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angelofthequeers · 5 years ago

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Happy Holmium

Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.

My @mlsecretsanta gift for @wedontdeservenino! I hope you enjoy! ❤️💚

AO3 link

“Happy Holmium, Marinette!”

The mere sight of Adrien doesn’t make Marinette want to die now after months of shifting her focus to being his friend over asking him out, but he can’t just look over his shoulder and wave like that and expect her to be okay with –

Wait. What?

“Happy what?” Marinette says.

“Don’t encourage him,” Nino groans. “He’s so proud of it, like he thinks he deserves a freaking award for it.”

“Happy Holmium!” Adrien grins like the cat that got the cream. “Get it? Ho? For holmium? Ho, ho, ho? I could go with Merry Chromium if you prefer!” he adds when Marinette and Alya join Nino in groaning and thumping their heads on the desk.

“I can’t believe I want to marry you,” Marinette mumbles into the desktop.

“Huh?” Adrien says. Marinette lets out a small shriek and whips her head up.

“Nothing!” she cries, waving her hands around and praying to whoever might be listening that her face isn’t turning as scarlet as her alter-ego’s suit.

“Smooth,” Alya snickers, also lifting her head.

“Attention, class!” Ms Bustier calls. “I know it's the final class of the day and your attention may be drifting elsewhere, but I'd like it if you could at least listen to this. Then you can go back to pretending to listen while I pretend to believe you.”

Snickers are heard all around the room, especially when Ms Bustier looks at Kim and Nathaniel. Nathaniel laughs sheepishly, while Kim just gives an impish grin and crosses his arms.

“I thought that since this is your last Christmas with me before you all go to lycée, we could do something a little fun,” Ms Bustier says. “A Secret Santa!”

Excited murmuring breaks out across the room. Except for Adrien, who raises his hand and says, “Um, what’s a Secret Santa?”

“Oh, you poor, sheltered boy,” Chloé drawls, and Sabrina snickers. It’s really been quite astonishing to watch Chloé’s slow, heel-dragging progress from a horrific jerk into a jerk with a heart of gold since being given a second chance with the Bee Miraculous. Marinette suspects that it’s mostly to do with Pollen’s influence pushing her to be a better person outside the mask as well as behind it, but if a kwami’s guidance means continued respite from Chloé’s bullying, Marinette’s not exactly going to complain.

“Now, now, Chloé,” Ms Bustier chides. “Adrien, a Secret Santa is where you draw a random name and must give a gift to that person. I’m giving you all until the last day of term to finalise your gifts, in case anyone wants to get creative, but you must participate. I thought it would be a nice reminder of the bonds you’ve all forged before you leave for lycée.”

“Can we give gifts to people other than our Secret Santa?” Lila pipes up. “Even if I don’t get Adrien, I still have the perfect gift for him. I’m sure you’ll love it, Adrien!”

“Aww!” Rose coos. “That’s so thoughtful of you, Lila!”

Marinette meets Adrien’s gaze and rolls her eyes. Her cheeks grow warm when he immediately hides his mouth behind his hand, no doubt concealing the grin he can’t hold back. Meanwhile, Alya mutters something that sounds vaguely like, “Can’t believe I ever fell for her bull.”

“Of course you can, Lila,” Ms Bustier says. “But your focus must be on the recipient that you draw, otherwise it wouldn’t be fair to them.”

“Oh, of course!” Lila says. “I promise!”

“Right.” Ms Bustier picks up the small box on her desk and shakes it. The sound of rustling fills the air. “When I call on you, come and draw a name from the box. And no re-drawing! That’s not in the spirit of Christmas. Chloé, you first.”

It’s impossible to tell who Chloé had gotten, since she gives no visible reaction, so Marinette can only conclude that she hadn’t gotten Lila or Adrien, since she’d be utterly disgusted or utterly delighted respectively. Next up is Sabrina, then Adrien, and Marinette’s stomach jolts because what if Adrien draws her name? What kind of present would he get her? Oh, she’d die if she got a gift from Adrien –

“Marinette!” Ms Bustier says loudly. Marinette jumps and squeaks and stumbles to the front of the class, ignoring the way Alya’s very pointed look is scorching the back of her neck. She dips her hand into the box, rummages for a second, pulls out a neatly-folded piece of paper, and unfolds it to reveal…Adrien Agreste.

No. Way. She gets to be Adrien’s Secret Santa! Oh, this is perfect! She’ll give him the perfect gift, and he’ll declare his undying love for her, and they’ll run away to an island and get married and have three kids and a hamster –

“Is there a problem, Marinette?” Ms Bustier says.

“N-No! Sorry!” Marinette babbles and rushes back to her seat. Why is she getting so carried away? She hasn’t been like this around Adrien for ages!

“Nice!” Alya hisses with a wide grin when she returns from picking her name and they show each other who they’d drawn. Alya had gotten Rose, which should be easy enough, considering that Rose likes anything pink and flowery and nice-smelling. “What are you gonna get him?”

“I don’t know!” Marinette says. “And after that Christmas disaster last year, I don’t wanna mess this up!”

Alya pats her on the back. “You’ll think of something, girl. You always do.”

Finding the perfect gift for Adrien is all Marinette can think about for the whole afternoon, to the point where Alya eventually shakes her head in disgust and gives up on trying to engage Marinette in conversation at all. It’s not until she’s home and scribbling ideas down in one of her notebooks that she finally speaks for the first time since learning that Adrien is her recipient.

“Rubbish! Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish!” She tears the page out of her notebook and scrunches it up, then throws it across the room. “None of this is good enough for him!”

“You’re overthinking things, Marinette,” Tikki says. “Your gift doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to have love poured into it. Like the scarf you made for him!”

“Yeah and look how well that turned out.” Marinette drops her notebook and buries her face in her hands with a groan.

“It did turn out well,” Tikki says patiently. Well, if one happens to be a god of however many thousands of years, patience is probably a necessity for one’s mental survival. “Adrien loved it because it was handmade and full of love. The only reason he didn’t know it was from you was because your signature somehow got lost. But this time, you’re giving the gift to him in person, so he’ll know it’s from you!”

“True. True. Okay…” Marinette takes a deep breath and looks back down at her notebook. “I can do this. I can – no, I can’t! I’m gonna screw this up and he’ll never want to be my friend again!”

“Would you be freaking out like this if it was anyone else?” Tikki says.

“No!” Marinette says. “But Adrien is…how many good gifts does he get, Tikki? Remember last year? His father only let us go to his house after he ran away. I have to make this gift perfect for him!”

“Marinette!” Tikki rests her tiny hands on Marinette’s cheeks. “Adrien would be happy if you gave him a sock, so long as there was love put into it! Maybe you should take a break from this.”

“But I can’t! I have –”

“– three weeks to design and create your gift. One night won’t be disastrous. If you take a step back and clear your head, you can come back with fresh eyes and maybe think of something extraordinary!”

Marinette takes a deep breath and pinches the bridge of her nose. “Right. You’re right. It’s just like artist’s block when I’m designing. Tikki, if we headed for patrol a little earlier, would you mind –?”

“Not at all, Marinette! Ready when you are!”

“Tikki, spots on!”

Although it’s not snowing, the Parisian night air is freezing enough to bite as Ladybug leaps and hops across the rooftops towards the Eiffel Tower. By the time she arrives and swings up to the top, her face is chilly and stinging and her breath billows out in front of her as though she’s a ladybug-scaled dragon.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” Chat Noir grins from his perch on the edge of the Tower’s tip. Ladybug just rolls her eyes and plops down next to him, ignoring the heat radiating from his damn cat body because there’s no way she’s going to give him the satisfaction of cuddling up to him for warmth.

“Ha, ha,” Ladybug drawls.

“Don’t you mean Happy Holmium?” Chat Noir says, and Ladybug freezes. “Get it? Holmium?”

“Ho, ho,” she breathes as Ladybug.exe starts to crash. Chat Noir beams – no, it’s Adrien, it’s Adrien behind that mask, how did she never see it before…but what are the chances of Adrien being Chat? Then again, what are the chances that both are spouting the exact same joke?

And it’s not like they don’t look similar. Blond hair, green eyes…she’d just always assumed that they were green because of the Miraculous, like hers had been as Lady Noire, but if they’re naturally green…

“Milady?” Chat Noir says. Ladybug jumps and squeaks.

“Fine! I’m fine!” she babbles. “I guess all I want for Christmas is yttrium, oxygen, and uranium!”

Oh my god. Did I really just say that to Adrien?

Chat Noir blinks and frowns, then snorts and slaps a hand over his mouth to muffle his laughter. “Why, bugaboo, if you wanted me for Christmas, all you had to do was ask,” he says. “We have real chemistree, don’t you think?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Ladybug says. It’s Chat Noir. Adrien, yes, but it’s Chat Noir, her dorky partner. And besides, she hasn’t been a disaster around Adrien for a while now, so she’s not going to slide right back into turning into one in his presence, thank you very much. Or his presents, as he would say. “You’ll have to try harder than that to make me helium.”

“He, he. Really?” Chat Noir raises an eyebrow. “Gotta step up your game.”

Ladybug sniffs and tosses her hair. “Na. Don’t be sodium salty.”

“But milady, you make my heart undergo an exothermic reaction!” Chat Noir clasps at his heart and leans against Ladybug, who pushes him away out of sheer habit rather than because she wants to. Since he’s super warm. That’s it.

“Your heart is nothing but nitrogen, oxygen, and iridium,” Ladybug says. Chat Noir pouts.

“Don’t we have patrol, milady?” he says.

“Oh, so you can start it, but you can’t take the reaction?” Ladybug smirks, climbing to her feet. She helps Chat Noir up, winks, and says, “Well, at least I’m well-prepared for the Chemistry test on Friday.”

“If you ever need my tutoring services in future, all you have to do is ask,” Chat Noir says with his usual roguish grin. Hmm. Nice recovery.

“I’ll be sure to pass that on to the five-year-olds,” Ladybug says and reaches out to flick his bell. Then she’s off, swinging away from the Eiffel Tower before Chat Noir can recover his wits, trying not to think about the fact that she’d just done that to Adrien because if she lets her brain think about that little fact, she’ll splat on the streets below.

But hey, at least now she knows exactly what gift to give to Adrien for the Secret Santa!

“Alright, class!” Ms Bustier claps her hands, and everyone quiets down and turns to face the front. “I hope you’ve all got your gifts prepared, because today is Secret Santa day!”

Adrien’s classmates start to cheer, but Adrien’s too busy bouncing in his seat with anticipation to find out who his Secret Santa is. Is it Nino? Or Marinette? Or, heck, even Chloé? Just so long as it’s not Lila. Thank god she hadn’t been his Secret Santa recipient because after all the crap she’s pulled, no way could he make himself put good effort into getting her a gift.

“When I draw out your name, come to the front of the class,” Ms Bustier says, shaking her little box of names from when their recipients had been announced. “Then your Secret Santa will step forward and give their gift.” She reaches into the box, pulls out a slip of paper, unfolds it, and says, “Kim!”

“Aw, yeah!” Kim bursts out of his seat and skids to a halt next to Ms Bustier, who looks like she’s trying her best to be Teacherly Strict and not laugh at his antics. “C’mon, who got me?”

“Thankfully, not me!” Alix calls, and the class snickers at her quip. Kim beams and flips her off.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that,” Ms Bustier says. “Who was Kim’s Secret Santa?”

After a moment, there’s the sound of someone sliding out of their seat from the back of the class. Adrien tries his very hardest not to slump in relief when he turns and sees that it’s Lila making her way to the front of the class with a neatly-wrapped red present. He tries. But he’s not sure how successful he is, especially at the plastic quality of her smile when she passes him.

“Buon Natale, Kim!” Lila chirps, handing over her gift. Kim whoops and tears the paper off to reveal a shoebox. “I’m so sorry, I would’ve loved to get you an autograph from –”

“Are you kidding?” Kim crows as he yanks the lid off the box. “New sneakers! Thanks, Lila, you’re the best!”

Adrien bites down on his lip to smother his laughter when Kim pulls Lila in for what looks like a super tight one-armed hug and she’s forced to smile brightly and grit out something about it being no trouble at all. Soon enough, Kim and Lila are returning to their seats, and Adrien carefully doesn’t look at Lila so that he doesn’t lose the battle against his laughter.

“Time for our next recipient!” Ms Bustier pulls out another name. “Nathaniel!”

Nathaniel’s Secret Santa turns out to be Juleka, who gifts him a small framed painting in dark colours. Although her artistry isn’t the best, Nathaniel’s bouncing on the spot as he throws his arms around Juleka, and Adrien can’t help but smile at the sight. Both Nathaniel and Juleka understand what it means to be creative from the heart, after all, even if their mediums differ.

Nino’s up next, and his gift from Max is a track of songs that Markov had helped Max create “based on the statistics of your music preferences”. Mylène’s gift from Rose is a pretty, handmade yellow rose pin (“because yellow roses mean friendship!”), and she beams and immediately clips it to her sweater next to her Ladybug pin. Then it’s Marinette’s turn to receive her Secret Santa gift from Ivan, which turns out to be a little black cat plushie with bright green eyes, green paw pads, and a bell attached to its neck.

“I know you like Chat Noir,” Ivan mumbles, scratching the back of his head. “So, I thought…well, I’ve got a friend who makes plushies, and she agreed to make that one for you…”

“It’s perfect!” Marinette stands on her tiptoes to kiss Ivan on the cheek. “Thank you so much, Ivan! I can’t believe it’s handmade!”

Marinette…likes Chat Noir? Enough to receive a handmade plushie based on him? Well, obviously, considering the whole Weredad incident, but…Adrien wasn’t aware that she still felt so strongly about him. He swallows and looks away, otherwise the pure joy on Marinette’s face will do leave him with some very unwelcome thoughts, considering that he’s supposed to be in love with Ladybug.

Wait. Supposed to be? He is in love with Ladybug!

“Adrien!” Ms Bustier says.

“Present!” Adrien blurts out. Everyone else snickers.

“Yes, Adrien, come and receive your present,” says a clearly-amused Ms Bustier. Adrien undertakes the walk of shame with warm cheeks, but the spring is back in his step in no time because now he gets to find out who his Secret Santa is! And what they’re going to give him! Every gift except for Lila’s has been handmade so far, and his gift for Chloé is a friendship bracelet in the colours of Queen Bee, so he can only imagine what his gift will be! “Okay, who was Adrien’s Secret Santa?”

Adrien’s eyes, attuned to the slightest of movements, jump to the dark-haired girl slipping out of her seat with a lumpy red package in her hands. Marinette! His Secret Santa is Marinette! How did he get so lucky? She’s so sweet and talented and amazing, so any gift from her is going to have love poured into it to the seams!

“Happy Christmas, Adrien,” Marinette says with pink cheeks as she hands over her gift, which is soft and squishy. Adrien tries not to look too eager as he runs his finger along the tape and tears the paper off to reveal…a red jacket with black spots? A Ladybug jacket?

“How did you know I liked Ladybug?” Adrien blurts out. Marinette’s pink cheeks darken to crimson.

