)

and for alya, prepare for some headcanons that stem (mostly) from my own projecting LOL sorry in advance but also im not sorry at all

alya had never been super invested in her own love life, in fact, she never Really thought about it until around highschool/college, and even then she couldnt picture herself doing things like kissing

romance was fine, although that took her awhile to warm up to, and she liked being close with other people, liked all the physical contact

but anytime someone brought up sex, or there was a sex scene in a movie, or the book she was reading, or her comics... she just didn’t understand the appeal.

it kind of grossed her out for a long time, to the point where she would skip past sex scenes or tune out talking about them. eventually, she moved past her distaste for the most part- that being, she still didnt want to think about it in regards to herself

she’d probably read about some queer identity online, wwhere she’d spend a lot of her time. that would start her on a rabbithole of discovering and learning about a lot of different sexualities and romantics. and while she’s searching and learning and taking it all in-

she discovers asexual

she reads the definition for the first time, and she knows. it was always her normal, it was how she’s always been- there just hadn’t been a name for it until then.

she would be so ecstatic, she’d probably share the knowledge with her friends right away

she’d probably look up the flag and immediately she’d be like “OH i have a shirt thats all the colors of it!!” and she’d start seeing ace colors everywhere, each time sparking a little giddiness from her

she gets heavy into the cake v dragon stuff, and finds it so fun and silly and jsut. really enjoys it all.

she’s out and proud and owns it like it’s always been hers (bc it has)

and the puns????

oh god her and marinette BOTH would be pun city w/ the aro and ace puns god. adrien and nino would definitely join in too and it’d be incredible

also honestly alya would like

buy those buttons and stuff that r like “monster fucker” or “robot fucker” or what have you and wear them and think it so funny bc she’s not actually interested in that

both of them would be big activists, especially so in their hero forms- the anonymity given to them alongside the platform they have would be so important in supporting aros, aces, and aroaces (And, of course, other queer identities)

ANWYAYS sorry those arent like actually a lot of headcanons but thats all i got rn other than the fact both would really love Brave bc merida,,, is totally an arrow ace,,,

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purrincess-chat · 7 years ago

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Crackmas 6.2

So, here is the actual Day 6 for Crackmas! I didn’t post one yesterday, so today you get two! This one is rated T just for strong language, but I hope you all enjoy some wisdom teeth shenanigans and a partial reveal. Aka Marinette.exe has stopped working.

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 6.1

AO3

In hind sight, when Alya convinced her to volunteer to deliver Adrien his homework for the day since he had his wisdom teeth out, she expected it to be a quick visit. She didn’t expect Nathalie to leave a very drugged and delusional boy in her hands while she went to fill his prescriptions, and in her defense, for most people it would have proved a very simple task. Just watch him and make sure he didn’t fall down the stairs or something in his anesthesia-induced haze. But Marinette was beginning to realize that she wasn’t most people, and life had a way of shaking things up just for her. So as Chat Noir raced them through the city on a manhunt for Hawkmoth, she slowly accepted that her life would never truly be normal, but she supposed she should start from the beginning.

It all started when she rang the bell outside Adrien’s giant fortress of a house, and Nathalie answered. She expected a similar situation to the one encountered on his birthday, stick it in the mail box and leave, but to her surprise, Nathalie requested a favor and opened the gates. Cautiously, she approached the front door where Gabriel’s trusty assistant was waiting for her.

“I hate to ask this of you, but can you watch Adrien for a little while? I have to run to the store and pick up his prescriptions. He should just be sleeping, but if he wakes up, just put an ice pack on his face and make sure he doesn’t do anything,” She explained in a rush.

“Uh, okay?” Marinette nodded, and Nathalie seemed relieved as she unlocked the car parked in the lot and waved her inside.

“I’ll be back in an hour.”

An hour. What could go wrong in an hour?

Marinette felt a giddy grin creeping over her face as she climbed the stairs up to Adrien’s room. An hour alone with Adrien! Of course he would probably be sleeping the whole time, but she could admire his unconscious face. She bet he looked like an angel. Although she didn’t expect a response, she knocked a couple of times on the door before pushing it open and peering inside.

“Adrien?” She called, tiptoeing in.

