#me impersonating a miraculous ladybug fan

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Jubilation

So far, Season 5 has been pretty decent for the most part. Sure, there have already been a handful of plotholes and retcons (to the point where I'm honestly thinking of starting a retcon counter in the future), but at the very worse, the first three episodes were below average at worst. But now we have to see how the Akuma of the day formula will play out now. Can it bring new life to this show, or is that nothing more than a pipe dream?

Let's get into the fourth (chronologically the fourth) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Jubilation

The episode starts off with Marinette going for a jog, and shockingly, it isn't in her pajamas, but rather, clothing appropriate for running. She stops to see an advertisement for the Alliance rings, and reminds the audience that she's totally not in love with Adrien anymore because it cost her most of the Miraculous. Marinette is about to continue running, when she sees her principal, Mr. Damocles, dressing up at the superhero, the Owl, while attempting to save a cat from a billboard... even though he learned his lesson all the way back in his spotlight episode, “The Dark Owl”. Before Marinette has the chance to save him from his incompetence, another girl dressed as Ladybug saves Mr. Damocles, though Marinette recognizes her as an old friend. Both “heroes” run off, but Marinette has an idea of who the fake Ladybug is.

Marinette: That fake Ladybug from this morning, I think it was Socqueline, a school friend from last year. Knowing her, I’m sure she means well. But I have to convince her to stop putting herself in danger like that.

So basically, we're repeating the civilian plotline of “The Dark Owl”, but this time, with two different heroes. I'm also confused as to why we've never heard of Socqueline until Season 5, especially if Marinette already knows her. It's not as egregious or forced as Zoe's introduction, but it's weird that Marinette has never brought her up, not even to Tikki or Alya.

Also, why the hell does she look like Marinette? It was at least understandable to reuse Adrien's character model for Felix because they were related, but these two are just friends, and Socqueline doesn’t even have the same name most fans use for the PV Ladybug, Bridgette. What, did you think changing her name would make the reference more subtle? Oh yeah, and even though we already have two Asian characters with the same surname, Socqueline’s last name is also Wang. Because just like the mayor and ice cream man sharing the same first name, this isn’t confusing in the slightest.

Socqueline works at a local arts and crafts store, and before Marinette can ask her for why she's pretending to be Ladybug, she pretends to be buying paint first... even though she could just transform into Ladybug, walk in and say “Hey, I heard you've been impersonating me, so stop it before you get yourself killed, idiot”. But then I guess we wouldn't get an explanation as to what Alliance can do. Like we saw in “Multiplication”, it's basically an Alexa in ring form that totally isn't a front for supervillain activity. Marinette and Socqueline talk about Adrien, and Socqueline assumes the two are a couple after Marinette talks about how close they are, when all Marinette does is recap the whole thing about his mother “disappearing” and that he doesn't want to be a model. Wow, you really know him, don't you?

Eventually, the conversation goes back to Socqueline dressing up as Ladybug.

Marinette: Well, it’s a good thing you’re not trying to be a superhero, because it’s very dangerous to do the same thing they do when you don’t have magical powers and supersuits!

Socqueline: Yeah… Well, what if it’s a relief for Ladybug to have people help her?

Marinette: No way would she want that. It’s too risky!

Socqueline: Yes, but you gotta know when to step in. That’s the only way you can change things in life!

Marinette: I know. You told me that last year, but in this circumstance, it’s Ladybug’s job to take risks, and no one else’s! Because if everyone takes risks, then Ladybug may have to take more risks in order to deal with their risks, which is even riskier!

Mr. Damocles: Sounds like someone’s jealous because she wants to be a superhero.

Marinette: I do not! I’m Marinette! I’m very happy to be a normal girl, with a normal life, AND SO SHOULD EVERYONE ELSE!

Admittedly, this is a decent argument for Marinette and Socqueline to have, but I feel like they're kind of oversimplifying it. Yes, it's obvious that Socqueline and Mr. Damocles can't do much to help Ladybug without any powers, but that doesn't rule out Ladybug getting other allies in the form of local law enforcement or even other heroes with high-tech gadgets like Batman. It's also strange that the whole deal with Marinette last season was that she wasn't willing to trust anyone like Cat Noir, so wouldn't it make sense to call back to that, and consider getting help from people in other ways, like moral support?

While Socqueline tries to console Mr. Damocles, some of the dinosaurs from “Rocketear” break out, so Marinette quickly transforms into Ladybug to catch them again, but while she does so, she accidentally brings Socqueline's Alliance ring with her. Turns out that, shock of all shocks, Gabriel is secretly monitoring the Alliance rings, and the data gathered from the step counter app registers the user as moving around far beyond human capabilities. Gabriel obviously assumes that Socqueline is Ladybug, and transforms into Monarch, where we see how the new Akuma routine will go for the season. Sensing Mr. Damocles' negative emotions from believing he can't be a superhero, Monarch uses Kaalki's Voyage to send his Akuma towards one of his masks. When it reaches Mr. Damocles, Monarch uses his Alliance ring to grant him Daizzi's Gift, turning him into Darker Owl.

Darker Owl is basically just the same as Dark Owl, but with some shinier parts, and instead of the campier Batman he was originally themed after, he has a sightly deeper voice, not unlike Christian Bale's interpretation of the character. Nothing special, but compared to reusing past Akuma designs, at least an effort was made to make him look different.

Darker Owl breaks into the paint shop, believing Monarch's claim that Socqueline is Ladybug. Using one of his gadgets with the Pig Miraculous' gift, he traps Socqueline in her fantasy to be recognized as a hero by the real Ladybug and Cat Noir. Before she was trapped however, she secretly used her Alliance ring to trick Darker Owl into revealing where the Akuma is.

Of course, like a concerning amount of episodes before it, we finally get Adrien's first scene, where he's just playing video games until he learns about the Akuma, transforming into Cat Noir. Both heroes arrive to stop Darker Owl, who has taken Socqueline as a hostage, and while Cat Noir saves Socqueline, Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm, an old fashioned alarm clock.

After Cat Noir saves Socqueline, both him and Ladybug are hit by Gift, where their shared fantasy is beating Darker Owl and finding Monarch's business card in Mr. Damocles' jacket. After the two defeat Monarch and get the Miraculous back, they grow closer together, and eventually... get married... even though they're still teenagers.

Okay, that's very concerning, especially since Cat Noir's “suit” is just the Cat Blanc model with green eyes, but it's not like they're going to become parents too, right?

Oh.

Ohhhhhh....

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh nooooooo.....

Yep. The writers REALLY didn't think this through. I get that it didn't really happen, but I don't get why they had to make the fantasy of Ladybug and Cat Noir being all about them starting a family when they can't even afford new models to show that they're older so they could avoid these implications.

Putting that aside, the fantasy is decently put together, but it's nothing special compared to something like “Perchance to Dream” from Batman: The Animated Series. I like the recurring surreal imagery with the alarm clocks, and the babies looking like dolls could be seen as a way to show how fake this all is. On the other hand, I don't get whose fantasy this is exactly. Yeah, it's implied that since the same Gift bullet was fired at both Ladybug and Cat Noir, they're sharing an amalgamation of their fantasies (Ladybug defeating Monarch and getting the Miraculous back and Cat Noir starting a family with Ladybug), but it feels like more focus is given to Cat Noir's fantasy even though he didn't even get to do anything before the Akuma showed up. They even have the scene with him hesitating to leave the fantasy when it should have been Ladybug struggling to reject it. In fact, I think the reason this fantasy sequence rings hollow for me is because it doesn't really connect to the idea that Marinette wants a normal life. Wouldn't it make more sense for Marinette's fantasy to be a world where Socqueline or Alya is Ladybug instead of her? You could easily alternate between Marinette's fantasy where she lives a mundane life and alternate it with Cat Noir's fantasy where he embraces the superhero lifestyle. It would have made more sense given that this was a Marinette-centric episode,

Even after the two heroes break out, it's Cat Noir who snaps at Darker Owl, not Ladybug. You could have easily had a scene where Cat Noir is the one who has to restrain Ladybug from getting too aggressive while fighting Darker Owl to show how reliable of a partner he is. Instead, well... remember how last episode, Cat Noir felt a lot of guilt for accidentally Cataclysming Monarch when Monarch let himself take the hit? Yeah, he almost Cataclysms Darker Owl out of anger. Yeah, he’s not thinking straight, and he stops at the last minute, but it makes him look like a real hypocrite. It also doesn’t really reassure the audience that he's now the only ally Ladybug has at the moment. This moment would have made more sense if the roles were reversed, with Cat Noir begging Ladybug to not hurt Darker Owl because Monarch was the one who taunted them with their ideal lives.

