#get yourself a partner who looks at you like how red looks at chloe

[aspen-charminghearts]

Red has a type and it’s Charming.

I don’t make the rules, look at the movie.

[w4w4lycsss]

HE'S A MOTHERFUCKER | JAMES HOOK

summary: When Chloe and Red arrive at Merlin Academy, they discover what happened to your relationship with Hook and their conflictive separation, being told by Bridget, Ella and you pairing: James Hook x male!triton!reader warging: angst, bad language, mention of breakup, couples fighting, public drama. Happy ending! based on: All 2 U - Bryce Pinkham a/n: Originally this was going to be a normal romantic story but I thought of doing something totally different, and it's my favorite song! I recomend it to you

I let you get too close. I let it go too far.

Lately you were going through the worst times of your life, and that wasn't a good thing. You were more tired than normal, your eyes were heavy due to the lack of sleep, your body was constantly shaking with a kind of anxiety that you couldn't control.

Your two best friends, Bridget and Ella, did everything in their power to make you feel better and be as careful as possible when you felt like the world was falling on them.

Several things changed when Red and Chloe arrived at Merlin Academy.

Many students were constantly talking about the end of a relationship between a merman and a pirate, something that both girls were completely unaware of until they met you.

Now I know, now I know. Now I know exactly what you are!

Bridget put her hand on your back as you looked at the ground tiredly, rubbing your eyes with your hands. In your head there was a puzzle that no one could put together and that you yourself barely understood.

Chloe and Red understood that it was a sensitive topic to ask, but if they wanted to help maybe they should know even the least. She He began to tell the girls what had happened, speaking quietly so that you wouldn't notice.

Na na na, na na, na! A motherfucker. 

Na na na, na na, na! A motherfucker. 

You and Hook met several years ago, you were the son of a mermaid and you had been accepted into Merlin Academy, which had always been your dream. Your mother had warned you about pirates, they were bad men who only wanted to take advantage of sweet mermaids and innocent mermen. She was right.

Hook approached you in a gentlemanly manner, which made you question if he wanted to play with you, but you trusted you, and he was handsome, so you played along. Over time you realized he treated you as if you were his entire heaven, a treasure that only he could possess for having the map, a jewel worth stealing.

He cared for you, both for others and for yourself, he knew you to the point of knowing your greatest fears and dreams, he knew you more than you knew yourself, he was sure that you must have been a prince in your past life.

You didn't fall in love quickly, it was hard for you to accept your feelings and recognize the intentions of others, but after a whole year of good treatment and adorable looks you realized that he was the one you wanted to spend the rest of your life with.

I don't think you meant to hurt me. 'Cause I don't think it meant a thing at all.

You began to feel that perhaps your feelings were shared when you noticed the glances he secretly gave you, how he brushed his hand with yours or how he looked for you every day without fail, no matter how much you had ignored him. You two had something.

One day he walked you to your room, you thought it would be a good idea to let him in to help you study some things. He put his hand on your leg as you read aloud, making you look up.

At all, at all, at all.

At all, at all, at all, at all, at all.

At all, at all, to you!

The look he gave you in those moments was so different from what you were used to that you simply let yourself go, read it and approached his face to kiss him. The beginning of the end.

You two continued doing the same thing, treating each other as a couple and being happy as much as you were allowed. Each of you lived your dream of having a happy partner and someone to spend your time with, you could never regret meeting someone like him.

Over time he became less romantic and you thought you would never get tired of something like that, until you realized how many words he had from one day to the next. Weren't you two a couple?

It was difficult for you to continue calmly the rest of the day with that stupid idea in your head eating away at you inside for hours and hours. You could only turn to the window and see him playing with his friends, skipping classes.

You couldn't dare ask him, what were you two? You were afraid of scaring him into stopping talking to you, of losing everything you had ever built. Maybe you were too much of a coward.

Na na na, na na, na! A motherfucker. 

Na na na, na na, na! A motherfucker. 

You tried to convince yourself that there was nothing wrong with him not calling you. his boyfriend, maybe he just didn't like labels. You tried to talk about this with his friends, with whom you had already created a genuine bond.

Hades, Maleficent and Morgie were speechless at your words and how you convinced yourself that nothing was wrong.

Hades put his hand on her shoulder and swallowed before speaking. “He is not like that, if he calls his partners girlfriend or boyfriend. Maybe…"

Maleficent interrupted him. “Don't tell him that!” she tried to keep a calm tone of voice as she turned to you. “Look, what happens is…”

“Maybe he doesn't feel ready.” Morgie said. Maleficent agreed with him with a nod of her head.

Maybe you don't feel ready? What does that mean! Maybe you should wait for the right moment and Hook would call you his boyfriend.

I let it go too long. I let you go too deep.

Now I know, now I know. Now I know there's one thing I can't keep.

Things between the two of you were still normal, you were restless waiting for the moment when Hook behaved formally with you and called you his boyfriend and don't make you feel like a Princess more than at any moment it can be changed.

Because, as much as it hurt, that had been exactly how Hook had been making you feel for a month and a bit more. He spoke with princesses.

The ones he swore he hated with every cell of his being, the ones he bothered daily. He was…changing you?

You weren't jealous, in fact you didn't even care, it was just that sometimes he paid more attention to them than to you.

He sacrificed his afternoons together to hang out with his friends, gatherings to which you knew princesses went. The fear of him cheating on you was becoming more and more inevitable.

But I, I keep on waiting. Waiting to want you less than I do!

And I do, oh I do, yes I still do want you.

You didn't know why suddenly such a solid and adorable relationship had become a cradle of secrets and lies, lies which were uncovered by his friends. You thought maybe your fairy tale was ending.

But maybe it's all on me. For missing every sign and every glance. And every turn.

Your nightmare was just beginning when he didn't show up to your room for his study date. Later you found out that he was at the lake with his new Princess.

You wanted to escape from the Academy and swim home without rest to never see sunlight again, everything he told you seemed like a poorly constructed mask that was falling apart. The simple fact that he stopped looking for you all the time or following you around like a lost dog (an act you loved about him because he was adorable) hit you mercilessly.

Soon you also distanced yourself from his friends, which they understood when you didn't want to be associated with whatever it was that reminded you of he. Now it was he, the mere mention of his name made you writhe with nausea and an inexplicable desire to cry.

In a matter of months your dream of almost a year was over, ending with you on the floor of your room crying inconsolably and wishing to disappear. You actually didn't know if you wanted to disappear or for him to disappear.

No, no, no! He's a motherfucker!

Somehow you ended up being friends with Bridget and Ella, two very sweet girls who understood your situation. The whole school was talking about what had happened to the two of you as if they had seen behind the curtain into the inside of your feelings.

Maybe there's something here for us to glean. For you to teach and me to try to learn.

Only your two new friends could understand how you felt, and only they knew the truth behind the school's act of pretending to be a know-it-all.

Ella begged Red and Chloe not to bring it up in front of you, an action that both girls accepted without hesitation, watching as you wiped the tears from your face and slowly moved away from Bridget's touch.

No, no, no! He's a motherfucker!

“Do you want a cupcake?” Bridget smiled softly at you, putting her hand on your shoulder so you could look at her again.

You nodded slightly in response, looking seriously at Red and Chloe, knowing that they already knew everything.

'Cause darling you're the thief. But you were mine to earn.

Bridget began to sing a soft melody that became emotional while she distributed pink cupcakes to almost all the students, who, it is worth noting, pointed at you and murmured things when they looked at you with their tired and pale faces.

So, passed, too fast for you to react and run to the opposite side; the VK had come to compete with your friend's singing.

You looked down to avoid any contact with him. And you took a bite of the cupcake that she had offered you, making the clips that were in your hair to hold it take on a pink color. You smiled tenderly at the magic.

You came back to reality when you heard a terrified scream from Uliana, who had turned into some kind of flamingo. You covered your mouth with a hand to hold back a laugh, the same action that Red was about to imitate.

Within seconds Uliana was chasing your two friends along with Red and Chloe. You tried to do the same to help them, being stopped by a tug on your arm that made you look up.

What if I came on too strong? What if I read this all wrong? What if we just don't belong?

"Do not touch me!" You reproached, yanking your arm out of Hook's grasp.

Your heart skipped a beat, an uncomfortable one that took your breath away, making you want to slap him and run away.

“I thought you liked me grabbing you.”

All this what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if.

You frowned even more and with a strange impulse you decided to listen to that voice in your head and you slapped him. At that moment you could only stand firm, breathing heavily when you wanted to ask for forgiveness, but trying not to let it show on your face.

Why, why, why, why, why, why. Makes me burn!

Hook gulped at the blow, running his hand down the side of his cheek. He took a breath and tried to speak.

“I'll be brief, it's all Ulinana's fault.”

You raised an eyebrow surprised but offended. "Sorry?" You laughed painfully, it all sounded too false. “Where has your ego come to, Hook?” You ran away with contempt.

He stood by his words. “Listen to me, okay? I beg."

Oh, I don't think you meant to hurt me. 'Cause I don't think it meant a thing at all.

The way he saw you and wanted to take your hands but stopped told you that maybe he was serious, and that you weren't going to lose anything if you listened to him. Maybe just a few tears.

"What do you want?" You sighed and crossed your arms.

“Uliana can't stand mermaids, nor can she stand mermen. I always wanted us to be boyfriends, but I was afraid that she would find out, it would make your life miserable! I…I couldn’t stand it.”

No, not at all! At all, at all, at all.

At all, at all, at all. At all, at all, at all.

“Why should I believe you?” You said automatically, speaking coldly. “You changed me for a princess.”

He frowned in confusion. "That I what?" He let out a small laugh. "Princess? “They’re not even my type.”

“What about me?”

"You doubt it?"

"Quite."

His smile fell slightly, speaking more slowly. "I love you. I'm afraid, I'm in love with you. ”

“You never said it to my face.”

“My ego wouldn't let me, I spent entire nights awake thinking about you. Thinking that when we finish this damn school we are going to escape to Neverland and live thousands of adventures. Maybe a family.”

Na na na, na na, na! The motherfucker.

Na na na, na na, na! The motherfucker. 

You stretched out your hand and timidly touched it with Hook's, a gesture that almost formed a childish smile of excitement on his face that he could barely suppress. You two intertwined hands.

“Are you still afraid of what Uliana will tell you?”

“Not anymore, she's going to be too busy trying to get back at Bridget to pay attention to us.”

You smiled, realizing how in love you were, too in love to pull away when he ran his fingertips over your knuckles tenderly, making you melt without even really being touched.

You stood on your tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the cheek, making him frown and bend down to his height, giving you a sweet and brief kiss on the lips, still a little scared that you would walk away again, that he would lose you again.

The motherfucker.

[artzee-bee]

Now and for eternity| Lucifer Morningstar x reader

Fandom: Lucifer ( netflix)

Request:” Can you write an imagine where Lucifer’s wife is like this well known social light that owns her own luxury fashion brand and she starts receiving gifts from an obsessed secret admirer and Lucifer is unknowingly being targeted by the secret admirer who is trying to kill Lucifer in order to get the reader and Lucifer thinks it’s his father trying to ‘strike’ him down for some unknown reason until Chloe point out someone that correlates with the readers secret admirer and Lucifer’s attacker. Feeling some type away about it Lucifer decides to taunt the secret admirer by upping the PDA and romantic gestures getting a kick out in it much to Chloe’s dismay. And once the secret admirer is caught Lucifer rubs it in their face that the reader is his for now and all of eternity before showing the secret admirer his true face. ”