She spotted a blond mop of hair on the bed, a small smile curling on her lips as she crept closer. His cheeks were a little swollen from the gauze shoved in them, but he was still the most handsome human on the face of the planet. Not even intensive oral surgery could make him look bad. Maybe he wasn’t human. She often described him as more god-like with how unnaturally pretty he was, and if she was being honest, she kind of hated him a little for it. In an envious and admiring way though.

Adrien shuffled a little and hugged his pillow tighter, and Marinette pressed a hand to her lips to stifle a giggle. It was probably weird, now that she thought about it, to watch someone sleeping, but she couldn’t pull her eyes away from him. She longed to reach out and touch that silky smooth hair of his, but she feared that doing so would wake him. And she really didn’t want to explain why she was creepily looming over him while he slept, let alone why she was stroking his hair. Then again…He was pretty heavily medicated, so maybe just a quick touch…

Hesitantly, she reached a hand out and brushed his bangs back from his face, daring to caress his cheek with the back of her finger. His skin was smooth and perfect and warm against her touch, and she could feel his breath tickling her flesh as he slumbered. But in an instant his eyes flew open, and she jerked back with a shriek.

“I’m so sorry! I was just – uh, Nathalie had to go to the store, and um, I wasn’t trying to-” She fumbled as Adrien shot forward and blinked at her a few times in confusion. His eyes widened, and he leaned forward to cup her cheeks in his hands, squishing them together with a pensive frown. “Adrien?”

“I nee ‘or ‘elp,” He mumbled around his gauze.

“Wha- Okay! What do you need? Water, ice, more gauze, soup, a loving girlfriend?” She listed, but he shook his head.

“No!” He snapped. “I nee your elp!”

“What can I do? What do you want? I’ll do anything!” She said, and he glanced around as if there could be anyone else in the room to over hear what he was about to tell her.

“I ‘aw Haw-moh,” He whispered.

“You what?” Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and Adrien rolled his eyes and leaned in closer.

“I s-aw Hawkmof!” He enunciated, albeit poorly, and Marinette pressed her lips together in a firm line.

“Oh yeah?” She said in amusement, pushing him back down gently. “What was he like?”

“Big,” Adrien said. “Scary.”

“I bet he was,” Marinette nodded in understanding. “Nathalie told me to put this ice pack on your face if you woke up. It’ll help the swelling, and your anesthesia should be wearing off soon, so just lay down and-”

“We ave t’ sto im, La-ybu,” He insisted, and Marinette shushed him.

“Uh-huh. You rest, and I’ll get right on that,” She patted his chest with a smile then turned to reach for the ice pack on his desk.

“Pla’ clawsss ou!” He punched the air clumsily, but it was enough to activate his ring.

“What the fuck?!” Marinette screeched as green light washed over the boy in the bed, replacing him with an all-too-familiar black-clad superhero. His eyes narrowed in on her.

“We have to go immediately, Ladybug,” He said, clutching her shoulders as she stared at him in shock.

“Holy shit this cannot be happening. You can’t be, no, no way!” She shook her head to clear it.

“Come with me,” He ordered. “I can’t defeat him without you, m’lady.”

“Okay, no. Adr-Chat-fuck! There is no Hawkmoth. You are on some seriously good medicine, and no, don’t pick me up!” She swore as he jumped out of bed and scooped her up over his shoulder.

“There’s no time. We have to hurry!” He said, reaching for his staff and leaping from the window as Marinette clung to him for dear life. Should she transform? What if Adrien remembered all this later? She couldn’t reveal her identity! Though the thought of falling from this height as a civilian made the option all the more tempting. It was just the drugs making him think she was Ladybug, and she wasn’t about to prove him right.

Nathalie was going to kill her. How the hell was she going to explain this? If she didn’t find a way to get Adrien back home soon then she’d get charged with kidnapping and thrown in prison, and when Adrien finally comes out of his haze, he won’t remember any of this, and she’ll forever be known as the person who abducted helpless Adrien Agreste after he got his wisdom teeth out. She needed a plan.

“Hey, uh, I think I saw Hawkmoth over there,” She said, pointing back in the direction they came from.

“He’s this way,” He said with a surety, and Marinette groaned a little as he continued to race across rooftops.

“Are you sure? I’m pretty sure I saw him over ther-”

“Shh!” He skidded to a stop and dropped into a crouch, setting her down and clamping a hand over her mouth. His eyes narrowed into a glare on a billboard across the way featuring an advertisement for the new insect exhibit at the museum. A bright blue butterfly took center stage on the image, and Chat was glaring daggers at it. “There he is.”

