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san-fics · 3 years ago

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Parallel Love

Felinette Akuma Shenanigans Project

Ao3

Part 2/4

“What is the last thing you remember?” Marinette demanded.

“It was in the park.” Felix started without arguing. “I was reading on a bench, when the akuma appeared. It looked weird as if half of their body was transparent. I saw Ladybug trying to reach it from behind with her yo-yo, but it slipped right through. And then I think the akuma touched me...” Felix frowned. “I woke up with a feeling that something was wrong, which obviously was, ‘cause I was in Adrien’s room and there was a...” He paused. “Some other things were different. But my body was so familiar with what was happening, that I didn’t realize what was wrong until...” His cheeks blushed just a little this time. “Until I entered the class.” He said, diplomatically avoiding the scene of their kiss.

“That akuma touched me too.” Marinette said. “I remember it now.”

“Were you at the park as well?” Felix asked, looking at her with a studying gaze.

“I... yeah! I was... drawing... a design...” Marinette remembered the moment in the park that Felix described, only she couldn’t see him well from her position and was focused on the akuma.

And the next moment she probably got touched by the akuma as well, so it was the last memory she had before waking up in the morning.

But she couldn’t share the scene in the park in detail, of course. She had the identity to keep...

“Right. Designing.” Felix shook his head skeptically. “What else could you do at that park, right?” He looked at her expectantly.

“I... uh...” Could he see her transforming? No, it couldn’t be! She was chasing that akuma from the street and was far away from the park while transforming.

“Marinette, you can’t lie.” Felix sighed. “I’ve been living in Paris for almost two months now, so I know that you’re chasing Adrien on his photoshoots in the parks.” He rolled his eyes again. “Everyone knows. Apart from my oblivious cousin, of course. So, please, don’t take me for an idiot. Plus, why hide it?” He turned away. “It’s not like we were actually dating.”

Although Marinette had long since stopped hunting for Adrien’s photoshoots — following her new creed to start a new life — this was a great alibi for Ladybug, so she didn’t dissuade Felix, even though she thought he sounded somehow strangled, almost distressed.

It was probably the other Felix’s body reaction to the idea of his girlfriend chasing somebody else. She only hoped they wouldn’t destroy whatever those other ones had while being in control of their lives.

“Do you think the other... uh... ‘we’ are in our bodies now?” Marinette asked as this idea came to her mind.

“Hmm.” Felix leaned back slightly, supporting himself with outstretched arms and tilted his head thoughtfully to a side.

“If it is so, I can imagine his surprise...” He said.

“Why?” Marinette turned to him.

“Well, a lot of good news, I guess.” He started to bend his fingers. “His father is NOT Gabriel Agreste, his mother is alive and in good health, he doesn’t have to do stupid photoshoots like he does here, and the best part — he doesn’t have to date you, of course!”

Marinette nudged him so hard on the shoulder that Felix fell back onto the lounge and began to giggle.

“And I just started to think that you were a decent human being!” Marinette tried to speak angrily, but at the sight of Felix genuinely giggling, her face broke into a traitorous smile.

Marinette sighed and lay down on her back next to him without even noticing what she was doing, as this movement seemed the most natural to do.

“I wonder why it’s just us...” She said thoughtfully. “I’m sure there were other people that akuma touched. There must be other people here, who feel out of place.”

“Either their lives are not so different, or they are silent so that they won’t be mistaken for crazy.” Felix suggested, turning on his side.

“Or maybe they don’t even know that something is wrong, you know, if they didn’t have any trigger to bring their memories back.” Marinette thought out loud, almost not embarrassed by the memory of their kiss this time. She was more worried about the akuma. If no one from this place (world? dimension?) have seen that akuma, then it was probably still there. So their only hope was if the local Ladybug was now there in Marinette’s body and could restore everything. “What if Ladybug won’t catch that akuma.” She pronounced out loud, worriedly.

A warm hand wrapped around her waist and Marinette moved closer, feeling safe in his arms.

“Don’t worry, my love. We’ll fix it.” Felix whispered into her hair, pulling Marinette to himself.

She closed her eyes instinctively, dissolving in the sense of security of his embrace. Her head turned to face him by itself, and their lips met in a soft and tender kiss.

A feeling of happiness enveloped her whole being and Marinette forgot to think about all her anxieties. She just wanted to snuggle closer to him, to feel him more…

Marinette began to turn to Felix with her whole body, intertwining her legs with his, when he abruptly moved away from her, and Marinette immediately came to her senses.

“There’s uh... a problem with the owners of those bodies.” Felix said in a low hoarse voice and cleaned his throat. “They are… way too comfortable with each other.”

Felix sat in the lounge, and Marinette stood up to avoid more automatic reactions from their bodies.

When she looked at Felix again, Marinette was surprised how flushed his face was. Of course they were about to make out just now, but well, those two were dating, so those reactions were to be expected.

Then she noticed another reaction of his body that probably bothered him so much.

“It seems the real owner of this body finds me very attractive.” Marinette teased.

“You won't make me ashamed of the body’s natural reactions, Marinette, especially not mine.” Felix rolled his eyes, not following her provocation. “Plus the other Marinette must be less annoying than you are, so....” He smirked.

‘Oh, you want to play it that way?!’ Marinette thought. ‘We’ll see who will laugh at the end!’

“You didn’t look particularly annoyed when you called me ‘your love’ a few minutes ago.” Marinette put her hands on her hips and looked at him with a triumphant smile.

There was no way she would let him win this round!

“What can I say,” Felix shrugged. “I think we found the code words that mean that our bodies act by themselves.” His expression became cold. “We wouldn’t say ‘my love’ to each other of our own free will, right?”

Somehow, his words sounded like an accusation, and after the closeness between them that Marinette just felt, this choice of code word almost hurted her.

But she couldn't go along with her feelings, because they weren’t her feelings, were they? These were the feelings of another Marinette for another Felix. This Marinette didn’t have feelings for her Felix!

Not hers of course… The Felix from her world…

“Right.” Marinette agreed, turning away from him.

It was better to keep it this way until they are back and free from each other...

[part 1/4] ... [part 3/4]

Chapter 3/4 in is available on my Patreon

Chapter Preview: “I wouldn’t cheat...” She whispered, shaking her head. “Why would she cheat on her boyfriend?! She wouldn’t…” Ladybug’s eyes widened even more – if it was even possible. “Unless you are... Oh my god…”

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creativelyderangedme · 5 years ago

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Checking Sources

I’m taking a stab at the trope I’ve seen all over the place recently. But with a different twist. Oneshot - might continue if I get the desire.

“Ladybug?”

Paris’ spotted heroine jumped slightly after being pulled from her thoughts. She’d been staring out over the city’s glittering lights, lost to the maelstrom of voices and recalled memories swarming her mind with a thoughtful (at least she hoped it was) frown on her lips. So much so, that she hadn’t noticed when her leather-clad partner had shown up to sit next to her on a night he was supposed to be taking off.

When the hell had he gotten there? She wondered, looking around quickly for any indication of how long she’d been stuck in her own head.

“Hey Chaton, what are you doing out here? It’s my night to patrol.” She asked as another entirely panicked thought came to mind - that she’d been so dazed she’d missed the tell-tale signs of an Akuma.

But, before she could freak out any further, she took in Chat’s relative ease - or at least, he didn’t look like he was on the verge of jumping into a fight. He did seem apprehensive, though. She could tell in the way it tensed and squeezed his shoulders together like he wanted to be close, but wouldn’t dare come in contact with her.

Which made her wonder if she’d said or done anything recently to give him the idea he was overstepping his bounds. Or maybe he was mad at her for something? And wasn’t that just the icing on the cake that was her day?

First, Lila had caused a major scene that got Marinette detention for the rest of the week (it all happened so fast, she barely remembers what the hell had even happened). Now she was having a panic attack over whether her partner was mad at her for something she didn’t remember doing? Who else was she going to piss off today?

“What’s your stance on sharing your identity?”

Panic attack on momentary pause, a dark brow shot up at the question, and if she wasn’t so wary of the way he’d said it with that uncomfortable look on his face, she probably would have been angry. But he seemed so off tonight that it was throwing her usual emotions for a loop. So, choosing not to go off on her partner, she sighed heavily, trying to keep her focus on him despite the bubbling irritation, “Chat, I’m sorry, but we’ve talked about this. Our identities are a secret for a reason.”

For the first time since he sat down (she thinks), she sees him glance her way if only slightly. The uncomfortable look on his face had softened a bit but he still has something unreadable in his eyes that makes Ladybug anxious, “So... you’ve never shared your identity? With anyone? Not accidentally or otherwise?”

If she didn’t know any better, she’d say his words were a little accusatory.

Which, okay first off, what the fuck? And second, why was he suddenly giving her the third degree?

Again, though, the entire display was throwing her and she knew she had to be rational about this.

“No. Of course not. I promised you didn’t I? Once Hawkmoth was defeated, you would be the first person I told.” She stated as calmly and resolutely as she possibly can. She’d been clear from the start where she stood on the subject.

As soon as the words left her mouth, Chat Noir visibly relaxed. Shoulders slumping and a breath heaving from his chest as he nodded, “Right. Right, of course.” He finally managed to turn to look at her and the discomfort was quickly hidden by a small smile.

The shift in his attitude was almost as disconcerting as his arrival.

“What is this about, Chatton?”

That smile faltered a bit as he looked away from her again, “There’s this-” he began but his words died before he shook his head, “No, it’s - it’s nothing. Sorry for bothering you about this. It was stupid.”

Chat made to stand, but Ladybug caught his wrist before he could get away, “Obviously not if it brought you out here as upset as you looked. I know I can be a real stickler about the secret identities thing, but Chat, I’m not doing this to hurt you. I promise!” She implored, feeling like she’d missed something major. “If you’re being hurt or-”

Blonde hair flew as he shook his head quickly, “No, no. Nothing like that. Really. I know why you do. I won’t pretend it doesn’t suck, but I get it. Really, I do.” He tried to assure her, and while it did seem like he understood and he was being honest with her, he was still hiding something. Something that had driven him to come out and ask her these strange questions.

“Then what was all of this about?”

He had the decency to look apologetic at least as the corners of his mouth pulled up and he shook his head again, “It’s too personal - talking about it might give me away, Bugaboo, but I really am sorry about this. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Ladybug’s eyes darted back and forth as she watched him closely, but eventually, hesitantly, she let go of his wrist and allowed him to get up.

The whole conversation left an unsettling anxiousness over her and a rather uncomfortable tenseness in the air between them as he backed away and saluted before she even had the chance to say anything - disappearing into the night.

That unease followed her home and through her restless sleep and when she woke up the next morning, she couldn’t help but let it consume her thoughts. Distracting her as she made her way to class earlier than usual.

Distracting her so much, in fact, that she almost didn’t notice the crowd gathered around two individuals crammed into her usual seat next to Alya giggling and talking loudly.

Almost.

As much as she hated it, Marinette had developed something of a sixth sense for the Italian exchange student Lila Rossi. A personal radar to warn her of the liar’s presence.

And it was going off big time.

It wasn’t uncommon for Lila to try and steal her spot when she could. Usually, it resulted in some sort of argument between Marinette and Alya when her supposed best friend defended the other girl for just wanting to hang out, and why didn’t she try being nice to the girl for once?

This time, though, Marinette was quickly made aware of three things:

1. Lila wasn’t alone.

2. Whoever this other girl was, she and Lila were already very close and that didn’t bode well for anyone - especially Marinette.

3. Adrien, who was an unfortunate captive in the crowd around his desk, looked really uncomfortable - more so than usual as he openly frowned at the desktop in front of him, trying not to associate with the things going on around him.

What the hell was going on? Marinette had only been gone from class for one afternoon!

Alya was the first to notice her entrance to the class, giving her an unsure look from her seat (she had been pretty mad at her yesterday for whatever it was that landed her detention for the week), causing a ripple effect as Lila and her ‘guest’ looked up at her too, quieting down and catching everyone else’ attention.

The unfamiliar girl sized the noirette up before speaking, “Is this the girl you were telling me about?”

Lila put on her biggest, fakest, puppy-dog eyes and nodded softly, watching Marinette like she might lunge at her any second now.

Like parting the red sea, the unfamiliar girl stood from her place at Marinette’s desk and the crowd around her gave her room to move, allowing her to make her way to stand haughtily before her. The girl was a tad taller than Marinette, but the platform sandals she wore made it so Marinette would need to look up at her slightly. She had dark, almost black, shoulder-length hair that hung loosely, but the color of her brows made it clear that it wasn’t natural. She’d dyed it, recently too, if the lack of root discoloration was any indication.

Marinette watched her approach with a raised brow, unimpressed by the superior gleam to the girl’s blue-green eyes.

“I heard you’ve been bullying my best friend.” She said, authoritatively, her hands propped on hips clad in Gabriel branded jeans.

There was a collective gasp among her classmates like this was some big reveal in a soap opera.

The class rep merely blinked a moment, brow still raised because who the fuck even was this girl and why was she squaring up to her like she even had a chance? Actually, no, she didn’t care.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” Marinette asked, but her tone gave away how few fucks she actually gave about the girl’s answer.

“For your information, it’s Bianca. I just transferred yesterday. But don’t change the subject. I’ve heard that you’ve been bullying my best friend Lila.”

Before Bianca had a chance to say any more, Marinette gave her a deadpanned look, “Well, sorry to inform you, but your best friend is a liar.”

Lila could immediately be heard breaking out into sobs somewhere in the background but Marinette was quickly losing interest in this conversation.

“I don’t think she is. I think you’re the liar. In fact, I think people like you are what’s wrong with Paris. Always trying to hurt others so they get Akumatized and I have to clean up your mess.”

I’m sorry, what?

That had Bluebell eyes snapping to focus on the girl in front of her. Interest piqued.

“I’m giving you one chance. Stop being a menace to society or my partner and I will take action.”

There was quite a bit to unpack from that. Like... a lot. Menace to society? Partner? Take action?

Who did this girl think she was? Ladybug?

The one thing that seemed clear to Marinette after reviewing the word choices in her own head a few times, was that this was not a friendly recommendation.

“Are you threatening me?”

She probably should have sounded a little angrier. In fact, anything would have been better than bored. But she just couldn’t find the energy.

A triumphant smile spread over Bianca’s face, as she disregarded the lack of fear in Marinette’s voice, “I don’t threaten people. But that is a promise.”

Marinette was left to blink at her a little longer.

Because what even was happening here? What on earth had she done that the universe saw fit to drop this steaming pile of bull on her morning?

And why did it feel like the girl was hinting at something she wasn’t picking up on? Why was her body telling her that she needed to react while her brain was taking its sweet time to catch up with everything?

“Dude,” someone from the peanut gallery stage whispered, finding it in their heart to give her a helping hand, “That’s Ladybug!”

Lila shushed them loudly, “Guys, not everyone is supposed to know! We don’t know who we can trust!”

Oh.

oohhhhh!

Wow. When she’d made that comment in her head before, she’d been joking but... seriously? Did she really just?

“You’re Ladybug?” Marinette asked, wanting to clarify and make absolutely certain that she hadn’t just imagined that last forty-five seconds of her life.

Bianca’s chin raised, literally looking down her nose at Marinette, “Normally I wouldn’t share that information with someone like you.”

Behind her, Adrien stood from his seat looking absolutely livid, but Marinette barely had a moment to even register the malice in the gaze he pointed at Bianca before -

Pfft...

Marinette covered her mouth with her hand to stop it, but nothing could hold back the onslaught now.

They were giggles at first, tumbling from her in waves as she tried to clear her throat and treat this seriously. But before long, she couldn’t help it. She was laughing out loud, doubling over, completely ignorant (maybe not completely, but she didn’t care at this point) to the looks of confusion on the faces around her.

She made the mistake of looking back up at Bianca and that only renewed her laughing fit until it literally brought her to her knees, clutching her sides as she laughed so hard she cried.

Fucking cried.

It was a solid five or six minutes before she could breathe again. Sitting back up, wiping the tears from her eyes, she beamed at the girl standing awkwardly before her, “Wow. Thanks. I really needed that.”

She cleared her throat, clearly unsure of the strange behavior. She couldn’t blame her for that. “I don’t see what’s so funny.”

“All of it. Really.” She stood up from the floor, making a show of dusting off her pants before turning her full attention back on the girl.

Because this was going to be fun.

“So, Ladybug, tell me this; if I’m such a menace to society, why would you entrust me with a miraculous?”

Bianca's smirk faltered, her eyes darting over to Lila for a moment, both of them looking a little lost for words. As was everyone else for that matter.

Even Alya, whose mouth hung open at this revelation. But the reporter flew to her phone, swiping quickly, "when?! There were no new heroes! How do we know you're not lying?"

Oh good. They were playing right into it. One thing you could always count on with sheeple... they always follow.

"Huh, well, then I guess if you can’t believe me at my word, it would be pretty easy to fact check." Her tone was a bit forced on those words and the reporter had the decency to look taken aback, "You could always just ask Ladybug, here."

"Well I-"

"Or you could ask her partner. Seeing as how he saw me transform."

Bianca's mouth snapped shut. It was still hit or miss whether or not Marinette was bluffing. And it's easy to claim something like that when the only other person who could confirm or deny the facts was not present.

This had been Lila’s game the whole time. The difference was, Marinette wasn’t lying.

But neither of them could take that chance.

Because neither of them knew what she knew.

And Ladybug was definitely in this room, but it wasn’t who they all thought it was.

"I asked her to give you a chance. Because I wanted to help you. I thought being a hero would make you a better person. But you just kept bullying me!"

"E-exactly."

Ah, so they were going to go this route, hmm? She could work with that. And given Lila’s proclivity for being Akumatized, maybe she could mess with Hawkmoth too while she was at it.

Because it was only a matter of time before someone was targeted.

"How very generous of you, Lila," She said in her sweetest voice possible, but even to her own ears, it sounded fake. How did Lila keep this up all the time? “But, that’s not what you said on the tower when we fought that Akuma together.”

"What did you think I would say when you were obviously unfit to be a Hero! I didn’t want to risk you turning on me.”

“You didn’t think I was unfit when I helped save you and Chat Noir.” This time, it felt a little more realistic when she put the hurt look on her face, glancing away.

In the process, she caught sight of Adrien giving her a strange look. One she couldn’t really put a name to. But it was different than all of her other classmates. Why did he seem so much more confused than the others?

The girl scoffed, "leave my partner out of this." She demanded, and it felt like a desperate attempt at redirecting the conversation.

Fine. She could work with that too.

"You... do know that your 'partner' is my best friend, right?" She turned an apologetic look to Alya she only half meant, "sorry Als, but - you know," Marinette pointed between the two of them indicating the distance that had grown between them. They weren't nearly as close as they'd used to be. And while they were still friends, Marinette had a hard time categorizing her as her 'best friend'.

And the implication wasn't wasted on the reporter either. She was left staring wide with bewilderment and hurt. But Marinette was less positive it was because of not being best friends anymore and more that she hadn't told Alya that she spent time with one of the heroes she loved to chase.

"My partner would never hang out with someone like you."

God, she was just a broken record, wasn’t she? Did she really still think she was bluffing?

With a scoff and a soft shake of her head, Marinette pulled her phone from her pocket and swiped through her pictures until she found what she was looking for.

She wasnt trying to be smug about the way she flipped her phone around so she could show the class, but she definitely couldn't help the little smirk that pulled at her lips as the class gasped again, pulling closer so they could study the photo.

A photo of her and Chat Noir sitting a little too close together on her chaise lounge. Marinette sticking her tongue out at the camera, while chat gave the overly kawaii victory peace sign over his left eye like he was straight out of an anime. It was one of her favorites. They'd spent nearly the whole night binging on shows together after a particularly stressful day. The pictures had been a side effect of too much sugar, not enough sleep, and good company. And for some reason when Chat found out she’d been Multimouse, that increased her ‘coolness factor’ and they had something in common.

Of course, she couldn’t tell him that wasn’t the only thing they had in common.

Either way, it had brought them closer together as friends and they hung out often.

Which was a reprieve given that most of her friends had abandoned her anyway.

As Bianca stared a little blankly at the picture, a number of voices all began to pick up around them.

"You're actually friends with chat noir? That's so cool!"

“Does that mean you hang out with the other heroes too?”

“What is Chat Noir really like?”

"Wait, then that means you really were a hero? I thought heroes had to keep their identities secret."

That’s the one she’d been waiting on. Quickly silencing the others with a pointed look back at Bianca, "They do. But I'm not a hero anymore, am I Ladybug?"

"I-I..."

"Why was it again that I’m not allowed to be Multimouse again?" She put a thoughtful finger to her chin, but she felt her own fire building in her core, “I’m pretty sure it was nothing to do with being a menace to society.”

She tapped her chin a few more times, looking around deep in thought. Catching another glimpse of Adrien studying her carefully, but she refused to let his perfectness distract her because fuck these people.

Fuck the high road.

If he was going to be mad at her for standing up for her alter-ego then fuck him too.

But he didn’t seem mad.

In fact, as soon as she locked eyes with him, a slight smirk pulled at his lips. It was roguish and totally out of place on his angelic face, but goddamn did it do things for her.

But the smirk paired with the slightly raised brow aimed at her said, ‘Yes, what did Ladybug say?’

It’s sarcastic and playful and familiar in ways her heart is not ready to admit.

But that would have to come later.

Marinette spun back to the imposter, narrowing her eyes dangerously, "Oh right! Because I'd accidentally revealed my identity to Chat Noir. Because identities are supposed to remain a secret."

"W-well th-there are exceptions!" Bianca tries to defend, but Marinette isn’t going to let her.

“No, I think you, just like your supposed best friend, are a liar. You’re not Ladybug. You don’t know a damn thing about Ladybug. Because if you were, you’d already have been beaten. You’ve been in this classroom all of what, one day? And the entire class already knows your ‘identity’? We’re all lucky you aren’t one of the heroes, otherwise, Hawkmoth would already have won!”

She was fuming now. All of the emotions finally catching up with her. She thrust an accusatory finger at Bianca, making the girl stumble back slightly, “You don’t know a damn thing about what it takes to be a hero. What they have to sacrifice to keep people safe. Besides, Ladybug and Chat Noir don’t even know each other's identities - why the hell would Ladybug share something like that with a classroom full of people who’ve been Akumatized at least once and not share that with her own partner?!”

Whatever fear she’d instilled in the new girl quickly swapped for something much closer to fury as she reclaimed her balance and advanced on Marinette with a fire burning in her eyes. “How dare you call me a liar, you little fucking brat!”

Surprised at the outburst, Marinette didn’t move when she saw Bianca raise her hand to strike her, instead, closing her eyes and bracing for the blow.

A blow that never connected.

A gasp brought Marinette to peak open her eyes before they widened at the scene.

Bianca stood where she had previously, hand raised and poised to strike. But just behind her, Adrien had moved - impossibly quick, seriously when the hell had she gotten up? - and grabbed the girl’s arm, hand clutching tightly at her, keeping her still.

“A-Adrien!”

“That’s enough.” He hissed at her, voice low and threatening. “If it wasn’t clear before, it definitely is now. You’re not Ladybug. She would never raise a hand to a civilian like that!”

“B-but - !” Lila tried to come to her ‘friend’s’ defense but was silenced when he shot her an equally terrifying look.

“I’ve had enough of you trying to turn everyone against Marinette. I knew you both were lying when you ‘accidentally’ revealed Ladybug’s identity to me yesterday, but I didn’t have proof to prove it. You’ve been lying to everyone about everything!”

Wait... The way he’d said accidentally... why did it seem so familiar?

Her thoughts of the blonde-haired, green-eyed model were very suddenly replaced with thoughts of a similarly blonde-haired, green-eyed superhero who’d come looking for her on his night off, asking if she’d ever ‘revealed herself, accidentally or otherwise’.

“Adrien! Y-you’re hurting me!”

Marinette’s eyes were drawn to the boy’s hand, still tightly clutching Bianca’s in a vice grip that would likely leave bruises.

But that’s not what she was focused on. Instead, it was the familiar shape of his silver ring that drew her eye. Familiar because she’d seen him wear it since the first day she’d met him and never took it off.

Except for the day they’d done the shoot for her website.

The day she and Chat had to switch Miraculouses.

Adrien.

Adrien was Chat Noir.

Her kitty had been there the entire time.

That’s why he’d been so angry. That’s why he’d looked so upset. That’s why he’d come looking for her and asking such strange questions!

Because Lila and her lackey had chosen the one person who’d know for a fact that they were lying.

And if she thought she couldn’t love him any more than she already did, she was sorely mistaken.

“What is going on in here?!”

Great.

She didn’t pay much attention to the chaos that ensued after Madame Bustier had walked in the room. Lila and Bianca had claimed Marinette attacked and Adrien had stepped in to help her and they were both sent to the hall because a number of people started speaking up and coming to their defense, suddenly not blinded by Lila’s lies any longer.

But now, she was standing in the hall next to her crush and her partner.

“I’m so sorry Marinette.”

Her thoughts came to a startling halt as she turned wide eyes on him.

“I shouldn’t have ever told you not to call her out. I was stupid. I just hope you’ll forgive me someday.”

Marinette couldn’t help the smile that pulled at her lips, because how could she not have noticed? Model or not, that was the heart of her partner beating in that beautiful body of his.

“There’s nothing to forgive, Adrien. Besides, at least you checked your sources.” She chuckled, finding so much irony in that statement. If he hadn’t come looking for her, she probably wouldn’t have put it together.

He turned a confused look on her.

The smile she turned on him in return was brighter than she’d given anyone in some time, “I told you, didn’t I? You’d be the first to know.”

#miraculous ladybug #miraculousladybug #miraculous lb #ml fic #ml salt #mlsalt #lila rossi exposed #lila rosi lies #fake ladybug #imposter ladybug #ml class salt #protective adrien agreste #adrienette #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #ladybug and chat noir #miraculous ladybug fic #oneshot

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inner-sakura · 2 years ago

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Hypothetically Ever After

[childhood friends AU, adrienette, slowburn, fake/pretend relationship]

With only two weeks of summer vacation to spare, Marinette enlists Adrien’s help with a task of utmost importance.

“I need you to help me seduce your brother.”

Quite predictably, nothing goes according to plan.

a fic inspired by jennifer echols’s the boys next door, and starrycove’s Brothers AU (where PV Félix is Adrien’s older brother) because both of them have lived in my head and my heart for many years.

read the rest: AO3 | ff.net

chapter thirty-eight

The sun was shining, bright and hot, reflecting directly off the surface of the lake and into her eyes. She squinted, trying to make out the figures down by the water’s edge.

Someone was there; the person she’d been looking for.

But the sun was so blinding coming off the water, she couldn’t make anything out for the life of her.

As though she’d willed it into being, the light shifted, and her vision cleared enough to make out the figure, standing up to his calves in the sparkling blue-green water.

He looked up then, turning fully to face her as the wind caught in his blonde hair, whipping it around his head like a glowing halo. It swept forward at the last moment, obscuring his expression from view.

