#marientte dupain chang

[kasienda]

Kisses in the Rain - Ch 1

Chapter 1 (of 3) is written for @adrinetteapril 2023 - Day 17 - Kiss in the Rain This is canon divergent from beginning of Kwami’s Choice Part One. Read on Ao3

Chapter 1: Adrinette

 “I feel like we missed out on something special.” Adrien said. “Do you think we’ll ever get another chance?”

 Marinette’s fist tightened around the earring in her hand. She wanted to respond, to take back her ugly lie that she didn’t love him, to tell him that she wanted what he wanted more than anything. But the miraculous cut painfully into her palm. She’d never get to be truthful with him. Everything would end the same way it had with Luka, only it would be worse because she’s not sure she would ever get over Adrien.

 The same way she’d never get over Chat Noir.

 She choked back a sob.

 “Good-bye, Marinette,” he said. And he slipped away, taking a piece of her heart with him.

 The second the latch clicked closed Marinette let herself fall to pieces. She wasn’t allowed to love Chat Noir and she couldn’t let herself love Adrien. Which was impossible because Chat Noir always caught her every      single     time she had lost all hope, and Adrien was so sweet and so patient she      still     could barely form words around him. She couldn’t      not    love them. And that wasn’t going to change anytime soon because how did you make yourself stop loving someone just because it was a bad idea?

 But no one could stop her from crying.

 Her throat was raw, her eyes were hot, and her gut writhed with every sobbing convulsion. And she knew she could be akumatized like this, but she couldn’t clamp down on the torrent of feelings anymore than she could stop the sun from setting.

 “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you have been an exemplary holder of the Ladybug. You’ve always used the power of creation for the greater good.”

 Marinette sat up. Tikki sounded oddly formal, and she looked like she was about to cry.

 “The task you’ve been performing has become too much of a burden, crushing you. Your mission is over.”

 Marinette blinked at Tikki, her shock temporarily overcoming her grief.

 “Wh-what?”

 “You can give up the earrings, Marinette. And then, you can finally be with Adrien.”

 Marinette blinked again.

 Could she really do that? Just hand over the earrings and let Tikki subject some other poor soul to this responsibility?

 Isn’t that what had been done to her though?

 She didn’t owe anyone anything, did she?

 She could let go of the earrings and never look back.

 She was tired of responsibility and secrets. She was completely over having to sacrifice everything she wanted for something that should never have been her fight.

 She had already slipped the second earring off when she froze.

 If she did this she might never see Chat Noir again. Even if he happened across Marinette’s balcony he wouldn’t know she was his partner.

 Hadn't she promised she would never abandon him? Just as he had shown time and again that he would never abandon her. And as much as she hated what being Ladybug had stolen from her, she couldn’t deny that she wouldn’t change anything because it had brought her Chat Noir.

 And she loved him. And whether or not they could ever be together, whether or not she was able to pursue something with Adrien, she wanted him in her life.

 She couldn’t give up Chat Noir.

 Not even for Adrien.

 She gripped the earrings in her fist.

 “No, Tikki. I can’t give up the earrings. Thank you, though, for reminding me why I still keep them.”

 Tikki darted forward and nuzzled herself into Marientte’s chest.

 “Oh, Marinette. I wish I could promise that things will get better, that they will work out.”

 Marinette stroked her soothingly. “I know, Tikki. Thank you.”

 …

 The moment his door clicked close, Adrien dropped all pretense and let himself fall face first onto his bed. He didn’t cry, but part of him wished that he could. Marinette didn’t love him anymore. He had just realized his own feelings, but they obviously weren’t new. It was just so unfair. What had he done wrong to lose her affections?

 Or was he just not enough or too much, or just overall, unloveable? His mother had left. She hadn’t thought he was worth it. His father always found him wanting. And Ladybug had never been interested despite everything they had faced and been through together.

 But Marinette was different. She had loved him once.

 He hadn’t noticed, and now? Now, it was too late.

 His fingers traced his bottom lip, trying to recreate the memory of her kiss. He wished he could have said yes to her as Chat Noir.

 But it was hopeless. He was unlucky and cursed or something.

 “Adrien Agreste,” Plagg announced, floating ominously through the air. Adrien made himself roll over so he could see Plagg hovering over him. “You have been an exemplary holder of the Black Cat. You’ve always used the power of destruction for the greater good, unlike me. Your mission is now over.”

 “But–”

 “If you do this, you won’t have to hide anything from the ones you love. You can finally be yourself.”

 Adrien shook his head. “How will that help anything? Marinette already said she doesn’t love me anymore.”

 Plagg paused, his tiny lips pressing together for a moment. “Can you just trust me? It will solve everything.”

 Adrien’s brows furrowed. “So the ring      does     make me unlucky then?”

 Plagg had denied it over and over, saying that such associations with destruction were just superstition.

 And now, Plagg looked so startled, but then his face lit up. “Yes! Exactly! Super unlucky. If you give it up everything will magically work out.”

 Adrien snorted. Well, that clearly wasn’t it. But Adrien for the life of him, couldn’t guess what Plagg’s actual angle was.

 “Is Ladybug trying to replace me and you’re just being nice about it?”

 “No! She adores you!”

 “Are you mad that I ordered off brand Camembert last week? I swear they’re the same.”

 “They absolutely are not! But no, that’s not what this is about. I’m serious. Can’t you just trust me?” Plagg asked.

 Adrien had rarely seen him so serious, and so he had to believe him. Plagg always led him towards mischief but he had never once led him astray.

 “Okay.”

 “Really?!” Plagg did a little dance in the air and Adrien laughed.

 “Yes, I always trust you.”

 “Give me the ring then.”

 He started to slip the ring from his finger. It felt strange to let go of the object he had been trained to never relinquish. Even outside of superhero duties, being Chat Noir had once been his ticket to freedom and joy. He wasn’t certain when he had started to feel like another set of expectations that he could never hope to live up to. Where having a secret identity had once seemed fun, now just felt like it was a recipe to never ever show his full self to anyone.

 What would it mean to be completely real with his friends? To never have to put his loved ones at risk just by caring about them too much?

 To never have to hold back with Marinette?

 The way he always had to with Ladybug?

 He froze.

 “Adrien?”

 Ladybug who had lost everyone she could call an ally. Ladybug who had told him that she would never leave him. If he closed his eyes he could still hear her sobbing on the other side of his bathroom door.

 “What about Ladybug?”

 “What about her?”

 “I’m all she has left.”

 “I would find her a worthy partner,” Plagg promised.

 Adrien was shaking his head. “You can’t just replace all that time we had each other’s backs, Plagg.”

 “It would be fine!” Plagg insisted.

 Adrien shook his head. “I can’t abandon her.”

 His eyes squeezed closed.

 “Not even for Marinette.”

 Brave self righteous Marinette who always seemed to have a sixth sense for when things were awry in his world, who never failed to bring a smile to his face, who always seemed to simply understand him when he barely understood anything himself.

 How lucky he would be to have her in his life as more than a friend, as a      partner     in      every     sense of the word.

 And suddenly he      was     crying. It seemed like it should be easier to let Marinette go than Ladybug who he had loved for so long.

 And yet, it wasn’t.

 He felt the loss more deeply because now it wasn’t just her saying no. It was      him     making the choice. And he could barely stand it.

 He whipped out his phone, shot her a text.

     Can we please talk?  

 Her response was immediate.

     Of course.  

 He texted back just as quickly.

     I’ll be over in ten.  

 …

 She’s waiting for him outside the bakery, unable to stay inside despite the threatening cloud cover overhead.

 He arrives before she is ready. She can’t look at him.

 “I’m not here to change your mind,” he says. “I just… I didn’t want to end things like… that.”

 She shakes her head. “I didn’t want to leave it that way either. I… I want you to know that I was lying.”

 His eyebrows come together. “About?”

 “I do love you. I have since the day we met. I initially misjudged you…” and her throat closes off, and the words won’t come together, but this time it’s different than every other failed confession. She’s not nervous or tongue tied.

 She’s breaking his and her heart at the same time.

 It’s not fair.

 “Shhh,” he soothes, taking and squeezing her hand. “It’s okay.”

 She lets herself fall into his arms for a second. She lets herself cry. No one can take away her tears. “I just… I didn’t want to tell you. I thought if you didn’t know… it’d be easier somehow? Because the truth is… even though I love you, I can’t be with you. Not right now. Maybe not ever.”

 And her throat squeezes closed, every muscle is quivering, every bone is jelly. But she knows she won’t fall. Not when he’s holding her.

 He nods. “I understand more than you know,” he whispers, kissing the top of her head. “I’m not asking for anything that you’re unable to give.”

 She looks up at him. His eyes are softer than ever. And he’s smiling at her, like she’s blown him away instead of broken his heart. He’s never been as gorgeous as he is right now looking at her with the patient kindness that made her fall in love with him the first time.

 Before she can overthink it, she rises to her toes and kisses him. For a split second he melts against her, and she lets herself pretend that this is the beginning of a new chapter between the two of them instead of a possibility stolen away by duty and friendship.

 Raindrops fall on her head, but she doesn’t care, wanting the moment to last forever.

 Until she’s the one to pull away.

 “I think you were right,” she says.

 “Hmm?” his eyes are still closed like he’s trying to memorize the moment.

 She’s trying to do the same with the expression on his face. “We missed out on something special.”

 His eyes flicker open. “Yeah, I think we did, too.”

 “I hope someday we get another chance.”

 He smiles softly, and brings her hand to his lips. “Me too, Marinette. Me too.”

 He lets go of her hand and starts to walk away.

 She wants to burst into tears all over again.

 Then he whirls back around and offers her an umbrella that she never noticed he had.

 “Stay dry,” he says.

 But what she hears is “I love you.”

 She accepts the gift with trembling hands. “Thank you.”

 But what she means is “I love you, too.”

 …  

I plan to post chapter 2 during Ladrien June, and Chapter 3 during Ladynoir July.

[pietrosbarton]

matching marichat icons!!

© josaltzmn on twitter

[gg-ladybug]

Gabriel teaching his daughter-in-law some fashion tips:

Marinette: Now what should I add to the dress? I don’t know how else I can make it popular when I release it

Adrien: Nathalie. Nathalie get in here. He’s going to do the thing

Gabriel adding dotted lines: Pockets

Marinette and Nathalie tearing up: My god

Gabriel: Deep ones

Marinette: You crazy butterfly man, this is why I still admire you

[callidora-kennedy]

Marinette : Did you eat my white powdered donuts ?

Chat *face covered in white powder* : No.

Mari : Your face is covered in-

Chat : That's cocaine.

[randommmmmmmaaa]

Angst everywhere! My favorite panels are the last two.

Do NOT REPOST or REUPLOAD :)

[symwinter]

HBIC Marinette – Chapter One

Taglist: @ladybug-182 | @our-preciousss | @woe-is-me0 |

Last – Next

“We can’t be friends if you’re acting like this.” Marinette paused as put her stuff away and looked up at Alya. Behind her was most of the class, though Chloé, Sabrina, Nathanael, and Adrien were notably absent from the crowd—though Adrien did having fencing practice and Nathanael left as soon as he could to work on the comic with Marc. “I mean, bullying Lila, I just can’t—” at that point Marinette decided to check out, she had heard this conversation point many a time. “I’ve given you so many chances and I just—” Marinette sighed softly and took a deep breath before looking at the others. “Are you even listening to me?!” Alya asked exasperated. And while no, she wasn’t, what caught her eye was Lila holding a very familiar sketchbook. Hers, that had gone missing a few days prior.

“It’s not worth it Alya. Clearly talking to her isn’t getting through,” Lila said, holding the sketchbook out. She wouldn’t. But apparently she would as Lila opened it and tore the pages apart. “Actions seem to be more appropriate.” More hands shot out to tear at the pages or maybe stop them, in that moment she didn’t care who was friend or foe. After what felt like an eternity later, Marinette picked the torn apart sketchbook apart and placed into her backpack. Thankfully it wasn’t the one she had her commissions in. What did they think this would accomplish? She took a deep breath and looked up at the class, zipping her bag shut.

“Alright then,” she watched as her former friends faces filled with hope, “I guess we’re not friends.” The class had varying levels of shock as she slipped out of the class. On the way out, she caught Chloé’s eye and watched the blonde’s face break into a grin.

As soon as Marinette left the classroom, leaving Alya sputtering, Chloé Bourgeois could stop herself from laughing. She really did need to see Adrikins and catch him up on what was coming but should couldn’t help but revel in her class’s stupidity. “What are you laughing at Chloé?” Alix hissed. The rest of the class looked at her. “Just enjoying the show. You made an enemy of the scariest girl I’ve ever known.” “Marinette? I fail to see how—” the blonde cut Alya off. “Let me catch you up to speed since you’re technically still new. Marinette is the queen of beasts, she can smell you fear. I may be a bitch but Marinette’s the apex predator,” she smirked, “or did some of you forget?” With that, Chloé slipped out of her seat, bags and Sabrina in tow. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to inform Adrikins of what’s happening. I can’t leave him to the wolves after all.” Once again, Alya was left sputtering for something to say. She understood their confusion. She too underestimated how much power Marinette Dupain-Cheng had until experiencing. Perhaps she should talk to Marinette after all. Make sure she wouldn’t be part of what’s coming.

If it wasn’t for the familiarly expensive smell of Chloé’s perfume, Adrien would’ve been uncomfortable. “Adrikins!” “Hey Chlo. Any reason you’ve decided to ambush me at practice?” “I just need to catch you up on some important class changes because trust me you’ll want to know.” “What happened?” “Lie-la and her cronies tore Marientte’s sketchbook apart after giving her some bullshit speech about befriending Lila. I wasn’t really listening and I doubt she was either.” “They... what?” “Tore her sketchbook apart.” “Are you serious?” Adrien didn’t know much about the fashion aspect of his father’s work but he did know you never touched a designer’s sketchbook. “Yep,” she replied, popping the ‘p.’ “So i thought it best inform you of the monster they just unleashed.”

Of course Adrien found it weird to think of Marinette as anything but nice but the first account evidence from Chloé and Sabrina was enough to sway him. Especially since Sabrina wasn’t friends with Chloé yet. He dropped his fencing bag into the backseat of the limo. “Hey I promised Chloé to help her with some school stuff. I already informed Nathalie so you can head back.” The gorilla gave a short nod and drove off. Chloé leaned against him. “Didn’t think you were the type to lie,” she mused. “I try not to. Now I need to get a new sketchbook for Marinette and since you already planned on stopping by I’m sure you can accompany me.” “Ugh fine Adrikins,” she retorted, “but only because you’d be hopeless without moi guiding you.” Adrien scoffed and elbowed her. She retaliated with a hip check. “Now let’s go save ourselves from Dupain-Cheng’s wrath!”