“Just a lucky guess!” she says. “There’s more if you unfold it!”

There’s a card nestled in the jacket, so Adrien carefully sets it on Ms Bustier’s desk and then unfolds the jacket, and his breath catches in his throat. On the back, in black lettering, is stitched Happy Holmium! with a sprig of holly berries, except that the red berries have black ladybug spots and little black cat paws have been embroidered through the green holly leaves.

“Seriously?” Nino groans when Adrien holds the jacket up. “You’re encouraging that joke?”

“It wasn’t bad,” Marinette argues.

“Finally, someone who appreciates my dashing wit!” Adrien says. He shrugs off his black designer jacket and slips on Marinette’s jacket as fast as he physically can, running his hands over the fleecy material with an undoubtedly goofy grin on his face. “You made me a jacket!”

“Yeah!” Marinette nods rapidly. “Um…you should probably read your card.”

Inside the envelope Adrien had set on Ms Bustier’s desk is a Christmas card with a photo of Ladybug on the front, no doubt from Alya’s extensive stash. But it’s what’s inside the card that makes Adrien’s breath catch in his throat:

Dear Adrien,

Happy Holmium! You’re one of my dearest friends and I’m so lucky to have you in my life, especially since I’d say we have real chemistree. You make my heart undergo an exothermic reaction and all I want for Christmas is yttrium, oxygen, and uranium, even if your heart is nitrogen, oxygen, and iridium. At least I’m not sodium salty over puns. You’ll have to try harder to make me helium next time.

Love,

Marinette

Exothermic reaction? Chemistree? Y-O-U and N-O-Ir? Sodium salty and helium? But…how? There’s only one person who knows that all those specific jokes had passed between him and…Ladybug.

“No way,” he breathes. Her cheeks now dark scarlet, Marinette looks down at the ground, twisting the toe of her boot against the wooden floor. Dark pigtails, bright blue eyes…kind, sweet, warm, amazing…she’s been in front of him the whole time! “You – I don’t –”

“Can we hurry this up?” Alix complains. “Some of us have gifts to get, y’know! And give,” she hastily adds when Ms Bustier looks at her.

Adrien reaches out, almost in a daze, and runs his fingers along Marinette’s cheek and down to her chin, giving her just enough of a nudge to raise her head. Those bluebell eyes punch him in the gut, leaving him breathless and unable to breathe, and before he knows what he’s doing, he’s cupping her face and leaning in and the class is audibly holding their breaths.

“Milady?” he murmurs against her mouth, so quiet that only the two of them can hear. Marinette gives him a soft little smile and at that moment, Adrien wonders how the hell he’s never realised that she’s Ladybug, because she’s just as radiant.

“You should be careful who you joke with, kitty,” Marinette replies. “Hearing the same joke again is old.”

Adrien huffs out a laugh, which Marinette mirrors, her eyes crinkling and lighting up as she laughs too. His eyes dart to her lips, a movement that doesn’t go unnoticed as she also chances a peek at his mouth. But just as Adrien’s leaning in –

“Excuse me, Ms Bustier, but Alix is right!” Lila’s sickly-sweet voice rings clear in the classroom, and Adrien jumps away from Marinette and scratches the back of his head with a little laugh. “We really should get through the rest of the Secret Santas!”

“Aww, come on, Lila!” Rose says. “We’ve been waiting so long for this to happen!”

“It’s okay,” Adrien says. He reaches out to take Marinette’s hand, and she flushes as red as her alter-ego’s suit and looks away while biting her lip. “We can finish this later. Right, princess?”

“Aww!” all the girls coo, apart from Lila.

“Y-Yeah,” Marinette stammers. “Sorry, we’re just holding the whole class up.”

“Don’t apologise,” Ms Bustier says with a wide grin and another name in her hand. “It’s wonderful to see such love at Christmas! Rose, you’re up next! Although I doubt anyone can outdo Adrien and Marinette here.”

Christmas card and original jacket in hand, Adrien heads back to his seat with Marinette behind him, squeezing past Rose on her way to the front. As Rose squeals over the miniature notebook of pressed flowers from Alya, Adrien turns in his seat and catches Marinette’s eye, winking when she finally looks at him. She blushes and looks down, and although Adrien wishes he could pull out the old Chat Noir charm and delight in the fact that his lady really does love him back, they can do that later. After all, they’ve got all the time in the world now.

“Happy Holmium, Adrien!” Marinette says with a little giggle that lights up his world. Adrien beams back.

“Happy Holmium, Marinette,” he says.

#miraculous ladybug #ml fic #aotq fic #ml secret santa #chemistry jokes #marinette dupain-cheng #adrien agreste #alya cesaire #nino lahiffe #miracuclass #dorks in love #love square #identity reveal #secret santa #adrinette #adrienette

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evergreen-dryad · 5 years ago

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thoughts about spook 65

...Although, it’s more like a stream of consciousness commentary. I try and fail not to make this too long as usual, so warning long post ahead.

Summary: Aidairo leaves us on that cliffhanger by giving us a break with tension-breaker Kou with his caring friends, more Mitsukou, and then dun dun dun they encounter a Wild Comic Relief of Universal Proportions Natsuhiko (poor fish and tarantula I hope they got back safe) and apparently Natsuhiko wants to capture No.6 like he’s the rarest pokemon of all and might have the secret key to the immortality fountain?? Will we ever know more about these mysterious man stay tuned next month. And oh yeah also No.6 always wanted to throw Aoi into the hole to rot away because he’s also a necromancer. Just great and swell here folks, don’t know how Nene and Akane are faring ~

whaaww Kou’s feeling really overwhelmed I mean this is a lot for like what a 13 year old boy

LMAO IS HE WIPING THE MOKKE OR DID HE READY A KERCHIEF FOR NENE

‘Teru-nii hasn’t been home recently’ -- hmmmmm? What’s he up to? Is he out on a journey to exorcise bigger fish out there?

...Or it could be just a field trip lmao

lol. out of context -- 👀

(I love that white-black juxtaposition between the two of them)

AWW WHAT GOOD BOIS

KOU HAS SUCH GOOD FRIENDS I’M MELTING HEREEEEE

ahahahahaha ofc Satou sugarboy here has his priorities right. ‘Get sweet drinks and sweets for us you simp’

awwww

I love it, we’re getting outside perspective from the supportive side characters. It’s the Arc for no1 Supportive Side Character Ao-chan after all!

ooooooohhhhh Satou’s the observant one here. Starting to love him now~

what a cheerful sandboy Yokoo is holding that carrot

oyo it’s Mitsuba but I’m just distracted wondering if those plants on the left side are mimosa plants, le touch-me-not

LMAO

MITSUBA YOU NEVER HOLD BACK

omg you just popped right outta the mirror like that. I would have screamed and flung my hands everywhere. Kou you have nerves of steel or in this case your brain is a steelwool scrubber right now

Yeah man that’s his job your man’s a ghost in case you forgot

AWW HE’S ALSO CONCERNED

MITSUBA DOING THE BLESSED WORK AROUND HERE HE JUST OUTRIGHT ASKED KOU WHAT’S UP

LMAO KOU

It is unbelievable to him since Mitsuba has always been such a prickly tsun before he’s probably never shown much common decency let alone common friend interaction like showing concern esp since Kou to him is a blokehead

Awww, Kou

(oh? oh? what was his wish again exactly, to be friends or for him to be human somehow?

and lmao Kou is going doki-doki when Mitsuba for the first time ever asks if he’s okay)

Aww, Mitsuba misses his Daikon-senpai, this is too cute guys I--

Nene your fantasy came true Mitsuba’s looking for you like a lost puppy

LMAO HANAKO IS THE BAD FRIEND IM SCREMINH BUT KOU HONEY YOU’RE RIGHT HE FIGHTS BEATS STABS PEOPLE UP AND INTRODUCES YOU TO PORN AND EVEN GOES YANDERE FOR AN ARC

really. why am I so intrigued Teru is gone. Where did he go. There must be a story somewhere.

oh whoa there goes Kou acting all otome ML again (callback to Hanako wanting Nene’s wish to come true too with the shoulder-clutching?)

HAHAHAHA YEAH HE DIDN’T LISTEN AT ALL. THIS SIMP. YOUR BI HIMBO. YOUR MORON.

Mitsuba’s face is sending me I swear

Yes Mitsuba he deserves that kick to the arse. Teach him to listen to you

There we go again~~ *Kou otome ML move count: 2*

A scream??? COULD IT BE---

BUGS AND TRASH PLS PLS BE OKAY

wow Mitsuba just suited up. our two superheroes on the move

AAAAAAAAAA

IT’S A FISH???? WHOSE LEGS ARE THOU TOO LONG?? DON’T TELL ME IT’S NATSUHIKO

also lmao these phat daikon arms. And these rando fish are all so cute. Look at this guy on the right. So smooth and chill like a seal

Ya jeez more and more apparitions are showing up y’all it’s becoming a yokai manga (I’m not complaining I love them all.)

Oh that dramatic foot in a spotlight, Natsuhiko you dramatic hoe, it’s you I’d know you anywhere (jokes aside I saw that Sailor Moon edit of him so)

HAHAH THE FISH LOOKS SO HAPPY. PEAK COMEDY THAT FOOT SILENTLY SLIPPING OUT OF SIGHT I--

HONESTLY HOW DOES NATSUHIKO KEEP GETTING INTO THESE SITUATIONS

Good shonen boy Kou finally jumping into action to the rescue, because god knows without Hanako around there’s no one to do the saving of damsels in distress around here

‘I want to join too’ -- AWWW LOL THIS IS SO CUTE

and off they go bullying a fish like it’s a game, so sad I liked that whalefrogfish

is it ded. rip.

oh wow Natsu you kissed fish gullet, look how red your face is wow. Also you really shouldn’t think that you’re too funny to let die. You survived being thrown into Nowhere, you’ll survive fish llke Jonah did. But fr did Sakura throw you into a fish trash pit or smth

LOL OH YEAH KOU DOESN’T KNOW AND YEAH HE IS THE NO1 AIRHEAD FOR MITSUBA NOT KOU LOL

OHMYGOD HE DID A DRAMATIC SELF-INTRODUCTION WITH THE FLASH STEP AND ALL I LOVE U YOU DORK. YOU HUGE SHONEN DORK OF INDESTRUSCTIBLE COMIC RELIEF PROPORTIONS

ohmygod he called himself an Onii-san. He wants Kou to call him Onii-san. I am crying. Teru come back your lil bro’s being propositioned (w hA T a tiME for YoU TO Be GonE eH)

HAHAH THAT IDOL POSE. NO WONDER SAILOR MOON I AM DECEASED

KOU BABY IS SUSPICIOUS IM CRYING YES AS YOU SHOULD BE HUN (that font is just perfect *chef’s kiss*)

Natsuhiko just awkwardly perched there in the background

Touchy touchy LOL MITSUBA YOU SAID WHAT I THOUGHT

and yikes Natsuhiko’s pulling the same moves as Nene to gain kouhais lolol, aaah I’m starting to see similarities between them

HAHAH OMG *Kou otome ML move count: 3*

ooh what a shady guy. Natsu what do u know tell us tell us tell us

omg y u like this. whY do you sound so threatening now. I take it back you’re not harmless

W H A T

Natsuhiko do you mean to tell me you’re immortal????? Is that why you survive all these ridiculous levels of eldritch horror????

Fml he really looks like a vampire in that lighting. Esp since I can like see all his individual teeth what on earth is this level of detail Aidairo for once Natsuhiko looks like the cool mysterious guy he was meant to be

Just realised he has like a dyed hair thing going on kinda like Tsuchigomori. Don’t tell me. Natsuhiko are you Tsuchigomori’s secret love child.

‘There’s a bad energy coming from here’ --- pFFFT. He sounds like he’s trying to be a fengshui expert now. A conman

hmmmm??? Oh that wasn’t a phone?? what is that it’s an onsen...?

wait that is probably a phone nvm. I’m just jumping at every little detail like 👀

so huh I’m assuming Tsukasa can’t handle no6 on his own either, so....or possibly Natsuhiko is acting on his own??

Ooh cool blankets, everyone has different flowers!! (*squints* no stop you can’t go looking for flower meanings everywhere)

And yes that’s a phone. Naatsuhiko just canonically has an onsen symbol phonecase just to show he’s a Chill Bro

lol Mitsuba i don’t think you need to worry you’re not a whole soul anymore

D’AWWWW LOOK AT ALL THOSE LITTLE CUTIES (sheep, elephant, bunnies (multiple), rubber duckling)

You. Natsuhiko. You’re the one most like a cat.

omg what a braggart. what a chest-thumping man u are Natsu-senpai

OMG KOU NOOO WE WERE MAKING PROGRESS HE TAMED YOU ANYWAY

hahahahha I’m crying. Even Natsuhiko’s conscience is touched by Kou’s trusting naivete I can’t

oh my god. but thank god Teru-nii still comes first he still hasn’t completely seduced you over to the dark side just yet

awwww, Kou. Awww. He really, really wants to do his best to save them all. I--

Aw yay Natsu is touched to the point he’ll help!! Hopefully he wasn’t lying!! I hope there isn’t a sacrifice involved-

oh???

Onix (srsly I really love all the lotuses everywhere. really going Buddhist symbology there)

look at dat foot. it go.

oh!! we’re fresh at the battlescene!!

!!!!!!

IT’S ALIVEEEE

I guess these guys are too useful to let rot in the trashpit eh

?? For one moment I thought we were looking down into the trashpit at our missing 4 lmao. But why. No 6 you’re coming off as ...naturally innocent??? Dang. Let this cutie rest

I’m genuinely curious how on earth this no 6 is not a god on his own. (It’s funny to me that I’m coincidentally writing about a god like this as well at the same time.) How does he rank equal to the others. How is Hanako even his boss have they ever met before I demand a full show of Hanako’s powers one day. We’re not even sure what his boundary is. Or is it that he only has the power of life and death on those in his boundary?

(edit: just realised that if Tsukasa is behind Natsuhiko then no6 is basically Tsukasa’s dream power - necromancy. He could build all the Frankensteins his little heart ever wanted)

oof there go the minions. I love how they have little buds on their heads. Every minion of his is ‘living’! And they’re like the first with individuality I’ve seen...?

oh he thinks Aoi did this purposely? Pfft she got dragged in there

juijuirjfuerjcjkekerjckdediejdiedmwec. I am so worried. But fr this one panel of Aoi is so beautiful.

Huh the hole is a starburst shape? 6 points hmm --oh wait im dumb it’s closing up oh no

LOL KEIKAKU DOORI

But shiet really how did he see to that. By giving her power over those specific bugs?? Planting info of that hole in her?

IM SCREAMING THAT’S THE END OF IT THAT’S IT TILL NEXT MONTH

#jibaku shounen hanako kun #jshk #jshk manga #jshk spoilers #jshk 65 #tbhk #mostly #hyuuga natsuhiko #minamoto kou #mitsuba sousuke #shinigami jshk

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gale-gentlepenguin · 6 years ago

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ML fic: Almost Perfect

(I have had this idea in my mind all day, and I think I won't be able to sleep until I wrote it.)