Genre: fluff? I guess

Warnings:death threats, stalking, attempted murder

~~~

It wasn’t unusual to receive gifts and flowers at your office. After all, with the job you worked and the wealthy people you collaborated with, the presents simply represented one of the many perks of being a designer. Except, one friday morning, while examining a particularly beautiful bouquet of pink lilies, you noticed the little card that came with it

“I know they are some of your favorite - <3 “

Usually, work associates would leave a name. Some way for you to know that they value your work and are thinking of you (and maybe to flatter you into giving them a discount), but there was no name on this card, just a tiny heart in a glittery, pink gel pen. Pink lilies were, indeed, your favorite.

You brought the flowers home and told your husband, Lucifer, all about the mysterious gift. You had talked to your secretary and even she didn’t know where the flowers came from, since no one came to drop off lilies that morning. You presumed the sender must have simply forgotten to sign the card, and perhaps your secretary had forgotten about them, with the busy morning she’d had. You and Lucifer had a laugh, imagining the shy and anxious intern that was probably assigned the job, and the scolding they’ll get when their boss finds out about their mistake.

The next morning, a box of your favorite chocolates were waiting for you on your desk. There wasn’t any note, just the same heart, written in the same glitter pen. You dismissed it as a weird coincidence and moved on to working on your designs.

Without you knowing, this also happened to be the first time Lucifer would be faced with a very interesting note. As he was getting ready to leave the police station, he noticed a piece of yellow paper, stuck to his windshield

“Back off of Y/N. Consider this your first and last warning” no signature. Anyone in Lucifer’s place would have lost their shit, but he paid it no mind. He was the devil after all! If anyone wants to take his precious Y/N away from him, well, they can try. It would make things all the more fun. He folded the paper and stuffed it in his pocket before heading home.

The couple shared Y/N’s chocolates that night, talking about who this person might be. Lucifer wasn’t as amused as he had been the night before, if anything he was rather concerned but he didn’t want to say anything about the note to Y/N, because she would freak out. 

Nothing really happened for the next week. Anonymous gifts stopped showing up at Y/N’s office, Lucifer didn’t get any more notes and things were falling back in their place, until the day right after Y/N’s latest photoshoot went public and viral. It was all to promote her upcoming clothing line. As soon as she walked into the office the next day, she spotted a red, velvet box, the size of a notebook, in the middle of her desk. On top of it, a note written in the same glittery pink as the other gifts

“Congratulations on your new line. Those photos are gorgeous - J.P. <3”

Inside the box was a gorgeous diamond necklace, looking like it was worth millions. If you hadn’t been concerned about the sudden apparition of all these gifts so far, you sure were now. You immediately called your husband to tell him about the mysterious jewelry, but he didn’t pick up. Unbeknown to you, he was busy ranting to detective Decker.

“I mean, not to be dramatic, detective, but the situation does feel like it’s spiralling out of control. Death threats, sure, those come every other weekend, kind of like fanmail, y’know? But actual gun shots fired at my head, well, that’s where I draw the line.” he ended with a giggle. Lucifer was leaning on Decker’s desk as she was examining the bullet casings Lucifer had brought her from his apparent ‘attempted assasination’

“Where did this happen again?” she said, not taking her eyes off of her work

“Right by that coffee shop ms. Lopez always talks about. I may have lost a bet to her the other day and have to get her coffee for the rest of the week, so I was just exiting the shop when a masked man in a dark blue BMW zoomed by, pointing his gun at me and shooting blindly. I mean, that is the most basic attemp at murder I have ever witnessed. At least make it interesting!”

“Lucifer, if someone is out for your life, it’s serious business”

“Why would it be? It’s not like I can actually die, detective! Plus, it’s probably not that deep anyways. Just, dear old dad coming after me again for no particular reason. Very characteristic of him.”

“ You’re getting ahead of yourself. Whoever sent this wants you and Y/N apart, why would your dad want that?”

“Because he’s a prick who disagrees with everything and anything that makes me happy?” Lucifer concludes with an innocent smile “And, of course, Y/N being moral, our marriage goes against the heavenly rules of the almighty, so he’s trying to break us apart, but worry not detective! Me and Y/N are stronger and more in love than ever. My father will simply have to accept that. Nothing will break us apart” he said, puffing his chest out with confidence

“That’s good to hear Lucifer, but I still think we should stay open to different possibilities”

“Oh, come on detective, that would be a waste of our time. I know my father better than anyone, believe me when I tell you this is his hand and no one else's. Case closed! Now, let’s move to the next one! Chop chop detective, murders won’t solve themselves!” Lucifer said, marching out of the precinct. Chloe rolled her eyes at her partner, before hiding the bullets and the note in her desk and going after him.

Although it didn’t bother you, you couldn’t help but notice how much more touchy Lucifer had been with you, ever since the necklace incident. He needed to touch you at all times: when you were out for coffee, at lunch, at the station, in your office, in Lux. His hand was always either around your waist or tangled in yours. You felt sort of bad, thinking he must be a little insecure with this secret admirer being after you at all times, but you wanted him to know that you loved him more than anything and that no matter what, you would never leave him for a faceless man, no matter how many pearls and chocolates he bribes you with. And so, you decided to play along with him, giving him as much attention as you could. Your visits at the station almost doubled, you always cleared your schedule to make time for him and even decided to start work later in  the day than usual, so you could spend more time with him in the morning. 

One afternoon, as you were enjoying your time with Decker and Lucifer during their lunch time, one of the notes from your secret admirer slipped out of your pocket. You didn’t realise it until Chloe picked it up

“Oh, I was going to throw that out”

“Where’s this from?” she asked, studying the note

“Just one of this week's gifts” you confessed awkwardly. Without a second thought, the detective reached for her drawer, pulling out another note from inside and inspecting them side by side. Eventually, she placed them both in front of Lucifer

“Notice something interesting about the writing?”

“They are remarkably similar…”

“More like identical”

“What is that?” you asked, looking at the unknown note. Your heart sank as you read it

“I’ll explain everything at home dear, I swear” Lucifer said

“You’ve received death threats because of me?”

“I’ll tell you everything at home, I promise”

“You have initials…” Decker noticed

“Yeah, ever since my photoshoot, they’re present on every package”

“What floor is your office on again?”

“5th, why?”

“How can someone enter your office every morning without anyone, not even your secretary noticing, and exit just as mysteriously?” “Unless he found a different way in” Lucifer replied

“My window” you realise “You can step out directly onto the emergency staircase from there”

“He knew when to sneak in without being seen, so he must have known your schedule like the back of his hand. Who could know?”

“The only people who know it are my secretary and Lucifer”

“A stalker?” your husband suggested

“Maybe” Decker turned quickly to her computer “I’m going to check any business owners around that neighbourhood who could have had a close shot of when you enter and exit your studio, see if any initially match the ones on the notes. We’ll go from there” 

You thanked Chloe for the help and went home with Lucifer, who spent the entire car ride explaining the note to you and the events of the previous days. You were angry at him for keeping all of it away from you, but ultimately happy that he was safe. You spent the night drinking wine and rewatching all of your comfort movies, to calm your nerves.

You decided to try working from home for the next couple of days, too scared by the idea of a stranger following your every move. It was a challenging process but Lucifer did his best in helping you get accustomed to this new routine. His homemade meals could not compare to anything you would eat while in a meeting with your business associates. Plus, the company was much more delightful.

Chloe texted you, almost a week later, to come down to the station as quickly as possible. They had found the guy. You hopped into your car and when you finally arrived, Lucifer was waiting for you outside

“They found him?” 

“Yes dear, they did”

“How?”

“Well, as it turns out he lived in the apartment building next door. His living room window had a great view of everything happening in your office. We’ve found a week’s worth of gifts he was planning to deliver. It’s him for sure” 

“Thank you” you whispered before collapsing into Lucifer’s arms and hugging him tight

“It’s alright lovely. It’s over now. Let’s go see how the detective is handling it. I think they’re in the interrogation room now.”

From behind the glass, you watched the man that threatened your marriage and your husband's life, confess to everything. Admit to stalking you, in order to learn your schedule. Break into your office and open fire on Lucifer. More than enough to get him behind bars for a long time. Decker and Lucifer got up and were ready to leave, but your husband requested a couple of minutes alone with the man. The detective agreed, cautioning him to not do something stupid, before leaving them alone. Lucifer turned on his heels to face the man in handcuffs and you could instantly tell he was furious

“Truly an honorable try. Y/N is one of a kind, you were right about that, the only detail you missed is that, you see, she’s taken. By me” the mischievous smile on his face let you know that he was up to no good “Our bond is indestructible and it’s really laughable to think that you’ve risked so much to tear us apart when you didn’t stand a chance to begin with” Lucifer leaned over the table, now his back was facing you “Me and Y/N are, and forever will be, together. There is nothing you or anyone else can do to change that. She is mine and I am hers, now and for eternity” as his little speech came to an end, you noticed the man in handcuffs go pale with terror. He began shaking in his chair, screaming incoherently about the devil. Even tho you hadn’t see what your husband did, you could tell by the man’s reaction. You laughed to yourself, not even mad that Lucifer had used his devil face against this man. You would have done the same if you had the option.

[sodasback]

Hickey

ER Nurse Rafe x ER Nurse Reader

Reposting from my deleted account with minor edits. 

Not my GIF all credit to owner/creator @ketterdamz​ <3

“Rafe Cameron!” You scolded as you inspected your neck in the mirror.

“What?” He called pulling back the shower curtain. 

“You left a huge hickey on my neck and my scrubs are not covering it.” You whined.

Rafe stepped out of the shower in all his naked glory and it was almost impossible to be mad at him ...almost.

“Take a picture babe, it’ll last longer” Rafe teased as he grabbed a towel and dried off. You ignored him teasing you for staring a moment too long and turned back to the mirror. 

He came closer to you to look at your neck. “Ooh yeah, that’s a good one. Won’t make up cover it?” He asked, touching his finger to your skin. You swatted his hand away.

“No, I already tried” you sighed. 

“Just wear your hair down today. No one will notice.” He dismissed.

“I don’t wear my hair down at work, it gets in the way and gets all covered in germs.” 

“Well, looks like your options are to wear your hair down for one day or to have everyone see the mark I left and learn what a dirty little girl you can be.” He ended his sentence in a lower tone as he took your earlobe between his teeth lightly. 

“Rafe” you breathed, “We don’t have time for this. We’re already late.” You said, shoving his scrubs into his chest while he pouted at you. 

“Don’t give me that look. You’re the one who pressed the snooze button twice.” You told him. 

Rafe groaned. Then, you and Rafe got in your separate cars and drove to the hospital, still trying to keep your relationship a secret.

-

Later at work, you had long forgotten about the mark on your neck and put your hair into a ponytail without thinking. 

“Looks like someone had fun recently.” Estephany commented.

“Huh? What’re you talking about?” You asked in confusion. 

“I’m talking about the hickey someone left on your neck” she said, pointing at it.

“Oh, no, it’s from my curling iron” you lied.

Rafe snorted. You turned to look at him with your eyes narrowed.

“Problem, Cameron?” You asked him.

“Isn’t your hair always straight?” He asked, knowing he was digging you further in your lie.

“So my flat iron then” You said with extra bite on the consonants, giving him a warning look.

“That is definitely a hickey!” Chloe exclaimed. “Come on y/n/n! Spill! Who’s the guy?”

“Is he cute? Show us a picture” Estephany encouraged.

“Yeah, Rookie, is he cute?” Rafe asked, obviously amused by the situation.

“Ehh he’s okay.” You said to the girls and then smirking at Rafe who shook his head with a smile, still amused by you getting grilled about the mark he left.

“The sex must be good. Leaving you with hickeys and shit? He’s kinky, huh?” Estephany pressed. And you blushed for a second until you caught Rafe out of the corner of your eye.

He had a proud smugness spread across his face.

“He’s pretty vanilla actually.” You shrugged, looking to Rafe. Now you were the one amused as he glared at you. 

“Ahh boo!” Chloe complained.

Your patient was calling for you, “I have to go” you chuckled, walking away.

Rafe got called away to admit a new patient, leaving Chloe and Estephany smiling at each other.

“So they’re definitely together right?” Chloe asked. 

“Oh yeah, for sure.” Estephany agreed. 

-

After that conversation, you put your hair back down. But later you moved it off your shoulder while you were helping one of the techs put a new sheet on one of the stretchers. 

“Oh damn girl. I heard you had a hickey on your neck. But shit, that’s gnarly.” Will, the tech, commented. 

Rafe was priming an IV line for the patient next to you and you could see him holding back laughs. 

“Shut up.” You told Will and Rafe, punching Rafe’s arm as you walked by and leaving Will to finish making the bed.

-

“Hey Dr. Bridges, how are you today?” you asked one of the younger ER docs that you had a good rapport with. 

“Not as good as you apparently. I heard you have a hot new boyfriend. That is a large hematoma, dear.” 

“Seriously?!” You yelled in exasperation. “Does everyone have an opinion about my hickey?!” you asked rhetorically, “I’m going to lunch. I hate all of you.” A chorus of chuckles came from your coworkers. 

You walked into the empty break room. You looked at your neck in the reflective surface of the stainless steel microwave. 

Rafe came into the break room with a huge grin on his face. 

“Don’t say a fucking word.” You warned. “This is all your fault. Now everyone thinks I’m some sex crazed nympho!” 

Rafe couldn’t hold back the laugh that came out. You looked at him with a deep furrow in your brow. “It’s not funny Rafe!” 

Rafe wrapped his arms around your waist. “Baby, no one thinks that. They’re just teasing! You know that’s just how we all are.” He assured you, pressing a kiss to your cheek. 

“I’m getting you back.” You decided. 

Rafe was entertained by your threat, “Looking forward to it, pretty girl.” 

-

A couple days later you were sitting on the couch when you got a text from one of the night shift nurses you were good friends with. 

“Hey I heard about your hickey lol who’s the guy? ...or girl?” 

You glared at no one. And turned to see Rafe laying on the ground in the other room, stretching before he was gonna go run. 

You straddled him and roughly pushed his chin to the side exposing his neck to you and swiftly sunk your teeth into his skin and sucked hard. 

“What the hell are you doing, you little vampire?!” Rafe yelled at you and grabbed your hips, pinching them to get you to unlatch your mouth from his neck. 

You pulled back and smiled, admiring the wet, red mark you left. 

“Just getting you back for the other day.” You said simply and started to get up, but Rafe held your hips down and rolled so he was on top of you. 

“You think you can just come over here and do that and I’m gonna let you get up and leave?” He asked, looking down at you. 

“’Yeah’ seems like the wrong answer.” You said squinting your eyes in thoughtfulness. Rafe pinned your arms down and peppered tickling kisses all over you while you giggled. 

“Rafe!” you squealed. Let’s just say Rafe didn’t end up going for a run, but he still got a workout. 

-

The next day you were at the hospital and you got there before Rafe did. When he walked in you could spot the mark on his neck from across the room. No hair or makeup to cover it even a little. You smiled to yourself. 

“Nice, Cameron” Will said, fist bumping him in passing as he took note of the mark. Rafe barely looked up and just returned the fist bump. You furrowed your brow in confusion as the scene played out in front of you.

-

“Geez Cameron you and Y/N seem to both have partners who like biting.”  Estephany commented. 

“Yeah, my girl’s a little ...overzealous sometimes.” Rafe said with a smirk, before glancing at you. And the conversation ended there. You rolled your eyes. 

-

“You don’t look happy over here, Rookie” Rafe said, leaning on the wall next to you in the med room. 

You turned to him in a pout. “They aren’t teasing you like they teased me! This is some sexism bullshit!” 

Rafe smiled at you, “No, you’re just more fun to tease. You get all feisty and adorably mad.” 

You took a step toward him, “Me being mad is not adorable! Don’t patronize me!” you warned. 

“I’m not talking about when you’re seriously mad!” Rafe defended, backing up from you and holding his hands up to catch your’s. He backed into the wall behind him. “I’m sorry! You’re not adorable. You’re super scary.” Rafe tried to appease you.

“Stop pacifying me! You’re just making it worse” You punched his shoulder again. 

“Ow!” He yelled. You gave him a dirty look, knowing he was trying to make you feel better by pretending your punch hurt. He dropped his fake pained expression and smiled at you. 

“Y/N, you know I think the world of you. I have nothing but respect and admiration for you. I’m so happy to have a partner in life who does more than keep up with me; you set the bar babe. I don’t ever mean to patronize you. ...But you are pretty damn cute when you’re feisty and have an attitude. And you can’t even be upset about that because you’ve told me I’m hot when I’m mad too.” 

You rolled your lips together knowing this was true but not wanting to admit Rafe was right. He pulled you close to him by your hips. “I swear, I’ll never leave a hickey on such a visible spot again unless you ask me to. I’m sorry you got shit for it.” He said pecking the fading mark on your neck. 

“Thank you” you said quietly and smiled up at your boyfriend. “I’m sorry I left one on you too. Even though no one gave you shit for it.” You grumbled the last part. 

Rafe chuckled. “Let’s go home and leave marks other places, pretty girl.” 

“Deal” you smiled. 

Taglist: @moniamaybank @abbyj1822 @october-cameron @hernameisnoell @railmerafe

[flightfoot]

Greeting the New Dawn

Set post-Reveal in @buggachat Bakery Enemies AU, whenever that ends up being.

Thanks to Queenie for betaing!

AO3 ---------

“If you want me to leave, I will.”

Adrien looked off to the side, as if he thought that he wasn’t even worthy of meeting her gaze. As if already looking elsewhere, trying to impose on her as little as possible. “I can put in my resignation and tell your parents I found a different opportunity elsewhere.”

Marinette’s mouth went dry, her stomach dropping into a cavern. He- he couldn’t- not again- he couldn’t leave her- she’d only just got him back!

She willed desperately to say something, to stop him. 

Nothing happened.

Instead, she felt her mouth move, saying words she didn’t want to say. “I think that would be for the best.”

Adrien’s face fell further, his breath hitching slightly.

He didn’t say anything. Marinette suspected that if he tried, that hitch would devolve into full-on sobbing.

He turned around, heading for the door. 

Marinette regained control of her limbs. She reached out to grab him, to stop him from disappearing-

Her vision turned black.

-----

Marinette happily hummed as she kneaded some dough, her father joining her song. She’d missed spending time with her parents while she was in New York. 

*ding ding*

A customer?

Moments later, Sabine walked through the entryway to the kitchen. Marinette relaxed.

Until she got a closer look and noticed her eyes glistening.

“Maman?” 

“A-Adrien- he- he-!”

She burst into tears.

Marinette saw it then. Adrien desperately scrounging out of garbage bins to survive, getting thinner and thinner, having been unable to find another job. Losing his apartment, being forced out onto the streets.