Ladybug purifies the Akuma, gives Mr. Damocles a useless Magical Charm, fixes the minor damage Darker Owl caused, Daizzi is sent back to Monarch's lair, and nobody ever acknowledges that Cat Noir almost killed a man.

After Socqueline apologizes to Ladybug, and Ladybug gives a vague statement of wanting Socqueline to find another way to help, she goes back home as Marinette. Sabine offers her an Alliance ring, but Marinette decides against it, mostly because of what happened earlier.

The episode then ends to Ladybug talking with Cat Noir about what happened with Darker Owl, how he got the power of the Pig Miraculous, and what happened in their fantasy.

Cat Noir: Ladybug, that power of Jubilation... it’s supposed to show us our deepest desires, isn’t it?

Ladybug: Yes.

Cat Noir: But that was... that wasn’t real, right?

Ladybug: Tell me about it. The wedding, babies, totally… fake.

Cat Noir: Are you sure?

Ladybug: Monarch… must’ve altered it somehow, to trick us. Yeah, that’s got to be it.

Cat Noir: Of course, otherwise, it would be totally super weird, wouldn’t it?

Ladybug: Right. Totally… super… weird.

Yeah, calling what you two lived through “weird” is an understatement.

Overall, this episode was just mediocre, and other than the climax, there wasn't much for me to talk about.

Socqueline as a character confuses me. Do we really need another member of Marinette's friend group, especially when you could have easily replaced Socqueline with another character? Seriously, someone like Alya, Mylene, Kagami, Zoe, or even Chloe would have worked better, as their personalities and motivations would fit a story like this. She's just an unnecessary addition to an already bloated cast of characters.

I will say I liked how the villain side of things was handled. In a world where the use of technology in our daily lives is more common, the idea of the Alliance rings being a way for Gabriel to monitor the public is pretty clever. I’m still confused as to why he even needs to use a Miraculous to give Akumas more powers when he can already do that with Akumas in the first place, but I like how the conflict seems to be ramping up.

I also don't get the point of this conflict, especially since we already did it three seasons ago. Back in “The Dark Owl”, it was unnecessary because Ladybug and Cat Noir were already doing a good job at fighting Hawkmoth's Akumas, but now, he's stronger than ever, and they need all the help they can get. Yeah, Mr. Damocles and Socqueline were endangering themselves by trying to help others, but at least they're doing something after everyone just gave up preparing for Monarch's new wave of Akumas in “Multiplication”. But then again, at least Ladybug didn't call either of them entitled for actually wanting to help people instead of focusing on their own selfish desires like the “hero” in Kamen Rider Geats.

Even the resolution feels tacked on. In “The Dark Owl”, the ending was similar, with Mr. Damocles choosing to stop trying to be a hero, but instead focusing on doing community service, helping people in his own way. Here? Ladybug tells Socqueline to help someone without endangering herself, and we don't get any follow-up on that, not even with Mr. Damocles. It feels more tacked on than anything else.

It doesn't help that despite the episode hinting at Marinette wanting a normal life, the actual highlight of the episode, the fantasy sequence, doesn't really connect to those wishes, as Marinette stays transformed the whole time. From an out of universe perspective, it's obviously because Cat Noir and Monarch can't find out who Ladybug is, but it's not clear why her fantasy is like that. You could have easily thrown in something like that rule they established last episode of Miraculous magic not being able to interfere with other Miraculous, so Monarch and Darker Owl have to make up their own ideal fantasy for Ladybug and Cat Noir to live in because they can't completely read their minds. Well that, and also, DON'T SHOW TWO TEENAGERS BECOMING PARENTS WITHOUT EVEN AGING, BECAUSE IT GIVES OFF THE VIBE THAT THEY HAD SEX.

This episode wasn't really terrible, more boring than anything else. At least I had something to talk about with the past three episodes, but here? Outside of the fantasy, there's not much else to say.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... MR. DAMOCLES

Even though he already learned his lesson three seasons ago, he still didn't get that a man of his age and physique wasn't fit to be a superhero. At least Socqueline was established to be in good shape for her age. On top of that, he easily gave away his cover (even if it was obvious, the joke before was that everyone else pretended to not know who he is) at the drop of a hat, and when he was supposedly confronted with Ladybug's civilian identity, he didn't think to just rip her earrings off, and spent way too much time talking before he zapped her with a Gift bullet.

[valenteal]

Valentine Teal

Things to know about me:

19, afab, any pronouns (I don’t believe in gender and it isn’t part of my identity)

Dyslexia and ADHD (in layman’s terms but really I’m barely dyslexic anymore my biggest struggle that falls under that unintentional umbrella term is nonverbal learning disorder)

Aspiring author and voice actor and maybe regular actor too

Literature nerd and kind of a snobby bitch about it. I apologize if I offend you but also I’m not sorry because I took an advanced accelerated college English when I was 17 and had long covid and was struggling a lot with my mental health and I freaking passed anyway so yeah I know what the fuck I’m talking about when it comes to literature. And that’s not even scratching the surface of how much literature has been part of my life just a really good way of illustrating it.

Proud member of the LGBTQ+ community and supportive of any and all sexualities and gender identities

I will argue with people about the whole TERF thing though. Not because I hate TERFs or because I am a TERF but because the entire debate is a huge misunderstanding and I really wish people would stop hating each other online for stupid reasons when most people labeled as TERFs are just feminists and not trans exclusionary or radical, just willing to view gender and sex as 2 separate things! Which they are! We pretty much all agree on that so what is everyone fighting about?! This is a safe space for everyone regardless of gender or TERF status though I would encourage people not to use the term TERF since it’s a weapon against feminists meant to discredit. But I digress.

I’m an active member of the following fandoms: Star Wars, Harry Potter, DC, Bungo Stray Dogs, My Hero Academia (even though I hate it), Marvel (less so these days), Avatar: The Last Airbender, Merlin, Miraculous Ladybug and more I’m forgetting probably.

I’m a huge fan of Halsey. Like seriously their music is so important to me. Also Dove Cameron. Go listen to The Great Impersonator and Alchemical Vol. 1. You’ll get what I mean.

Anyway this is a mess but I figured a pinned introduction post was in order. I’ve been putting it off for a while because I fear being known but… if you’re reading this blog you’re going to get to know me anyway so might as well get it all in one place. Also I am desperate for any kind of interaction, covid ruined my social life and I’m going to move in a few months so there’s no point reviving it until then. Fuck that’s really pathetic.

[misdemeanors-are-stolen]

i see likes as ‘i have coerced this individual into accepting my ridiculous nonsense no effort post of the hour/minute/week they have no idea. they have no idea *maniacal laughter*’ so basically any of them are a win

[kasienda]

The Five Minute Adventures of Snake Noir: Ch 3 - Best Laid Plans

Chapter 1: I Want It To Be You

Chapter 2: Best Friends

Chapter 3: Best Laid Plans

Chat Noir was wearing the snake miraculous this evening as he always did now, but he hadn’t activated it. Tonight, he needed Alya to remember he had been there. He landed on the balcony of Alya’s bedroom and peered into the room cautiously. He had never actually been here before, and wanted to confirm he was in the right place. 

Sure enough, Alya was sitting at a computer across the room. 

He tapped on the glass. She looked up, and her amber eyes widened when they landed on him. He waved. She got up immediately, and slipped through the sliding glass door. 

“Sorry to drop in on you like this,” Chat said.

She smiled warmly. “To what do I owe the pleasure, Chat Noir?”

He couldn’t help the hand that went to the back of his neck. “Well, this might seem like it’s out of nowhere, but I was… kinda worried about Nino?”

Her eyes popped out of her head. Whatever she had been expecting, that had not been it. “What? Why?”

Read on Ao3

“Well, Hawkmoth has impersonated him twice now. Once as actual Nino and another as Bubbler. It seems like Nino has become a target. I just… if it was me, I would worry about my friends and family mistaking an imposter for me. And I would want to protect them.”

If anything, Alya’s eyes grew larger. “I don’t know if Nino was the target,” she whispered. “I think Hawkmoth is using him to get to me.”

Chat frowned. “Why would Hawkmoth be targeting you?”

“I… uh… I think he thinks I have a special connection with Ladybug… you know, because of the Ladyblog.”

Chat Noir nodded. “I suppose that makes sense.” 

She sighed and leaned against the railing next to him. 

“So what do we do?”