_______________________________________________________________________

A blond man in his mid twenties wearing a Gabriel brand black suit sat at his desk, he put his hand through his golden hair as he was looking through the recent sales reports of the Gabriel fashion line. He was relieved to see that the sales had once again surpassed expectation. His sharp green eyes look through the large document that also addressed expense reports.

It was tough having clothes made in factories with humane working conditions and benefits for employees, the young Agreste had to argue for months with the board of directors to get approval. The old fat cats claimed it would bankrupt the company, that it would be an even worse hit to their finance since the arrest of Gabriel Agreste. But the son of the fashion mogul was not one to simply accept how things were, not after the last time he did that. The Gabriel brand was stronger then ever with the business genius and strong will of Adrien Agreste.

It was a rough couple of years at first, inheriting the company at 18, while still managing his college degree. But compared to fighting Hawkmoth, it was a cake walk.

He smirked contently at the document, the next board meeting will be very interesting. His mental congratulations were put on hold when he got a call from his secretary.

“Natasha? Yes. Excellent, send her in.” The businessman answered with a light yet firm voice.

He was meeting with the head of another fashion brand. One that had been growing in the last few years. Miraculous had hit Paris and most of Europe like a category five hurricane. Second only to the Gabriel line and very quickly closing the gap.

The office door opened to reveal a stunningly beautiful woman with eyes as blue as the sea and bluish black hair that looked finer then silk. She was dressed with a designer suit that was tailored to her made her look even more dazzling.

“Good Afternoon Mr. Agreste.” The woman spoke with a polite yet friendly greeting.

“Good afternoon Ms.Dupain-Cheng. Or is it Mrs. Dupain-Couffaine now.” The blond man returned her greeting with a joke, which was met with an eye roll.

“Dupain-Cheng is fine. Luka has yet to get back from his band tour. He says he will propose when he gets back. If he doesn't get booked on another tour. But you know how it goes.” The Fashion designer answered.

Luka Couffaine and his band, Kitty Section, have taken the world by storm. They hit their big break about three years ago where they signed the deal of a lifetime. Right now he had been touring for the last four mouths in the United States. Marinette had her own Fashion brand to manage and design for, so she couldn't go with him. Luka achieved his dream of being a rockstar with music that was all his own. Adrien couldn't help but be happy for the guitarist, He had everything he wanted.

“So should I be calling you Mr.Agreste-Tsurugi”

Adrien snapped back to reality after hearing the comment.

“Very funny. I plan on proposing after she gets her gold medal in the olympics in six months.” The blond businessman answered.

Kagami Tsuragi was training for the Olympics. She basically ate, drank, and slept fencing for the last year. She stops by to see him once a month to have dinner and rest. Kagami’s skills in fencing had far exceeded anything Adrien deemed possible without super powers. He loved and respected how dedicated she was, though it does get lonely when she isn't visiting.

“If she gets her gold medal.” Marinette joked, knowing that it was pretty much guaranteed to the fencing prodigy.

“Well if she doesn't get her gold medal, I am gonna have to wait a while before I can propose, if ever.” Adrien answered as he rubbed his neck nervously.

“That is Kagami for you. I would expect nothing less.”

The two looked at each other and laughed.

“Its good seeing you again Marinette.”

“It is good seeing you too Adrien.”

The two talked business for a good amount of time. The Gabriel and Miraculous brands were planing on a collab for next spring. If everything goes right they could rake in a very large sum of cash. Natasha had brought the two some coffee and tea cookies as they continued to talk.

After talking shop, they started reminiscing about the old days.

“So do you still make awful puns kitty?” Marinette asked with a smirk that was very much reminiscent of his partner Ladybug.

“I believe you mean Clawful Bugaboo.” He responded with a Cheshire grin that could be no other then chat noir.

They both laughed. They had both given up their miraculous after everything regarding Hawkmoth and Mayura was settled. Master Fu went to Tibet with Marianne and decided to try and restart the order of the guardians. The old turtle had said that if it doesn't go well he will be handing the title of guardian to her, which Marinette said she would accept should the circumstance rise.

“How is Fu by the way?” Adrien inquired. “Does he still need favors that only you can do?”

“Oh Kwami no. Please don't mention that!” Marinette said with her cheeks red from the light teasing.

“Its funny in hindsight. You got that mixed up with your letter. I spent three days in London looking for that.” Adrien laughed.

“Laugh it up Agreste. I am not the only one who did embarrassing things. May I remind you about Reflekta? I am impressed you could even run in those heels.”

“What can I say, I am a model.” Adrien posed.

“Then there was that time you were scared of anyone driving over 10 miles an hour?” Marinette pointed out.

“And you needed help standing up. That one was not a good day for anyone.” Adrien answered.

“Being a superhero was never easy.”

“It would have been easier if we knew each other’s identities...” Adrien let slip out.

Marinette looked at Adrien with a stern look.

“You know why we couldn't do that. Especially after we found out who Hawkmoth was.”

“Geez, sorry I even said anything. It wasn't anything against you or Fu. It was just a comment.”

Marinette eased herself.

“Sorry about that... the reveal wasn't exactly as I thought it would be.” Marinette explained.

“I guess it was too early... or too late.” Adrien answered.

There was a moment of silence where they both looked away, which allowed the designer to notice the hamster tank in the corner.

“You got a hamster?!” Marinette exclaimed with child like glee. She got up and rushed over to the chubby brown rodent.

“Yea, with Kagami out, I needed someone to keep me company.” Adrien answered, thankful for the change in topic.

“Oh man. I am so envious. Luka is allergic to rodents. So getting a hamster has been a no go.” Marinette confessed.

“So Mr.Perfect does have a flaw. I will have to write that down.” Adrien joked.

“What did you name him?”

“Mr. Nibbles”

“Get out of my head. Thats what I would have named him!” Marinette answered as she pet the lovable fur ball. The hamster nuzzled her hand. “Aww, he likes me.”

“Kagami isn't thrilled about him, but she says as long as I take care of him, she doesn't mind.” Adrien explained.

“Well if you need anyone to petsit, let me know.” Marinette answered.

“I will be sure to let you know.” Adrien agreed.

Marinette pet the cute creature for another minute before letting him be.

“So I am guessing you are eager to go to Nino’s Bachelor party?” Marinette questioned with a knowing grin, changing the subject.

“I have a case of water bottles when Kim drinks to much.” Adrien assures. “And I assume you are looking forward to Alya’s Bachelorette party?”

“Considering that I planned it.” Marinette answered with a confident smile.

Marinette’s phone began vibrating.

“Oh shoot, Its 8 already? I need to hurry home. I have a video call with Luka in Half an hour.”

Marinette rushes back to her things and packs up.

“Don't rush too much. I think Luka would prefer his girlfriend late and alive.”

“Thank you Kitty for that lovely reminder.” She smiled with an eyeroll.

“Have a good night Marinette.” Adrien waved.

“You too.” She reciprocated the feeling before the door closed.

Adrien smile faded a bit. He wondered if Kagami would have energy for a phone call. He needed a reminder of how great his life is. How perfect it will be.

“Well, almost perfect.” He spoke softly.

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spork-guitar · 5 years ago

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ML Rare Pair Month Day 6: Style Swap

For @mlrarepairmonth

This one is long, but mostly because of all the descriptions. I feel like this might have been easier to draw, but I’m artistically challenged, to put it mildly.

Juleka scrolled absentmindedly through her social media feed, Rose cuddled against her side. She stopped scrolling to like a photo of a couple she vaguely knew who had dressed as each other one day.

“Aww!” Rose cooed, looking at the picture. “That’s so cute!”

An idea began to form in her mind. “Hey, Rose?”

“Hmm?”

“What if we did the same thing?”

Immediately Rose sprang up. “Seriously?” she asked incredulously. “You’d go along with it?”

“Sure, why not? We’d have to go shopping, though. We’re not the same size at all.”

That didn’t deter Rose. If anything it did the opposite. “Then let’s go! Don’t just sit around. Put on some shoes so we can do this thing!”

Juleka giggled, managing to slip on an old pair of Converse before her girlfriend dragged her out the door, babbling about everything they would need the entire way to the mall. It was one way to spice up an afternoon.

...

“Stay still!” Rose scolded as Juleka shifted in her seat again. “It’s going to look bad if you keep moving around. I already had to redo the lip gloss once. Besides, I didn’t move this much when you were doing my makeup.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea? I don’t know about pink eyeshadow.”

Rose sighed, straightening to crack her back. “It goes with the outfit, Juleka. I didn’t think I would like mine either, but I have to admit, you did a great job!”

Rose had been first to get a makeover, Juleka-style, including some killer purple smokey eye and deep violet lipstick. Her outfit could not have been farther from her usual style. She wore a royal purple shirt with sleeves that flared out at the end, the fabric stopping just above the high-waisted ripped jeans Juleka had chosen. The jeans were black, like the heeled boots Rose was quickly learning to love.

Juleka huffed, wanting to protest the outfit her girlfriend had picked out as well, but she decided against it. After a couple seconds she felt the familiar press of a brush on her eyelid, a cotton swab or two getting involved somewhere along the lines, and a satisfied hum from Rose.

“Can I open my eyes?”

“Go ahead. But don’t look!” she warned. “I only want you to see the finished product.”

“What else is there?”

She tapped a finger to her chin. “Well, besides the mascara, you need some highlighter to spice up the look a bit. What do you think, Pink Pearl or Gold Shimmer?”

“Well, I don’t know what’s on my face already, so I can’t really say.”

Rose held the compacts to Juleka’s face, comparing them with the rest of the look before deciding on the gold tone. “I’m sticking with the gold accents. It compliments the shadow.”

Juleka chuckled quietly, knowing Rose didn’t really use makeup and wasn’t fully aware of what she was talking about, but hopefully it would at least look decent. She looked up to the ceiling as her girlfriend applied a generous coat of mascara to her eyelashes, trying her best to keep her eyes open. She was used to wearing it, but she put it on herself, and was hyper aware of the wand hovering millimeters away from her eyeball.

Rose set down all her supplies and reached over to unclip Juleka’s bangs, leaving in the ponytail she put in to get her long hair out of her face. “Done!” she said triumphantly, turning Juleka’s chair around to face the vanity mirror.

She gasped, taking in her appearance. Her pale complexion was darkened with a shade of foundation she rarely used, despite the fact it went better with her natural skin tone. A rosy gloss shone on her lips instead of the dark matte lipsticks she usually wore, and her eyelids were covered in pink and a touch of gold glitter, but not in a way that was too overwhelming. The ensemble Rose had her wearing was - of course - entirely pink, from the hot pink halter top (trimmed with jewels!), to the jeans, to the wedges that unnecessarily added a couple inches to her height.

“So, what do you think?”

“Rose, this looks… I mean, it’s fantastic!”

“You don’t hate it?”

“I don’t love it, but I’m more okay with it than I thought I would be.”

Rose squealed happily, whipping out her phone. “Picture time!” After several minutes of selfies, silly faces, various poses, and some assistance from a certain brother, they were eventually satisfied with the final product.

Turning back to the mirror, Rose admired her reflection once more. “You should definitely do my makeup more often, Jules. This looks so cool!”

Juleka walked up behind her girlfriend, hugging her around the neck and kissing her cheek. She was never very good with words, but she didn’t need to be. She had other ways of showing her appreciation.

#miraculous ladybug #julerose

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ashtheshortstack · 7 years ago

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ML Fluff Month Day 11 - Plushie/Stuffed Animals

Plushies/Stuffed Animals

Rated: G Pairing: Adrinette

For: @miraculousfluffmonth

ao3

Day 1 / Day 12

“I can’t believe your first year anniversary with Adrien is the one day this week he has a photoshoot the entire day,” Alya huffed as Marinette walked beside her into the school doors.

With a sigh, Marinette nodded her head in disappointment. “I know, but he can’t control it.”

As the two made their way into the locker room, Alya let out a suspicious hum. “You don’t think his dad did this on purpose, did you?”

Eyebrows shooting up, Marinette blinked in surprise. “I don’t think so. Mr. Agreste is actually quite fond of me, I think. He tells Adrien all the time that he’s lucky to have such a talented girlfriend.”

“Wow,” Alya said with a whistle. “From what Nino says, Mr. Agreste is a serious stick in the mud. You must have really impressed him to get such high praise.”

Marinette gave a shrug and began putting in the combination to her locker. “It’s—It’s a learning process, honestly. I’m just very polite and go with whatever Adrien guides me into doing. The last thing I want to do is get him in toub…le…?” her voice trailed off as she saw what sat on top of her books.

Alya leaned over her shoulder to see what all of the fuss was about. Marinette gaped in surprise at the small stuffed cat that stared back at her. Had Adrien done this? It looked suspiciously like Plagg, so it couldn’t have been anyone else. Placing a hand over her heart, her best friend cooed at the sight. “Adrien Agreste is one of the sweetest boys on the planet, how lucky are you, girl?”

Marinette reached in her locker to retrieve the plush and was amazed at how soft it was to the touch. It felt like velvet against her fingertips as the brushed her hand through the toy’s fur. That’s when she noticed the small note hanging off of its ear. Cocking a brow, she turned it over.

You’re amazing, talented, and very purrretty. Happy Anniversary. –Adrien <3

“Aww!!” Alya cried as she shoot Marinette’s shoulders. “Mari, why am I more excited for this than you are? This is absolutely adorable,” she gushed.

“Adorkable, you mean. Because my boyfriend is a complete dork,” Marinette replied with a snort as she continued to pat the plush in her hands.

She smiled down at the creature, grateful she at least got something sweet from Adrien even if she wouldn’t be seeing him today. A gesture like this was so like him. It didn’t even surprise her. Grabbing her books, she placed the kitty back into her locker for safe keeping and took Alya’s arm as the pair began their hike up the stairs to their class.

What she didn’t expect was Nino staring intensely at her when she walked in the door. Marinette glanced at Alya to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. He covered his mouth, obviously holding back a smile behind his hand. What was going on? Did he know about the cat? Had he assumed she hadn’t seen it yet? Had he placed it in her locker for Adrien, maybe? She simply couldn’t figure him out.

But then…

She saw her seat. There was another stuffed creature sitting on the desk that she and Alya shared. Marinette’s eyes almost bugged, and the rest of classmates didn’t hide their knowing smirks and awes. Making her way to the desk, Marinette realized what it was.

“Is that a cow?” Alya clucked as she leaned onto their desk.

Marinette’s face scrunched in confusion. “Looks like it.” A cat she could understand, for obvious reasons. But… a cow? What the hell, Adrien? As she sat down in her seat, she flipped the card up that was attached to the cow’s ear, just as it had been with the cat plush.

I love you to the moooon and back, my princess. –Adrien <3

Groaning, Marinette flopped her head onto the desk. Her faced actually flushing a bit out of embarrassment and flattery too. For some reason, Adrien calling her “princess” was something that still hadn’t sunk in yet, even after a year of being together. He called her “my lady” most of the time, but he probably thought that would be suspicious in case someone else besides her read the card.