[a-marlene-s]

Commission: Actions and Consequences

Tags: (I’m going to do a reblog tomorrow with the tags.)

@miner249er commissioned me to write this fic.

If you like my work, please considering supporting me! https://ko-fi.com/a_marlene_s

Warning: SALT SALT SALT SALT. CLASS SALT! LILA SALT! ADRIEN SALT!

Oh, and there’s a bit of Lukanette in this~

----

You know what they say…

All actions have consequences.

Every choice has a consequence.

Be responsible and be…

You get the idea.

This has been on the mind of everyone in the school of Dupont for who knows how long. Oh wait, that really hit home when one Lila Rossi came to Paris and started her lies. It looks like the only ones that were clearly fooled by her lies is the Akuma Class. Including their own teacher!

Well… except for Marinette.

She is the only one that is not fooled into believing such things. Who in the right mind would believe any of that? Akuma class, that is whom. People began to pull away from them. One by one, not wanting to be connected to them. Not so much for the fact they are known as the Akuma class… it is for the lack of regard they have for Marinette.

How dare they treat Marientte in such a way! After what she has done for them! For all of them! They believe the words of that liar over a friend they have known far longer. Some have tried to reach out, but Rossi is always near or just sucks them back into her webs of lies. Whatever work they have to get their friends back to a world of reality, it is reversed back the moment they step back into that classroom filled with webs.

Many have tried and tried again to help them. To help them see the light of what has been going on, but they all refused to see the light. Many of them growing toxic to themselves that it is better to cut ties then to deal with them anymore.

Who could blame them?

They tried. Truly tried.

Did they want to lose their friends?

No. They did not. But for their own health and sanity… they cut their losses and moved on. At least, they are reassured, that the only ones in Rossi’s grasp is the Akuma class sans Marientte Dupain-Cheng. For which, they made a promise to get protect her from them. She does not deserve the mistreatment. No one does.

-.-

It started out small.

Too busy to hang out.

Leaving messages on read.

Avoiding having them around.

Cutting conversations short.

Many other things to get away.

Some others… are more up front with their dislike with Lila Rossi.

They do not bother to hide their disgust.

Some kept quiet to a degree…

Mireille gave Lila a worried smile as she started to tear up about Aurore’s mistreatment towards the latter. She simply patted Lila’s cheek, leaning close so that she could wrap her arms around Lila to give her a comforting hug… before whispering into her ear as everyone watched on. “Play along… after all… this is just a game for you. You don’t want to disappoint your audience.”

It wasn’t much of an issue to play along with Lila’s games when she tried to bring in the Akuma Class as backup. Long as you show sympathy, play along with Lila’s games against her… you should be good. Lila will never break in character in front of them. Long as you don’t call her out in front of them and act just as deluded to make her mess up, it’s all good.

Then there are the times one has to be more up front…

“Achoo! Ugh, sorry, allergies you see.” Aurore sneered out as she ‘accidentally’ stabbed her umbrella into Lila’s hair when she sneezed. “I’m allergic to bullshit.”

Lila’s jaw dropped as she tried to pull her hair but only wincing as her hair really got caught in the umbrella. She looked around, hoping to catch someone’s attention. But… no one is paying any mind. If anything, one of them even went as far to offer Aurore an allergy pill. “Why are you doing this? I never did anything to anyone!”

“Oh, shut up. We all know you’ve been mistreating Marinette since day one.” Aurore teased, there was a glint in her eyes as she easily untangled her umbrella out of Lila’s hair. “All of us were willing to stand back because Marinette asked us to. Then you got her expelled… Let’s make some truths…”

-.-

Slowly but surely, things began to change for Bustier’s Class. Or better known as, the Akuma Class began to see a change. Then again, things have been happening and have been so caught up in Lila’s lies to even take note of any of it at first.

Many have already put a distance between them and themselves.

It’s silly really. None of them really had taken note of the fact here is now a wall between them. Slowly growing as time goes by. It really came ahead when news spread around on Marinette’s expulsion and her return back to school without much of a say on what happened.

Except for the fact Lila claims Marinette had stolen an answer sheet, her necklace and pushed said girl down a staircase.

Why no one bothered to look deeper into those lies, is beyond anyone at this point. What really got to the rest of the school is how the Akuma Class, Bustier and Damocles’ are so far up Lila’s ass that they wonder if they could even see the sun at this point. It was at that point, the gloves were off and no more.

It was time to bring out the big guns when word got out that Lila supposedly has a lying disorder… only to Bustier and Damocles. Only them, no one else. Thus, only causing more tension for Marinette with the rest of her classmates as they still believe the original lies. All of them giving her a side eye, wondering what she should do next.

Marinette doing something against Lila?

Hah.

It’s going to be the entirety of Dupont against Lila now.

Dupont vs the Akuma Class, sans Marinette. They love their sleep deprived cinnamon roll that could possibly kill them once she finds out what they are up to.

It would be so worth it though…

-.-

“I’m sorry Rose, I’m going to be busy that weekend. Busy, busy at the studio!”  Mireille smiled sweetly at Rose, Juleka, Mylene, Alya and Lila. “Nadja is prepping me to do live interviews over the weekend. I’ve been told I might interview a rock star! Isn’t that great!”

“Wow! That’s amazing, Mireille!” Rosa said in awe. The others following along, amazed by the news.  They were gushing over the fact Mireille is possibly going to interview a pop star soon. Going on and on… Mireille simply smile, keeping her arms behind her back and her knuckles turning white as she kept a tight grip on the back of her blouse. She kept an eye on Lila, her smile only growing as Lila tried to steer the conversation back to herself.

Mireille did not care; this would be the perfect opportunity for her to walk away.

Expect when she saw Marinette walk down the hallway with Aurore.

“Hey Marinette, did you hear? Lila knows who Mireille is going to interview.” Alya mentioned, grinning at Lila’s direction. “

Marinette paused, nose scrunching up. She looked over at Mireille to see her eyes narrowing at the direction of Lila. Clearly, this is one of the many lies Lila has up her sleeves. Aurore smiled at Lila, almost warningly. “Yeah, she told us last week.”

Marinette looked around her classmates to smile at Mireille. “Nadja finally got in contact with them?”

“Thanks to you, Marinette. Nadja got in contact with all of them.” Mireille smiled widely at Marientte and Aurore. “We can’t thank you enough for that favor! Come on! I know the perfect tea shop!”

Mireille walked over to Marinette and looped an arm around one of Marinette’s own. Her smile only grew as Aurore looped her own arm around Marinette’s free arm. The two girls quickly pulled Marinette away from Lila’s sights all the while talking about the interview and the tea shop.

“Did… did they just ditch us?” Alya pulled a face as she watched Aurore, Marinette and Mireille walk away. Mireille had earlier mentioned she was going to be busy after classes which is why they asked her if she was going to be free this weekend. Apparently, she’s supposedly busy with other things than to thang out with them. Why?

“Hey, girls… is everything alright, Alya?”

Alya and the rest of the girls turned around to see Nino and Adrien walking up to them. Her smile grew when she saw Lila warp an arm around Adrien’s own. What she didn’t see is how stiff his smile became but continued on.

Adrien looked ahead to see Marinette with a Mireille and Aurore. The three chatting away without a care in the world. His brows furrowed at the sight. As of late, this has been becoming the norm…

-.-

“Mom said we could hire a DJ for the event, but…”

“Davis already have the day filled?”

“Yeah. Along with Diego, Mei and Lola.”

“What about Nino? He DJ’s, too right?”

“Hah! Dad, don’t joke! Like I want him to DJ the party! Marinette is going to be there and if I have him there, he’s going to wonder why no one else in his class was invited. I am not going to invite a bunch of people that have been mistreating my friend.” Claude grimaced at the thought. He was not going to have Nino DJ his party. If things were different, things would have been different. It is his party. His. He is not going to run the risk of Lila Rossi and her flying monkeys coming to his party and making it all about her.

Yeah… that is not happening.

Lila will find a way turn the party so that it’s geared towards her. She did that at Izzy’s 15 birthday bash and it took Izzy weeks to console her after she regretfully invited Rose, who in turn invited Lila after she overheard the blonde telling Juleka about it. Rose never asked or apologized to Izzy about inviting Lila, who in turn invited her flying monkeys.

Yeah… Claude was not going to let that happen. To make sure that does not happen no one from the Akuma Class, except for Marinette, is invited to his party.

“That’s a bit harsh. I’m sure there’s more to the story. You and Nino were good friends for some time now.” Claude’s father said, worry filled his tone.

“And I thought Nino was close friends with Marinette far longer but apparently that does not matter to him.” Claude deadpan. “I am not going to have Nino DJ the party. Plus his girlfriend is Lila’s main supporter. If I do have Nino DJ, he’ll tell Alya who will tell Lila and I am back to square one. The one I want to avoid! I don’t want Lila Rossi at my party!”

“I’m sure she’s just trying to make friends…”

“…that’s what you said about Clarice before mom divorced you.”

-.-

Adrien paused mid-bite, straining his ears to overhear what is being said on the booth several seats away. He overhead Claude saying Nino and Lila’s names several times but never a clear sentence. It took a while before it caught on what is being said.

Izzy’s party was amazing to say the least! He went along as the rest of his classmates invited him along and he finally got permission to go by his father. The party was amazing to say the least! The music! The food! Everything else!

Why wouldn’t Claude want to ask Nino to DJ his party? It wouldn’t be a bad idea to invite everyone. It would be horrible to note everyone. Wasn’t Claude friends with everyone in his class?

Right?

Sitting across of Adrien is Nino, concentrating on a calendar that he brought out along. Nino has been… struggling to get gigs for a while now. It was not so much he could not get someone to hire him, from what Nino has been telling Adrien, it’s actually doing his job. As of late, he hasn’t been asked to DJ for anyone else outside of his class. Sure, there are some here and there, but at times… he needed to cancel because Alya wanted to do something with Lila and wanted him there for it.

-.-

Luka resisted the urge to pull out his ears as the rest of Kitty Section, sans Adrien and Marientte, whisper to other. All the while sending him weird looks throughout. This is the first time they have met up for practice in well over a month since they keep bailing on practice. Why? They prefer to hang out with Alya… who is hanging out with this Lila Rossi. All. The. Time.

They all have been talking about Lila Rossi… nonstop. Going on and on about her. To the point, Luka suspects that Rose wrote a song about her for some damned reason. Why are they talking about her?

Lila Rossi knows Jagged Stone.

How Lila Rossi’s dance move got stolen from Clara Nightingale.

How close she is to Prince Ali.

Lila knows a lot of people that could, supposedly, get them famous. How Lila has connections to help Kitty Section become famous. Knows someone that would make them better costumes. Along with even knowing how to write better music.

Lila this…

Lila could do this.

Luka stood up from his spot from the makeshift stage with his guitar in hand. There tunes are different, no longer in tune to the music, let alone to their hearts. More so when he is supposedly out of ear shot and they started to whisper about how Lila mentioned that he, the founder of Kitty Section, should no longer be in the band. How Lila told them how he is hold them back and that she knows someone that is better than himself.

Him holding them back.

Really?

Rossi is the one that is holding them back.

If they want to repeat that broken tune, so be it. He needs to find his muse. Luka left them to whisper to themselves. If Lila believes that they do not need him, so be it. Leaving without much of a fight, he knew when it was a time to retreat until they got their bearings. Right now, he now needs to find out more about Lila Ros-

“Psst! Over here!”

“Hey! You! Luka!”

Luka paused, an eyebrow raised as he slowly turned around to see two individuals, some of his sister’s friends from a different class, are calling out to him. They were both holding umbrellas, which only made them stand out more in his opinion. “Hello?”

“Come here!” The blonde motioned for him to walk over to them.

“Hurry before they see you!” The other said, pointing down the hall. Luka looked down said hall to see Adrien and some unknown girl that is clinging onto his arm. Oh.

Luka hurried over to the girls and they promptly hid him under their umbrellas and behind the pillar with them. It was close enough to listen into whatever Adrien and the new girl’s conversation.

-.-

Adrien stood by as Kitty Section walked out to meet him and Lila, and they started to talk about Lila’s advice. What’s this advice? That it would better for Luka to leave Kitty Section as it would be too weird for him to be in the band with them. It is concerning to say the least. Are the really going to kick out Luka from the band?

“It is better this way. Luka is only holding all of you back.” Lila smiled at her classmates as she tightened her grasp around Adrien’s arm. “All of you are better off without him. I’ve talked to that producer friend of mine and Jagged Stone, and they both agree. Luka is no good for your image.”

“I suppose you are right…” Juleka said, twiddling around with her gloves. Rose reached over to hold onto her hands and gave her an encouraging smile. Juleka chewed on her bottom lip as she thought it over.

“I am positive that Luka will understand.” Lila smiled once more and this seemed to put Juleka in a better place.

“We have been practicing without him for the last month.” Rose mentioned, tugging onto Juleka’s hands. “We could do it.”

Lila smiled brightly, increasing her hold around Adrien. She looked at the blonde for support. “Right, Adrien?”

-.-

Who does she think she is???

They have been practicing without him.  For the past month? Without him? Well, that’s one thing he could easily take with a grain of salt. What his sister is saying has his song beating a new beat that hasn’t been played for so long. What really got Luka’s attention is the fact they were all eating up Lila’s lies.

Are they really that gullible?

“This is just the bare minimum of what Rossi has been doing to your sister’s class.” Aurore explained, motioning for Luka to follow her and Mireille.

Luka’s brows furrowed over the blonde’s words. “…Is something being down about it?”

“More or less, but that’s for later. Right now, we are planning a party later for Marinette and we need you to distract her for a bit.” Aurore said, nudging Luka with her elbow and gave him a sly grin. “The party is for her. Did she tell you about her class situation?”

“Marinette has mentioned she wanted to tell me something but everytime she tried to say it, one of her classmates popped up and she would go quiet…” Luka trailed off as he took that in. Oh, that would explain some things. Shaking his head, he would ask her later about it. “I’ll talk to her later about it. Tell me more about this Lila…? I don’t like her song.”