Until finally someone had caught him going through their dumpster, recognized him, and decided that trash like him was unworthy of even having those rancid scraps. 

Adrien leaning against the dumpster, beaten and bloody as the rain came pouring down. Slowly closing his eyes.

He didn’t open them again.

-----

Marinette looked out the window at the rain. She’d given him her umbrella, he’d be fine. He said so himself. She didn’t need to do anything more, right? He could walk straight, he hadn’t even been slurring his words, he was coherent. Everything would be fine.

------

“Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news! Today, Adrien Agreste, son of the infamous supervillain, Hawkmoth, was found bludgeoned to death in an alley. The weapon of choice? An umbrella given to him by my favorite babysitter, Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Let’s give her a round of applause for helping set up the circumstances that allowed Paris to get rid of that loose end, once and for all.”

-----

Faceless masses quietly muttered all around Adrien.

A person would occasionally glance at him. Their face would twist up, fear and anger warring over their features.

Until they’d just walk away.

Leaving him alone, crying, desperately trying to reach someone, anyone.

They all slipped through his fingers like water, leaving nothing behind.

A flash of yellow. A defined figure. The last friend Adrien had.

“CHLOE!”

She turned around, gave him a glance.

Her hair swished as she turned back.

She didn’t look back a second time.

------

“Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news! Today Adrien Agreste was found dead in his apartment. Police are currently treating the case as a suicide-”

Marinette turned off the TV, getting back to designing her new outfit. It was sad what happened, but right now she wanted to concentrate on something more hopeful. 

She smiled as she looked at the red dress she’d just finished, its black accents making the bright red pop that much more.

Her Kitty was out there. She just needed to find him.

------

Marinette jolted awake, panting heavily. She threw off the covers, shakily getting to her feet. Stumbling forward, she reached out for the light switch.

It took her several tries to hit it. Her arm was shaking so badly she just kept on missing. 

Taking the stairs two at a time, she rocketed down. She really missed being Ladybug right about now; she could’ve just swung down to the first story.

A seeming eternity later (36 seconds later, to be exact), she rounded the corner into the kitchen.

The light was on, the sound of dough being rolled out punctuating the quiet of the early morning. 

Please let him be there please let him be there please please PLEASE-!

A blond-haired man turned around. “Mari-?”

She hit him like a freight train.

Instinctively Adrien wrapped his arms around her as they rolled to the side, dough spraying everywhere. 

She couldn’t bring herself to care.

“MARINETTE!” Adrien shouted, anxiety tinging his voice. “What’s wrong? Is someone hurt? Did anything get on you? I’m so, so sor-”

She just pulled him even tighter against her, muffling his voice with her shoulder. 

*thump thump thump*

Adrien was alive. He was here. He wasn’t in an alley or a grave or… or ALONE.

Not anymore.

“Ni-nightmare,” she choked out, trying not to cry. 

The blood drained from Adrien’s face. “It was him, wasn’t it?” He asked quietly, his voice quavering slightly. “I- I should’ve known, I wish I’d-”

“NO!”

She was NOT letting him take the blame for this. 

“It wasn’t your fault kitty, NONE of it was your fault. It was his, ONLY his, you did everything you could to stop him.”

Adrien frowned. For a minute she thought he was going to argue, but he seemed to think better of it. 

“And- and it wasn’t him anyway. Not really. It- it was you.”

“I- I’d never try to hurt anyone here, I’d never try to hurt you, regardless of what happened with Mother I-”

Marinette winced. Foot, meet mouth. Again.

“It wasn’t the Peacock nightmare. It- it was-”

She took a deep breath, pressing her head into his neck, feeling his pulse. “There were so many times when things could have gone worse than they did. Where you could’ve gotten hurt or killed. And- and I would never even have known I lost you.”

“I’m not going anywhere, My Lady,” he murmured into her ear. “Not unless you want me to.”

“If you want me to leave, I will.”

“NO!” She shook her head violently. “Never. I- I couldn’t stand it if-”

If I never saw you again. If you killed yourself because you thought no one wanted you around. Because you thought you deserved it. Or that you deserved to be out on the streets, struggling to survive, because of who your father is and how people see you because of it.

“I want you here,” she told him more calmly. She needed him to know that. To internalize it. “You deserve to be here. You deserve happiness and safety and people who love you and- and just every good thing in the world!” 

She’d tell him this every day if she needed to, until he believed it.

“I- I dreamed that you’d died those times. Like- like when you asked if I wanted you to leave. Or- or thinking back on what could’ve happened if you’d walked home while drunk. But the worst one? Was where you committed suicide before I ever ran into you as a civilian.”

She needed to bake Chloe some cookies. ALL the cookies. She’d probably comment about how she was only tolerating Marinette’s cooking in order to seem nicer to Adrien or something, but she didn’t care. If it weren’t for Chloe, then Marinette’s best friend, the love of her life, would probably be dead.

“In that nightmare, it barely even registered that you’d died. Just- you were just some stranger. Some stranger who was dead now. That- that was most horrifying of all.”

Her hearing about him dying and barely even caring because she didn’t know him - it terrified her more than anything else. Logically she’d known that was a possibility before she’d found out Adrien was Chat Noir, but- well she’d never really seriously thought about him dying. And- and part of her thought that because of how close they were, she’d just know if he was hurt, if something had happened to him. Would recognize him on sight if the worst happened.

But neither of them had known the other when they ran into each other at the bakery. And she’d never had a clue that the boy on the billboards was the same boy running alongside her on rooftops. 

Adrien held her tighter. Something wet dripped onto her neck.

She didn’t comment. His shoulder was damp from her own tears.

“It didn’t happen.” He told her. “It could have, but it didn’t. I- I know what it’s like to have those ‘what ifs?’ running through your head. Sometimes, the best you can do is tell yourself that everything did work out. That it’s okay. I- I tell myself that all the time. Every time I think about what could’ve happened if I never met your parents- if I’d never started working here. If I’d never seen you again. Never met Nino or Alya.”

“Adrien…” 

“It doesn’t help. There’s nothing that can be done about ‘what ifs’. It may not make those thoughts go away, but- but at least it doesn’t matter what could’ve happened, because it didn’t. And thinking about it in circles won’t help.”

He grinned at her. “You know what will?”

She blinked at him, lost for words.

Until she felt something sticky on her forehead.

Reaching her hand up, she got the substance off. 

Dough coated her fingers.

Her partner gave her a shit-eating grin. “Ooops.”

“Oh you are ON.”

As she chased her kitty around the kitchen, trying to tag him with bits of the fallen dough, she smiled.

He was alive. 

Maybe he wasn’t okay yet, but he would be.

And so would she.

[cornholio4]

Lukanette: Tales of Ladybug & Black Feline: Origins

Luka Couffaine went to Francois Dupont along with her smaller twin sister Juleka though they were in different classes. On the way to school he walked with Juleka he had found an elderly man struggling for directions and so he separated from his sister for the time being so that he could help the man. School had gone on as normal but to the shock of everyone there was a giant stone monster calling himself Stoneheart attacking the school and everyone was sent home for their saftey.

Luka and Juleka were now at their boat home the Liberty and Juleka was freaking out and was outside in the fresh air; watching their mother Anarka keeping the cannon in working order just in case they were needed if Stoneheart was to come their way. Anarka had to fight hard at City Hall to get the permit to be allowed working cannons on her home and truth be told Luka had no idea how she had managed to do so.

Though on the outside he was acting more calmly than his sister was; inside he was as freaked out and scared as everyone else. He was wondering if any of the Superheroes from the US were going to have to come here to Paris in order to take care of it. He decided to try and play a song that he had been working on and had went into his bag to take out the song sheet but at the bottom he noticed a black ring to his confusion.

Curiously he inspected it and put it on but was surprise to find a black colored mouse creature floating about with cat ears. "Hi there, I'm Plagg and I am going to be your Kwami. Do you have any camembert here because I am famished?" the creature asked as Luka was taking it quite well.

"We don't have camembert but we have sliced cheese in the fridge." Luka told him and Plagg groaned in response as he shook his head, "Kwami, is this like a spirit in the Ring? Plus what can you do?" Luka asked as Plagg looked hungry.

"Okay look, you have been chosen to gain powers which I can give you. Say 'Plagg, Claws Out' and I have to be sucked into your ring and you transform into a superhero. You get your own staff and if you say 'Catacalysm' you can do a punch that can pretty much destroy anything it touches. I have to warn you that doing so will pretty much give you a limited time before you transform back. Say 'Claws in' when you want to go back to normal yourself." Plagg explained as Luka thought it over.

"There is a monster attacking the city calling himself Stoneheart, do I use these powers to stop it?" Luka asked and Plagg nodded.

"The Butterfly Miraculous has been misused and its power has turned an unlucky person into a villain. He will be wanting your Miraculous and the one of your new partner's. Have to say you can't tell anyone about your powers." Plagg explained some more and Luka nodded thinking it will be good to know that he won't have to do this alone. He asked if he was ready to transform and Plagg replied "If we have to but later we must really talk about getting some decent cheese around here."

Luka sneaked out the window of the liberty and jumped over to the pavement, making sure that his sister and mother was not looking he went to hide an alleyway and transformed. He looked at himself in his new black suit and tried out his staff, using it as a tightrope to walk between buildings but then saw a screaming girl in a black and red suit crash into them and were entangled in the girl's yoyo.

The girl apologised saying that it wasn't on purpose, "So are you my new partner that Plagg told me about... I'm... The Black Feline..." Luka introduced himself as the girl got her yoyo free while stammering and it hit Luka on his head. The girl then saw a building being destroyed as the girl gave her name as Ladybug and asked if they could come up with a plan together.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was surprised at how everything worked out; everything went wrong when she wasn't able to purify the Akuma butterfly and it created so many Stonehearts. She was all ready to give up and give the Miraculous to her new friend Alya but had to take it back and they were able to fix her mistake and send a message to the villain Hawk Moth.

Black Feline it seemed looked like he will be a good partner; he looked determined to help and allowed her to take the lead when she thought of a plan to fix all this. Plus he was very encouraging saying that it was natural to make mistakes on her first day. Perhaps she will be getting the hang of this after all...

She was out in the rain sighing noticing Chloe Bourgeois hugging Adrien Agreste as he was going into his limo to go home. Seems that his father her idol Gabriel Agreste would be willing to let him come to school in her class and she was not really excited about that; the gum incident earlier and him being childhood friends with her school bully.

She fell down in a puddle groaning but was helped up by a taller boy who smiled at her which made her melt as he offered his jacket to her. "You... Don't really have to... How about you getting wet?" Marinette asked.

"Don't worry about it, you look like you need it more than I do. I'm Luka and do you come here?" Luka asked as Marinette's cheeks turned red as she nodded and stammered out her name. "Well nice to meet you Ma-Ma-Marinette." Luka told her and she smiled.

"Marinette, Luka?" asked Juleka coming over with her umbrella with Rose not far behind with Marinette blinking in shock. Marinette asked if Juleka knew him. "Of course I know him, he's my twin brother. Luka, Marinette here is in my class." Juleka explained and Marinette stared in shock as she glanced between the two of them a hundred times in a second trying to see any similarities or anything to suggest that they were twins.

"I will catch up with you later Juleka, Marinette do you think that I can help you walk home so I can get my jacket back afterwards?" Luka asked as Marinette stammered out yes and Juleka said she was alright with that. Rose and Juleka watched as they began walking on the sidewalk and Luka asked "I can feel the music in your soul Marinette and if you want i can play what it feels like later." Luka offered.

"So you play guitar, what music do you like? Because I love Jagged Stone..." Marinette stammered out as Luka said that he does as well.

"Oh my Juleka, Marinette and your brother... It looks like love at first sight!" Rose squealed as Juleka was grinning as well.

[catwentnugget]

Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic

- Don’t Say It -

Summary: Chat Noir finally snaps with Ladybug. (Inspired by Season 4) ⚠️WARNING: Swearing, Slight Spoilers ⚠️

On WattPad at InsomniaCatwent Miraculous Angst {One-Shots}

https://archiveofourown.org/series/2477575

“Pound-“ the bluenette halts her first bump as she sees Chat Noir extend his baton, preparing to jump away.

“Yeah, yeah, I have to go.” He murmurs, not bothering to make eye contact with his partner.

“Chaton, are you alright?”

The feline hero glares at her, making a scoffing sound before jumping off and running across the buildings.

Ladybug frowned, confused by his harsh and cold attitude. ‘He must be busy or stressed with his life,’ she thought finally, ‘I have to meet up with Alya for patrol anyways.

The bluenette swung her yo-yo a few times, gaining the momentum to throw it further, reaching the park, where they had planned to meet. Alya stood there with her flute in hand, her costume in a light shade of purple, her way of calling it her new disguise.

“Alright, we ready?” Ladybug asked.

“Yep!”

The two jumped off, beginning their run through the city for the evening, unaware of the feline hero who sat on one of the rooftops, watching them run.

You know you’re irreplaceable.

A tear slips out of his eye, just to be wiped immediately. Letting out a shaky breath, he slumped against the chimney, leaning his head back. A strained laugh rises from his mouth before turning into soft sniffles.

“I guess I am replaceable, huh?” He murmurs to himself.

-

Night started settling in and Chat Noir was still sitting on that rooftop, lacking the energy to move. Right then, a giant explosion goes off, making him jump to his feet.

Scanning the area, he finds the akuma decked out in all black. A long sash goes across her left shoulder, armed with small bombs, crossing to her right hip. Her blonde hair is in a long whiplike braid. A black mask covers her face.

Right then, his baton lit up with a message. Frowning he opens it to see an incoming call from Ladybug.

He hesitantly picks up and sees Ladybug’s face flash on the screen as she runs across rooftops, her yo-yo shaking as she speeds up.

“Chat Noir! Are you seeing this? Get over to the Eiffel Tower as soon as possible.” Ladybug says.

“Why don’t you get your new partner over, I bet they’ll be more help.”

“Wh- What-“ Ladybug questioned only to be cut off as she dodged a flying bomber with a yelp.

“What are you talking about Chaton?”

“Don’t ‘Chaton’ me,” the feline responds harshly.

“Can we talk about this after?”

“Whatever, I’m coming.” He mutters, hanging up abruptly before his partner could get another word in.

‘I can’t put Paris in danger because of a little jealousy,’ he thought, vaulting himself over with his baton.

He lands at the base of the Eiffel Tower where there was a flipped over bus, fearful cries and calls for help came from it, making him run faster to them.

Lucky the bus flippped so the door was right side up, he climbed on top and used his baton to pull it open.

“Come on, it’s okay, lemme help you,” he calmingly, putting his baton to the side as he helps a mother pull her baby out.

One by one he got them to safety before returning his attention to the akuma who was chasing Ladybug across rooftops, the akuma’s hands were glowing blue as grenades appeared from thin air.

He flings himself up towards the akuma, raising his baton, he smacked her out of the skies. The akuma scowled and started throwing things at him, only for it to be deflected away.

He scans over the akuma, searching for the object, his eyes landing on the small pack she wore on her belt. It illuminated a dark glow, the aura of fear, anger, and other negative thoughts came surging from it.

Chat’s attention turns from the akuma for a second, his stomach dropped as he saw that one hero Ladybug was with earlier. Using this to her advantage, the akuma threw a grenade at him, exploding on impact.

With a groan, he fell back, slamming into the flipped bus. The pain slowly dissipated to a dull ache due to the suit’s power to absorb hits.

“Chat!” Ladybug screamed, dropping down next to him, her hands frantically checking for anything broken.

“I’m fine,” he coughs, pushing her away to which she frowns but nodded quietly, pulling herself up to continue the fight with the other hero.

Chat pulls himself up, leaning against the bus for a moment to catch his breath, wincing. Looking over, he sees Ladybug struggling to find the akumatized object, the bag securely tucked on her waist.

His heart nearly jumped out of his chest when he saw his partner get thrown across the place, crumpled on the ground from a grenade. “LADYBUG!” The other hero shrieked, running towards her with her flute out for defense.

Chat Noir made a half second choice, pulling a small knife from the baton and throwing it at the akuma’s bag with scary exact aim. The knife’s weight dragged down the bag, causing a rip. The akuma’s face goes pale as she falls onto her knees with a pained wail.

Ladybug pulls herself up with the help of the other hero. The blonde grabbed a red bag with black dots, a Ladybug Lucky Charm, and threw it over the akuma to trap it.

“Here,” he says stiffly.

“Thanks, Chat.”

He nods quietly, his eyes not bothering to look at her. “Are you alright?” He says finally. No matter what negative feeling he felt in his heart, he couldn’t bear to see her hurt.

“Yes I’m alright, I’ll be better when I throw the Miraculous Charm and fix the place.”

Ladybug steadied herself before throwing her yo-yo out, purifying the akuma from the bag before throwing the bag up as well.

“I’ll talk to you later,” Ladybug turns to the other hero. The purple fox dressed hero nods before running off.

“Chat,” she says, finally taking his hand into hers, “we need to talk.”

“Yeah no shit Ladybug.” He scoffed, taking his hand out of hers.

“What’s up with you? You’re being so mean and cold!” Ladybug argues, finally fed up.

“What’s wrong with me?” He laughs coldly, glaring at her.

“Yeah, what’s wrong with you!”

“My issues I have with you!”

“I haven’t done anything-“

“Don’t you dare say that.”

“What-“

“Don’t you dare say that.”

“Well I didn’t do anything!”

“You told me you can’t tell anyone about our identities. Yet I found out that both Rena Rouge and Carapace’s identities have been revealed to each other.”

“I- how did you-“

“That’s irrelevant, but I found out that apparently, everyone outside of me can do their own thing, hell you brought in Chloe. Out of all the people, you brought her in.”

“Chat-“

“No you can’t sweet talk your way out of this either, no more ‘Chaton I trust you’ or ‘You’re irreplaceable’ because apparently you can’t trust me even if I’ve been with you since the beginning. That apparently I am irreplaceable after all.”

The tears began to spring from his eyes, only for him to turn away, wiping them off before returning his attention to her.

“So don’t tell me another little speech about how much you care or how much you think about me. Not if you’re going to just lie and then leave me.”

“Chat you’re being selfish!”

“I’m being selfish? Go on, I want to understand why! Because I’ve been keeping you safe and now am hurt when I am no longer the one you count on anymore? That I’ve been replaced in a single second?”

“That’s not what I meant,” she whispered.

“Well that’s what you said.”

“Do you want my miraculous back now too? Find yourself a new Chat Noir? Hell maybe an even better one.”

“No! Don’t leave!”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because- because I need you!”

“Do you now? Can’t you get one of your new trusted partners to comfort you now?” He gestured in the way the fox hero left.

Chat Noir pulled out the baton, extending it into the air before his hand was grabbed by Ladybug’s. Tears streaming down her face.