“Yeeeeah, let’s go get him,” Marinette said with a slight nod, and before she could stop him, Chat stood up and sprang across the gap with one hand raised.

“Cataclysm!” He called, raking his claws down the sign and turning it to a pile of ash. Marinette face palmed as he stood among the remnants with a triumphant beam. “I did it, m’lady!”

“Yep, you sure did, Chat. Now, let’s go home,” She called, gesticulating back in the direction they came from as Chat drunkenly hopped back over to her. He stumbled a little, falling into her arms, though he was a bit too heavy for her to hold up, so they crashed onto the roof where Chat gazed up at her giddily.

“Can I have a kiss?” He requested.

“Excuse me?”

“I beat Hawkmoth. You should kiss me,” He said matter-of-factly.

“Uh, maybe later,” She winced, as a tiny bit of blood trickled down his face. “You should get home.”

“Wait!” He whined, reaching a hand up to awkwardly touch her face. “I wanna tell you something.”

“What is it?” She asked, nervously glancing at the time. Nathalie would be home soon.

“I wanna tell you who I really am,” He said, brushing her cheek.

“Uhhh, go for it,” Marinette encouraged, and he closed his eyes as his last pad faded and reverted him back to normal.

“I’m Adrien Agreste,” He said with a hazy grin.

“Whaaat?” Marinette gasped overdramatically. “Chat, that’s amazing!”

“Mmmhmm,” His eyelids drooped a little, and his hand flopped back to his side. “I love you, Ladybug.”

She felt her face turn three shades of red as his eyes rolled back into his head, and he passed out in her arms. Adrien was in love with Ladybug. But Adrien was also Chat Noir. She pursed her lips in thought then shook herself. There was no time to think about it. She had to get Adrien home. Fast.

“Tikki, spots on!”

When Nathalie arrived back home, Marinette sat casually in Adrien’s computer chair, anxiously twiddling her thumbs. Adrien was sprawled out in bed snoring, not a single hair out of place, and there was no evidence to suggest that they’d ever left the house.

“I’m back!” Nathalie announced, peaking into the room. “Thank you for doing this. I know it probably wasn’t very exciting.”

“No, no, it was…fine,” Marinette cast a sidelong glance at Adrien then flicked her gaze back to Nathalie with a smile. “I’m happy to help, and nothing interesting at all happened. He just slept the whole time.”

“Good,” Nathalie relaxed a little. “And thank you again for delivering his homework.”

“Mmhmm,” Marinette nodded before casually strolling back down the stairs and out the door. She wore a poker face all the way back to her house and up to her room before she calmly picked up a pillow and pressed it over her face.

“AdrienisChatNoirholyfuckingfuckfuckfuck!”

#adrinette #marichat #marinette dupain-cheng #adrien agreste #my writing #crackmas

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gigiree · 8 years ago

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The Signs As Quotes From ML Fics

#miraculous ladybug #the signs

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peachcitt · 7 years ago

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a shocking chapter 34!! @gigiree @luvclick @megatraven

hello hello! im glad i was able to get this chapter finished in time because after last week’s overload in writing i spent this past week watching crime shows on tv and lounging and not much else. when will i learn to not burn myself out?? when i stop relying on bursts of motivation and inspiration to set the times i write which is basically saying n e v e r

there is some good stuff though - my parents managed to figure out a way for my super old 2008 era mac laptop to access internet again so i don’t have to leave my cave to post new chapters on sundays. hella. this chapter btw was meant to be sort of light hearted like in the game but like. oops? there are some soft bits because it’s me we’re talking about and i can’t live without soft but still

and yes i had fun with the chapter description.

Read from the beginning/where it’s originally posted here.

Story description: They say that curiosity killed the cat. But it can do a whole lot more than that.

Chapter description: Lights, camera, action! Welcome monsters and my ladies to a very shocking CB broadcast. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!

Rated: T (because some things may not be suited for some audiences... intense pain and rage in this chapter, but nothing graphic)

“Oh, great,” Chat groaned softly, leaning towards Marinette. “Chloe may not be all that into fighting, but she is a colossal b-”

“Ready the cameras!” Chloe shouted, her voice shrill. Several cameras and other video equipment buzzed into the room from the hole that Chloe had made in the wall, seemingly on their own. Another small robot, considerably less flashy than Chloe, also buzzed into the room, going straight for Marinette.