He stared out into the skyline. “I was thinking it would be fairly easy actually. You and him just need to set up some kind of call and response code. Something that only you and he know. You could tell him to do something similar with all the people he’s close to. And maybe you could do the same with people in your life… if you’re worried.” 

She nodded. “That sounds good.” And then she considered him for a moment. “Why did you come to me instead of going to him directly?”

He tensed at the question. He had been rather hoping she wouldn’t ask that. Honestly, he could have mentioned it to him as Adrien, but he felt that Adrien had less reason to notice something was up with Nino, and Adrien didn’t exactly have the background to be thinking about threats constantly. His father hired people for that. And Alya and Nino - they were just super close - and seemed to communicate well. He just thought Nino would be more receptive if the idea came from his girlfriend. But it’s not like he could explain all that. 

But maybe, he could explain some of it. 

“Well… uh… I don’t know him?” he lied.  “But I do sort’ve know you. And I’m sure he would take it better coming from someone he knows and cares about rather than a random superhero.”

She scoffed. “You’re hardly some random superhero, Chat Noir.” 

“Nice to know I have a fan,” he purred, waggling his eyebrows playfully. 

She shoved him back with an eyeroll and he grinned. “Stop,” she scolded. “You know I have a boyfriend.”

He smoothed out his face and gave her a genuine smile. “You are both very lucky to have each other.” 

She smiled. “I definitely think so. Thank you, Chat Noir. I appreciate you looking after my boyfriend this way.”

He gave her a two-fingered salute. “Of course! Just doing my job.” He was about to leave, but then he hesitated. “Do you have a pen and paper?” he asked. 

“Uh… sure. Give me a second.” She slipped inside and returned with his requested items. 

“If you run into any issues that need my attention, this is my username on the Ladyblog. You can DM me.”

She blinked at him, at the offered paper stupidly. “Oh my god!! You’re on my blog?!”

He grinned cheekily. “Of course! I am Ladybug’s biggest fan after all. And you seem to have the best scoops in that regard. I don’t know how you do it! Sometimes, it seems like you know her better than I do.”

She burst out laughing. “Well, a girl can’t give away all her secrets, now can she?” 

He smiled again. “I suppose not,” he said. “Thank you, Alya.”

“No, thank you, Chat Noir.” She stepped forward and he stepped easily into the offered embrace. He squeezed her tightly.

“For what?” He pulled away. 

She smiled sincerely. “For everything you do.” 

He blushed at the praise. “Like I said. All in a day’s work. See you around, Ladyblogger!” 

“See you, Chat Noir!” 

And he launched himself back into the sky. 

… 

He should have gone back home. It’s what he had planned on. He had a history exam coming up next week that he wasn’t entirely prepared for, but he was already so close by, he couldn’t help, but want to check in on Nino. He would set the time loop, check in on how Nino was doing, reset it, and head home without Nino ever knowing he was there.

He landed in a crouch in Nino’s bedroom.

His friend was sitting on his bed, swiping through his phone. His golden eyes snapped towards Snake Noir the second he had landed. His eyes narrowed. He did not so much as crack a smile. 

Something was wrong. 

“Is there an akuma?” Nino bit out, his voice hard and unwelcoming. 

Adrien shook his head. “No,” he said, and then frowned. “Dude, are you okay?” 

“What do you want?” Nino demanded, ignoring his question entirely.

Snake Noir took a step backwards. “Nino?”

“I think you should leave,” Nino said, and turned his gaze away from his unexpected guest. 

But Adrien didn’t want to leave. Not when Nino was so clearly upset. “Nino, it’s me. Adrien.” 

Adrien expected Nino to soften and pull him into a hug like he had every time Adrien had revealed himself, or at least explain why the hell he was so upset. But that’s not what happened. 

Nino eyes shot back towards him, wide with shock. “W-what?!” He took in a shaky breath. “Dude! How could you do this to me?!” Nino was screaming now. He had bolted to his feet. 

Adrien took another step back, raising his hands in surrender. “Nino! What are you talking about?” 

“Like you don’t know!” Nino snarled. 

“I don’t know!” Adrien insisted. 

“I think you should leave.” 

“What?! Nino! Please! Can we talk about whatever this is?” Adrien begged. 

“No! I don’t think we can.”  

“Second chance,” Adrien mumbled to himself, and he was outside Nino’s window. He glanced at Nino’s slumped form sitting on the bed for just a second before vaulting upwards to the roof of the building. 

He sat down on the tiled roof. What the hell had happened? Why did Nino hate him now? What had he done? Adrien’s hands were shaking even transformed. Nino was his rock, and now he felt adrift without that support. 

He lost the transformation and pulled out his phone, and immediately dialed his best friend. It wasn’t Adrien he was mad at - at least, not until he knew Adrien and Chat Noir were the same person. But why the hell would Nino be angry with Chat Noir? 

Nino immediately answered.  

“Hey dude,” Nino greeted, his voice sullen. 

“Nino, what’s wrong?” 

Nino sighed. “I think Alya is cheating on me.” 

“What?” The idea didn’t even compute, it was just too incomprehensible. 

“With Chat Noir.”

“What?!” Adrien said again, more in shock. 

“Dude, I don’t know what to do!” 

And Adrien could hear Nino’s pain. He had to fix this. It was clearly a misunderstanding.

“I’m here,” Adrien told him. “Now, explain this to me from the beginning. Why do you think Alya is cheating on with you? And with Chat Noir?” 

“She’s… been off for awhile now. I don’t know what’s going on, and I didn’t want to pry. She usually will tell me things when she’s ready. But she started missing a bunch of our dates, and her reasons… they don’t sound… right.” 

“What does that mean?” 

“It means… I think she’s lying.” 

“Could there be any other explanation?” 

“For the avoiding me and making weird excuses? Probably! But I saw her earlier today with Chat Noir.”

“Okay, did you see them kissing or something?” Adrien asked. He knew there hadn’t been anything to see. He had maybe flirted a tiny bit, but even then she had only rolled her eyes and chastised him. 

“Nothing like that, really. But she was laughing. She was so at ease, open, and lively. And I… I haven’t seen her like that in… weeks.”

“Nino…” Adrien trailed off, uncertain what to say. “I don’t claim to know what’s going on with Alya, or why she’s been distant. But she wouldn’t do this to you.” 

And neither would Chat Noir. 

“You didn’t see them together!” Nino shouted, and Adrien had to pull the phone away from his face. “I know what I saw!” 

Adrien’s phone buzzed. And he opens it to reveal a picture of Alya and Chat Noir in a hug. 

“Nino, this…” how did he explain this wasn’t what it looked like? “There’s no way Alya would cheat on you. Not even with a superhero.” 

Nino dissolved into tears. “I just don’t know anymore. She’s hiding something. And I don’t want to pry, but my mind just keeps going in these spirals and I don’t now how to get it to stop. I just can’t… help but wonder if she doesn’t love me anymore. And she’s always loved the heroes. It would be difficult to compete with a guy like that.”

“Nino, what are you talking about?!” Adrien asked, wanting to point out that Nino was a hero, too. “You’re a fantastic catch!”

“Sure, but he’s Chat Noir! Have you seen his butt in leather? And he’s funny! And… charming! And who even knows how many times he’s saved Paris!”

Adrien was grateful this wasn’t a video call, but he could still feel the heat from his cheeks to his ears. 

“He flirts with everyone!” Nino continued.

Adrien stiffened. He didn’t flirt with everyone. But he had flirted a tiny bit with Alya earlier, but he hadn’t meant anything by it. He was just being friendly. 

“He could totally steal away someone’s girlfriend!”

Whether or not that was true (and Adrien had his doubts), Adrien knew he would never do that. 

“Or even someone’s boyfriend!”

Seriously?! 

“Does Alya need to be worried about you coming on to Chat Noir?” Adrien interjected.

“What?! No! I would definitely put him in his place! I love Alya so much!”

“And she would do the same!” Adrien insisted.

Nino didn’t say anything. And a few seconds later, he realized Nino was crying. His visit to Alya had made Nino cry. He had only been trying to help. He had to fix this. 

“Nino, I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean…” he trailed off sadly. He couldn’t truly say what he wanted to. Not without revealing himself. Which… he probably would have if Nino wasn’t so pissed specifically at Chat Noir.

“You don’t understand,” Nino sobbed. “Chat is not just some superhero to us.”

“He’s not?” Adrien asked cautiously. He really hoped this wasn’t going where he suspected it was going. 

“Alya and I know him.”

“He has saved you both more than once,” Adrien said. Please, take the excuse. Please take the excuse. 

“No!” 

Adrien could hear Nino pulling his own hair out in frustration.