He reached up, brushing it back and revealing the full breadth of his smile, which was trained directly on her. Wide and so beautiful that everything around him seemed to grow brighter in response.

His eyes were crinkled at the corners, green like the lake and the mountains that she loved so much; the colour she’d always associated with happiness, and laughter, and love love love. Always love.

Adrien.

And she knew.

Like being hit by a bolt of lightning.

She loved him. She’d always loved him.

God, she’d been so stupid. So blind.

She had to make this right.

As the sun rose, sending tendrils of pink light creeping across her bedroom ceiling, the threads of a plan began weaving themselves together in Marinette’s mind.

She would make this right.

And she knew just how.

-x-

Her first stop of the day was the one she was probably dreading the most.

She left her father in the car, assuring him that she wouldn’t be any more than five minutes tops, and began the long walk up the winding driveway.

Nearing the grandiose fountain, she noted the distinct lack of kaleidoscopic light effects this morning. The whole thing looked remarkably normal under the light of day, although still comedically opulent by most standards. Its waters flowed, free and clear, burbling merrily up at her as she passed.

Yet even that typically soothing sound wasn’t enough to calm Marinette’s nerves as she made her way to the front entrance, her pulse pounding in her ears.

The heavy door swung open the instant she set foot on the stoop, the individual on the other side having obviously been lying in wait.

“You have a lot of nerve showing up here,” Chloe Bourgeois seethed, her glossy lips curled back in a snarl. She was wearing a very glamorous powder blue silk pyjama set, complete with matching fuzzy slippers on her feet. The delicate loungewear did nothing to soften the hostility rolling off of her in waves. “The only reason I even deigned to let you in was because you were so insistent on speaking with me that your damn buzzing woke the entire household.”

Marinette grimaced apologetically. Looks like we’re off to a great start already. “Sorry about that.”

“Save the apology for someone who cares, Dupain-Cheng,” Chloe snapped. “Get on with whatever it is you came here to say because I don’t have all day. You and I both know I have a party to prepare for tonight.”

“I know, I know. Just… hear me out okay?” Marinette held up her hands, needing a second to find her composure under the force of Chloe’s glare.

“I…” she swallowed thickly, trying to squeeze the words out of her suddenly very dry throat. “Need your help.”

A single raised eyebrow was the only response she got, which Marinette took as a sign to continue. The fact that Chloe was still standing there at all—instead of directing security to throw her out on her ass, which Marinette had been half expecting—was encouraging, and somewhat mind-boggling when taking into consideration everything that had happened.

“I messed things up with Adrien. Really badly.” She knew she was rambling, but now that the dam was broken, she couldn’t seem to stop the flow of words coming out of her mouth. “And I want to make it up to him. But I can’t do it alone.”

She gave the blonde what she hoped was an imploring look, trying to convey the full breadth of her desperation if not verbally, then physically.

“I know I’m the last person you’d probably ever want to help, but I can’t lose him, Chloe. I just can’t. And tonight might be my last shot, so please—”

She cut off abruptly at the sight of Chloe’s singular raised hand, suspended in the air between them.

“Before I address any of the verbal diarrhoea you just spewed all over my front step,” Chloe’s nose crinkled as though she had smelled something foul. “Let me just say how funny I find it that you would come to me, of all people, and expect to receive my help.”

Marinette’s heart sank in her chest. Of course she would be met with scorn. She should have known better than to come here in the first place. She and Chloe had never been friends, and they’d hardly even been friendly on their best days. Nevertheless, she had held out hope that she might be able to rely on the blonde’s assistance when it came to matters pertaining to Adrien.

Clearly, she had been mistaken.

Trying not to let her shoulders slump in defeat, Marinette stepped back, intent on returning to the car with as much dignity as she could muster. Although it was less than ideal, she would just have to find some way to make her plan work without Chloe’s help.

“I wasn’t finished speaking,” Chloe said, and Marinette froze.

“You know, this is why I never liked you, Dupain-Cheng. You think you’re so much better than everyone here, like you’re somehow separate from us just because we move in different circles. You judge us for being shallow and self-obsessed, and think you have the moral high ground like you’re a goddamn superhero or something.” Chloe’s face was neutral, her tone of voice dispassionate, which somehow made the harshness of her words sting all the more. It was clear that she didn’t find any of what she was saying to be cruel, but merely a statement of fact.

And the worst part was, a lot of it rang true. Marinette was ashamed to realize that she had believed herself to be better than people like Chloe, because she didn’t fixate on things like socio-economic status and simply tried to treat everyone with kindness—unlike so many of the people she encountered in Chloe and Adrien’s circles, who she found self-serving and sycophantic.

“But you’re just as selfish and up your own ass as the rest of us. Just because you think you’re a ‘good person’ doesn’t give you just cause to make assumptions about people, or treat them badly.” Chloe gave a half-shrug, her silk robe slipping down one of her shoulders. The deshabille only added to her insouciant image, standing imperiously in the doorway of her mansion, surrounded by symbols of opulence and wealth that meant almost nothing to her.

“I’m a bitch,” Chloe acknowledged with a tilt of her head, not looking the least bit bothered by, or repentant about that fact. “But at least I’m honest.”

There it was, the crux of it all.

Marinette would be the first to self-identify as a good person. Yet she was also someone who had been extremely judgemental, lumping people like Chloe and Adrien and Félix and all of their friends in together, never giving any of them the benefit of the doubt. A person who had accused others of being self-serving then turned around and exhibited exactly the kind of behaviour she would have castigated them for.

She was a hypocrite.

A hypocrite who was just about ready to head home, crawl back under the covers, and stay there until it was time to leave for Paris.

But it looked like Chloe wasn’t finished quite yet.

“And somehow, in spite of all your character flaws—of which there are many, might I add—Adrien still insists on being pathetically, stupidly in love with you.”

Marinette’s head snapped up. Judging by the look of disgruntlement on Chloe’s face, she couldn’t quite believe what she was saying either.

“What Adrien did was wrong, I’ll admit that. He lied to you and I told him it was going to blow up in his face, but did he listen? Of course not. Now look where we are,” she rolled her cornflower blue eyes. “Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!”

And with that, she spun on her heel, flouncing into the house without a backward glance.

Marinette gazed after her in confusion. Was that it? Was she just supposed to see herself out now?

A wave of disappointment crashed over her.

“Hurry it up, Dupain-Cheng. I’m a very busy woman and I haven’t got all day,” Chloe’s voice echoed through the open doorway. “So get to filling me in on this little plan of yours.”

Her heart leaping, Marinette rushed to follow, not needing to be told twice.

-x-

Later, as she was leaving Chloe’s, her phone vibrated with a text notification.

Fishing it out as she made her way back to the car, her pulse quickened when she realized who it was from.

[09:38] Adrien Agreste:

heard about your big date last night.

Hope it lived up to your expectations :)

Even though his message was deliberately snide, Marinette felt her heart swell all the same. Adrien was clearly still mad at her, but at least he wasn’t giving her the cold shoulder anymore.

She didn’t bother trying to think up a response, content to shift her focus to the next phase of her operation. Now that both Chloe and Félix were onboard, things were starting to look up. But there was much that remained to be done.

And so Marinette decided to leave him on read, stuffing her phone back in her bag. Adrien would have to forgive her later.

Besides, if everything went according to plan tonight, he would have far more important things on his mind anyway.

-x-

The rest of the day passed in a blur and before she knew it, the time on her phone screen read quarter to seven.

She’d sent her father into town to pick up the finishing touches for her plan. Everything, down to the very last detail, had to be perfect, because this was her last chance.

Her Hail Mary throw.

If this didn’t work, then at least she would be able to take some comfort in the knowledge that she’d done everything in her power to make things right.

Even if the thought was, admittedly, not very comforting.

-x-

“Come on, baby...” Please, please, please let this work, Marinette prayed, trying to coax a response out of the grumpy figure in front of her.

In spite of her cajoling, however, she was met with nothing but stubborn silence. And the occasional thunk, as the tide bumped it up against the side of the dock.

“God DAMNIT!” Marinette cursed, barely repressing the urge to kick the machine, knowing that it wouldn’t make a difference to the inner workings of the engine, but had the very real potential to break every single one of her toes.

She and her mother had been out there all afternoon working on the damn thing; checking and replacing parts, making sure all of the connections were in place.

Everything appeared to be in working order. No damage, no leaks. Theoretically, the jet ski was in tip-top shape.

But for some reason, it just would. Not. Start.

Which ran the risk of not only putting a serious dent in her master plan, but also potentially jeopardizing the integrity of the entire endeavour, if she couldn’t figure out a solution. Everything else was ready; all of the relevant players lying in wait, primed for her signal.

If only her stupid jet ski had gotten the memo.

Marinette leaned in, caressing the smooth side of its hull as she spoke. “I know you’re tired, and most would say you’re past your prime, but I promise—if you just let me get where I need to go this one time—that I will kit you out with so many top-of-the-line parts that you’ll be running circles around machines half your age in no time.”

She sat back on her haunches.

“And if you don’t, I will let my father have his way with you, and your final resting place will be at the top of a scrap pile in the middle of bumfuck nowhere,” she muttered darkly, not above resorting to threats. The ends would justify the means.

Reaching forward, Marinette sent up another quick prayer.

If I have a guardian angel up there somewhere, now would be a really good time to clock in.

Her hand closed around the starter.

Marinette held her breath.

A beat passed, then another.

Nothing happened.

And then, like a thunderclap.

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

The jet ski roared to life, letting out the most ungodly racket Marinette had ever heard. It was music to her ears.

She whooped with glee.

“YES!”

Scrambling for the items she’d placed around the dock, she carefully arranged herself so that nothing was at risk of falling in—namely her entire person—clasped her life vest, and set off.

Cinderella might be running a bit late, but she would make it to the ball come hell or high water, goddamnit.

-x-

Although the wind was whipping her hair across her face, Marinette had no trouble navigating to Chloe’s house.

It certainly helped that the place was lit up to the high heavens; a beacon so bright that she was sure it would be visible even from the International Space Station.

It glittered like a jewel in the hillside—a steadfast light in the growing darkness—and Marinette followed it like the North Star.

Thanks to the earsplitting noise emanating from the machine beneath her, she knew there was no point in trying to mask her approach. People could probably hear her all the way in Paris, let alone from across the relatively tranquil lake at dusk.

But that suited her purposes just fine. So what if it caused a few more heads to turn? That was sort of the objective, in a way.

And heads were definitely turning, Marinette noted, as she drew nearer.

People were dotted all across the manicured backyard and patio; out enjoying the beautiful night air, which was actually possible now that the insufferable heatwave from the past few days had broken. They were gathered in clusters around where she knew the pool and the food to be located, as well as down by the dock.

The same dock she was currently making a beeline for.

She revved the engine, eager to close the last stretch of distance that remained between her and solid ground. The muscles in her legs and arms were cramping something fierce, even though she’d been on the machine for no more than ten minutes.

Added to the fact that she almost assuredly had drool on her face and in her hair from trying to carry something in her mouth and drive at high speeds, and Marinette was certain she had never looked more beautiful.

Behold, ladies and gentlemen: the very definition of sex appeal.

She eased off the throttle, slowing now that she was within eyeshot.

There was a surprisingly large group of people congregated around the dock area, which was a good sign. It meant that Chloe had most likely upheld her end of the bargain, and ensured that a certain someone would be where he needed to be.

After all, wherever the Agreste boys went, large groups of people tended to follow.

She could make out individual people’s features now, which meant she had an excellent view of Adrien’s stunned expression as she floated toward him.

He was standing perfectly situated toward the end of the wooden platform, blocked on three sides by water, and behind by a solid wall of people. There was no escaping her here.

Marinette swallowed heavily.

Well, she thought, here goes everything.

Now that the engine was idling, the music pumping out of the wireless speakers wrapped around her shoulders became audible.

She pulled up beside the dock, letting Frankie Valli’s crooning fill the profound hush that had fallen over the gathered crowd.

“You’re just too good to be true… can’t take my eyes off of you…”

Adrien stared, wide-eyed, as she anchored herself as quickly as possible, dismounting the jet ski with all the grace of a drunk baby hippo.

Hoping that the high winds hadn’t left the poor thing too bald, she spat the flower she was carrying out of her mouth, extending it toward him just as the chorus began in full force.

“I would sing along, but I feel it’s probably in everyone’s best interests that I don’t… Unlike you, my musical talents only extend as far as recognizing that I do not, in fact, possess any,” she forced a smile, trying to tamp down the herd of carnivorous butterflies currently cage fighting in her abdomen. Adrien didn’t crack a smile—didn’t so much as even blink—but Marinette forged on, needing to say her piece while she had him there in front of her.

“I couldn’t get my hands on a real boombox... Did you know they're apparently incredibly hard to track down nowadays? And then the only ones I could find were easily five kilos, so there was no way I’d be able to carry it across the lake and drive this thing,” she gestured to the jet ski bobbing cheerfully in the water beside her, completely oblivious to the enormity of the moment it was witnessing. “Or a long-stemmed red rose, for that matter. So you’ll have to settle for this flower from my mother’s garden, which she has most graciously donated to the cause.”

She held it out to him, willing him to take it with a little shake.

Adrien did so, albeit very slowly. Marinette took it as a good sign.

Hopefully it doesn’t have any of my saliva left on it… She withheld a grimace. Nothing says romance like a slimy flower stem.

Too late to worry about it now, though. Besides, there were bigger issues at hand. She hadn’t even gotten to the hard part yet, the actual crux of what she had come here to say.

“I know you’re probably still mad at me, and I don’t blame you. I’m kind of mad at me too,” she tried to shrug it off with a laugh, but the sound got wedged somewhere between her larynx and the back of her throat, giving it a choked, cut-off twang. “But this song is only three minutes and twenty-three seconds long, so all I ask is that you give me that much time to say my piece.”

“And if,” she went on, inhaling deeply to fortify herself, “by the end of this song, in exactly three minutes and twenty-three seconds, nothing I’ve said has made a difference and you decide that you want nothing to do with me, then I will respect that. But please, until then... just hear me out?”

Adrien contemplated the white peony in his hands, his eyes flickering up to meet hers briefly.

“Okay.” It wasn’t exactly a resounding and enthusiastic yes, but Marinette was willing to take what she could get.

She began, tentatively at first, then with growing confidence.

“I don’t know what I’m doing, or even what I’m supposed to say, really. I always fall asleep or wind up zoning out by the time we reach these scenes in the movies. I did remember a few things, though. And I had a little bit of help.”

Her eyes found Chloe and Félix amongst the onlookers, both of them standing not far from each other at the back of the crowd.

The crowd that appeared to be growing larger by the minute, if Marinette's eyes weren’t playing tricks on her.

There had to be at least a hundred people out in the backyard and on the patio, all turned toward where she and Adrien stood at the end of the dock. She could hear the low hum of their murmuring, since someone had oh so helpfully thought to turn the music on the house system down. No doubt so they could better enjoy the show.

Oh God, don’t think about it don’t think about it don’t think about it—

Marinette quickly focused her attention back on Adrien, not wanting to get distracted contemplating just how many people were sitting in on what was shaping up to be one of the most stressful moments of her almost seventeen years of existence.

So instead she stood in front of the most beautiful boy she’d ever seen, clad in a bright orange life jacket with a pair of wireless speakers strapped around her shoulders, and tried desperately to convey the depth of the feelings she had taken so long to figure out.

“I don’t know anything about grand romantic gestures, or sweeping people off their feet. But there is one thing I do know, without a shadow of a doubt,” she stared into the pair of eyes she knew as well, if not better than her own, captivated by the way they shone brightly even in the fading light.

“I can’t imagine not having you in my life, or talking to you every day, or trying not to laugh at your terrible puns... Because in spite of my best efforts, I do secretly enjoy them, but don’t want you to get a big head about it...” This time the laughter came to her more easily, bubbling forth almost unbidden. And if she wasn’t mistaken, the closed-off lines of Adrien’s expression softened ever so slightly in response.

“I can’t imagine not being able to hold your hand, or hug you when I’m feeling sad.” Her vision was a little blurrier now, but Marinette did her best to keep going, desperate to convey to Adrien just how much he meant to her. She fought the urge to close the distance between them, keeping her feet firmly fixed in place even as she wanted to run to him, throw her arms around him, and never let go.

“I can’t imagine a world where you’re not my best friend. And I refuse to imagine a world where my day-to-day life doesn't have you in it.”

She wasn’t laughing anymore. In fact, she was teetering on the edge of full-blown tears; the heat behind her eyes becoming almost unbearable.

“I think I’m a much better person when I’m with you. And I’ve come to realize that I’m pretty miserable without you.”

Her voice broke on the word ‘miserable’ and with it the dam that had been holding back her tears. They began flowing freely down her face, and Marinette was helpless to stop them.

She dashed them away as quickly as she could, but for every tear she wiped away, there always seemed to be another two waiting in line behind it.

The song was entering its final stages now. Marinette sniffled, doing her best to gather her composure, knowing that time was running out.

“So I guess what I’m saying is that I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to forgive her for being such a complete and total dumbass...”

She stared into his eyes, riveted, unable to look away for even a moment as she spoke her next words to him.

“And that I love you, Adrien Agreste. The real deal, cheesy romantic movie, happily-ever-after kind of love you.”

-x-

#ml fanfic #miraculous ladybug #adrienette #marinette dupain-cheng #adrien agreste #adrinette #ml fic #miraculous fanfic #no miraculous au #ml fanworks #ml fic recs #ml brothers au #childhood friends au #ongoing fic #hypothetically ever after

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purrincess-chat · 4 years ago

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Cat’s Definitive Ranking of Every ML Episode as of 4/22/21

Are you guys ready for this? I did the thing. You’re all welcome. Don’t ever ask me for anything again. You can watch me get progressively more unhinged in real time.

Now, just to preface this, I did not give this too much thought. Most of these are just my gut feelings. I went through every episode and just made some snap judgments based off the lasting impressions I’ve been left with. These are my opinions. If you don’t like them, tough. And also I don’t care. Go spend 4 hours making your own damn ranking. And shut the hell up. Anyway, this is probably the longest post I’ve ever made, so I’m gonna put it all under a read more. Click on it if you have an hour to read it. Okay, here we go!

1. Origins II- Good starting point for our heroes. Good establishment of canon ships and character dynamics. Umbrella scene literally stole my wallet. Cannot emphasis enough that I am whipped for the umbrella scene. I wrote a whole ass AU just to say how whipped I am for the umbrella scene. In the Rain will play at my wedding. Jk. Weddings are for suckers. But dammit if I don’t want these kids to get married. 10/10

2. Origins I- Good introduction to lore. Good introduction to characters. Good establishment of status quoyo. Just good. 10/10

3. Simon Says- Listen, I am nothing if not a shipper at heart. This episode just sparks joy. And the whole series almost ended when Gabriel almost jumped off the roof. I was really rooting for this one. This was the episode where I saw Ladrien and went yes, ma’am, I’ll have one of those. 10/10

4. Evillustrator- Are you all surprised? Cat, the MC-skeptic ranked the pivotal MC episode so highly? Well, let me tell you all a thing, I started this fandom out a MC shipper because of this episode. Their first interaction is gold. I don’t deny that. I enjoy it. This is the MC dynamic I fell in love with. Yall toxic shippers ruined MC for me when you opened your mouths and spat in the face of Ladrien and baselessly declared MC the sin-ship. We all know it’s Ladrien. Stop kidding yourselves. Boy in leather catsuit? Please. Basic ass vanilla bitches. I’m getting off-topic. Solid episode 10/10. We love to see it.

5. Stormy Weather- Baby’s first Miraculous episode. It holds a special place in my heart. It’s a solid episode. Good establishment of what the show is. Fun villain. Good times. Fond memories. 10/10

6. Riposte- Listen, I know I’m an Adrinette stan, but hear me out: Ladrien. It’s just so good. And Kagami was compelling in this episode. It was just really solid. It’s my favorite s2 episode. If you ask me if I want to rewatch Riposte, the answer is always yes. 10/10. We stan.

7. Gorizilla- Okay, so this episode has some solid Adrinette in it, but the real reason it ranks so high is that fucking Ladrien trust fall. I stare at that scene for hours, you guys. HOURS. It is absolutely just *chefs kiss*. Sometimes when I need a pick-me-up, I just go watch gifs of that catch on loop. 10/10. Beautiful. Radiant. Carefree.

8. Gang of Secrets- I have been keeping most of my opinions to myself about s4 (mostly because I’ve backed way the hell out of this fandom), but GoS was pretty solid. Gotta say, it’s the first episode in a long time with this show that made me actually excited to see what happens next. Most other episodes I was like, okay, that was cute. The show is still meh overall. But GoS really got me like oh shit, is ML good again? 10/10 for making me feel things again.

9. Oblivio- Told you guys this one was probably rated higher than I thought. Oblivio is just really fun. There is good Adrinette. That “No wonder I fell in love with you” paired with the softest of Adrien smiles just sends me. And the kisses. The unquestionable trust. These two kids literally woke up together alone in an elevator with no memories and said welp, you’re my boyfriend/girlfriend obviously, I don’t make the rules. Honestly, how anyone could argue that these two dorks aren’t made for each other after that episode is beyond me. 9/10

10. Backwarder- Okay, I know I am weird and alone for this one, but I really liked this episode. It got a lot of shit for the constipation capsule thing at the end, but like who cares? We finally got some more backstory on Fu. He got a love-interest who is dope as hell. This episode is my favorite lucky charm use ever. Like that queen DID that. I like Backwarder, guys! Fuck off. 9/10.

11. Kwamibuster- We all know I am a Marinette-stan by this point, but our girl was SHINING this episode. This bitch said gimme all them and let me go whoop this bitch’s ass, and she DID. Hawkmoth could never. Multimouse is a gift, and Marinette is a boss ass queen. 9/10

12. Chat Blanc- Listen, this episode was very good. I enjoy the idea of my children being happy in another timeline somewhere very much. We got all 4 sides of the square in an episode. It’s just really solid. I know this is the fandom’s favorite, and everyone is gonna shit their pants because it didn’t make my top 10, but this is my list. So, I put it at number 12. It’s good. I like it. It just didn’t steal my wallet like other episodes did. Put the pitchforks down. It’s gonna be okay, you can still love it more than me. 8/10

13. New York Special- I know everyone felt some type of way about this special, but I wasn’t mad at it. My perception of it might be clouded because I watched it in Disney World where I was chilling and having a great time, but like this special really did somethings for me. The Adrinette was top tier. Tippy top tier. Even though they hurt us in the end, I am okay with it because it just means the children will grow and come out stronger. I don’t care if it’s not technically canon. Ask me if I give a fuck. I don’t. I had fun here. 8/10. Solid.

14. The Collector- This one might shock a lot of you, but let me paint you a scene. It’s the first episode of s2. We have just come off a 2 year hiatus. The fandom is thriving. We’re hungry for canon content. We have hopes and dreams and expectations. Everyone is going wild with theories. This episode confirmed something that was long since obvious (in my opinion) and ended the stupid arguments people had been having. It made Gabriel actually seem semi-competent. We got our first taste of how Chat/Adrien will react to his dad being Hawkmoth. We got a peek at their life. Adrien’s isolation and sadness. They were so close to figuring it out. The battle was epic. Like Collector really had them on the ropes there for a second. It’s a solid episode, yall. I’m not wrong. Hate me all you want, but this episode brought it. 8/10

15. Despair Bear- Is this episode up this high because of the Adrinette slow dance scene? YOU BET YOUR ASS IT IS. Okay, but fr though, shipping aside, this episode gave us hope that Chloe was actually gonna redeem herself. I mean, she didn’t but, we didn’t know that at the time. Seeing her run around trying to be nice was fun. And then she actually did something good, and we had a moment of okay, she’s capable. We’ll get there. We didn’t. But what a ride this episode was for making us think she would. 8/10

16. Startrain- Cat, you’re just ranking all the Adrinette episodes highest. And? What of it? Are you surprised? You clicked a blog that has simping for Adrinette in the description, and you’re surprised all my favorite episodes have Adrinette? I’m not wrong, you’re just an idiot. The Adrinette nap cuddles aside though, this was a pretty good episode. If you don’t think too hard about the whole space thing, we got a look at Max’s life, his mom is a driven, smart lady doing her best. Adrien rebels against papa for once. Alya stops a Lila scheme. Chloe gets to play the hero. Alya and Nino actually investigate like the heroes they are. Gabriel gets to realize what a dumbass bitch he is. I mean. Guys. Startrain is solid. 7.5/10

17. Sapotis- This one shot up in rank for me after GoS, but tbh it’s always been a solid episode. Alyanette sleepover? Check. Alya becoming a superhero? Check. It’s a fun episode. And looking back, it’s nicely called back to later in GoS. We love it. 7.5/10

18. Sandboy- Idk why I enjoy this episode as much as I do, but I do. Sandboy is a cute bean. I love his aesthetic. We also get hilarious looks at everyone’s nightmares. “Plagg, who turned you into a sock?” cracks me up cause like Adrien, bby, no XD And Chat Noir’s nightmare. I think it would have been interesting though if since Sandboy dusted the Agreste mansion, if we got a peek at Hawkmoth’s nightmares. It would have been a nice hint of plot to go along with Master Fu’s nightmare. Also Plagg giving the akuma the slip like the clever boy we know he is deep down? 7.5/10

19. Furious Fu- If you guys haven’t realized by now that I love Fu, idk what you’re doing. Pay attention. I know that some people don’t like him, but I’m just gonna say it, you’re wrong. Fu took care of the Miracle Box for over 100 years, and this episode kind of gives some insight to what the Order was like. Very strict. Lots of rules. And ya know what, Fu said fuck the police, I’m gonna befriend these little magical demigods, and fuck off! Like what an absolute legend. I was really happy to see him living his best life, and that he and Marianne got married because it’s what he deserves. We love to see it. 7.5/10

20. Gamer- People like to shit on Marinette in this episode, but like honestly, if I were in her shoes, I’d have probably done the same thing if I had the skill. Ain’t nothing wrong with a girl trying to spend time with the boy she likes. And Tom and Sabine being absolute shipping trash. I love them. And the awkward Adrinette. The introduction of the lucky charm that Adrien STILL carries. Wholesome. This was a good episode for their friendship, and we love to see it. 7.5/10

21. Christmaster- Okay, I know a lot of people hated this episode when it aired, but I thought it was really funny? Everyone skidding around in the ice rink was hilarious. If you don’t take this episode seriously, it’s really fun. Chris is pretty cute, and damn right Ladybug is the best kid in the world. Idk. This episode is fun. I’m not mad at it. Sue me. 7.5/10

22. Weredad- What? Another MC-heavy episode in Cat’s top 30? Listen, I don’t hate canon MC. The fans just annoy me. This episode was funny. The secondhand embarrassment and cringe was real. Plagg taunting Adrien because he knows the secret was great. Marinette being a self-saving queen was great. It’s a good episode. I like MC, you guys. I do. I swear! 7.5/10