She jumped back, pulling Chat with her. The robot seemed undeterred, going for her again and raising what Marinette saw were just makeup brushes and powders only after Chat slammed his baton into it and it was on the ground beside Chloe.

“Chat Noir!” she gasped in horror. “How dare you ruin the makeup machine!” Chat rolled his eyes, twirling his baton and tucking it in the small sling he had at the small of his back.

Chloe sauntered up to Marinette, her metallic heels clicking on the tile floor. Her cold and artificial hands grabbed Marinette’s chin before anyone could even think of swatting her away, and she roughly moved Marinette’s face side to side, seeming to examine her. Marinette didn’t think she should attempt to talk with her face squished as it was.

“Could you back off?” Chat said, providing Marinette with much appreciated back up. Chloe eyed him coldly, and they seemed to have a glare-off before Chloe’s grip on Marinette’s face loosened and she practically shoved Marinette away.

“Relax, kitty-kins,” she lilted, stepping away from the two of them and checking one of the other cameras. “Since somebody destroyed my makeup machine, I had to check that the human’s face was worthy of my cameras. It’ll probably be fine, though I can’t say for sure my cameras won’t break.” The look she gave Marinette was so absolutely icy that it put Stormy to shame. Marinette rubbed her jaw, where she could still feel Chloe’s cold grip, feeling more than a little offended.

Sabrina slowly went to stand by Chloe, her eyes fixed to the floor and multiple limbs starting to turn invisible. Chat glared at her.

“If we’re not going to fight, then we’re leaving,” Marinette said, glaring at Chloe and starting to walk away, motioning for Chat to follow her.

A thick wall of electricity blocked Marinette’s path, making her stop abruptly to avoid getting shocked into the next century. Marinette whipped her head back to Chloe, who smiled sweetly at her. “That’s against the rules.”

“Rules?”

“Action!” Chloe shouted, and the lights went out, plunging the room in darkness until a spotlight burst to life on Chloe, making her metal gleam and blinding Marinette. “Good evening monsters and my ladies,” she said, flashing a bright smile at one of the hovering cameras. “Tonight’s broadcast comes with a surprise guest! It is my pleasure to introduce-“

A spotlight flew around the room until settling on Marinette, whose eyes were feeling very abused at this point. She blinked rapidly, rubbing her eyes and watching her vision clear to see a camera right in her face. She yelped, surprised by the camera and by the cold metallic arm that was now wrapped around her shoulders.

“The human!” Chloe near screeched, her voice pounding on Marinette’s eardrums now that she was so unbearably close. “Tell me, human, what is your name?” she asked, looking to Marinette and holding up her hand – which was now a microphone – to Marinette’s face.

“My name is M-”

“What an interesting name!” Chloe exclaimed, throwing the microphone out of camera shot and whirling away from Marinette to stand in front of her again. “Now that all of the guests have been introduced-”

“Sabrina and I are here, too,” Chat said loudly from the darkness beside Marinette.

“No one cares!” Chloe said brightly. Spotlights fell on them anyway. Chat looked like he’d rather be anywhere else, and Sabrina was almost entirely invisible. “Now then, let us begin with a game show” – she paused, leaning into the camera nearest to her – “of death!”

“Great,” Marinette grumbled.

“If it’s regular trivia, I can help out,” Chat whispered, taking Marinette’s hand and squeezing lightly.

“Helping the human is against the rules!” Chloe said, pointing her long metallic finger to Chat and sending several robots to him. They grabbed him and pulled him away from Marinette. He kicked and hit at them, but they were metal so all that did was hurt him.

“Chloe,” he growled, his lip curling up threateningly. Marinette shivered, but all Chloe did was look away, gesturing to the robots. They plastered what looked like duck tape over Chat’s mouth, and he shouted against it, struggling against the robots holding him back. But he couldn’t get free.

Marinette started to run to him, but Chloe extended her arm and caught her, pulling her close to her side. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she said lowly, the same horrible smile on her metal lips as a cage of electricity erupted around Chat and the robots restraining him.

“Let him go,” Marinette demanded, shoving herself away from Chloe, who let her go easily as Marinette stumbled away.

“If you win the game,” Chloe said, and Marinette really felt like slapping that smile off her face. She looked over at Sabrina, but she was just a pair of glasses floating in mid air.