-.-

Mendeleiev was never one that cared so much to know about the personal lives of her students. In terms that, she does not care who is dating (long as it is a healthy and very much legal relationship), knowing what her students are doing after classes (long as it is nothing illegal or against the rules), and well… whatever she had just witnessed from down the hall.

Ondine just broke up with Kim.  

Which is a big surprise considering how googly eyed they are… were for each other. A big shock, that’s for sure. However… considering what has been going on, it’s no surprise to anyone. Well…

To Bustier’s class that is. Those poor, poor, souls do not know what is coming to them. It was just a matter of time and patience before someone loses said patience. There is only so much someone could stand idly by or do their best to help others, before washing their hands of them. Look at herself? Mendeleiev did so to Bustier due to the fact the younger woman refuses to listen to reason.

Mendeleiev shook her head as she headed to her room. She needed to create some paperwork in hopes that will push some people to see things her way.

-.-

Adrien gulped when he heard the news that Ondine broke up with Kim. That came out from nowhere! Completely out of nowhere. Why did she break up with them? They were so happy together it does not make any sense.

A lot of things have not been making sense for a while now. Many of those things were small at first, but Adrien could no longer shake off that creeping feeling there is more t-

“Adrien… a word?”

-.-

Marinette stared down at her phone, her shoulders shaking as she read the text messages her fri… her classmates are sending her. Varies of texts that has her wondering what the heck is going on to her class, are they finally seeing the rest of the school just does not tolerate Lila?

“Block them, Mari.” Luka murmured into her ear while he played with her loose hair. He and Marinette were in her latter’s room on the sofa, with the bluenette snuggled up to Luka. He reached for the phone and took it from Marinette, ignoring the pout that was sent his way. Placing the phone in his pocket for safe keeping, Luka wrapped his arms around Marinette and reached down to give her a peck on her neck.

“I suppose I could forget about them for now…” Marinette giggled at Luka’s actions, she smiled when she felt Luka grin against her neck. She raised an eyebrow at Luka, despite the fact he could not see it. “Are you hiding something from me, Luka?”

“You could say that… Aurore and Mireille asked me to distract you as they set up a surprise.” Luka mumbled into her neck, his grin ever present. “How am I in distracting you?”

Marinette’s jaw drop when she felt Luka started to press kisses up and down her neck, her mind went blank just long enough to return the favor. This was so much better than dealing with her classmates demanding answers to something they should have known since day one.

-.-

“Ugh, again with Lila crap?”

“I know, right? Why does Alya keep posting those so-called interviews she has for Rossi?”

“I don’t know, but have you seen ClaudetteOneEye’s reaction and debunking of it? Hah! Her best yet!”

“She already did a reaction to it! I need to watch it!”

“We still have time before class, watch it now!”

Alya really wanted to storm out of the stall and yell at the individuals that were clearing mocking Lila, who in turn mocking her. What is there to debunk? There is nothing to debunk! Lila has been most telling about her history with Ladybug. They are best friends for Pete’s sake! Alya took out her phone and started her search to show those gir-

“You know how Alya always goes on and on about how she’s a reporter and always checks her facts…”

Snort.

“Hah. Her checking facts? Has she ever checked on any of the crap Lila has been spewing? Any of it?”

“I know, right? Plus, has she ever asked Ladybug about it before posting any of their interviews?”

“Like the little good reporter that she is? Unlikely. No wonder Ladybug has been ignoring her.”

Has… has she ever asked Ladybug about Lila? Alya ran a hand through her hair as she tried to think of an answer to her question. Of course, there were times when she has recently tried to get an interview, but Ladybug just… started to avoid her.

-.-

“Saving Jagged Stone’s cat? If they looked it up, they would have checked that him and his fiancé are allergic to animal fur.”

“Doesn’t he have a pet crocodile?”

“Yeah. He does.”

“That’s just as pathetic as her knowing Prince Ali and being friends with him.”

��Uggghhhh. That doesn’t even make sense, she’s been here in Paris for months before she started coming to Dupont.”

“That’s what I thought! Among the other bull she’s spewed out, the ones that grinds my gears are all the ones she lied about Marinette…”

“Yeah. They all known her for years and this new girl comes along and what? All that goes out the window?”

“Marinette does so much for them, and this is the thanks she gets? That they’ll believe Lila’s lies that she supposedly pushed her down the stairs, steal her necklace and some other bullshit?”

“Still heated about it?”

“Of course, I’m heating about it! They still think she did those things! From what Marinette told Aurore and Mireille, they didn’t even let her talk or defend herself. They took Lila’s side and expelled her.”

“Tell me again, how Marinette got un-expelled?”

“From what Marinette told them… Lila said she had a lying disease.”

“That is bull. I am so over the moon over the fact she’ll be leaving that class. Come on, Aurore said she’s going to need help setting things up.”

Juleka, Mylene and Nathaniel pushed themselves against the wall as they watched several students run past them towards the courtyard. Their expressions betrayed how they felt over what they just overheard. Did they just hear right? Lila has been lying this whole time… and none of them… No, just their class never caught it.

Except for Marinette.

Mylene shakily took out her phone to look up all of Lila’s stories, the others followed in doing so.

-.-

Adrien sat on a stone bench as he watched Kagami paced in front of him. Every time he tried to say something, she would shoot in a glare. He looked down on his lap as he tried to think of what he should say when he’s finally able to speak. Somehow, Kagami found out about Lila’s lies. All of them. From whom, he does not know. Maybe Marientte told her, he’ll have to ask her about it. She shouldn’t have told Kagami about Lila. “Kagami, did Marientte tell you about Lila? I-”

“Agreste, everyone at school and whoever has met Rossi, knows she is a liar. Everything that has ever come out of her mouth is a lie. Everything.” Kagami said in a tight voice. She stopped pacing to stare down at Adrien. “Marientte told me nothing. I was the one that had to go around to figure out exactly what type of person she is.”

“Why didn’t you ask me about Lila before you asked others?” Adrien asked, head shooting up to stare at Kagami with confusion. “I would ha-”

“You would have attempted to pressure me to not do anything against Rossi once I found out exactly what kind of person she is. However, considering you never told her off about that picture she took of the two of you…” Kagami looked up and down at Adrien, her mouth twisted into a scowl. “You would have attempted to have me stay quiet about Rossi’s nature. Just like you are doing to, Marinette… correct?”

“I-I just don’t want to cause problems!” Adrien exclaimed, pushing himself off the bench. “I don’t want any problems in class, and with Marinette trying to out Lila it was impossible. I don’t want Lila to get akumatized anymore.”

Kagami stood her ground, crossing her arms over her chest. “And what of your classmates? Your friends? Marinette or myself? I was akumatized because of her, remember? Don’t we all matter too?”

“It’s more complicated than that, Kagami.”  

“Complicated? Complicated! How is that complicated! Explain yourself!”

“…”

“…What did you tell Marinette about Lila’s lies? Adrien, what did you tell her?”

“Could we drop this?”

“Tell. Me.”

“I told her, as long as me and her know the truth, does it really matter?”

“Adrien, it does matter! Everything matters! You are allowing Rossi to walk all over Marinette and make her out to be the bad guy for trying to stand up for herself.” Kagami snarled out, causing Adrien to jump. “You are forcing her to stay quiet about someone’s lies. You do realize once your friends find out, they will be the ones that are going to get akumatized. Not Rossi. What then? Who are you going to protect then?”

“I’m doing my best, Kagami.” Adrien pleaded.

“Your best is not good enough. Rossi is escalating and you are doing nothing. What will happen if she says you two are dating? What then? Far as I supposed know, are dating but this is extremely one sided considering you keep putting Rossi’s feelings above everyone.”

“I… I don’t know…”

“…you are pathetic. Your best is not good enough and it will never be.” Kagami sniffed, she pulled out her phone to look at the time and grinned a bit. She put it away before starting back at an obviously hurt Adrien. “What? Like I would allow someone who I am supposedly seeing, to put some other girl’s feelings above my own.”

Adrien opened and closed his mouth, unable to say anything as he was unable to respond to Kagami’s words. How was he supposed to respond that, there was no answer to that for him. “Please understand th-”

Kagami shook her head before she pulled out phone before putting it away. She gave Adrien on last look before walking away. “You need to stop putting horrible people above those that have been nothing but supportive of you… It’s no wonder why Marinette has finally given up.”

-.-

Ladybug swung around Paris at night as she thought over today’s events. It’s safe to say, that today has been one of the best days of her life since becoming Ladybug to say the least. She felt free and no longer held up to an impossible standard. To think transferring to a different class has made her feel as such. It also may have helped she told everything to Luka what has been happening to her since Lila came to Paris. The memory of that conversation made her blush as at the end of it, they are now officially together. It made her happy, immensely so.

Their first date was at the welcoming party Aurore and Mireille threw for her transfer to their class. Best date and party ever. The cherry on top, was when her former classmates crashed the party(apparently that was planned) and Claudette of @ClaudetteOneEye did a live reaction to one of the newest interview of Lila. It was priceless to say the least. Her former classmates tried to approach her but that was shut down immediately. Many other things had happened at the party that made it so much better, but that’s a thought for another day.

Right now, there is someone sitting alone at the park.

Is that Adrien?

Ladybug let out a sigh before she swung down to the park.

Adrien blinked a couple of times when he heard steps walking towards him. He looked over to see Ladybug walking up to him. He smiled at the sight of her. “Hello, Ladybug? Having a good night?”

Ladybug raised an eyebrow at Adrien, she sensed something is up with Adrien but did not make any notion for him to open up. “A little late to be out, Adrien?”

Adrien shrugged before he looked down at the ground, his brows furled deep in thought. “Can I ask you something, Ladybug? I need your advice in something?”

Ladybug stared at him for a moment before motioning for him to speak. Might as well hear what Adrien wants to say and need advice in. This is new considering how his advice has never been exactly the greatest.

Adrien began to tell her about the advice he had given to Marinette, when it came to Lila.

Adrien Agreste is asking her opinion on the advice he had given Marinette, who by extension, is actually herself. The same advice that had weighed heavy in her mind so much so, that it nearly akumatized her. Ladybug had stopped listening to Adrien as she felt anger started to bubble within her. This is too much, far too much. It was one thing to ask her about his original advice. Oh no, now he’s going on about Marinette’s actions that contradicted mentioned advice.

For what? To make sure that Lila does not get akumatized. Again.

“And Marinette? What of Marinette? Were you not even worried if she got Akumatized because of Lila?” Ladybug cut Adrien off. “Have you even thought of the highly possible chance she could be the one getting Akumatized over your advice? Paris got very lucky tonight there were no akumas out tonight otherwise the city would have Akuma’s at every corner of it.”

Adrien looked shocked over Ladybug’s words. His silence, his answer, has Ladybug starting to pace around.

“No, you did not care. What you cared is to make sure Marinette kept quiet and did not stand up for herself. Not only to Lila, but also by extension to Chloe.” Ladybug grounded out, sending Adrien a glare as she continued to pace. “You expected Marientte that as long as the two of you knew the truth, that nothing else pretty matters? That as long as Lila continued lying to everyone and allowing her to walk over Marinette, who is supposed to be your friend, that it did not matter?”

“It’s not like that, Ladybug.” Adrien stood up and approached Ladybug. Ladybug raised a hand at Adrien’s direction to stop him from getting close to her.

“Then how is it, Adrien?” Ladybug questioned. “You are prioritizing Lila over everyone, even if it puts them all at risk at getting akumatized themselves. Is that what you wanted to hear? That your advice is horrible. Let me tell you something, Marinette, your supposed friend to nearly get akumatized. Twice. It’s all because of Lila and the second time, Hawkmoth got to her and for some reason the akumatization did not take place. Lila caused that. All because she wanted to keep your promise when it came to her. Truth is that Lila Rossi is a liar that should have been exposed a long time ago and I am happy that it happened tonight. I am happy!”

“What about Lila? It was horrible what happened to her, she got humiliated in front of nearly the entire school.” Adrien tried to ask but was cut off when he saw Ladybug pulling out her yo-yo.

“To be frank Adrien… when it comes to bad people… you need to knock them down several pegs to get them to understand how wrong they are.”

[airi-p4]

Face up (songfic) - Chapter 1

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Epilogue

Remember my illustrated fic + comic ‘The listening’? I started writing this other songfic around that time, since the song is by the same author. This is everything I could finish for Wipril... *sigh*

Inspired by the song ‘Face up’ by Lights. (Lyrics in bold)

Summary:  Marientte is tired. Busy with work, unmotivated and uninspired; her life has become monotonous and lifeless. Regretful for neglecting her friendship with Alya, she finally accepts her invitation to go out one Friday evening to a pirate themed bar called 'Liberty', in which according to Nino, an 'incredible amazing guitarist' was going to play...

AO3

______________________________________________

Chapter 1

' I shouldn't have come '

A mountain of files and clothes are piled on Marinette's desk. Work, work, work and more work. It had been a while now since Marinette's life has been revolving only around her jobs and studies. Days. Weeks. Months. She felt like a robot programmed just for that sole purpose.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was tired. 

And so was also her best friend Alya, fed up of being turned down whenever she asked her to go out somewhere together.

But not that evening: Alya and Nino decided to drag Marinette out of her lonely apartment, to let her enjoy a proper and well deserved break after days without seeing the daylight. 'How can a 21 year old Lady not go out and have fun!? ' Alya had asked her. And she had been forced to accept, out of the regret of constantly failing and neglecting their friendship.

The chosen place for their friendly meeting was a musical bar on a ship called 'Liberty'. Small round tables and some stools were ready to be used for its consumers, 2-4 seats for table. Some wooden benches with comfortable looking cushions at the sides of the bar and some stand-by tables outside were also part of the ship's furniture. Both outside and interior design seemed to be trying to imitate a pirate ship with dark wooden flooring, walls, stage and counter. Some vintage rock music related posters were on the wall, next to treasure maps and, surprisingly, they still managed to keep the pirate theme on point. The counter was just at the entrance and the lights were focused mostly to the stage at the back of the bar, making the lighting quite low for the guests- 'too dark to draw' , Marinette confirmed.

According to Nino, the best thing about this bar was that, on Friday nights, it held multiple artists performances from 8pm to 12pm, an hour each. And according to him, some awesome guitarist was playing at 11pm. His eyes were showing his contagious enthusiasm and Alya soon got excited too.

But Marinette's mind was not focused on the bar or the music. It was 10:25pm, and Alya had dragged Marinette there early- at 8:40- so they could get a table- the limited seat capacity and amount of customers surely proved it was necessary, but she couldn't focus on her surroundings as in her head thousands of work-related thoughts occupied her mind.