23. Miraculer- This episode was interesting to me, and I think it’s still a good development episode. For one, Sabrina finally got her own akuma episode named after her. Secondly, because it’s a big step for Chloe, just not in the way we expected. It totally makes sense that Chloe can’t have her Miraculous back because literally everyone knows her identity. Can’t argue that logic. And she is the first person to ever refuse to become akumatized, so like mad respect. I know a lot of people had high hopes for redeemed Chloe (myself included), but I think watching a character fall from revering someone to hating them is also an interesting path. The friends to enemies arc as it were. Idk. I liked this episode. It was an opportunity for Chloe to grow, even if she didn’t in the end, but we’ll talk about that later. 7.5/10

24. Lady Wifi- I like Alya. I feel like I don’t say that much, and people make some assumptions because of MDCSP, but MDCSP is just a concept I wanted to explore. It doesn’t really reflect how I feel about any one character. Except maybe Lila. And Gabe. But every other spite fic I’ve written branching from Chameleon, the class has been fine. Alya has been fine. So, let it be known that I like Alya. Lady Wifi was a fun episode. Putting aside the fact that she thought Chloe was Ladybug for no reason, I like her akuma. I like the interactions we get with LadyNoir in this episode. After GoS, this episode gets a bit funnier. It’s solid. 7/10

25. Dark Cupid- I don’t have much to say about this one. LadyNoir. That’s it. That’s the tweet. Send it. 7/10

26. Volpina- So many things about this episode. It introduced a new antagonist who we didn’t exactly 100% know was going to be an antagonist at the time. This episode sparked a lot of fun fan theories for a while. Who was Lila? How was she going to shake things up? Not to mention this episode gave us a taste of plot and lore, and set up Marinette meeting Master Fu officially. Lots of intrigue sparked from this episode. And that LadyNoir door scene? OOOOOO 7/10

27. Hearthunter- One word: Adrigaminette. This episode was so cute for them! I loved seeing them all goofing and running around together. Adrien and Kagami being absolutely in love with Marinette when her hair is down. They both love her, I don’t make the rules. Not to mention, Marinette takes a big step by letting her friends be happy without her. Kagami not wanting to hurt Marinette. The drama!! Gabriel being a messy ass bitch to his friends. It loses points for the abomination of an akuma, but overall, I wasn’t too mad at it. Yet. 7/10

28. Glaciator- More MC in Cat’s top 30? It’s more likely than you think. Listen. Listen… Listen. MC is fine. This episode was the closest thing to fanfiction that we got. The balcony scene was really sweet. I was drinking the irony. We got introduced to Andre the icecream fraud. Andre the please just give me the flavor I asked for man. I could have done without Chat pouting, but the LadyNoir in the end was pretty good. I wish they’d done more with Ladybug’s feelings for Chat. Had her question herself a bit more after this one, but overall, it’s cute. 7/10

29. Zombizou- A lot of people started hating Mlle. Bustier after this episode, and like I can kind of see it, if I squint, but I did not draw that same conclusion from this episode. Mlle. Bustier just wants good things for all of her students. They’re 14 ffs, she just wants to be a good influence on all of her students and wants them all to be successful. But go off, I guess? Plus, this episode was basically just a spoof on zombie apocalypse movies. We got so many things. Julerose, Myvan, DJWifi. Chloe actually showing some depth and emotion. LadyNoir. We won this episode, babes. Sorry you didn’t get the memo. 7/10

30. Timetagger- Okay. This is the last episode in the ones that I’d venture to call “good.” Number 30. I enjoyed Timetagger. I know people have feelings about timey-wimey bullshit, and like I’m not gonna lie and say I’m thrilled with it either (I mean, I changed the rabbit’s power in MDCSP) but that being said, Timetagger was so sassy. Bunnix was cool as hell. We get to see that LB and CN are still doing the thing in the future. So many questions sparked from this episode. It was fun. Idk. I liked it. That’s all I got. 7/10

31. Malediktator- Okay, from this point on, less comments because this is the section that are more or less just meh to me. Like they’re fine. This episode was fine. Chloe was fine. Chat playing with the laser was cute. 6.5/10

32. Mayura- Adrien’s speech at the end. Nuff said 6.5/10

33. Ikari Gozen- Ryuko/Ryuuko. Gals being pals. 6.5/10

34. Reflekdoll- I talked about this earlier, but I don’t hate this episode. It’s not as bad as people make it out to be. Sue me. 6.5/10

35. Anansi- Nino is the goodest boy. Also I need more of the gang taking Adrien on adventures via Facetime. Stat. 6.5/10

36. Shanghai- This one is new, and tbh I still haven’t watched it with subs, but I had a good time. Fei was cute. The boy squad was cute. Adrien bonding with Great Uncle Cheng was cute. Hawkmoth getting literally dunked on was *chefs kiss* 6.5/10

37. Gigantitan- I love overly supportive, ride-or-die girl squad. 6.5/10

38. Party Crasher- Idk why this episode was funny to me. Kim is the purest bean. We don’t deserve him. 6.5/10

39. Desperada- This episode was an emotional roller coaster, and even though we all collectively hate Aspik’s stupid egghead, we love the Ladrien this episode provided us. 6/10

40. Oni-chan- Listen, I loved seeing Lila get a tiny bit of karma even if she made it up in the end. I loved Chat going off on her. I loved seeing her get outsmarted in the end. 6/10

41. Frightningale- My good lesbian Clara Nightingale. We stan. 6/10

42. Style Queen- I like Audrey in a “she’s the worst person I’ve ever met, I want to travel the world with her” kind of way. She’s funny to me. Idk. I love her firing everyone. She’s the one I love to hate. She’s the worst, but we love her for it. Plus this episode gave us Plagg’s adorable little Cataclysm that destroyed half the city. 6/10

43. Gamer 2.0- Chat confidently strutting in heels made this episode worth it. And we get to see the beginning of Marinette being overwhelmed. Plus it was the return of gamer!nette. 6/10

44. Troublemaker- I don’t hate this episode as much as the next person either. It was fine. Jagged is a manchild, but we love him for it. He’s a Marinette stan which like mood. The Adrinette at the end was cute. I wasn’t mad at it. Idk. It’s fine. 6/10

45. Reflekta- Where are all my Juleka stans at? I loved the LadyNoir banter in this ep. V. cute. 6/10

46. Dark Owl- This episode was fun. And it really shows their level of trust. Plus Plagg and Tikki interacted. 6/10

47. Timebreaker- Have I ever mentioned that I like Alix? I like Alix. 6/10

48. Silencer- I don’t hate this episode as much as you’d expect me to, and that is 100% because of the LadyNoir. 5.5/10

49. Prime Queen- Chat purrs. 5.5/10

50. Syren- I think the fish power-up is adorable. Ondine is a gem. Kim is a pure bean, but we been knew. 5.5/10

51. Befana- I like Gina, but this episode fell flat for me. Almost as flat as the animation. 5.5/10

52. Reverser- Another episode that everyone hates that I am actually fine with. This episode made me like Nathaniel more. Probably because I was previously indifferent toward him. Marc is cute too. 5.5/10

53. Mr. Pigeon- Marinette is one clever girl. And the Adrinette hand-touch. 5.5/10

54. Felix- Felix is a gremlin of chaos. A true chaotic neutral. He gives his uncle the finger, and I think that’s beautiful. 5.5/10

55. Truth- Bet you expected this episode to be higher. While I did enjoy watching toxic people’s world crumble, this episode still gets a meh from me dog. 5/10

56. Lies- The Adrigami was cute, and I respect Kagami as a character. The akuma could have been better tho. 5/10

57. Princess Fragrance- Not much to say here. 5/10

58. Copycat- 5/10

59. Bubbler- 5/10

60. Mime- 5/10

61. Animan- 5/10

62. Robostus- 5/10

63. Ladybug- This episode ranks this low purely because I don’t care about GabeNath, and I hate that Lila won something in the end. But Adrien saying I won’t hesitate, bitch! At the end was nice to see. 5/10

64. Catalyst- I know I ranked Mayura way higher, but Catalyst fell flat for me. Like it was fine. Wasn’t as into it though. 4.5/10

65. Puppeteer- One of my favorite lucky charm uses. 4.5/10

66. Pixelator- My favorite Cataclysm. 4.5/10

67. Horrificator- That almost-Adrinette kiss tho 4.5/10

68. Pharaoh- 4.5/10

69. Kung Food- 4.5/10

70. Rogercop- 4/10

71. Guitar Villain- 4/10

72. Dark Blade- 4/10

73. Bakerix- 4/10

74. Antibug- And now onto the bottom 10. To start us off, I will just say: UGH, this episode annoyed me. First of all, Sabrina didn’t even get her own episode. Chloe was a piece of shit. Idk why they made Ladybug the one in the wrong when Chloe was being obnoxious. Ugh. 3/10

75. Captain Hardrock- I’m gonna be honest. My apathy for this episode has grown into loathing. Toxic stans are 100% to blame. Birthday ruining, bitches. This is the reason I threw a breakup bash after Truth. Yall deserved it. 3/10

76. Christmas Special- I didn’t hate this episode as much as everyone, but it still wasn’t great. 2.5/10

77. Stormy Weather 2.0- This episode was really dumb. It didn’t need to exist. 2.0/10

78. Queen Wasp- Why did we give Chloe a Miraculous after this episode? 2/10

79. Animaestro- Did we really need a self-insert? Did we really? 2/10

80. Puppeteer 2.0- Listen, this episode would have made more sense in s1 or at the very latest early s2. Adrien gave a whole ass speech on how great Marinette is, then he turns around and is like idk if she likes me… Clean it up. 2/10

81. Miracle Queen- I could talk at length about how much I hate the ending of this episode and what they did with Chloe and Master Fu, but we’re just going to remain calm and give it a solid 1.5/10

82. Frozer- This episode made no goddamn sense. I call bullshit on so many things. Just ugh. 1/10

83. Chameleon- Surprisingly, even though this episode sparked many, many spite fics out of me, it’s not my least favorite because at least Ladybug semi-redeemed this episode. Still really dumb and ooc tho. 1/10

84. Feast- Okay, okay, okay, here we are. Bottom of the barrel. Cat’s most hated episode, and you wanna know why? You want to know why this episode fills me with the rage? Because we spent two fucking seasons building up all this mystery and lore and intrigue surrounding Fu’s big mistake, and they dropped the fucking ball! They did my mans so dirty! They could have really deepened his character, deepened the Order, deepened anything other than whatever fucking affair Gabriel and Nathalie have going on, but NO. They made it some stupid, bland-ass thing that got resolved magically in the end, then just ignored it for the rest of the season. I will never not be salty about how they did my boy Fu in this show. I’m happy he found his peace, but fuck if I’m not livid about how they did it. Whatever. Chat being done with Ladybug’s shit when they’re about to get eaten was funny I guess. .5/10

#cat speaks #cat spoils #episode ranking #long post #i'm tired now #i go to bed

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kitty0boy · 4 years ago

Text

Uh ohhh, back again. So this time it’s, you guessed it, Marichat. I will write other love square fics in the future but for now I must feed my Marichat starved ass. As always, Adrien is 18, Marinette is 17, and this time, Chat pays Marinette a visit, while drunk. Nothing smutty just dumb Chat Noir. And I checked, the drinking age in France is actually 16 so this is very much legal. Enjoy!

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Adrien was bored, so incredibly bored in his absolutely massive room. Despite having a rock wall, a piano, an arcade machine, a Foseball table, a wide screen television, a computer, and an entire wall full of CDs, Adrien was bored. He felt bad that he didn’t appreciate all he had, but the simple fact is that he would give all of it away in a heartbeat, and you know what? Maybe he should. There are thousands of kids in Paris that would kill to have a fraction of all he had. And he was rich anyways so he could just buy something else. He sighed and Plagg lazily rolled over on his desk. “Are you as bored as I am?” His Kwami asked. “Yup.” He replied. What to do what to do. “You know Plagg, I kind of feel like pissing off my father right now.” He said nonchalant. “Who are you and what have you done with Adrien?” Plagg teased, earning a giggle from his wielder. Over the years Plagg seemed to rub off on him. He was still a hundred times more responsible than Plagg but he wasn’t a stick in the mud when it came to rules. He wasn’t afraid to piss of Gabriel or disappoint him anymore, he didn’t spend much time with him anyways. “Well then,” Plagg said, floating up “let’s see what we can find.”

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Marinette had finally figured out a routine when it comes to being the guardian. The Kwamis were allowed out of the miracle box for two hours everyday. She would set up snacks, board games, arts and crafts and more to keep them entertained. In exchange, they would stay quiet so that people wouldn’t be worried for her, plus it helped to not have the Kwamis ripping her room to shreds. Their time out of the miracle box had just ended. She had already cleaned up the board games and brought the plates down stairs. She was about to change into her pjs when something poked through her window. It was a black glove. She squealed and tried to quickly pull her shirt back on before he could come in. “Chat Noir! What did I say about knocking?” She quickly stuffed the miracle box into her closet before approaching the window. He didn’t climb in right away though, instead he dangled from the window sill. She poked her head out and made eye contact with him.

“Look Marinette, now I’m the damsel I’m distress, waiting for my hero to save me.” He slurred his words a little which was odd. Playing along she grabbed him by the arms and pulled him up through her window. Instead of standing and climbing through the window. He dragged himself in and slumped to the floor with his back against the carpet. “You know, you’re strong for a little person.” He giggled. “Ok kitty, get up.” He followed orders and stood, but he swayed slightly and laughed more when she held him steady. He reached up and, booped her. What? She knew he was a dork but he never usually acted like this. Then the faint scent of expensive wine hit her nose. “Chat are you drunk?” He crossed his arms infront of him. “No I’m not, I’m Chat Noir.” He laughed at his own dad joke. “Yeah ok, you’re drunk.” She sighed and rubbed her temple. “Just wait here a minute.”

She went downstairs and got a glass of water and some croissants for him to snack on. She opened the trap door, “Ok kitty, time for you to sober up.” She looked at him, still standing in the same place she had left him. What a goof.

“Come sit Chat, we can watch a movie while you eat.” He obeyed and collapsed dramatically onto the chaise lounge. “Can I get cuddles Marinette, your knight in shining armour is touch starved, only the cuddles of his *hic* purrincess can save him from this curse.” She giggled, “Ok, but after you eat first.” He sat bolt upright and seemed to regret that decision because he slumped and collapsed again. She laughed and he pouted, “Chat oh my god, you don’t have to rush, I’m not leaving.” He smiled clumsily, was it even possible to smile clumsily? He sat up in slow motion, no he actually tried to move in slow motion before slowly reaching out and grabbing a croissant. “Chat you’re going to kill me,” she laughed “you don’t have to move in slow motion, you can eat at a normal pace.” Somehow, he didn’t understand the concept of normal because he shoved the whole croissant into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. ‘How was that even possible?’ she thought, did he have power she didn’t know about? Like stretchy mouth or something? She stared at him dumbly as he inhaled another croissant. “Ok kitty, this time we’re going to take bites.” She picked up a croissant and took a bite out of it, “Like this see, bites.” It was like teaching a toddler, she had done it in the past but said toddler wasn’t drunk and 6 feet tall. Chat didn’t grab the last croissant on the plate, instead he took a regular sized bite of the croissant in Marinette’s hand, chewed and swallowed. She laughed again, he was such a dork. She decided that it would just be easier to let him eat the croissant like that so she fed him the rest and adjusted her computer on the desk so it was facing them. She handed Chat the remote. “Ok kitty, you pick what movie you wanna watch and I’ll be right back ok? Don’t go anywhere.” He gave a toothy grin before sliding to the ground and sitting against the chaise lounge. She sighed smiling and walked towards her bathroom to change and get ready for bed.

When she walked back in, Chat wasn’t scrolling through movie options or even sitting up right. He was lying, on the ground starring blankly at her ceiling with the song “Despacito” playing from his baton. She walked over to him and kneeled by his face, “Chat Noir what are you do-?” He placed a finger on her lips and slurred out a “Shhhhh.” Before a tear rolled down his cheek, she looked at him, mixed between trying not to laugh and concerned. “I’m in my feels princess.” He said before deeply inhaling. “DESPACI-“ her hand slapped over his mouth before she rested her head on his chest and wheezed out a laugh. “Chat oh my fucking god.” She said between giggles “You have to keep quiet, my parents would kill me if they found out you were here, and drunk no less.” He reached up and put his hand on top of her hand that was currently silencing him, instead of pulling it off, he kissed it and smiled at her. Her face turned beet red as she stared at him. That is until he licked her hand. She pulled her hand away and wiped it on her shirt. “Chat!” She exclaimed, he brought his hands behind his head and smirked at her, “Who’s the loud one now little lady?” She blushed again, if it wasn’t for the fact that he just licked her, she might have stammered too. Instead she just shook her head, “Come on Chat, let’s watch a movie.” His eyes lit up and he stood, jumping up and down, “Do I get cuddles now?” His tail swished behind him. Was he a dog or a cat? She laughed and agreed before the pair settled on the chaise.

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The sun was beaming on his face when he woke up. He was surprised he didn’t have a headache. He opened his eyes and the first thing he saw, was pink. Lots and lots of pink. His eyes shot open and looked around before landing on a mop of Raven hair. Marinette was cuddled up to him, her arms encircling his torso while her head rested on one half of his chest, one of her legs crossed over his. ‘Oh no, oh shit shit shit.’ He gulped before slowly moving his hand down her back, oh thank god, she had clothes on. He smiled down at her and soon, she blinked up at him. “Good morning Marinette.” He said, his voice still heavy with sleep. “Ah so you’re sober I see, don’t worry, nothing happened.” She said reassuringly. He ran a hand down his face, a gloves hand. Ah so he came here as Chat Noir. “Do you remember anything?” He shook his head and she filled him in. “Well I’m glad I didn’t do anything stupid.” He laughed, “Nope it was more like babysitting an overgrown toddler.” She laughed, he smiled. “I’m surprised you don’t have a headache.” She said, “It’s probably the suit, it will probably get worse when I take to suit off.” He made to leave but Marinette held him down. “Nope, I had to babysit you all night, I request cuddles as payment.” He sighed before rolling onto his side and nuzzling his face into her neck. “Fine by me purrincess.”

He was right, his head nearly split open from the hangover, but it was all worth it.

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Thanks for reading!

#marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #marichat #miraculous ladybug tales of ladybug and chat noir #miraculous ladybug #mlb #mlb fanfic #marichat fanfic

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passionfruitbowls · 4 years ago

Text

Marichat May Day 5 - Nightmare

@marichatmay

Rated: G Word count: 1,248

Read on AO3

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Adrien woke with a start, gasping and clutching to his bedsheets for dear life. As his eyes adjusted to the surrounding darkness of his room, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was watching him, waiting to see what he would do next. Letting out a shaky exhale, he clambered out of bed and creeped over to the open window in the hopes that some fresh air would clear his thoughts.

It didn’t. The images from his dream were ingrained into his memory, and his heart was still racing.

After a few minutes passed, Plagg stirred awake and noticed him standing at the opposite end of the room. He flew over and hovered next to Adrien, anxiously waiting for him to speak; he could sense that something was off. When he didn’t respond, Plagg perched himself on his shoulder and whispered quietly, “Hey, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Adrien mustn’t have realised that Plagg was there, because he jumped at the sound of his voice and then whipped his head round, clearly taken aback.

“O-oh! I, er…”

Adrien’s hands were shaking slightly as he tried to come up with a response, not wanting to seem helpless in front of Plagg. It was just a nightmare, after all - he had had those before, so why make a big deal out of it?

Come on, his subconscious told him, don’t try to downplay it now!

“...I’ll be fine, Plagg. It was a bad dream, nothing more.”

Plagg frowned up at him, but didn’t object.

For a little while longer, they both remained by the window and stared up at the pitch black night sky (unfortunately, the city lights meant that they were unable to see any stars). When Adrien began to feel restless again, an idea suddenly popped into his head.

“Hey, Plagg?”

“Hmm?”

“Would it be alright if we went out for a while? I think I could really use it.”

Plagg’s ears drooped as he grumbled quietly to himself.

“...Fiiiine. But you better give me a decent-sized slice of camembert when we get back.”

Adrien smiled and stroked his kwami’s head affectionately.

“Thanks, you’re the best.”

After calling on his transformation, Chat Noir scurried back over to his bed and stuffed a pillow underneath the blanket (just in case), then leapt out of the window and began to run. He didn’t stop to look back.

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The cold wind lashed against Chat Noir’s face as he vaulted across the city’s rooftops, but he was too stressed to care - he just needed to get away, to forget what he had seen, no matter if it was real or not. It felt like the voices were still whispering in his ear, taunting him: useless, pathetic, spineless.

Some time later he found himself curled up on a rooftop behind a chimney, rocking back and forth on his heels while humming quietly to himself. He buried his face in his hands and tried to bite back a sob, but to no avail. Feeling defeated, he slumped against the wall and began to cry. He really was weak.

All of a sudden Chat’s ears detected the sound of a door nearby being opened, making him much more alert to his surroundings. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he jumped to his feet and saw that the rooftop he was standing on was very familiar. Poking his head round the chimney, he nearly exclaimed in surprise when he was greeted by Marinette’s balcony.

Her fairy lights were switched on, indicating that there was somebody outside, although it was awfully quiet. Chat paused for a moment, then decided it was probably best that he left - he didn’t want to disturb her. Just as he was about to do so, he heard a voice whisper, “Hello?”

Like a deer in headlights, Chat froze up, unsure of how to react. That was undoubtedly Marinette’s voice, he was sure of it. The problem was, what would he say to her? ‘Oh, hi there! I was just out for an evening stroll at half past twelve at night like a normal person, because that’s totally not creepy! How about you?’

After giving it a moment’s thought, he decided that he would go down and explain, calmly, that he was on his way home from a patrol and apologise for waking her up.

As quietly as he could, Chat hopped down onto Marinette’s balcony railing and saw that she was just about to step outside through the hatch door. Her eyes widened when she spotted him, and she gasped softly in shock.

“Hello there.”

“Chat Noir?” She whispered, “What are you doing out here so late? Shouldn’t you be at home by now?”

Chat went silent as he stared at her, his brain suddenly short-circuiting. He could answer by giving her the excuse he had just come up with, that way he saved her from worrying and saved himself from being asked too many questions.

But deep down, if he was being completely honest, he just couldn’t bring himself to lie to Marinette. There was something about her that made him feel safe around her, that he could trust her. Maybe it was the warm look in her eyes as she waited for him to answer, or the way she furrowed her brow in concern, telling him that she cared. Either way, it was enough to convince him.

“I…”

He took in a deep breath, and then began to explain.

“I was at home, but... I just happened to have a bad dream that woke me up, so I figured I should get out for a bit to clear my mind. I know, I know, it sounds stupid when I say it out loud, but I thought it would help. I didn’t mean to disturb you, I’m really sorry.”

Marinette immediately relaxed and began reassuring him, “Oh no, it’s okay! I was actually already awake, so you’re fine. There’s no need to apologise.”

Studying his body language for a moment, Marinette smiled up at him and stepped out onto the balcony, gesturing for him to come stand beside her.

“Would you maybe like to stay here with me for a bit?” She asked. Chat’s face lit up with joy and he nodded eagerly.

“Yes please, that would be nice.”

Marinette crept back down the ladder to her bedroom, returning a couple of seconds later with a fluffy pink blanket that looked big enough for both of them. Within no time at all, they were huddled up together on her beach chair, Chat resting comfortably in her lap with his head on her shoulder. “If you don’t mind me asking, how come you’re up so late, anyway?” He asked after a while, sitting upright so he could get a proper glimpse at her. Marinette went quiet and stared down at the ground for a moment.

“I was having some trouble sleeping.” She murmured, pulling the blanket further around them. As she finished speaking, Chat suddenly noticed how bloodshot her eyes were.

Had… had she been having a nightmare too?

His heart sank, making him wonder if this wasn’t the first time this had happened to her.

Shoving his worries aside, Chat found Marinette’s hand amidst the blanket and squeezed it reassuringly, tracing patterns along her outstretched palm with his thumb.

“Well, if you ever need to talk, I’ll happily listen.” He whispered, returning her smile. She threaded her fingers through his and hummed in response.

“Thanks, Chat. That means a lot.”

#miraculous ladybug #marichat #marinette dupain cheng #chat noir #marichatmay2021 #marichat may 2021 #miraculous ladybug fanfic #my writing

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bisexualsforprompto · 5 years ago

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Maribat March Firsts

The Gotham trip was a trip of firsts for Marinette. First time in America. First time being in a different country without her parents. First time being left behind on the day she was supposed to go back to her home…

In reality, she should’ve seen it coming. After all, when Chloe had asked her to grab her makeup bag that she had “left” in the hotel, Marinette should’ve seen it coming.

Chloe didn’t leave anywhere without her makeup bag, but Marinette didn’t think about that, she just thought it would be the nice thing to do to go get it. Adrien was going to, but Lila was clinging onto him for dear life.

Normally, getting Chloe’s items would be Sabrina’s job (as proclaimed by Chloe), but Sabrina wasn’t able to make it on the trip. As if Chloe asking Marinette to do something wasn't a red flag enough, Lila had been getting real chummy with Chloe.

Regardless, Marinette went to get the makeup. When she had gone to the hotel lobby where Chloe said she left it, Marinette found only dust.

The concierge eyed her warily, but because it was Gotham, Marinette wasn’t surprised. Marinette was however surprised to call Alya and get a frantic answer, “Marinette! Girl! Where are you?!”

“I’m getting Chloe’s makeup...which is nowhere to be found.” Marinette said, her mind working on overdrive.

“Ok, well get here fast! Lila told everyone that you were already on the bus, so Bustier told the bus driver to leave! We’re on our way to the airport!!!” Alya exclaimed.

“What?!” Marinette shrieked, getting dirty looks from the concierge. She ran outside of the hotel. Where there bus had been parked down a few blocks further was nowhere to be seen. “Can’t Miss Bustier come back for me?!”

Marinette started panicking. She paced up and down the sidewalk, debating whether or not she should run around Gotham trying to find the bus, or wait for Bustier to come back for her.

“Adrien and Nino are trying to get her to turn the bus around, but we’re stuck in major traffic girl! And this bus driver is ancient! He can’t hear what Nino and Adrien are yelling at him to do!”

“Oh what am I gonna do?! What am I gonna do?! Alya!” Marinette whisper-shouted walking towards the end of the block. “Alya?! ALYA?!”

Marinette pulled her phone back, and was met with a pitch black screen. She pressed the on button frantically. She was out of battery.

If Marinette cursed, she’d be cursing enough to make Batman blush! But instead, she was racing up and down the sidewalk, hoping Miss. Bustier would come back for her.

In her panicked frenzy she ran into a dark haired woman with a formal business suit on. “My god!” She exclaimed.

“I’m so sorry, miss!” Marinette shouted with wide eyes.

“It’s alright!” The woman assured, “What’s got you in such a frenzy?”