“Fine,” Marinette relented, and her SOUL emerged from her chest. She looked over at Chat, whose body had gone rigid. His eyes were trained on Marinette, and she nodded to him. He closed his eyes, letting his head sag for a moment before he seemed to resolve himself and look up again.

“First question!” Chloe exclaimed, either not noticing the heavy feeling in the room or just not bothering to care. “What is your prize for answering a question right?”

Four answer choices appeared in the air in front of Marinette, as well as a small timer that was ticking away the seconds. Suspenseful game show music had started to play.

The answer choices read:

A – Survival

B – Chat Noir being let go

C – More questions

D – Puppies!

Marinette eyed the choices, noticing that the timer was starting to get under fifteen seconds. She looked up at Chloe in defiance and slammed her hand into answer choice B.

There was a beat of silence in which Chloe smiled wickedly. And then – “I’m sorry, but that is incorrect.”

The next few seconds were filled with agony as it felt like all of Marinette’s cells in her body were jolted awake and burned multiple times over originating from her chest, where her SOUL normally came out of. She heard an almost animal-like screech, and when she fell to the floor, her body throbbing and her throat dry, she realized it had been her.

“Screaming is against the rules,” she heard someone say, and tears rolled down her cheeks as she tried to unscramble her brain. “Crying is, too.” The voice sounded very far away, completely drowned out by the sound of her own heartbeat in her ears.

It seemed like a long time before Marinette finally stood up on shaking feet, colors and sounds finally seeming to make sense to her. Her SOUL was shivering in front of her, and it looked very fragile. She looked over at Sabrina, blinking until her eyes focused, and she saw that it seemed like Sabrina had been shocked into turning visible again. Funny. Shocked.

She looked over at Chat, squinting through the bright electricity cage. He was struggling against the robots again, his limbs thrashing. She could hear his muffled attempts at screaming from underneath the tape. For a terrifying moment, she was afraid that Chat had gotten shocked too, but when he looked over at Marinette, his eyes were clear and in pain. But not the kind from being shocked with electricity.

“I’m okay,” she said weakly, and Chloe laughed.

“No, you’re not.” Marinette looked over at her, her movements feeling slow. “That shock was set to bring someone halfway to dying.” The words were delivered with the bright tone of a game show host, and Marinette closed her eyes, wondering how she was going to get through this. “Next question!”

Marinette opened her eyes again, straightening her spine and clenching her fists. No way was she letting herself look weak in front of Chloe ever again.

“What is the king’s full name?”

The answer choices and timer appeared in front of Marinette again.

A – Cool-king Plagg

B – Monsieur Fluffy Buns

C – Plagg

D – Plagg Dreemurr

Marinette looked over at Chat, but of course he couldn’t do anything to help. The robots were even covering his hands.

She didn’t want to get the answer wrong and experience such a strong shock and potentially die, but she didn’t know the answer. She couldn’t even rule any of the answers out because the rules here in the Underground were always strange and sometimes people had strange names. In a last resort gesture, she looked hopelessly at Sabrina.

For a moment, nothing. The timer ticked each second away. And then Sabrina’s eyes shot between Marinette and Chloe, her hands, which had been folded neatly in front of her, forming a very clear letter C.

Setting her eyes on Chloe once more, Marinette prayed to whatever higher being was out there that Sabrina could be trusted, and she pressed her hand to answer choice C. An agonizing silence ensued where it seemed like the only things comfortable were Chloe and the other robots.

“Correct!” Chloe said, still bright, but mostly disappointed. Marinette breathed out a sigh of relief. “Our king has only one name, but that doesn’t mean we don’t give him loving nicknames!” She winked at the camera.

“How many questions are there?” Marinette asked. Chloe’s robotic head whipped around to look at her, fixing her with that same shallow smile.

“How ever many it takes before you drop dead,” she said, her voice coated in poison and sugar. “Next question!”

Marinette looked at Sabrina, praying that her helping wasn’t just a one-time thing. Sabrina gave her a slight nod, her facial expression carefully blank.

“What shade of CB brand lipstick is my favorite?”

“That question isn’t fair,” Marinette protested, and Sabrina shook her head slightly, giving her a worried look.

“I decide what’s fair here. It’s a question, therefore it’s fair. Now what is my favorite shade of my brand of lipstick?”