To draw, sew, bake, study and to sleep in order to work more, all in an endless loop. That had been Marinette's routine for weeks, and she had no intentions of stopping until she finished all her constantly coming errands- but they were endless. She felt like a robot programmed only to work and she almost forgot what free time was.

'I want to go home', the aspiring fashion designer kept repeating to herself.

 But the guests of the bar seemed to favor her best friend's ideas: enjoying the music. Marinette's eyes took a minute to observe her surroundings, noticing how crowded the bar was getting as 11pm approached. At her side, Marinette could see how excited Alya and the recently arrived Nino were, clapping and dancing next to her.

 But Marinette was not feeling it. Not at all. 

 A big sigh left her mouth as she used the table as she played unamused with the melting ice cubes from her drink, trying to ignore the strident rock background music. She was exhausted and not in the mood for 'fun'. She was tired and her eyelids were slowly closing, but just when her mind started to find its way to dreamland, Alya called for her attention.

 "Look, Marinette! The guests in the second row middle table are about to leave! It's our chance to get a closer seat to the stage!"

 "Ugh…"

 The stage was just a few steps away, but it seemed like kilometers to the young woman. 

 "C'mon, Marinette! Nino secured the seats! Grab your drink and stuff and let's go over here!"

 Exhaustion and somnolence confused Marinette's senses while Alya jolted and called her. 

 "C'mooon… Nino can't keep looking for our seats forever! Not when there are so many people eyeing up those stools!"

 Marinette knew Alya was correct. And not only that: she was pretty impatient and intense, too, so she was well aware that refusing her was almost impossible.

 Finally, she made it to the closer to the stage table and had a slurp of her drink. 'Maybe Alya is right and I can try to enjoy the live performances?' . 

 She tried, yes. But nothing. She wasn't feeling the music.

'When will I be able to have fun too? When will I be able to have a rest and forget about work? When will I be able to enjoy life? When will I be able to LIVE my life…? '

 I just want to feel alive

She was stressed. No inspiration seemed to strike her lately, and she had been too busy to go look for it. And honestly, she didn't expect to find some in this old-fashioned dark pirate themed bar. With those thoughts, Marinette rested her head on her hands wishing for the time to go faster so she could already go back home. 

The bar became more than full when the clock pointed to 11pm. 

Marinette frowned her eyebrows. "Can I go home now that the performance is over?" She asked. 

Alya directed her a deathly glare and Nino gasped in shock. "No way, dudette! You can't be serious!" The boy then pointed to their surroundings. "See? All these people gathered here to see the musician I told you about! His talent is no joke, just look at that!" An excited Nino commented, showing her how people were even waiting outside of the bar and even outside the ship in order to listen to his music, as she could see through the round fisheye windows. Was it even allowed to have so many guests on the ship? Wasn't it overcrowded? Or going to sink? Marinette worried. 'Why should I worry when I'm already sinking myself, huh? '

"I'm getting all excited already!! Look at that, Marinette" Alya commented. But Marinette was not answering. She was playing with a straw in between her teeth, instead. "Marinette!!" Her friend insisted, but emerging turbulent bubbles on her drink was her only response.

"Oh, look! He's here!" Nino suddenly exclaimed, and both her friends seemed to forget about her to focus on the stage. 'Maybe it's my chance to leave when they aren't looking' , she thought, but she had to wait until Alya's arm stopped being linked with hers to make her move. She hoped for that moment to be soon.

"Wohooo" the crowd became loud immediately after Nino's said guitarist appeared on the stage from the back door. 

 Marinette didn't even look. She wasn't interested. She just wanted to get home, finish her work, sleep, and get some well deserved hot bath to relax.

"Good evening. My name is Luka. Wow, so crowded today! I can see some new faces... Hi there. Thank you all for coming"

'His voice sounds nice' Marinette thought, taking a quick look at him for the first time: blue hair, tattoos, piercings and an electric guitar on his hands. There was a stool ready for him, but he was not using it. His aura definitely stood out and he was glowing in the stage lights.

Before starting, he played a few random notes, to check the guitar and the volume. The crowd was excited just with that. Not interested in the music, Marinette let her mind travel to her work space again, taking mental notes on how to proceed with her commissions when she made it home.

"Today's first song is an oldie: 'Space show' by CrocoDuo" 

It took only an instant for the aura of the bar to change completely. The audience was losing it at the combined sound of his voice and guitar. Some young women were fangirling and squealing. Nino's eyes were sparkling and Alya's body moved, dancing along with the music. 

'He's good' Marinette thought, trying to stop her fingers from tapping on her chin at the music's rhythm. As the song was close to its end, during its instrumental part, the blue haired young man took a big look at the audience, grinning at the excited crowd. Marinette closed her eyes and tried to focus again on her mental work, frowning her nose and eyebrows hard, trying hard to concentrate on finding whatever inspiration she could in the music. But she didn't seem to get it right.

As the last notes of the song elongated, the musician spoke again. 

"Oooh? What do we have here…? Don't you know the rules, lady? No sad faces allowed on this ship!"

Marinette was unaware the guitarist was talking to her until Alya bumped her elbow to her ribs to catch her attention and pointed to the stage. 

"What?"

She was surprised to find the guitarist staring at her eyes. ' He's handsome ' her inner self told her when their eyes locked and she was feeling called by its blueness. Her smile remained unseen, confused and unsure if it was really her the one he was talking to, but her heart skipped at the eye contact.

"Yes, there, the lady on the second row, you… you seem to be feeling like this" he said, and then played some chords that seemed to describe the feelings of her repetitive, uninspired and unmotivated life perfectly. 

She felt like her secret had just been exposed to all the customers of the bar. Embarrassment was too much to handle, and she kept her head low. As the famous song says: 'Killing me softly with his song'.

"A beautiful lady like you deserves to feel something like this" he said, and the music this time brought her back to her cheerful and happy childhood memories, something she hadn't felt for years. ' Wow. How can he do it? ' 

"Let me try to cheer you up". He placed his electric guitar aside and grabbed his acoustic instead. After adjusting it, he sat on the stool and brought the microphone to his mouth. Then, a totally different melancholic sound started filling the bar as he tested the strings. The audience seemed pleased and curious. "That's rare for him" Nino whispered, making Marinette's eyes open even bigger.

Suddenly, accurately and quickly, his eyes darted to meet directly at Marinette's eyes, with a soft but determined gaze that conflicted Marinette's unprepared heart. 

The times you don't wanna wake up

'Cause in your sleep it's never over when you give up

 'Wow… I surely look depressed, don't I?' Marinette thought, surprised of how the lyrics fit with her daily thoughts.

 The sun is always gonna rise up

You need to get up, gotta keep your head up

 Look at the people all around you

The way you feel is something everybody goes through

 Marinette then looked at Alya and Nino, who were nodding with a sympathetic smile at her. The rest of the people at the bar seemed to agree with the lyrics too, nostalgic smiles on their peaceful faces. ' Is it ok to feel like this? Am I really not alone? ' The song continued.

 Dark out, but you still gotta light up

You need to wake up, gotta keep your face up

 The lyrics were surely… encouraging. Marinette could feel her heart become lighter and more confident, relaxed too. She then focused again on the guitarist, who had a kind expression on his face that almost made her fall for him. Almost ? 

"C'mon, everybody, help me cheer this pretty lady up!" he said, his smile softly widening as he repeated the lyrics of the song. Soon, the audience joined to sing with him and Marinette felt embarrassed but touched at the kindness of all those strangers towards her. Alya put a supportive hand on her shoulder too, encouraging her to join the chorus.

 And finally her face lit up and she started singing a little after remembering the lyrics. Her face was not looking down anymore and an honest shy smile was finally on her face. 

Alya looked relieved, while Nino had an: ' I told you he was good ' smirk on his face. Meanwhile, the guitarist never stopped smiling at her. 

Luka's gaze was dangerous for Marinette's heart, as a pleasant warmth began to occupy it. A feeling she hadn't felt for a long time was now threatening to stay, sinking deeper inside her heart with every syllable he sang. 

"See? That's much better. You have a beautiful smile. Don't hide it!" Marinette blushed at his compliment and she couldn't stop smiling like a lovestruck fool.

 After winking at her, Luka continued with his performance. "Ready to enjoy some rock and roll now? Next is 'Rock Giant' by Jagged Stone" 

Marinette's favorite song. Did he know that too? ' Wow! It sounds even better than the original' . As soon as he started to play and sing Jagged's most iconic melody, Marinette was finally loosened up to enjoy the music. It was the fastest an hour that had passed for her while having fun. Wow . And she was grinning at the excitement, while trying not to freak out at the short glances and smiles the musician directed to her from time to time, or the long stares she pretended to not notice. She could notice her heart beating again after what it seemed like an eternity. 

She felt alive. More than she had felt in months, maybe years.

But the performance had a set time to end... 

"Thank you for coming. That's all for today. You're the best!" he grinned, while wiping some of the sweat drops that ran down his face. It was obvious he gave it his best and the audience was all in for it. Marinette had never seen anyone able to enthrall the public like this before. He was… absolutely amazing in the crowd's eyes, Marinette's included.

"Noooo!! Encore encore encore!" the bar customers started begging in loud voices, and Luka couldn't keep his gratitude to himself, as his fond smile showed. He looked at his surroundings, slowly, memorizing every face, as if thanking each of them individually. Until his kind yet powerful gaze stopped to focus directly on Marinette's pupils and his smile widened.

 "You want an encore, guys? What does the lady on the second row say?" he teased with a smirk that made Marinette's knees weak. She could feel her face flushing red as the people of the bar's eyes focused on her.

 "E- Encore!" She shouted in a voice she wasn't aware she owned.

"So you want an encore, right? Very well. Here's the last song for today: ' Liberty ' by Luka".

 The energetic and happy cheering for the encore audience lasted only until Luka's guitar strings started to vibrate to form a melody.

 "No way, dude!! A Luka inédite original song! Alya, we have to record this!" Nino fuzzed, pulling his phone out from his pocket. "Awesome!"

The song was amazing and had the audience lose it. 'Wow' . Marinette was speechless and she could feel the adrenaline flow through her body like it hadn't for years. Unable to tear her focus from the musician, the young woman could feel her heart beating faster- too fast.  

When the song finished Marinette noticed how half the audience was crying in excitement and how the fangirling women from before were close to passing out. It was a very good song with good lyrics about looking for your inner freedom- totally fitting for Marinette. And his final greetings started.

"Thank you. Did you have fun?" 

"Yeah!!! Wohoo!!!"

 "Great, I'm glad. Thank you so much!" he giggled. "Thanks to you, it seems I have a new song to write" Luka said, with his sharp eyes and slightly curved smile hinting those words were meant for a certain lady seated on the second row. "And remember: the Liberty is a place where you can be free, honest to yourself. Feel free to come here anytime. Everyone is welcome here. Well, except agent Roger, maybe?" Luka said, pointing at the grey haired woman at the counter, who laughed at his comment. "Good night, everyone!" 

Before leaving the stage through the back door, Luka exchanged one final look with Marinette and waved at her. Or so she wanted to believe, even if she wasn't sure. 

‘ He’s so hot ’. Marinette fanned herself with her hand and drank all the alcohol that remained on her cup. It wasn't cold anymore and she needed to cool down, so she stopped the goth waitress with long purple hair to order a drink, and a minute later the small blond short-haired waitress brought it to her. She drank it in one shot, mouth dry from the shouting and her burning cheeks and quickly beating heart.

"Hot much?" Alya teased her best friend, with a knowing smirk.

 "I told you he was lit! Wow! He even played a brand-new original song! You don't know how lucky we are. We have to come back again sometime soon!" Nino enthusiastically exclaimed. "A man like that is going to make it big in no time. We won't get the chance to get to listen to him like this when he becomes internationally famous"

Marinette couldn't help it but to agree. He was amazing… in all aspects. Maybe… it wasn't a bad thing she came… 

 No. It definitely wasn't.

 "Yeah… maybe live performances aren't bad… maybe… we should come again, yes…" Marinette said under her friend's satisfied and knowing smile.

 Who would have thought she would find inspiration on a pirate ship themed bar? She had unwillingly come and found something she didn't regret, as she found something even more unexpected: a crush on a talented guitarist. 

 And even though she was not sure if she was ready to pursue someone or to start a relationship, she knew she didn't want the clock of her life to keep spinning around a monotonous life, and she had just felt the way she had been wishing to feel for years; ALIVE. 

'Yes… I'll definitely come back again'

[erikavixin2006]

Drunk Marinette! Adrienette

'Adriennnnnnnn~ I want youuu~'

If Adrien's phone wasn't left charging at home he could've have a gallery full of pictures and videos of Marinette.

A very drunk Marinette.

It all started with a girls night out that Alya had suggested, along with Alix's suggestion of getting themselves hammered for the rest of the night. Juleka and Alix in the end were the ones who could take on their fifth glass of shots, while the others were drunk messes.

Ivan merely carried Mylene all the way to their car, Mylene, despite her small size and usually kind demeanor, had turned into a very dominant being, and Ivan had to hold down the color on his cheeks as Mylene rambled on about the things that was best kept censored.

Alix had to help a struggling Nino, who had to deal with Alya's hallucinations. The upcoming worldwide famous blogger had begun to chase after an imaginary bug heroine and cat hero. And Nino daresay his girlfriend is stronger than she looks.

Juleka only had to drag a tipsy Rose into their car, which was most probably the easiest task out of everyone here.

The girls represent different types of drunks, and most of them were easy to handle, but Marinette is a different story, and that brings them to where they are right now.

Adrien ignored his lady's suggestive words and had finally managed to carry Marinette into their car. He was in the middle of buckling her into her seat when her two tone arms wrapped around his neck, pulling his face close to her red ones. Giggling quietly as she whispered more seductive words into his ear. Her breath is hot and her voice is silky, definitely not helping his hormones at all.

'No Mari, you are drunk, you're not thinking straight,' Adrien strapped her to the chair safely, removing him from her arms and starting the car. Tikki had joined Plagg at the back of the car, giggling softly at the moment.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw her red face in a pouty expression, her bottom lip tugged out and her nose scrunched up, honestly the most adorable sight he had ever seen.

'I am thinking straight, if I'm not then you wouldn't be naked in my eyes right now,' the bluenette giggled seductively. Adrien almost crashed the car, tensing up like a frightened cat, his green eyes connected with his girlfriend's bluebell ones. The blue orbs most definitely checking him out.