Marinette took a deep breath, “Somyclassisonthisfieldtripandtheresthisliarandshemadeeveryonethinkiwasonthebusbutimnotandtheyleftwithoutmeandnowimgonnabestuckingothamforever!”

The woman gave her a dumbfounded expression and her eye twitched, “Could you slow down a bit, honey?” She asked calmly.

Marinette breathed out raggedly and nodded her head. “I’m from a visiting class from Paris. We’re on a class field trip to Gotham, but today was our last day, and the bus just left without me! They’re on their way to the airport without me! And my phone just died! So I can’t call for help!”

“Honey calm down.” The woman said, kneeling on the sidewalk and holding onto Marinette’s shoulders, “My name is Betty Bates. I’m the district attorney in Gotham. Is your class going to the Gotham Airlines?” Marinette nodded silently.

“Ok, well I can take you. Are you comfortable with that?” Betty asked her. Marinette nodded again. “Alright, let me bring you to my car, we’ll have to be quick though, I’m not sure when your airplane leaves.”

Betty took Marinette’s hand and led her around a corner. Betty smiled at her and pointed to her car, Marinette was just about to place her hand on the door when she heard a scream.

It was Betty. Marinette turned around to see the Joker, in all of his psychotic glory, laughing maniacally at Betty who was writhing on the ground laughing too, after being hit from one of his guns.

“Wow girly!” He shouted, “You could pass as a Wayne!” He eyed her up and brought his hand to her cheek. Marinette slapped it away and ducked underneath his grasp.

“That wasn’t very nice.” Joker pouted before laughing again. Marinette scowled. “Oh come on! Put a smile on that face!”

Joker aimed his gun at her. Marinette dodged in the nick of time again, she tripped, being far more clumsy as her alter ego. She tumbled around in a somersault-like fashion until she crashed right at the feet of one Harley Quinn.

“Leave the kid alone!” Harley yelled, patting her baseball bat. Catwoman and Poison Ivy were at her side.

“It’s not nice to pick on defenseless kids Joker.” Ivy said with malice in her voice.

“And who are you to stop me?!” Joker cackled.

“We’re not.” Catwoman said, “But they will.”

“Who?”

In a flash Batman and his family surrounded the Joker. Marinette heard blows land, but she didn’t see a thing. Harley had picked her up and was ushering her to safety.

Marinette couldn't process anything. Everything was beginning to be too much, too much. The last thing she heard was Harley saying,

“The kid doesn’t look too good!”

•~•~•~•~•

Marinette woke up being cuddled by two hyenas.

“Bud, Lou, shoo! She’s wakin’ up!” Harley exclaimed, running over to Marinette.

“Thank god, I did not want to have that call to Bruce.” Catwoman said, “I can’t believe he didn’t tell me he adopted another one.”

“A-Adopted?” Marinette asked groggily.

“You are one of Bruce’s kids aren’t you?” Poison Ivy asked, suspiciously.

“B-Bruce?”

“Bruce Wayne?” Ivy said with a raised eyebrow.

“I don’t- I don’t know any Bruce Wayne’s.” Marinette said, “My parents are back in Paris...Paris! Oh kwami! I need to get to the airport!”

“What?!” Catwoman shouted. The other women were starting to pick up on her accent. “Oh my god…”

“We basically kidnapped a kid!” Harley pulled at her pigtails, “Bats is gonna kill us!”

“Babe, calm down.” Ivy said walking over to Harley. She focused her attention onto Marinette next, “You said you’re from Paris?”

Marinette nodded.

“What's your name?”

“Marinette.”

“Marinette, is your school here on a trip?”

“Yeah...but they left me behind, and they’re on their way to the airport without me! Kwami! Their plane has probably already left by now!” Marinette exclaimed.

“They left you behind?” Harley asked in disbelief.

Marinette nodded, starting to panic more.

“They behind in the crime capital of the world?!” Catwoman seethed, barely hiring her anger. She reached for her phone and started angrily punching numbers in. “Bruce? Yeah, it’s me. I need you here right now...Not like that you idiot! Just...get here now! And bring some of your dumbass children, I could use them.”

Catwoman hung up her phone with a sigh, “Bruce is on his way.”

“Good. In the meantime, tell us some more about your class little miss.” Harley said, bringing her baseball bat into her arms.

“Well there are these two girls. A liar and a bully. They’re dead set on trying to make my life miserable.” Marinette began.

“Did ya tell your teacher?” Harley asked.

“I...have, but she doesn’t really help. She sides with them most of the time.”

“Oh really? Why?”

Marinette rolled her eyes, “something about me having to set an example. ‘Taking the high road’ and all that.”

“What?! That’s absolute bulls-“

Harley and Catwoman shut Ivy up with a glare.

“I have a couple friends in the class, but the liar hangs on Adrien all the time, he can barely ever get away from her! Alya and Nino try to help me, but Chloe always finds a way to rile Alya up and then Nino has to make sure Chloe isn’t murdered an-“

“So does that make Chloe the liar?” Catwoman asked.

“Yeah,” Marinette huffed, “I was okay at handling her until Lila showed up— she’s the liar.”

“What does she lie about?” Catwoman asked with genuine curiosity.

Marinette sighed, “Me bullying her mainly. She lies to my class about knowing a bunch of famous people, the lies could be disproven easily, but my classmates just trust her!”

“They’re really that dumb?” Escaped from Ivy’s mouth before she could stop it.

“Yeah,” Marinette shrugged, “Miss Bustier has been our teacher ever since we started school. She’s the kind of teacher who tells people that everyone is a good person. She doesn’t prepare anyone for the real world.”

“Then it’s sure foolish to come to Gotham of all places.” Harley muttered.

“Yeah, why would anyone plan a trip here?” Catwoman asked.

Marinette’s shoulders sagged and she got a tired expression on her face, “I planned another trip. I made the deposits and everything. We were going to go to Spain, but the moment I announced the trip Lila burst into tears and made up some illness she had, saying that she wouldn’t be able to go.” Marinette rolled her eyes, “And of course we had to make a new trip just because of Lila. The school lost so much money from non refundable deposits! According to Miss Bustier, Gotham was the only place we could afford.”

“They seem like real bitches! Really, lying about something so stupid and then your teacher making you plan a trip.” Ivy huffed. Catwoman and Harley cast her dirty looks, “What?”

“Well, I’m actually the class representative, so it was my job to plan the trip to Spain.” Marinette said, “I had a lot of really nice things planned.”

The group could hear the exhaustion and disappointment in her voice.

“Sweetheart, that environment is toxic! Trust me, I have a PhD in psychology, and no teacher should ever be putting that much on a student!” Harley said, ruffling Marinette’s hair.

“Can you tell us the liar, the bully and your teachers full names?” Catwoman asked, uncapping a pen.

“W-why?” Marinette asked with fear in her voice, “I don’t want them to get in trouble.”

“Hey,” Harley said softly, “They can’t just get away with what they’ve done to you. I can tell there’s more too, PhD remember? You’re baring more than a kid should ever be, I can see it in your eyes… Catwoman’s friend Bruce, has lots of connections, he’ll be here soon and I’m sure he’ll be able to look into them. I know you’ll feel better if they get what they deserve.”

“O-okay. The liar is Lila Rossi. The bully is Chloe Bourgeois. And my teacher is Caline Bustier.”

“Thank you sweetheart.” Harley said, pulling her in for a hug. Ivy raised an eyebrow, Harley just gave her a smirk, “I’m a natural with kids.”

At that moment a knock came from outside.

“That’s Bruce.” Catwoman confirmed as she went to the door.

A tall man in a suit and tie case in, “Catwoman.” He greeted. Three others followed in behind him.

“That’s it?” Catwoman furrowed her eyebrows, “I know you have more.”

“Well you didn’t give me much notice. Cass was...practicing and Tim is still at work. What do you need anyway?”

As Catwoman and Bruce discussed, the three boys that had followed him in came up to Marinette.

“Hey there!” Exclaimed the tallest one, “My name is Dick, that’s Jason, and the smallest one is Damian.”

“TT.”

“We’re Bruce’s sons.” Dick said politely, “Who are you?”

“M-Marinette.”

“Nice to meet you Marinette!” Dick smiled dazzlingly. “Where are you from?”

“France.” Marinette said, slightly amazed that Dick had realized she wasn’t from Gotham without Marinette saying more than her name.

“Oh! Are you the Paris trip that came here?”

Marinette nodded.

“Weren’t you supposed to leave today?” Dick asked, cocking his head to the side.

“She was, but her teacher left her behind.” Ivy butted in.

Dick scowled, “Really?”

“She didn’t even do a headcount?” Jason asked.

“If she did, she probably would’ve come back for me.” Marinette murmured.

“Disgraceful.” Damian turned up his nose, “But are you incapable of getting there? You could’ve called a cab, or one of your peers.”

“Damian, don’t be rude.” Dick warned.

“My phone’s dead.” Marinette grumbled.

“And we just saved her from an attack by Joker. We brought her here because we thought she was one of yours.” Harley said.

“You’re right.” Jason examined Marinette, “I sure hope you have parents kid, or Bruce will adopt you.”

Marinette giggled, “I have parents.”

“Shame, could’ve used a little Pixie as a sister.” Jason teased.

“Dick,” Bruce yelled, startling the everyone out of their conversation, “Check to see if the flight to Paris has taken off yet.”

Dick pulled out his phone and began to type rapidly. Marinette waited with baited breath. “B...It left…”

Marinette deflated.

“When’s the next flight to Paris?”

“Two days from now…”

Bruce sighed. “Alright, we’ll take the jet.”

“Jet?” Marinette wondered out loud.

“Yep,” Jason said popping the p, “The Wayne family jet.”

“Father if we leave now, we can make it to Paris before the other plane.” Damian said, looking at Dick’s screen.

“Is that okay with you Marinette?” Bruce asked.

“Yes please, that would be amazing, thank you.”

“Okay, we’ll go now. Alfred is in the car, so we can head straight to the airport.” Bruce said.

“Wait.” Dick said, “I don’t think I can spare seven hours, you know with our nighttime activities.”

“Right…” Bruce trailed off, “Jason and Dick, Alfred will take you home once we get to the airport.”

“TT. What about me, father?” Damian asked, folding his arms.

“I’ll be flying the jet, and I’m sure Marinette would like some company.” Bruce suggested. It seemed like a command to Marinette.

“Fine.”

“Alright.” Bruce brightened, “Let’s get going then.”

“Thank you Catwoman, Harley and Ivy!” Marinette called as she walked out of the door, trying to keep up with the Waynes.

“You’re welcome sweetie!”

•~•~•~•~•

Marinette sat in silence across from Damian, the only noise being the humming of the jet. She felt awkward, but at the same time, the silence was comforting, it gave her time to process.

And boy, did she realize that she had a lot to process.

If only I hadn’t given Adrien Kaaliki, she thought. She hadn’t expected to get separated from him, so in case there was an akuma they could go together, but obviously that didn’t work out well.

Marinette almost sighed, maybe if she was a better guardian and less reckless she would be on the plane with her friends, and not be wasting Mr. Wayne’s time.

“So,” Damian began, breaking the silence, “Father told me about the liar in your class. Why didn’t you stand up to her.”

“Well it was a mixture of things,” Marinette sighed, “She’s got my class wrapped around her finger, and my teacher too, plus I didn’t want to get her akumatized, that wouldn’t have looked good, and-“

“Akumatized?” Damian asked.

“Yeah, you know? By Hawkmoth!”

“Who is that?” Damian asked, scrunching up his nose.

“Paris’s supervillain...you really don’t know?” Marinette was shocked.

“TT, I had no idea such a thing existed in Paris.”

“Yeah, the mayor tries to keep it under wraps.” Marinette sighed, “Plus I think the magic of the miraculous makes keeps it covered up, if that makes sense.”

“Interesting…” Damian said, “Tell me more about your home.”

Marinette’s eyes lit up, “Well besides Hawkmoth, we actually have a lot of really amazing things! For one, the Eiffel Tower, but that’s the big attraction! We have many others too, the Louvre, the Sacre-Coeur, André’s ice cream and my parents bakery is one of the best in Paris!”

“Interesting. What kind of goods do they sell?” Damian asked.

Marinette gave him a funny look, “Your average pastries, bread, and sweets! Chat Noir and Ladybug have eaten there before!” Marinette proudly stated on behalf of her parents.

“Chat Noir...and Ladybug?”

“Oh right!” Marinette facepalmed, “They’re the heroes of Paris!”

Damian paused for a minute, “What do you think of them?”

“Pardon?”

“Are they good heroes? Could they use more help?”

“I think they’re pretty capable.” Marinette said a little more defensively than she wanted, “S-sorry, it’s just...Their our heroes you know?”

“I understand.” Damian said, “I’d react the same way if someone who didn’t know the situation in Gotham asked that about our heroes.”

Marinette sighed, “It’s so weird that these are the times we live in. Supervillains are just normal.”

“I suppose it is…” Damian pondered thoughtfully, “It’s odd for me, some things that aren’t normal for most are normal for me…”

“H-how so?” Marinette stuttered out, “I d-don’t mean to pry! You have to tell me. I mean you don’t have to tell me. I’m sorry.” Marinette was as red as a tomato.

Damian let out a low chuckle and smiled slightly, “My life has been surrounded by a lot of death.”

Marinette’s face dropped, “I’m sorry. That must be hard to talk about, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“I feel at ease with you Marinette. I know that’s forward, but it seems I don’t mind talking to you.”

“Really? We’ve only known each other for like an hour.” Marinette said quizzically.

“I suppose I’m odd as well then.” Damian gave her an expression that she couldn’t quite place.

She was surprised that he had felt like that with her.

She was surprised that she felt the same.

She looked at the boy across from her. His skin was a rich, dark, toned tan that complemented his piercing emerald green eyes. His face has defined features and his cheekbones could cut through steel. His black hair was naturally spiky and tousled in a way that made him effortlessly beautiful. She could tell even from his conservative black turtleneck that he had muscles.

Marinette blushed inadvertently, realizing how handsome the man before her really was, “S-so what else is special about you?”

“Special?” Damian smirked.

“Ummm...Sorry I just mean-“

“You don’t have to apologize all the time.” Damian said, “I was...teasing.”

Marinette held back a smile, he didn’t seem like the teasing type.

“Well you’ve met Todd and Grayson, but I have another brother, and a sister, and a few honorary family members.” Damian explained.

“That’s so amazing. I’m almost jealous, I wish I had siblings.” Marinette said tracing the hem of her skirt.

“They’re not all their cracked up to be…” Damian grumbled pushing his black hair away.

Marinette laughed and beamed, “You’re funny, Damian.”

“That’s not how most people would describe me.”

Marinette’s expression turned to worry, “How would they describe you?”

“Cold. Off putting. A demon of sorts.” Damian said blankly.

“I-I’m sorry. That’s awful.” Marinette said, “If...If it makes things better, I don’t see you that way.”

“It does...Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Sometimes it’s easier to talk to a stranger than people you’ve known your whole life.” Marinette remarked.

“You’re a lot smarter than you pretend to be, aren’t you?” Marinette blushed. “I can tell your facade you put up isn’t really you.”

“Oh?” Was all Marinette could muster.

“You’re a lot stronger than you look.” Damian said, “And clever. Am I wrong?”

Marinette shook her head, “I’m underestimated a lot I guess...or used.”

“Hmm.” Damian tapped his cheek, “I think the clumsy baker’s daughter is a protection. They’re your walls because you’ve been used. You are a lot like me in that respect…Am I hot, or am I cold?”

Before Marinette could stop it, “You're very hot!” Escaped her lips. She clamped a hand over her mouth and blushed.

Damian chuckled, “Thank you Angel.”

“Angel?” Marinette blushed.

“Well if they call me a demon, you must be an angel, wouldn’t you agree?”

“I’m not sure my class would.” Marinette said, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Then they’re idiots. You’re obviously a sweet person who looks out for everyone, isn’t that why you were left behind too?”

Marinette nodded.

“Then who cares what they think?” Damian scoffed.

“I have a feeling I’ll learn a lot from you.” Marinette mused.

“And I you.” Damian said, “Actually...I’m sure I can convince father to let me stay in Paris for a while when we drop you off, maybe we could go out somewhere?”

“Is the sly Damian Wayne asking me on a date?” Marinette teased. Red flooded Damian’s cheeks and danced away quickly.

“Well I suppose, if you’d like it to be one I would not be opposed.”

“Then I would like it to be one.” Marinette smiled. “Maybe you can meet my parents!”

“Wow, meeting the parents already? Aren’t you rather forward, Angel? I don’t even know your last name.” Damian smirked.

“Well I’ve met your father.” Marinette pointed out, “And for your information, my last name is Dupain-Chang.”

“Beautiful.” Damian remarked.

“Actually if you put it together it means ‘to make bread.’” Marinette laughed. The color came back to Damian’s cheeks.

“Well your first name is beautiful.”

“T-thank you.”

“Of course Angel.”

•~•~•~•~•

Seven hours passed more quickly than Marinette could’ve ever realized, Damian was so easy to talk to. By the time she knew it, they had landed in Paris.

“Father.” Damian said once he had helped Marinette off the jet, “I’d like to request some time in Paris before we depart again, Marinette and I are...going on a date.”

Bruce held back a smile, “You can have a few hours, I need to fuel the jet back up anyway. Have fun.”

Damian took Marinette’s hand and started to lead her away.

“Oh and Marinette.” She turned back to Bruce, “I’m glad we met.”

“Me too Mr. Wayne!” Marinette exclaimed before going off with Damian.

Marinette led him towards her bakery only to see her classmates walking her way.

Damian had been right, they had arrived in Paris before them, and from the shocked look on Lila’s face, it was clear they were surprised she arrived at all.

“Marinette!” Alya exclaimed, embracing her, “Why didn’t you answer your phone?! I was so worried! And how did you get here? And who’s this?”

Adrien and Nino approached them. “My phone died Al, sorry! Mr. Wayne flew me here, this is Damian.” Marinette motioned to the boy beside her.

“Wait Mr. Wayne...and Damian? Marinette did you meet the Bruce Wayne?!” Alya squealed.

“You know him?” Marinette asked. Adrien snorted.

“You really don’t know any celebrities out of fashion do you?” Nino laughed.

“Wait celebrities...that’s why you had your own jet?!” Marinette shrieked.

Damian held back a laugh, “You didn’t know?”

“No?!” Marinette said still hysterical, “No, I didn’t!!!”

Alya laughed, “This’ll take a while for her to process. Anyway, we have to drop our bags off, I’m so glad you're safe and here.” Alya hugged Marinette again, “Enjoy your date!”

“How’d you know?” Marinette asked.

“Well I didn’t before.” Alya winked, “Have fun you two. And if you break her heart, I break you, got it pretty boy?” Alya shoved a finger at Damian.

“If I break her heart, I will gladly let you.”

“That’s the correct answer. Bye Mari!” Alya waved walking off with Adrien and Nino.

Then came a scream of unbridled rage. It was loud. It was long. And it was undeniably, Chloe’s.

“I can’t believe this! Dupain-Chang is going on a date with a Wayne! And our plan didn’t work!”

“Plan?” Damian asked.

“Oh don’t act so surprised!” Chloe spat, “Lila and I planned right from the beginning to make sure your little girlfriend wouldn’t make the trip back, but it’s not fair that everything worked out for her!” Another scream, “I’m calling Daddy!”

Chloe stormed off.

“She’s lying!” Lila exclaimed as the rest of the class turned to her, “I had nothing to do with Marinette not showing up on the bus!”

“Even that is the case, which I doubt,” Damian started, “You’ve still lied about many things. That’s slander Miss Rossi. Father has already had his lawyers start compiling a case on you when he learned about you.”

“Is that really necessary Mr. Wayne?” Miss Bustier asked nervously, “Lila wasn’t causing any harm.”

“Oh? Like how you weren’t causing any harm? You’ll also be hearing from my lawyers. Negligence will be easy to prove against you. There is an obvious duty for a teacher, you obviously breached it, and I’m sure the Wayne lawyers will be able to prove that it was the causation of Marinette’s harm.”

“I-I…” Miss Bustier stood paralyzed in a dazed stupor.

“Come on Angel.” Damian said, extending his arm. Marinette took it and they walked away from the chaos and destruction Damian had just wreaked.

“Let’s go on that date, shall we?” Marinette smiled, creating the newest chapter of her story.

In the end it really was a day of firsts… First time Lila’s lies crumbled before her. First time Caline Bustier was called out for everything she had done. First time Marinette went out on a date.

But for all the firsts that Marinette had that day, none of them would be the last.

#maribat #damianette #im cryyinnggg tumblr i hate you #this probably wont even post #ive been trying for an hour

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starshine583 · 5 years ago

Text

Crossing a Line

Part 17

(Ya’ll ready for the angst? Because I was not)

Part 1 / Part 16 / Part 18

Le Paon stumbled to a stop, his chest tight and his heart in his throat. He clutched the earrings in his palms, causing the ends to dig into his skin.

I.. I did it.

He took the earrings. After all the work Father’s put forward, Le Paon finally got a hold of Ladybug’s earrings.. Of Marinette’s earrings.

A sigh escaped him as he slumped against the Mansion walls. She sounded absolutely horrified when she realized what was going on. How was he going to apologize? Would she even listen to him after this?

Felix dropped his transformation and slipped inside the mansion, carefully searching for witnesses. He could return her earrings after the wish, right? Would that help? She wouldn’t be missing her kwami then..

Nathalie sat in her usual desk next to Father’s office, but she appeared engrossed in something on the computer, so he was able to slip by unnoticed. Felix quietly hopped up the stairs, a part of him wondering how Father would have handled this. How would Father proceed if he knew that his youngest son was fighting against him with a miraculous they needed? What would he have done to Marinette to get her miraculous afterwards? Would he have made the same choices?

Felix stopped in front of his bedroom door. Whether Father might have done something differently or not didn’t help him now. Felix had the earrings, and Adrien had the ring. It was down to this next conversation.

Tentatively, he knocked on the door.

No response.

Felix drew in a breath and opened the door anyway. The room was pitch black, and the faint sound of a fan fluttered around. Was he sleeping? Already? It was a little past midnight, but..

Felix closed the door, and ran a hand through his hair. What should he do now? He couldn’t just wake Adrien up to talk about this. “Hey, I know you just woke up, but let me tell you about our not-so-dead mother and the fact that your brother and Father are super villains. Also, can I have your ring that I know has been a miraculous this whole time even though you had no idea that I even knew what a miraculous was?”

Yeah.. he had a feeling that wouldn’t go well.

Felix turned on his heel to go back down the stairs. He would have to talk to Adrien about the wish in the morning. In the meantime, he could hide the earrings in the library. Even if Marinette didn’t know his identity, carrying her Miraculous around provided a flurry of plausible problems that Felix didn’t care to deal with.