As the answer choices materialized in front of Marinette, she considered Chloe’s words. CB brand. Chloe Bourgeois brand. She rolled her eyes, looking down at the answer choices and tucking a strand of glittery hair behind her ear.

A – Frozen Blossom

B – Pink Lady Luster

C – Sugar Coated

D – Dark Ballet

The answer choices didn’t come with swatches of the color, which Marinette found very unfair, but she restrained herself from saying so, instead looking up at Sabrina. She was forming the letter A which her hands, keeping them still low in front of her. Marinette chose the answer choice, and she was glad to feel no electricity in her.

“Correct!” Chloe exclaimed, sounding a little disappointed again. “Frozen Blossom is really and truly my favorite – I’m wearing it right now, in fact!” She made kissy lips at the nearest camera. “My brand has wonderful shades so it’s easy to pick a favorite, and I have multiple formulas available that suit scales, metal, skin – you name it!”

Marinette tuned out the rest of her shameless advertising, looking over to Chat, who seemed to still be struggling against the robots just in an effort to be free. She almost ran to him again, but the cage of electricity kept her away. She breathed out a sigh, trying to convince herself that she’d get through the deadly trivia game.

Once Chloe seemed to be done with her self-promotion, she turned back to Marinette, or rather, the cameras. “Next question! Who is the most beautiful in the Underground?”

A – Rose

B – Chloe

C – Ali

D – Chat Noir

Staring at the answer choices, she was in a clear bind. All of the people in the answer choices were beautiful to Marinette, even Chloe, though her appearance seemed a bit marred by her horrible personality. The timer ticked. Marinette looked up to see Sabrina was forming a B with a bit of difficulty.

Marinette looked at her SOUL. It seemed to look back at her. She pulled out her yo-yo, watching the timer in front of her as she pulled out her last unicicle and nearly inhaled it. She watched as her SOUL seemed to glow brighter, and something told Marinette that she was near full health now. She whispered a quick apology to it.

Carefully positioning her hand and one of her arms, she looked Chloe dead in the eye as she slammed her hand and arm over every single answer choice except for answer choice B. Chloe didn’t even bother saying it was incorrect.

The bright beam of electricity hit Marinette’s SOUL dead on, shocking Marinette’s very core. The pain that overcame her was just as intense as before, if not more. She felt herself throw her head back almost involuntarily and scream, the sound rough and animalistic. It tore her throat apart, and it felt like her body was being drenched in acid but it was so unbelievably worth it.

When she came back to her senses, she was on her knees again and tears were streaming down her face and it hurt to move, but she raised her head to look at Chloe, feeling her lips pull into a twisted smile. Something that felt far worse than anything Chloe could ever pull off.

“I’m not fuel for your ego,” she said, the words coming out as growl. Her eyes flicked over to Sabrina, who was standing completely still, her eyes wide and her mouth open.

There was a small sound from beside her, and Marinette looked over at Chat, whose face was turned toward the ceiling, almost like he was praying. When he opened his eyes, they met hers, and she could see how wet they were and how much he was begging her to never get an answer wrong again. For her sake and his.

Marinette’s heart felt like it had just been put through a wringer.

“Next question,” Marinette said, getting to her feet and leveling Chloe’s hard stare with one of her own.

After that, Marinette lost count of how many stupid and unfair questions Chloe shot at her. Each time, she was able to answer correctly because of Sabrina’s hand motions.

It was when Marinette was presented with a large jar of glitter and asked how many pieces of glitter were in there that their trick was found out. Sabrina was taking a while, and Marinette was staring at her hands the whole time.

“Oh!” Sabrina exclaimed at last, and she quickly formed the letter. Marinette breathed a sigh of relief, and reached for the answer choice, but before she could, the choices disappeared.

“Huh?” Marinette looked up to see Chloe glaring at Sabrina, who nervously looked over at Chloe, her teeth worrying her lip. “Oh, no.”

“My dear Sabrina,” Chloe started, her lips pulling into a pinched smile, “have you been helping the human?” Sabrina shook her head back and forth, her hands and arms starting to turn invisible. “You know that’s against the rules.”

“I wasn’t helping,” Sabrina said, but the blush creeping across her cheeks told the exact opposite.

“In that case,” Chloe said, completely ignoring Sabrina, “I’ll ask a question you’ll be sure to know the answer to!” There was a dramatic pause, and the suspenseful game show music swelled. Marinette looked over at her SOUL, who looked just about as done as she felt. “Who does Sabrina have a crush on?”