Biting his bottom lip, he focused back on the road, attempting to ignore those seductive eyes, he spoke in a voice a bit too hard, 'Marinette, no,' .

He made a mistake.

Terrible one.

Marinette's bottom lip trembled, moisture surrounding her eyes. Adrien stopped at the red light, always the first to apologize, 'No wait, I'm sorry milady, please don't cry,' he panicked, devastated to see his bugaboo cry because of him.

Marinette brought her legs up to her chest, her black leggings complimented her Chat Noir themed blouse well. The woman hiccuped as sobs erupted from her throat, 'You don't love me anymore Adrien! I know I'm fat and ugly and one day you'll finally see that and go for more prettier girls, and then I'll be left alone with no one else to love meeeeee!' .

If this was a serious situation Adrien would go to the ends of the world just for her to be happy but this particular scene was far to funny and adorable to be sad, chuckling softly, Adrien caressed the woman's red cheeks and assured, 'I do love you buginette, oh my goodness you're too adorable for this world. You're not fat and you are most definitely not ugly. I love you and will not leave you, remember that okay?' his adoring eyes reflected in the drunk heroine's watery blue orbs.

Marinette hiccuped softly and wiped her tears away, holding up her pinky finger like a child, she softly spoke, 'Promise?' , Adrien's hear tugged in his chest, his sweet bugaboo is too precious for this world. Holding up his own pinky, he curled it around hers, 'Promise,' .

The cat hero sigh in relief as the woman resulted back into her quirky happy self, giggling at every moving image out of the car window, a whole colorful fantasy displaying in her perspective.

It was when they reached their apartment door did she rushed into their home, already in the bathroom and puking her guts out. Adrien placed his lady's bags down and rushed to her aid, holding her slightly long midnight blue hair away from her face, allowing her to puke a bit more comfortably. Plagg and Tikki followed in with their holders, already reaching their makeshift bed, retiring for the night. It had been a long day.

By the time Marinette finished, she was already collapsing weakly into her kitty's arms, almost passing out. Adrien smile softly, flushing the toilet before assisting her to their room.

After a few years of living together, Adrien and Marinette were both comfortable enough to assist each other in intimate ways. The blond changed her into one of his shirts, as the woman always wore his whenever they went to bed, saying it's much more comfy than her other sleepwear.

As soon as he laid the beautiful girl down onto her side of the bead, Marinette had already curled up into the blankets, fully drifting off to sleep, a contented smile on her lips.

Adrien eyes softened at the beauty, placing a kiss onto her forehead, he went out to clean the place, before collapsing into their bed tiredly, wrapping the girl in his arms, his way of escaping a tired day from work, and an ever more tiring task of taking care of his bug, not that he was complaining though.

__________

Marinette moaned softly in her sleep, waking up from her slumber with a throbbing headache.

She recalled the wild night she and her friends had last night, and memories came flooding into her mind, including parts of blurry images of her emotional outbursts on her boyfriend.

Her blush intensified as she recollected memories of her suggestive words and gestures towards the cat hero, not noticing the blond that was cradling her so gently in his arms had begin stirring awake, soft green orbs observing his lady's current state.

'Morning milady, you were a mess last night,' he reminded, feeling rather mischievous on a Saturday morning. Marinette buried her face into his chest, 'Sorry kitty, I shouldn't have drank too much and cause you trouble,' she mumbled weakly, her voice muffled in his shirt.

Adrien chuckled, 'Trouble? Never princess, you were absolutely adorable last night, it's a shame I left my phone at home, I could have created a new album dedicated to your drunk self bugaboo!' he tapped her nose softly.

Marinette rolled her eyes, 'And your albums of Ladybug and Marinette aren't enough?' she recalled back to the hundreds or maybe even thousands of pictures of herself Adrien had saved in his phone and laptop.

'I can never have enough pictures of you princess. I know beautiful art when I see one, and you my darling, are absolutely ethereal,' his fingers resting on her bottom lip, brushing it softly, watching the woman's cheeks flushed a pink hue.

'Now come on sweetheart, what would you like for breakfast my princess?' Adrien sat up from bed, years of being part of the Dupain-Cheng family the man had learn to make simple dishes for his lady.

Marientte groaned as she felt a wave of dizziness washed into her head, muttering for caffeine and something sweet for her morning hunger.

Adrien rubbed the heroine's temple softly, connecting their lips together, Marinette mumbled a "thank you" as they separated, breathing in his scent in an attempt to soothe her pain.

Adrien could get used to drunk Marinette.

[mlwritingprompts]

Are there any changes to list of "characters allowed to be bashed" due to you watching some of s4 episodes? 

Nope, since that would be pushing them out of character to a ridiculous degree. You can submit salt for them based on what they've done in season 4, but your prompts still have to be based on their actions and logical progressions of those actions, it can't just be completely random and out of thin air (which is what bashing is, like when people say that Alya is stealing from Marientte and/or the Dupain-Cheng's bakery, because the people writing the thing are racist, or say that she physically abuses Marinette, again, based on nothing but the writer's racism).

Bashing = giving the character a trait that has nothing to do with their actual personality or actions.

Salt = having a character's actions actually be acknowledged as wrong, or having them face consequences for their actions.

[pearl-star]

Two Way Link

When Marinette cracks and gets akumatized, it’s not what she’s expecting. Hawkmoth is equally confused and more worried than she is. Turns out the mindlink is a two way streak, and her earrings make the link even stronger. Needless to say, some secrets got revealed.

Marinette had allowed herself to imagine herself as an akuma before. It was kind of hard not to when their class started bets for if Marinette or Adrien would get akumatized first. It also didn’t help after seeing Chat Noir’s akumazation first hand. If she ever got akumatized, Hawkmoth wouldn’t win. Oh No. The world would be in ruins. So if it wasn’t already an obvious goal, Marinette made it her mission to never even let a butterfly touch her. Of course she’s only human, and when she’s sleep deprived and dealing with a lot of extra stress her emotions run rampant. Not only did she deal with both night and day akumas for the past week, she also had extra work planning the fundraising events and the school trip. Include all her requests from her friends for different things and her regular school work, Marinette was already at her breaking point. Top it off with a couple idiotic stories from Rossi while the girl would slip in comments dissing the bluenette, and you got the recipe for a perfect akuma victim.

Marinette wasn’t even in the right headspace to try to hold off her emotions. She simply nursed her large cup of coffee, that may or may not be the 6th cup of the day, as she stewed in her seat. Why was her class a bunch of idiots? Like Marinette cared for them still, don’t get her wrong, but they hanged off her every word like it was air. Why didn’t they get curious and do a little research of their own? It would have saved everyone the trouble. And Adrien’s dumb high road advice would do more harm than good. He’s worried about Lila getting akumatized? Try the whole class when the truth gets out. Of course, Marientte had almost been akumatized because of Lila. Maybe she should have slipped that into her conversation with Adrien. That might have changed his mind. It didn’t matter much now though. She had just begun to speak normally around him. He might think that Marinette was lying about it to make him see her way, and that wasn’t a risk she was willing to take.

No one even noticed the butterfly coming into the room. It was only noticed when it landed on the coffee cup that Marinette held and the glowing mask appeared on her face. Very quickly, the class turned around and stared at their class rep. Marinette merely blinked a few times before groaning. “Really!? Come on! I was doing so good until now. Okay, you know what, fine. You want to akumatized me? Whatever. Just put the butterfly somewhere other than my coffee. I need that if I’m going to make it through today. You’re to blame for this, by the way. You couldn’t have just stopped with the akumas for the day could you. I mean one a day is bad enough. Why did you have to do two in one day? And at, like, 2am dude? Really?” Hawkmoth was just confused as the rest of her class. Marinette’s face scrunched up before her jaw dropped. “WAIT! GABRIEL AGRESTE!? YOU’RE HAWKMOTH!!?” The class paused before freaking out. Hawkmoth paled. He didn’t even get time to do his monologue before the girl started to speak out at him. As he started to reading deeper into her thoughts, he realized something. “You’re… Ladybug?” He was honestly surprised that this clumsy girl could possibly be Ladybug. Marinette just scowled. “Oh stop. I can feel your judgment from here. It’s a secret identity for a reason. Of course I’ll act differently with magical jewelry. Except, you don’t act too different than you do in real life. Maybe treat your son better, will you? He needs to have a backbone for when Rossi and Cholé drape themselves over him.” Cholé gasped and Lila tried to turn the tale but Marinette continued.

“I’ll give Cholé the benefit of the doubt since she had been childhood friends with him, but what Lila’s doing is bordering of sexual harassment. And you employed her as a model too. Like do you even care about you own son’s mental well-being?” Gabriel made the mistake of thinking about Lila and Marinette’s face shifted from shock to neutral. “Okay, so you made her spy on Adrien and report back to you as well as cause akumas. Got it. And that’s an interesting fact about her willingly getting akuamtized. Too bad my class has become too ignorant to realize that every word she says is nothing more than bull crap.” Hawkmoth, Gabriel, should have tried to rein her in. However when he tried it, magic was interfering. It was something that Nooroo had warned him about once before when he expressed the desire to akumatized Ladybug or Chat Noir. They would naturally have more resistance to him, especially Ladybug since her powers balanced for good and becoming evil would take drastic measures. Before he could try to act, the girl spoke again. “Oh, it’s nice to know that you at least let Nooroo talk. Seriously, I forgot about that whole Sandboy fiasco for a second. You couldn’t have at least allowed Nooroo to enjoy his whatever number cycle in peace. You had to traumatize so many people by creating their nightmares.” No one noticed as Adrien slipped away to transform.

Plagg flew out of his pocket and had the audacity to be laughing. “What is so funny?!” He demanded. Marinette was akumatized! Not only that, but she was Ladybug. Ladybug was akumatized and the akuma won’t be purified. Nor would any of the damage be reversed. Not to mention that his own dad was apparently Hawkmoth. Plagg caught his breath and was able to speak. “I’m sorry, but it’s too funny! This love square you guys had going on was great entertainment already. Top that with what Spots is doing and it’s gold.” Adrien decided to ignore what Plagg was saying for now and transform instead. While he was doing that, Marinette decided to discover something very important: what Gabriel’s motivation was.

Marinette clamped a hand to her mouth as she pulled the memory from his mind. Then that shock turned to hot rage. “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?” ALL THIS TIME YOU HAVE KEPT YOUR WIFE IN A GLASS COFFIN IN YOUR FUCKING BASEMENT LAIR?!?” Hawkmoth actually flinched from the raw power and anger she emanated. He made the mistake of recalling the peacock miraculous, setting the girl off on another tangent. “AND YOU’RE ALLOWING NATHALIE TO USE A BROKEN MIRACULOUS?!? Wow! Just, Wow!” Maybe if he detransformed and left now, he wouldn’t have to face the girl’s wrath. Nooroo’s powers allowed them to feel the strength of a person’s emotions. Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s emotions showed that even without powers or a miraculous, she would kill him with her bare hands. If he was told a day before that she would be capable of murder, he would never have believed it. Now though, he was scared.

It was at that time that Chat Noir decided to bust in. He was both shocked and impressed that Marinette was still holding out. Maybe if he destroyed the object now she won’t be transformed. Of course would that negatively effect her somehow? Before he could ponder it longer, the girl in question acted first. “You better meet me in front of your mansion and give me both the butterfly and peacock miraculous. You also better fire Rossi and put a restraining order on her so she can’t touch Adrien again. Otherwise this cup will be replaced with your neck.” Marinette crushed the cup with her hand and the butterfly flew out. Standing up, she called on her transformation before her kwami could protest. She swiped the akuma out from the air and looked around. The whole class was quite. Lila didn’t even try to say anything, and in fact she shrunk under her stare. “Alrighty then. Time to go kitty.” She walked calmly out of the room, ignoring everything that just had happened. Chat paused before following her.

Back in his lair, Gabriel detransformed from shock. Nooroo tried to hide his smirk. Wordlessly, he went back into the main part of his house and approached Natalie. She looked confused. “What’s wrong? I thought you were finally akuamtizing Miss Dupain-Cheng?” Gabriel just shook his head and held his hand out. He was slightly shaking. “Just give me the peacock miraculous. Turns out, she’s a lot more dangerous than expected.” Natalie wanted to question her boss, but he seemed to be in shock. She did as asked and followed him as he walked out the front doors of the mansion. Outside was a smiling Ladybug and a concerned Chat Noir. Ladybug’s smile looked dangerous, like she was giving a warning. When Gabriel willingly handed over both miraculouses, Ladybug laughed. A dangerous sweetness dripping out. “Thank you! Also you better be honest with what you’re wife was doing with the miraculous when the police question you. I’ll see if the damage can be undone without the potential for ending the world. Oh also I will be taking your son away. He deserves better parents and I’m sure that mine will spoil him. Chat you take his assistant, I’ll grab him. It’s time to drop them off.” Chat grabbed Natalie and had her over his shoulder before she could react. Ladybug did the same to Gabriel, ensuring that neither could make a grab for their miraculouses.

A lot of things happened on that day. Hawkmoth and Mayura were announced to be defeated. Gabriel confessed to having Lila work for him both as a spy and as a willing accomplish for Hawkmoth. Adrien’s mom was brought to a hospital and Master Fu repaired the peacock miraculous and reversed the damage done to both her and Natalie. Lila was taken off to serve time in juvie and the two adults went to jail. Adrien was not to blame and was unofficially adopted by Marinette’s parents, which resulted in him spending a lot of time at the bakery. Adrien’s mom and Gabriel both revealed how she was forced into the marriage and forced to use the miraculous against her will. She got a divorce and ensured that Adrien got therapy. He was able to quit modeling and even got a restraining order against Lila just in case. He revealed himself to Marinette after a month and they decided to date. Her class did everything to make it up to the bluenette, but she merely shrugged at their words. She could care less now. They only wanted her to be their friend again because she was Ladybug. She and Chat announced their retirement to Paris two weeks after Hawkmoth’s defeat, although she still got to see Tikki and Plagg. It seemed like getting akumatized was the best thing that had happened to her.

[ynfics]

Personal faves

These stories (or whatever I  might put on here) are my personal faves and I will tell you guys why

Dead mall series - Seventeen-teen-teen-trash

Fandom: Seventeen

Genre: Horror

Type: Smau

Status: Completed

Pairing: None

Summary: The boys explore an abanoned mall to rekindle their friendship and things goes sideways when people start to go missing.