Tomorrow. He promised himself, slipping the earrings into a pocket in one of the book shelves. He would talk to Adrien tomorrow, and they would finally have their mother back.

~~~~~~

Two hours. It’d been two hours since Le Paon came and took her miraculous.

Marinette sat at the bottom of the ladder that led to her balcony, eyes puffed from tears. She couldn’t understand what went wrong. They were supposed to talk and work things out. He was supposed to surrender so they could heal his mother together. How did she let this happen?

Marinette sniffed, trying to think of what Tikki would say in this moment. Maybe she would insist that it wasn’t her fault, or that she did everything she could, but neither of those would be true. This was her fault. She didn’t do everything. If Marinette were really a good Ladybug, she would have swiped Le Paon’s miraculous the first time he visited her balcony. Or even the second time. Or all the other times she let him swing by.

But she hadn’t. She let him inside, let herself trust him, and he betrayed her.

How long had he known that she was Ladybug? Did he know from the beginning? Were the times they spent together all a lie? A mere ploy to get close enough to grab her miraculous?

Was his confession a lie too?

Marinette choked out another sob. Stupid, stupid! She should have known not to trust him. After his first betrayal towards Ladybug, it should have been obvious that everything else was an act. It just felt so wonderful, having Felix by her side. The quiet smiles he would give to only her, the endless praises on her crafts. She didn’t want to imagine a world without him.

And yet, he was gone.

And so was Tikki.

And she was alone.

Marinette wiped away another tear that spilled down her cheek and looked up at the trapdoor. He’s had her earrings for two hours now. Hawkmoth could do a lot in a mere two hours.

Despite the crushing weight in her chest, Marinette forced herself to her feet. There was no more time for crying. There wasn’t time in the first place, actually. She needed to get her earrings back before Felix went too far. She needed to talk to Master Fu.

Sneaking out was the easy part. Maman and Papa had been asleep for four hours already. As long as she got back before four in the morning, they wouldn’t be a problem. It was finding Master Fu that was hard.

Marinette vaguely remembered a few turns, but she normally relied on Tikki for guidance. The address escaped her too, and her phone’s gps didn’t have a hit for “Fu’s Massage Parlor”. So, she ended up wandering around Paris for a while, avoiding dark alleyways and hoping she was going in the right direction. It must have been her last bits of Ladybug Luck that let her arrive at Master Fu’s around thirty minutes after leaving the bakery.

Marinette let out a relieved sigh when she saw the sign and quickly started knocking on the door. The first few knocks were met with silence, but she was desperate. She knocked a few more times, and after the eighth round of knocks, Master Fu finally opened the door.

“Master! I’m so sorry to come here this late, but It’s urgent!” She all but spat out. “My miraculous- I didn’t expect him to, but- It’s gone! Felix- he took it and just ran off!”

Master Fu, through his groggy state, managed to pick up the gist of her ramblings and promptly ushered her inside.

“Are you sure you weren’t followed?” He asked, glancing up and down the street.

“Positive.” Felix had no ‘use’ for her without her miraculous. She imagined he wouldn’t even bother to speak with her again after this.

Master Fu nodded and closed the door. “Good. I have something that can help you upstairs.”

Marinette was brought back up to Master Fu’s massaging room where they usually practiced her healing magic. Once inside, he crossed the room and picked up an old phonograph.

“Before we begin, I’d like to apologize.” Master Fu said as he sat the phonograph down in front of her. “It’s my fault Felix got close enough to take your miraculous.”

Marinette shook her head. “No, Master, you can’t blame yourself. I’m the one that let him inside my home without thinking of the consequences.”

“You don’t understand.” Fu responded. “I had his miraculous, but I gave it back.”

Marinette’s eyes bulged out of her head.

“You- you what? When did you have it?” She asked, dumbfounded.

Master Fu sighed. “A few weeks ago, I saw Felix running alone after the giant, movie akuma.”

Marinette pursed her lips. She remembered that night. If the akuma hadn’t appeared she might have kissed Felix for the first time while they ate ice cream. If only she knew then how dangerous he truly was.

“I pretended to be a victim of a mugging, and he offered to help me home. He even came inside and had a cup of tea, sitting where you sit right now.”

Marinette frowned. “If you had his miraculous.. why give it back?”

Regret painted his features. “When I talked with him, he did not seem evil, only desperate. I gave him the miraculous in hopes that he would change his mind and use it to fight against Hawkmoth instead, but..”

He trailed off, and Marinette cast her gaze to the floor.

But I guess we were both wrong about him.

“Tikki is waiting for you.” Master Fu continued. A renewed determination filled his eyes as he opened the phonograph to reveal multiple platforms of jewelry. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I am entrusting you another miraculous to reclaim your first one. Choose wisely.”

Marinette gasped, watching the miniature shelves pop out of the box. “You mean.. These are all miraculous?”

“Yes, and each holds a specific power.” He explained, pointing out a few. “For example, the fox miraculous can create illusions, and the bee miraculous can paralyze others for a short amount of time.”

“Create illusions?” Marinette pondered aloud. That could help her immensely if she was going to sneak into the Agreste Mansion. An illusion might be able to cloak her movements to the security cameras.

Master Fu nodded and held it up for her. “The illusions will look completely lifelike until someone touches it or you detransform. Then the image you’ve created will fade away.”

No one should be touching the illusion if it’s outside. Marinette thought as she took the miraculous. It was too late for anyone to be up.

“I’ll be back soon.” She promised, slipping on the necklace.

An orange orb appeared around the tail pendant, and its glow brightened until a small, orange, fox-like kwami appeared.

“Hi-ya!” The creature greeted. “My name’s Trixx, and I’ll be your kwami. If you wanna transform, you just need to say one thing: Trixx, let’s pounce!”

“Good luck, Ladybug.” Master Fu stated as Marinette transformed.

Marinette offered a smile. “You mean ‘Jiāng húlí’.”

This time, she’d be the one visiting Felix as an alter ego. Let’s see if he’ll be as hospitable as she was.

Running across the rooftops was extremely different compared to her usual mode of transportation via yo-yo. Nevertheless, it felt nice to have a miraculous again. A few skyscrapers even gave her a glimpse of her new costume. Her raven hair had been swept up into a long ponytail that trailed down to the back of her knees. The tips of her bangs and ponytail were stark white, and a pair of pointed, orange ears that were also white-tipped sprang from the top of her bangs. Contrary to her red and black spotted Ladybug costume, the fox miraculous bathed her in colors of orange and white. She had a jacket around her waist that was lined with black and had a popped collar, of which the inside was also black. The rest of the jacket was orange, save for the two blotches of white in the middle that continued in a line past her jacket and stopped on the inside of her upper thighs. The fox miraculous acted as a clip for the black zipper in the middle of her jacket. She had a pair white gloves and boots as well, with black lining around each. (Of course, the lining for the gloves was really the lining of the jacket sleeves) A thick, orange belt was also wrapped around her waist, cutting a line between the splashes of white on her midsection and holding her flute tightly to her side.All in all, it didn’t look half bad.

All in all, it didn’t look half bad.

The Agreste Mansion, being much larger in size than Fu’s massage parlor, was mere child’s play to find, and with her renewed, miraculous strength, Marinette managed to get there in a matter of minutes.

She crept up to the dark windows, hoping the lack of light meant no one was in the room to see her. If Felix found a new miraculous holder sneaking into his house, she doubted that he would think of it as a coincidence, and her only leverage at the moment was his ignorance towards her knowing his true identity.

Her claws clicked against the glass as she pushed on the windows for an opening. An evil super villain couldn’t sneak out of his house constantly without a way-

A window near the center fell open at her touch. Marinette smiled.

Easy now. She told herself, carefully stepping into the room. The sound of a fan insured that someone was sleeping. It was best not to wake them up.

By the time her feet were firmly on the floor, her eyes were adjusted to the light, and she was able to make out furniture. A couch.. A desk.. A rockwall?

Marinette sucked in a breath and immediately started scrambling for a hiding place. This was the boys’ room, meaning Felix was probably in here sleeping. Sleeping! She thought, at the very least, that he would lose a little sleep from betraying her. He really didn’t feel guilty at all, did he?

She shook her head. Focus. If he’s asleep, that means the miraculous is unguarded.

The pads on her feet kept her steps silent as she crossed the room. The earrings shouldn’t be far from Felix, in a pocket, or a drawer, or something. She checked his pockets first- or rather, his clothes. Pajamas didn’t tend to have pockets -by carefully patting him down. It wasn’t easy. He moved a few times, and she was certain he’d woken up when she checked under his pillow. It must have been a miracle that he remained asleep.

With pockets checked, she went to the drawers. The second and third were filled with nothing but clothes. The first drawer, however..

Marinette gasped, a swirl of bittersweet delight overtaking her at the sight of Felix’s miraculous. What a wonderful opportunity she’d been provided.

“Turnabout’s fair play, Paon.” She whispered to herself as she took the miraculous. His panicked face when he noticed his absent miraculous in the morning was going to be a horrible thing to miss.

Marinette tucked the peacock miraculous away in her belt and turned to keep looking for her miraculous, but a certain sound stopped her in her tracks. A door. Someone was coming into the boys’ room. A sliver of light entered the dark abyss, quickly growing as the door opened further. Marinette rushed to the side of the room to avoid it, scurrying up a winding staircase. She pressed herself against the shelves above and tried to control her rapid breathing. Was someone coming to check on them or did Gabriel see her on the security cameras? Would she be able to fight off Gorilla and possibly more if that were the case?

A creak emitted from the door as it opened fully, and a single woman walked into the bedroom, straight and tall. Aside from her clicking heels, she was quiet as a mouse as she crossed the room to the boys’ bed. Strangely, she opened the very drawer that Marinette had searched through a moment earlier. When she opened it, though, she paused, almost like she expected to see something else. Then- curiouser, still -the woman started digging through the drawer.

How interesting.

It took a few seconds, but the woman finally muttered some curses to herself and left the room, looking quite displeased. Marinette might have considered following her under different circumstances. Unfortunately, her time stamp didn’t allow it. In walking into the room, the woman caused the illusion to fade. The cameras might catch her any moment. Marinette didn’t mind. She now had more leverage than the knowledge of Felix’s identity. If he was dumb enough to go to school tomorrow, she would lure him into a private area there. He might not care to look at her anymore, but Marinette was going to drag him by the ear anyway.

Mark her words, Felix was going to wish he never betrayed the hero of Paris.

~~~~~~

Sunlight poured into the bedroom as Felix got ready. He fiddled with the buttons on his dark grey vest, too nervous to think properly. Adrien was currently in the bathroom freshening up. When he came out, Felix was going to have to find a way to tell him that their long-lost mother was actually in a coma under their house. (Seriously, couldn’t Father find a less unsettling place to hide her?)

Heaven only knows how his brother was going to react. Felix might have agreed to help, but Adrien has been playing hero during this whole fiasco. With all of those battles stored in his mind, the personal insults shot at each other and near-death experiences, he probably won’t be as easily.. persuaded. Not to mention, Felix was going to have to get Adrien down to the basement. Chances were, he wouldn’t be able to do that without Father seeing them. Ugh, so many obstacles!

The bathroom door opened, and Felix tensed.

“Hey, Fe, did you move the toothpaste?” Adrien asked as he walked out.

Felix almost smiled. Such an innocent question for such a serious topic he was about to bring up. “No, but-”

“Oh, nevermind.” Adrien cut him off, spinning on his heel. “I just remembered that I saw it in the mirror cabinet.”

Felix stared as his brother closed the bathroom door again. He could already see how this was going to go. Heaving a sigh, he walked over to his bedside drawer to grab his miraculous. Maybe Duusu would have some advice.

The drawer slid open, and a few of the contents inside rolled with it, but there was no miraculous. Felix furrowed his eyebrows and started digging through the drawer a bit. He could have sworn that he put it in there the night before. It’s where he always puts it when he takes it off.

Maybe I set it somewhere else? He thought with a frown, starting to check under the bed and in the other drawers. He’d been a bit out of last night, but it couldn’t be far, since he’d definitely used it last night.

“Felix? Did you lose something?”

Felix shot up at his brother’s voice, causing him to smack his head on the bottom of Adrien’s desk that he’d begun looking under. “Ah! Yes, I’m- everything’s fine. It’s nothing.”

It’s not like I need it anymore, anyway. Felix reminded himself as he rubbed the back of his head. I have the earrings, and soon I’ll have the ring too.

“Adrien,” Felix began, trying not to glance at his brother’s ring while he stood, “do you ever.. I don’t know.. Think about mom?”

Adrien hesitated, obviously not expecting the question. “Uh.. I mean.. Of course I do. All the time. Why?”

“Do you ever wonder what would happen if we could bring her back?”

Adrien furrowed his eyebrows. “Sometimes.. But that’s not possible, so I try not to think about it.”

Boy, are you in for a surprise. Felix refrained from saying. “What if you could? Would you do what it took to have her back?”

Adrien completely frowned now. “Felix-”

“Boys.”

The brothers turned to see Nathalie in the doorway. When did she come in?

“Gorilla is waiting for you downstairs.” She informed. “Please hurry.”

Felix and Adrien nodded, and Nathalie left the room as quickly as she’d come. He turned back to Adrien, hoping to continue the conversation, but his brother had already grabbed his bag and started for the door.

Before he fully rounded the corner, though, Adrien stopped.

“Felix, about Mom.. I miss her as much as anybody, but I don’t think she would want us to grieve over her like this. Having Mom back would be great, but would she really want us to go ‘above and beyond’ just to bring her back?”

Adrien left before Felix could reply, though he’s not sure he would have had a response, anyway. Mother wouldn’t want them to obsess over her. She would them to live their lives and be happy..

Too bad it’s too late to back out now.

School that day came with a whole new level of anxiety. He couldn’t help glancing left and right as he walked up the steps. Marinette could be anywhere, and she had to be worried for her miraculous, though she might not show it. She didn’t know his identity, so he should be fine, but the guilt that would smother him upon seeing her wasn’t an experience he was excited to go through.

He pondered not attending school himself, in all honesty. Alas, he didn’t have a good excuse to stay home. So here he was, carrying his bag to his locker and getting ready to burn through classes as fast as possible.

“Felix.”

Goosebumps crawled across his skin at the sound of Marinette’s voice. Why was everyone sneaking up on him today?

He reluctantly turned to greet her and had to force a neutral expression when he saw her smile. That didn’t look like someone who was grieving the loss of a miraculous.

“I want to talk to you.” She said, the usual, perky tone noticeably lacking in her voice.

The hair on the back of Felix’s neck stood up. “Uh.. that’s very kind of you-” Very kind of her? How did that response make sense? “-but class is going to be starting soon, so I need to get going.”

He moved to pass her, but she grabbed his wrist, her grip iron-tight. “I wasn’t asking.”

She yanked him backwards, slamming him against the lockers. Felix gasped for air, his eyes blowing wide with shock. Was this really happening? Marinette has never been violent in her life! He glanced around the locker room for witnesses, only to find that they were completely alone. Something told him that wasn’t a coincidence.

Marinette pressed her forearm to his chest, pinning him to the lockers. “Where did you put them!”

Felix struggled in vain to pull her arm away. Had she always been this strong in civilian form? “Put what?!”

“My miraculous!” She hissed, pushing harder. “Where are they!”

Felix’s eyes snapped to hers. The miraculous? She was asking his civilian form about her miraculous? But that meant..

He stopped struggling. “..You know.”

Marinette’s eyes narrowed into a glare. “Yeah. And, apparently, so did you.”

Felix might have felt guilty towards the jab had his mind not been reeling. How long had she known that he was Le Paon? When did she find out? How did she find out?

“Tell me you didn’t use the wish.” She spoke again, bringing Felix from his thoughts.

“Not yet. I still need the ring.” He answered honestly.

Her entire body seemed to loosen at the news. “Good. Where are my earrings?”

“They're hidden in the mansion.”

“Then you’re taking me there to get them.”

Felix shook his head. “I can’t.”

“You can, and you will.” She remarked, her voice dripping with venom. He didn’t know she was capable of sounding so threatening.

Still, Felix held his ground. “Marinette, you don’t understand-”

“No, you don’t understand!” Marinette shot back. “That wish is dangerous! It has consequences! If you use it to heal your mother, someone else is going to take her place!”

Take her place? “What do you mean?”

Marinette sighed. “The universe needs to be balanced. If you heal Emilie from an incurable coma, someone else will fall into an incurable coma as a result. Did you honestly think that I was fighting tooth and nail to keep my miraculous for the fun of it all?”

Felix furrowed his eyebrows. No, that.. That can’t be right. Father had never mentioned a consequence to using the wish.

“..I had hoped that was the case.” Was all he ended up saying.

Marinette huffed. “You’re so infuriating! Call Gorilla or whoever drives you. You’re taking me to get my miraculous back, unless you want me to keep this..”

She pulled something out of her pocket, and though Felix swore he’d seen everything that morning already, his jaw dropped when he saw his miraculous in her hands.

“How did-”

“That’s not important.” She cut him off sharply. “Call the car. Now.”

“W-Wait!” So many things were happening at once. “I can’t just take you to our house during school! Nathalie’s never going to let that fly.”

Marinette thought that over. “..I don’t trust you enough to wait till after school.”

The words sank into his heart like knives, but he couldn’t blame her. “That’s completely fair, but your plan will never work as is.”

“And what do you propose we do instead?” She inquired, raising a brow.

Felix swallowed. “We can go after school, and-” he emphasized the ‘and’ before she could interrupt “-to ease your mind, I will check in with you after every class period. Our class schedules are relatively the same. We can even have lunch together if that makes you feel better.”

Disgruntlement flickered across her features at the notion of eating together. Felix would be lying if he said that didn’t bother him.

“If I sense any sort of foul play-”

“You won’t.” He promised. “Heck, take my phone for good measure.”

Marinette’s expression leveled, and she held out her hand. “Deal.”

Despite still being pinned to the lockers, Felix managed to dig out his phone and hand it to her.

Marinette, being satisfied, dropped him as she pocketed the phone. “See you after classes, Agreste.”

Felix watched her sweep out of the room, noting the fact that she kept an eye on him the whole time. She must truly see him as a monster now if she’s waiting for him to pounce like that. He rubbed his chest where her forearm had been, knowing it would probably leave some type of bruise later, and headed for his first class.

Today was decidedly not going as planned.

Tag List: @im-here-for-the-content @novicevoice @mewwitch@minightrose @starlit-winter @multishipper1needshalp@unabashedbookworm @unholykrow @trubel43@kaydenth3gayden @stardustrevoutionx @legendaryneckjudgestudent @aurordraws @crazylittlemunchkin @uwuteamleader @chocolatecustarddanish @iambi-thilla-meena @corabeth11 @asianfrustration13 @chrismarium @agumon1123 @luciferge @yue-caelum @persephonebutkore @constancetruggle @make-the-stars-stay @johnlockfeelz @imfreakingmagical @tinybrie @procrastinatingrightnow @bee-wrecker @dontcallmecedge @shadowhex99 @daminette-is-life @thethirdwheelfriend @myazael @sizzling-fairy-oil @sparkle9510 @chaosace @the-navistar-carol @sannsibarr @grumpy-vixen-kitten @hauntedfreakdeputyhero @utcaro @more-or-less-human-i-guess @mlbutatbspofsalt @dawn-the-rithmatist @artcart0n @mermaidreject @tori-mmm @fifaanayd @novicevoice @dreamykitty25 @mischief-not-managed-posts @amayakans @arsaem @athena452 @pink-and-bunny

#Felinette #Felix Agreste #Marinette #Le Paon AU

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enternalempires · 4 years ago

Text

A Surprise Visit

This is a Lukanette fic, with majority of fluff and a lil hurt. Hope you enjoy! Haven’t figured out how to use links yet but my Ao3 username is the same!

“Did you know,” Marinette said, twisting an ebony and silver ring around on her finger. It was one of Luka’s and she rarely, if ever, took it off. When he went off to college and moved to Lyon, a mere two hour train ride from Paris, he gave her a couple pieces of his jewelry, his favorite hoodie, a Jagged Stone t-shirt, and a promise of returning. “That I miss you?”

“Yeah, Melody, I know.” The Musician’s voice was clearly wistful despite. “I miss you too, more than you can imagine.”

“I think I can imagine it well enough,” She whispered back.

They were on a call, speakerphone allowing them to lay back on their separate balconies and star-gaze. The black spaces between the stars seems farther apart than usual, the moon more alone than before.

The distance felt longer than it was.

The days went by so slow, each hour lacking something and each night dragging on and missing a vital piece needed for good sleep. That wasn’t a piece, however, but a person— Luka. She wanted him closer, close enough to hold and laugh with and see that dopey smile he always had around her and blush at his sly comments and cheek-nuzzles after he kisses her forehead.

She misses the boy that, for the last couple of years, had become her best friend.

Alya was… supportive and an amazing friend but she just didn’t understand.

Luka did, though.

Whenever she needed someone to listen without judgement or without trying to solve her problems for her— to just listen, he was there. And when the musician needed someone to talk to him, to distract him from his thoughts and whatever was making his mind a too-heavy place to be, she was there for him.

He was her shoulder to cry on and who made her laugh and she was the same, holding him when his heart ached in his chest with memories it couldn’t forget.

They were each other’s rocks in an otherwise chaotic, always shifting tsunami of a life.

Marinette fully supported Luka following his dreams and going to college and getting a degree that will push him along and better his musical career— she just wished it didn’t hurt so much to be away from him.

She had half a school year left before her time in Lycee would be up and she’d be, coincidentally, going to the same university as him. It didn’t seem to come quick enough, though.

They were both busy. Luka had gigs with his new band called the Silver-hearts of Serpents, practice, and extracurricular activities and she had to work on her designs for anyone who commissioned MDC— the name on her website— and they both had schoolwork and classes to attend to so that meant little to no time to catch up with each other during the day.

Thankful for being in the time zone, they tried to make it work and usually called before going to bed and when they woke up and texted in between classes or things that kept them on a constantly shifting schedule.

But it wasn’t the same as just being able to go across town and curl up into their favorite person’s arms and just sleep the weight of the day’s events away. It wasn’t the same as laughing when stranded in a heavy downpour because neither of them checked if it was going to rain. It wasn’t the same as chasing Andre’s Sweetheart Icecream around for half the day just to drop it from tripping over themselves seconds later even though neither of them believed in the magic behind it.

It just wasn’t the same.

It wasn’t fair either, Marinette decided, that the boy I fell in love with and who genuinely likes me back has to be so far away.

But she didn’t tell him that— not when she knew it would make Luka feel even guiltier for leaving. They were each other’s greatest support system and they always would be, and he didn’t like being gone when she was handling so much.

That so much being Alya unable to understand that Marinette simply didn’t like Adrien anymore— her falling for Luka and falling for him hard; falling for him in a way that felt deeper and closer than anything she ever did for her former crush— and still creating schemes to get them together, to the point where it was getting dangerous and rather ridiculous.

She had homework, exams coming up, commissions, hours needed to help her parent’s in the bakery, other hours dedicated to helping friends, and being Ladybug and the burden that came with the earrings (not that, to her knowledge, Luka knew about).

To top that off, she dealt with a lot more frustrating people at Lycee than she did at Dupont, including belligerent teenage boys who don’t understand the word no or respect boundaries.

So she really missed him.

So much so that it left her heart aching.

Only a couple months, she reminded herself. It would only be a couple more months till the summer. Till they would be at the same University (and sharing the same apartment— it’s less expensive and they always used to joke that they’d make great roommates with how often they spent over at the other’s place).

“Melody,” Luka said, voice deeper than before but just as smooth. “Did you fall asleep on me?”

“No,” Marinette yawned, covering her mouth with a small squeak as she curled up and turned towards her phone, squinting at the bright screen that showed his contact picture— dopey smile and all. “I just got lost in thought, sorry.”

“It’s okay, baby.” He reassured and she felt her mouth tug up into a warm smile. She loved when he called her that or his other pet names for her, it made her feel special. “But you sound tired and I know you have a test tomorrow morning, you should go to bed.”

“But Luka,” She whined. “I want to talk with you more. I really missed you today and, and I have more things that I want to tell you.”

“Come on, my Melody,” He coaxed and she pouted. He knew she’d do what he wanted when he used that stupid, attractive, comforting voice. It simply wasn’t fair. “Both of us are free tomorrow afternoon, remember? You’re only going to watch Kitty Section practice then going home and I only have my own practice to attend to. I’m sure we’ll be able to talk after.” Then his voice got softer. “I’ll always be here for you and I’ll always listen to what you have to say, but I don’t want to keep you up when that risks your grades and, more importantly, your health.”

“I hate it when you’re right,” Marinette grumbles, groggily getting up and moving over to her hatch where she easily slipped into her bed and snuggled under the covers. “Can you at least talk to me until I fall asleep?”

“Of course, beautiful.” Luka agreed, making a sleepy blush to climb her cheeks. “Anything in particular?”

“Just about things that make you happy.”

“Well, I know this one girl and she’s the most incredible person I ever met. She had amazing blue eyes and is a very talented fashion designer. Her smiles, man, her smiles make me melt and—”

“Luka,” Marinette giggles. “Not about me.”

“But you make me the happiest,” He protests.

“Sap,” She smiles, eyes closing as she laughs quietly one more time, head sinking into her pillow. “Can you… can you sing me something?”

“Mhm,” Luka hums and it’s not long before she’s falling asleep to the sound of her song, of the one he made for her.

That night she dreamt of two tattooed arms holding her and teal dyed, messy hair falling in front of aqua-blue eyes and woke up alone with tears staining her pillow— Tikki offered her a warm smile and a pat on the cheek but it didn’t seem to help the cold, lonely feeling in her chest.

* * *

The day had not been kind to Marinette.

She woke up with a headache, didn’t have enough time for a proper meal but remembered to grab a granola bar after Luka texted her and reminded her to eat, got a pretty bad bruise on her wrist from getting it slammed in a closing door, tripped multiple times, and managed to ruin her lecture’s notes with her coffee.

On the brightside she kept Luka’s hoodie clean— as today she decided to wear it over a simple white t-shirt and paired it with a black skater skirt, lace stockings, and combat books— and managed to not face-plant into anything by the time school ended and she was allowed to pack her things and start the walk to the boathouse to watch Kitty Section preform.

Since Luka was in college and lived too far away they had to find a new guitarist, just like Luka had to find new members to form a band.

Luckily Juleka mentioned Marc, Nathaniel’s boyfriend and the writer to his artist, played the guitar and was really good at it so within no time they were back to practicing and finding a new dynamic for the group.

Luka got lucky with some of his old friends and formed his new band which was just as good, if not better, than his old one but that was only due to a lot of extra practice and more opportunities to grow.

Axel was the band’s bassist, Bash was the drummer, Tyra was the back-up vocalist and keyboardist, and Luka was the guitarist, lead vocalist, and leader.

Marinette couldn’t wait until she could see them perform live. Luka had sent her videos and recordings of their music and songs or just of him singing or playing guitar but she knew first hand that nothing compared to seeing it in person.

And she knew that, either way, his band would be amazing.

“Marinette!” A soft voice called from behind her, making the young bluenette startle and turn slightly on the sidewalk to see who was calling her. It was Rose, a sweet smile on her lips and she tugs her girlfriend along.

As soon as her and Juleka catch up, Marinette tilts her head to the dark-haired girl’s silent greeting and drifts to the side so the couple wouldn’t have to awkwardly get out of the way.

“You’re watching us practice, right?” Rose asks. There’s an energetic bounce in her step that Marinette can’t help but to be suspicious of, and the slight smirk on Juleka’s lips don’t help.

“Yeah,” Marinette says, adjusting her purse to be in front of her as a group of obvious tourists cater to the side and almost crash into her, not wanting Tikki to get tossed around. “Do you know what you guys are playing yet? I heard Ivan mention something about revamping one of your original songs.”

“Oo!” The blonde giggles, wide eyes excited as she starts to rant about the different things her and Ivan were brainstorming earlier to improve their old work.

Her girlfriend nodded and added a couple quiet things here and there while Marinette listened, pilotely following along with the conversation and her mind strayed to Luka and thinking about what he was up to.

No doubt working on his own songs, hanging out with his band mates as they practice.

“Mylene is coming too,” Rose tells her and Marinette blinks back into reality, narrowly dodging a man skating with a yelped out apology. “So even if you won’t be alone, you’ll have company!”

“Uh,” She pauses, racking her brain to know if she missed something in the conversation. “Who’s going to watch the practice other than Mylene? Is Nate coming to support Marc?”

“Nate?” Her friend paused her skipping to let out an excited squeal. “Oh, you don’t know! Well—”

Juleka suddenly spun her girlfriend into her arms and pulled her into a kiss, causing Marinette to step away awkwardly but not retreat. Paris was a welcoming city and full of diverse and accepting people but there would always be that one jerk who had a problem with people loving other people and finding a problem if they happened to be the same gender— so she would keep a look out just in case someone wanted to cause a problem.

When the pair of girlfriends broke away a couple seconds later, Rose seemed too flustered to continue or even remember what she was saying and the bluenette laughed at how smug the blonde’s girlfriend looked.

A couple minutes went by filled with light banter between the couple and an amused Marinette refusing to join a side before the three of them got to the docs and made their way onto the boathouse.

“The rest of the band will be here soon and I want to be here when they do to ask Marc something,” Juleka says, a smirk just visible under the half of her face hidden by hair. “Can you do me a favor and grab me an extra sweater from Luka’s side of the room, Marinette? I started to keep some of my things in there when he left.”

“Uh, sure?” The bluenette nods, frowning slightly. “But didn’t he say not to—”

“Oh!” Rose suddenly bursts, whipping around to face her girlfriend. “That’s clever! You—”

And then they start kissing again and that’s Marinette’s cue to go.

She passes Anarka on the haul and gives her a friendly wave that the older woman returns with a wide smirk that she now knows her daughter inherited and quickly went below deck and crossed over to where Luka’s room was.

She grips her elbows with both hands, rocking on the balls of her feet with every step as she paces down the hallway, trying to hype herself up enough to actually go into his room.

It would be so… strange.

She was never in there without him being there before and it would be full of his things but the most important ones gone— the wall of guitar picks packed up and now put up in his apartment’s living room from what she saw from the video he sent, the little trinkets gone from the desk now bare, and his bed only having a bare mattress and the walls without postures or any pictures.

She doesn’t know how it would feel but she knows that it won’t be good, she knows it will make the empty ache in her heart stretch all the wider.

But now she’s in front of Luka’s door and she doesn’t have a choice.

Marinette took a deep breath and turned the hatch on the door, the metal giving a slight creak to it as she awkwardly used her bodyweight to open it, grumbling to herself as it hung heavily halfway open— not noticing the group of three that were holding their breath at her entry from the middle of the room— and one of the sleeves that were way too big for her got caught in one of the crooks on the edge.

“Aw,” Her brows furrowed and she pouted as she tried to tug the sleeve free, but of course the world was against her and she somehow made it worse. “Mr. Sleeve, I’ve had a really bad day, can you please just— ahah! Thank you!”