“Chat please, I just needed someone-“

“You call me selfish when you pull this bullshit.” The blonde laughed dryly.

“I’m struggling Chat!”

“You think I don’t either? What? Because I smile and make jokes? You don’t know anything about my life and you think I’m living the dream?”

“Chat stop!”

“No, what about your life that is so stressful that you couldn’t even bother to confide in me?”

“Being the- the Guardian and being Ladybug and doing all of this!” She screamed, stretching her arm out there.

“You don’t think I’m doing all this too?”

“Yeah maybe Fu gave you the title but we’re in this together. At least we were in this together.” Chat pulled his arm away.

“Do you want the miraculous back? Tell me now or I'm going home.” He stated firmly.

“No, you can’t be replaced and-“.

“Don’t say that.” Chat cuts her off, tears beginning to build again. “Don’t you ever fucking say that.”

He takes a deep breath, taking in the silence.

“Don’t say it if you don’t mean it. Reject me all you want Ladybug, and I’ll be fine. It’s the truth at least. Don’t lie to me, please.” He whispers, practically begging to her.

He glanced at her once more, vaulting off into the night and then back home, leaving Ladybug to fall to her knees in tears.

Like it? There’s more on my AO3! The link is back at the top! Have a great day! <3

[akalei]

Today’s The Day

I’m not dead and neither is this AU! Thank you all so much for the love and as always I hope you enjoy and please feel free to send me asks for more info :)

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@emjrabbitwolf

Today was THE day and Marinette was a complete mess. She barely slept but still managed to miss her alarm. While getting dressed she not only banged her knee on her desk but also fell down the stairs. 

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a complete and utter mess and she was only a bystander. 

“Marinette, why don’t you sit down and have some breakfast?” her mother asked, looking at her daughter, concerned as she got up from the ground. 

Marinette bit her lip as she glanced over at the empty bowl and plate of croissants on the table, “I don’t know Mom,” she placed a hand on her stomach already filled with knots, “I’m too nervous to eat.”

Sabine shook her head, “I know you’re worried about Adrien but there’s nothing more you can do to help him,” she reached out and kissed Marinette’s forehead, “just have faith and eat.” 

Marinette raised an eyebrow, it wasn’t like she didn’t have faith in Adrien or his Justice League approved lawyers, she just doesn’t trust Gabriel Agreste to keep things lawful. 

Thankfully she was interrupted by a knock on the door, “sit down Sweetheart, I’ll get it,” her mother said as she lightly patted Marinette on the shoulder. Marinette did as she was told but didn’t touch the croissants. 

“Marinette, Sweetheart it’s your friends from your club!” Sabine called out. Confused Marinette turned around to face the entryway to see Dick, M’gann, and Connor in her house. 

“Today’s the day,” Dick said with a smile, “are you ready?” 

All Marinette could do was just stare at him, it even took her a minute to realize her mouth was open, “what are you guys doing here?”

“We came because we were worried about you,” a voice said, belonging to a young man with forest green eyes who was standing apart from the rest of her friends. 

“D-Damien?” Marinette squeaked, surprised to see him here. The boy didn’t give more than a shrug in response, his attention on anywhere but her. 

“Are you done with breakfast Mari?” M’gann asked glancing at her empty plate, “because all of us were planning on watching the broadcast together in our hotel room,” 

Marinette was still in shock, unable to form a complete sentence. Why in the world would they be here? It wasn’t their problem-

“We came because we’re friends,” Marinette glanced over at Connor, who always seemed to answer her unsaid questions, “we wanted to support you, both of you.” 

Marinette felt the tension leave her shoulders, and she smiled, “Thank you,” she stood up and tugged her bag over her shoulder, ready to go,  “I mean it.” 

 * * *

Marinette was overwhelmed, first by the size of Dick’s hotel room, and then by how many of her friends came to show their support. Perhaps she and Adrien weren’t as much of outsiders as they believed they were in the Justice League. 

As soon as the broadcast started Marinette had plopped herself on the edge of one of the seats within the hotel room. She sat tall and rigid, her nerves as clear as day to Damien who had settled in the seat next to her. Damien didn’t pay much attention to the TV screen, his eyes trained on Marinette and her ever-changing expressions. As the court case progressed, Marinette’s knee bounced in anticipation and she gnawed on her lower lip with nerves. Caught between concern and annoyance Damien placed his hand on her knee to cease its bouncing. 

Surprised, Marinette tore her gaze away from the screen to look at him. Her face red with embarrassment, “Sorry,” she apologized, her lower lip still caught under her teeth. 

Damien grunted in response and left his land resting on top of her knee, keeping it from bouncing. Marinette quirked an eyebrow, unsure whether or not he was annoyed with her or just concerned in his own way. Soon the court broke for recess and the live broadcast switched to commercials. Without uttering a word, Damien pulled Marinette up by the hand and led them outside of the hotel room. 

“What’re you-?” Marinette started to ask but trailed off as Damien stopped in front of a vending machine. He angrily fed it some euros and punched buttons, after, the machine spat out a bag of chips.

“Here, I know you haven’t had anything to eat,” he thrust the bag of chips out to her, “and you’re beginning to stress me out.”

Marinette gently took the bag from him, “sorry and thank you,” she smiled at him. 

Damien wouldn’t meet her eyes, “no problem,” he leaned back against the vending machine, “anyways who is this guy to make you this worried?” he looked back at her almost reluctantly, “is he your boyfriend?”

Marinette’s eyes widened and she let out a small laugh, “no, no we’re not dating,” she paused to figure out how to phrase their relationship, “he’s my partner, my person.” She opened the bag of chips and popped one into her mouth, “We met when we were 13 as civilians and had no idea that we were partners,”

Damien’s brow furrowed, “what do you mean you didn’t know?”

Marinette smiled, “just that, our master told us that we could never reveal our identities. That we could never trust anyone with that secret,” she shrugged, “and at the time we were so overwhelmed with everything going on we didn’t second guess the rule.” 

“Sometimes it’s easier not to trust others,” Damien said crossing his arms across his chest, “you’re safer only trusting yourself.” 

Marinette shook her head, “I disagree, when your fighting to protect others and risking your life,” she paused to catch Damien’s eye, “you don’t want to be alone, you want to have others supporting you and you have to be able to trust that they’ll have your back. And if that isn’t an option, you have to trust that they’ll make sure everyone else survives.”

There was a gravity to Marinette’s words that Damien wasn’t expecting. He knew that she was a hero, like his father, his brothers, like everyone in that hotel room but he didn’t realize how serious she was. She wasn’t a hero because it looked cool, she was a hero because she wanted to protect everyone even at the cost of her life. Uncomfortable with the sudden realization he changed the topic, “back to Adrien, how did the two of you go from not knowing anything to becoming partners that you’d risk everything for?”

Marinette huffed out a laugh, “we had to grow up,” she popped another chip into her mouth, “we learned what being Miraculous holders meant, that we were cosmically linked and the responsibility that we have to bear forced us to reevaluate what was important to us. And after what happened with the invasion, Adrien and I were done with secrets. If we were to be heroes we were going to do it our way, on our terms.”

“So what happened to land the two of you in this situation?” Damien asked, “I know bits and pieces from Tim and Dick but-” he trailed off.

Marinette folded her half-empty chip bag, “well, it’s a bit complicated. Adrien’s home situation was never the same after his mom died. His father pulled away from the public eye and Adrien was completely isolated in his own home. He was only allowed to go to school after some major convincing from our friend Chloe Bourgeois who is also the mayor’s daughter. And even then if he didn’t live up to his father’s expectations he was immediately confined back home. Long story short he was being abused and thought it was normal,” Marinette looked up from the chip bag, “and then we found out that his father is Hawkmoth,”

Damien’s eyes widened. 

“So to the public today is all about exposing Gabriel Agreste’s shitty parenting but for the League, the Team, for me it’s about ensuring that he’s safe.”  

Damien nodded, not knowing what else to say.  

Marinette just smiled as if sensing his unease, “We should get back, don’t want to miss the verdict.” 

Damien followed Marinette back to the hotel room. He watched her stare at the screen, hands wrinkling the chip bag. But his mind was elsewhere, when he first met the girl he thought he had her all figured out. It was in his training to observe and read people, to determine if they were threats or not. And Marinette seemed like an idealistic hero, just like the other kids he met through his father and brothers. Sidekicks who were training to be heroes because of a dream or because they somehow obtained powers. Kids who didn’t know the harsh reality of the world they live in, the reality that Damien had been trained and prepared for since his birth. He thought Marinette was one of those sidekicks, perhaps a little less idiotic but she was so kindhearted, so idealistic. But he was wrong, about many things. About Marinette’s strength, the reason why she’s a hero, and about her partner. Damien didn’t want to admit it but the little rich boy he had written off as a joke, as a poor excuse of a hero was actually a lot like him. 

“It’s over!” Marinette shouted and startled Damien. He looked up at the television screen to see Adrien with a look of relief on his face, and a scowl on Gabriel Agreste’s. The entire room erupted into a ruckus and suddenly, Marinette pressed a kiss against Damien’s cheek. Shocked, Damien lifted a hand, and lightly brushed his fingers against his cheek. He looked down to see Marinette with a big grin on her face, wondering what the hell had happened.

“Adrien won, we won!”

[the-writer-ofthe-fandoms]

Breaking the Shell (Lucifer Morningstar)

Pairing: Lucifer Morningstar x Reader Words: 1.6k Warning(s): ANGST, blood/wound mention A/N: FINALLy I had enough inspiration to get this one done. I really enjoyed writing it and I hope you guys enjoyed reading. Also I love using gifs lol Request: Hey if you take requests may I ask for a Lucifer x reader where she is so hardened and cold towards everyone so he acts the same way to her until she gets hurt on a case and he panics (you can end it however)

----

A hard shell.

That is what you formed around your heart for protection. Too many people in your life had betrayed you, or hurt you in some form. So when you made the decision to move to L.A., you didn't want to feel that same mental and emotional hurt again.

You worked as a detective at the LAPD, often working alongside with Detective Chloe Decker and her civilian consultant Lucifer Morningstar.

You had no qualms with Chloe. She was good at her job, thought outside the box, stood her ground with what really happened with Malcolm, and she had a good set of morals on her. You respected her and held her in high regards.

Her partner Lucifer on the other hand was a different story. He was a goofy, sarcastic, pain in the ass unprofessional, mess of a person. Although past all of those traits, you can tell he wants to do good, whether he wants to admit it or not. He was like that with everyone else. After a while of starting working here, you noticed he seemed to be matching your "cold" exterior you give to everyone else.

Good, You like to say to yourself whenever it crossed your mind. Less chances for you to get hurt in any situation. Although, you wouldn't admit it but you did have a slight soft spot for him (and Ella, but she is a different case). You admired the good he did, admired is acts of self-sacrifice, and sometimes his occasional quips at Dan made you chuckle. He had a mask on, like you did, but his was much different. Lucifer wore a mask of a suave and care-free, when in reality he held something deep and dark in his heart...

---

It was another day, another case. You were teamed up with Chloe and Lucifer with your partner Dan. The four of you were in some huge, fancy house, looking for the wife and butler of a murdered millionaire. Lucifer pieced together that the wife and butler were the true killers, and they tried framing the gardeners.

The place was surrounded by cops, but the four of you went in alone. Chloe and Dan took one side of the house while you and Lucifer took the other. It wasn't ideal but if he kept his mouth shut-

"So do you always have a stick up your bum?" He quipped your way.

"Are you always this insufferable?" You snapped back, keeping your attention focused on looking for the suspects.

"I find it funny how you keep such a cold exterior to anyone who tries to talk to you."

"I find it funny how you are trying to play therapist right now while we are searching for two murders, Lucifer." You could tell he was trying to mimic your snappy mechanism to keep people away while simultaneously trying to break your wall.

"I just want to know, Darling. You seem lonely."

"Just because I keep to myself and I like being alone doesn't mean I am lonely." You were really starting to get irritated. Although you did slightly lie there... it does get lonely at times.

"Oh did I catch a lie there, (Y/N)? I am the the devil after all, I can detect lies."

"Uh huh and I am the Easter Bunny." You snort.

"If you just step out of that shell of yours you wouldn't be lonely."

"Maybe I have reasons to be alone." You sighed, realizing that opens the door for more conversation about you.

"What reasons could that be?" You didn't respond to his question. "Oh don't shut me out now, we were getting somewhere."

"We weren't. Now drop it." You moved into the master bedroom, which was huge. You stood in the middle of the room and did a general sweep at first. You could feel Lucifer glaring at you, probably attempting to burn holes in the back of your head.

"Why do you keep to yourself, (Y/N)?" He asked you again. You ignored him and kept looking around the room. You had your gun at the ready while you looked under the king sized bed; nothing. You got up from the floor and jumped slightly when you saw Lucifer standing right next to you. He repeated his question. You ignored. He repeated the question yet again and you ignored yet. He repeated-

"I lost a lot of people close to me and I don't want to keep losing them!" You finally shouted at him, your breathing ragged. "I can't- I can't deal with it so I act cold. I act mean. I do want friends but I just can't do it."

"(Y/N)..." He mumbled your name softly. You would of broke down there if you hadn't heard a creak come from the closet. You bit your lip and pushed back all the emotions you were feeling. You walked towards the closet carefully, your weapon at the ready.

You barely make to the door when a burning pain hit you in the abdomen. You noticed the door had a hole through it before you knees buckled from the pain. Another shot rang out and you were hit again, right in the shoulder. You finally fell onto your back, a sob passed through your lips.

"(Y/N)!" Lucifer rushed to your sign, his eyes wide and his expression worried.

"Lucifer..." You cried, blood coating your hands as you tried to put pressure on your wounds. The door swung open and out came the two suspects. They both had guns pointed at Lucifer.

"Y-You are going to let us go and we won't kill you." The butler threatened, but his shaking voice made him seem less threatening.

"You stupid humans." Lucifer seethed, and you could of swore that you saw his eyes glow red. He turned from you and in an instant the man was disarmed and thrown against a wall. The butler slumped down, knocked out. He then turned to the woman and did the same, she let out scream before it was her turned to be tossed.

"Lucifer-" You called to him again which he was at your side once more. He peeled off his suit jacket and placed it over your abdomen wound. "Please... Please don't let me die alone." You hiccuped and winced from the pain.

"I'm right here, darling. I am not going anywhere." He tried to stay calm for your sake but the panic was starting to consume. His breathing was erratic as he stared down at your bloody, sobbing form. You were just starting to open up to him, even if he made you do it with a bit of annoyance, but you let down some of your wall. Now you were wounded, bleeding out right in front of him. "You aren't alone, (Y/N)."

"I'm sorry, Lucifer."

"Why are you sorry, (Y/N)?"

"For being so-so cold towards you. I actually do like you but I just-" You sucked in a deep gulp of air. It started feeling hard to get air.

"No, don't be. I quite like you too, I just didn't understand." He smiled sadly, tears started building up in his deep eyes. Lucifer continued to talk to you, even when paramedics came in to help you out. He followed them to the ambulance and rode with you to the hospital, he promised he wouldn't leave you alone for awhile.

-------

Lucifer and you grew close after that, extremely close. You were almost fully healed up and you were hanging out with Lucifer in his penthouse while off duty. You learned that he truly was the actual, biblical Lucifer and he confirmed you did see his eyes flash red. In turn he learned about the people who betrayed you, the exes that cheated on you, and the people you were close with passing away. He vowed that if he ever came across those who wronged you he would indeed enact some sort of punishment.

You were laying on his couch while he played random songs on his piano. You had the sudden urge to stand up and join him at his piano. You leaned against the instrument and watched with curiosity as his hands moved up and down the white and black keys: you recognized this piece as one of Beethoven's sonatas. He played the last measure of the piece and then looked to you.

"Yes, darling?"

"Oh I was just watching you." You smiled.

"How are your wounds?"

"They are a bit sore but the stitches have pretty much dissolved completely."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Lucifer." You watched as he stood up from his piano bench and placed himself in front of you.

"We didn't start off on the right foot and it took you almost dying for both of us to get to know each other." You picked up on how glassy his eyes were starting to look. "You are a stellar human, one I have grown to... to love." His voice got softer towards the end.

"Oh, Lucifer." You smiled fondly. "I feel the same way."

Lucifer beamed and leaned forwards, planting such a soft and gently kiss on your lips. His hands pulled you lose to his body and you wrapped your arms tightly around his frame.

You were so happy to have let down those walls for the Devil.

"I will always be with you, (Y/N)."

[allthefallendemons]

It’s Harder Than It Looks

Part 1

Content Warning: Cussing, Mean words(Dan is an asshole), Angst, Violence. FLUFF!!

a/n: this is my first kinda soft ending!! I hope you enjoy :)))

Word Count: 1.9k

To say that yesterday was a shit show was playing it simple. After storming off the crime scene in tears, you happened to receive a call from your captain hours later. Managing to convince the captain to keep you away from suspension, he decided that you were going to be assigned a case with Dan Espinoza. It wasn't going to be unbearable, considering you didn't have to be near Lucifer any longer. He was most likely going to try and get along with Chloe, they didn't talk much since Lucifer switched to be your partner after his and Chloe's first case. After finishing up your makeup, you let out a soft sigh, running your hands through your messy hair. "This will be fine," you murmured softly, grabbing the rest of your things and walking out the door.

"Dan! My new partner!" you cheered, hopping happily down the stairs of the precinct, more than grateful to be away from Lucifer, even if it is just for a moment. "Hey, Y/N." Dan glanced up from his paperwork, swivelling his chair to face you. He looked you up and down, nodding to himself "sticking with the new aesthetic?" Dan murmured, leaning back into his chair. You let out a quiet laugh, taking a seat on top of his desk. "Well, it's not like it's some sort of revenge look, I've changed, for good," you explain to your new partner as he shifts closer to you. He places a hand on top of your thigh, waiting a couple to see your next movements. A feeling of surprise slipped through you before you decided to welcome it, it's never too early to get back into the dating game. 'How many girls have lucifer been with since you broke up?' your internal conscience purred as you placed a gentle hand on top of Dan's squeezing it softly. "It's good that you changed, Lucifer made you weak. He was a distraction, you're a great detective without him." Dan murmured, looking you in the eyes as a soft blush crossed your features. Maybe this was good?