Why does it deserve to be a fave: Okay so basically I love Seventeen-teen-teen-trash, and I’ve been reading their stuff since Ash started their Svt college series. I’ve been there when both Liz and Mimi got introduced and has read all of their stuff too. Mimi wanted to write something different from the others and tried her hand at writing horror and thus the dead mall series was created. I became a part of a group chat where we discussed the au and theories everytime there was an update. We experienced this series to the fullest, and it just meant a lot to me at the time, I found a community of people who liked the same things and everyone in that chat was really nice and Mimi (who was also in the chat) was also realy nice and that whole period of time just meant a lot to me. 

Pigella vs Shadowmoth - Buggachat

Fandom: MLB

Genre: Humor

Type: Comic

Status: Completed

Paring: None

Summary: Pigella meets Shadowmoth

Why does it deserve to be a fave: It is amazing, just trust me! It is 1 minute of your time

Meeting you changed me - Bonbonthedragon

Fandom: BNHA

Genre: Fluff, Angst, Smut

Type: Written fic

Status: Ongoing

Pairing: Katsuki Bakugo x Reader

Summary: Dad!Bakugo who has been hurt before and is relucant to trust again but his son loves the owner of the cute coffeeshop on the corner.

Why does it deserve to be a fave: It’s got everything. Single dad!Bakugo, coffeshop au, kinda slowburn.

Little by little - Beibeecakes

Fandom: BNHA

Genre: Angst

Type: Oneshot

Status: Completed

Pairing: Katsuki Bakugo x his kids (in a wholesome way)

Summary: It is dad!Bakugo, but this is after wife!Reader dies on a mission and he is left alone in grief and with kids.

Why does it deserve to be a fave:  Dad!Bakugo, which I’m always a sucker for tbh, reconecting with his children through grief. I cried.

The prince and the shadows - Grufflepuff-writes-stuff

Fandom: Marvel

Genre: Fluff

Type: Oneshot

Status: Completed

Pairing: Loki Laufeyson x Reader

Summary: You grew up in Vanaheim, but spend a lot of time in Asgard with the princes. You’ve grown apart but has come of age and your mother want’s you to reconect.

Why does it deserve to be a fave: It is childhood friends to lovers, it’s just super cute.

You are thick -  Falloutjay

Fandom: South Park

Genre: Slight angst, fluff

Type: Oneshot

Status: Completed

Pairing: Kenny McCormick x Reader

Summary: Thick!Reader is dating Kenny and Cartman calls her names, Kenny is reader’s protector/confidence boost

Why does it deserve to be a fave: I love Kenny, and him sorta defending thick!Reader, just makes me feel some type of way.

Bakery “enemies” au - Buggachat

Fandom: MLB

Genre: Angst, Fluff

Type: Comic

Status: Ongoing

Pairing:  Marinette Dupain-Cheng x Adrien Agreste

Summary:  It is post Hawkmoth defeat. Ladybug and Chat Noir never learn each others identites and no one knew about Mayura. Marinette suspects Adrien so she believes they are enemies, he knows nothing and is just trying to move on.

Why does it deserve to be a fave:  It is sorta onesided enemies to lovers, since Adrien doesn’t know Marinette thinks they are enemies. It is all very nice and is in an amazing artstyle!

Scarlet Lady - Zoe-oneesama

Fandom: MLB

Genre: Humor, fluff

Type Comic

Status: Ongoing

Pairing: Marinette Depain-Cheng x Adrien Agreste

Summary:  Chloe  has stolen Tikki before Marinette got to meet her, so she is now Scarlet Lady who along with Chat Noir has to save Paris from Hawkmoth.

Why does it deserve to be a fave: Chloe sucks as a superhero, Marientte (kinda) catches a break for once, Adrien has the fattest crush on Marinette, who crushes on Chat Noir. A lot of character development that the actual show hasn’t done. Super cute artstyle!

Abberation - Bakuhoes-dumbass

Fandom: BNHA

Genre: Horror

Type: Written fic

Status: Ongoing

Pairing: Izuku Midoriya x Reader, Katsuki Bakugo x Reader, Shouto Todoroki x Reader, Eijiro Kirishima x Reader, Denki Kaminari x Reader, fumikage Tokoyami x Reader, Hitsohi Shinso x Reader, Tamaki Amajiki x Reader, Haws x Reader, Dabi x Reader, Kai Chisaki x Reader

Summary:  Quirks are a mutation which a very small part of the world posess. Reader is the new scientist at a facility that studies dangerous criminals with quirks.

Why does it deserve to be a fave: It is just a very uniqe idea and It is SO well written.

Butter fingers - Jincherie

Fandom: BTS

Genre: Fluff

Type: Oneshot

Status: Completed

Pairing: Kim Namjoon x Reader

Summary:  Hybrid!Namjoon as a preschool teacher.

Why does it deserve to be a fave: It is so cute! 

Another world - Nexusspiders

Fandom: Marvel

Genre: Angst, fluff

Type: Multi part fic

Status: On going

Pairing: Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) x Reader

Summary: In reader’s universe her Peter is killed by Green Goblin, so she takes over and becomes Spiderwoman. Que MCU Peter’s spell gone wrong, and she is transferred to that universe, but Peter 3 looks just like her Peter.

Why does it deserve to be a fave: It is amazingly written! And I love the heartbreaking thing with Peter 3 not knowing her while she has all these memories with him. 

Stumbling words - Writing-mlm

Fandom: BNHA

Genre: Fluff

Type: Oneshot

Status: Completed

Pairing: Denki Kaminari x Male!Reader

Summary: Denki has had a crush on Reader for 4 years and decides to try to ask them out. It takes a few tries.

Why does it deserve to be a fave: I love support course!Reader and all the possibilities it entails. It is super well written and it makes me giddy seeing the pining from both sides.

Bee movie AU - Moonlitceleste

Fandom: DC x MLB

Genre: Humor, fluff

Type: Fics, art, moodboard, playlist, merch?

Status: It is a masterlist of all things bee movie au

Pairing: Jason Todd x Marinette Dupain-Cheng

Summary: It is a dumb idea that  Moonlitceleste and Lady-literature started and it has blossomed into something amazing

Why does it deserve to be a fave: Honestly, why shouldnt it? It is the epitome of chaos and dumb funny stuff for characters that I love.

Yue/Zuko/Sokka - Shanastoryteller

Fandom: ATLA

Genre: Fluff? I’m not sure tbh

Type: Drabbles

Status: On going (I think)

Painring: Bethroed Zuko x Yue, Sokka is their lover

Summary: Zuko is bethroed to Yue to make an alliance between the fire nation and the Northern water tribe. Yue is in love with Sokka. Zuko does his absolute best to make Yue comfortable in the situatuon and tries to make sure that she gets the respect she deserves, from her own people and his alike. He ends up making Sokka both their lover and ambassador for the water tribe. He cares very much about Yue’s wellbeing.

Why does it deserve to be a fave: I love Yue and I never see fics with her as anything other than an enemy. I love their dynamic and how hard Zuko fights to give her everything she deserves.

Husband for hire - Bakugotrashpanda

Fandom: BNHA

Genre: Fluff, Angst

Type: Written fic

Status: Completed

Pairing: Bakugou Katsuki x Reader

Summary: Reader is facing the possibility of losing her farm if she is not married before the end of the year, Bakugou is a broke college student looking for a cheap place to stay. A fake marriage is the only logical solution.

Why does it deserve to be a fave: I have never had any kind of interest in Stardew Valley before reading this. It is so well written and the characterization of not only characters I already knew (Bakugou, Kirishima and so on) but I also felt like I knew the Stardew Valley characters.

Note: Reading this made me buy the game

To shape a home - Mindninjax

Fandom: BNHA

Genre: Fluff, Angst, Smut

Type: Written fic

Status: Completed

Pairing: Bakugou Katsuki x Reader

Summary: Reader inherits her grandfathers farm in her old hometown, a runin with a rude farmer makes the whole experience more memorable as she tries to make the old farm into a home.

Why does it deserve to be a fave: I have never had any kind of interest in Stardew Valley before reading this. It is so well written and so detailed! Turns out I am indeed a slut for Farmer!Bakugou. Love that other My hero characters are residing in the town and I love the relationships between the different characters.

Note: Reading this made me buy the game. Sweet Mama deserves everything.

The age of consent - Officialeddiemunson

Fandom: Stranger Things

Genre: Angst, Fluff, Smut

Type: Written fic

Status: Ongoing

Paining: Eddie Munson x Henderson!Reader

Summary: Reader worries that her brothers new idol could be a bad influence on him. It doesn’t help that her and Eddie have history. 

Why does it deserve to be a fave: It is Henderson!Reader, which I am a slut for. It is really well written and I love that you get to see a chapter from Eddie’s pov so soon. I love the sibling dynamic between Reader and Dustin, and the dynamic between her and Eddie. I love that you get to uncover both sides of their breakup.

A guide to D&D and dating - Munsons-maiden

Fandom: Stranger Things

Genre: Fluff, Slight angst

Type: Oneshot

Status: Finished

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Reader

Summary: You wanted to surprise your boyfriend Eddie, to do so you’ve convinced Dustin to teach you Dnd. Eddie starts to worry as this makes you cancel dates often. 

Why does it deserve to be a fave: It is so cute! As someone who actually plays dnd it makes me happy to have a fic that (kinda) has a focus on the game. The dynamic between Dustin and reader is immaculate. Eddie being cute and worried. 

Jealousy, jealousy -  Theoreticslut

Genre: Angst, fluff

Type: Oneshot

Status: Finished

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Henderson!Reader

Summary: You are a well established part of the Hellfire club but when your brother and his friends join you get pushed aside.

Why does it deserve to be a fave: It is so well written! The sibling jealousy feels so real. Everything is *chefskiss*

The song of beren and luthien -  Iliaclwrites

Genre: Fluff

Type: Written fic

Status: Finished

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Reader

Summary: No one knows that Eddie has a girlfriend. No one would have guessed it to be the cute assistant librarian who helps Dustin with his first campaign in Hellfire. 

Why does it deserve to be a fave: It is so cute! Reader is amazing and the way she helps Dustin with his campaign and the whole brownie thing from part 2. Amazing.

June baby - Luveline

Genre: Fluff, slight angst

Type: Will be a written fic

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Teen mom!Reader

Summary: Eddie finds a toddler infront of his house and decides to meet his new neighbours. 

Why does it deserve to be a fave: It is so cute! Junie is so acurately written, like you can feel her being a toddler. Junie’s relationship with Eddie and the way he jut pops around to help in cute sneaky ways!

Man of the month - Mochie85

Genre: Angst, fluff, slight smut

Type: Series

Status: Finished

Pairing: Loki Laufeyson x Reader

Summary: You are a member of the avengers who enjoys photography as a hobby. Tony robes you in to plan and take the pictures for the Avengers very own tasteful nudes calender. Problem is that while apparently some of your teammembers may have feelings for you, you only have eyes for one and you’re certain he doesn’t feel the same. 

Why does it deserve to be a fave: It is so nice and fun, not so much the whole nice guy thing Steve has going on, but it feels so in character! I love that we can feel y/n becoming more and more on edge as the fateful december shoot edges closer. I really enjoy her relationship to the different characters and seeing how they react to rejection. I love the friendship she evolves with Shaun.

First Impressions - Lost-walmartbag

Genre: Angst, fluff

Type: Series

Status: Ongoing

Pairing: Eric Cartman x Reader

Summary: You meet Eric Cartman in college and start dating (a good and healthy relationship), he takes you back to meet his mom and South Park in general.

Why does it deserve to be a fave: I hate Eric Cartman with my entire being... This fic has made me see him in a completely different light.. I really like his character in this fic and I can’t wait to see him try to come to terms with and/or try to justify his actions from the show. Also this is a Liane Cartman hateclub. 

[callidora-kennedy]

Adrien to nino on phone

Adrien - I am going to convince my father !

Nino - Yes ! Apply the 'ok boomer' !

Adrien - Yes ! I would definitely come to the party !

Nino - How did it go my dude ?

Adrien - I may or may not be able to attend public school again .

Nino - du-

Adrien : Oh yea . Also this is my last phone call till I am 18 .

[tsuki-chibi]

The Ace-ing on the Cake Part 14: Valentine’s Day

Or read it on AO3: The Ace-ing on the Cake

Part of my Aro-Ace Valentine Collection.

--------

As the sun fully crested the horizon, Ladybug lifted her head from Chat’s shoulder. “We should go,” she said regretfully. “My alarm will be going off soon. Maman always pokes her head into my bedroom ten minutes after to make sure I’m up for Alya.”

“Right. I should go too,” Chat said. Yet he found that he didn’t want to. The night had flown by, to the point where he couldn’t believe it was Tuesday morning already. He and Ladybug had spent the whole night talking. No question went unanswered. Chat had even talked about what it was like when his mother first disappeared, and he never spoke about that with anyone.

They had talked about everything… except the obvious.

Now, Ladybug stood and stretched. She rotated her shoulders to ease the stiffness, then turned to him and offered her hand. Chat took it and allowed her to pull him up, realizing that he was pretty stiff too. Miraculous or not, human bodies weren’t really designed to sit in one position for hours on end. It felt good to stretch, and besides he knew any lingering stiffness would be worked out during the run home.

“I’ll see you soon?” Ladybug asked, biting her lip.

Chat nodded. “I’m at school all day today.”

“Good.” She smiled then as she reached for her yoyo. “How about this, I’ll bring some pastries for breakfast and you bring coffee?”

“Deal,” Chat said instantly. He was pretty sure he could talk his bodyguard into stopping at a high-end café that made awesome coffee. This was what, his third night without any sleep? And he was pretty sure the same went for Ladybug. Both of them were going to need caffeine to make it through the day.

“Okay.” She started to pull her arm back. Chat’s hand flashed out and he grabbed her wrist to stop her. They stared at each other for a moment, and then Ladybug’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“I still love you,” Chat blurted out, because he needed her to know that. “I meant what I said earlier. I always will. I don’t know if – well, I don’t know what you want… if this changes anything… but it doesn’t for me.”

For a moment, she just looked shocked. Then a pink blush crept into her cheeks. “I… um, could you detransform?”

Taken aback, Chat nodded. “Uh, sure? Plagg, claws in.”

“You better give me the good quality Camembert for this!” Plagg cried the instant he was out of the ring. “This is kwami abuse!”

“Tikki, spots off,” Ladybug said, rolling her eyes.