…Like Alya was doing right then.

“This boy has some serious game,” Alya teased as she nudged her best friend.

“Stooopp…” she groaned with a puff of her cheeks. “He loves embarrassing me.”

“He also loves you to the moooon and back, princess.”

Marinette’s head shot up. “Alya!” she cried in a harsh whisper. “Don’t tell people what it said…”

“I’m only teasing,” Alya said, sticking out her tongue. Alya seemed to have a moment of thought before she turned her attention to her own boyfriend, flicking Nino’s hat off his head.

“Hey--!”

As he spun around in his seat, Alya’s arms crossed, and she stuck her nose in the air. “Why don’t you have any grand gestures in your pocket for me like Adrien, hm?”

Nino stared at her flatly. “Because no one’s better than Adrien at romance. No one.”

Alya hummed. “I guess, that is true.”

Marinette sat mortified for the rest of class.

After endless teasing from Alya, Marinette trekked home with both stuffed animals wrapped in her arms. She opened the door to the bakery and was surprised to find no hint of her mother in sight. That was strange. When Marinette glanced at the counter, she froze. Was that a stuffed bear sitting next to the cash register? She sat the cat and cow down onto one of the tables and strode up to the counter. Yup. Definitely a stuffed bear. In that moment, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to slap Adrien and kiss the hell out of him. Nino was right. No one did romance better than Adrien Agreste. Marinette flicked the tag up to see whatever cheesy line he had come up with this time.

My life without you would simply be unbearable. –Adrien <3

Marinette actually couldn’t hold back a giggle at that one. Sighing and shaking her head with a smile, she scooped up all three animals and started towards her room. When she made it to the living room, that’s where she saw her mother cleaning the coffee table.

Sabine smiled. “Oh, hi, sweetie! I see you’re home,” she paused. “Oh, should I even ask?”

Marinette squinted at her. “Like you didn’t know about his plan. This was obviously planted.”

Chuckling, her mother held her hands up in defense. “I only knew about two of them.”

“Which two?”

“You’ll see.”

Tikki giggled from inside her purse.

Marinette couldn’t tell if she was annoyed or completely wooed at the situation. She supposed she should be grateful Adrien cared so much. He just loved giving her attention, that silly, needy kitty. As Marinette opened her trap door, with difficulty from all of the plush toys, she immediately noticed the stuffed creature sitting on her desk. A bee? Now, that was a new one. Setting all of the animals down on the chaise, she made her way over to the new arrival to the club.

You’re so beeautiful, it’s unbeelieveable. – Adrien <3

“Adrien sure has made a lot of effort for you today. It’s really sweet of him,” her kwami chimed as she perched on her shoulder.

“I know, I can’t believe he did all this for me.” She picked up the fat, round plush and sat back down on the chaise with her new-found collection of pets. They were so well made, and so, so soft.

“And you’ve yet to thank him, you know?”

She blinked in surprise. Wow, Tikki was right. After all this, she hadn’t said anything to Adrien all day. Fishing her phone from her pocket, Marinette decided it was time to give the kitty his credit.

Marinette: So, did you have fun doing this?

She laughed when three dots instantly appeared on her screen.

Adrien: That depends. Did you enjoy it?

Marinette: I feel flattered and embarrassed. So, I don’t know if ‘enjoy’ is the right word.

Adrien: Flattering and embarrassing my lady was the goal.

Marinette: Congrats. Mission accomplished. Achievement unlocked.

Adrien: Oh, but how can I get my achievement if the battle isn’t over?

Marinette: What do you mean?

Adrien: You don’t really think I’d stop there, did you? There’s one more… but I’m afraid it’s in a place where only Ladybug can find it.

Marinette: Oh, really now?

Adrien: I’m afraid so, but you can’t look for it until sunset. Got it?

Marinette: O..kay? Do I at least get a hint so I’m not running all over Paris trying to find it?

Adrien: It’s the place where I fell in love with you.

Marinette: Wait. Fell in love with Marinette or Ladybug?

Adrien: There’s no difference.

Well, she couldn’t argue with that.

Marinette hoped this was right. If not, she wasn’t sure what she’d do. Landing on one of the beams of the Eiffel Tower, she glanced around to hopefully locate whatever her last present was. Finally, she saw something small and fuzzy sitting between two slanted poles. She hoped down to recover the creature. Upon closing in, Marinette noticed it looked similar to the bee plush she had received earlier. Except this one was red with black spots. A ladybug. How could she not have guessed? Smiling, she reached towards the card.

What’s got blue eyes, has cute pigtails, and is currently being spotted? ;)

She blinked. What did that mean? Currently being spotted? As in being Ladybug or… or was he watching her? Marinette started glancing around. “Okay, are you here?”

“No,” a voice said above her.

Her face lit up as she whipped her head upwards to see Chat Noir laid out on a railing above her. He grinned and gave a cheeky wave. Tossing her yoyo, she looped it around the metal and flung herself towards him. He caught her in his waiting arms as they fell back on the iron platform behind him.

“Adrien!” she cried.

“Hey, my lad—mmph!” his words were lost on her lips as she caught his mouth with her own. His eyes fluttered closed as a clawed hand sunk into her raven hair. God, how she loved this boy. He did all of this just for her, to make her feel special.

Pulling away, she caught her breath as she stared down at him beneath her. His face was flushed, and his neon cat eyes glowed brightly under the night sky. Keeping his fingers tangled in her hair, Adrien’s lips twitched into a gentle smirk. “Remind me to get you presents all the time if this is the result.”

She barked out a laugh. “It was the principle, kitty, not the presents.”

“Then I’ll write you love notes all the time, free of charge,” he said with a kiss to her nose.

“Will they be full of puns too?”

His grin was almost blinding. “Of course, I have a reputation to uphold, you know.”

Rolling her eyes, she giggled. “Yes, of course.” Leaning back into him, she pressed her lips to his again, slowly. “Thank you for today. It was really sweet of you.”

“Anything for you.”

Marinette ran her hand up into his blonde locks. “I love you.”

Tugging her down, Adrien nuzzled his nose to hers. “I love you, too. Happy anniversary, princess.”

“Happy anniversary, kitty.”

#mlfluffmonth #miraculous fluff month #ml fluff month #miraculous ladybug #miraculous trash #adrinette #adrienette #adrien x marinette #ml fanfic

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angelofthequeers · 5 years ago

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Hold Me By Both Hands: Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.

Chapter 3 | Chapter 5 | AO3 link

“So, like, are you ever gonna tell me what your great plan was to get Adrien back to school?” Alya says as Marinette peers around the corner and out the school gates once more. Nothing. No familiar black car. What if her plan had failed and Gabriel won’t let Adrien come back to school? What a disaster! She’ll never see Adrien again!

“Hi, guys! What’s up?” someone chirps from behind them. Marinette yelps and nearly jumps out of her skin.

“Lila! You scared me!” she says shrilly. Lila gasps and covers her mouth.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!”

“It’s all good,” Alya says. She grins and nudges Marinette. “Mari here’s just worried that Adrien won’t be back.”

“He seems so nice. I’m just so disappointed that I didn’t get to meet him!” Lila pouts and twirls one of the fox tails of hair framing her olive face.

“He’s amazing! Brilliant! Beautiful! Wait, did I say that bit out loud?” Marinette groans and covers her face. “I’m hopeless!”

“Aww.” Lila pats Marinette on the back. “It’s so cute that you’re crushing on him! Does he know that you like him?”

“No!” Marinette almost shrieks.

“He’s probably the only person in the school who doesn’t know,” Alya says. God, if she keeps smirking like that, Marinette’s gonna –

“Look! Isn’t that him?” Lila points at a black car that’s pulling up to the kerb. Marinette gasps, then squeals and bounces on the spot.

“He’s back! It worked!” she cries.

“Hey, everyone! Adrien’s back!” Alya bellows over her shoulder into the courtyard. The rest of their classmates immediately drop what they’re doing and bolt over to greet Adrien, who’s heading up the stairs to the school and whose face has utterly lit up at the sight of his cheering classmates. God, is there any sight more perfect than Adrien Agreste?

“Dude!” Nino pushes past everyone and yanks Adrien into a bro hug, complete with back-slapping and all. “You’re back!”

“Adrikins!” Chloé yanks Nino away from Adrien by the back of his shirt so that she can throw her arms around Adrien and plant a loud kiss on his cheek. Marinette gags, which makes Lila giggle.

One by one, everyone else gets to welcome Adrien back to school. Kim tries to do a ‘secret handshake’ with Adrien, while Mylène hugs Adrien so tightly that she accidentally pins his arms to his sides, and Rose and Juleka peck a cheek each, thankfully nothing like Chloé’s kisses. By the time Marinette can see Adrien again, the only people he hasn’t spoken to are her, Alya, and Lila.

“Nice to see you back,” Alya says, crossing her arms. “It hasn’t been the same without you, man.”

“Oh, I’m sure it wasn’t that different without me,” Adrien says.

“Believe me,” Alya says, “it really was.” She’s not looking at Marinette, but Marinette damn well knows that Alya’s directing a massive mental smirk straight at her.

“Oh, Adrien!” Lila latches onto Adrien’s arm with her signature too-wide smile. “You’re back! I’m so glad our protest worked!”

“Yeah.” Adrien gently tugs his arm free of Lila’s grip and beams around at his classmates. “Thanks, guys. I saw the protest from my window. It…it means a lot that you’d all do that for me.”

“Oh, it was nothing!” Although she doesn’t try to latch on again, Lila runs her hand down Adrien’s arm. Marinette resists the urge to growl. No! Bad Marinette! Don’t be jealous! Just because she’s all over Adrien –

“Whoa, no, that’s just wrong,” Alix says. Marinette blinks. Wait, what did she miss?

“Yeah, I’m with Alix,” Nino says. “Sorry, Lila, but Marinette’s the one who deserves the most credit. She’s the one who got us all fired up. And she took charge when we got to your place.”

“Yeah! Marinette was awesome!” Nathaniel says. Chloé just gags. Oh, did Lila try and take credit for the protest or something? Man, Marinette really needs to learn how to focus when Adrien’s around.

“You really organised it, Marinette?” Adrien’s grass green eyes are crinkled as he smiles at Marinette and shit, shit, no, her heart’s going to utterly fail, it’s not fair, why is he so cute –

“Damn right she did,” Alya says. “I mean, it was all of us, but we couldn’t have done it without our class rep. And then she came up with some plan to get your father to let you back, even though she hasn’t told her bestie yet –”

Before Marinette knows what’s happening, her vision has gone dark; Adrien’s wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug, and the smell of pure Adrien invades her nostrils, and he’s so warm against her, and please, let Marinette die now, if there was ever a time to die then it would be now, in this moment of perfection…

“Thank you, Marinette,” Adrien says into her hair. Marinette just squeaks. “You’re an awesome friend.”

Normally, the dreaded f-word would deflate Marinette quicker than a popped balloon. But when Adrien lets her go and gives her that Adrien Agreste smile, it’s pretty hard for Marinette to feel anything but sheer, mind-melting bliss.

“Aww! That’s so cute!” Lila says when the bell rings, snapping Marinette out of her daze, and Adrien’s moved out of earshot.

“Lila, why did you try and take credit for Marinette’s idea?” Alya says. “Why’d you tell Adrien that you were the brains behind everything, but you let Marinette take charge?”

Oh. That’s what she’d said. What’s the deal with this girl? Marinette just can’t get a proper read on her.

“Me? Steal Marinette’s thunder? I didn’t – oh, I’m so sorry if that’s the impression you got!” Lila casts her eyes down at the ground. “I suppose…well, he’s Adrien Agreste, and I was so keen to impress him…I’m sorry, Marinette! Say you’ll forgive me!”

“Uh…sure,” Marinette says. “But you don’t need to do something like that! Adrien’s super easy to talk to! He’d love to be friends with you!”

“Uh huh,” Lila laughs, linking arms with Marinette and leads her into the school, leaving Alya running to catch up. “That’s why you can barely say a word to him, huh?”

“Th-That’s different!” Marinette stammers through hot cheeks. “It’s not because he’s Adrien Agreste! It’s because he’s…Adrien.”

“Girl, you’ve got it bad,” Alya teases, threading her arm through Marinette’s other arm. “You should –”

But whatever Alya had been about to suggest, Marinette will never know. A miniature earthquake knocks the three girls to the ground, Marinette toppling onto Lila while Alya ends up sprawled over the two of them.

“What was that?” Lila gasps. As if in response, there’s the sound of someone shrieking. When Alya rolls off them and tugs Marinette and Lila to their feet, Marinette catches sight of a giant boy with bright green skin and black hair a few streets away, looming over the buildings with an ugly snarl on his giant, childish face.

“Really? Hawkmoth akumatised a kid?” Alya says. “Well, I s’pose after Puppeteer, that’s nothing new. Least it’s not a baby or something. That would be a nightmare.”

“I’ll go and warn the others!” Marinette says. “Alya, find a place to hide with Lila!”

“Are you kidding?” Alya crows. “This is prime footage! Come on, Lila, let me give you a behind-the-scenes tour of the Ladyblog!”

Well, Alya’s at least forgotten about the whole lying thing as she gleefully drags a wide-eyed Lila with her. With a sigh, Marinette hightails it into the school, weaving through screaming students bunched together in their panic until she manages to duck into the girls’ bathroom.

“I would’ve thought Hawkmoth would wait more than a day before his next akuma,” Marinette says. Tikki just shrugs. “Tikki, spots on!”

As Ladybug, she’s cheered by the clustered students as she pushes her way through them until she’s out in the courtyard and can swing off towards the akuma. Chat Noir isn’t here yet, so Ladybug takes a flying leap off one rooftop and lands on the one that the akuma is approaching, ready to analyse just how this akuma works.

“Someone needs to take a chill pill,” she quips when the akuma’s milky white eyes land on her. He snarls and tries to swat her with his giant hand, but she gracefully jumps out of the way and lands on the chimney of the adjacent rooftop. Unfortunately for the one she’d been on, its building caves in when the akuma’s hand smashes through it. Oops. Thank god for Miraculous Ladybug.

“I’m Green Giant!” the akuma boy bellows. “Come here so I can take your Miraculous for Hawkmoth, Ladybug!” He once again tries to capture Ladybug but this time, when she dodges, he snatches her out of the air with his free hand and draws her in. Ladybug groans when his fingers tighten around her, starting to crush her bones, but no matter how hard she tries, she just can’t get any wiggle room within his grip.

“Tut, tut, tut.”

Ladybug’s head whips around, and she can’t help the grin that breaks free when she catches sight of Chat Noir with his staff extended.

“Don’t you know that that’s not how you touch a lady?” Chat Noir says. “Especially not my lady. Let her go!”

“No! Give me your Miraculous!” Green Giant shouts. Chat Noir sighs and shrugs.

