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maybehesclawstrophobic · 5 years

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Red Ribbons

Summary: Marinette decides to wear Ladybug’s hairstyle for a day, Adrien can’t deal, and they both get too flustered to think properly.

AO3

There are few things more frustrating to a promising young designer than putting together the perfect outfit and then struggling to find a matching hairstyle. Unfortunately, this was exactly the predicament Marinette found herself in, all dolled up in a summery red dress, yet failing to come up with any deviation from her signature pigtails. Pacing across her room, the designer sighed in defeat.

It wasn’t her fault that pigtails were the superior hairstyle. After all, they were practical, cute, and fun to move around with. What else could a girl ask for?

Today, however, Marinette had wanted to do something special. Her class was visiting a festival in the park across from her school. There would be carnival games, food trucks, and a dance floor all set up for the public’s enjoyment.

All she wanted was to dress up nice and have a good time with her friends. It wasn’t as if she had spent over two months sewing up a new dress with this festival in mind. And it definitely wasn’t as if she had made that dress while thinking about a certain Adrien Agreste who would also be attending the festival.

“Marinette! If you don’t stop pacing, you’re going to wear a hole right through the carpet!” Tikki chimed in.

“I know, I know,” Marinette responded, “it’s just that I don’t know what to do with my hair. On one hand, I want to do something new for the festival, but on the other hand, you know how fond I am of pigtails.”

“What if you did both? You’ve always looked great in your Ladybug hairstyle, and public support of you and Chat Noir has made that look pretty popular. You could still wear it without risking your identity!” Tikki offered with a smile.

Marinette considered her options. She was running out of time to get ready, and tying red ribbons around two low ponytails would be quick and easy. It was also sure to match her outfit and flatter her style.

“Tikki, you’re a genius!” She decided, and tied up her hair with some leftover red fabric as she headed out the door.

To say Adrien was looking forward to the festival would be a gross understatement. He was absolutely thrilled. It wasn’t very often that he got to leave the house and go to fun events such as festivals, but the fact that this was technically a school trip had provided the perfect opportunity for him to let loose while staying within the bounds of parental permission.

He showed up a little later than the rest of his class, a situation highlighted by the Gorilla’s silent moping about Parisian traffic. Adrien left the car bustling with energy and excited to meet up with Nino, Alya, and Marinette, who were already there.

As he approached the booth they had agreed to meet up at, however, he was greeted by a sight that forced him to do a double take to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

About five feet away from him was the distinct outline of Ladybug.

Her dark hair was still tied up in its signature red ribbons, but her suit had been replaced by a stunning red dress that seemed to move with the rays of the sun.

What was Ladybug doing at the festival?? And why wasn’t she in her suit?

As Adrien pondered that second question, he came to the startling realization that Ladybug was in fact detransformed and close enough that he could walk forward and touch her. This was exactly what he started to do. Almost out of their own volition, Adrien’s legs started moving the rest of his body closer and closer to his Lady in red. In a trance, he found himself drawn to her, despite the fact that he had no idea what he would say or do once he approached her.

“Dude! There you are! We were starting to worry about whether you’d be able to make it.” The voice of Nino rang out, interrupting Adrien’s thought spiral. As he took stock of his surroundings, he noticed that Alya and Nino were both right next to Ladybug, who was turning around . . .

“Marinette?!” Adrien exclaimed, breathless and confused.

Where Ladybug had stood less than two seconds ago, Marinette now stood, blushing and looking right at him.

“No! . . . I mean, yes! That I am-who am-I am her! Marinette Agr- I mean, Marinette Dupain-Bang! Wait, no, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She is me. I am her!” The girl stammered as the red on her cheeks grew to match her outfit.

A gust of wind blew through the park, and Marinette’s dress flowed around her knees. Adrien couldn’t help but notice how well the soft red color complemented his friend. But then his eyes moved from her clothing up to her eyes, and he forgot all previous train of thought.