“Plagg, stop being so dramatic,” Tikki scolded. “Hi Adrien!”

“Hi Tikki,” Adrien said, a little flustered. By now, he knew for sure that Ladybug and Marinette were one and the same. But seeing it happen right in front of him, that quick flash of light changing red and black spots to red cotton and denim, still left him breathless.

“Hey Pigtails,” Plagg said grumply.

“Hi Plagg,” Marinette said. “Could you guys give us a minute?”

“Sure!” Tikki chirped, literally grabbing Plagg and dragging them away. Adrien was pretty sure he heard a ferocious argument breaking out as the two kwamis went.

“Adrien?”

“Yes?” He turned his attention back to Marinette, shivering a little; even for mid-February, it was colder than he had expected. But if Marinette noticed the chill, she didn’t let on: she stood with her hands clasped behind her back, color still high in her cheeks, but a determined expression on her face.

“I have a crush on you,” she blurted out. “No, wait. Actually, I’m in love with you. I have been for a long time now, but I could never work up the courage to say anything. So I’m saying it now. I love you.”

It felt like a swarm of ladybugs had taken the place of his heart. Adrien had to swallow to get rid of the lump in his throat before he could speak. “I love you too, Marinette.”

Marinette just stood there, eyes closed as though savoring the moment, before she gave a shaky laugh. “Wow. I’ve… I’ve run through this exact scenario so many times in my head. Like, so many times you don’t even know. And never once did I imagine that it would happen like this.”

“Is that bad?” Adrien asked uncertainly.

“No!” Marinette shook her head so hard the ends of her pigtails slapped her face. “It’s good… really good. My best dreams couldn’t measure up to reality.” She smiled. “I can’t believe we got so lucky. That… that we are who we are… and that we’re so compatible, I mean. I was really torn about having to decide between you and Chat Noir.”

“Well, we’re even. I was having a rough time with Marinette and Ladybug,” Adrien said. He remembered how he’d been thinking that it would be so easy to love Marinette. It turned out he’d been right.

She flashed him another smile and went to speak, but Tikki called out, “Marinette, I’m sorry, but it’s after 7:30am.”

“It’s what? Shit!” Adrien squeaked. “Plagg, claws out!”

“Tikki, spots on!”

“I’ll see you at school,” Chat said quickly.

“Wait!” Ladybug said.

He turned. “What?”

Ladybug blushed a bit, but said, “I realized… it’s been a dream of mine that Adrien would say he loved me, so I thought it might be a dream for you to hear it from me.” And she looked him right in the eyes. “I’m in love with you, Chat Noir.”

Then, her face turning as red as her suit as his mouth fell open, she spun on her heel and leapt off the roof. Chat stared after her in dumbstruck silence, watching as she threw out her yoyo at the exact moment necessary to turn her fall into a graceful, controlled swing. Within seconds, she was out of sight and he was standing there with a goofy smile on his face.

At least, until he realized the time. Then he yelped and rushed to get home. He made it in the window and detransformed, shoving Camembert at Plagg and racing into the shower. He had enough time to quickly wash, dress, and style his hair before Nathalie was knocking at his door. She confirmed that he only had fencing practice this afternoon, and then he was out the door and in the car.

It didn’t take much persuasion to get the Gorilla to stop at the café – his bodyguard had a real weakness for their lemon meringue cookies. As Adrien walked in, he noticed that the café was ostentatiously decorated in with multiple pink, white and red hearts. But he still didn’t clue in as to what day it was until he got up to the counter and the barista greeted him thusly:

“Happy Valentine’s Day! What can I get for you?”

“Ah, shit,” Adrien said, and then realized he’d said that to her face. “Ah! N-no! I m-mean – ”

“Forgot it was Valentine’s?” she interrupted with a smirk. “There’s a flower shop across the street.”

“Uh… thanks,” Adrien said. He placed his order for two drinks and then moved aside, glancing out the window. Should he get Marinette something? They hadn’t exactly talked about whether they were dating, but they had professed their love. Surely that meant they were about to start dating? Would she like getting flowers again so soon? He had just brought her some a few nights ago, but they would have a different connotation now.

He debated the whole time he was waiting for his order before making up his mind. He ran the drinks out to the car and then darted across the street. The flower shop was slammed; apparently, Adrien wasn’t the only one who had forgotten what day it was. He made his selection and waited to pay, then dashed back to the car with his prize clutched in one hand.

Luckily, traffic was minimal so they still got to the school with about twenty minutes to spare. Adrien slung his backpack over his shoulder, tucked the bouquet into the crook of one arm, and picked up the coffees. As he stepped out of the car, he immediately spotted his friends. They were sitting at one of the picnic tables in the yard, with a box from the Dupain-Cheng bakery easily visible. His mouth watered as he quickly walked over.

“Coffee!” Marinette said, perking up.

“Extra large,” Adrien said, handing hers over. Fortunately, he had bought coffee for Ladybug enough times that he knew exactly how she liked it when she was feeling tired: strong and sweet.

“Can we open up the pastries now?” Nino asked.

Alya spoke over him, her eyes zeroing in on the wrapped flowers. “What’s with the gift, Agreste?”

“Ah…” Adrien flushed. Leave it to Alya. He set his coffee down on the table and then awkwardly offered the bouquet to Marinette.

Her eyes widened. Nino’s jaw dropped. Alya gasped and yanked out her phone.

“Marinette, will you go out with me tonight?” Adrien asked, trying hard to ignore the fact that they were being recorded. “I have fencing practice, but if you’d be willing to wait around for me, I’d love to buy you dinner afterwards?” He was suddenly irrationally afraid she’d say no. But Marinette’s face lit up and she nodded eagerly before she even spoke.

“Of course I will. I’d love to go out with you,” she said, gently taking the bouquet. She unwrapped them to reveal a cluster of pink, red and white roses. They’d cost Adrien a fortune, but it was well worth the gorgeous smile that lit up his lady’s face.

“Holy shit,” Alya said, gawking at the flowers.

Nino whistled softly. “Dude, you sure know how to make the rest of us look bad.” But he smiled as he spoke, and leaned over to gently punch Adrien’s arm in approval.

“They’re beautiful. Thank you, Adrien,” Marinette said, her eyes sparkling. It was a truly happy look that he realized he rarely saw on either Marinette or Ladybug; as he sat next to her, he promised himself that he would do whatever he could to make that look appear more often.

“So, wait, what did I miss?” Alya said suddenly. “Marientte, did you – did you confess?!”

“We both did. Turns out we were pining for each other without even knowing it,” Marinette said, winking at Adrien.

“You always said Marinette was just a friend!” Nino exclaimed.

“Well, I wasn’t wrong. She is my friend. I just couldn’t see what else she was,” Adrien said innocently.

“Then what changed?” Alya asked, narrowing her eyes.

“We realized how compatible we are,” Marinette replied. She had already told Chat that she hadn’t talked to Alya about her orientation, and Adrien didn’t think that had changed. He had to hide his grin behind his coffee, knowing that this was going to drive Alya crazy. He and Marinette were going to have to come up with a cover story and soon, before Alya got either of them alone to interrogate.

“How compatible you are?” Alya repeated, sounding baffled. She and Nino exchanged looks.

“That’s right,” Adrien said contentedly, taking a long sip of his coffee. Marinette opened up the pastry box and offered him one. He took a raspberry tart and bit into it.

“That makes no sense,” Alya said finally.

“But the important thing is that you’re happy,” Nino said firmly.

Alya made a face. “Right, right. Happy. But… I can’t believe you confessed and didn’t tell me first!”

Marinette blushed. “It was a spur of the moment thing. Adrien and I were talking and one thing led to another,” she said, which wasn’t completely a lie.

“We didn’t plan it,” Adrien added, which was the honest truth. He leaned closer to Marinette and let their shoulders lightly bump together. There was still a lot they needed to talk about and figure out – preferably without their best friends sitting across from them – but right now he was the happiest he could ever remember being.

“I want to see you kiss,” Alya announced, and Adrien choked a bit on his next drink of coffee.

“Alya!” Nino said.

“It’s fine,” Marinette said, sounding only a little nervous. “We’ve kissed before.”

They had? Oh, right. Dark Cupid. And Oblivio. Adrien had almost forgotten about those encounters; he wasn’t sure they counted, because he didn’t remember the kiss during Dark Cupid’s attack and neither of them remembered what had happened during Oblivio – they only knew a kiss had happened because of Alya’s photo. But, he realized now, he and Marinette must’ve figured out their identities and things had proceeded naturally. Even with no memories, they had still loved each other. It was a heartwarming thought.

Marinette turn to him and leaned in, and so did he. Her blue eyes were all he could in the moment before their lips brushed chastely, sending a wave of tingles down Adrien’s spine. She tasted like coffee. Adrien had to put a hand on her knee for balance, less the magnitude of the moment make him topple over completely. When he pulled back, she was smiling.

“Oh my god, they’re so cute!” Alya said, clutching Nino’s arm.

“Hell yeah we are,” Marinette said. Under the table, she put her hand over Adrien’s and squeezed. Adrien turned his hand over, lacing their fingers together, and took another drink of coffee.

[alicepink-me]

The New Guardian

Story Summary: Marinette Dupain-Cheng is an adult in the real world, guarding the Miracle Box in Master Fu's place. She's in love with Chat Noir, but refuses to tell him her feelings. New holders appear to fight the duo and shake up their lives. Marinette makes a tough decision about her future as Ladybug.

Chapter 8: A Fresh Start

Marinette and Mint appeared at the base of a snowy mountain in Tibet. The temple stood at the top. It looked a little shinier and more developed than the images Master Fu had showed her, but it still kept the original ancient designs and shapes. The entire thing was huge.

"Now, you can meet me at the top." Mint said, releasing Marinette's hand before wiping her own on her leg.

"Wait, can't you just teleport us up there like you did when you brought us here?" Marinette panicked. "If you can zap me from Paris to Tibet, I think we can make it up a measly mountain."

"Of course I can." Mint rolled her eyes. "But we left Paris almost immediately and you made me take a pitstop, so . . . no one is actually expecting you and this is partial payback."

"What?!" Marinette dropped her suitcase.

"Geez, you're so loud." Mint retorted. "I'm going to teleport inside and tell the council that you're here. By the time you make it to the top, they'll be ready for you." She grinned.

Marinette shivered. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not exactly dressed for this snow."

"Stop whining. Think of this as part of your training." Mint backed away. "We go through far worse sometimes, so a measly mountain, as you put it, shouldn't be much of a problem for you." She smiled and waved before poofing away.

Marinette sighed and picked up her suitcase. She stared up at the temple, immediately dreading the walk. Mint was a real pain, and she assumed this training would be too. 

. . .

"What does this mean, Plagg?" Adrien sat on the edge of his bed, sighing. "I don't understand . . . "

"I don't know, she seemed really emotional after the whole being forced to admit her love to you incident today." Plagg retorted. "I don't know if rational thinking is a possibility for her right now."

"But Ladybug sent me a map twenty minutes ago and . . . I have no idea why." Adrien looked down at his phone. "It's strange."

Plagg flew to the cheese drawer. "Well why haven't you followed it? Isn't she the love of your life?"

"Ladybug wouldn't do something that ominous unless something's wrong, but it's hard to say."

"Like I said, there's a zero chance for rational thinking." Plagg rummaged through the cheese.

"If she wanted to meet, she could easily call or send a text." Adrien stood and walked to the window. "But this is different. I have a feeling that this map is a message itself." He sighed and turned around. "Plagg, Claws Out!"

Chat Noir jumped on the open window and pulled out his baton. He opened the map. Upon close inspection, it led to the Eiffel Tower, but there was an x on one spot. Oddly suspicious and very creepy. He might be walking straight into another trap, but what else could he do?

Chat Noir jumped out and propelled himself across the city. He flung himself on the tower and stopped, looking around. Definitely no Ladybug, but according to the map, she wants him to find something. Chat opened the map again and scaled the side of the tower, climbing higher. He moved left and jumped to a beam. He searched the area and found a white letter across from him. Chat used his staff to push himself to that beam. He reached under and grabbed the letter off of the metal. He flipped it over. It had Chat Noir written in cursive on the front.

"This is it." He sighed, peeling it open. He leaned back.

"Chat Noir,

          After today's events and a lot of thinking, I have decided to take a break. My mind feels like it might explode, but this is for the best. I did not want you to know any of my secrets, let alone my feelings, so this is in fact necessary. If need be, I will find you a new partner for the time being, but because of my recent decision, no one else will be sent to Paris from the temple. Mint has promised me that, so you should be safe. But if another villain shows up for some odd reason, do not expect me to come. I have found a new way to fix our problems and it involves the Miracle Box. Maybe a new angle on this situation is for the best. Fighting a lost cause won't do us any good either. I will stay in the shadows until I decide to return to Paris. I don't know how long I will be gone and I don't know what will happen, but do not worry about me. I will return at some point, but distance is good for now. It's best we don't see each other or communicate, so don't try to find me. I am not lost.

                                                                                                                                -Ladybug"

Chat sniffled, folding the letter back up and sliding it in the envelope. He sat down on the beam and sighed. "Claws off." He mumbled.

"What are you thinking?" Plagg asked.

"Well . . . I was hoping she'd be here, even though it was doubtful. I really wanted to kiss her and I had hope for us." Adrien answered. "But she doesn't want to see me."

"She didn't say that." Plagg argued.

"She basically spelled it out for me, Plagg!" He yelled. "Ladybug wants to get as far away from me as possible and she's quitting as one of Paris's heroes. She hates the idea of loving me so much that she'd rather give up everything in order to get away." Adrien's breathing shook. "Ladybug joined the enemy. Her entire belief system has changed today and now . . . we aren't partners anymore."

"She said she's coming back." Plagg reasoned. "Ladybug just needs time to think."

"Time to think doesn't require leaving the country or abandoning your life." Adrien wiped his nose. "We could never have been lovers, we aren't friends anymore, and she's ended our partnership." Adrien leaned against the metal. "We're over." He stated. "There is no more Ladybug and Chat Noir."

. . .

Marinette aggressively threw her suitcase inside the front door. The front of the temple building looked like a hotel from up here. After the dreadful staircase that Marinette dragged herself up was a flat area and then a small set of steps that led to the glass doors. "Oh, I am so gonna kill you!" Marinette threatened, marching towards Mint. "I can't believe y-"

"Calm down." Mint leaned against the countertop of the front lobby. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

Marinette bent over, trying to catch her breath. "Why you-"

"If you can't handle it here, you can walk all the way back to Paris." Mint smiled. "I won't teleport you back and if you thought this mountain was hard . . . you've got a long road ahead of you."