Freeing herself from the door, Marinette pulled the sleeves over her hands for better control of the jacket and twisted around to begin the search for Juleka’s sweater when she met a pair of vivid brown eyes— eyes she definitely wasn’t prepared for.

“Eek!” Squeaking and startled, the young heroine takes a stumbling step back and ends up falling onto her butt, skirt thankfully in place and with her wide, blue eyes traitorously filling with water.

“Oh my God, she fell!”

“Shit, Bash, you scared her!”

“Aw, that’s a cute skirt. Do you think she’d tell me where she got it?”

Came the voices of the three strangers that were now all focused on her, eyes pinned onto the girl that fell as she stared right back, a slow race of tears from the day’s stress finally snapping trailing down her cheeks.

“W-Who are you guys?” Marinette stammered out, mind reeling and anxiety having already taken hold of her even before she noticed the trio, just noticing the sting in her palms and the burning heat of the ripped open skin. “You, you shouldn’t be in here, this is a p-private room!”

“I’m Bash Vulcan,” The guy with vivid brown eyes— and the one who scared her— had slicked back blonde hair, a thick black sweatshirt, ripped skinny jeans with converse, and a shit-eating grin on his face as he offered her a hand up.

She refused and just remained on the floor, not trusting her legs to keep her up if she stood at the moment. Feeling extraordinarily pathetic, Marinette just couldn’t focus on anything besides her pounding heart. She defeated Akumas on a weekly basis but couldn’t handle a couple strangers?

It made her feel so weak.

And those stupid tears were still falling.

“Sorry this asshole scared you, he didn’t mean to. I’m Axel, by the way. Axel Jupiter?” The one who swore and reprimanded Bash gave her a sympathetic smile that she barely registered and waved at her, his light brown hair flopping in front of his face from where it reached his shoulders. He had a punk style to him— and he said his name like it was supposed to mean something.

Maybe it was.

Maybe on a good day or with a slightly calmer heart Marinettte would’ve placed who they are but she just came up blank. Blank and panicking.

The only girl in the Trio had a pixie cut that was a pastel green and a nose ring and anyone with eyes could tell that her style was gothic anad that she simply didn’t give a shit by the tilted smirk of her lips— that only deepened as she pointed to Marinette’s skirt and asked, “Where’d ya get it, girly? I’m Tyra Bellona, I guess since these idiots gave their last name too.”

Tyra. Axel. Bash.

They’re in Luka’s boathouse. They’re in Luka’s room. They’re in Luka’s band.

The Band.

Luka.

“L-Luka?” Marinette sniffled, wiping away her tears as she sat up and winced at the way her palms stung, the broken skin and forming scabs still tender. “Why are you guys here without Luka?” She asked, using the hatch’s edge to pull herself into a standing position.

It was Bash’s turn to look suspicious and he stepped closer and pointed his finger at her, eyebrows raised, “Everyone was supposed to know why and where. So who are you, huh? Whatcha doin’ here? Are you some crazy fangirl that snuck on board?”

“What?” The young heroine swiped at her tears again, voice slightly croaky as she took a shaky step back. “N-no! I’m not a fangirl! I was getting a sweatshirt for Juleka and—”

“I smell lies! What’s your name? Don’t lie. I can smell them. I can.”

“Man,” Axel throws something at the back of Bash’s head, making his bandmate back up. “Leave the girl alone, you prick. Look at her jacket? Look familiar?”

Tyra and Bash looked her up and down, the gothic chick laughing after a second before she shoves the latter in the shoulder with a cocky look playing on her features, “Just wait until Couffaine finds out you made his girl cry, Vulcan. I can’t wait to see him flip his shit.”

“Wait,” Marinette drew the attention back to herself. “Luka is here?”

“Aw, he didn’t tell her,” Bash snickered making Axel hit his gut before gesturing to the other door that leads back to the deck but on Juleka’s side, and explaining how Luka snuck up there thinking that ‘his melody’ wasn’t there yet and wanting to make sure that his demon of a sister didn’t get too smug and spill the beans.

Marinette tiredly, but with excitement running through her veins, dashed back through the hatch door— being quickly followed by the bandmates, because who would want to miss the drama?— and ran all the way up to the deck.

Anarka laughed whole-heartedly as she passed and yelled out, “Go get ‘em, lass!” that had her blushing up to her ears but she was simply too happy to care.

Luka was here! In hugging distance!

And the jerk didn’t even tell her!

She saw Luka sitting on the couch, his guitar next to him and his leg bouncing with nervous energy. He ran his hand through his hair and tugged, an anxious look on his face as he talks to Rose about something, eyes closed as he grumbled.

Which was perfect because he didn’t even see Marinette and didn’t get the choice until she was throwing herself on top of him, legs on either side of his and knees tucked into his hips as she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face into his neck.

“Oomph!” Luka let out a loud breath, eyes flying open at the abrupt weight settled onto his person but then softening as he saw the girl in his lap, his arms coming around her and holding her to him just as tight— his nose nudging the top of her head as he took in her scent of chocolate cookies and vanilla. “Melody?”

Rose was squealing somewhere in the background while Juleka and Bash snickered, Axel cooing at them while Tyra complained about the disgusting gooey-ness but all of that lended into the background.

All that mattered was the two of them— the fact that they were here, in the same space, breathing each other in, holding onto the other as tightly as they could.

All that mattered was them.

Not Juleka’s scheming falling into place, not Rose’s excited chatter or how smug his mom had been or how horrible the day had been leading up to this point. Just her and just him.

“No,” Marinette mumbled, flexing her arms around him as she fully relaxed into him. “You don’t get to talk. You might forget to tell me something very, very important. Like, I don’t know, coming back to Paris?”

“I’m sorry, baby.” Luka nuzzled his hand against her hip, rubbing his thumb in circles as he mumbled into her hair. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“I missed you,” She replied, forgiveness in her tone. “But let me be prepared next time.”

“I will,” He kissed her forehead, putting the tiniest amount of space between them. “And you know I missed you too, right?”

She shook her head.

“Liar,” Luka tapped his fingers on her sides and dug them in a bit, tickling her and making Marinette giggle loudly as she still refused to move away from him. “You just gonna stay there, baby?”

“Mhm,” The young heroine hummed, placing a light kiss onto the edge of his jaw.

“Did you meet everyone already?” He asked. “Assuming that’s how you found out I was here— seeing them, I mean?”

“She met us,” Tyra cut in, a cackle in her voice that doesn’t go unnoticed. “Vulcan made her cry and scared her, she fell down and hurt her hands I think.”

“He also then got all up in your girl’s face and accused her of being a crazy fangirl.” Axel oh-so-helpfully replied.

“Traitors!”

“Bash.”

“Oh, fuck.” The aforementioned boy squeaks out at Luka’s growl. “Dude, I am so sorry, I didn’t know she was—”

“We’ll talk later about it,” Luka brushed him off— which, coming from a Couffaine, is never good as they are people who like to be blunt and solve issues as soon as possible. To delay it means that, well, you screwed up majorly. “Melody, let me see your hands.”

“No.” Marinette grumbles, earning laughs from Tyra and his sister, who the guitarist quickly flips off. “I’m comfortable and it’s just scraped and I missed you.”

“Good luck getting her off in the next hour,” Juleka said, her hair pushed out of her face so when the young heroine peeked out from his neck she could see a sly smile spreading across her features. “Marinette’s been whining about not seeing you for weeks and she’s as stubborn as they come.”

Marinette flips her off, too.

“Aw!” Rose giggles, bouncing on her toes. “You’re becoming a real Boat Kid, Mari! They’re all adorably crass like that!”

“Says you, Rose,” She shot back. “I’ve known you for years and you’ve always sworn like a sailor so it was no surprise to me that you started dating one.” This got laughs from Axel and Luka, the latter’s chuckles she could feel in her own chest.

“Hey,” Juleka said, wrapping an arm around her girlfriend. “Leave my Manic Unicorn alone, it’s cute that her favorite word is fuck.”

“I watched your Manic Unicorn swear out a teacher when we were seven.”

“I genuinely would’ve paid to see that.”

“Oh!” Rose squealed, a soft expression on her face. “I remember that, she was so rude! Mrs. Palanchi never did anything about the girls who bullied Mari. It made me cry.”

“Aw, it’s okay. Marinette can’t get bothered by them now,” Juleka patted her head and blew a raspberry onto her cheek that had her girlfriend’s sullen expression go all giddy again.

After knowing Rose for so many years, she knew the blondie was a walking mood-whiplash, so she wasn’t really surprised.

“Wait, wait,” Azel held up a hand, drawing attention as his eyebrows pinched together. “Your girl’s name is Marinette? I thought it was Melody!”

“Nope,” The young heroine says. “It’s Marinette, you can call me Mari though. Rockstar here just calls me Melody.”

“Well then it’s nice to meet you, Marinette.” Axel did a playful bow, reminding her of a different boy in black. “This prick was always shy about the details even when he could go on and on for literal hours about you. Where’d you meet?”

“Erm…”

What was an appropriate way to say ‘his room because I was having a breakdown over a different guy that I was in love with and we sort of just clicked from there after he teased me about my stutter’?

“Jules had her over to watch the band practice,” Luka, thankfully, cut in— probably having felt her body tense slightly. “We became friends after that and just got closer since then.”

Not as close as she wanted, as she’d rather be a girlfriend than best friend but this was Luka and she’d take as much as him as she could and love it until she didn’t know how to anymore.

“When did you guys start dating?” Tyra asks, popping the gum that she just put into her mouth. “Couple years, right?”

Luka’s silent for a painfully long second before informing, “We’re not dating.”

Someone Marinette doesn’t see who but would take a wild guess that it’s Bash as he starts choking on the water he had been trying to swallow and the other two bandmates start protesting their confusion.

Sometimes she questioned if Luka still liked her— but Marinette had her fair share in experiencing unrequited feelings and she knows that this is not what that looks like— and it’s times like these that she hopes against hope that he likes her as much as she likes him because she fell and she fell hard and she can’t be the only one who fell.

Not again, not this time.

Not with him.

The next hour passes by in a breeze. Mylene and Ivan show up with Marc and soon Kitty Section is practicing, the other band handing out advice and compliments where they’re earned and Anarka drifting off to an unknown place to let the teenagers ‘cause mayhem as they please’.

Ivan and Mylene left early for a double date they had been planning with Alya and Nino and somehow they managed to convince Marc to drag Nate along so it was a group date.

Eventually everyone settled down into a circle around eight at night, having eaten and caught up or got to know each other better.

Marinette learned that Tyra was a little snarky but overall entertaining in the way she so passionately hated everything but loved to mess with Bash— Bash himself was a bit of an idiot but a goofball and it made him loveable enough to forgive the scabs on her palms (Luka didn’t agree with this). Axel was Luka’s best friend and he was a generally sane person but he was fiercely competitive and loved to cause arguments.

It was the most fun the young heroine had in a while and the boy she loved was by her side, so what could go wrong?

“Let’s play Truth or Dare,” Rose giggled, turning to Juleka with wide, puppy-dog eyes. “Oh, please! Can we?”

And like the lovesick fool Jules was she gave in.

Marinette knew something was either going to go wrong or horribly embarrassing from her by the wicked gleam in the purple haired girl’s eyes and, not even five minutes later (and after Bash was dared to drink hotdog juice), Luka got a dare.

Do Seven Minutes in Heaven with ‘his Melody’.

Stupid Juleka.

But also thank you Juleka.

Which— after making sure it was okay with her— he agreed to so it was safe to say all her nerves were on fire. And it absolutely didn’t help that Tyra snarkingly called out, “If you start bumping uglies, put on a sock on the door.” after them.

“One of these days,” Luka sighed out as he closed his bedroom door behind them. “I’m really going to kill my sister.”

“I’ll help,” Marinette giggled at her, though her face was still a burning red at what Tyra had insinuated— which they, of course, wouldn’t be doing.

“So,” He said and her smile widened at his semi-awkward tone, her hands bracing herself against the hatch as she watched the musician sit on his bed, twisting the bracelet on his wrist. “What now?”

She wouldn’t say it was entertaining watching Luka be so nervous but it definitely wasn’t something she saw very often so it definitely was amusing in some sense of the word. Usually she was the awkward one who didn’t know what to do with herself, not him.

“What?” She raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know how to play?”

Luka gave her a flat look, “I’m in University now. Of course I know how to play seven minutes in heaven.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Baby…” He sighed. “Don’t get me wrong, because I do want to kiss you, I just— I don’t think… fuck, this is why I have my guitar.” He grumbled. “Words are not my thing.”

“That’s okay,” Marinette smiles at him, tugging his jacket’s sleeves down further her arms. “I mean, you’ve seen my stammering. We’ll just not be good with words together.”

“Together?” Luka questions, a slight quirk to his lips as his head tilted, teal hair obscuring his eyes.

“Mhm,” She nods. “Together. You and me.”

“I like the sound of that,” He smirks back at her, reaching slightly to tug her forward, the young heroine now standing between his legs. “You asked if I knew how to play— it’s my turn for the question. Want me to teach you how?”

“And you say you’re not good with words,” She sasses, a giggle falling from her mouth as Luka rolls his eyes and takes her chin into his hand, dragging her face down so they are eye-level, both of their eyes closing, and kisses her.

It’s not a heated kiss, not one that had Marinette’s heart racing but… it was one that made something slot into place in her mind, like something was missing before but finally found its way home.

As his mouth moved against hers, she leaned into his touch, hands fluttering through his hair and tugging as the strands, his own moving to cup the back of her neck and to the side of her jaw, angling her head for better access.

The emotions spilled out between them; the love they kept tucked into their sleeves, the joy, the passion and overwhelming amount of just… feeling safe and comfortable with each other.

It was by no means a kiss without soul.

Luka would go back to his university and she’d be stuck here for another month, their lives were so different and they were busy. Marinette had the responsibilities with the Miraculous and he had his band and they both had classes and a future neither could write out a solid plan for no matter how hard they tried.

So maybe it wasn’t the best timing, maybe it wasn’t the best situation or the best reason to kiss or the best way they could have gotten together, by a surprise visit nonetheless— but they were together.

And, at the end of the day, that’s all that matters, isn’t it?

#lukanette fic #lukanette #luka couffaine #band #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #viperion #fanfic #lukanette prompt #surprise visit #hurt/comfort #fluff #angst

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mysticprofessoralienhumanoid · 5 years ago

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Turning down the akuma pt. 1

*feel free to add*

So, I've been seeing a lot of miraculous salt about Lila and class turning against Marinette lately and I've thought: wouldn't it be hilarious to see Hawkmoth try to akumatize Marinette and fail miserably?

I know it looks like it has nothing to do with this salt, but hear me out:

Marinette, like any other day, comes to school, just a little earlier than usual (to everyone's surprise), only to see her whole class looking at her with anger and accusing her of something terrible she did to their friend Li(e)la.

Which we (and Marinette) know is yet another Lila's lie.

They tell her how they cannot believe she could do something like this to their beloved classmate and how they can't have her as a class president anymore. Matter of fact, they don't even want to be friends with her anymore.

'Cause who in their right mind would want to be friends with a bully, am i right?

And well, Mari is pissed.

She just came to school! She came here to learn something new and fascinating about geometry and how interesting it is to watch some liquid change colors after adding some other as compelling substance to it.

Please, note her sarcasm.

And what she gets in return is some false accusations without any proof, may i add, and her, who she thought were real and trustworthy, friends to turn their backs against her and call her a bully. She just stepped into a classroom and drama already starts. Seriously, give her a break.

So she just stands in front of her whole class, raging in anger, pretty much trying to contain all the things and profanities she could say, that would only make the situation worse and she knows it.

Plus, it would still change nothing, 'cause her classmates are, from what she can see, blinded by Li(e)la.

And then, just like that, they all see a black butterfly flying towards Marinette and sinking into her purse, which then turns black.

They freeze and watch in horror how a purple, illuminating aureole forms around Marinette's kind and warm eyes turning them stone and cold.

Looks, like they know who is next Hawkmoth's victim...

Imagine their shock when they hear her say "No."

And now let's imagine how it was when Hawkie said his speech and all. 'Cause i like deatails, okay.

So i guess it was something like this:

"Ah, welcome, my Queen, it's a pleasure to finally meet you... I know how it feels to be betrayed by people who you thought knew you well enough not to make accusations like that. And that's why i grant you a power to get your sweet revenge on them. The only thing i want in return are Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculouses. So what do you say?"

And, as you probably figured out, she said no.

(The priceless look on Hawkmoth's face. I can't even- )

And from there it would only get better. I mean, imagine the conversation he and Marinette would have, while her class and ms. Bustier, who have arrived at some point, would only hear Marinette's answers, that would be totally out of context.

"Wha- Why?" Hawkmoth asks in a tone, like a kid, whom someone took his favorite toy from or said it's bad to play in mud.

And Marinette replies in a monotone tone, with a bored look on her face "Bitch, it's not the first time i hear this bullshit. I guess i just got used to it. You can't do anything about it, nor can i, so i just let it be. If they want to be on Lila's side and be fed with her lies, then that's what they gonna get, but when they'll come crying to me, I'm not even gonna move a finger to help them."

"Woah, that's kinda cold..."

She smiled a little and let me just tell you her class felt chills running down their spines. It was the scariest thing they've ever seen - Mari with a cold, crooked smirk playing on her lips. It was the first time they thought that their Marinette, their everyday Ladybug, could actually not be as innocent as she looks and that she has a dark side they've never seen before (and they don't really want to) "Aren't you suppose to be the evil one?" she teased him.

And then maybe he smiled a little to himself, maybe he was offended, who knows? "I see... Care to share the whole situation?" He just acts as some kind of her friend and they were on some coffe in a random café, gossiping. Actually he was genuinely curious and the whole situation amused him.

And that's how Marinette starts to rant about all Li(e)la's lies, explaining why each one of them is not true. She pretty much exposes her in front of her whole class, unaware of all the looks her classmates send Li(e)la when they start to notice holes in her lies and realize that Marinette was, in fact, right from the start.

Like, picture this:

"She once told them, she saved Jagged Stone's cat! A cat! He has never ever had a cat! Even better, he is allergic to cats, which he reaveled in an interview, so if they had done some research they would find out it's a fucking lie!"

That's when Alya send Li(e)la a quick glance. Marinette was right. Alya even watched this interview. Now she feels stupid.

"She told everyone she is a model. Then why she's not in any magazine, huh? Or in the internet? When i typed Lila Rossi i got nothing. Yet everyone believes her!"

She's right, Juleka thought. She has never seen her in any magazine Li(e)la claimed to had done a photoshoot for.

"Lila claims to be such good friends with the one and only Laydybug." that's when Marinette laughed and rolled her eyes, but as quick as it happened she turned into this cold version of herself "That's the biggest bullshit i have ever heard. Ladybug has never even said anything about her. She knows Lila only because she saved her from your akumas. Matter of fact, Lila hates Ladybug. I've caught her tearing a picture of LB and saying bad things about her and how much she hates the superheroine."

This time Li(e)la definitely felt eyes on her. Yet she still tried to act like she knows nothing and is innocent. But in her head she cursed Marinette; Li(e)la knew she was screwed.

And that's just a few of many lies Marinette exposed this day.

She also said how Li(e)la harrased Adrien and his personal space. She said how she had seen Li(e)la taking some book from Adrien's bag and later lied about being Volpina. Which was the moment Hawkmoth furrowed his eyebrows. Could it be her who stole his book... Gabriel was not happy with the news. He didn't like how Miss Rossi treated his son. He swore to himself he's going to talk with the principal (aka the only time he acted like a real father). He actually pitied Marinette and what has she gone through.

"I'm sorry to hear it... Marinette." he hesitantly says. Was he actually nice to a person he was trying to akumatize? But he could feel what was she going through, he saw all those things, all those moments and the stress and many responsibilities she had. He definitely did not want to go through what she was going right now.

Marinette smiled a little "Thanks... Hawkmoth."

Hawkmoth sighed. Looks like today there won't be any akuma.

And just like that they were all watching a white butterfly flying away from Marinette's purse and then through the window.

Marinette woke up from her trance and was greeted with a silence from her whole class. The last thing she remembered were the accusations she heard about herself and how all her friends turned against her.

So, her eyes turned cold, something her class wished to never see again, and sat in the back of the class.

#miraculous ladybug #ml salt #miraculous lb #mlb #liela #akumatized villains #akumatized marinette #miraculous marinette #miraculous angst #exposing lies

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akimmito · 5 years ago

Text

They thought they won #2

Well, here is the second part, I think it was weak in comparison, but it is not terrible either. It is acceptable.

Taken from the indications of @chocolate1721.

I hope you like it. If there are errors, at some point I will correct it.

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Tagged: @dawnwave16 @pirats-pizzacanninibles @mochegato @silvergold-swirl

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On Bruce's recommendation, the girls wait four days before showing up at school. Four days that were used to build a case with the French School Board, collect and deliver physical evidence of abuse and bullying. Tim did his fair share by involving every person who could have been harmed by Lila's lies, getting collaboration from many of those affected (being the victims of the teenager's most outrageous lies).

They also took advantage of those four days to think about what they will do when the chaos with the director and their teacher in charge are set, they will be adrift and that will be unfortunate. Neither of them wants to waste time due to the incompetence of a teacher. The safest option is to request an immediate transfer to another class, preferably with a serious teacher who doesn't allow similar situations.

Marinette also took advantage of those four days to better relate to the Wayne boys, although she has a special connection with Tim (she's sure it wasn't hallucination induced by lack of sleep). They talked about many topics, but found brain games and all kinds of riddles in common (she advantage and led him to Ladybug's reasoning to solve a problem with the most random object possible; the fourth day hhe understood the game when he saw the heroin hit to the villain with a bicycle chain). She even had time to drag Damian to Kagami's house to get to know each other (she realized his mistake when she had to prevent them from killing themselves in the middle of the fight and take Damian to the bakery).

Neither Chloe nor Marinette were excited to see their classmates, but they saw it as a necessary evil to deliver the coup de grace. And that does excite Chloe, that morning she woke up eager to see her revenge come true.

The class had already started when Marinette and Chloe entered the classroom, the two families waiting at the door. Only Bruce Wayne went to the Principal's office to have a talk about responsibility and professionalism.

"Good morning, Miss Bustier," Mariette greets with a kindness that, for her smile, it shows that she is not entirely sincere. The surprised look of the woman only manages to generate irritation in the back of the girl's mind.

"Why have they been missing class? It is very irres..."

Chloe almost jumps on Caline, but is stopped by Richard, who sneaks into the classroom to prevent the young woman from attacking the teacher (however deserved it is). In the back, Tom has an arm over Sabine's shoulder to prevent her from attacking too, his calming touch is enough to discourage her from doing so; Damian snorts and Jason swallows his comment. The class is ready to react when Marinette responds, her brow furrowed and a disappointed look she only gives Chat.

"You abandoned us at the mercy of the Joker in Gotham, we were rescued by the Batclan. You didn't worry or look for us, nor did you bother to call the police and you leave the country without us. "Marinette says and her gaze sharpens towards her teacher.

"Marinette, you need to be more responsible. The Joker is very dangerous and trying to protect two criminals was silly. Furthermore, Lila had to return to Paris to help her mother with her next diplomatic trip. "Caline responds.

Chloe almost got free of Dick and Tim must grab Jason to prevent him from taking out the gun he saw him keep before leaving the hotel. Tom helps to contain his wife and avoid any movement from Damian (who considers that someone so stupid would be more beneficial if she was dead and not simply out of sympathy with the girls).

Bruce arrives just in time to hear Caline's wonderful words, the cheap excuse she gives them to leave two students behind. He stands in front of the woman, managing to intimidate her with his mere presence.

"If the student had previous commitments that clash with the itinerary and its possible setbacks, why was she included in the trip? Two students were in danger, with or without the Joker, Gotham is dangerous on its own and leaving them abandoned with no chance of leaving the country is negligent just for prioritizing one student. What if there hadn't been only two? If it was half your class would you still prioritize that one student? ”Bruce is relentless and doesn't allow her to respond. He's furious, burning with hot anger ready to burn her alive.

They all hold their breath when a purple butterfly appears and heads straight for Bruce, but Marinette gets in the way and lets the Akuma into one of her hair bands, the purple mask appears. Sabine and Chloe break free and start talk with her.

"Maribug, you must fight him. You're stronger than him. ”Chloe grabs her shoulders, but Marinette is focused on her thoughts, listening to Hawkmoths speech.

"You can't let him win. "Sabine entreaty.

Tim also approaches, but says nothing. His gaze meets hers, a sign of recognition and that she is nowhere near being manipulated, but no one else realizes it.

"Yes ... but if you give me those powers, I will go after you and no one else." Mariette smiles at Tim when the butterfly leaves her. Everyone is relieved, nobody wanted an Akuma at that time; the class, on the other hand, is surprised by the ease with which it rejected the butterfly and the white color with which it was released.

Adrien smiles, showing misplaced pride.

"You are amazing, Marinette, that's why you are our everyday Ladybug, you even reject Hawkmoth."

Marinette turns to Adrien, her sense of calm withered by the model's comment.

"I may have rejected it, but it would be better if I wasn't forced to do it in the first place." She frowns at the blonde, who is still smiling completely oblivious to the passive-aggressive tone of the young woman.

"We saw that you can handle it and that ..." A slap silences him, everyone looks at Chloe in surprise.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE SO FOOLY! DO YOU KNOW HOW PAINFUL IT IS TO FIGHT AGAINST CONTROL? WHERE HAVE YOUR BRAIN CELLS LEFT, AH? YOU SHOULD GO FOR THEM, YOU'RE UNDERSTANDING NOTHING."

"How dare you, you fucking bitch ?!" Alya gets up ready to hit Chloe, but Jason gets in the way.

"Though it would be amazing to see her take your shit out of you."

"Jason!" Dick scolds him for the choice of words, Jason barely gives him a funny look.

"We have more important matters. "

Tim just denies. Chloe smirks, but returns her attention to what's important.

"When does the School Board arrive?" she smiles an arrogant smile at the teacher, who loses her face color much faster than when Bruce faced her. "What's the matter lawyers of the celebrities abaout Lie-la lied to? They should be here by now. "

"Hah! You're just words, Lila is not a liar and this whole show will explode in your face, Chloe. "Alya answers smugly, sure nothing will happen. She has not even called her father, she has nothing. "Stop wanting to attract attention like that, it's pathetic. "

Lila just frowns, the presence of Bruce Wayne only indicates future problems. Damn to Marinette in her thoughts.

"Wayne's attorneys are here, though, right? "She doesn't need to receive a verbal confirmation, the arrival of the police to the classroom accompanied by two men in suits is enough proof." Yeah, I took so long to convince her to press charges for assault, harassment, and damage to private property, but here we are; They will file lawsuits for destroying Maribug's room and, best of all, we have video evidence and photos of everything destroyed. I appreciate that she's so paranoid that everything important always safeguards her in two layers of security. ”She smirks, after all, the lawyers called the parents of everyone involved first and it's a sight worth appreciating.