“Well, I tried.” Then he hefts his staff like a baseball bat and swings so that it cracks across Green Giant’s knuckles. Green Giant howls and reflexively releases Ladybug, who’s swiftly caught bridal-style by Chat Noir before she can save herself with her yo-yo.

“Good thing I’m a gentlecat, huh, milady?” Chat Noir says as he sprints across the rooftops.

“Just put me down, kitty.”

“Alright, alright.” Chat Noir sets her on her feet. “Any idea where the akuma could be?”

“Not yet. I haven’t seen anything that stands out to me.” Ladybug frowns at Green Giant, who’s still throwing a mini tantrum as he advances on them, squishing cars and road and people alike on his way. Bile rises in Ladybug’s throat at the sound of the screams of Green Giant’s victims – that is, the ones who are still alive.

“Don’t worry, you’ll unbreak them,” Chat Noir says when Ladybug is silent for a little too long.

“Chat!” Ladybug shoves him. “How could you say that?”

“Sorry, sorry!” Chat Noir holds his hands up. “Just trying to lighten the mood.”

“Well, don’t! How could Hawkmoth do this? And for what? Our Miraculouses? I can fix these people, but I can’t erase memories!”

“I know,” Chat Noir says quietly. “I’m sorry, Ladybug. I just…if I don’t joke about it, all the people I let get hurt will drive me mad.”

Ladybug sighs. “I get it, Chat. Just…focus, yeah? The quicker we take down Green Giant, the quicker we can save all these people.”

“But how?” Chat Noir grabs Ladybug’s hand and bounds to the next rooftop before Green Giant can get to them. “We don’t know where his akuma is. And if we get too close, we’ll end up as superhero jelly.”

“Hmm.” Ladybug frowns at Green Giant, who’s just put his foot through a multi-storey building. The screams of those inside pierce her concentration but she tries her best to ignore them; if she can’t figure this out, there’ll be far more casualties. Green Giant’s wearing a shredded blue shirt and a torn pair of grey pants but no jewellery, so it can’t be a bracelet or a ring or something. Where and what could it be?

“Need some help?” Chat Noir says.

“Of course. Lucky Charm!” A tiny sewing pin falls into Ladybug’s hands. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Well, you look simply feline when you’re deep in thought,” Chat Noir says. “A purrfect meowsterpiece.”

“Chat! I’m trying to think!” Ladybug says. Okay, there’s no visible way of using a pin to defeat him – shit, he’s coming right for them, out of the way they leap – grab some civilians too, spare them the horror of being crushed by Green Giant, deposit them on a safe street –

“Look out!” Something tackles Ladybug to the rough ground, out of the way of Green Giant’s outstretched hand just before it can grab her. That something is Chat Noir, who grins down at her and waggles his eyebrows.

“Fancy seeing you here, milady,” he says.

“Get off me! We have to defeat Green Giant!”

“I always love it when we’re like this –”

“Chat!” Ladybug shoves Chat Noir off and then kicks him away from her, just in time to save him from Green Giant’s foot. But that leaves her in the firing line to throw her hands up and catch Green Giant’s foot to stop him from squashing her.

“Ladybug!” comes Chat Noir’s dim cry through the blood rushing in Ladybug’s ears, pooling in her head, building and building with the pressure, ready to explode at any moment –

“Give me your Miraculous or I’ll squash the bug!” Green Giant says.

“Don’t you dare, Chat!” Ladybug forces out. The pressure of Green Giant’s foot increases, and she lets out a pained cry and pours even more strength into keeping it off her. How is she supposed to get out of this? Maybe Chat Noir can topple Green Giant…or maybe…

“Let her go!” Chat Noir says. Green Giant wobbles, like he’s going to lose his balance, so Ladybug leaps into action before he can crush her and jabs the pin into the sole of his foot as hard as she possibly can. Green Goblin screams and hops away, falling on his back with flailing arms as Ladybug jumps to her feet and stretches her protesting muscles with a groan.

“Quick! While he’s down!” Ladybug says. She and Chat Noir take advantage of Green Giant’s shrieking inability to push his humongous body back up to comb all over him for a possible akumatised object. Eww. If this really is a kid, Ladybug thanks whoever’s out there that he isn’t…kid-sized. That would be the only thing that could make this situation worse than it currently is.

“Got it!” Chat Noir holds up a comic book with a picture of the Hulk on the front. “Wow, the kid really wanted to be green. Cataclysm!”

Once the akuma’s released from the pile of dust, Ladybug captures and purifies it. Then she throws the little sewing needle into the air and says, “Miraculous Ladybug!” and the ladybugs swarm around Paris, fixing all the damage that Green Giant has wrought and healing those who had been injured or killed. The deep-set ache in Ladybug’s muscles from holding Green Giant off her also fades, and she sighs contentedly and stretches once again. Last of all, Green Giant melts away in a mass of purple-black, leaving behind a little kid with dark hair who can’t be more than six or seven.

“You were akumatised,” Ladybug says, kneeling to rest a hand on the dazed kid’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah,” the kid mumbles.

“What got your pants in a twist, anyway?” Chat Noir says. Ladybug glowers at him. She still hasn’t forgiven him for messing around in the fight like that, and they’ll be having Very Serious words after she’s comforted the kid.

“They were making fun of me,” the kid scowls. “Because I’m short. I’m sick of being short!”

“There’s nothing wrong with being short,” Ladybug says with what she hopes is a comforting smile. “And those people are jerks with nothing better to do if they’re going to make fun of you for it.”

“What bugaboo said,” Chat Noir says. “Do you need me to give him a lift anywhere?”

“I’ll be fine,” the kid says. “I’m a big boy. I know how to get back to school. And you’re going to turn back, aren’t you?”

“You’re very right,” Ladybug says. She presses the kid’s comic book into his hands, then turns and glares at Chat Noir. “And as for you, you need to stop losing focus at the worst times!”

“I thought you liked my dashing wit!” Chat Noir says.

“Yeah, when we’re not in the middle of fighting an akuma!” Ladybug says. “Time and place, kitty, and trying to stop a villain from crushing the city isn’t it. We need to focus or next time, one of us could actually get crushed!”

Chat Noir’s fake ears droop. “You’re right. I’m sorry, milady.”

At that, Ladybug smiles and nudges him. “Chin up, kitty cat. You’d better get going before you transform back and we all have to see what you really look like.”

“Oh, please, milady,” Chat says, his grin back once more. “It would be a dream come true for you to see my face under the mask.”

“More like a nightmare,” Ladybug retorts. Chat Noir just sticks his tongue out at her. “Very dashing, Chat.”

“Shouldn’t you be getting back to your best friend?” he teases. “You know, Lila or something?”

“Lila?” Ladybug says. “I never met her before her first day of school. And why would I openly be friends with a civilian behind the mask?” She gently raps him on the head just as her earrings beep. “Use that brain, kitty. Bug out!”

#miraculous ladybug #ml fic #aotq fic #aotq: hold me #marinette dupain-cheng #adrien agreste #alya cesaire #lila rossi #miracuclass #anti-lila #ugh lila #green giant #oc akuma #adrienette #adrinette

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angelofthequeers · 5 years ago

Text

Hold Me By Both Hands: Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.

Of course I damn well redesigned Rena Rouge’s suit. If I’m known for anything, I hope it’ll be for female suit salt.

Chapter 18 | Chapter 20 | AO3 link

“Master?” Ladybug’s saying as Chat Noir enters the room for their weekly meeting. Master Fu hums and nods for her to continue. “Why don’t we ever…no, don’t worry, it’s silly.”

“There’s no such thing as a silly question, Ladybug,” Master Fu says.

“I was just wondering…” Ladybug trails her fingers over the Fox necklace in the open Miracle Box between them, then the Bee comb. “Why don’t we hand out more Miraculouses?”

“I was wondering the same thing,” Chat Noir says. Ladybug smiles at him when he crosses over to sit down next to her. “We’re not the only ones learning how our Miraculouses work. And there’ve been a few times where we could’ve done with a bit of help, especially when I’m the one hit by the akumas.”

“If the Lucky Charm indicates that you need the help of an ally, I’m willing to allow you to choose one,” Master Fu says. “But I already took an enormous risk by putting two Miraculouses into circulation, especially the two that Hawkmoth is after. More Miraculouses in the world gives Hawkmoth more chances.”

“Well, Chat and I haven’t lost ours,” Ladybug says. “And we’ve had some close calls because we had to figure things out as we went. If we do eventually need an ally, wouldn’t it be a good thing to have one who’s already got experience?”

“Ladybug’s right,” Chat Noir says. “If we throw someone into battle with us for the first time, it’d make it easier for Hawkmoth to get their Miraculous.”

“We don’t even have to let them keep the Miraculous like we do,” Ladybug says when it looks like Master Fu is wavering. “We could give it to them when we need them and then take it back after each battle. Or each time we train them.”

“Don’t get me wrong, Ladybug and I are an unstoppable team,” Chat Noir says with a grin at Ladybug, who smiles and nudges him in return. “But we’ve got timers and we seem to have less experience than Hawkmoth. It couldn’t hurt to train up a few people in case we need help every now or then. Or in case Hawkmoth does something big.”

“Hmm…” Master Fu strokes his grey beard. “Both of you raise excellent points. I’m just wary after the last time I made a mistake…”

“You’ve mentioned that mistake before, but what was it?” Ladybug says. Master Fu looks her and Chat Noir straight in the eye, and Chat Noir swallows at the ancient heaviness behind Master Fu’s eyes.

“The destruction of the Guardians’ temple and the loss of every Miraculous except the ones I have here,” he says. Ladybug and Chat Noir blink.

“Oh…” Ladybug says softly.

“Master,” Wayzz says. “If I may?”

“Of course you may,” Master Fu says. “You know you’re always welcome to speak, Wayzz.”

“I think that Ladybug and Chat Noir are correct,” Wayzz says. “There will come a time when they need help, and it would be best to have prepared themselves for that eventuality. You know that they wouldn’t hand out a Miraculous to anyone they didn��t trust with their lives. And…you can’t keep allowing one mistake to haunt you to this degree, Master. It was over a century ago, and you’ve seen and learned so much since then.”

“We’ve proven that it wasn’t a mistake to trust us with these Miraculouses,” Ladybug says.

“Now, let us prove that you can trust us with others as well,” Chat Noir adds.

For a long while, Master Fu simply stares down at the Miraculous Box, his face completely unreadable to Chat Noir. It feels like an eternity before Master Fu looks back up at them and smiles.

“You’re right,” he says. “You’ve proven that you can both be trusted with the two most important Miraculouses, and it would be foolish to throw a new hero into a battle with a stronger Hawkmoth. Pick a Miraculous and an ally you can trust, and I will allow you to introduce them tonight, should they accept. They may also keep their Miraculous, as the holder’s bond with their kwami is vital for ensuring they are as attuned to their powers as possible, but the responsibility to retrieve the Miraculous if the need arises rests entirely on the two of you. If this ally works out, I will eventually entrust the other two within this tier to you.”

“I think we should pick the Fox and give it to Alya Césaire,” Ladybug says immediately.

“That…was quick,” Chat Noir says. “Any reason why?”

“Oh!” Ladybug’s cheeks pinken. “I’m sorry, Chat. I should’ve asked you.”

“No, no, I don’t mind. You’re the one with the killer instincts, milady. I’m just curious.”

“Well…” Ladybug chews her lip. “Alya’s the Ladyblogger, right? She’s already familiar with our job. And she loves us, so I know she’d never betray us. Also…maybe she’ll have a new appreciation for our secret identities if she’s got one of her own?”

“Makes sense,” Chat Noir says. “But why the Fox? Alya’s a pretty forceful person…from what I’ve seen.”

“Trixx is a crafty kwami,” Ladybug says. “I think he would be a good influence on Alya and help balance out that forcefulness. And the Fox corresponds to wood, right? That push to grow and hang back to get the facts first could be just what Alya needs, especially after why she was akumatised into Lady Wifi.”

“Huh. I never thought about that,” Chat Noir says. “Well, milady, I’m totally on board.”

“Excellent.” Master Fu removes the Fox necklace from its slot and carefully places it in a tiny box, just like the one that Chat Noir’s ring had come in. “Good luck, both of you.”

“Well, even if it flops, it’s better than being at home after the day I’ve had,” Chat Noir says.

“Poor kitty,” Ladybug coos and reaches out to scratch Chat Noir’s head behind his fake ears, making a loud purr rumble in his chest.

“Have you been talking to Marinette?” he complains. “Because it’s so not fair that you know my weak spots too.”

Ladybug giggles and scratches particularly hard and Chat Noir nearly lets out a mrow in response. Jesus Christ. If he ever actually does that in front of his lady, someone please end him.

“She seems happier when I see her now,” Ladybug says. “I take it that’s your doing?”

“Well, of course,” Chat Noir brags. “My charms are irresistible. I’m quite the cat-ch.”

“God help me,” Ladybug mutters. Although he’s sure that she’s just teasing him, Chat Noir can’t help but wonder…

“Is that…okay with you?” he says slowly. “Being close friends with a civilian? I still remember how you were when Lila said you were besties…”

“Of course it’s okay with me,” Ladybug says. “Lila was trying to use me to boost her own status and act like we were openly friends. You seem to genuinely like this Marinette girl and I know you wouldn’t do anything to endanger her and she wouldn’t spread the word just to make herself look good. And from what I’ve heard about your life, you could do with a good friend.”

“Aww, no one will ever replace you, milady,” Chat Noir teases, flopping across her lap. She rolls her eyes but thankfully continues to pet him, while Master Fu watches with a twinkle in his eyes. “But honestly…I’m happy you approve, Ladybug. Marinette’s really special.”

There’s something odd in Ladybug’s smile but, for the life of him, Chat Noir can’t possibly figure out what it could be. “I’m glad, kitty. She definitely sounds special.” With a sigh, she pushes his head off her lap and climbs to her feet in one graceful motion, then pulls him up. “Come on, Chat. We’ve got a baby superhero to meet. Thank you, Master!”

“But petting!” Chat Noir whines, though he still follows her out of the parlour.

“Behave yourself and I’ll give you all the petting you want later,” Ladybug says as they leap through Paris towards Alya’s house.

“Hmph. I’ll just go to Marinette for pets.”

“You do that, kitty.”

When they land on Alya’s balcony, she’s thoroughly engrossed in whatever she’s doing on her computer; probably some Ladyblog stuff. But Alya’s always had a sixth sense for superheroes, and as soon as their feet graze the balcony, her head whips up and her eyes start to glimmer at the sight that greets her.

“Ladybug! Chat Noir!” she cries when she bursts out onto her balcony. “What’s wrong? Is there an akuma? Do you need my help?”

“Not now, but we’ll need you in the future,” Chat Noir says cryptically. Ladybug rolls her eyes.

“Ignore him,” she says. “Mind if we kidnap you for an hour or two? This could change your life.”

“Um, yes!” Alya dances from foot to foot. “You can kidnap me anytime! And getting to help you guys? What’s going on?”