“That’s not what I mean,” Nino said. “Dude, can I tell you something? I’m not supposed to, but I’m going to lose it! I don’t know who else to talk to about any of this!”

Adrien squeezed his eyes shut. It didn’t really matter if Nino told him what he already knew, was it? But he knew Ladybug might feel differently about it. 

Of course, he didn’t have to say anything to Ladybug. What was more thing he couldn’t talk about? 

“You can trust me, Nino,” Adrien assured. 

“Alya and I are superheroes, too.” 

“You and Alya?” Adrien repeated, covering his face with the palm of his hand. How did he not see this coming?! Ladybug was going to kill him. 

“She’s Rena Rouge. And I’m Carapace.”

Which made so much sense it wasn’t even funny. He was so close to losing it to hysterical laughter anyway. 

Seriously, was everyone he knew a superhero? Who was next? His father?

“Please say something,” Nino begged and Adrien shook himself out of his thoughts. 

“Wow,” Adrien said. “You’re a superhero! What’s that like?”

“Dude! I can’t even explain it. It’s exhilarating, and terrifying, and I don’t know how, out of everyone in all of Paris, Ladybug chose me to help her.”

Adrien smiled. Yeah, that was a pretty amazing feeling - the only fond memory he had as his time as Aspik. 

“I mean, Alya showed me some footage of Anansi. You were pretty badass even without a miraculous. It doesn’t surprise me that Ladybug would recognize that.” 

“Thanks, dude. That means a lot. I just… I don’t want to be mad at Chat Noir. He’s my friend.” 

Adrien found himself tearing up. 

“Or he was,” Nino added on. And Adrien sighed.  

“Nino, this isn’t really about Chat Noir. This is about your relationship with Alya. Do you trust her?” 

“I don’t want to be mad at Alya even more than I don’t want to be mad at Chat Noir.” 

“Have you talked to her about any of this?”

“Have you talked to her about any of this?” 

“No,” Nino admitted. 

“I’m telling you, Alya loves you. She wouldn’t do this. Not even a superhero who she happens to work with or be friends with. You’re her hero.”

“You really think so?” 

Adrien snorted. “Yeah man, I really do. Will you please go talk to her before you make assumptions.” 

“I don’t know where to start,” Nino said. 

Adrien thought for a second. “You could probably start with what you told me. Tell her that you feel like she’s been avoiding you. See what she says.”

Nino laughed. “You don’t think I should start with accusations?”

“I mean…” Adrien hedged. He wasn’t going to lie. He was definitely scared of Alya. Just a little bit. “I wouldn’t?” 

Nino laughed. He actually laughed, and Adrien breathed a sigh of relief. “Alright dude. Thanks for talking me off the cliff. I’ll call her now, and see if we can meet up.”

The call ended and Adrien stood up, hoping that Nino’s conversation with Alya went well. He knew that hug had been her thanking him. Surely, she would explain and everything would be fine. 

He transformed and ran across rooftops anyway. He wouldn’t be able to stand it if Nino hated half of his identity. He wouldn’t be able to visit anymore, even with the snake. 

 Adrien had to have faith in Alya. It would be okay. 

… 

Nino knocked on the door. Etta answered. Or maybe it was Ella. Honestly, Nino hasn’t learned to tell them apart yet, and today, it wasn’t his highest priority. 

“Alya! Your nerdy boyfriend is here!” 

“Hey! Be nice!” Alya chastised her younger sister. And then she pushed her back into the room as she came out on the patio, closing the door behind her.

The beaming smile she offered him went a long way toward soothing his tortured feelings. Adrien was probably right, but there was still an inkling if doubt that he couldn’t quite quash. He managed a weak smile back. She deserved more. 

“Nino! I was just about to call you!”

“You were?” 

“You won’t believe who paid me a visit earlier today?!” She told him, her voice literally oozed with excitement. 

“Chat Noir?” he guessed, unable to keep the hurt out of his voice. 

Her eyebrows furrowed together. “How’d you know?” 

He pulled out his phone, and flipped to the picture. “I was on my way to visit you.” He squeezed his shoulder, trying to reassure himself.

She took the device from him eagerly, her smile only widening. “This is such a good shot! I’m so happy you caught it!”

“You are?” And he might have sounded a little accusatory. He was trying to clamp down on it, and not start with accusations like Adrien said. 

She glanced at him, startled. And for the first time, she seemed to sense something was off. “Nino? What’s wrong?”

“Okay, so this might seem ridiculous, but what does Chat Noir mean to you?”

Her eyes narrowed for a second, and then went wife as she rapidly connected dots. “Oh my god! Are you serious right now?! You think that I would do that to you?” Her eyes had returned to hard narrow slits; she was pissed! 

But for the first time in his life, Nino was thrilled that she was furious with him. Her anger put to rest all her fears. “I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s just you’ve been so… distracted lately. And you’ve bailed on several of our dates and it feels like when I ask you dodge the question.”

She softened. And he barreled forward. 

“I didn’t know what to think! I was actually coming over to talk to you about it when I saw you so... umm... friendly with Chat Noir. And I just… I haven’t seen you that open and happy in awhile. So I can’t help but wonder if I’ve done something wrong?” 

He was wringing his hands. He didn’t even realize how much he was hurting himself until she took both his hands in hers and rubbed soothing circles with her thumbs onto the back of his hands.

“You’ve done nothing wrong,” she murmured, her eyes staring straight at him. “I’m sorry. I have been distracted, but it wasn’t anything to do with us. It’s just a bunch of Marinette stuff. And… she didn’t want me to talk about it with anyone, and it’s all driving me crazy, so I just… am having a hard time being completely there the rest of the time.” 

“But… you looked so happy when… Chat Noir was there.” 

“Nino! He’s a superhero! And I run a superhero themed blog! I get a little fan girly, it’s true.”

She pulled him into a hug. And he melted into her arms. 

“The truth is,” she murmured into his ear, “I feel like I don’t have to pretend around you. I didn’t mean to push you away or out. I was feeling overwhelmed and crazy and around you, I thought I could just be low and it would still be okay.”

His arms tightened around her. His eyes were burning with threatened years. “I’m sorry I doubted you. Doubted us. I want to be able to be a place where you can be less than one hundred percent and still feel loved and supported. I’m sorry I didn’t live up to that.” And he was horrified that his voice cracked on his last word. 

She pulled away just a bit, and pressed her forehead to his. “I didn’t tell you that to make you feel guilty. I told you that because I love you. And next time I’m feeling detached, I will try to tell you so you don’t have to worry or wonder.”

He leaned forward and kissed her, letting the last of his hurt roll off his shoulders. “I love you so much.”

She smiled, and kissed him again. “I love you, too.” 

They hugged, and Nino just let himself stay wrapped up in her familiar embrace. 

At least until she pulled away with furrowed eyebrows. “Chat Noir was here like… hours ago. I only didn’t call you immediately because I had to watch the twins. Have you been stewing in this that whole time?” 

Heat bloomed across his face, and he wanted to duck his head behind his hat, but this was Alya. He didn’t want to hide from her. “Yeah… I was really upset,” he admitted. “I assumed the worst, and kinda wanted to track down Chat Noir and start a fight!” 

“Nino!”

He held up his hands. “I know. I know. But Adrien called me at like the perfect time, and he kinda talked me down. He was insistent that you loved me and that you would never cheat on me.” 

“I’ll have to thank him,” she said, smiling. 

“You and me both,” he said. Then started fidgeting with the brim of his hat. “So… ummm… am I out of line if I ask what you and Chat Noir were talking about?”

“I was going to tell you anyway! Before you freaked out on me! But yes, if you must know, we were talking about you!” 

Nino blinked for a minute. “What? Me?” 

“He was worried about you.” 

His eyebrows scrunched together. Chat Noir was worried about him? And here Nino had been thinking the worst of the superhero. “But why?” 

Alya reached out for his hand, and their fingers were quickly threaded together. “He was worried at how much Hawkmoth has been targeting you, that he has been impersonating you. He thought that maybe it might happen again, and he was worried about how it might be affecting you mentally.. He suggested I get you to come up with some call and response passwords with the people in your life, so you could protect yourself and your loved ones.”

Nino’s eyes could not get wider. “Really?” How had he completely misjudged the whole situation that badly. Chat Noir wasn’t trying to steal his girl at all - the hero was trying to look out for him and her by extension. Instead, the hero was like, reading his mind, and coming up with ways for Nino to address his fears head on.  

“Really,” Alya said.