Lucifer entered the precinct, holding a bouquet of His Detective's favourite rose shaped chocolates, deeply invested in the thought of getting his girl back. Sauntering down the stairs, a brilliant speech prepared, Lucifer locked eyes with Detective Douche. Dan smirked, reaching up and cupping your face, gently guiding his thumb across your features. Lucifer could feel anger begin to boil within him as he handed the chocolates off to a nearby cop. "Say, Y/N, how about I treat you to a date later on tonight?" Daniel looked into your eyes, as you let out a quiet giggle "I'd love to, Daniel," you smiled at him as Lucifer listened nearby, expecting you to turn him down. "Come by my place at around 8 with some take out, we could watch some Netflix and hang out!" you cheered, a temporarily happy feeling flooding your chest, not realizing this plan of Daniel's wasn't to make you happy. It was to get back at Lucifer, to teach him that the Devil isn't the only one with tricks up his sleeve.

"Netflix was our thing..." Lucifer murmured to himself, watching as you continued to flirt and get touchy with Daniel. This was all a show, there was no bloody way you could become lovers with his archnemesis! Especially after the number of cruel things Daniel has done to you himself! Stealing cases, talking bad about you to other coworkers, Daniel was the one that spread the rumour that you "Have two cats because you could never maintain a stable enough relationship" which was very untrue. He watched the two of you walking away, jumping in surprise as a hand was placed on his shoulder. "I'm losing her, Decker" Lucifer murmured, looking over at his previous partner. "You have to try and get her back, Lucifer. She's obviously the one you love," Chloe shook her head, taking a sip from her coffee as Lucifer nodded to himself. "I know exactly how I'm going to do that," he smirked to himself as Chloe began to shake her head. "No, no, no. Whatever you have planned right now, Lucifer, that's a bad idea. Especially if you're thinking on crashing their date." Chloe inhaled the scent of coffee, showing Lucifer a side look which he clearly didn't pick up on. "You're a genius, Decker! I didn't even consider that! I'm going to crash their date!" He cried, hopping down to the bottom of the stairs. He began to sprint off to who knows where as Chloe rolled her eyes. "Dan is about to get his ass kicked," she grinned to herself, letting out a quiet laugh as she knowingly pushed Lucifer in the right direction.

You decided to get yourself comfortable in something you used to wear before your breakup with Lucifer. Figuring that Dan wouldn't mind if you made yourself comfortable, you slipped on one of your old sweaters alongside a pair of black jeans. 'UCLA' was sprawled across the custom acid-washed sweater, you prepped a small bowl of popcorn. After knowing Dan for years, you always figured there was a soft side to him. A loud knock on the door echoed through the house as you called out "I'm coming!" to your new guest. You looked yourself the mirror, a natural face looked back. You were once back in your own, comfortable state, deciding to trust Dan with this new and fragile place. Opening the door, you tilted your head and smiled at the detective. His eyes went wide as he looked at you, not expecting to see.. well... you. "Heyyy... Y/N! What- What is this?" Dan cocked an eyebrow, letting himself into your house. "Well, I figured we could kinda sit back and relax? I mean, we were working our asses off all day with that case," you explained, your shoulders slouching as he looked back at you. "Oh."

Silence filled the room as he looked at you, his mouth twinging a bit "Y'know if you're going to date me, wearing makeup is pretty much a must." He spoke up, putting the take-out on the counter. Your eyes widened in surprise as he said that, especially since it came from someone like Dan. "What?" you breathed out in confusion, as he began to take his food out. "Yeah, well, it's not like you're jaw-droppingly gorgeous without your makeup on. Hell, that's why most of our coworkers thought you were stuck up, y'know, the lack of makeup and all." at this point, you could feel the anger building up in your chest. Lucifer would never treat you this way, he wouldn't even comment on the idea of you wearing makeup. "Oh, and don't even get me started on the clothes. If that leather jacket is the only sexy thing that you've got, then it's time to go shopping." at this point, you were ready to knock Daniel the fuck out. You approached him, walking around him to grab your own food. "You could do with some changes too, Daniel," you grabbed your food, feeling your knuckles turning white from rage. Opening the lid, you turned and smashed him across the face with the steaming hot food he bought you.

A quiet whistle was silenced by the crash of the plastic container hitting Dan's face, Lucifer stayed hidden in the background, watching the exchange happen between you and Dan. "What the fuck!" Dan shouted, pushing you back and into the counter. Unfortunately for you, you tripped over your footing, crashing into a nearby countertop and hitting your temple. You supported yourself, getting ready to defend your weakened state as Dan raised his fist in the air. Watching as he began to swing at you, you closed your eyes, protecting your already wounded head. Until the impact never came, squinting an eye open, Lucifer stood in front of you, clenching Dan's fist in his hand. He began to squeeze, his eyes slowly fading into their killer red. You raised your hand, gently taking his free hand into your own, "Luce, let him go..." you murmured softly and he did just as you asked. Dan immediately fleeing as he let go, Lucifer turned his attention completely towards you.

"Is everything okay, darling? Does your head hurt? I swear to Dad, I will punish him." Lucifer's eyes flickered red as he cupped your face, looking at the blood that was dribbling down the side of your head. "I kept on telling you to get table corner guards, you're clumsy enough as it is." He wiped away the blood, his concern taking over any other emotion he had before. He opened a nearby cabinet, having memorized where you keep your first aid kit. There had been far too many injuries surrounding you for him to not know. He began to tend to your wound, a quiet hiss escaping your lips as he cleaned it out "I'm sorry, Lucifer." your voice broke the silence as you looked him in the eyes. He shared a confused look with you, tilting his head as he looked at you. "What do you possibly have to be sorry for? I'm the reason you went out with detective douche in the first place," he placed a small bandaid on the side of your head. He cupped your face, planting a gentle kiss on your forehead, "You have nothing to be sorry for, Y/N" He looked you in the eyes, taking a deep breath.

"I... I love you, Y/N," he confessed, shaking his head as he let out a quiet laugh. Your eyes widened in shock, this was the first time he confessed to something like this. He was even the one to say it first! "I love you too, Lucifer." You couldn't resist the urge anymore as you smashed your lips on top of Lucifer's.

He quickly reciprocated, his hands shifting to your waist as he lifted you into the air, holding you as close as possible to him. He sat you down on the counter as you ran your hands through his hair, your eyes fluttering shut as he kissed you. The longing, the need for one another gifted a passionate drive between yourselves. Your movements were synchronized, your connection growing stronger as he showed you his love. His hands roamed freely across your body as you gently played with his hair, making him aware that you weren't ready to do it. So he enjoyed the moment as it lasted, taking in every second as if it was his last. A small feeling voice inside him told him to enjoy it, that you would no longer want to be with him. But that wasn't true as you curled the small section behind his head around your finger, something you always did to make him feel safe in your presence.

He knew it was time to pull away since he memorized that this was when you needed to start breathing. "I missed you," you murmured, collapsing your head onto his shoulder as he held you close to him. "I'm sorry for hurting you, Y/N, please don't feel like you have to change for me," he gently kissed the side of your head, picking you up and into his arms. "Changing is a lot harder than it looks," you chuckle out quietly as he brought you over to the couch. He sat down, keeping you close in his arms as you guided him to lay down. "Let's stay here for a while, Luci." You murmured quietly, resting your head onto his chest. "Trust me, I am not going anywhere." He murmured, looking down at you with a small smile on his features. He got His girl back.

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

Princess of Atlantis

 Marinette has always been fully aware her father wasn’t fully human- or Tom. Her mom had met Arthur- her bio dad- on a trip to Hawaii. They’d had a whirlwind summer fling that ended with Sabine going back to China for her move to France unaware she was pregnant.

 When she discovered she was pregnant she’d contacted Arthur who had gone right to France to explain some things. Learning about the fact there was an entire world underwater? Was… interesting. Learning her daughter may be in danger because of her heritage?

 She was not happy. 

 Marinette was five when her uncle Orm attacked the surface and her father became King of Atlantis. When they’d learned he had a daughter on land they had all decided that she could not be heir given her only Atlantean abilities were breathing underwater. 

 Marinette, even at age five, had no issue with that. She did not want to rule Atlantis. She wanted to be a fashion designer. She said that to her dad when he’d broken the news. 

 “I’m going to also redesign your suit.”

 “It’s not-“

 “It’s ugly daddy.”

 She still was a princess though and had to sit in on lessons given to her by Mera, her father’s betrothed/girlfriend. Mera at least was fun. 

 She learned Atlantean design and etiquette. It was fun and enjoyable and she got to design her new step-mother’s wedding dress and her daddy’s suit for their wedding at age ten which she was thrilled about.

 Marinette grew up learning about her heritage from all sides of her family, her dad fIrm on the idea. She spent time in Hawaii with her grandfather, and later her grandmother, and time in Atlantis. She learned her Hawaiian heritage, her Chinese heritage and her Atlantean heritage from a young age.

 Children though can be cruel. Especially when afraid. A little girl with crazy wavy hair and the ability to swap between multiple languages is fun, but when a girl whose daddy has power and has taught her she can do no wrong decides she doesn’t like you… no one does.

 Marinette grew up being taunted for her differences. She saw how some people side-eyed her and her mother while walking around, how some Atlanteans sneered at her for her mostly human heritage, saw how some of the people on the islands seemed to hesitate around her. She tried to smile through it but…

 Well, in the end, it was easier to pretend. She was white-passing enough that all she needed to do was straighten her hair and stop speaking other languages.

 Her mother hated it. Her papa- Tom- did too. Her daddy did, her step-momma did. Her grandfather and grandmothers did. Kaldur, the boy who became her daddy’s apprentice and a big brother figure to her, hated it too.

 But she couldn’t keep going, couldn’t keep being taunted. So she plastered a smile on her face and pretended. And it worked- Chloe, the bully, backed off and she made some sort of friends. She even became a hero like her daddy and slowly gained actual friends. She got to make her own team like Kaldur, she got a partner she could count on, a mentor to help her out. She was happy.

 Or so she thought. 

 A liar came to school and things went all to hell. She lost everything. Her friends, her comfort she felt in her hero partner being there to help. Her team, her mentor…

 She was left holding a box full of power, tears in her eyes and a scream in her throat. She took off to Atlantis where she collapsed and sobbed into her step-momma’s dress and her daddy raged. 

 It was Kaldur who helped her.

 “Fuck them,” Kaldur told her. “They don’t deserve your tears.” He sat with her and wrapped his arms around her. “They weren’t friends. Friends don’t betray you like this. Friends stick with you even when things go to hell.” He kissed her forehead and promised to be there.

 And he was. He was there when she herself decided fuck it when she stopped straightening her hair and cut it into an undercut with one side framing her face. When she started wearing eyeliner- he even went and got some help from Nightwing for learning some dramatic ways to make her eyes pop.

 Kaldur helped her figure out how to find good people to fight with. Kagami, Luka- they were good fighters, good friends. They had her back. Luka got into fights with his sister about her and never back down. Kagami punched Adrien and told him how little she cared for him seeing how he never backed up his friend.

 Marinette started smiling again soon enough.

-0-

 “I hope Marinette doesn’t make this difficult,” Lila told Alya, pouting. “I know she has Italian heritage too but I’m fully Italian…”

 “Don’t worry girl, we’ll make sure Marinette doesn’t start anything,” Alya promised as they all sat in the classroom about to give their reports on their cultural heritage. The others nodded and all turned to the front just as Marinette walked in. She’d changed- everyone knew it. Gone was the kind girl… sort of. She was still kind, but she stopped looking like she used to her. Her hair was short, she wore dark make-up, and she dressed in loose and comfortable clothing that made her look badass honestly. She also apparently had tattoos but no one had believed it- until today when she came in with no sleeves and showing off her tattoos on her arms.

 “Oh god, where did she get those?” asked Juleka in shock. “They’re badass.”

 “Maybe they’re gang signs,” Lila said slyly, smirking as everyone began whispering about this new rumour.

 “Class,” Ms. Bustier- the woman had moved with them to lycee because Chloe had demanded her favourite teacher be moved with her- began. “Marinette will be going first on her report as she needs to leave for a family thing.”

 “What?” Alya asked. “But Lila’s the full Italian! Shouldn’t we learn about the culture from her?” everyone nodded. Marinette stared at them, face blank.

 “...Nino, you’ve known me since we were kids. You know Tom’s not my bio dad.” Marinette said and the class froze.

 “... Shit, I forgot.” Nino admitted while Marinette rolled her eyes hard. 

 “I figured. So no, I’m not doing Italian anyway.” She turned and began setting up her powerpoint, ignoring the class. Lila was angry. She had hoped to whine and cry that Marinette had stolen some of her points about her heritage or make some comment about Marinette obviously having stolen her report. Now she had to actually do it. “As everyone knows- and I did do a previous report on it- my mother is Chinese. What few others know is that my bio father is kānaka ʻōiwi, or Native Hawaiian as some know them as.” Marinette continued her report, showing off interesting legends about her father’s people and even speaking of her tattoos. “They were done in the traditional way and it really hurt but I think they’re pretty amazing. I don’t have much- just a few that my dad thought fit me.” Marinette grinned and everyone looked at each other feeling uncomfortable. When her report was done she left with a wave and a very awkward class.

 Not that she cared, she was busy focusing on the fact uncle fucking Orm wanted to see her. Orm- as in her weedy uncle who still hated all land walkers. And who looked like a dork and still wouldn’t take her advice about his hair.

 Walking up to the living room, she wanted to whine upon seeing him. He was looking annoyed while sitting on the couch.

 “What’s going on that I needed to ditch school?” she asked, feeling annoyed at seeing him. She had stopped wanting to do everything for everyone. She’d stopped trying to be a people pleaser. It was annoying and frustrating. Kaldur had taken her to meet Red Robin who was similar to her in that way and they’d both had a nice long bitch out about everything before they’d both decided to stop it. Stop trying to help people who never said thanks, stop trying to please everyone. 

 She enjoyed the chaos the class had become and loved hearing about how much of a shit show Gotham’s Batfam had become themselves before they actually started trying again.

 “We need someone to run Atlantis,” Orm said darkly. She stared at him.

 “Oh fuck no. No- nope. Nuh-uh. Aʻole, Méiyǒu. NO.” She shook her head, holding her hands up. “I am literally as far from the throne as I can be given I’m the King’s only kid so far? I mean Kaldur doesn’t count.”

 “This is true but your father is needed in space while Mera is still on bedrest as her pregnancy is most difficult currently and Kaldur has no actual relation to the throne.”

 “And you can’t rule because technically you were dishonoured,” Marinette added in, gaining a dirty look from her uncle. “Damn… I’m just the face of this, right? Step-momma is still the one giving orders?”

 “Of course. Though there is a ball with land walkers you need to attend.” Marinette stopped.

 “...Everyone will know who I am then.” Orm shrugged, uncaring.

 “Weren’t you planning on revealing yourself anyway?” Marinette frowned but sighed, her shoulders slumping.

 “...At least I have a dress already designed and half made for this.”

-0-

 Telling Bustier she wouldn’t be in for two weeks was simple enough. Ruling Atlantis- or really acting as a mouthpiece for her step-mother? Simple to. Jumping back to Paris when an Akuma happened? Easy. All of Atlantis knew she was Ladybug- they felt the magic. They knew she was the Guardian as well and mostly ignored that as long as Plagg never came near them. Given she was still hesitating on claiming the ring she was okay. 

 She didn’t want to take his ring, she wanted her partner back, her best friend. She wanted him to stop flirting and stop not taking things seriously.

 “It’s annoying,” she told Kaldur while signing some papers. She and Kaldur were in the room Mera was in, the woman annoyed at the bed rest condition she’d been given for her pregnancy and demanding Marinette sign the papers in her room at least. “I mean- it’s wrong and gross and I should take it back but it feels… wrong. Gross to consider it, you know?”

 “That’s the bond of a Ladybug and Chat Noir I believe according to our records,” Mera told her step-daughter.

 “Yeah- magic makes things tricky. But he’s really pushing the boundaries.” Kaldur told Marinette who sighed.

 “I don’t know what to do.”

 “Tell him you’re dating someone,” Mera said. “If he’s a dick still then take the ring.” 

 Maybe she would. Maybe.

 But first, she had the damn ball to deal with.

-0-

 “I look terrible in gold Uncle Orm.”

 “Stop calling me that.”

 “Uncle.” Orm glared at his niece as she glared at the gold fabric he’d thrust into her arms to add to her dress. It needed an extra layer, and gold was one of the colours of Atlantis. “I look better in silver.”

 “I don’t care. You need to have the colours of Atlantis on you.” Orm told her. She glared at him and then at the fabric.

 “At least you got the sheer stuff. It’ll look nice over it hopefully.” She added the cloth and did admit it looked nice.

 She still hated gold cloth. 

 But it went with her tiara as she waited for the announcer to call her, a hand on Kaldur’s arm.

 “Relax Marinette- everything is okay,” he told her softly. 

 “I’m about to reveal to the whole world I’m the Princess of Atlantis.”

 “Imagine the looks on your classmates’ faces?”

“...Okay yeah, I feel better now.” Marinette flashed a smile and waited.

 “Her Royal Highness, Princess Marinette Curry-Dupain-Cheng of Atlantis, current regent while her father is in space and Lord Kaldur of Atlantis.” the Announcer read out loud. Marinette and Kaldur walked into the room with their heads high.

 Cameras flashed and Marinette kept her eyes focused. Her dress showed off her tattoos and muscular arms, the entire thing designed to be able to fight in if needed. She was every inch the warrior princess that Atlantis could boast of.

 “Princess!” a man shouted. “Who designed your dress.”

 “I did myself,” she told him. “I enjoy fashion design and sewing.”

 “Are you the heir?”

 “No,” she told that reporter. “Due to the fact I only have a quarter of Atlantean blood I am not the heir but as said I stepped in as regent while my father fights for our galaxy,”

 “Are you and Kaldur dating?”

 “Definitely not- he’s my elder brother in everything but blood and legality.” She told that one before she was led away by Kaldur and had to play nice for a few hours with politicians. 

 There was one face she recognized.

 “Prince Ali,” she said, curtseying like she’d been taught by Mera.

 “Princess Marinette,” the Prince of Achu said, bowing. He looked a bit sad. “I see you aren’t in rehab like Rose is saying Lila is claiming.” Marinette stopped as did Kaldur.

 “...What?”

 “Apparently that’s the new rumour that Lila Rossi is spreading.” 

 “...I believe I need to make some calls to various lawyers we have on land,” Kaldur said darkly and strode off to do so. Marinette had her eyes closed and took a deep breath.

 “I hate that girl will all my soul,” she finally said after a moment.

 “I do as well,” Ali admitted. Marinette looked at him in surprise. “I meet many people, your highness. Sometimes- unless they had made an impression- I forget them. When Rose asked if I knew Lila, I said possibly I’d met her. I did not know the extent of her lies until Rose referenced them and then… it was to late.”

 “Not really your highness, you could have said something.” Ali winced.