A – The Human

B – Chloe

C – Alya

D – Don’t know

Marinette looked at Sabrina, but all she did was shake her hands back and forth.

There was no timer for this one, and Marinette took advantage of that, taking her time in considering each question. She wasn’t sure how the question was structured, so she couldn’t possibly feel comfortable picking option D if Chloe didn’t think that was the right answer.

She didn’t feel like it was herself – it seemed like Sabrina had been aware of Marinette’s feelings towards Chat, and that would certainly be the answer to piss Chloe off the most.

Since they had arrived at the lab, Sabrina had made no mention of Alya at all, and, to be quite honest, Marinette had a hard time imagining Sabrina liking her in that way.

That left the last option – Chloe herself. It would certainly be the option that would please Chloe the most, but Marinette still thought about it. Sabrina had defended Chloe vehemently when Chat had gone on his rampage, and she had gone along with Chloe almost immediately after she had showed up. Not only was the answer choice the safest, it was the one that made the most sense. So Marinette chose it.

Almost immediately, Sabrina turned completely invisible, and that was enough proof for Marinette to know she was right.

“Wow, Sabrina,” Chloe said, her expression uncharacteristically soft and genuine. “I always thought you were loyal to me, but this just proves it.” There was a moment in which Chloe just smiled to herself, and Marinette thought that was far more beautiful than anything she had seen Chloe direct to towards the cameras.

But then her soft smile dropped and was replaced with a cold one. “As much as I appreciate your loyalty, Sabrina, we all know it’s the human. It’s just too obvious.” Marinette frowned, and she saw Sabrina slowly start to turn visible again, a look of confusion across her features.

“What makes you say that?” Marinette asked, just as confused as Sabrina.

Chloe waved her hand, visibly trying to make it look like the matter meant very little to her. “She has that viewing screen up, and she’s always talking about you. I’d call her obsessed.”

It was at this moment that Marinette understood that Chloe’s hatred towards her was for a reason and that Chloe was also very, very oblivious.

“Anyway, now that it’s clear that Sabrina’s been helping, there’s no edge to the game anymore, so we might as well stop,” Chloe said, turning to the camera nearest to her and plastering on her game show host smile. “But our mission to kill the human is not over, monsters and my ladies! Tune in next time for more drama” – the cameras panned to Sabrina – “more romance” – the cameras zoomed over to Chat and Marinette – “and more bloodshed!” The cameras went back to Chloe, whose smile had not left her face even the slightest. “Until next time!” she said, saluting charmingly at the camera.

There was a blackout, and immediately after, the regular lighting of the lab returned. Marinette’s SOUL slipped back into her chest. Chloe’s game show smile dropped almost comically from her face, replaced with a cold scowl that Marinette figured was her natural facial expression.

“Release him,” Chloe ordered, and the robots holding back Chat let him go, letting him fall freely to the floor. He landed harshly on his hands and knees, his body shaking.

Marinette ran to him, this time unhindered, and she dropped to her knees beside him, touching him lightly with her fingertip only to get a small electric shock. She pulled away, glaring over at Chloe, who was examining her perfectly polished pink nails. “What did you do to him?”

“The robots are programmed to deliver a minute electric shock any time he struggled. It was really his own fault.”

It was like the world went red for a moment, and suddenly Marinette had Chloe pushed up against the wall, her hands gripping the metal lapels of Chloe’s yellow blazer so tightly that it hurt. She couldn’t even form words to express the anger inside her, so she just glared, hoping that everything was communicating through her face.

Chloe’s perfect pink lips pulled down in a scowl of distaste as she stared at Marinette, and there was a moment in which all they did was stare at each other in mutual hatred. And then Chloe lifted her metal hand and pushed Marinette away.

“Relax human, he should recover easily in the next few minutes.” She turned away from Marinette, stepping back through the hole she’d made in the wall when she first arrived. “We’ll be seeing each other soon.” And she left, her cameras following after her.

Marinette stared at the spot for a moment longer, her fists unclenching and clenching, trying to get herself under control. There was a muffled moan behind her, and she was quite suddenly reminded of the fact that Chat was on the floor and in pain.

She hurried back to him, dropping to her knees again. He had fell from his hands and knees and now was laying face down on the tile. Marinette carefully flipped him over, touching her hands to his face and wincing at the shock it gave her, but pushing through it.