“Why did he go to you instead of me?” he asked. He felt so sheepish and embarrassed, and a tad bit guilty.

She shrugged. “Honestly, I think it’s just because he knew where I lived.” 

Nino laughed, and pulled her to him once again. His head rested on her shoulder. “Tell me that you love me.” 

“I love you,” she said, her tone smiling even if he couldn’t see her face.  

“How much?” 

“More than a superhero.” 

He grinned. “That should be our call and response code.”

She rolled her eyes. “If it makes you feel better.”

“But only if I ask you to tell me you love me, or vice versa. We don’t want other people to overhear it.” 

She nodded sagely in agreement. “Sounds good.” 

“I’m sorry I was an idiot.” “You’re my idiot.” 

And she lifted his head, and then she was kissing him. 

He smiled against her lips, his hands snaking around her waist. 

He really was a lucky guy.

…

Chat Noir sat across on a rooftop across the street from Nino’s empty bedroom. His legs were kicking back and forth in a way that would have seemed playful to anyone that didn’t know him well, but actually was a sign of how anxious he felt. 

He breathed in a deep sigh of relief when Nino returned to the room with a huge grin plastered on his face. As soon as Nino had closed his bedroom door, Chat launched himself across the street and into the room, landing with his trademark thud. 

Nino looked up at him in surprise. “Ch-Chat Noir! Uh… hey!” 

“Hi Nino,” Adrien said, his voice subdued. 

It was silent, and Adrien didn’t know what he was waiting for. He had come here with the intention of clearing the air. He hadn’t even transformed with the snake. He wanted to come clean. He spun the ring around his finger. This would be it. Nino was going to know who he was, and he wouldn’t be able to take it back. And he didn’t even know why he was nervous. He had told Nino dozens of times at this point, and his reaction had always been rock solid. 

Well, except for the last time. 

Maybe that was the problem. 

“So… uh… Alya, didn’t seem to think you knew where I lived. I’ll have to tell her that she was mistaken,” Nino said. 

Adrien nodded. “I may have led her to that conclusion. If it’s all the same to you, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t rat me out.”

Nino frowned. “Is there a reason you don’t want her to know?” 

“There is actually, but I can’t explain it yet. Maybe later?” 

“You’re being awfully cryptic tonight, dude.” 

Chat rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I’m just a bit nervous.” 

Nino stared at him, his eyes blinking in shock. “You’re nervous? Why?!” 

“You seemed pretty pissed at me earlier today.” 

Nino frowned. “How do you even know about that?” 

Chat’s gaze dropped again. “I may have cheated?”

“Huh?” 

“I’m wearing the snake miraculous.” 

“That’s the one that creates a time loop?” 

Chat Noir nodded. 

Nino eyed him up and down. “You don’t look any different than normal.”

“I haven’t activated it yet, but I’ve been using it to, well, cope, I guess would be the best word.” Chat Noir trailed off.

“Cope? Cope with being a superhero?” Nino guessed. 

“Yeah, it allows me to confide in someone without anyone remembering. And honestly, you’ve been really supportive the last few weeks. You have no idea.” 

Nino’s brows furrowed in confusion. “What? But I don’t…” 

“Remember? Yeah, I know you don’t. That’s what I’m saying.”

“But you’re not transformed now, so that means I’m going to remember this conversation.” 

Chat nodded.

“So, what’s different about today that I get to remember?” 

“I just… the last visit made me realize that I wanted you to know this was happening. I want you to remember giving me permission to do this.” 

“I’ve given you permission to do this before?” 

Chat nodded again. “I realize the why might not make sense to you, but you did.”

“Why me?” 

Chat Noir looked up with a small smile. “What? Don’t think you’re good enough?” 

“That’s not what I meant! It’s not everyday that you learn that you are the secret confidant of one of Paris’s superheroes and don’t even know it!” 

“Because you’re definitely good enough! You saved me from being akumatized like I don’t know how many times.” 

Nino frowned. “We’re not like having a secret affair or something are we?” 

Chat laughed. “Umm… no, but you know, I’m beginning to think you have a crush on me.” 

Nino blushed. “It’s a celebrity crush!” he defended. “Leave me alone! I didn’t know that we knew each other outside of akumas that well.” 

“Well, I’d like to explain everything to you if that’s okay. Clear the air so to speak.”

“On a timer? Or without?” 

Chat took in a deep breath. “You choose.”

“What do you want?” 

“I really want you to remember this time, but it might be dangerous.”

“Dude! As you totally already know, I’m already a target of Hawkmoth.” 

“Which is probably a reason I shouldn’t let you remember this. Which is part of the reason you let me erase your memory over and over again.” 

Nino frowned. “How often have we uh… done this?” 

Chat Noir winced. “Ummm… I don’t know?” 

“Shit dude. That’s…” Nino looked away. “Answer one question for me without giving away the thing you’re worried about?”

“Anything.” 

“Why did I agree to it the first time?” 

Adrien thought about it for a moment. What could he say? 

“You saw me have a breakdown where I was likely to be akumatized. I needed to talk to someone, but it wasn’t safe for me to talk about any of it without literally risking the world. You told me not to leave this room until I was okay.”

“And would you be risking the world by telling me now?”

Chat gripped the back of his neck. “Ummm… I don’t think so?”

“Dude! That’s not reassuring.”

Chat’s claws tore through his hair. “Yeah… you’re right. We can do it the other way. I’ll transform and set the timer, and explain everything. Then with context, you can make an informed decision about whether you want to remember or not. But either way, now you’ll at least remember that this is something that happens on the regular. You won’t bite my head off or assume that I’m trying to steal your girl when I’m talking to her.” 

“Thank you for that by the way.” Nino’s voice is small. And embarrassed. 

“For what?” 

“Talking to my girl? Apparently you were worried about me?”

“Yeah…”

“I’m sorry,” Nino said. “For assuming the worst.” 

Chat Noir shook his head. “It’s fine.” He wasn’t sure if it was, but he understood now why Nino had reacted the way he had. “I’m used to far worse.” 

“That doesn’t make me feel better, dude,” Nino told him, his eyes staring at him with a concern that Adrien was far too familiar with.

He pasted on a bright smile. “Well, let’s get this show going, yeah?”

“Sure,” Nino said, taking a seat on the edge of his bed. “What do I need to do?” 

Chat grinned. “Don’t worry about it, man. I got it covered. Sass, Plagg, unify!”

Nino put a hand over his eyes to block out the light. “Woah, dude. That’s quite the light show.” 

Snake Noir laughed. “Second chance.” 

“Alright mec, lay it on me,” Nino said. 

Snake Noir took in a deep breath, and then looked right at Nino. “I’m Adrien.” 

Nino paled. “What?”

“I’m Adrien,” he said again.

Nino’s eyes were as wide as the Seine. “Dude! You came here earlier when I was pissed at Chat Noir?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Please tell me I didn’t hit you,” Nino said, his eyes never leaving Adrien’s masked face.  

Adrien frowned. “You didn’t hit me. Were you worried that you might’ve?” 

“With where my head was at? I definitely wanted to punch you. Chat Noir, you, I mean.” Nino cringed. “I guess… that’s not much better.” 

Adrien tried to smile, but didn’t pull it off. “Your… umm… hostility toward me was a bit of a shock,” Adrien conceded. 

Nino snorted. 

“I just… I think I had gotten used to your… easy acceptance. I realize that I took it for granted.” 

“Dude! Stop! I was definitely in the wrong this time. And I’m sorry.” 

Adrien smiled. “It was just a misunderstanding.” 

“This is how you knew to call me?” 

Adrien nodded.

“I’m so sorry! I never meant to lay into you about… well, you! I just kept thinking about things being off with Alya, and obsessing over how I was supposed to compete with a superhero.”

Snake Noir bumped Nino’s shoulder. “But Nino, you are a superhero, too.” And then his head hung. “And we all have doubts.” 

“Dude, are you okay?” 

“Not really,” he admitted. “The whole reason Ladybug gave me the snake was so that I could confide in her, but I haven’t really done that. I keep using it to talk to you.” 

“Why can’t you talk to Ladybug.” 

“I can! And I can’t. So much of what I want to say is about her and that just makes it awkward. And every time I tell her who I am she starts crying.” 

Nino’s brow furrowed. “She has better not be disappointed!”

Chat shook his head. “No! I don’t think so. I think she’s sad that she has to forget.” 

“Why exactly does she have to forget?” Nino asked. 

“Us knowing each other’s identities apparently led to the end of the world.” It was getting easier to say.  

Nino starred at him flatly. “What. What do you mean, end of the world?” 