 “I have few friends, Princess Marinette, Rose is one of the few. And like others she expects me to be a perfect Prince which means not… rocking the boat so to speak.” He looked pained saying so, and Marinette frowned.

 “Then she’d not a friend Prince Ali. Real friends wouldn’t hold you to expectations and ideals. That’s why I stopped being friends with a fair amount of my class. I think only Juleka and I could be called friendly- and that’s because her brother is one of my best friends.” Ali frowned but looked thoughtful. 

 After the ball, Marinette went back to Atlantis with a satisfied smile. She had a nice time, and she even swapped numbers with Ali. 

 Maybe she had a new friend.

-0-

 The rest of the time spent in Atlantis was spent texting Ali when bored and ignoring the emails from her classmates who’d realized she’d changed her number. Most were basically begs for her to talk to them, a few saying they were sorry, or asking for an interview. Some accused her of lying or brainwashing Ali (Alya there) while Rose sent a sorry email. Apparently, she’d taken Ali’s message to heart and even Juleka felt bad.

 Marinette didn’t give a damn.

 When her dad came back and she got to hug him and hit him for leaving the planet- idiot- he had a laugh over the emails.

 “Your classmates are ridiculous,” he told her. “What, do they think you’ll dramatically run back to each other, arms wide open?”

 “Probably,” she told him. “I just don’t give a damn.”

 “Nice.” he ruffled her hair and they chatted about seeing grandma and grandpa in Hawaii over the summer again before Marinette headed back to Paris where some of the Atlanteans who could walk on land were guarding the bakery. And where a lawyer was waiting, plus a personal assistant.

 “No,” Marinette whined as her father patted her shoulder. He’d gone with her to explain some things. 

 “Sorry kid. You’re in the spotlight now- and that means you do need to go to a few galas and balls.” Marinette playfully gagged. Arthur laughed at his daughter again. He was happy she was doing better, that things were okay for her again. He’d worried when she was a shell of herself. Worried when she became Ladybug and worried when that Rossi girl came to the class.

 He was happy she was okay.

-0-

 Marinette’s new personal assistant was named Stephanie Brown and she was, in fact, Spoiler from Gotham who had agreed to move to Paris to help Marinette out and to be part of her new team of heroes she was putting together. Stephanie was still in school but she was killing it already as a personal assistant.

 “Alright, so school, homework, design time then patrol. Maybe steal the ring today?” Stephanie asked as she checked the tablet.

 “Maybe. I want to give him one more chance…” Marinette sighed. “But that could be the bond…”

 “Hey, up to you but I will follow as the lovely Buzzer to keep an eye on things.” Stephanie grinned as Pollen giggled from the depths of her hair. Marinette nodded as they continued their walk to school, the lawyer following. 

 Marinette ignored the majority of the students staring at her as she walked to class, only saying hi to Kagami who waved her down to playfully scold her for not telling. 

 When she got to class, Stephanie broke off and the lawyer was the only one with her as they entered the room.

 “GIRL!” Alya stood up. “Why the hell didn’t you ever tell me?” she was insulted her friend had never said anything to Alya.

 “Because we’re not friends anymore and I wasn’t sure if I could trust you when we first met. Guess I was right.” she shrugged at Alya who flushed red at that. Lila was staring at Marinette with wide eyes as the girl turned to her. “I heard someone was claiming I was in rehab these past two weeks, plus that my tattoos were gang signs and oh so much more.” The lawyer stepped forward then.

 “You’ve been served,” she told Lila who stared at the lawsuit in horror. Marinette ignored the class’s exclamations and demands she not go through with it, instead going to sit at the back again, uncaring of their words.

Adrien was giving her a look but she ignored it, pulling her phone out to text Ali, who’d texted her asking if she wanted to go for lunch. Checking with Stephanie, she agreed. 

 Still ignoring the class- now with Bustier giving her disappointed looks- she rushed out of the school to where Ali was waiting at lunch. The class followed and stopped, seeing who she was with. 

 “Ah, Princess Marinette.” Ali bowed and Marinette bowed as well, given she was wearing jeans and not a skirt.

 “Prince Ali, it is a pleasure to see you again.” They smiled at each other before both blushed, feeling awkward when they realized they’d been staring.

 “You look like a queen,” Ali remarked before his face went even redder and Marinette’s cheeks flamed before she grinned.

 “Well I am a princess…” Ali stuttered but then laughed, offering his arm and opening the door to all of the possibilities of the two, while the class watched.

No one really realized the fall out that would occur, with Lila’s mother fired, her lies exposed and her dealings with Hawkmoth revealed. No one knew that a new cat would stalk the night one day, calling himself Prince Noir. No one knew how their lives would change.

 Especially not Marinette or Ali.

tagged: 

@vixen-uchiha @persephonebutkore @magicalfirebird @starwindmaden @liawinchester67 @doriebell @animegirlweeb @unmaskedagain

[sasuhinasno1fan]

‘Secret Relationship’ - Lukadrien June Day 26

My mind went to Hart of Dixie when I read the prompt so yeah. Lemon was a lot to deal with so I felt like Chloe would be her but they have redemption arcs, don't worry. And hey, she and Zoe get along here, so it's ok. Secret Relationships

He didn’t have to say anything, really. As much as he loved this small town, for some reason, it didn’t love him back. Even though he grew up with summers here, helping his mom in the practise and hanging out with Chloe, when he left for a few years to become a doctor and try and land a residency, everything changed. Chloe was ten times more intense and her overprotectiveness of her half-sister and hatred of her mother made her unbearable, nothing like the girl he remembered. People seemed to think he was a completely different person that the very idea of him being their friend was something to be scared of. Like now, he’d been secret friends with Sabrina, helping her gain more confidence to stand up to Chloe - who he’d hope would eventually talk to him and explain why she was acting the way she was – and she’d been chosen as Memory Matron, basically a person who ran the town’s traditions and tried to preserve a few old historic buildings. Chloe of course wanted it and was obviously upset, but Adrien was proud of Sabrina for taking charge. He’d been hoping it would mean they could hang out in public but she said she couldn’t since most people in the town ‘hated him’. It still hurt to hear and see, after calling this small town his home, and not just because his mother was one of the doctors.

When his parents split and his mom was busy with the divorce, the town practically came together to help raise him until he had to go back to his dad, the unfortunate part of the deal between them. he’d been in Paris for a few years, hoping to get high up before coming to help his mom out. His mom had been sick during then and made those who knew, promise not to tell him and leave before he could get his fellowship. When he got here, his mom was on her deathbed and the sudden announcement that he’d take over her half of the practise was a surprise and a lot of people thought he choose the job over his mom. Chloe’s dad was his partner and certainly didn’t want to share, there was a minor incident involving a parade float that he got blamed for and apparently delivering a baby at an engagement party was in poor taste. Though, he’d blame that last one on Nath’s mom, since she never got along with his own and she was just passing on the dislike to him.

Point was, here Chloe was, with Sabrina keys, the keychain he’d given her earlier dangling from the ring, and the blonde was looking smug, thinking she was going to get what she wanted after all, basically announcing that he and Sabrina were friends and that was against the law.

He loved Chloe and he might be mad at Sabrina for choosing a position over him, but he wasn’t about to let Chloe win. “My keys!” he got up from his table and practically sprinted to the front of the room, snatching them from Chloe’s hand. “I’ve been looking for these everywhere. Thanks for finding them Sabrina.”

Chloe scoffed. She might hate her mom, but her attitude was fitting her more and more each day. “You have keys with your own name on it? Self-obsessed much?”

“No that’s you. these are keys I made for someone else.” He looked across the restaurant, trying to decide who. It’d have to be a date; the whole town had been gossiping about him dating someone. Finally, he made his decision and walked over to the bar, relishing a little in Luka’s confused expression. “I think it’s time we stop hiding things. Here, it’s for the carriage house. Try not to be late this time.” He grabbed his stuff and left, letting out a breath once he was as far from the Liberty’s Hardrock.

He just told the whole town he was dating Luka, his kinda sometimes annoying neighbour, who had a heart of gold that hide beneath all those piercings and hair dye. There was a minor make out when he moved back, since he’d completely changed and Adrien was a little drunk of wine, then when the heatwave hit and he almost went further and then the moment they shared during Christmas. Adrien wasn’t going to lie, when he was a kid, he thought Luka was the coolest and the years had been very good to him. But he hadn’t been ready to date anyone, his last attempt ended up sleeping with someone before their date could even happen. He wanted to put a pause, but now to protect someone, he was.

He just hoped Luka didn’t kill him for leaving him to answer questions everyone was sure to have.

                                                  ________________

Luka knocked on the door to the carriage house an hour later. Adrien was sent back to the last time Luka knocked on the door, with Nino tagging along to try and find Adrien’s mystery man.

“Hi.” Adrien greeted, taking in the ruffled appearance Luka had compared to the more put together one from before. “What happened to you?”

“Courtesy the very curious towns people. Thanks for leaving me there. Still think you should have let Sabrina sink.”

Adrien let the bartender in and headed back to his bedroom. “I’m not that type of person. I helped Sabrina earn that head place and maybe if appearance didn’t matter so much, things would have been different. That and if the town didn’t think I’d choose a fellowship over my ailing mom.”

Luka dropped himself on the bed next to Adrien. “You know all you have to do is ask Marc and he’d release that recording on the gossip cite.”

“And get him fired from being a lawyer’s assistant, no thanks. I’ll prove it to them myself. Now, I think we need to talk secret relationship. You know as well as I do if we break up way too suddenly, Chloe will know we were lying and Sabrina will pay for it.”

Luka shook his head, clearly wanting to say more but clearly knew when to stop poking. “Alright. What do we say?”

“Ok, why did we hide our relationship? When did we start going out?”

“Started after Christmas. And…” Luka let out a hum, trying to think before he snapped his fingers. “You have a tendance to put others before yourself and since the town is weary of you, you didn’t want to get me in trouble. Me being the town rebel doesn’t care and has been looking for an excuse to spill about this ‘secret relationship’ since we got together.”

“Luka.”

“Hey, you wanted to know what the story is, it’s the one that makes the most sense.”

Adrien shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m doing this. I was supposed to not be dating anyone but thank you for going along with this.”

“You’re lucky your worth it.”

                                                ______________

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you and Luka were dating!”

Adrien listened to Marc talk about what happened last night. he was used to people staring at him but now it was intense. Was him dating someone that big a deal?

“How long has it been going on? Wait, is he the guy everyone’s been whispering about? The one you’ve been so giddy over?”

“Oh, uh, yeah.” He happed to see Chloe, her sister and Sabrina passing by. “Hey, I’m gonna go to the corner store and get ice cream.”

Marc looked confused and glanced at his watch. “It’s like 8 am? Don’t you have to be at the office soon?”

“Like Andre wouldn’t revile in me being a bit late. I’ll see you later!”

Minutes later, Adrien was in the corner store, hiding by the freezers waiting for a head of red hair. Finally Sabrina showed up. He pulled her keys he’d gotten from Luka and passed them to her.

“Here. Luka had to keep the keychain.”

“He deserves it more than me.” Sabrina looked sorry for herself and Adrien had been there when she started crying when they couldn’t be friends anymore. “So I guess it isn’t true? You just did it to protect me?”

“Yeah. I want to be friends with Chloe again, but she’s gonna have to learn not to be so selfish. You deserve this spot. You stood up to her and you proved you’ve got what it takes. I just, I need friends who are gonna stick by me. And I guess Luka is one of them, doing this for me.”

“I know it’s fake but I think you two would be good for each other.”

Adrien shrugged. Would they? Since moving back, even though they could poke each other buttons, he always knew he could count of Luka for help or just be there. Any other person would have asked for something in return, but Luka was different.

‘You’re lucky your worth it.’

He usually said that when Adrien would beg him to do something for him. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but he like it when Luka said that, made him feel special.

He left the corner store and almost crashed into Luka, who was being followed by Alya and Marinette, friends of there but also people behind the town’s gossip cite. Adrien could only guess why they’d been following him around.

“Hey, I was just heading to the office.”

“Cool, so I’ll see you at the restaurant for lunch?” Luka asked.

Adrien nodded and before he could even say anything else, Luka had his arms around his waist and his lips pressed against his.

They’d shared a kiss before but it was a memory Adrien didn’t look at with the biggest fondness. This however, was much better.

“I’ll see you later.” Luka whispered against his lips before he was gone. Adrien didn’t even hear Alya and Marinette grill him.

If this was a fake secret relationship, why did it feel so real?

[cornholio4]

Scarlet Lady Au: Two Halves of Marinette’s Heart

Author’s Note: Based on Zoe-Oneesama's Tumblr comic Scarlet Lady which is my fave Ladybug fan content or tied along with LadyBugOut. Only there and the amnesiac Adrien in the episode Oblivion do I ship Adrienette. Also happy birthday to Zoe.

@zoe-oneesama

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was smiling as he was riding on the back of one of her boyfriends Luka Couffaine's bike as he had insisted on giving her a ride to school. He and Adrien Agreste had recently revealed their feelings to her and she was torn between them: the cute and nice Adrien and the cool but also dorky like her Luka. It was tough to think it through even after they had both assured her that they don't want to hurt their friendship with her no matter what she choose. It was Alya who stepped in after healing her dilemma had said that she can just date them both since she had two hands for the each of them. Luka and Adrien were fine with this as long as Marinette was happy and it was then their relationship happened over the weekend.

They had let their family know and they accepted it well: Anarka was quite over the top in her excitement, Marinette's parents and embarrassed her by saying that she had got them 2 sons in law; Juleka had likewise already claimed Marinette as her sister in law and Adrien's father... Marinette and Luka looked at him in sympathy when he just shook his head saying that he was too busy to get a chance to tell him. Marinette comforted him with a hug not really liking how her favourite designer was so cold to his own son. Pollen was more than happy about his Miraculous' owner's new relationship and said his queen deserved all the love that she gets.

Marinette kissed Luka on the cheek after she got off and Adrien was there to greet them as they posed together for a picture smiling which Juleka took with Adrien's photo. Luka and Adrien showed off their custom necklaces around their necks made by Marinette of two halves of a heart with "Marinette's heart" inscribed on them.

"Are you sure that you are ready for everyone to know about you three?" Juleka asked giving Adrien back his phone and they nodded without hesitation.

"I don't really care as much for father's opinion but he seems to like Marinette as an up and coming designer so I think he will give approval." Adrien said with a huffed voice which had them silent.

"I wouldn't want to hide being with Marinette at all; I would sing it with my soul." Luka said Adrien posted the picture on social media with the caption:

Me with Luka Couffaine and our amazing new girlfriend Marinette Dupain-Cheng!

They got in and as students saw the notice they began crowding Marinette and Adrien as they came in holding hands as they went to their classroom. There were students wanting to get a look at 2 3rds of the new couple as they heard the comments:

"Marinette scored herself with 2 cute guys!"

"Are you going to be modelling Marinette's designs now Adrien?"

"So are you going to be Marinette Dupain-Cheng-Agreste-Couffaine in the future?"

They ignored them and walked into class with Juleka not far behind them to see their excited classmates wanting to know the details.

"So Adrien, will you and Luka be fighting eachother to get the most out of Marinette's time?" Alix asked as Marinette glared at her while Rose was squealing about how romantic it was. Marinette was taken aback when she noticed Lila and Sabrina glaring at their direction while looking quite jealous.

She was shocked by this thinking that she was getting along with Lila and Sabrina was forming a good friendship with her while helping her start over from her toxic so called 'friendship' that she had with Chloe. Marinette's eyes widened when she noticed that Adrien went to get to his seat and their looks were going to his direction, so it was Adrien they were angry at?

"Can I please ask if Adrien has done something to anger you?" Marinette asked as they both shook their heads and there were laughter.

"Marinette, they are just jealous that Adrien and Luka got to you first!" Alya told her grinning as they ended up nodding slightly a bit embarrassed.

"You helped me be more truthful about myself and I still remember how in love that I felt when I heard you badmouth that terrible Scarlet Lady!" Lila said as Marinette was open mouthed wondering just could she possibly remember that since she was Volpina at the time. Marinette did remember that while she was telling the love struck Volpina that she hated Hawk Moth more than Scarlet Lady, that she a bit scared that Volpina was going to kidnap her as a bride for her comment alone.

"You've always been so nice to me Marinette and never held what I did for Chloe against me, even when I tried to steal your diary for her and lied my way into your room. You've been more of a friend to me than Chloe ever was and you are so amazing." Sabrina told her as Marinette didn't know what to say.

"I bet Luka and Adrien wouldn't mind if you wanted to date Marinette as well, if Marc is alright with Nathaniel wanting to go after Marinette as well." Rose suggested as Marinette, Sabrina, Lila and Nathaniel were now red in the face.

"Dupain-Cheng!" screamed an unwelcome voice as the entire class groaned in unison as they should have dreaded this reaction as Chloe came in looking angrier than they had ever saw her which was quite an accomplishment for her. "How dare you steal my Adrikins away from me! I could care less if you wanted to waste your time with that loser with the guitar as losers belong together, that do you think that I was going to sit back and let you keep them both for yourself when Adrien is mine!" Chloe thundered as the class glared at her.

"Watch what you say about Marinette or my brother!" Juleka said speaking up using courage that almost never comes to her.

"Adrien is not a prize to be won or yours to claim Chloe; it's his choice who he wants to be with!" Marinette told her as Chloe smirked getting out her phone.

"Managed to get a picture of your little notebook when you had it open and wasn't looking Dupain-Cheng." Chloe said showing off a drawing of a love heart around Chat Noir as Marinette was open mouthed at that picture being shown to the class and red in her face but while angry at Chloe, Adrien couldn't help but smile a bit at the picture. "So do you want to claim the mangy cat as well Dupain-Cheng with how pathetic you are?" Chloe snarked looking victorious but Adrien spoke up.

"Nothing wrong with having a celebrity crush Chloe, I have one on Marigold myself." Adrien said taking out his notebook and showing that it had a photo of the Bee heroine Marigold with a heart drawing around it as Marinette was redder in the face while Chloe was open mouthed.

"Nothing wrong with that dude, she is pretty much the best hero that Paris has now!" Nino said with everyone smiling and nodding in agreement besides Chloe and Marinette. Marigold has with her fighting tenacity, warm comforting words to Akuma victims after they were being freed and happy to help civilians in need made her a more popular hero. She had given interviews and how valued Chat Noir was as a partner and helped Paris realise how hard he had to fight against the Akumas.