The lawyers decide to intervene, unwilling to be part of the girl's delight.

"We regret to inform that the following people should co

"That's a lot, Mari. Don't you think about his parents?"

"Did they think of mine? How much money would it cost to restore my room and all my things? They didn't, I'll not. I'm tired of always turning the other cheek so they hit me too. ”Tim places a hand on her shoulder, before Dick squeezes her into his arms and she laughs, forgetting for a moment the annoyance towards Adrien.

me with us, their parents have already been informed and are waiting: Lila Rossi, Alya Cessaire, Kim Le Chien, Max Kante and Sabrina Raincomprix. We wait for you in the teachers room. "

The officer Raincomprix looks with disappointment at his daughter and only gestures for her to follow them, he will leave his other officers in charge to arrest the teacher for child abuse and neglect.

Everything from there is chaos, the police officers take the teacher after telling her their rights and the class gets out of control, Adrien just watches his friends go towards an inevitable demand. Look at Marinette, she looks indifferent to the facts; He doesn't understand how everything got to the point of involving lawyers.

"Marinette, are you serious?"

"Seriously what, Agreste?" Marinette is hard in her treatment towards him, Chloe won the blow to him, but nobody will gain the words to him. Damian frowns at the blonde, waiting for him to say something that will bury him a thousand meters underground.

Everyone is waiting, the students in the Bustier class don't understand how everything got to that point. They are surprised, but also embarrassed for not noticing Marinette's absence, because despite not being the sweet girl they knew (and she's, but not with them), she would have looked for them and would has confronted whoever it was to find them. They want to say something, but they have a lump in their throats. Knowing that there will be legal problems for the things that they considered insignificant for Marinette, because they believed that the girl was worse ... Actually, it's the logical solution if someone is attacking you, especially if you have real evidence. So why did Lila refuse to stop the problem if she had as much evidence as she claimed?

Of course, even they can say that Adrien's question is totally out of place.

"Are you really going to sue them? They are your f..."

"They are not my friends. They destroyed my room, Agreste, they destroyed my work. Do you know how much the designs cost? Your father is a designer, you should know… I had to do everything again and put the materials that were lost to complete the works FROM MY POCKET. In a week I did a full month's work… ”Marinette replicate Tim's angry expression, making Adrien nervous by the annoyed glances that are directed at him. "And I'll make them give back every penny of the damaged material. "

"That's a lot, Mari. Don't you think about his parents?"

"Look, Adrinkis, if they don't learn that their actions have consequences now, they'll just keep it up and eventually go to prison for something like that. You imagine? It would be wonderful to see it, sure, but that's not the point here."

"But…"

"If you say something that could come out of Bustier's mouth, I'll hit you again, and this time it will be with my fist." Adrien raises his hands and is silent. "And that would be very little, seeing that you knew everything and preferred to remain silent. Although they were not subtle when they attack on Maribug. You validated it and that, darling, is a thousand times worse than having fallen into the clutches of a liar. "

"Did you know?" Nino asks, he is not entirely sure what is true or lie, but if it's true that Lila is a liar (he is already assured that she is a bully) and his best friend has known all that time, oh, the pain. He already feel bad enough in the whole uncertain situation.

At some point, Sabine and Tom go out to meet the parents of the boys who destroyed their daughter's room. They must deal with it.

"I don't understand why you care so much about these ceporros, they are not worth your time." Damian looks deathly at everyone, who seems truly unintelligent if their idiot faces are an indication of their IQ. Dick can't help but snort.

"What?" Nathaniel is the only one who has a verbal reaction to what was said, he didn't understand the word, but he assumes that it was an insult.

"You see?"

"Yeah..." Marinette sighs and smiles at the boy, who walks away from her with an expression of disgust.

"Come on, you like her." Dick doesn't allow him to walk away and hugs him by the shoulders with an amused but affectionate smile. He has noticed his behavior around her, actively looking for her because he considers her nice, in a way; the same way he came to connect with the Teen Titans, so it was with her. He found something in common as an initial union and in four days, a record, he managed to form a linkage (small, but it exists).

"Now. I think we should go for a coffee. ”Tim approaches Marinette and whispers in her ear, she nods in response. "But before, if you are so kind to check twitter, in the @NotAddictedToCoffee account you will find a link to an article in the France International Journal where they express the worrying situation of parental neglect, I think you will find it interesting. Maybe you recognize the case they are exposing... So, coffee?" He turns to Marinette and she smiles. His job is done, pity for Chloe who wanted a true social massacre and they won't even let her be present for she watches the lives of the defendants break in front of them. Oh, but the Wayne boys are sure to be able to access the surveillance cameras in the teacher's lounge. She turns to the only one who knows how to help her, Jason.

"Hey, Todd. I need your help. ”He turns to her with a raised eyebrow, she gestures for him to lean. "I want access to the surveillance cameras in the teachers' room, can you? "

"Do you want to see their teary faces at the lawsuit?"

"Obviously. "

The two smile and as casually as they can after a suspicious conversation, they leave the classroom. Richard follows them to prevent them from causing trouble.

While all the students take out their phones to confirm.

Marinette and Tim also leave, followed by Damian. Only Bruce stays for a moment, but then decides it's best to notify a teacher for review.

Adrien knows from the beginning who the person in the example is, the implication was clear. All the time they read, an awkward silence surrounds them, a teacher arrives while they are busy on their phones.

"Very good. I will be in charge until the Board of Education decides what will happen to the class. "The class pays no real attention. They are focused watching the approach presented in the article, where they explicain how neglect causes children to seek any type of validation going to any extreme, without it being exactly something to justify the person's actions and that should be treated with a psychologist to avoid It gets out of control and affects the lives of those around you.

There is even a cited psychologist and an expert in criminal pathologies. Everyone is livid the more they read, it's an extensive and very detailed article that aims to raise awareness, but above all, expose Lila in a subtle way to avoid repercussions for publicly humiliating her, now it's a shadow that will not go away and will remain in the criminal files of the girl, which is enough to keep an eye on her (especially with the demands of some people who are almost affected by those lies).

"It was Lila, wasn't it?" Someone asks.

"Yes ... how strong.And Marinette, oh God, I'm not surprised that she hates us. "

"Guys, Marinette doesn't hate us. She's too good for that. "Adrien tries to reassure his companions.

"You have no right, Adrien! You knew it, man, you knew it! And did you let him use us like that?" Nino now is experiencing true treason. He feel very hurt.

"I wasn't hurting anyone ..."

"AND WHAT ARE THESE DEMANDS?! JOKES?! REACT, ADRIEN. HE LIED US AND HANDLED TO THE POINT OF ACHIEVING THAT FOUR OF OUR COMPANIONS DID SOMETHING ILLEGAL. THEY COULD GO TO PRISON FOR INVASION AND DAMAGE TO PRIVATE PROPERTY!" Nino has jumped on Adrien by grabbing his shirt, he could cry right now.

"Dammit, Agreste. Were you always so stupid?"

"Youngs, this behavior will lead to a sanction in your school record. The Board of Education will personally take care of you if you continue to display hostile behavior. "

"Whatever. Anyway, we're screwed. We hurt the only person who was always unconditional with us. "Juleka is clear with her words and regrets not having listened to her brother, she should have known, Luka is always right.

Everyone is silent, being aware of the situation more than others times.

"She will forgive us..."

"WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR MIND?! AIR?! Nothing we can offer her could make she forgive us, besides, did you see your new friends? She doesn't need us, least of all with the boyfriend who got herself in just five days. "Alix is realistic, overwhelmingly realistic.

Rose allows herself to cry, she wasn't actively hostile, but she knows she was purposely ignoring her under pressure from others.

"Guys…"

"Look, Agreste, don't speak to us again unless you mature. You're the worst thing in this whole thing… I can't forgive you and I'm sure you're the last person Marinette would forgive, heck, surely one day she could forgive Lila, but you, ha, never. "Alix is scathing in her words breaking Adrien's heart, though he refuses to believe that.

While in the park, Marinette guides Tim to one of her favorite cafes. She tells him about the different embarrassing moments that went through her awkwardness and he, in return, explains uncomfortable moments.

Marinette feels good, she still has to remove Adrien's Plagg ring, but at the moment, she feels good. She can face whatever comes.

-----

Thanks for reading!

#timari #Timinette #tim x marinette #maribat #Maribat Au #ml x dc #adrien salt

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nerdypanda3126 · 5 years ago

Text

Friends Don’t

This one was inspired by Friends Don't by Maddie & Tae. Huge thanks to @multimousemari and @chanceuseladynoire for beta reading!

Read on Ao3

“Marinette style, boo-yah!” Marinette jumped up to celebrate, borrowing her dad's victory pose. That had been a close match. He had almost gotten her, but she had pulled out one of the special combos she had perfected when they were younger and managed to catch him by surprise.

Adrien groaned, tossing the controller to the side before leaning back on his hands, letting his head drop behind him. The strong line of his jaw and the muscle flexed at the side of his neck made her gulp and she looked away quickly. They were past that now, she sternly reminded herself. She and Adrien were really good friends. She didn’t stutter around him anymore, and he came over all the time with the group to hang out. So stop acting like a lovesick teenager.

“You’re amazing. Seriously, ten wins in a row?" He sat back up, glancing up at her with a slight pout.

Her train of thought vanished. Didn’t he know that look was dangerous? Of course he did, that’s why she’d seen it popping up in his photoshoots lately. Cologne ads. Now those were dangerous. She looked away to hide her blush. Not that she’d saved any of those clippings or anything.

“Thanks for having me over,” Adrien prompted when she didn’t respond.

“Of course! I’m glad you had some free time.”

“Well, I owe Nino a drink later, but it seems like I hardly ever get to see you anymore.”

“You canceled on Nino?” she asked, maybe a little too brightly.

“Yeah, but he was fine with it. Seemed excited I was going to see you, really.” He beamed up at her.

She tried to hide the smile that tugged at her lips. Adrien canceled on Nino to spend time with her. Alone. But then she shook her head. Don’t read too much into it, Marinette . We’re still just good friends.

***

“Come on, over here.” He inclined his head towards the Place des Vosges, grabbing her hand to lead her.

He had been passing by as she got off work and offered to walk her home since it was getting dark. He had appeared as if out of a dream, the blue scarf she gave him all those years ago wrapped securely around his neck. His charcoal overcoat somehow made his shoulders look broader. His cheeks were pink from the chill, and his smile was like sunshine. She had accepted his offer without a second thought.

He led her over to the fountain, smiling back at her, his hand warm around hers. She shouldn’t be thinking so hard about him holding her hand. They were just friends, right?

“What are we doing here?”

“Enjoying the night air?” he offered, jumping up lightly onto the ledge of the fountain. He made a show of almost losing his balance, his eyes on her the entire time.

She giggled at his antics, which earned her a mischievous smirk. He held out a hand, gesturing with his head that she should jump up with him. She raised her eyebrows. Really? He danced a little on the ledge, acting like he was pulling her up to him. She rolled her eyes, but accepted his help up, wobbling just a little on the rounded edge. He held onto her elbow to steady her.

“Dance with me?” he asked, his soft green eyes catching the moonlight.

Focus, Marinette. Friends. Just friends. She glanced down at their unsteady footing. “You do know I’m a klutz, right?”

“I’ve got you.”

Oh, what those words did to her heart. She nodded, not trusting herself to try to speak.

He placed her hand on his shoulder, taking her waist easily before clasping their hands out to the side. Confidently, he took a step towards her, and she took a step back to follow him, amazed her foot had found the ledge behind her.

“See? Easy.” He took a step back this time, pulling her along with him. He started to hum a soft tune, leading her in a slow two-step.

As she stopped worrying about falling and twisting an ankle, her mind started to wander. She found herself wishing she could lay her head down on his chest, wishing she could cuddle into him and delight in the airy cologne he was wearing, wishing they could be a couple, sharing this moment under the starlight. Instead of just a couple of friends, having a bit of fun.

He attempted to turn her, his arm hovering around her waist, ready to catch her. But she got distracted by his eyes, so intensely focused on her, and her heel slipped off the ledge, throwing her off balance. She clutched at Adrien's neck instinctively as she fell, trying to catch herself, and his grip tightened around her at the same time.

He had caught her in a dip. They both paused as they tried to process what had happened. As soon as her brain connected the dots, heat rose to her face as she waited for Adrien to move, to set her upright, to step away. Like she knew he would.

He did tip her back up, finally, but he didn't step back like she thought. He kept his arms around her as he searched her face, like he had seen something there that surprised him. His eyes lingered on hers.

She shivered under his gaze and Adrien started, coming out of whatever daze he had been in.

"You must be freezing," he muttered apologetically, hurrying to take his scarf off. He wrapped it around her tenderly, encircling her in his scent, pausing again to look at her when he had finished.

He took her hand, but it wasn't the same as before. His thumb brushed over hers lightly.

"I'd better get you home."

He tucked their hands in his pocket before leading the way back to the bakery. He walked slower this time, though, and he seemed deep in thought about something.

They reached her door a lot sooner than she hoped. She wanted to tell him how much she liked him walking her home. She wanted to ask him what, if anything, was happening between them. They were just friends, right? But friends don't dance around a fountain in the moonlight, or hold hands with the excuse of being cold, or look at her the way he was now.

He pulled her hand out of his pocket and paused, facing her. She held her breath. Was this really happening? Maybe she was dreaming after all.

A mischievous glint flashed across his eyes, as he pulled her hand up to his lips.

Then he blew warm air over her fingers, rubbing her hand in between his palms like he could start a fire.

"You'd better get inside and warm up," he said, completely unaware that his smirk was making her heart do funny little flops in her chest.

They were just friends, right?

***

Marinette groaned as her ringing phone woke her. She squinted against the bright light. 3am. Adrien’s picture with his number underneath. She struggled to pull herself up to a sitting position, rubbing her eyes as she accepted the call.

"Adrien?"

“Marinette? You’re awake?”

“Was asleep, then you called.” Her voice came out slurred and heavy. “Something wrong?”

“No, nothing’s wrong. Everything’s fine. I was hoping to get your voicemail."

Voicemail. Why would he call at 3am to leave a voicemail? She cleared her throat. Apparently she wasn't fully awake yet.

“I guess I just… I wanted to hear your voice," he continued, hesitantly.

"Couldn't wait until tomorrow?"

"It is tomorrow."

She rolled her eyes even though he couldn't see her before she was overtaken by a yawn."You know what I meant."

He laughed. "Yeah, I know."

Even half-awake, her heart responded to him, lifting in her chest and making her smile. He waited, but she couldn't think of anything she should say back. Her shoulders were slumping with the effort of holding them up.

"I'm sorry I woke you. I didn't think you'd actually answer," he said eventually.

She succumbed to gravity, flopping back down on her bed. She tucked the phone into her shoulder and stifled another yawn. "Why wouldn't I answer? You're my friend."

A pause on his end.

"How long have we been friends, Marinette?"

Fleetingly, the thought crossed her mind that this was a weird question for three in the morning. "I don't know, since collège, I guess." Not like she could tell him she’d been in love with him since the day they met.

"So, five or six years, give or take?"

"Mmm." Her pillow was very comfortable.

Another pause. "Do you think we'll always be friends?"

"Hmm?"

"Like even if we go our separate ways for our careers and… life, I guess, do you think we'll stay friends?"

She fought to open her eyes. They seemed to be fluttering closed of their own accord. "Of course."

She heard him sigh, but she couldn't tell if it was from relief or disappointment. He took a long pause. "Can I ask you something?"

His voice brought her back from the edge of sleep. "Mmm?"

After another drawn-out pause, she barely registered hearing him take a deep breath, but the rest was lost as she fell deeply asleep, the phone still lit up against her cheek.

***

Marinette was pacing across her bedroom while Alya sat on the chaise, watching her with a bemused expression. As much as she paced, though, she couldn’t seem to get her thoughts to stop circling.

“Let me see if I have this straight. Adrien invited you to his photoshoot, picked you up and drove you there, stared at you the whole time, drove you home, and then refused to come inside with you while your parents were gone?”

Marinette nodded along as Alya ticked the events off on her fingers.

“And then he kissed you?”

“Just on the cheek.”

“Girl, that was a date.”

Marinette stopped pacing to look at Alya. She looked so smug, like she had everything figured out.

“If that was a date, then why did he stop talking to me?”

“I’ve seen you two talking.”

“But not like he has been recently. He was calling me all the time, asking how my day was, telling me stupid jokes because he thought they’d make me laugh, walking me home from work…”

“Asking you to dance?”

Marinette shot Alya a glare. When Marinette had told her about what happened that night, Alya had started pestering her about when the wedding was. Convincing herself that Adrien didn’t mean anything by any of this was a lot harder when Alya was around.

“But now it’s like he can’t even look at me. He switches seats if I’m next to him, he refuses to be alone with me, he jumps a mile high when I say his name… did I do something wrong?”

Alya rolled her eyes, then stood to place her hands on Marinette’s shoulders. “Tell me again how he acted when he dropped you off the other day.”

“But I already-”

“Just humor me.”

Marinette paused to think. “He was fidgety. He had his keys in his hand and he wouldn’t stop messing with them.” At one point he dropped them, she remembered, and they had bonked heads as they both bent to pick them up. “He asked if I had fun at the photoshoot. I told him it was interesting to be behind the scenes and see how much went into the ads he’s been in.”

Interesting was one word for it. She hadn’t been prepared to be on the receiving end of the sultry looks he had been getting entirely too good at.

“And then?” Alya prompted. This was apparently the part she was interested in.

“And then I invited him in to play video games. I told him my parents wouldn't be home until later, but they would probably join us when they got there.”

Now that she thought back on it, had his face turned a little bit red when she invited him in? He had definitely been flustered. That was when he dropped the keys. After they had both straightened up, he smiled and said he couldn’t‒no, he had said shouldn't‒stay, then hesitated before leaning in to give her a quick kiss on her cheek. Then he practically ran back to his car.

Her mouth dropped open. It had been a date. Or at least it was a heavily disguised date. A “just friends, but we could be more if you wanted to” date.

Alya shook her head, rolling her eyes again.

***

"Hey, Nino, can you help me with something?" Alya called from the other room. Nino started to get up but Adrien waved him off, glancing nervously at Marinette.

"I'll go," he said, "it's not like you're the only one who can help out around here."

"I specifically need Nino to come help me," Alya clarified, raising her voice a little more, and Adrien sat back down sheepishly. Nino shrugged, but went to see what Alya needed.

Marinette knew what Alya was up to. More and more she had been trying to push them together. To get them alone. It felt like being back in collège, when Alya took every chance she could to try to get Marinette to confess her feelings for Adrien.

Apparently that was still Alya's goal, and Marinette wanted more than ever to tell him how she felt, but the challenge lately had been getting Adrien to stay put long enough for the two of them to talk, especially alone.

She realized this was the first time they'd actually been alone since their "date that wasn't a date but could've been a date."

Alya had given her this chance and she wasn't going to waste it.

"Adrien?"

He started like she had touched a live wire to his skin, and when he turned to face her, his cheeks were starting to turn pink. He was sitting ramrod straight on the couch opposite her, his fists clenched in his lap.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded, barely managing to meet her eyes before looking away again, his blush growing steadily. It was now or never. She could do this.

She moved to sit beside him, ignoring his small flinch as her thigh touched his, and pretended to check his forehead for a fever, then laid the back of her hand against his cheek. Surprised at her gesture, he finally made eye contact with her, and she briefly remembered the moonlight shining in his eyes as he asked her to dance.

"You're burning up. Are you sure you're okay?"

He caught her hand in his, pulling it away from his face, but still held onto it, fiddling with her fingers as his jaw tensed. She waited, ignoring her pounding heart, while he worked out what he wanted to say.

"We've been friends for a long time, right?"

Her lips twitched into a smile at the familiar question. That must be why he'd been pulling away from her lately. He was worried about ruining their friendship. She laced her fingers through his before answering with certainty in her voice.

"Since the day we met."

He glanced over at her before he took a deep breath. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

His face turned bright red. "Have you ever thought about, you know, you and me… being… more than friends?"

Her smile grew. "Since the day we met."

#miraculous ladybug #mlb fic #ml fic #adrinette #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #aged up characters

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hermionemonica · 4 years ago

Text

The Road to Us, and Everything in Between: Chapter 3

(This is a no magic AU. There is no existence of the Miraculous or the superheroes in this universe.)

AO3 | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 4

When Marinette woke up later in the day, needless to say, she was very confused to notice that she was in her room, in her bed. However, she didn't have to wonder long, for right then her mother came in through the trapdoor with a plate of macaroons.

“Oh sweetie, you're awake!” she exclaimed with glee.

“Mom, how did I get home?” Marinette asked. “I was supposed to be at the university right now.”

“You felt ill, so the nurse gave you something to put you to sleep. You have been excused from classes today.”

Marinette smiled in acknowledgement, but just then, her eyes fell on her phone lying on the table, just how she had kept it before she went to the university that morning.

“Um, Mom, can I be alone for some time?” Marinette asked. “I don't feel very good yet.”

“Of course, dear,” Sabine said. “I’ll leave the macaroons here on your chaise. Your father made them especially for you, just the way you like.”

After she had left the room, Marinette scrambled down from her bed. Her head felt heavy, and she wondered what exactly the nurse had given her. Well, there were more pressing matters at hand right now. She sat down at her desk and switched her phone on. Nothing more from Nathaniel. Marinette opened up her contacts list. Her finger hovered over Nate's name for a long moment, before she scrolled up and clicked on Alya’s name. She needed to talk to someone who knew. Well, to be fair, her best friend didn't know the whole of it, but Alya knew more than anyone else. The familiar chime only rang once when Alya picked it up.

“Hey Mari!” she said in a cheery voice.

Okay, so Alya was free. That was a relief.

“Hi, Alya.”

Alya straightaway guessed from her voice that something was wrong.

“What happened, Marinette?” Alya went on in a softer voice.

“Uh, me and Nathaniel, we...” Marinette trailed off, because she was not sure how to put it. She didn't want to use the term ‘broke up’, because that would imply at something that never was, and it didn't quite feel right. So she settled on phrasing it in a roundabout way. “It's over with us.”

“You broke up?”

There it was. That dreaded phrase.

Surprisingly though, Alya didn't sound as shocked as Marinette had expected.

“When?” Alya questioned.

“Um, last night, I think. I said some things which I probably wouldn't have said if I wasn't under stress, and he got the wrong side of it. So basically he thinks I don't want to have anything to do with him anymore.”

Alya's reply was something Marinette could never have thought of hearing at such a time.

“It was about time,” Alya stated in a cool, matter-of-fact voice.

“What the hell are you talking about Alya?” Marinette demanded.

“Oh, we all knew this was going to happen someday. Your relationship was starting to turn into something pretty unhealthy for a while, especially for you. But you were too blindly in love with him to realise.”

Okay, what?

“Alya, I don't think this is something you should say now,” Marinette said, under her breath.

“You know me, Marinette. I would rather speak the bitter truth than sugar-coat it with lies. I have been noticing it for some time now, and the only reason that I hadn't told you earlier is that I didn't want to hurt you. But now that you've managed to get yourself out of it, I thought I should tell you, just so you don't do anything stupid and try to go back. I'm sorry, there just wasn't an easy way to say this.”

Marinette felt her breath catch. What was Alya talking about?

“Alya, I'll call you back later. I am not feeling up to this conversation right now.”

"Girl, you’re gonna be okay. That guy didn’t deserve you anyway. This is not your fault."

This isn’t completely his fault either, thought Marinette. Even if what Alya said was true, then Marinette had brought it onto herself. Still, this was a lot to take in, Marinette needed time to think about it.

"I think I need to be alone for a while. I'll talk to you later. Thanks for being there Alya."

"You know I’m always there for you Marinette. Just let me know if you need anything. And please take care."

"I will. Bye."

Unhealthy? How was that even possible? But Alya seemed very convinced, and in the years she had known her, never had Marinette known Alya to be mistaken when she sounded so sure about something. Then again, what did Alya know? She did not know Nathaniel like Marinette did, she had no idea what their relationship was like! Maybe, it was just a misconception that Alya had formed from not knowing all the facts. Because Nathaniel loved... no, loves her. But, a small part of her mind whispered, maybe the reason she felt so lost without Nate’s presence was because she had forgotten how to exist without him. Was that dependence, or was it...? Marinette felt her head growing heavier. Like she had earlier today, before she had passed out. She needed a distraction, anything to divert her mind from this mess, anything.

Her wish was granted, for just then, her phone vibrated in her lap. She shuddered for a moment, silently wishing it wasn't Nathaniel or Alya, and she heaved a sigh of relief when she saw it wasn't.

It was a text from... Adrien ? He had never texted her before; even though they had exchanged numbers weeks ago, they had never really used them. Well, she thought, anything would be welcome right now, and she opened the message.

Adrien: Hey, how are you feeling?

Exactly how bad had it got at the university today? Adrien seemed really concerned.

Marinette: I guess I'm doing better. I still feel kind of drowsy, but I guess it is just the effects of whatever the nurse gave me.

Marinette: If you don't mind me asking, could you just tell me how bad did it get with me? I mean, I really can't remember anything, it's all a blur.

Adrien: Wouldn't you rather have your parents talk to you about that?

Marinette: You are scaring me, was it that bad? Am I dying? 😅

Marinette: Hey, can I call you? This texting thing is hurting my head. I can't seem to focus on the screen for too long.

Adrien did not reply right away. Was that too forward of her? Marinette wondered. But she didn't have much time to ponder, because her phone rang as Adrien's name flashed on the screen. He had called her.

“H-hey,” said Marinette.

“Your voice sounds weird. Is it this way over the phone, or are you feeling really sick?” queried Adrien.

“I don't know. I think it because I'm not fully awake yet,” Marinette laughed.

“Should I call back later? I mean, do you need to get some rest?”

“No, I'm fine. Actually, I could use some conversation right now. So, tell me, how much of a mess did I make?”

“Uh... the nurse said you had an anxiety attack.”

Anxiety attack? This was new.

“Marinette?”

“Yeah?”

“Was this the first time you had one of these attacks?”

“I think so. I mean, I am prone to anxiety, anyone who knows me can tell you that. But an attack... what did it look like?”

“Um, it was like... y-you were shaking badly, and it looked like you were having trouble breathing and... sorry, I freaked out at that time, and I don't remember much of it.”

“Oh. I don't think I've experienced anything like this before.”

“So it is that bad huh?”

“What?”

“Your boy trouble. You must have it pretty bad if it takes such a toll on you.”

Marinette fell silent. What could she reply to that?

“Hey, if you want to, then you can talk about it,” Adrien urged.

“I don't know, Adrien. We've known each other and been with each other for almost five years, and after all this time, he misunderstood me over such a trivial thing. It hurts to think that he didn't even trust me. And on top of it, it doesn't help that my best friend just told me that she had known that our relationship was starting to go bad anyway, and I had no clue.”

“Ugh, that must be rough.”

“It is. I-I just don't know what to think anymore.”

“Have you talked to him?”