“How about we snatch this fair maiden first?” Chat Noir says, and Alya gives him a thoroughly unimpressed look and pointedly holds her arms out to Ladybug, who smirks and scoops her up. Then they’re off, bounding through Paris towards the Eiffel Tower, and Alya lets out a shriek of laughter and whoops as the wind whips through her hair and blows her curls all over the place. Once they’ve finally landed on the tip, safe from the view of Paris, Ladybug sets Alya down and laughs when Alya tries in vain to tame her windswept hair.

“So,” Alya says when she’s finally given up on fixing her wild curls. “What’s up, you guys? Do you need me to do something on the Ladyblog?”

“If this works out, you can’t breathe a word of it anywhere near the Ladyblog,” Ladybug says. “You can’t tell anyone. Not the Ladyblog, not even your friends or family.”

Alya’s eyes widen. “Whoa. That’s heavy. What is it?”

“Stop scaring her, bugaboo,” Chat Noir grins. “Like she’s gonna say no.”

“I’m just making sure she understands the responsibility that this entails!” Ladybug says.

“Okay, not that I’m not up for some Ladynoir banter,” Alya says, “but it might help if you guys actually tell me what’s going on.”

Ladybug sticks her tongue out at Chat Noir, then swipes the top of her yo-yo to open it up so that she can reach into the pool of bright light and extract the little Miraculous box. “Alya Césaire,” she says, holding the box out to a wide-eyed Alya, while Chat Noir silently sulks at the fact that his baton can’t do that, even though his suit has pockets when Ladybug’s doesn’t. “Here is the Miraculous of the Fox, which grants the power of illusion. Should you choose to accept, you will use it for the greater good whenever we need your help, then return it to us when the mission is complete.”

Chat Noir shoots her an odd look. Hadn’t Master Fu said that Alya could keep the Fox? Oh well, Ladybug’s always got a plan for everything, so he just has to assume that this is another plan of hers. And if she’s come up with it on the spot, he can’t very well ask her without tipping off Alya.

“No way,” Alya breathes. “For real? Me, a superhero?”

“Of course,” Chat Noir says. “Ladybug and I both thought you’d be a natural fit.”

“But your identity must remain a secret,” Ladybug says. “If we hear that you’ve told anyone then we won’t be able to give the Miraculous back to you. Unless the circumstances were unavoidable, of course. Accidents happen.”

“Of course not!” Alya says, once again bouncing from foot to foot. “I mean – of course! I won’t tell a soul!”

“Then welcome to the team, Ladyblogger,” Chat Noir grins as Ladybug indicates that Alya can take the little box. “Tonight’s just an orientation, but we’re gonna try and give you a few training nights so you’re not shoved into the thick of things like we were.”

“I will actually have both your babies for this,” Alya blurts out.

“I think that’s scientifically impossible with two uteruses, but sure,” Ladybug says with an amused little grin. Alya rolls her eyes, then snaps open the box and gasps and shields her eyes from the bright orange light that pours out of it.

“What is that thing?” Alya gasps. When the light fades to reveal a little orange fox kwami with mischievous violet eyes, her own eyes practically bulge out of her head.

“I’m not a thing!” Trixx says. “My name is Trixx and I’m your kwami!”

“Mind. Blown.” Alya feverishly examines Trixx from all angles. “You’re what gives Ladybug and Chat Noir their superpowers, right?”

“Not bad,” Trixx remarks to Ladybug and Chat Noir.

“She’s an expert,” Ladybug says.

“That’s one word for it,” Chat Noir says. Alya shoots him a very dirty look.

“So, what do you say?” Ladybug says. “You ready to become a superhero?”

“Do you even need to ask?” Alya shoots back.

“Then you just need to say one thing,” Trixx says. “Trixx, let’s pounce!”

“Trixx, let’s pounce!” Alya is enveloped in the same orange light that had introduced Trixx, and when it fades to reveal her fox outfit, she squeals and twists and turns to look at every little bit of it. She’s wearing a baggy, cropped orange jacket with a white chest, open over a tight, white-torsoed orange suit with a high black collar, along with white-palmed black gloves that look like they rise underneath her jacket sleeves. Her orange suit stops at her knees, meeting her orange-mottled black boots with orange fox paw prints on the white soles. Her black collar tapers into a sharp point where the fox tail of her active Miraculous rests, and there’s a wide strip of material wrapped around her waist that falls behind her in a black-outlined orange and white fox tail. Topping off her outfit are fake black-tipped orange fox ears with white insides, a mask that’s orange on the top half and white on the bottom half, a long flute strung across her back, and white-tipped hair that’s pulled back into a bushy ponytail. The more Chat Noir stares, the more he realises that it’s not just a ponytail; each thick bunch of curls forms a fox tail, with nine in total, giving her ponytail the illusion of extra volume.

“You know, milady,” Chat Noir says, “you’d better ask your kwami about a suit change, ‘cause Alya looks pretty damn cool.”

“And just what is wrong with my suit?” Ladybug huffs, crossing her arms. Chat Noir raises his hands.

“Nothing, nothing! You know I’ve got a thing for spots.” He winks. “I just don’t know you’d go for such a…plain suit if you were given the chance of a lifetime to be a superhero.”

“My suit is practical, thank you very much!” Ladybug says.

“So’s mine. But I’ve got a bell.”

“Yeah, because you’re a whipped kitten!”

“Ooh, burn,” Alya cackles, her head swivelling from Ladybug to Chat Noir to follow the argument.

“Her suit’s practical but still cool!” Chat Noir points at Alya.

“Hey, whoa, keep me outta your lover’s spat.”

“I’ll so take that Miraculous back off you and give it to Chloé Bourgeois if you call it a lover’s spat again,” Ladybug mutters.

“Hey! Low blow!” Alya clasps her heart dramatically.

“Shouldn’t we be introducing Alya to the nightlife?” Chat Noir says with his usual smirk. Ladybug pinches the bridge of her nose.

“Just…pick a superhero name and jump off the Tower already,” she sighs. Alya squeals and jumps again.

“A name! I get to pick a superhero name!”

“Yep, so make it count, ‘cause you’ll be stuck with it, foxy,” Chat Noir says.

“Call me foxy again and I’ll claw your eyes out,” Alya says. “Hmm. My name’s…Rena Rouge! Yeah! Rena Rouge!”

“Not bad,” Ladybug says. “Okay, now jump off the Tower.”

“…You were serious about that?” Rena Rouge says. Ladybug smiles sweetly.

“Of course. You want to be a superhero, right? Go!”

“I’ll accompany you, foxy,” Chat Noir winks, then jumps off the Eiffel Tower before Rena Rouge can follow through with her threat of gouging his eyes out. But at least it gives her sufficient motivation to forget the fact that she’s jumping hundreds of metres down to the ground, since she growls and hurls herself after him seconds later, catching herself with the metal beams and sliding down the Tower directly when necessary to slow herself with the friction, then launching herself back off.

It’s so not fair. Why can’t Rena Rouge hurtle through Paris or get whacked off a pole-tightrope on her first day like he and Ladybug had? Damn foxes being a damn natural at this.

“Oh my god,” Rena Rouge gasps when her feet hit the concrete ground seconds after Chat Noir lands, with Ladybug bringing up the rear. “I just jumped down the Eiffel Tower!”

“And you doubted my instincts, kitty,” Ladybug says with a smirk.

“Please, milady, you insult me if you think I ever doubt you,” Chat Noir says.

“This is so cool! I can’t wait till my first battle!” Rena Rouge then grimaces. “I mean, not that I want someone to get akumatised – ugh, you guys know what I mean!”

“Yes, yes, you’re just an overexcited douche rather than an insensitive douche,” Chat Noir says. Rena Rouge sticks her tongue out at him.

“I hate to cut this short, but we didn’t exactly tell Alya’s parents that we were kidnapping her,” Ladybug says. “This’ll have to be a brief orientation. But next time will totally be longer.”

“I will commit every second of this to permanent memory,” Rena Rouge whispers with starry eyes.

“One last thing before we end our little soirée,” Chat Noir says. “Try using your power.”

“My power? Oh, right! Like Ladybug has Lucky Charm and you have Cataclysm!”

“Yep,” Ladybug says. “Yours is Mirage. As many illusions as you want for five minutes, no matter how big or small. It should be easy enough to make and hold the illusions –”

“– but it’ll take pawractice to make it look purrfect,” Chat Noir says. Both Ladybug and Rena Rouge glare at him.

“Feel like being my new partner?” Ladybug says.

“Damn right I do,” Rena Rouge says.

“Hmph,” Chat Noir says. “As if you could live without my ameowzing puns. But it does seem a bit unfair that Rena’s gotta work on perfecting her illusions when the others get straightforward powers – make a shelter, stinging others…”

“And that’s why it takes a clever mind and a fast learner,” Ladybug says. “And we know Alya’s both.”

“Sorry, Chat Noir, but you’re just gonna have to shove off and let me make out with Ladybug,” Rena Rouge says. “She called me clever and a fast learner!”

“Don’t go getting a big head or anything,” Chat Noir says sourly.

“Besides, imagine the chaos of having unlimited illusions everywhere without a timer once you’re more experienced,” Ladybug says. “You wouldn’t know what’s real or what’s not. The Fox is suited to hanging back and annoying the enemy, remember?”

“Hanging back? That doesn’t sound like me at all,” Rena Rouge says.

“Which is why we picked you for the Fox,” Ladybug says. “It’s not always about what power you’re best suited to, but what that power can teach you. I get the feeling that you’ll benefit from learning how to be a true Fox, especially since you wanna be a professional journalist someday. Hang back, gather information, confuse your opponent, then get out of there. Even if you prefer to be in the thick of things, it’s all about learning how to use your wits under stress. He did say that aggressive foxes were a thing, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, if I remember correctly,” Chat Noir says.

“Actually…that does sound pretty cool,” Rena Rouge admits. “Especially the part where I can create literally any illusion I want. Okay, I’m in. How do I use my power?”

“Just picture the illusion you want to create, play your flute, then say, “Mirage”,” Chat Noir says. “First illusion will start your timer, then you’ve got five minutes to either use that one illusion or make more.”

“But the more you have, the harder it is to focus on them,” Ladybug says. “Which is where experience comes in.”

“Right, right. I think I’ve got it.” Rena Rouge’s brow furrows, then she unslings her flute and raises it to her lips to play a short tune. “Mirage!” She flings the orange orb at the end of her flute and when it hits the ground in front of her, a small group of people appear in a flash of orange light.

Wait. Why is Chat Noir looking at himself? Well, not technically himself, but his civilian self. Adrien. And Marinette, and Nino, and a few other people who he assumes are Rena Rouge’s parents and sisters. Except that they’re slightly fuzzy around the edges and very obviously not real.

“Guess what, guys!” Rena Rouge crows. “I’m a superhero! I’m Rena Rouge! Me, Alya!”

“Oh my gosh, really?” Illusion Marinette bounces on the spot. “That’s so, so cool, Alya!”

“We all know how much you love superheroes, especially Ladybug!” illusion Adrien says.

“I’m so proud of you, babe!” illusion Nino says.

“Our daughter, a hero!” illusion Mrs Césaire says, and illusion Mr Césaire beams and hugs her.

“Super Alya! Super Alya!” the illusion twins chant.

“Not bad, sis,” illusion big sister says. Rena Rouge’s necklace beeps and loses a tail segment, so she sighs and reaches out to touch illusion Nino, and the group of people disappear in another flash of light and the faint sound of flute music.

“Rena?” Ladybug says softly when Rena Rouge says nothing for a few moments. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah.” Rena Rouge turns to face them, and Chat Noir’s stomach lurches at the sight of her glossy eyes. “I just…had to tell them somehow. At least I’ll have that memory with me.”

“You know we’d love nothing more than for you to be able to tell your friends and family, right?” Ladybug says. “But all it would take is one brainwashing or mind-reading akuma…”

“Not even Ladybug and I know who each other are,” Chat Noir says. He slips an arm around Rena Rouge, and she smiles and leans into his embrace. “Considering how many hits I take for her, that’s probably a good thing.”

“You’re gonna give me a heart attack one of these days,” Ladybug mutters as she joins the embrace, sandwiching Rena Rouge between herself and Chat Noir. They stand there in silence, squished together, ignoring Rena Rouge’s Miraculous when it beeps again.

“You know,” Rena Rouge eventually says. “I never would’ve put this on the Ladyblog, even without you guys asking me. I don’t care about the world knowing who I am. I just want my close friends and my family to be proud of me…”

Alya considers Adrien to be one of her close friends? Chat Noir can’t help but squeeze Rena Rouge tighter after that, not that she’ll know why.

“I think they already know just how miraculous you are, even without superpowers,” Ladybug says.

“God, I’m such a fucking sap,” Rena Rouge mutters, squirming until Ladybug and Chat Noir release her. “Alright, alright, break it up. I should get back before my family comes to check on me and thinks an akuma stole me or something. How do I detransform?’

“I think it’s “let’s rest”,” Chat Noir says.

“Let’s rest.” Rena Rouge’s costume vanishes in a whirl of orange sparkles, leaving Alya standing in her place with Trixx floating above her head. Alya looks up at Trixx, bites her lip, then ever so slowly reaches up to unfasten the necklace, as though she’s prolonging the inevitable.

“Thank you, Alya,” Ladybug says as she accepts the Fox Miraculous from Alya and returns it to its box. “For proving that we could trust you.”

“It was super tempting to keep it, not gonna lie,” Alya says. “But you wouldn’t give it back if I did, right? And I’d be an idiot to make an enemy of Ladybug and Chat Noir. I figure if I get to be a hero sometimes, at least it’s better than never.”

Ladybug smiles widely. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear,” she says and holds the box back out to Alya, whose eyes bulge. “I wanted to make sure that we could trust you enough to relinquish your powers when asked. Good job passing our test, Alya.”

“You mean your test,” Chat Noir says. “I had no idea what you were doing. But hey, bugaboo always has a plan.”

“Stop calling me bugaboo,” Ladybug says, though her lips twitch.

“Are you…serious?” Alya breathes. “This isn’t another test to see if I’m gonna be greedy and snatch it or something?”

“No,” Ladybug says. “You’ve earned it, Alya. We offered to take it back each time, but Mas – the person who gave us our Miraculouses said that the bond between holder and kwami is vital. You do know, though, that Chat Noir and I are entirely responsible for you.”

“So, you’d better not seriously mess up, yeah?” Chat Noir says. “But no pressure or anything.”

“Yeah, no pressure,” Alya says sarcastically, taking the Fox Miraculous back out and clasping it around her neck again, then tucking it under her shirt. Trixx reappears in a flash of orange light and gives Alya a rather shark-like grin. Or should that be a fox-like grin? “I can’t wait till the next akuma fight!”

“Actually, we don’t want you out there just yet,” Ladybug says. She holds up a hand before Alya can protest. “Hawkmoth doesn’t know for sure that there are other Miraculouses in Paris. The minute we reveal you, we lose that element of surprise.”

“We gotta be sure that you’re not gonna get downed in two seconds before we let you out there,” Chat Noir says. “You saw how bugaboo got flattened on our first day.”