Chat threw his hands up in frustration. “I don’t know! I didn’t see it. She did! But apparently, I was akumatized and had the power of unlimited destruction, and blew up not just the earth, but the moon as well!” 

And yeah, maybe it was getting easier to say, but Adrien was shaking in agitation. 

Nino considered him for several seconds before finding his voice. “Dude. That is… heavy.” 

Snake Noir slumped down on the floor. “You’re telling me.” 

“I’m glad you’ve been able to come here,” Nino finally said. “I cannot imagine going through this alone.”

“I don’t know how I can ever thank you,” Adrien admitted. 

Nino pulled him into a sideways hug. “You don’t have to. That’s what friends are for.” 

“Little did I know, you taking pity on me for having Chloé as my only friend was one of the luckiest days of my life.” 

“Ha! I’m glad you have more options now.” 

Adrien smiled. “So, what do you say? Is this something you want to remember?” 

Nino nodded. “If you want me to know, I want to know.” 

“Even if it puts you in more danger?” 

“Dude! Do you think it’s possible for me to be in more danger at this point?” 

“Nino, I destroyed the world. Not Hawkmoth.” 

Nino frowned. “Now, that’s where you’re wrong. You said you were akumatized. That’s all on Hawkmoth.” 

“I doubt Hawkmoth’s goal was to destroy the world,” Adrien said softly. 

“Which just means, you must have broken from his control or something.” 

“To destroy the world?” Adrien asked sarcastically. 

Nino placed a hand on either of Adrien’s shoulders. “Dude, look at me.” 

Adrien looked up. 

“I’m not going to lie. Seeing you transformed as Snake whatever with Adrien’s brooding face is majorly trippy.” 

Adrien laughed. “Sass, scales rest. Plagg, claws in.” And in a burst of light, he was just Adrien sitting on his best friend’s bed. 

“You were saying?” Adrien prompted when Nino continued to just stare at him in shock. 

Nino seemed to shake himself lose. “Right! I’m saying this once and I will say it as many times as you need to hear it. You don’t really know what happened in that timeline. Like you said, you didn’t see it. And, you haven’t destroyed the world. Just look outside, you can see it!” 

Adrien opened his mouth to argue, but Nino silenced him with a waggling finger. “No, dude! I know what you’re thinking, but I know you. You would never destroy the world if you were in control of yourself. You are too good. Too pure for this world. And you’re fucking Chat Noir! You literally throw yourself into death’s jaws like every week to protect everyone. I will not let you feel guilty for all of time for something you haven’t even done.” 

Adrien watched Nino through his monologue, unable to help the smile that stretched across his face. “Are you done?” 

“That depends. Are you still beating yourself up?” 

Adrien smirked. “I’m feeling better at the moment actually, but I don’t promise I never will again.”

“Well, you just have to promise to come back whenever you’re feeling that way.” 

Adrien offered an open hand at chest level, and Nino clapped his own hand into it, and they pulled each other into a hug. “Deal, as long as you promise to talk to your girlfriend whenever you’re having doubts.” 

“What? I can’t talk to you about my girlfriend?” 

“I mean, you can! You can talk to me about anything.” 

“Oh my god! You’re Chat Noir!” 

“Uh, yeah?” 

“And I’m Carapace.” 

“Yeah, you gave that away in like my second loop.”

“We can literally talk about anything,” Nino concluded. 

Adrien smiled again. “I guess we can now. I hope you don’t come to regret that.” 

“Dude!” Nino squealed. “This is going to be so cool!” 

…

Chapter 4: A Thank You

[aerysian]

headcanons i have as i write 'not my type'

there are a few things in not my type (ffn / ao3) that i don't explicitly state or mention. i thought that i should share them somewhere so people can keep them in mind, too, as they read. so here they are:

- the powerpuff girls in order of age: blossom, buttercup, bubbles. buttercup milks it all the time. the rowdyruff boys in order of age: brick, butch, boomer. boomer hates being the baby.

- the powerpuff girls in order of height: blossom, bubbles, buttercup. the rowdyruff boys in order of height: boomer, butch, brick. i had to think about this one hard because i love butch as a short king, too. but in nmt!verse, brick is the shortest. boomer is hands down the tallest at 6ft-something. then it's butch at 6ft or so. brick is just shy of that, probably around 5'10. it gives him and blossom a really balanced look because she's around his height ― maybe 5'8? then it's bubbles, and buttercup is the shortest, though she loses to bubbles by like half an inch. it's a difference bubbles holds over her like how buttercup takes advantage of being a little older.

- blossom used to be immune to the cold, and brick used to be immune to the heat. it was part of the superpowers package. but then something malfunctioned, and suddenly they couldn't handle their internal power source anymore. probably part of a late adolescent phase? blossom started freezing while brick was burning up, so we get that trope of 'haha, now they needa hold onto each other to balance out their haywire elements >:)' and now they're sensitive to their respective elements. it's counterintuitive, but it's how it is for now. the professor thinks they can build up their immunity again with exposure training, but they don't have time for that right now.

- speaking of powers, they still have them, but they're not as OP as they were as kids. they all have laser eyes, flight, super strength, super hearing, etc. and there are limitations to each. i try to mention it in the story. i could expand a bit into how each character is affected / what their powers do if anyone is interested. one example in what i've posted so far is how brick can hear almost everything in the area. over time, he's learned to tune things out, but he can't use super hearing to, say, listen in on a conversation in crowded train unless he really focuses in on a person's voice.

- individual powers and abilities! only mentioning briefly, but they're pretty in line with canon and other fans' headcanons:

brick - fire breath (sometimes reactive to his anger or annoyance), split-second decision making (often butts heads with blossom because she thinks things through, but this is useful when blossom's stuck in her head. can't weigh pros/cons when the monster is seconds away from attacking. reminds me of miraculous ladybug in that he looks around and things just click)

butch - shield manipulation (the others can make some variance of shields for blocking, too, but butch is The Impenetrable Shield and is capable of expanding it beyond himself. the biggest shield he’s ever made covered an entire city block. he’s constantly testing his capabilities), super strength and athleticism (they all have this, but the greens specifically train this aspect a lot so they have a lot more brute force than their siblings. they also start with naturally more strength)

boomer - super speed (again, they're all fast, but boomer is sonic), electric manipulation (his element. sparky sparky boom man), charm (butch swears he's the one with the charm, but that's just failed flirting. the blues have higher emotional intelligence and empathy than their siblings, so they usually handle some of the trickier situations, like calming someone down. boomer isn't kind, though; he used to take advance of his charm to manipulate people)

blossom - ice breath (also reactive to heightened emotions), intelligence (considered the brains of the group, but god, does she get lost in her thoughts. she's careful to a fault, so she has backup upon backup plans, but curve balls throw her for a loop. she gets so stuck analyzing everything that she sometimes freezes. brick balances that out now, teaches her that sometimes the best plan is no plan), ruthlessly logical (she used to be idealistic and think they could save everyone, but after one particularly bad experience where spreading themselves too thin led to a greater loss than she expected, her thinking changed. now she has to consider every pro/con and will only briefly hesitate to make sacrifices. it’s not an easy decision to make, and her sisters hate how she acts — too logical, not very everything nice of her — but this is the burden of being a leader. brick is the opposite; he’s selfish. he will push his brothers to their absolute limits to save everyone, consequences be damned. can expand on this.)

buttercup - super strength and athleticism (stronk girl, throws hands like no one’s business), shadow stealth (for all her loudness, her shadow stealth is frighteningly silent. she hates using it but will for strategy and spying. it’s much more effective at night as she can slip in and out of the darkness. it’s possible for her to use during the day, though, if she stays within shadows. haven’t decided what exactly happens as she uses this. maybe melts into the shadows with only glowing eyes visible if she uses other powers like night vision. gets really tired afterwards if she’s been shadow stealthing for long distances because she’s literally changing her form)

bubbles - sound manipulation (idk what the difference is between hypersonic and supersonic, but screeching sound waves. also really, really good at voice impersonations. thinks it’s funny but can be used strategically. hard for them to control, though, because she breaks character often), super linguist (can pick up other languages really fast!! is their go-to for international correspondence. she can also speak to animals and monsters, which is helpful, but also she is so talkative. it helps with information gathering, though, so they’ll listen about how Dave the Squirrel’s day was if he’s an important crime witness. imagine robbing a store and getting caught cuz a damn rat identified you)

that’s it for now cuz tumblr’s bugging :(( will add more some time

[2manyfandoms2count]

#LadynoirJuly Days 4 and 5

To avoid being too late on the prompts, I’m just going to combine some of them from now on! Hope the banter is satisfactory, I wasn’t quite sure I was doing it right... Enjoy! xxx

@ladynoirjuly2020

Read the previous entries: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3

---

Days 4 and 5: Disguises and Banter

Ladybug waited outside the hospital, comfortably swaying in her long red and black dress. She was pretty satisfied with the design; she thought she’d nailed the elaborate XVIIIth century style, complete with small train, frills, ribbons and slightly puffy sleeves. The rich damask cloth, combined with the petticoat, kept her warm in the crisp October night air. It was going to be a cold winter.