Chat’s eyes were glassy, and he looked really out of it, but he seemed to focus on Marinette. “Hey,” Marinette whispered, tracing her thumb on his cheekbone. He breathed out a harsh sigh through his nose, his eyes closing. “I’m going to take this off, okay?” she asked, tapping the tape on his mouth.

He raised his arm with great difficulty, his hand shaking, and he opened his eyes long enough to find Marinette’s other hand. She took his hand, and he gave her a little squeeze, nodding his head.

And then she ripped off the tape.

“Mother f-” Chat sat straight up, almost knocking his head with Marinette’s, but she managed to move out of the way just in time. He relaxed, rubbing his mouth. “Ow.” He looked over at Marinette, his lips pulling up weakly into a grin. “That was quite a shock.”

Marinette breathed out a sigh of relief, practically tackling Chat with the force of her hug. “You’re okay,” she sighed into his neck, pulling him as close to her as physically possible.

She felt his body relax into her grip, and he wrapped his arms around her and rubbed his hands over her back soothingly. “You scared me, too, bug.”

“I know,” she whispered, and she pulled away and gave him a soft smile. “But I’m okay. You’re okay.”

“Can’t deny that,” Chat said, and he pulled her close, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “But I really hope you never do something dangerous just to prove a point ever again.”

“No promises,” Marinette said, her smile growing as he pulled away and laughed softly, shaking his head.

They helped each other stand, and when they were both on their feet, Chat leaned a little on Marinette. She let him, wrapping a hand around his waist to help keep him steady.

She looked over at Sabrina, who was blushing up to her ears and staring with a deep expression of longing. Marinette felt her cheeks grow hot, and when Sabrina noticed that Marinette was looking, Sabrina blushed even harder. “I’m very sorry,” Sabrina said, tucking her hair behind a very red ear, “ it’s just that you two are very- ah, I mean, I want- er, it’s very-” With each word she spoke, another part of her body turned invisible and her blush deepened even more.

“I get it,” Marinette said, sparing Sabrina of another moment of agony. She understood that whatever Sabrina saw with her and Chat, she really wanted to feel between her and Chloe.

“I don’t,” Chat said, and Marinette shot a glare at him. “What?” he asked, looking between her and Sabrina. “I really don’t get it.” Marinette rolled her eyes.

Sabrina was entirely invisible at this point, just a pair of red glasses and a stylishly smart outfit. “Well,” she said, clearing her throat. Marinette imagined that she just tucked her hair behind her ear. “That was certainly something.”

Marinette sighed, feeling an ache set into her bones from the shock of electricity she’d felt before. She was suddenly very tired.

“Understatement of the century.”

#miraculous tale #miraculous tale fic #about the laptop situation:#this is actually a laptop from my mom's work that they gave her years ago #she didn't like it so she let me and my siblings use it which is fun and all except welost the admin password #and haha guess what you need the password to update the computer so this is like SUPER outdated #eventually it got to the point where i couldn't get to the internet anymore (bc ya knowi had basically taken the laptop for myself bc #no one else was using it so might as well yo)#so all i could do was write which is like what i wanted anyway but when it came to actually posting stuff it was this big process #that involved a teeny usb drive with unbelievably large storage #(seriously. it's basically a superhero)#and leaving my room which is something i am always reluctant to do to use the family computer #anyway hopefully that's over now hopefully #i still need to update the software and figure out how to open tabs in safari so there's that #but it should be fine right?#anyway this chapter guys #i was like let's make it fun and funny like the mettaton fight in the game #hahahhhaha nope #i accidentally made it so much more and when i was writing it i was like YES but when i read over it i was like #@ me what the fucc #why am i like this #and of course i had to add the softest scene in existence at the end because i have two moods and they're INTENSE ANGST and UNBEARABLY SOFT #you're welcome #im really hungry by the way i didn't eat a lot for lunch because i had just woken up #and like i haven't eaten since because eh #also on twitter i made this wonderful mutual her name is mariana and it's okay for me to call her mari and #she's beautiful and sweet and GOSH i don't deserve #anyway she's doing this thing were she mentions you in a little poll on whether people would marry/date/crush on/kill you #and of course i wanted to see though im not expecting a lot of votes #but a lot of her mutuals have done it too and ive been going through their @'s to see what theyre like and ive followed a lot of them bc

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