Marinette straightened, rolling her eyes.. "Well where do we start then?" She huffed.

"Master Mantis!" Mint turned around. "I brought you the Ladybug." Marinette glared at her.

The old man behind the counter turned around with a smile. "Oh good. I was just finding your papers." He walked around and took Marinette's hand, shaking it excessively. "It is so nice to finally meet you. The Ladybug, guardian, and superhero doing it all. It is so fascinating."

"Uh . . . you too." Marinette awkwardly laughed. "I think this place is way more interesting."

"I'm sure you'll fit in just fine here, but first . . . " Mantis moved behind the counter and pulled out a four inch stack of papers. "You'll need to fill out all of your paperwork." He smiled and handed it to her, Marinette's eyes widening. "All are due tomorrow morning at the start of your first class."

"Uh . . . thank you." Marinette scanned the papers.

Mantis dug in his pocket before pulling out a red key. "Oh and don't forget your room key. Room 672." He set it on the stack. Marinette nodded and the man left.

Mint picked up Marinette's suitcase. "Don't forget your bags." She smiled, throwing it at her.

Marinette fell back, her papers falling. "I am about to-" Mint was gone.

. . .

1 hr and 43 minutes Later:

Marinette scanned the hallway. "668." She panted. "I must be close. I have to be."

Marinette stumbled down the hall, limping to her door. She developed quite a few blisters today. While she wandered through these buildings for almost two hours, Marinette realized that this place was almost like a college. It was too violent and creepy to be one, but it seemed a little educational.

Marinette reached her door, releasing a breath of relief. She fumbled with her key and finally unlocked it, pushing the door open. The wood creaked. Marinette hauled everything inside. There was one bed already made and an empty one on the right. She dragged her suitcase to the empty one and threw everything on top with a thump.

"Hello."

Marinette jumped, hearing a voice behind her. She turned around to see a girl smiling. "I guess you're my roommate?" The girl stood at Marientte's height with light brown, shoulder length, straight hair. She had dark eyes and wore sweatpants with a long sleeved black shirt.

"Yep." The girl answered, moving to the side and shifting her weight. Her mood changed. "But I'm not too happy about it, so I don't wanna hear your sob stories when you return from each class or when you finally drop out of this place."

Marinette was taken back. "Why would I drop out?"

"Because you cheated your entire life with a miraculous. You never actually worked for that power and now you have to start." The girl circled Marinette like prey. "Once you get a taste of real training and discipline, you're guaranteed to quit. You'll run home and never return."

"I won't quit. I never have and I won't now." Marinette crossed her arms, her nerves easing as she breathed. "And it's best you don't listen to any rumors about me. I will prove each and every one to be wrong."

The girl stopped. "We'll see." She huffed. "I don't believe they're just rumors."

Marinette gave a friendly smile and held out her hand. "I'm Marinette by the way."

The girl looked at it and crossed her arms. "April." She replied, ignoring her invite. "And I should be going." April turned around and opened the door. A giant brown box stood in front of her. She rolled her eyes in annoyance. "You have mail." She stepped around it and sauntered away.

Marinette walked over and dragged the box inside, closing the door. She began to rip open the top. Marinette knew exactly what this was. She rummaged through the packaging peanuts. Mint had to be touching her hand for the teleportation to work, so Marinette could only carry one bag at a time. Mint would've had to go back for the rest. Marinette found the gold tip and pulled the phonograph out. She brushed off any dust and looked around. The Miracle box was hidden inside and no one else knew the code to open it, but she still needed to hide it.

Marinette set the phonograph on her bed and scanned the room. Her bed was raised with a dresser underneath it. There was a desk at the end of her bed and a closet. April's side was identical to hers, but decorated. The closet would be the best bet for a hiding spot although she didn't bring a ton of clothes to cover it up. Marinette hardly packed anything, but maybe she could convince Mint to zap her to a store.

For now, she needed to unpack, fill out a ginormous stack of papers, and deal with a roommate that already hates her. Maybe she'd write in her diary. For some reason, Marinette brought it even though it's been a year since she last wrote anything. Maybe a new beginning means new entries, but from here on out, it's a fresh start for her.

[hazellvesque]

In Perfect Harmony

A collection of lovesquare centered one-shots, short stories, and drabbles based on song lyric prompts.

AO3

Chapter 1: Kiss The Girl | >>

“She won’t say a word until you kiss the girl.” -The Little Mermaid

Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng

She supposed it could be worse. The last time an akuma escaped them before she was able to purify it, the city was in shambles.

At least now there was no threat of buildings falling down or innocent lives being threatened. But still, it had been two whole days and she was running out of ideas. How was she going to use her power if she couldn’t speak?

When Luka had turned into Silencer, it was different. Her voice still existed somewhere, all she had to do was find a way to get someone else to use it to her advantage.

This time? There were no clever tricks up her sleeve. Even her lucky charm had proved to be utterly useless.

At least she was able to skip her presentation in class on Monday. And with a valid excuse, no less.

“Look at it this way, Ms. Mendeleiev, it could be a lot worse,” Adrien said, gesturing over to Chloe, who had been one of the first to be hit by a blast from The Librarian’s book. She sat hardly upright at her desk, her head barely supported by her left hand as she drifted in and out of sleep.

The Librarian – whose identity was still unknown as she was still running amuck throughout Paris – had been cursing innocent people all over the city with the fates of classic literary characters. Chloe, it seemed, was fated to keep dreaming until her supposed true love came along to wake her. No one was too eager to try.

A few hours after The Librarian’s rampage started, it became clear that some of the victims could be helped, as long as they played along with their stories. Such a solution was easy for people like Ivan and Mylene, who had been able to break Ivan’s beastly curse simply by being in each other’s presence. Since the Beast already had someone he loved who also loved him in return, the spell was broken immediately.

Some people had even been lucky enough to turn water into wine, or have everything they touched turned to gold. The story plaguing – or benefitting – each person was entirely random. Some had even been hit with a blast from the cursed book and noticed no side effects, leaving them to wait in paranoia to see if their siblings would turn wicked or notice that their shoes were all suddenly too small.

Marinette suspected that Lila could have easily been living out the story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf, and the class would be none-the-wiser, as her grandstanding ways hadn’t changed in the slightest. She thought of the girl getting cursed like Pinocchio instead, and instinctively went to stifle a soundless giggle.

Alya, ever the chatterbox, was one of the worse off. Evidently, she had been cursed to live out the fate of the Greek nymph Echo, who could only speak words that others spoke first. She’d been communicating almost entirely in shrugs, eyerolls, and frustrated gestures for two days now.

Marinette, however, would take a frustrating game of call-and-answer any day over complete silence.

She’d hoped that, since she’d been hit while transformed, the effects would wear off once her Miraculous timed out, but no dice. She resisted the urge to fidget with her earrings – plain black and utterly useless now that she couldn’t call out to Tikki to transform again. At least she’d already used her Lucky Charm before she was hit.

Had this attack happened six months prior, the idea of Chat Noir learning her identity in that moment would have mortified her more than any embarrassing curse. But Adrien had figured out who she truly was – and vice versa – right around the end of the previous school year.

Revealing their identities had made things a hell of a lot harder regarding juggling their personal relationships, but at least Chat Noir was able to see her de-transform and not make a huge deal out of it anymore.

It would still take her a while before watching Adrien turn into Chat stopping being completely weird.

Over half of the class had been afflicted, and the final excuse from Alix, who could now only speak the absolute truth (“Alix, are you ready to present today?” “You know, I could, but it probably won’t be that good.”) sent Ms. Mendeleiev over the edge. Class was dismissed until Ladybug and Chat Noir could set things straight. Whenever that may be.

Adrien hooked his arm around Marinette’s elbow as the students filed out of the classroom, ignoring the looks from Alya and Nino that they’d been getting for months now. Not that any of their speculations were true. After half a year, Adrien and Marinette still hadn’t talked about what would happen next, if anything was to be expected at all. Perhaps if she was cursed to be silent forever they’d never have to have that awkward conversation. Maybe this akuma wasn’t so bad.

“Let me walk you home,” Adrien said, smirking in a way that was all Chat Noir. “No, I insist. Really, it’s not a big deal at all, no need to protest.”

She mustered up her most annoyed glare and hoped it would get her point across clearly.

They entered through the back door, with Adrien giving her parents a quick greeting before whisking her off to her room.

(“That’s so nice of you to be helping Marinette in class,” Sabine gushed. “So polite and considerate!”

Marinette couldn’t even groan in response.)

She opened the trapdoor to her room slowly, careful not to scatter their notes even more. She and Adrien had spent hours trying to theorize ways to purify the akuma, with Marinette communicating entirely in written notes that she haphazardly tossed to the ground every time an idea didn’t work out.

Tikki and Plagg flew out from their respective hiding spots the moment the door shut behind them.

“We’re just lucky you didn’t get hit too,” Plagg muttered to Adrien as he curled up on Marinette’s pillow, Tikki following close behind. “You two had better think of something quick before the akuma comes back for another round.”

Meanwhile Marinette laid back onto her chaise, entirely too frustrated to even think of any new bright ideas.

“Hey,” Adrien said gently, nudging Marinette’s foot aside as he took a seat next to her. “Think of it this way, things could be worse. You might have turned into a scarecrow with no brains. Or had a wicked witch try to fatten you up with cookies.”

Marinette scrunched her nose, pointing downwards towards the general direction of the bakery.

Adrien’s cheeks pinked. “Right. My bad. But your mom and dad are still safe for now, which just means we have to figure out a way to get you back to your old self sooner rather than later. What have we already crossed off the list?”

Marinette sat upright, fetching a stray paper that had some of their better ideas written down.

Ladyblog(?) was the closest thing they’d found to a solution, but even though there were plenty of clips of Ladybug summoning a Lucky Charm, no one had ever caught Marinette on video or audio uttering her transformation phrase, so that was a bust.

Destroy the book was the next best idea, and Chat would have no issue doing so as long as he avoided getting hit by one of its blasts first; but setting the butterfly free without any way to purify it was dangerous. They didn’t want another Stoneheart situation on their hands.

“We can always try to figure out the story you’ve been cursed with,” Adrien uttered the very words Marinette was regretting.

Because they both already knew exactly what story she was living. And it had already been two days.

Once upon a time a little mermaid signed her voice away to a sea witch, desperate to live on land with the prince she had fallen for. If she got him to fall in love with her in three days, she would regain her voice and live out her happily ever after.

No, Marinette thought. That couldn’t be the version she was living.

Ever since the moment they revealed themselves, they’d danced around this conversation, but the facts were clear as day: something much bigger than friendship laid between them. The mere thought of it now brought blood rushing to both of their faces.

Chat Noir had professed his love for Ladybug more times than she could count. Adrien had owned Marinette’s heart since he first gave her his umbrella. The two of them had managed to fall in love with each other without even realizing it.

And regardless of whether or not romance was involved, they were partners. The level of trust, respect, and care they held for each other was unprecedented. They were best friends. No words were needed to understand that.

Love wasn’t the stipulation here. Otherwise, the curse would already be broken.

No. The Librarian had a different idea in mind for them.

In this version of the fairytale, the prince has to kiss the princess in three days’ time to break the spell.

Marinette wanted to take her pillow and scream into it, even though no sound would come out.

It wouldn’t be either one’s first kiss, not even with each other. They had Dislocœur and Oblivio to thank for those instances. But both of those times had been hidden behind the masks and secret identities. This time they’d just be Marientte and Adrien. Friends. Partners. Something more?

Marinette risked a glance at Adrien. He looked back, a small sad smile on his face. Unmasked and honest and looking just as vulnerable as she felt.

“It’s okay. We can think of another way,” he tried to reassure her. “We’ve always found our way out of sticky situations before so. . .”

Marinette placed her hand over his. Slowly, she shook her head.

He stared back at her. Then blinked once, twice. “No?”

She shook her head again.

“You don’t think we can find a solution, do you?”

Marinette sighed and broke eye contact.

Adrien moved to kneel in front of her, making her look at him again.

“Listen,” he took both of her hands into his, effectively making her forget how to breathe for a moment as he spoke. “I have an idea. And I think you do too. Right?”

It took her a few moments to work up the courage to nod.

“But we can always try to think of something else, if you want,” he said gently.

Another moment passed. This time, she shook her head firmly. No. There was no time to sit around avoiding this.

At that, Adrien’s eyes widened. He glanced down at their intertwined fingers and smiled softly, almost laughing.

“I’ll be honest, my lady, this isn’t exactly what I thought of when I pictured this moment.”

He rose to his feet, pulling Marinette up with him. She let herself rise effortlessly, entirely too focused on the words that just left his mouth. He’s thought about this before. She couldn’t stop staring into his eyes. She never thought she’d hear him say those words.

“I thought maybe if I was lucky enough that we’d get to this point someday, I could make some kind of grand gesture. To make up for all of the times we’ve missed the mark before.”

Oh. Right. Chat Noir couldn’t remember either time they’d kissed. So that meant - Marinette realized - that for Adrien, this would be the first.

Adrien’s voice dropped even lower. “If you don’t want things to change, I understand. This doesn’t have to make things any different if you don’t want to. But if you don’t mind me saying this. . . I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time that I really, really want to kiss you. Is that okay?”

If only she could tell him that she’d always wanted things to be different. That for half a year, she’d been waiting for things to change. She’d just never had the courage to say it, all because of the fear of not knowing how he felt. And now she didn’t need to say any words at all to finally express what she’d been wanting to say all along.

Releasing her hold on his left hand, she touched his cheek lightly and pressed her forehead to his, hoping that the gesture was just as clear as a verbal confirmation.

Her eyes fluttered shut as he closed the distance between them, pressing his lips against hers.

She didn’t need to be living a fairytale to feel like she was floating on air. She’d go through years worth of Chat’s incessant flirting and her pent up nervousness over Adrien all over again if she knew it would lead up to this moment. There was no need for a sea witch or a final epic battle, just the relieving feeling of the weight being lifted off her shoulders to tell her that they were heading towards a happy ending.

Ever the gentleman, he pulled away mere seconds later, eyes opening slowly, the pink flush on his face refusing to budge.

“Was that alright?” he frowned slightly at his own question before rephrasing, “Did it work?”

And in response, Marinette giggled - a clear sound that echoed through her room - and whispered “Yes,” before kissing him again.