Shrill sirens echoed from nearby streets, bringing her back to the matter at hand. She tried to ignore their meaning as she checked her Miracuphone for a sign of her partner. Out of all the days he could've chosen to be late, this one was possibly the worst. The children in the hospital weren't expecting the two Paris Heroes (they'd made sure to keep their visit under wraps to surprise them), but they were definitely waiting for their Halloween treats. And she wasn't going to disappoint them on that front.

As she was about to head inside, anxious to get to her mission, Chat Noir casually walked around the corner. In the semi-darkness of the street, she thought at first that he hadn't dressed up, but then she noticed his bandana and his large black shirt, taken in at the waist by his belt, from which his baton hung like a sword. 

"'Evening, m'lady." He bowed as he approached. "Your nickname is particularly fitting tonight, may I presume I was a source of inspiration?" He quipped as he took in the majesty of her dress. As a designer's son, he could appreciate how much work must have gone into the gown, not to mention its accompanying feathered hairdo.

"Don't worry, they're not real. Wouldn’t want you to sneeze all over a bunch of kids, would we Chaton?" She smirked as she caught him looking apprehensively at her hair accessories. "Also, I like your costume, Westley, but couldn't you have gone for something a little more… original?" She asked. Not that it wasn't a good costume; she did very much like the Princess Bride and its hero. She also appreciated how handsome her partner looked with a more rugged look.

"Sorry, Bugaboo, it's been a busy week." He shrugged apologetically. "Also, I thought we were making our own costumes, sans the help of actual designers. I would've asked Marinette too, otherwise." He said pointedly, indicating the designer's embroidered logo at the bottom of the skirt. 

Ladybug swore internally, while noting how much her partner paid attention to detail. She'd absentmindedly signed her work on her sketch, and forgotten to remove the gold stitching when she made it. She'd realised it a minute before leaving, and had counted on its discretion rather than risking being late. Oh well, as long as Chat believed she'd hired Marinette…

Chat continued his rant. "Plus you have it easy, as a woman. You can just slip on a dress to cover your costume! How am I supposed to cover all this leather, even a kilt wouldn't do." He pouted.

"What about a cape?" She winked at him as she slung her arm in his, directing him towards the hospital entrance.

"But Edna said no capes!" He gasped as they walked in, enjoying their proximity and giddy at the thought that she'd initiated it, for once. 

She rolled her eyes and shook her head in response, the small smile tugging at her lips giving her amusement away. 

She reluctantly (because it was slightly cold in the hall, of course) let go of Chat's arm as they approached the main desk and greeted the receptionist. Although the latter tried to keep a straight face, she could tell he was torn between surprise, internal fangirling (she wondered if there was a more gender neutral term for it) and a detached attitude. 

"Good evening sir," she smiled warmly. "I believe you have something for us." She looked behind him and pointed at the large hand trolley, on which were piled Tom and Sabine cake boxes. It wasn’t necessarily very traditional for Halloween, but then again, it wasn’t a very celebrated holiday in France, and she doubted the children had access to pastries very often.

It had been weird casually striding into her parents’ bakery as Ladybug and pretending to not know very much about their products, when she knew exactly what she wanted. She’d ordered enough to cover the sugar needs of all the Paris hospitals, complete with diet restrictions, so when Sabine had told her the order was on the house, she’d almost slammed all her money in the tip jar anyway. The way her Mum had looked at her then reminded her of when she talked back sometimes, and she knew better than to open that door. She had respectfully backed down on the payment front, but had been particularly zealous in the kitchen as Marinette to compensate. Marinette had also insisted on delivering the order straight to the hospital earlier in the afternoon, despite her parents’ reservations at the idea. It was the least she could do. 

“Oh yes, of course! Let me bring it out for you.” The lad almost tripped as he stood up, but thankfully didn’t crash on the trolley. That would have been awkward. As he wheeled out the bounty, Ladybug noticed how hungry Chat’s eyes looked as he followed the movement of the food. She smiled lovingly and leaned towards his ear. 

“Don’t worry, I saved you some.” She whispered, and he shuddered in delight at the thought of Tom and Sabine’s passionfruit macarons, chouquettes and croissants. 

“You sure know how to get to a man’s heart, m’lady.”

“By getting to his stomach first?” She asked cheekily.

They were interrupted by the receptionist clearing his throat, uncomfortably wringing his hands as he waited by the lift with the goods. Ladybug jumped away from her partner and made her way towards him, Chat hot on her heels.

“Thank you so much…” She trailed, waiting for the man to give his name.

“Patrick.” He completed, grinning. Ladybug knew his name, now. 

“Thank you, Patrick.” She smiled.

The heroes took their leave and ascended to the children’s ward. When the lift doors opened, they were greeted by a group of pirates, princes, princesses, witches, wizards, and even Miraculous impersonators, little treat bags at the ready as they waited with nurses in what Ladybug assumed was the ward’s lounge. The kids gasped and cheered as they walked out.

“Trick or treat!” Chat called out, earning himself a round of giddy laughter. Giving each other an understood glance, Chat and Ladybug separated into the small crowd, each going to one side of the room.

“You look like a princess!” A little Rena Rouge fan in an arm cast squeaked as Ladybug approached her.

“Thank you, Rena! But what happened to your arm? How will we fight the Akuma without your help?” Ladybug asked with her best shocked expression.

The little girl giggled in response, which made Marinette smile. She gave her some pastries “to help her recover quickly”, and went to join Chat. Her partner was having a pretend sword fight with a pirate. He was surprisingly good with children, she noticed. And he looked great laughing as he parried an attack. Did he fence, like Adrien? Maybe she could ask him to give her lessons. Not to spend more time with him, and definitely not to see him in a fencing uniform, which she had to admit would be particularly fitting on his muscled figure. It could just… prove to be handy if they ever swapped Miraculouses again.

She felt a small tug at her skirt, originating from the hand of a ten year-old boy wearing a Ladybug costume, sitting in a wheelchair.

“Hello there, Bugaboy!” She squatted down to be at eye level with him, her skirt sprawling out in a corolla at her feet. Some children bent down to touch the elaborate fabric. “What’s your name?”

“I can’t reveal my identity, or the Guardian will take my Miraculous away.” The boy grinned as she handed him a macaron.

“And you dare tell me you don’t say it that often.” Chat leaned on the back of a nearby chair, smirking. “Well done young man, you’ve done your research.” He winked at the kid.

Ladybug shook her head, refraining from saying that he was the one preventing them from knowing who was behind the mask now. She couldn’t say it out loud, there was some press around to record their visit, and even when they did sit down and talk about their identities, it would be best if the general public was kept in the dark about that knowledge for as long as possible.

“I want to be Ladybug when I grow up.” Mini Bug said proudly. 

“You’d put me out of a job?” Ladybug said with a fake pained expression.

“Not if you don’t want to!” The boy’s eyes went wide at the thought he might have offended his favourite superhero. “I just assumed you’d want to rest in the future. It must be very tiring to battle against Hawkmoth all the time.”

“He’s got a point there, Bugaboo.” Chat acquiesced. “She won’t listen to me when I tell her she also deserves some time off.” He fake whispered in the boy’s direction.

“That’s because you always want it to be time off for you too!” She scoffed. “You’re always inviting me for ice creams or movie dates at the same time, how am I to relax knowing nobody competent is watching over the city?”

Chat’s heart sung at the compliment. “If that’s the only thing keeping you from going out with me, I’m sure I can find a solution, m’lady. You know, Rena and Carapace would certainly do a grand job.” He tried to keep a detached demeanor, but knowing he was so close to her accepting to go on a date with him was making his heart go haywire. 

She pouted pensively, twirling a strand of hair that had fallen out of her hairdo, then shrugged. “As you wish, farmboy.” 

Her heart skipped a beat as she waited for his answer. It felt like time had slowed. Was this too soon? “Kelly” had only been out of the picture for about a month now. Was it enough time to get over someone?