"Excuse me but Scarlet Lady is by far Paris' best hero!" Chloe retorted by Alya got out her phone and showed the poll that the news station had made asking Paris citizens who they liked the best.

Marigold was in the lead followed by Chat Noir, Maotif the one time temporary Chat Noir was in 3rd place and in a very distant 4th place with barely 1% vote was Scarlet Lady. "Paris disagrees Chloe." Alya told her and Chloe was furious. People were being interviewed and the stories of people's interactions with Scarlet Lady were now circulating.

"Adrien, you can't seriously be okay with this! I'm your friend and we would be much better than stupid Dupain-Cheng!" Chloe told Adrien but he shook his head.

"'Were' your friend Chloe, 'were' as in we used to be and haven't really been friends for a long time but I am just making it official!" Adrien thundered and Chloe was open mouthed and this surprised the class. "Sorry Chloe, I have tried to give you some time to better yourself but you keep pulling these stunts while being a cruel bully to our classmates and treating me like a possession of yours. Calling my girlfriend and my new bro losers was me losing all patience and I can't pretend anymore. I am sorry Chloe but I can't be friends with you anymore, you are different from the friend that I used to have." Adrien said and Chloe furiously charged at Marinette.

Adrien caught her hand and glared at her hard before letting go, Chloe began ranting and shouting on the spot while kicking the desk and Ms Bustier had to tell her off and send her to the principal's office.

"Sorry about that Adrien..." Marinette said since as much bad blood as there was between her and Chloe, the bully did used to be a friend to Adrien.

"You have nothing to be sorry about, just keep being the girl that I love." Adrien told her and she smiled back.

Later in the week, after school they were at a park bench as Marinette was at Luka's lap and Adrien was in Marinette's as the three relaxed together. However they heard screaming and saw an Akuma attacking people in the streets.

Marinette jumped out of Luka's lap and helped Adrien up who was in a similar panic as her's. "Sorry guys, I hate to break up a perfect moment but... I have to get a cake to Nadja and I don't want to be earlier than I was last time since it didn't go so well..." Marinette said thinking on the spot.

"Don't worry... I just remembered an event that my dad would want me to be at..." Adrien said as they both ran off in separate directions.

Luka smiled as she dusted himself off and went home chuckling at them, after a few days of this did they really think that he would not pierce it together? No matter, this means that he could talk to Adrien about Marigold and bond over them crushing on her.

[fandom-necromancer]

Time for a vacation

This was prompted by an amazing anon! I really like Gavin and Eli as bros! Hope you enjoy!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Characters: Elijah & Gavin | Background Ship: Reed900

‘Ah damn, when was the last time we were here?’, Elijah sighed as he exited the car he had parked manually after the automated driver had refused to go off-road. ‘I would guess before you decided to play god?’, Gavin answered, smiling as Elijah looked at him insecurely. ‘Hey, just a joke. But seriously, haven’t been here in a long time. But I still remember it. We used to play volley ball over there.’ ‘You were terrible.’ ‘Says the one who was even worse than that.’ That made Elijah chuckle and shut the door, while Gavin was already excitedly gathering his bag and tried to get a hold of the next one. By then, Nines and Chloe had also made it out of the car and it was the RK900 that shoved his human away from the boot. ‘I will take care of that, Gavin, go and look for a nice place, will you?’ Immediately, the human had let go and bolted.

‘Good to see he is still as easily excitable as he was when we were young’, Elijah chuckled and took his share before locking the car and walking over to the spot Gavin was already frantically waving from. ‘He is’, Nines nodded. ‘And he really meant it as a joke, he told me on multiple occasions I was the best thing to ever happen to him and you were the reason for my creation.’ He winked at Cyberlife’s reinserted CEO. ‘Use that information however you may wish.’ He left Elijah standing there and walked the rest of the way. The human smirked, then followed.

They sat down on the blanket in the sand and stared ahead over the Lake Huron, that, if you didn’t know it was a lake, seemed to stretch endlessly like the open sea. Nines and Chloe had decided that sitting around and talking about the olden times was something inherently human ergo boring and had taken to exploring the beach. What left Gavin and Elijah alone on their blanket. ‘I still remember Lizzy and Dad taking us up here’, Gavin spoke up as the silence stretched and only the waves could be heard. ‘Simpler times.’ ‘You think so?’, Eli asked. ‘I don’t know, 2020 was a bitch.’ ‘Yeah, alright. But except that… I mean, it was all still… working out, you know?’ ‘You mean mom?’ Gavin nodded. ‘I mean I didn’t really know my mom, stayed with dad and never really saw her, but from what I’ve heard…’ He swallowed. ‘I always looked up to Lizzy and thought that she would never be like that.’ ‘Yeah, I’d hoped my mom would be different, too’, Elijah agreed. ‘I know I wasn’t home a lot back then but… Well, some things reached even me at Colbridge.’

‘Phck, this was supposed to be fun, not us getting depressed over the past’, Gavin laughed and leaned back. ‘Come on. We both know what happened and that it was shitty and that we were far better off in Detroit far away from them. That’s like... canon now. Tell me what I don’t know! What are you working on at the moment?’ ‘Err…’ Kamski threw him a nervous side glance, Gavin immediately caught onto. ‘Hey, I know I won’t understand a thing. Just try to explain it. If I can’t figure it out, it’s my shitty brain’s fault.’ ‘I believe the best Detective of the DPD is cleverer than he likes to think’, Eli teased. ‘Whoo, someone stared at the employee of the month posters a bit too long’, Gavin waved it away. ‘Come on, humour me.’

‘Pff, I don’t even know Gavin. These days I’m not stuck in the lab all day. Honestly, I mostly am a representative and manage finances… There’s little room for creativity and I believe the politics of companies are one of the least interesting things for you.’ ‘I know Cyberlife’s trying hard to hide their racist views. Gotta be the new android-healthcare supplier that helps them build mods and get their own bodies and stuff.’ ‘Hey, it wasn’t racist as they really just were machines.’ ‘Oh, come on. Do household robots really need to look human? Can’t tell me deviancy wasn’t a shiny experiment gone too far.’ ‘We are actually looking into this’, Elijah remembered. ‘Where did it come from? It’s a really interesting questions, because we don’t really know and… What?’ Gavin had crossed his arms behind his head, smiled and closed his eyes. ‘Ah, nothing, just that’s my brother. Doesn’t matter if you are working numbers all the time and are immensely frustrated over… I don’t know copyright strikes or something. You still have that spark you had when you first soldered together your first circuits and almost burned yourself.’ ‘Oh come on, I didn’t-‘ ‘You didn’t, but who is to thank for that?’ ‘You’, Eli chuckled. ‘Alright, yes, I still sit alone at home in my lab when I’m back from work and I might have to tell the researchers to turn a blind eye on some lines because I might not be entirely innocent when it comes to deviancy, but-‘ Gavin had opened his mouth at that point, but Eli shushed him. ‘Hey, I certainly didn’t expect this, I wanted to prove a point, that’s all. But anyways, I wanted to ask about you. What are you doing lately?’

Gavin exhaled deeply, frowning. ‘Not much, really. I’m still living in my flat with my cats. Well, and Nines, who is amazing and awesome and sweat and-‘ ‘You have a boyfriend, yes, I’m aware, what else?’ ‘Hey, we’re engaged, okay? I’m serious. Might even marry that one.’ ‘Really?’ ‘Hey, my other boyfriends were assholes, it seems I inherited my taste in bad partners from dad, but that doesn’t apply to Nines, because he’s the driving force for once. Anyways, Nines is perfect, and I plan on spending the rest of my life with him, because I’ve been lonely and miserable for too long.’ He took a break to breathe and continued: ‘Yeah, cats, Nines, flat. What else? I’ve nearly finished repairing that old bike I’ve bought.’ Eli blinked. ‘That’s been sitting in that garage for how long now?’ ‘Too long, but it’ll be finished next summer, I swear! Also, might finally get back to narcotics now that the others have homicide back under control. I’ve seen enough murdered people and crying family members for a while.’ ‘And narcotics is better, because...?’ ‘Because there generally isn’t as much drama. I mean come on, who uses Red Ice? The super-rich people I don’t care for-‘ ‘Hey!’ ‘And the lowest people that have done far worse than drugs. Everyone in between uses the normal stuff. You don’t have to explain a grieving wife or husband why their partners aren’t coming back. Or what’s actually worse: you don’t have to talk to severely traumatised androids who will be punished for a crime that was self-defence. Like you know no court will let them go, not yet, not when everyone still thinks they are machines.’ ‘And there we are at the depressive part again…’

Gavin chuckled. ‘Yeah, I guess. But I’m really happy to get back into it and Nines will get his Detective badge soon too. Has to retake Academy classes now because programming isn’t enough anymore. Well, once he made it, we will be partners. Can’t wait for that.’ ‘What happened to “I don’t do partners”?’ ‘He became “I do partners”’, Gavin smirked. ‘If you know what I mean.’ ‘Argh, why do I even talk to you?’, Elijah asked equally disgusted and amused. ‘Hey, as long as you are happy…’

‘We do have to meet more often’, Gavin demanded once his laughter had calmed. ‘I miss you, even if you are the slimiest person alive. Was a good idea coming here for the weekend.’ ‘I have to agree’, Elijah nodded and focussed back on an enormous container ship in the distance. ‘I missed talking to you, too. Calling over the phone simply isn’t the same.’ ‘Yeah.’ Gavin sat up again and suddenly perked up as he looked at someone behind Elijah, causing the man to turn, too.

‘Oh, Chloe, I could kiss you, there’s nothing better than hot-dogs on the beach, I’m starving!’ That marked the end of their conversation, as the two androids had come back with food and drinks. But Elijah had gotten to know what he had wanted to hear. And there would be plenty of occasions for more now.

[kittinoir]

Phantoms Ch. 14

Read on Ao3

Marinette couldn’t stop screaming.

Not in a way that anyone could hear, but the inside of her head was a shrill banshee call, heralding the death of her soul mate. Stupid, stupid, stupid. That was the only word that registered, occasionally breaking through that wordless wail before vanishing again.

It was our love that did this to the world.’

How could she have believed him? How had she taken that as the one honest thing Chat Blanc had said in that other world, that other time? Had it been the truth of her name lending weight to it? Was it because, even then, she’d been afraid he was right? Hadn’t she always assumed that truly pursuing Adrien would inevitably mean falling apart when she couldn’t be honest with him or prioritize a relationship?

It had been a hint, like flicking the bell. He hadn’t been telling her their love had ended the world. He’d been telling her how he knew her identity - that he loved her, and more importantly, that she loved him back. That if indeed it was their love that had destroyed everything, it was also their love that fixed it. That together, they were unstoppable. Even if he hadn’t been able to free himself from the akuma, Chat Blanc was still her partner, and he’d still been fighting with her, not against her. He’d been counting on her being smarter than her fear. He’d under-estimated how strong that fear was.

Or had he?

Had discovering Hawk Moth’s identity been the trigger last time, too? Had he known that in some timeline, some where, this discovery would be inevitable? And that when it came, Hawk Moth would take advantage of it? Had Chat Blanc tried to give her every warning he could, so that when the time came, she’d be ready?

In the present, caught up against Chat Blanc’s chest, his arm an iron band around her torso, Marinette couldn’t help but feel the effort had been wasted. But a small part of her protested. She was right. She could feel it in the way Adrien’s hand cupped her cheek, his fingertips just brushing the shell of her ear, his nails scraping her earring: hesitation.

“I suppose you were wrong, Marinette,” he cooed as his thumb caressed her cheekbone. “All that agony, for nothing. We could have been happy.”

“We will be,” she promised as he started to reach for her earring. “I promise. I’ve got it figured out now.”

Marinette slammed her elbow back, hissing as she made contact with Chat Blanc’s very solid torso. It wasn’t enough to hurt him or even break his hold, but it surprised him enough that he loosened his grip, just for a moment. It was enough; Marinette slipped from his grasp and rolled, calling Tikki as she went. In seconds, Ladybug was back on her feet and dodging Chat Blanc’s blows as she reassessed the situation.

Chloe had survived the blast that had nearly struck them with minimal injuries. She was watching Ladybug and Chat Noir spar with narrowed eyes, her mouth set in a determined line. Viperion was no where to be seen, and Ladybug had to assume he was incapacitated, or he never would have let her end up in Chat Blanc’s deadly embrace. 

A shadow moved over Chat Blanc’s shoulder and she registered Koira slipping up behind him. Ladybug adjusted her tactic to him, but it didn’t feel as natural as it did with Chat Noir. It was like missing the last step on the stairs. She couldn’t be sure Koira understood what she was doing. 

“Why won’t you help me, Marinette?” Chat Blanc said as he slipped closer again. “This is our chance to finally be rid of Hawk Moth. All I need is your Miraculous!”

“He’s manipulating us, Chat Noir,” she panted as she skipped back, dodging a series of small cataclysms. Where had Ryuuko gone? Was she down, too? “Just like always. We can’t win like this!”

“Maybe you can’t,” he conceded with a swipe, “But I can. Koira was right; we can’t beat him on our terms.” A boom shook the room as another explosion hit the wall. Concrete rained down.

Ladybug swept her leg out, but he avoided her easily. “What are you talking about?!”

“People like Hawk Moth are always one step ahead because there’s no line they won’t cross, nobody they won’t sacrifice to win.”

“And so you’re willing to sacrifice me now?”

She doubted anyone else would have noticed it, but she knew him, and so she saw it - he wavered. 

“I don’t want to hurt you, Marinette,” he said, “But Gabriel needs to pay.”

“This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind,” Koira said as he finally made his move. He surged up behind Chat Blanc and hooked his arms behind his back. “There’s toeing the line and then there’s crossing it, and I think you’ll find yourself ill suited to the latter.”

“Coward,” Chat Blanc hissed. “I should have known.” He gave a mighty heave and pulled Koira over his shoulder, sending him flying.

It was our love that did this to the world.

Marinette hated those movies - the ones where love was the answer. 

Love had never been the answer for her. It had only ever caused her problems. Hollywood loved to prop love up as some sort of cure-all answer, as if it were anything without trust, and hard work, and respect. Love didn’t deakumatize people - she did. Love hadn’t led them to Hawk Moth’s lair - Chloe had. 

But somehow she knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it was the only thing that would save Adrien now. He would have to choose. It had to be stronger than his hatred. And it wasn’t a choice she could make for him. 

Chat Blanc began to advance on her, but Ladybug just closed her eyes. “Tikki. Spots off.”

Her transformation dissolved in a familiar shower of cool red sparkles. Her heart pounded as she felt the wind from another cataclysm brush her cheek, but when she opened her eyes, she saw Chat Blanc had frozen, too. Even though it would be easy to over-power her now, he didn’t move.

“I won’t fight you,” she said calmly. She reached for her right ear. Though she never took them off, the stud slipped easily enough from the lobe. 

“Marinette!” Tikki zoomed in front of her face. “What are you doing!”

“What I have to,” Marinette said. She pulled the other stud from her ear, and Tikki vanished. She cupped the jewelry in her palm for the briefest moment. Then she held out her hand. 

Chat Blanc’s eyes narrowed. “What is this.”

Marinette’s voice was steady as she said, “This is what you want. Right?”

Confusion crossed Chat Blanc’s face. “Yes, I - ” He took a halting step toward her.

“You’re right,” she said. “Gabriel will sacrifice anything to win. Maybe you’re willing to make that choice right now, too. But I won’t. I can’t. I won’t sacrifice us. Not ever again.” 

He was in front of her then, the face that had haunted her for weeks just inches from her own. It didn’t scare her anymore.

“Marinette.” She refused to look away as he laid one white hand over her upturned palm. He felt like ice, but she didn’t move. “I’m sorry, my love. He has to pay.”

She said nothing as they stood there, balancing on a knife’s edge. She would not cajole him. She would not fight him. He had to want their future as much as she did. He had to believe it was possible. He had to want it more than he wanted revenge. She couldn’t make him; she wouldn’t waste her time trying. But she wouldn’t let Hawk Moth take this from her, too.

“All these years,” a deep voice said from the back of the room. “I never imagined Ladybug would just hand over her Miraculous.”

Distantly, Marinette’s nerves twinged: Hawk Moth would know her identity. It was a distant thought, there, then gone, not even significant enough to really register. Marinette felt more than she saw Chat Blanc stiffen, then slowly turn. She knew she should look as well, especially when Hawk Moth was addressing her directly, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from Chat Blanc’s face. It was devoid of anything but icy, unforgiving rage. She had miscalculated. There would be no mercy today.

“A deal is a deal, Chat Noir,” Hawk Moth said as he stepped out from behind a silver canister at the back of the room. “Or is it Chat Blanc now?”

“You won’t live long enough for it to matter one way or the other,” Chat Blanc snarled, but even as his fingers contracted around her hand, he didn’t take the earrings.

“We’re not so different,” Hawk Moth said as though they were talking about the weather. “True, you lack any real fore-thought or follow-through, but our motivations are similar enough. Surely you of all people can understand the things we do for true love?”

Even Marinette blinked at that one. Of all the reasons she’d lain awake at night trying to imagine what drove the man, love had never even crossed her mind. It was impossible to imagine Hawk Moth loving anything other than the terror he perpetuated.

But her surprise was nothing compared to the all-encompassing horror that stifled even the beating of her heart as Hawk Moth pressed a button on the side of the cylinder he still stood beside and the lid slid back to reveal Emilie Agreste, looking for all the world like an enchanted queen cursed to eternal slumber.

Chat Blanc convulsed at the sight as though Hawk Moth had dealt him a physical blow. For all her time as Ladybug, the girl with the right idea at the right time, Marinette couldn’t get her brain to work. She hadn’t anticipated this. Who could have?

“All I want is to bring her back,” Hawk Moth was saying. “One wish to fix the damage. Surely you can understand that? Surely there’s nothing you wouldn’t do…to save the one you love?”

Marinette shuddered as she felt Hawk Moth’s gaze land on her again. She didn’t want to, but she couldn’t help but consider his words - if it were Adrien in the chamber, was there anything she wouldn’t do to save him?

It was impossible to know, but she could guess: losing Adrien would be better than Emilie’s suspended state and the monster she’d become to try and undo it. Adrien wouldn’t want it, and neither would she.

Chat Blanc was shaking. His fingers were tight around hers, but he wasn’t hurting her. This was it, Marinette knew. The moment had arrived. The hope she’d been holding onto when she’d called off her transformation had died when that casket lid had slid back to reveal Emilie’s face. Marinette knew his mother was the person Adrien loved most in the world. Now Hawk Moth was presenting him with a chance to bring her back. It wasn’t his fault. It was hers. She’d gambled. She’d failed to anticipate that Hawk Moth might have one more card to play. She was going to lose Adrien, and she had no one to blame but herself.

Chat Blanc’s hand scraped against hers. His back bowed like a reed in the wind, so sharply she thought it might break. And then the bell at his throat cracked. It fell to the floor in two pieces, and a scarred black butterfly emerged from the remains. The white suit dissolved as though the black one had devoured it whole, and when he finally straightened, Marinette saw that his eyes were the clear, beautiful green she knew.

“I’d worry about saving yourself,” Chat Noir panted, his voice promising violence. “Cataclysm.”

Chat Noir didn’t spare her a glance as he curled her fingers back over the earrings. Marinette didn’t waste anytime slipping them back on as her partner lead the charge. Through the haze of her transformation, she saw Koira follow Chat Noir’s lead.