Her eyes were a startling blue, the type of blue Adrien often found himself lost in when casting longing looks at Ladybug.

Wait, Ladybug! There was something about Ladybug. Something important Adrien had just been thinking about. Something about her, and the festival, and Marinette, and . . .

“Woah there Agreste, are you good? Normally I’d be all for you checking out my girl here,” Alya teased with a wink, “but you’re looking pretty pale.”

Slowly blinking, Adrien took that moment to snap back into reality. Throwing on his best smile and putting his though spiral on hold, he responded, “I’m fine, Alya, really, don’t worry about it.”

Marinette, agreeing with Alya, asked him again, “I agree, you are very pretty-er, pretty pale that is! Are you sure you’re o-bae? I mean, okay?”

He tried to answer her, he really did, but the nagging feeling returned, and Adrien again found himself surrounded by fuzzy thoughts of Ladybug, and Ladybug’s eyes, and Marinette’s eyes, and the soft shade of red tinting Marinette’s flustered face, and the matching red ribbons that were tickling the back of Marinette’s neck.

Those ribbons! They were the same ones that Ladybug was wearing a few moments ago before she has disappeared and left Marinette in her place.

Adrien found himself remembering a similar instance where Ladybug had leapt onto a balcony, but when Chat went to talk to her, he found Marinette instead.

His thought process at the time of the incident started to intermingle with the blur his mind was currently going through.

Ladybug? Marinette? Ladybug and Marinette? Was Marinette a really good fan of Ladybug?

No, that wasn’t it, his mind persisted, although he was certain there wasn’t another explanation. What he was certain of, however, was that somehow his legs had again started to move until he was only a breath away from Marinette.

Their eyes locked, green on blue, and Adrien was struck with a new feeling, a premonition of danger. As he looked into Marinette’s eyes, he found himself hypnotized in their sky blue tones, desperately trying to remember the last part of their conversation before he did something stupid, before he did something weird, something like . . .

”Are you a cat? Because I want to cradle you.”

Marinette blinked, then paused, then blinked again. Wait, what? Are you a cat . . . Why did that sound so familiar?

Are you a cat? Because M’Lady, I sure do want to cradle you!

The memory bombarded Marinette before she was fully aware of what was going on. Chat Noir had used the exact same pick up line on her just two nights ago after defeating the day’s akuma.

The fact that Adrien was now using the same line could only lead to one conclusion.

Chat Noir . . . and Adrien . . . the two of them . . . both had to be using the same pick up line book!

And not only that, but Chat had lied about where he got all his lines from, saying something about how his puns are 100% original, just like my love for you, Buggaboo.

And yet here was Adrien, reciting the same over the top theatrics that Chat Noir was so proud to tout as his own creations.

A giggle escaped Marinette’s lips, and she dissolved into a fit of laughter so quickly that she didn’t notice the way Adrien’s shoulders relaxed as his eyes continued to watch her.

The entire situation was too much for Marinette to bear. For the briefest of moments, the boy standing in front of her had switched from an untouchable image of perfection to a dorky kid with the same awful sense of humor as her partner.

Maybe that was why Marinette, emboldened by a new wave of confidence she was sure would wear off soon, leaned in to whisper in Adrien’s ear,

“I may not be a cat, but don’t worry, I can still take kitty on a stray from time to time.”

Adrien’s entire face turned as red as the ribbons in her hair, and he stood there sputtering to come up with a response.

Marinette turned on her heel and booked it away from him to another section of the festival, partly because she wanted to have an exit and partly because she was worried what her brain would do once it caught up with her mouth and realized that she really did just say that to Adrien Agreste.

Sparing one glance over her shoulder, however, the stunned look on the boy’s face was enough to convince Marinette that overall this had been a win.

She later decided that she should try wearing red ribbons in her hair more often.

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Major thank you/shout out to @etiepe for reading this over for me and @lady-charinette for helping me brainstorm. Y’all are amazing!

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