“Excuse me?” Ladybug huffs. “Mr ‘Oops-I-didn’t-listen-to-my-kwami-and-used-Cataclysm-like-an-idiot’ wants to imply that he was the better one of us?”

“I’m with Ladybug. At least she used her Lucky Charm right.” Alya sticks her tongue out at Chat Noir while dancing from foot to foot, while Trixx watches with an amused gleam in his eyes and Chat Noir pouts at her. “And that makes sense, about making sure I’m prepared. Even if I’m literally about to wet myself both out of excitement and to see if this is just a dream.”

“Please don’t,” Chat Noir says. “Or Ladybug will have to Lucky Charm a –”

“You’d better not finish that sentence, Chat Noir, or I won’t pet you for a month,” Ladybug says. Alya coughs rather suspiciously behind her hand at that. “Thanks for understanding, Alya. I know it must be super tempting to rush out there and get in the action.”

“Oh, don’t worry your pretty little head,” Alya says. “I’m totally cool to be your secret weapon. And it will be secret ‘cause this isn’t going anywhere near the Ladyblog. At least, not until my first battle. Just promise me that I get to break this scoop, right? And I get to Peter Parker this shit and throw people off our trails?”

“Of course,” Ladybug and Chat Noir say together, and Alya beams.

“Damn right. Now, take me back home before you guys are reported for kidnapping and end up on the run to prove your innocence.”

“A shame, really, that we can’t keep you,” Chat Noir deadpans as Ladybug scoops Alya up. Alya smiles sweetly at him.

“Damn right, furball.”

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angelofthequeers · 5 years ago

Text

Hold Me By Both Hands: Chapter 31

Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.

Chapter 30 | Chapter 32 | AO3 link

“It’s not funny!” Ladybug snaps. Chat Noir just continues to sag against the metal tip at the top of the Eiffel Tower and clutch at his sides. How can he not? The irony of this!

“It’s – it’s hilarious!” he chokes. “Rena and Carapace hate each other but they’re dating!”

“Alright, maybe the dramatic irony is a little funny,” Ladybug concedes after a moment. Yes! Score! “But they have to be able to work together, Chat! I’m planning on having them patrol together, so they can trust each other as partners like we do.”

“Oh, they already trust each other,” Chat Noir says with a devious little grin. He yowls when Ladybug reaches out and flicks his bell into his chin in response. “Hey! Hands off the bell!”

“Why do I put up with you?” Ladybug mumbles. Months ago, a comment like that might have hit Chat deep down, feeding into insecurities, adding to the dark voices telling him that he’s not enough. But between Ladybug’s grounding presence by his side and his friends and the hurricane that is Marinette, her comment just bounces right off and instead makes his grin wider.

“Because I’m irrepawceable,” he says. Ladybug rolls her eyes to high heaven.

“That one wasn’t even good enough to be mediocre,” she says. “If you need to stretch that far, just don’t make the pun.”

“I see how it is,” Chat Noir huffs and flops down to rest his head in Ladybug’s lap. She rolls her eyes again but still starts scratching behind his fake ears, and if he closes his eyes, it’s almost like it’s Marinette scratching him instead.

“How are things with Marinette?” Ladybug says after a moment. “You seem happier lately.”

Chat Noir sighs and purrs, because inviting him to talk about his girlfriend is pretty much the best way to put him straight on cloud nine. “She’s perfect, milady,” he says. “She’s always got cookies for me and cheese buns for Plagg, and she’s so smart and creative, and I could just sit and watch her design for hours because she gets so into it and her tongue does this little blep and just – aaaah, she’s an angel.”

“Always the romantic,” Ladybug says fondly, though there’s an odd little crack in her voice that Chat Noir can’t even begin to decipher. When she digs her fingers into his scalp, he doesn’t want to begin to decipher it.

“She’s even okay with me liking another person at the same time,” Chat Noir says. “So long as I’m open with her about my feelings. And I looked up polyamory the other day and…well, it said that you can’t just jump into a relationship with another person unless you and the first person can stand on your own.”

“That makes sense,” Ladybug says. “One relationship is enough effort. I think it’s a good idea that you and Marinette are focusing on yourselves for now.” She twirls a lock of hair around her fingers, and Chat Noir lets out a particularly loud purr at that. “I’m glad you’re happy, kitty cat. I don’t feel so bad now about telling you that, well…I’ve got a boyfriend.”

Chat Noir’s eyes fly open and he jolts upright. “Really? And you’re only telling me now? I clawght we were purrtners, mewlady.”

“We won’t be if you keep up those awful puns,” Ladybug deadpans. Then she sighs and squares her shoulders. “And…yeah. I can’t tell you who he is – identity reasons and all, since I’m dating him outside the mask – but…he’s so sweet. A little shit at times, yeah, but he’s really thoughtful and I secretly love his sense of humour. Not that he’d let me live it down if I told him that.”

“Aah, milady has her first boyfriend,” Chat Noir says and nudges her. “I hope he knows that he’ll have to answer to me if he hurts you.”

“Trust me, I think he’ll be more afraid of me than you,” Ladybug says. Chat Noir sniffs.

“Fine. Be like that. Even though you’re totally right and you’re scary when you’re pissed. I’d hate to be the guy who hurt Ladybug.”

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem at all,” Ladybug says with a knowing little smile. Is there an inside joke that he’s missing? “And it’s not like he knows I’m Ladybug. I’m dating him as civilian me, not superhero me.”

“I still stand by my statement,” Chat Noir says. “With or without the mask, only someone as deluded as Hawkmoth would mess with you.”

“Aww, isn’t this cute,” coos a voice. Chat Noir jerks in surprise as Rena Rouge leaps down from the very tip of the Tower and lands in a crouch, her mouth pulled in a teasing little smirk and her eyes glittering behind her orange and white mask.

“You know it’s rude to eavesdrop on private conversations, right?” Ladybug says, raising an eyebrow. Rena Rouge shrugs.

“Maybe you shouldn’t discuss it in the middle of Paris, then.”

“Who’s gonna be up here except annoying, eavesdropping foxes?” Chat Noir says. Rena Rouge rolls her eyes.

“Alright, touché. When’s Shellhead getting here?”

“Carapace is right here.” A dark green shape leaps up to the tiny platform from below, where he’d obviously been scaling the Tower. “No need to be such a bitch, dude.”

“Me, a bitch?” Rena Rouge snorts. “That’s rich.”

“Can we not?” Chat Noir says. “Just sit down and try to get along or Ladybug’ll make you wear the getting-along shirt.”

“Rena wasn’t flirting,” Ladybug says with twitching lips as Rena Rouge and Carapace obediently sit. “She’s just a superhero enthusiast. I’d think Carapace could appreciate that enthusiasm, judging by his friends, especially one in particular. And Carapace was just being loyal, and Rena should admire his dedication to his girlfriend. Done? Done. We’re a team, and I refuse to have you two at each other’s throats because of a misunderstanding.”

“Now, kiss and make up,” Chat Noir grins. Ladybug elbows him in response. Okay, okay, but how could he help that, knowing who Rena Rouge and Carapace are?

“I’d phrase it a different way,” Ladybug says. “Apologise, both of you. My god, when did I turn into the mum friend?”

“Sorry for being a dick,” Carapace finally says, crossing his arms.

“Sorry for getting all bitchy at you,” Rena Rouge says, scowling down at her feet. Ladybug smiles and claps her hands.

“See? All better!” she coos, rather like a preschool teacher. Chat Noir bites down on his lip to keep his laughter at that one way down. “Now, I had a good talk with Rena after the battle, and I think it would be a good idea to implement a rule about personal ties with akumas.”

Chat Noir immediately sees where this is going. “Agreed,” he says. “No fighting an akuma if it’s too personal.”

“But what if it’s a family member?” Rena Rouge says. “I realised about two minutes after Ladybug left me. If I have to sit that one out because it’s too personal, won’t Carapace figure out who I am? And the other way around?”

“Yeah, why did Faux News set Rena Rouge off like that?” Carapace says. Ladybug swears under her breath.

“How unladylike, milady,” Chat Noir grins. Ladybug once again elbows him. Okay, it would probably be a good idea to move himself away from elbowing reach, but that would involve sitting away from his lady, and then he won’t get that affection that he so desperately craves in his very soul.

Honestly, fuck Gabriel Agreste. It’s getting to that point, even if there’s still a twinge of have to be the dutiful son, he’ll be proud if I try hard enough lingering.

“That’s a good point,” Ladybug says.

“About the Faux News thing, it’s because he was plagiarising m – uh, the Ladyblogger,” Rena Rouge says. “And I hate it when people steal other people’s work, especially because Alya puts a shit tonne of work into that thing and she didn’t deserve that. Guess I just…got overly invested.”

There’s newfound respect in Carapace’s eyes as he stares at Rena Rouge, no doubt at her staunch defence of his girlfriend, who unknowingly happens to be her. Dear god, Chat Noir’s going to puke up rainbows in a minute.

“But I think I’ll be okay, Ladybug,” Rena Rouge says. “Dick News caught me by surprise. And if you guys can’t just step back when shit gets personal, it shouldn’t be fair to expect us to back off too.”

“Yeah, it’s called teamwork,” Carapace drawls. Rena Rouge flips him off and mutters something about turtle soup in its own shell.

“Productive team meeting,” Chat Noir grins before Carapace can clock Rena Rouge around the head with his shield. “What’s next on the agenda?”

“Oh!” Rena Rouge jabs a finger at Carapace. “The group chat! Emails, guys, and Shellhead needs to shut his eyes because I have to detransform to get my phone.”

While Carapace dutifully slaps a hand over his goggles, Rena Rouge transforms back into Alya, and Trixx settles in Alya’s bag to munch on a berry, Ladybug fishes a strip of paper out of her yo-yo to hand over. Chat Noir rummages in one of his suit pockets until he finds his burner email address, and Carapace doesn’t even need to look at any kind of note to be able to rattle it off to Alya. Her tongue pokes out of her mouth as she works her magic, although it’s nowhere near as cute as when Marinette bleps, but everything about Marinette is so much cuter than anyone else, so there might just be a bit of bias there –

“– done!” Alya’s voice snaps Chat Noir out of his Marinette daze. “We can’t exactly test it up here, so it’ll have to wait till we’re home, but the invite links I emailed should work once you’ve made your accounts. If not…well, I’ll beat my phone till they do. Trixx, let’s pounce.”

Carapace doesn’t uncover his eyes until Rena Rouge tells him that it’s okay to do so, and there’s a glimmer of respect in her eyes at this action that hadn’t been present before. But she still looks like she wants to shove her flute through his throat, so all’s still right in the world. At least they should trust each other enough to be efficient teammates. Hopefully.

“So, like, any more heroes gonna be joining us?” Carapace says. “Or is it just gonna be us four?”

Chat Noir exchanges a look with Ladybug as they have one of their silent conversations, possible only because of the bond they’ve forged over the past year thanks to Hawkdouche. It’s probably not a good idea to mention the zodiacs; even if Hawkmoth has an inkling that they exist, there’s no sense in giving two newbies too much information. Especially since they’re probably not even going to give out any of the zodiacs unless they absolutely have to do so.

“There are five Miraculouses in your tier,” Ladybug finally says. “Fox, Bee, Turtle, Peacock, and Butterfly. The Peacock and Butterfly were lost ages ago, so they’re not viable. But yes, we’re keeping our eye out for a suitable Bee holder.”

Well, she’s not technically lying. The Peacock was lost ages ago, and it’s not a viable option because it’s still broken and because Gabriel will know that Adrien had been lying about the fake brooch.

“Ladybug and I are in the top tier,” Chat Noir says. “We’re the balance of the universe.” He shoots a grin at Ladybug, who just rolls her eyes.

“We should wrap this up,” Ladybug says. “I, uh…may have some important homework to do that’s due tomorrow.”

“Naughty, milady,” Chat Noir teases. “Leaving your homework to the last minute.”

“If you wanted me to shove you off the Tower, all you had to do was ask,” Ladybug says with a sweet smile. Rena Rouge snorts into her hand.

“As much as this Ladynoir banter is killing me, Ladybug’s got a point,” she says. “I have babysitting responsibilities. Ugh. Damn siblings, existing when I could be spending time with Ladybug.”

“Wow, that sounds like something my girlfriend would say,” Carapace snickers. Chat Noir rolls his eyes at Ladybug when Rena Rouge and Carapace aren’t looking, and Ladybug bites down on her lip to muffle her laughter.

“Check your emails!” is Rena Rouge’s parting comment as she pushes herself to her feet, then starts to bound down the Eiffel Tower. Carapace salutes at Ladybug and Chat Noir and follows her.

“Well,” Chat Noir says as he stands. “That was a fun little get-together. Allow a mangy alley cat to escort you home, milady?”

“Nice try,” Ladybug says, though she does let him help her up. “You won’t get my identity that easily.”

“Fine,” Chat Noir huffs. “I see how it is. You can walk home yourself, then.”

“Fine with me.” Ladybug boops him on the nose, then takes off swinging, calling over her shoulder, “Last one to the school’s a rotten akuma!”

“Hey!” Chat Noir whines and leaps after her. “No fair! You cheater!”

#miraculous ladybug #ml fic #aotq fic #aotq: hold me #marinette dupain-cheng #adrien agreste #chat noir #alya cesaire #rena rouge #nino lahiffe #carapace #ladynoir #is that another love square i see

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angelofthequeers · 5 years ago

Text

Hold Me By Both Hands: Chapter 29

Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.

Chapter 28 | Chapter 30 | AO3 link

“– rinette! Marinette!”

“Hmm?” Marinette is forcibly yanked out of her thoughts by Alya’s snapping fingers in front of her face.

“Finally!” Alya says. “You didn’t hear a word of my rant about Mr Alternative News blogger. Man, wherever you were just now, you gotta take me there too.”

“I wasn’t anywhere. I was just…thinking.” About her date with Chat Noir. But Alya doesn’t need to know that.

“Mhm. If you say so.”

“It looked like you were halfway across the solar system!” Lila says. Why she’s here, Marinette has no clue, but either Rose or Juleka or Alix or Mylène had invited her along to their Saturday hangout at the Louvre, and it’s not like Marinette and Alya can refuse to include her without getting labelled raging bitches.

“I really am fine,” Marinette says. “I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately.”

“Like your crush on Chat Noir,” Alix teases. Marinette’s cheeks start to boil.

“What? No!” Had someone seen them on their date? No, of course not, the girls already know she’s crushing on Chat Noir.

“That’s so cute!” Rose says.

“If you two get together, tell me!” Mylène says with a mischievous smile. “I want to be sure I win a bet against Ivan, since our Adrienette one was a bust.”

“Mylène! You cheater!” Juleka says. Mylène’s cheeks pinken.

“What?” she says. “I just…have inside information.”

“I hate you all,” Marinette mutters. “And even if I did get together with him – which is not happening –” Lies, but necessary. “– why would I tell anyone? He’s a superhero. I’m a civilian. Hawkmoth would love that.”