“I haven't. Besides, what is there to talk about? He ended it clear and loud, didn't he? And after what Alya said, I don't think I'm up for negotiating right now.”

“You are right, of course. But you know what? That guy stated how he felt in a message, and ended it on his own terms. But don't you think you deserve your own closure? Don't you think you should make your side known to him? Whatever your relationship was with this person, you had as much right over it as did it. So you need to let him know where you stand, if you want to end it on a clear note.”

Adrien had a point. A very good point, in fact.

“Thanks, Adrien. I guess I needed someone to tell me that.”

“It’s alright. What are friends for?”

“Well, talk to you later?”

“Yeah, later.”

Marinette is such an awesome person, Adrien thought. Even when she was obviously hurting so much, and wasn't in a proper state of mind, she still managed to be kind and sweet. Why would anyone ever want to hurt her?

On the other side of the call, Marinette thought about what Adrien had said. If Nathaniel's actions were upsetting enough for her to have an anxiety attack, then maybe she needed to get everything off her chest. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself, and picked up the phone again. This time, she was determined when she scrolled through to Nathaniel’s name on her contacts. She waited with anticipation, as the chime ringed over and over, till it reached voicemail. She took a deep breath. Maybe her determination would fade away if she waited too long; it was now or never. So she recorded a voice message for Nathaniel.

“I get that I was a bit too rude last night. And you’re right in a way, this isn’t just about yesterday. But it’s not how you made it out to be. Surely, you have noticed me growing distant over the past few weeks. It was because life is weighing down on me, and I need space to breathe, to feel. If that feels so difficult for you, then I guess this is it. Yes, it pains me so much to see the thing, which I was trying so hard to hold together, crumble down in front of me. All because you insist on being selfish, because you refuse to even try to understand. Well, for so long, all I have thought about is you; now, I choose myself. Goodbye it is.”

After sending the message, she hesitated for a moment. But then she thought, there wasn’t anything left, was there? So she blocked Nathaniel's number. And she blocked him on every media they were connected on. She did not want to hear from him anymore.

Adrien was right. She needed this. And she felt better after this.

When Marinette woke up the next morning, her phone was flooded with messages and notifications. It took her a moment to realise that it was the aftermath of the “End of Relationship" status on Facebook that had automatically propped up after she had blocked Nathaniel. She found it funny, that all these people didn’t even know that it wasn't technically a “break-up". But she was not going to tell them, that was Nathaniel's decision to make. No matter what he had done to her, she had no right to out him like that without warning. So the only option left was to go with the flow. So she pretended that she had actually broken off from a “relationship". The drama went on for more than a month, and maybe through all that time, some part of herself began to believe in the lies that she wove. That she had had a real relationship with Nathaniel, and none of the coming out stuff had happened.

But one can only be in denial for so long.

When one day, Alya said wistfully, “I really want to know what true love feels like,” Marinette responded with “Me too.”

Alya straightened up. “Girl, I mean no offence, but at least you once had your love, Mari. Not like the rest of us.”

That hit a raw chord. Marinette tried to keep her temper in check.

“Al, there are things you don't understand,” she had said in a coarse whisper.

She immediately wished she hadn't made such a statement, because her best friend was not one to let it be.

“What do you mean?” Alya questioned.

For a moment, Marinette wondered if it would really be that bad to tell Alya. She had changed a lot since her days of youth. Alya was now a sensible woman, and she knew what things should be kept secret. Maybe she’ll not tell anyone about this . And Marinette knew for a fact, from how Alya had reacted to Rose and Juleka's relationship, that she was very supportive of anything non-heterosexual. But the voice in her head told her that she'd be breaking Nathaniel's trust that way.

So she replied , “Nothing.”

But Alya was not one to give up so easily. “Oh, c'mon girl! You can't back out like this!”

The familiar feeling of conflict was taking over Marinette's heart.

Her voice shook, as she whispered, “Please Alya, let it be. This is not my secret to share.”

When the tears clouding her vision threatened to roll down, she hung her head to hide her face.

After a few moments of silence, she felt her best friend's warm touch on her shoulder. “Marinette, this is no longer about you proving a point, or my curiosity getting the best of me. This is about you. Whatever it is, it's clearly upsetting you. Talk to me, Mari, let me help you. Trust me.”

Those words broke the last of Marinette's abstinence. “Alya, Nathaniel was never my boyfriend. He has never been in love with me. In fact,” she hesitated, “he is gay.”

Marinette looked at her best friend and realised that she was about to go all Alya on her, yelling and asking questions. So she abruptly said, “No. Please don't say anything.”

Alya pouted, but she understood. She noticed Marinette's hands were shaking badly. Over time, she had grown used to symptoms of Marinette's oncoming anxiety attacks. She wrapped both her arms around the girl, and pulled her close. Marinette relaxed considerably at the gesture, and shifted to lay down with her head in Alya’s lap. As Alya patted her head and rubbed soothing circles on her back, she heard Marinette let out a deep sigh.

It had been so long since Marinette had Alya to comfort her like that. She had almost forgotten how much Alya's presence calmed her. She had missed it. All this while, she had been holding everything inside her, hiding so many truths from everyone. But now, at this moment, she felt so light. She didn't have to lie to her best friend anymore, there was finally someone she could talk to.

After a while, she heard Alya whisper, “You know right, that we need to talk about this some time?”

Marinette just clung on tighter to Alya in response.

Alya smiled and said, “I'll call you when we get home.”

Marinette couldn't have been more glad. Alya understood that talking about it face-to-face might be hard on Marinette, and that was probably why she suggested a phone call.

You really are the best Alya, thought Marinette.

“Do you know what he was making you give up on Marinette?” said Alya into the phone, a couple of hours later.

Of all the things in the world, this wasn't how Marinette had expected Alya to begin the conversation.

“Alya, it wasn't him. He didn't force me into any of this. It was my own call.”

“Really? Wow.”

“Yes, really. After he told me about his sexuality, he gave me a choice to stay or leave.”

“I see.”

Something about the tone of Alya's voice or her manner of speaking felt very unsettling to Marinette.

“You don't sound entirely convinced.”

She heard Alya sigh on the other side. “Run by me what else he had said when you guys had, you know, ‘the talk’.”

Although it had been more than two years, Marinette clearly remembered everything of that conversation. And she remembered how passionately he had talked about Marc.

“Uh, he mostly talked about, um... the person he's actually in love with.”

“Marc, right?”

Marinette stopped in her tracks.

“ Wha -how did you know?”

“It wasn't difficult to figure that out once I knew the main facts. I mean, I'd be lying if I said I never had my suspicions.”

“Woah. I don't know what to say or think right now.”

“You don't have to. Okay, back to our discussion. Tell me whatever he had said about you and your relationship.”

Marinette recounted the entire conversation to Alya. Her best friend already knew, or suspected, most of it. There wasn’t really any point hiding anything from her right now. And if Alya was serious, this could even help her figure some things out. So she gave in. No matter how much it pained her to go over that conversation, she did it.

When she was done, there was a long pause at the other end of the call. For a moment, Marinette thought that maybe she had convinced her best friend out of her ridiculous claims. But Alya’s next words made her realise how wrong she was to think that.

“Girl, that is so messed up!”

No.

What dirt could Alya possibly gather from that conversation? It was pure and true, almost sacred. It was the first time that Nathaniel had been completely honest with her, so why was Alya saying all those things?

Marinette saw that her legs were beginning to shake uncontrollably. Shit. As she began to feel the signs of the now-familiar pounding in her head, she understood that an anxiety attack was on its way. She forced herself to take a few deep breaths, and count up to 10. Fortunately, Alya didn't interrupt her while she was having her mini-breakdown. But she had to will some control into herself; the conversation wasn't over yet and there were a lot of questions whose answers she needed.

“Alya, I'm literally on the verge of an anxiety attack right now. Please tell me what's going on in your mind.”

“Okay, so Nathaniel clearly knew that he was your weakness. Your love for him was your Achilles’ heel. So the fact that he warped his entire fucking speech in such a way would certainly tug at the most sensitive chords of your heart. He made you think that you made your own decision, while in reality, he didn’t give you much of a choice.”

Marinette did not want to believe what Alya was saying. Nathaniel would not be that cruel, would he? Would he really use his pain and Marinette's sympathy such?

“Alya, I think you're being way too harsh.”

“Yeah, maybe I am a bit biased. I never was a fan of that guy and how he treated you.”

Just as Marinette was about to sigh in relief though, Alya spoke up again.

“But that does not make what I am saying false. He may not have done it intentionally, but that is what happened. I am a journalist Marinette, I know the significance of truth and facts.”

“But Alya, why?”

At this point, Marinette was just trying to blindly snatch at straws like a drowning person. Any reasoning, however absurd, would be enough for her as long as it put some positive light on the person she had loved.

“Nathaniel loved me, Alya. I know he did. He cared for me.”

“Look here Marinette,” Alya went on in a softer tone. “I have no say in that. Maybe he loved you, maybe he didn't; you're the one who’d know that. But you need to understand this, love isn't always a pure and sacred emotion for everyone. And I don't know how to put this in better words girl, but you are a great catch. Anyone would be lucky to have you. And you chose Nathaniel. You adored him. It was bound to get to his head sometime, and I guess that's what happened. He became selfish. Think about it, a boy who is ostracized by the entire class, and you decide to give him attention. You gave him respect, something probably no one had ever given him in a long time. You made him feel good about himself. Of course, he wanted to keep feeling that way, and that's why he wanted to keep you to himself. And once he realised that, I guess that's when his love turned dark.”

Marinette couldn't reply, her voice was choked. She did not know what to think anymore.

“I am sorry, Marinette,” came Alya's voice.

After a few more minutes of silence, in which Alya patiently waited for Marinette to get herself together, Marinette finally spoke up.

“Does that mean every person I get close with will end up manipulating me?”

“No Marinette! Please don't think like that! Just because it did not work out with one person, doesn't mean it won’t with anyone else.”

“How do I know? I gave my everything to Nathaniel, and yet it went all wrong!”

Alya paused for a moment. “Maybe that's where you were wrong. Don't give your all to someone unless they are ready to do the same for you.”

#miraculous ladybug #ml fanfic #my fic #the road to us and everything in between #chapter 3 #no magic au #alternate universe - no powers #marinette dupain cheng #nathaniel kurtzberg #alya cesaire #adrien agreste #sabine cheng #adrienette #slow burn

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seasonofthegeek · 5 years ago

Text

The Perfect Partnership

This drabble was requested on ko-fi by @staylostinstereo for the fanfic trope mash-ups with the prompts “marriage of convenience” and “pregnancy” for Adrien and Marinette. I couldn’t quite work in pregnancy (at this point in the story anyway) but I did mention babies, haha. I decided to go with a non-Miraculous AU where they’ve been best friends for years. Thanks for you donation!

___

“It’s not the craziest thing I’ve proposed.” Adrien wiggled his eyebrows. “Did you get that? Proposed.”

Marinette blinked at her best friend. “Wait, are you actually serious about this?”

“Of course I am! I can’t get my trust fund until I’m married and you need capital to start your business. It’s the perfect partnership.”

“It’s marriage.”

“Well, yeah.” He frowned. “Are you saying you don’t want to marry me?”

She threw her hands in the air with an agitated huff. “I’m saying this is nuts! We can’t just get married so you can get your trust fund!”

“Why not?”

“Why not?” she echoed. “Because...because that’s just not what people do. We’re not even dating.”

“It’s what we could do. And everyone already thinks we’re together anyway.”

Marinette shifted away from him uncomfortably. “That still doesn’t make it right.” She’d been in love with her best friend off and on for a decade or so and marrying him seemed like a very bad idea...or a very good one. Either way, it most definitely wasn’t a smart idea.

“We can divorce in like a year or something. Nothing will change anyway. We already spend most nights together.”

“Not together together.”

Adrien sighed. “Fine, we already spend most nights in the same apartment. Better?”

“I guess.”

“And it isn’t like I’m going to make you share my bed just because you’ll be my wife, although you know you’re welcome to.” Another man may have taken that opportunity to give her a leering look but there was only earnest hopefulness in Adrien’s eyes.

It was true they’d slept in the same bed some nights. Adrien wasn’t partial to storms and Marinette didn’t like sleeping alone when it got too cold so they fell into bed together from time to time. And Marinette often woke up pining and regretful. She couldn’t do that on a daily basis.

“Adrien, I really don’t think it’s a good idea.”

He stuck out his bottom lip. “But you’re the only person in the world who would marry me.”

“You and I both know that isn’t true. You’ve got women, men, and everyone in between lining up everytime you walk outside.”

“You’re the only person in the world I want to marry,” he amended. “Come on, please. We’ll have enough money to do whatever we want.”

“It’ll be your money.”

“As my wife, it’ll be yours too,” he grinned. “I want to spend it on you. You’re the most important person in my life.” He took her hands in his. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, please do me the honor of marrying me so we can get our hands on my awful father’s money and do really fun stuff with it.”

“I can’t,” she whispered.

“You can! It doesn’t even have to be anything big. We can do a really quiet ceremony and tell Alya and NIno the truth. Or we can throw a big party if we want. We can do anything.”

She could feel her resolve wearing down. “I need to think about it.”

He nodded enthusiastically. “That’s fine. Do that. Think about how much easier it will be to start your business with no debt.”

“You’re killing me here.”

Adrien flashed her a killer smile. “I’d never do that to my future wife.”

___

“Wow.” Alya watched Marinette turn on her heels and pace back across her small living room. “Like wow, wow. I knew he was in love with you but this is just beyond.”

Marinette spun sharply and glared at her. “Adrien is not in love with me. I can’t have this conversation with you again.”

“Okay, don’t shoot the messenger but that man has been in love with you since we were all sporting acne.” Alya shook her head. “I know you never want to believe me, but he definitely is.”

“And I’m saying he’s definitely not. Adrien and I are friends, we’ve always been friends.”

“And now he wants to marry you. That’s how I am with all my friends too.”

Marinette groaned and sank down to the couch, dragging her palms down her face. “What am I gonna do?”

“What do you want to do?”

She blew out a puff of air. “I want to marry him and have his kids and grow old with him and the worst thing he could’ve ever done is ask me to have a fake marriage with him and I’m so angry at him right now.” She felt the prick of tears and gritted her teeth, willing them to go away. “He’s just a big, stupid jerk except he didn’t even mean to be which makes it worse.”

“Oh, Mari,” Alya sighed softly. She moved down the couch and pulled her friend into a hug. “I think you just need to talk to him. Maybe he feels the same way you do.”

“And if he doesn’t, it would make everything really weird,” she muttered, burying her face in Alya’s soft hair. “I can’t, Al. I just can’t.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.”

___

“So this marriage thing, what if you end up meeting somebody?” Marinette had been rehearsing the question in her head throughout half the movie and she saw Adrien hesitate beside her, his fork dropping back down into his box of Chinese delivery.

“I won’t,” he replied carefully.

“You could.”

“But I won’t,” he repeated, voice firmer this time. “And if you do...well...we can figure it out.”

“We can figure it out? Like you’ll be my husband and I can just date someone else because the whole thing is fake?”

Adrien’s expression became pained and he kept his eyes in the direction of the television. “If that’s what you want.”

“What do you want?”

“To get married so we can have lots of money and fun together.”

“Because we’re best friends,” she pressed.

“Of course.”

“Right.”

An uncomfortable silence slid between them and they finished the rest of the movie without any further conversation on the topic.

___

She’d talked to Alya.

She’d talked to her mom and then her dad, though she’d left out a lot of the finer details.

She’d talked to herself a lot.

She’d talked to Adrien in her head. Hundreds of conversations and they all ended up the same way.

She couldn’t marry him. Not like this. Not when he thought it was something it wasn’t. Not when he didn’t know how she felt about him.

But she also wasn’t ready to tell him how she felt. She doubted she would ever be ready.

She had to tell him no.

He’d find someone else to marry so he could get his trust fund and she would keep saving up to start her business just like she’d planned and they’d still be best friends. They’d both be fine.

Marinette gathered her courage and walked up the familiar steps to Adrien’s apartment. She used the code she knew by heart to get into the building and fished her personal key out of her purse as she rode the elevator up. She gave the quick cursory knock on the door before she slid her key into the lock and pushed it open.

Adrien shuffled into view, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and a miserable expression on his face. “I’m sick,” he whined pitifully. His cheeks were dark and his eyes were too bright and Marinette knew even before she made it to him that his skin would be hot to the touch.

“Go lay down. Have you eaten anything yet?”

“Not hungry.”

“Big baby. Go lay on the couch and I’ll make you something.” She watched him until he made it to the couch and then went to busy herself in the kitchen. The open layout let her keep an eye on him as she worked. “Have you taken any medicine?”

“Don’t have any,” he sniffled.

“I brought some over last time you got sick.”

“I used it all.”

“You’re supposed to replace it, you goof. What would you do without me?”

He turned on the couch so he could watch her with half-lidded eyes. “I don’t ever want to know.”

His hair was a mess and he’d rarely looked worse but Marinette couldn’t help but feel fond warmth flow through her entire being. She loved him so much, even when he was a sad lump of a man.

“Are you going to marry me, Mari?” His eyes were sliding shut, the words slurring out from between sleepy lips.

She could’ve said nothing. She could’ve kept her promise to herself and told him no. She could’ve pretended she didn’t hear him.

But instead she whispered, “Yes.”

Buy me a cherry coke?

#adrinette #adrien agreste #marinette dupain-cheng #miraculous ladybug #did i play myself writing this?#you better believe it #i want to write more #but i have to finish up other stuff first #you know #unless someone sends kofi for more #and then like i'd HAVE to move it up this list #alksdjf;lksadjf

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zambie-trashart · 4 years ago

Text

Land of the Free and Home of the Wayne 12

masterlist

ao3 whole story

“Alright who are you two?” the blonde asked trying to speed up the process.

“Uh, you don’t know,” Ladybug asked hoping that she could still get out of this.

“If she did, she wouldn’t be asking you,” the boy groaned and something about him was familiar to the two Parisians.

“Shut up and let me do this, dear Rao you’re so stupid,” the girl groaned. “Now who are you?” she asked eyes glowing red.

“We’re fans and trying to become heroes like you guys,” Chat said with cool confidence.

The blonde girl laughed a little and the boy just smiled. “Then you my friend are going to need a new costume cause there’s already a crazy cat lady who like to kidnap my nephew for tea and you little lady are going to need to tone that down a little cause it’s kind of obnoxious,” she said pointing at the costumes making both of them blush.

“Don’t mind her, this is Supergirl and I’m Flamebird cause Nightwing was already taken, that down there is our foster father, uncle, cousin and our little brother nephew. Our family is complicated but if you want to learn how to fight, now’s your chance,” the boy said smirking and the two ran off the roof and the Supers started calling things out to each other taking down Doomsday in a matter of seconds. The two from before, Superboy, and Robin came up to the roof.

“Didn’t feel like helping?” Supergirl asked dusting off her skirt.

“You guys are such a well-oiled machine, we didn’t want to get in the middle of that,” Ladybug said nervously.

“Really cause the fight at Wayne Tower you caught Superboy when he fell out of the sky after a bomb exploded,” Robin pointed out.

“Did that hurt?” Supergirl asked, looking him over.

“Kind of,” Superboy said back, making Supergirl squeeze him.

“Next time you should really just go for it instead of hanging in the background, it’s a lot more fun that way,” Flamebird winked, flying off with Supergirl and Superboy to meet up with Superman.

Robin stared down Ladybug and Chat, not letting them go just yet. “Why are you here?” he asked and Chat gulped.

“We’re here because Paris is quiet and we wanted a little adventure so we snuck on the plane that was coming with the students on it,” Ladybug said and Chat took a sharp breath in and Robin nodded.

“Good to know, so you wouldn’t happen to know Lila Rossi, I hear she talks about me a lot, perhaps if she’s no longer dating that Damian guys we would be a good couple,” Robin tested.

“Lila Rossi is a liar and has hurt more people than you can imagine, she makes our lives miserable and she can’t be trusted,” Ladybug blurted out and Robin just smirked.

“So you got on a plane looking like that to keep an eye on her I suppose?” Robin asked knowing that they got on that plane in normal clothes sitting there as Adrien Agreste and Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

“Y-yes,” Ladybug knew that she was losing and a door went flying open and Jon was standing there with his father, brother, and aunt behind him all of them wearing glasses and dressed adorably casual. Jon adjusted his sweater and Kara did as well fixing the top of their button-ups. Clark adjusted his tie back to the center of his shirt and Conner looked down to make sure that his fly was actually up because last time it was embarrassing.

“What are you doing up here?” Clark asked, pulling his kids back in a false sense of security. Clark saw the way the cat boy looked over his son (not Connor that would be weird but Jon) and heard his heart rate go up.

“Clark, let the kids mingle. Be off the roof in five minutes otherwise, Perry will be up here and you don’t want to deal with Perry again do you Robin?” Kara asked and Robin swan dived off the building. The Parisians followed and were soon back in the building in normal clothes as a family of five stood in front of them adjusting their clothes every few seconds like it was a tic that they had and their clothes didn’t fit right.

“Hello everyone, my name is Clark Kent, these are my kids Connor and Jon. Connor is an intern here and my cousin Kara writes here for the paper,” Clark started showing the students around and noticed the same heartbeat in the back and green knowing eyes staring at Jon. The tour went by faster than a normal tour would but the kids had to be back by four to help Alfred.

Clark smiled as the students walked out telling them that he would see them soon and at the gala too. Clark grabbed the shoulder of the blonde boy holding him in front of him.

“I see the way you look at Jon and who wouldn’t look at him like that, but he’s too young for you. You’re like seventeen and he’s only fourteen, it’s not a healthy relationship. I will however make an exception for you because you seem to have a heart of gold but I will rip that heart out and eat it for dinner with Kara and Conner on my side if you ever hurt him.” Clark let Adrien go back to the car and he sat down next to Jon eyes wide. Bruce stood back with Clark whispering something to him that made his eyes flicker red. Bruce got back in the car and Aflred started driving.

“What did you say to my dad?” Jon asked leaning on Adrien again as the blonde pet his hair.

“Just something about Lila is all, he’ll have a talk with her next time and maybe he’ll threaten to eat her heart too.”

“If she has one,” Chloe said and she got a few laughs. It really was bad though how she was never going to be exposed. Jon fell asleep with his head on Adrien’s lap and low chatter stirred through the car as Marinette went out too head resting on Damian’s shoulder making the boy blush slightly. They got out of the car and ate dinner going up to their rooms for the night.

Jon and Adrien laid down staring at the ceiling and Damian laid in the room next door awake thinking about how everyone seemed to be in a relationship except for him. Jon and Adrien had each other and Jon even lost the bet cause he wanted to be with Adrien so bad, Mar’i had Kagami who was nice to her and called her sweet names, who did Damian have though? Damian felt like he was going to be left out on the little Parisian couple list. He liked Marinette but how was he supposed to tell her that without sounding like a complete wuss?

Damian stood up and paced around his room until eventually there was a knock on his door and when he opened it, Jon was standing there glaring at him.

“What’s up with the pacing?” Jon asked, inviting himself in.

“Won’t your human pillow be missing you?” Damian asked, nodding to the room next door.

“I don’t think he’ll notice, what’s wrong cause I’d actually like to sleep tonight cause Diana is going to be here tomorrow and I have to think of a good compliment so she’ll let me train on an island of woman,” Jon said dreamily.

“Yeah, she’s not doing that,” Damian said, sitting uncomfortably straight on his chair. “How did you ask Adrien out?” Damian asked and Jon laughed head hitting Damian’s pillow.

“I didn’t, we just kissed and then things happened,” Jon said, blue eyes staring up at Damian giving him slight goosebumps. Jon had a way with making people like him no matter how much the person didn’t want to admit it. “Why? Are you going to ask out Marinette finally?” Jon asked all of a sudden in front of Damian feet in the air and chin in his hands laying on his bed.

“Maybe, it’s none of your business,” Damian said all of a sudden flustered.

“Come on Damiboo, I’m your best friend, aren’t you supposed to tell me everything?” Jon asked, fluttering his eyelashes.

“Go back to sleep farmboy,” Damian said pushing his friend out of his room.

“Love you Dami!” Jon yelled through the door.

When Damian woke up in the morning, he heard screaming and slipped on his slippers running down the stairs two at a time to see Troy, Gordon, Cain, and Brown all squealing at each other. Bruce walked by with a mug of coffee talking to Diana.

“Damian! You’ve gotten so much older!” Donna ran over picking up the boy with her Amazonian strength.

Jon walked down the stairs rubbing his eyes tripping down the last step. “What the goose guys it’s like five in the… Diana!” Jon ran over to the princess and jumped on her as she swung him around.

“How is my favorite warrior of man?” Diana asked, setting him down.

“Pretty good, settled down, got myself a man,” Jon said and Diana raised an eyebrow at him while the batgirls surrounded him demanding to meet this boy.

“I really hope they didn’t cause you any trouble Diana,” Bruce said referring to his kids and Barbara.

“Not at all, we just trained and that’s all, no missions or anything like that. I already finished your suit so there should be no problems there, it’s the students that I might need help with,” Diana said and Jon nudged Damian giving him the look.

“They have a designer in their class, perhaps she could help?” Damian asked and Diana looked up, thoughtful for a minute before nodding.

“That would be nice,” Diana said smiling and going to pinch the boy’s cheeks but he turned away dragging Jon with him.

“Did he just say something nice?” Steph asked and the other girls just shrugged before walking up to their rooms.

Damian sat on his bed, Jon next to him. “Are you sure you’re not sick or something?” Jon asked, going to feel his forehead with the back of his hand before it got slapped away by his friend.

“I’m not sick Jon, I just have these weird things in my stomach that make me feel like I’m floating whenever I talk about her.” Damian looked down and Jon just stared at Damian for a second before bursting out in laughter.

“Are you serious? You have no idea what having a crush feels like?” Jon asked, wiping a tear from his eye.

“No, how do I do this?” Damian asked, looking his best friend in the eyes.

“Pretend I’m her and just talk to me,” Jon said sitting up straight and fluttering his eyelashes making Damian smile a little.

“This is so dumb,” Damian said and Jon just gave him a look that said do you really want to argue with the person who has more experience with a romantic relationship even if it has been just a day? “Marinette, how is your morning?” Damian asked feeling so stupid.

“Just fantastic, how’s yours, Damian?” Jon asked, pitching his voice.

“Fine,” Damian said, going silent.

“Is there something you needed?” Jon asked, voice still high.

“I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go out sometime?” Damian asked hoping that Jon wouldn’t laugh at him.

“Like a date?” Jon asked, still batting his eyelashes.

“Yeah,” Damian said and Jon just smiled.

“Sure,” Jon said, sitting up suddenly and walking over to the door and saw Adrien stomping away angrily. “That’s not going to go well.” Jon ran after Adrien and Damian just face planted on his bed. He was right, that really was stupid.

............................

It was just a misunderstanding Adrien and hopefully you realize that sooner rather than later.

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