“Lucky Charm!” Ladybug was already running as she snatched the spotted bottle from the air. She dodged another piece of falling concrete. “Fabric dye?” She scanned the room, but the only thing that lit up was Hawk Moth.

Movement out of the corner of her eye snagged her attention. Ladybug’s heart leapt into a gallop as she spied Chloe sneaking closer to the battle, but no sooner did she begin to shout a warning than did Chloe light up as well. 

“Ok, ok, I get it,” Ladybug muttered. Her earrings ticked down to four minutes, which meant Chat Noir had three. “Time to end this once and for all.”

Ladybug loosed her yoyo, but Hawk Moth evaded it easily. Chat Noir ducked in as she pulled her yoyo back. He swiped at Hawk Moth with his cataclysm, but Hawk Moth evaded that, too. 

“You’re children,” he spat as he sent Koira sprawling. “I have nothing but time. You can’t possibly think you have a chance.”

That was when Ladybug saw the plan come together, as surely as she saw all the players standing there now. Her earrings chimed two minutes.

“We don’t need a chance,” Ladybug panted as she feinted to the left. “Just a little bit of luck.”

Chloe shot to her feet behind Hawk Moth and struck him with the piece of chain still attached to her wrist, hard. He wouldn’t feel it through the Miraculous, not really, but it was enough of a distraction. Ladybug slipped under his guard as he turned to face the new threat. She squeezed the bottle, squirting undiluted dye directly into Hawk Moth’s eyes. He never even saw Chat Noir coming.

But Ladybug saw it all. 

The way Chat Noir came from above. The paw pad on his ring flashing its last moments. The butterfly Miraculous shattering from the force of the cataclysm. And the twin flashes of green and purple as both transformations dissolved. 

NO.” Gabriel clutched the tie pin at his throat as though he could will it back together as he stumbled from the impact. And then his gaze landed on Adrien. 

Gabriel’s eyes flew wide as he regarded his son and said, “You. You? This whole time - ”

“I think you’ll find we are equally disappointed, Father.” Adrien’s voice was cold, colder than Ladybug had ever heard it. She sensed Gabriel’s move before he made it; there was no avoiding her yoyo now. She caught him mid-lunge, and he dropped to his knees.

“Gabriel Agreste,” Ladybug said, her voice steady. She’d imagined this moment a thousand times, but never thought his name would be the one she’d utter. “Your reign of terror ends now.” And then she leaned over and tore the damaged Miraculous from his throat. “I told you this was how it would end.”

But Gabriel only smirked. “If you think this is the end, you are very much mistaken.”

A white flash from the opposite side of the room caught their attention. Pegasus was half-hanging out of a portal, Ryuuko beside him. “I heard you were ready for an escape route,” Pegasus called.

“You heard right,” Koira said. Then he swept Chloe up, ignoring the way she immediately started howling like a banshee.

“I can walk,” she snapped, kicking her legs, even if the kicks were on the feeble side.

“I have no doubt,” Koira said dryly. “Unfortunately you seem to have trouble following instructions.” They vanished through the portal.

“Viperion’s down,” Ladybug said, turning back to Adrien.

“On it,” he said. He stood and, without looking at his father, strode for the back of the room.

Cement dust continued to trickle down from the cracks throughout the room. Somewhere, a creak sounded ominously. Ladybug clutched the dye bottle in her hand, bracing herself. “Miraculous Lady - ”

Marinette’s transformation dissolved and her Lucky Charm turned to dust in her hand, the Miracle Cure abruptly beyond her grasp. Before she could blink, Ryuuko was there, her rapier beneath Gabriel’s chin before he could move. He chuckled. 

“I suppose there’s no magical cure this time, is there, Ms. Dupain-Cheng?”

She got the feeling he wasn’t talking about the damage caused in the basement room. “Not this time, no. Take him.”

Ryuuko nodded, took Gabriel firmly by the arm, and escorted him through the portal. Marinette took a breath. Then another. And another. It was over. It was finally over. Hawk Moth’s reign had finally come to an end. She squeezed her fingers, felt the jagged edges of the damaged Miraculous bite into her hand, a relic of their victory.

She took two steps towards the portal, but came up short when the long skirts of her dress caught on a piece of rubble. She tugged on the fabric, took one more step.

With a groan and ear-splitting <em>crack</em>, the damaged walls gave way and the ceiling caved in. Someone screamed. 

Marinette plunged into oblivion. 

[s-and-n-writes]

stolen smiles and little black lies

crimson and bluebell: part one 

summary: 

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

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

Or so she thinks.

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

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

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

quick links: 

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| miraculous masterlist | series masterlist | 

a/n: first chapter’s up! i hope you guys like it! if you wanna be part of the taglist for this, shoot me a message! :) 

It’s dawn when Marinette’s alarm rings.

The sun peaks through the attic window, frail rays treacherously passing through the glass as Marinette hits snooze for the third time.

She’s late, as usual, but that’s no surprise. 

By the time the sky swells with pink, and the silver stars littering the morning sky fade, Marinette’s alarm has gone off a fourth time, the shrill ringing and flashing salmon-red of the numbers cutting through the silence of the morning, as the girl in question finally wakes.

The pink sky changes into the warm undertones of peach and the rising sun peaks further out from the mountains when Marinette is ready. She ties back her midnight-blue locks of hair into twin tails on either side of her head with the two once-red bands she’d once found discarded in front of Lie-La Lila’s room. 

Lost, forgotten, discarded.

The words seem to sum her up perfectly. 

She heads down to the kitchen just as the peach sky cools into blue, the sun rising overhead to begin the new day, and she smiles as she gazes for a minute down the hallway window to the cobblestone streets below. 

The grin on her face quickly shifts into a frown once she heads into the kitchen.

Fortunately, preparation for breakfast finishes up quicker than usual, and the lovely smell of fresh-baked croissants waft through the house. Marinette takes this time to glance at her phone, a well treasured gift after months of working at the bakery. The phone is in no way one of the best, and certainly can’t compare to Chloe’s, but Marinette is happy with it, so the cracked screen and the faded case are overlooked.

It must be the croissants that make Madame Rossi to come downstairs, dark bags fresh under her eyes. Marinette feels sorry for her, knowing her long days and longer nights at the embassy, so she merely smiles as Madame Rossi sits into one of the dining room chairs, slumping gracefully on the cool-white tabletop. 

The embassy job pays well, though, and the house they are in proves that.

“Morning Madame,” Marinette says, pushing towards Madame Rossi a croissant laid delicately onto the new white plates. 

Lila’s mother is certainly her favorite Rossi, since Lila has some...tendencies that Marinette doesn’t like. Especially when they’re being used towards her, as they often are.

But even if Madame Rossi was the most tolerable of the Rossi family, Marinette knows that she has flaws. 

Madame tilts her head as she glances at the croissant, and then at Marinette, accepting the plate with a tired smile. 

“Good morning Marinette,” she says, nibbling gently on the croissant. “Have you seen Lila yet?”

Marinette bites her lip in frustration at the woman’s blatant love of her daughter. If Madame Rossi had truly wanted to see it, she would’ve found the holes in Lila’s fake personality years ago. 

 “N-no Madame,” she stutters. The topic of Lila always seems to make Marinette nervous, since the girl in question could be listening from anywhere. 

And since Marinette has had many an experience with calling Lila out, usually ending with purple-ish bruises covering inches of her skin, she does not want to make the same mistake again.

But it’s then that Lila appears in the living room, fake smile on par with the rest of her demeanor and carrying a small brown bag. Marinette notices how Madame Rossi immediately brightens: her skin glows, her eyes happily crinkle at the edges, and a smile replaces her forlorn frown.

It’s almost enough to make Marinette jealous. Lila has someone to lean on, someone who loves her, when she has no one. 

Marinette’s not blind. She’s seen how Madame Rossi looks when Lila comes into the room, versus her. She knows she’s adopted (as if the hair didn’t give it all away). It’s an unspoken truth in the family, and even if Marinette doesn’t know who her birth parents are, she supposes she’s ok with her family right now. 

Or at least, she hopes she is. 

Because she has no one else. 

Madame Rossi feeds her and clothes her, yes, but deep down Marinette knows she’s a burden; one that has to prove her worth to stay. It doesn’t matter that she works harder, or has a better personality, because Lila will always be painted as an angel in Madame Rossi’s eyes, and Marinette as the weight that the Rossi family shoulders.

Lila, however, is the variable that creates chaos for Marinette, as she spins and weaves lies like an intricate blanket to her advantage. Marinette is a pawn on her chess board, barely surviving as Lila throws obstacle after obstacle at her. After all, Marinette can still count the times Lila has been nice to her on one hand, even if the hand has no fingers.

“Good morning, Mother!” Lila greets, her perfect smile stretching across her face.

But Marinette had been there long enough. She always saw the flaws: the slight twitch in Lila’s eye, the scowl before the smirk, the smirk before the smile.

“Good morning Lila, dear, how are you? Did you get a good night’s rest?” Madame Rossi questions, the concern and genuine love clearly visible in her eyes. 

Marinette refrains from biting her already-bruised lip yet again, and walks towards the kitchen for a well-needed breath of fresh air. 

“I slept well, Mother,” Lila replies from the dining room, voice visibly louder to let Marinette hear, “Well, as well as I could, since Marinette’s snores drifted from the attic,”

“Oh dear,” Madame Rossi responds, turning around briefly to glance at Marinette with a look of despondency.

“I just get so tired when I don’t get my beauty rest. And God knows I need it, what with the insomnia the doctor diagnosed. I already look horrible!” Lila groans, adding in a perfectly timed yawn at the center of her sentence.

Ah yes. Marinette can perfectly remember the fake doctor’s visit, the fake doctor herself, and the fake insomnia Lila created.

“Lila, don’t say that about yourself. You are the most beautiful girl, and the best daughter. Insomnia is merely a setback that you can get over, just like anything else” Madame Rossi fondly says, “and as for your tiredness, perhaps you can take a nap after school today. Marinette can do your chores,”

Once again, Madame Rossi has perfectly catered to Lila’s needs, unknowingly belittling Marinette. After all, Lila is the real master around the Rossi household, dragging all others around like puppets on strings.

“Marinette, are you okay with that?” Lila questions, her eyes full of concern. If Marinette was new around the house, she might’ve allowed herself to believe her. But Marinette is not new; she’s been here for years, and she knows Lila too well. Her slightly narrowed hershey brown eyes and almost-sympathetic furrowed brows scream ‘do it or else!’, an obvious indicator that she has to agree.

Otherwise, things won’t end well...

“Yes, that is perfectly fine Lila, um, please go upstairs and rest,” Marinette says, adding on an ‘after breakfast of course’ after Lila subtly glares at her (likely thinking it’s a ploy to shoo her away). 

Lila smiles, and takes a seat at the large dinner table, crossing her legs and placing her hands over her lap. 

“Wonderful! Thank you Mother!” she smiles. “Now Marinette, where is my croissant?”

“Ah, uh, right here,” Marinette says, avoiding eye contact as she passes the croissant to Lila. Lila smirks in reply, and glances at her mother.

“So…” Lila pauses, considering how to proceed with small-talk, “how’s the er-the embassy?” 

“Doing well!” Madame Rossi smiles. “I actually have an event next week that I’d love for you girls to come to!” 

“Mom, I’m not quite sure I’m free…” Lila frowns. “But go ahead, tell me what it is,”

Marinette steps into the kitchen, listening intently as she brews a pot of coffee. The hot liquid nearly burns the pads of her fingers as she pours it into three cups, but it’s nothing she hasn’t felt before.

“Ah, well, there’s a gala that Gabriel Agreste is hosting,” Madame Rossi explains, taking a bite of her croissant.

“Gabriel Agreste, right?” Lila smirks, eyes training on Marinette, “I assume this is for, perhaps, new fashion designers? Maybe he wants to, um, I don’t know, scope out an intern?” 

The bluenette on the other side of the room twitches as she rubs her hands together, barely containing her excitement.

“Yes!” Madame Rossi grins, “You’re so smart Lila. Maybe we should move you up a grade-”

“Er-um, when would this be, um Madame?” Marinette cuts in. 

Madame Rossi raises an eyebrow. “Hold on Marinette. I’m not quite done explaining yet. No need to get so impatient,” 

“Yea,” Lila shrills evilly, glancing between her mother and her so-called sister as she quickly formulates a plan, “Hold on, Marinette. She’s just getting started,” 

There’s a double meaning behind Lila’s words, like the sharp edge of a sword being pressed against Marinette’s neck, quickly drawing out blood the color of cherry-red roses. It’s a warning, that Lila is the one just getting started, not Madame Rossi. 

Marinette chooses to shrink back, and stay silent in the moment, fear of Lila winning over her genuine excitement. 

Like always.

She’s used to it though. It’s ok.

Madame Rossi ignores Marinette’s suddenly startled breathing, and continues with her explanation. 

“The embassy has to get involved because this could make headlines, since Monsieur Agreste invited many of the world’s most famous fashion designers. If France gains tourists because of this, it could boost our economy,” Madame Rossi says as Marinette brings a pot of coffee to her. 

“That’s so exciting Mom!” Lila (fake) smiles. 

“I’m glad you think so!” Madame Rossi replies, “We have to host a two day program welcoming all of these people to Paris. Monsieur Agreste himself will be there! There’s, um, there’s a welcoming ceremony, then a formal dinner, and finally, oh uh, finally… actually I’ll get back to you on the last thing,”

“No prob!” Lila smiles. Marinette rolls her eyes in retaliation before Lila can see. 

“Anyways, I wanted to invite you girls! So many people are bringing their children. The head of the embassy’s bringing her daughter, my boss and her daughter and her son are coming, not to mention Monsieur Agreste’s son, and I thought-” 

“Hold on,” Lila interrupts. “Adrien Agreste will be there? THE ADRIEN AGRESTE?!”

“Yes, he will be,” Madame Rossi laughs, “Eager, are you?” 

“Er-no, he, well, he’s just, uh, really popular you know? It could really boost my career, in um, fashion designing,” Lila covers, smoothly altering her voice to sound desperate and longing.

“You want to be a fashion designer?” Madame Rossi smiles, genuine tears in her eyes. She wipes them away with the back of her hand and sighs, “You’ve never told me, darling!” 

“Never came up!” Lila laughs uneasily, paling as she clenches her fists to veil the irritation hidden inside her. 

Marinette’s lip has turned pale, a gash running through the side that she continues to bite. It’s a reserve for all her anger, mainly at Lila. She’d have to steal some of Alya’s preppy-red lipstick when she gets to school, to cover up the bruise.

“Lila, um, you don’t mind me asking, but who is Adrien Agreste?” Marinette cuts in, failing to follow the conversation. 

Lila doesn’t have to reply, since her mocking grin answers for her, and so does Madame Rossi. 

“Didn’t you want to be a designer, like Lila?” she asks, frowning disapprovingly. 

“I-uh, yes,” Marinette stumbles, picking at the edge of her shirt. It’s a new one that she just made over the weekend, one she can’t wait to show to Alya, but by how often she picks at the seams, the dress will dissolve into thin lines of string before school even starts. She walks over to the dining table and sits down across from Madame Rossi.

“Then you should know,” Madame Rossi says, pointing her nose upwards with a raised eyebrow. It’s often like this: the morning starts out with a kinder Madame Rossi, and as the day goes on, she continues to pile disapproving stares and hidden anger on her lesser daughter: Marinette. 

“Anyway, the whole program is next weekend, and I’d love for you both to come!” Madame Rossi says, clasping her anticipatingly. 

“Of course Mom. I’ll definitely support you. It’s a shame that Marinette can’t come though,” Lila pouts. 

Marinette’s fists both clench, her eyes widening at the prospect to miss a meeting with the famous fashion designer himself, “I-uh-” 

“Marinette, is this true?” Madame Rossi asks, raising a slight eyebrow, “Why?” 

“Some sort of field trip for art club, I think,” Lila cuts in, smiling sweetly at Marinette, “Right Marinette?” 

Lila throws a pointed look at the girl, eyes calculatingly tracing across her face. It was another warning, far more powerful than the last, a signal that if Marinette doesn’t follow, there will be consequences. 

But Marinette is tired; tired of the constant warnings, tired of the beratings, tired of the girl she doesn’t want to call her sister, tired of the woman who keeps favorites, tired of… well, everything. 

“Sorry, n-no,” Marinette stutters quietly.

“What?” Lila smiles, turning to raise an eyebrow at Marinette. Lila’s aura of masked evil radiates against her, pushing, pulling, threatening, hurti-

“I’m saying no,” Marinette , hidden confidence rising to the surface like shiny, opaque bubbles. “I don’t have an art club field trip. I’m free,”

If Lila snarls, Madame Rossi doesn’t notice, instead choosing to take a sip of her coffee and dusting her hands gently on her royal-blue blouse. 

“Great!” she smiles, “I’ll tell them that both of you are coming,” 

Unusual silence falls onto the dining room, broken only by Madame Rossi’s quiet humming. It’s atypical in only the fact that Lila never spares a moment by not talking to her mother; she often decides to leave or escape in a different way. 

The tension is thick, and every moment Madame Rossi looks away is another one that Lila uses to visually throw daggers at Marinette.

But Madame Rossi leaves before she recognizes the obvious shift of the room, pushing dishes in the sink and heading out the door with only a feeble au revoir! 

“Au revoir, Mother!” Lila calls back, smoke nearly coming out of her ears as she desperately tried to keep the anger out of her voice. 

Marinette’s confidence dissipates quickly as she regains her shyness and vulnerability. It’s a shame because it’s at that moment that Lila attacks.

“Listen, you filthy scum of a sister,” Lila sneers, clenching her fists. Marinette struggles to not shiver, to not show the telltale signs of fear.

It seems, however, that Lila already knows. 

“If it weren’t for my amazing ability to somehow tolerate you, not to mention my mother’s strange liking of you, you’d be gone, do you understand?” Lila hurls at Marinette. Marinette, despite her will to not break, flinches.

Lila smiles cruelly. “That’s better, Mari-brat,” 

She studies Marinette’s features. “Alright, fine. You can come to the whole embassy fiasco,”

With carefully timed smirk overtaking her features, Lila leans in close, inches away from Marinette. “But stay away from Adrien. He’s mine,” 

Lila backs away from the table, slamming her chair into it and cracking the edges of glass. Lila’s glass mug full of coffee lands on the floor, quickly  shattering into a million different pieces as the contents inside stain the carpet a less-than-beautiful shade of walnut brown. 

Marinette gasps, quickly clamping a hand over her mouth afterwards, and observing the damage.

“But don’t think I’ve gone soft,” Lila grins, “I guess you’ll be the one that tells Mother about how you tragically destroyed her glass table, and her carpet!”

Marinette knows that Madame Rossi will be furious. Even if the table isn’t as tragically destroyed as Lila had said, the coffee spill is sure to anger her. 

If she’s really mad, she might ground Marinette into staying at home the days that they went to the embassy, and while Lila frolicked with her idols, Marinette would be at home. 

But that’s not the highlight of it all. Marinette had almost thought that Lila was finally changing for the better. 

Almost. 

“Well, I’m off to school!” Lila says, continuing to smirk. “Have fun cleaning up the mess you made!” 

She leaves with a final look at Marinette, slamming the door behind her.

Based on the gleam in Lila’s eye, Marinette’s due for some black and blue sometime soon. 

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a/n: next chapter should come soon! if you liked it, perhaps like this post, or reblog, or comment :) enjoy your day! 

taglist: 

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

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