“True, true.” Alya raises her hand, like she’s going to clutch at her chest, but then aborts that movement and lowers her hand. Marinette resists the urge to smirk, since she’s not supposed to know that Alya is Rena Rouge and wearing the Miraculous under her shirt.

“You and Chat Noir would make the cutest couple!” Lila coos. “It sucks that I wasn’t here for the Adrienette hype!”

“Does everyone call us that?” Marinette throws her hands in the air. “What are we, fictional characters?”

Before anyone can reply, Rose and Juleka scream. The reason for this becomes apparent when they try to jump away from each other but can’t due to literally being attached at the hip, with Rose’s pink dress melting into Juleka’s black one.

“What the –?” Marinette leaps away from them, immediately scanning her surroundings for any sign of the perpetrator. “Akuma!”

“Where?” Lila immediately leaps behind Alya.

“Alya Césaire!” An orange blur soars off a building and lands in front of Alya. “You think the Ladyblogger can compete with Faux News?”

“Faux – wait, Lars?” Alya’s eyes bulge. “Lars Vos? The Alternative News dipshit?”

The orange man – Faux News – snarls at Alya. He’s…a fox. Or, to be more accurate, a guy in a fox costume, just like Rena Rouge. Unlike Rena Rouge, however, his orange suit is skin-tight, with a white torso and white down his inner upper arms and thighs. He also has short, chunky black gloves and boots, an orange and white bushy tail that looks like it sprouts out of the back of his suit, thick black rings around his grey eyes, and short fox ears poking out of his pale blond hair. Also unlike a Fox superhero is the lack of flute on his back and, instead of a Miraculous around his neck, there’s a little black cravat like a high collar. It’s like someone had tried to create a Fox wielder but left out just enough that it feels…wrong.

“You think you’re the best just because your little blog’s so popular?” Faux News growls.

“Uh, no,” Alya says. “I think I’m the best because unlike you, I actually get my own footage. I don’t jack it from someone else and then whine that it’s shitty quality.”

“At least I don’t harass people for the fun of it!” Faux News says.

“Harass you? How? All I did was leave a comment asking you to shut the fuck up and stop taking jabs at me for actually doing my job! And at least I post the truth!”

“What the heck did you do to Rose and Juleka?” Marinette demands. Oh, how she wishes she could get away to transform, but she’s right next to Alya and Faux News will most definitely notice her trying to slip away.

“I guess they’re just such good soulmates that they’re joined at the hip,” Faux News shrugs.

“You’re twisting reality!” Lila gasps. “Faux News! Alternative News!”

Faux News’ grin is more like a shark’s than a fox’s. “Exactly. Whatever I say is true! And I think that little girls such as yourself should be seen and not heard.”

Lila opens her mouth to say something else…but no sound escapes her. Her eyes widen and she once again tries to speak but again, she can’t. While Faux News is distracted by Lila’s predicament, Marinette grabs Alya by the hand and hightails it the hell out of there before he can remember that they exist.

“Marinette!” Alya tries to yank herself free. “You can’t – I need to –”

“Césaire!” Faux News bellows. Marinette ducks into the first store she encounters.

“Go and hide!” she hisses to Alya. “I’ll go and see if I can find Ladybug and Chat Noir!”

“But what if he gets you?” Alya says, grabbing her upper arms.

“It’s not me he’s after,” Marinette says. “I’ll be fine! Just go and hide!”

Alya bites her lip and her eyes flick down to her own chest for a split second. Then she nods and pushes Marinette away before weaving through the racks of clothes in the direction of the changing rooms. Reassured that her best friend is now able to transform and is therefore safe from Faux News’ hunt for Alya Césaire, Marinette barrels out of the store and down an alleyway to transform.

“Tikki, spots on!”

“Chat Noir! Down here!”

At the sound of his name, Chat Noir automatically leaps off the rooftop to the street below. Ladybug’s waving at him from inside a store, and he takes a quick look around before sprinting inside.

“What the hell kind of an akuma is this?” Chat Noir says as Ladybug shuts the door behind him and beckons him further into the store, away from the windows. “Some guy was barking up a tree! Literally! And a woman tried to talk my ear off about how climate change wasn’t real!”

Ladybug snorts. “His name’s Faux News and he can warp reality. He attached R – uh, two girls at the hip because they were “soulmates” and he took another’s voice because “little girls should be seen and not heard”.”

Chat Noir wrinkles his nose. Ick. One of those people.

“It’s my fault.” Rena Rouge emerges from one of the changing rooms. “He’s this Alternative News blogger who I told off for not telling the truth.”

“And for taking cheap shots at you,” Ladybug says.

“Yeah but –”

“Hey. We talked about this when I found you in here, remember? You’re not responsible for his akumatisation. Hawkmoth is. And if he hadn’t been targeting you and your blog, you wouldn’t have attacked him.”

“I still might have,” Rena Rouge says. “If he reckons he’s a “real journalist”, he can’t go around telling lies. I mean, saying that you hate cats? All we need is for one person to grab that lie and blow it up, especially because he had no sources!”

“I don’t think that’s the point right now,” Chat Noir says. “How powerful is Faux News? Can he just take our Miraculouses with his powers by making it the truth?”

Ladybug purses her lips. “I’m not sure. And I’m kind of hesitant about finding out. But we can’t just sit in here forever.”

“He might not be able to just will them to him like that,” Rena Rouge says. “Otherwise, Hawkmoth would’ve made an akuma like that ages ago. Every akuma you’ve faced with control over something has had to brainwash you, but they still didn’t figure out who you were or get you to reveal yourselves. Like Dark Cupid, remember? He totally could’ve made Chat Noir take the ring off. But he didn’t.”

“Hmm,” Ladybug says. “You know…I think you’re on to something. Wait here.” She ducks into the changing room and there’s a bright flash of pink light as she detransforms. Chat Noir and Rena Rouge exchange awkward grins as Ladybug talks to her kwami in a hushed voice, both very much aware that all they’d have to do is slam the door open to see who’s behind the red and black spotted mask, and then Ladybug’s once again transformed and is pulling the stall door open.

“Tikki says that part of the Miraculous magic means that we can’t compel each other to give them up,” Ladybug says. “If we get immobilised or brainwashed into standing still or whatever and they physically take them off us, sure. But an akuma can’t force us to take them off ourselves or to reveal our identities if we’re transformed. The only one of us who could directly affect a Miraculous is Chat Noir with his Cataclysm, but then it’d take my Miraculous Ladybug to fix it. And Tikki says that the Butterfly can akumatise a Miraculous, but it still can’t make that person reveal themselves unless they want to. Hawkmoth’s kwami must have told him all this because Rena Rouge is right: he would’ve made an akuma like this one ages ago if that worked.”

“That also means that you can’t just Lucky Charm Hawkmoth’s Miraculous straight off him,” Rena Rouge says. “Aww, man. But that’s a relief, knowing that Faux News can’t make us give our Miraculouses to him.”

“And we also can’t be exposed through, say, mind-reading akumas,” Ladybug says. “Although there’s nothing stopping a brainwashing akuma from forcing us to physically out ourselves by, you know, outright saying who everyone else is or ordering all Miraculous holders to come to them, which is why I’m so insistent that Chat Noir and I don’t reveal our identities. It would be bad if Hawkmoth learned who Rena Rouge was, yeah, but figuring out me or Chat Noir would be a disaster.”

“My life would be over if Hawkmoth knew who I was.” Chat Noir closes his fingers around his ring, as though this is enough to shield it from Hawkmoth’s greed. “Now that I’ve had this taste of freedom…”

“Well, Hawkmoth won’t figure out who any of us are,” Ladybug says firmly. She rests a hand on his shoulder and squeezes, and soft warmth seems to radiate from her hand through Chat Noir’s suit. “Anyway, come on. We have to stop Faux News!”

To find Faux News, all they have to do is follow the trail of sheer chaos throughout the city, from a group of floating men shouting about defying the laws of gravity, to a child who’s screaming and running away from a life-size, nightmarish teddy bear.

“This is sick,” Ladybug growls once Chat Noir’s torn the bear apart with his claws and Rena Rouge is comforting the little girl. “He can make anything a reality and he does that?”

“I told you he was an arse,” Rena Rouge says. She pats the girl on the head and directs her to hide in the nearest building, then turns to Ladybug and Chat Noir with her arms crossed. “I just didn’t know he was this much of one.”

“Ladybug! Chat Noir! Over here!”

Chat Noir whirls around, raising his staff. The speaker is a middle-aged man who’s got his phone trained on them and a wicked gleam in his eye.

“That’s it!” the man says. “Only the best footage for Faux News!”

“Uh, excuse me?” Rena Rouge says. “Faux – uh, Alternative News is shit. Everyone knows the Ladyblog –”

“Ladyblog? What’s the Ladyblog?” the man says. Rena Rouge’s eyes widen.

“No,” she breathes. She yanks her flute off her back and swipes to extend a little screen out of the end, just like with Chat Noir’s baton. “Are you fucking kidding me? That son of a bitch – all that work –”

“What happened?” Ladybug says. A fuming Rena Rouge thrusts her flute out at them to show her search results for the Ladyblog…which is nothing. Well, there’s technically one result, but when Chat Noir taps it, it brings up an extremely poor-quality webpage with one pixelated, clearly amateur video. In contrast, when Rena Rouge takes her flute back to search for Faux News and shows Ladybug and Chat Noir again, they’re taken to a crisp, professional webpage with scores of posts and videos and comments.

“That – he stole my work!” Rena Rouge’s eyes fill with tears. Thankfully, the man nearby doesn’t hear, or it would be bye-bye Rena Rouge and her secret identity. “All that effort – I’ve put so much work in – and he just – he just spoke a few fancy words and now I’m the amateur knock-off! He even stole my superhero look!”

“Hey.” Ladybug grabs Rena Rouge by the biceps and squeezes gently. “We’ll take care of it, okay? We’ll defeat Faux News and the Ladyblog will go back to normal.”

“What milady said,” Chat Noir agrees. “Like we’re gonna let some ugly Rena knock-off win. Hawkmoth deserves our Miraculouses if we lose to this guy.”

Rena Rouge snorts and wipes her eyes, even though her mask conceals any traces of tears. “Thanks, guys. I just…god, I can’t stand people who steal others’ work.”

“You hear that?” Chat Noir calls at the recording man. “Faux News is going down like the fake he is!”

The man’s jovial smile darkens into a horrific scowl. Before any of them can react, he’s scurrying off down the street and around the corner.

“Well,” Ladybug says. “I can’t say that was the smartest move, but at least now we can find Faux News, assuming that guy’s gone to tattle. Let’s go!”

Faux News does turn out to be in the next street over, with the tattletale man next to him and at least a hundred other people who don’t seem to be affected just yet. Of course, ‘don’t seem to be’ isn’t the same as ‘aren’t’, as they demonstrate moments later by turning around and staring straight at the superheroes like one many-headed, many-limbed being.

“Don’t worry!” Chat Noir puffs himself up. Time to show Faux News who’s boss! “We’ll save you –”

“It’s them! The criminals!” A woman points at Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Rena Rouge. “They’re trying to destroy the mighty Faux News and Hawkmoth!”

“Ah,” Rena Rouge says. “When we figured out that he could bend reality, we should have suspected he’d do this.”

“Go and spread the word, my loyal fans!” Faux News announces, and half of the crowd around him starts to scatter in all directions. “I bestow the gift of gospel upon you all!”

“Gospel?” Chat Noir scoffs. “This guy’s pretty up himself.”

“Uh, yeah,” Rena Rouge says. “It’s not like I just told you that before.”

Ladybug frowns. “He’s making them go and twist reality to make others believe that we’re the bad guys? Does that mean that he can only directly affect his surroundings, and he has to imbue his minions with the power to twist the truth for others?”

“What about the Ladyblog thing, then?” Rena Rouge says.

“With a phone or something connected to the internet, it’d technically be in his surroundings,” Ladybug says slowly. “We have to keep him occupied to limit the damage!”

“That’s something we can definitely do, milady,” Chat Noir grins, then hefts his baton and shakes it to its full length. “Hey, Rena, wanna legally beat the shit out of this guy and not get in any trouble for it?”

“Chat!” Ladybug protests, but even she doesn’t say anything when Rena Rouge’s eyes start to gleam rather terrifyingly.

“For truth and justice!” Rena Rouge bellows and charges at Faux News, flute ready to strike. She’s met with a wall of brainwashed bystanders forming a shield around Faux News, but this doesn’t curb her enthusiasm one bit.

“Hey, that should be our catchphrase!” Chat Noir says. Ladybug rolls her eyes while simultaneously taking out two minions at once with a flick of her yo-yo.

“We are not having a catchphrase, you silly cat!” she says.

“Aww but why not?” Chat Noir throws his staff at a minion creeping up on Ladybug, then deftly dodges one behind him, kicks her to the ground by her back, and rolls under another minion’s outstretched arms to retrieve his weapon.

“There’s too many of them!” Ladybug says. “And Rena’s too angry to focus on a proper Mirage!”

“You no-good fake!” Rena Rouge shrieks in the background, inadvertently confirming Ladybug’s assessment. “Stop hiding behind your little fans and face me like a proper fox!”

“Rena, take a chill pill!” Chat Noir calls. Naturally, he’s ignored. “Okay, uh, maybe it wasn’t a good idea to let her take this one?”

“We should’ve made her sit it out,” Ladybug agrees while elbowing a young man in the solar plexus and dropping him like a sack of bricks. “Too personal. I think I’ll have to…Lucky Charm!” A little red and black candle falls into her hands.

“We’re gonna throw him a party?” Chat Noir says as he ducks to let two minions slam into each other in their haste to grab him.

“No…I can’t see what to use it for…” Ladybug frowns and turns on the spot, while Chat Noir covers her from the advancing minions and Rena Rouge continues to wreak havoc in her attempt to get to Faux News.

“Maybe you can smoke signal for help,” Chat Noir jokes. Ladybug’s eyes widen.

“Of course! I mean, it’s not ideal…I’d prefer not to throw them into a battle with no training…but we need a shield!”

“Rock, paper, scissors to see who goes?” Chat Noir says. Ladybug shakes her head.

“Not necessary. I trust you to pick the right ally. I need to stay here and keep Faux News from getting away and turning all of Paris against us…and keep an eye on Rena Rouge. It wouldn’t be a problem if she wasn’t so angry at this guy.”

Chat Noir winces when Rena Rouge bashes someone across the head with her flute. “Totally with you there, milady. I’ll be back. Try not to miss me too much!”

“Finally, a break from you!” Ladybug calls at him as he bounds away. He flips her off over his shoulder with a cheerful little smirk, then leaps up to a rooftop and turns his sights in the direction of Master Fu’s place.

#miraculous ladybug #ml fic #aotq fic #aotq: hold me #marinette dupain-cheng #adrien agreste #chat noir #alya cesaire #rena rouge #rose lavillant #juleka couffaine #mylene haprele #alix kubdel #lila rossi #anti-lila #ugh #alya does not take kindly to plagiarism

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