A stolen glance at him answered her question. Looking at him, she could tell Chat was repressing a smile. His eyes twinkled as he looked at her like protagonists look at each other in romantic comedies. The way everyone should be looked at at least once in their life. He gave a nod in the direction of the room, reminding her they were not alone. She nodded back, their brief exchange imperceptible for common mortals.

If the warm hug and lingering kiss he left on her cheek as they parted after remaining a little longer with the kids were any indication, she knew she’d said the right thing. Although it could have also been credited to the bag of pastries she’d handed him a minute before.

[pessimisticlatte]

Glass Roses ~ Chapter 21

Adrienette/Adrinette ~ Lukagami ~ Ladynoir ~ DJWifi/Alynino ~ Chlobrina ~ Gabriel x a Sack of Shit ~ Nathalie x Happiness (because she deserves it)

Remember how I said this was going to be a monster chapter? Well, it is. It clocks in at 13 pages (out of the 160 for the whole fic) and 6,505 words (out of 77,371). 

Author’s note at the bottom

Marinette watched Gabriel leave, slipping into a hidden corridor toward the back left of the ballroom and disappearing. Trying not to watch her illusory self walk gracefully through the ballroom on Chat’s arm, Alya as Rena following behind with her flute slung over her back and figures looking like Viperion, Queen Bee, Carapace and Ryuko not too far behind her. Mari knew that the Alya walking within their friends superhero forms was real and that she’d chosen to remain within the group of illusions so as to maintain the guise of them being real and to make sure the illusion didn’t drop. Trixx’s illusion magic tended to work best if Alya was as close to it as possible, so that’s the route the dark red haired girl had decided to follow for this particular mission. 

Following into the corridor behind Gabriel, Mari paused for a moment until she felt a warm hand wrap loosely around her trembling fingers. Turning to face Adrien and Nino, Marinette pressed her finger to her lips and led the two boys down the corridor until they reached a bend.

“Nino, you should call out Wayzz and transform, depending on how this goes, we’re really going to need you,” Lightly gripping the sleeve of Nino’s suit jacket, Mari pushed herself up onto her toes as far as her wedged heels would allow and whispered into Nino’s ear. “Adrien and I should be able to distract him for a bit, Gabriel hasn’t met me as Adrien’s girlfriend yet,” A slight blush began to creep up Adrien’s cheeks at Mari’s words. “And it should throw him off while you sneak in and swap his miraculous box with this,” Dipping her hand into the pocket of her dress (she’d added the pockets herself, not just for this particular purpose but because Marinette was a firm believer in all women’s clothing having the deepest pockets possible), Mari pulled out an eerily similar box to the ones she, Adrien, and their friends stowed their miraculouses in when needed, though this one had engravings of moths and butterflies on it, showing it as the box for Nooroo’s dormant miraculous. “It’s got a fake butterfly brooch in it so he won’t notice the difference until the last moment, and that shouldn’t be until Luka is far enough away with the miraculous case.”

“How do I make sure not to mix them up?” Scratching his chin as he took the box from Marinette’s open palm and slipping it into the inner pocket of his suit jacket, Nino’s lips curled slightly in worry. 

Taking the box out of Nino’s pocket, Marinette turned it slightly and showed him the hinge of the box. “Here,” She pointed at the ever so slightly visible golden hinge. “The proper boxes are made so the hinge is completely invisible and can’t be seen until the box is open, you can see the hinge on this one though. It’s not exactly what I wanted but I didn’t fix it purely because I knew you’d ask that question,” Handing the box back to Nino, the red capped boy slid it back into his pocket and patted the outside with a grin.

“I used to think that you overthought things way too much, Mari, but, damn, I’m so grateful for it now,” Pulling Mari to him slightly, Adrien’s hand still wrapped around hers, Nino pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “You two go on ahead, I’ll transform and be right behind you.”

“Do you remember the words to make yourself invisible?” Placing a firm hand on his best friend’s shoulder, Adrien looked Nino in the eye sternly, trying to make sure that Nino wasn’t going to burst into wherever they were going completely visible and ruin this whole, precariously put together plan.

“Yep, now you two need to go or we’re going to run out of time,” Shrugging Adrien’s hand off his shoulder, Nino waved away Adrien’s comment and pushed the couple slightly toward the direction Gabriel had disappeared down. “Go, run like hell.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Remaining on the balcony, Nathalie watched the posse of superheroes fan out into the crowd of people, Rena Rouge sticking to Ladybug and Chat Noir’s sides as Viperion and Ryuko made their way to the back of the room and Queen Bee amassed a crowd of adoring fans, she was quite the social butterfly. Nathalie had lost track of the green one, Carapace or whatever his name was, in the throng of people below, the young man not wearing his usual vibrant green and his head not covered by the hood of his costume, making him blend into the crowd easily. Chewing on her lip, she searched for Adrien’s golden head, not sure whether she should be hoping that he was as close as possible to the superheroes or extremely far away from them; her search came up fruitless. Confused, Nathalie searched the crowd again with a more scrutinising gaze, leaning over the balcony again slightly. 

The shining haloed head of her son was nowhere to be found, causing Nathalie’s heart to thunder and beat with intense, worried irregularity. Where was he? He was here when Ladybug and Chat Noir and the rest of them arrived, where could he be now? Her head had begun to swim with a million shades of worry, the marble bannister beneath her hand beginning to sway slightly like undulating water as the grey and silver threading through it began to curl and coil and slither over each other like snakes. Nathalie suddenly felt weightless, like she was falling, as she tipped over the bannister and plummeted to the level below, unaware of the fact that she was falling at all. She couldn’t hear the distant cries as she fell, her ears deaf and her mind completely blank save for the aching, echoing worry for her boy, her son. 

~~~~~~~

Squeezing Marinette’s hand lightly, Adrien knocked on the large oaken door he’d watched his father disappear behind a moment ago. The rapping from the young man’s knuckles reverberated through the empty corridor he and Marinette were standing in as well as the study beyond the doors. There was the faint sound of muttered swearing before the clicking of shoes against polished flooring approached the doors, swinging open to reveal a very pissed off and mildly disheveled Gabriel Agreste.

The usually perfect coiff Adrien had never seen his father without was rumpled, as though someone had been running their fingers through it, and the top two buttons of his stark white button down were undone, revealing the equally as stark undershirt beneath. 

“Adrien,” Gabriel addressed his son curtly as he stepped aside slightly and allowed the two into the room, Marinette noticing Adrien’s verging on being than his father as they passed him. “I do not believe I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you yet,” Holding his hand out to Marinette, Gabriel assessed with extreme scrutiny her behind his wife framed glasses. Reaching out to shake the elder Agreste man’s hand, Gabriel grabbed her hand in a way she’d only ever experienced when it was Adrien dressed as Chat Noir doing it. Pressing a light kiss to Marinette’s knuckles with the slightest bow, Gabriel’s face remained emotionless despite his state. Mari guessed that he’d disappeared back here with someone else to throw off the scent of his being Hawkmoth should anyone, such as Adrien and herself, decide to follow him. “I am Gabriel Agreste.”

“I..I know,” Trying not to stumble over her words, Marinette felt her cheeks heat in the presence of not just her boyfriend’s father but the designer she’d aspired to be like for most of her life and the most dangerous, notorious supervillain in France. “I’m Marinette...Marinette Dupain-Cheng. B-but, my friends c-call me M-Mari, Mr Agreste. It’s a p-p...pleasure to meet you.”

“Chin up, child,” Almost disdainfully, Gabriel released Marinette’s hand and stood completely straight, his body unnaturally still, as his lips curled slightly at the young woman’s posture and the inelegant bow of her head. “Standing like that adds twenty years to your appearance and is unflattering and ugly.”

Wide eyed, Mari glanced at Adrien with quivering lips as she straightened her own back and tipped her chin up slightly. Hands held loosely behind his back, Gabriel walked further into the room, motioning for the two to follow him with a curt, impersonal nod. 

“Sit,” Sliding into the large leather chair behind the biggest, shiniest desk Mari had ever seen in her entire life, Gabriel Agreste ran a hand through his hair and smoothed down a few stray pieces of his perfectly glossy platinum blonde hair. “How did you meet my son?”

Marinette and Adrien had been careful about not closing the door behind them, leaving it slightly ajar so that the invisible Nino could pass through as soon as needed. Having watched his best friends disappear into the study, a slight glance over a shoulder from Adrien before they entered telling Nino that things were currently going exactly as planned, on this end at least anyway. Sucking his stomach in as much as he could, Nino slipped through the open door with painfully held breath. Bumping the door slightly, he squeezed his eyes closed as tightly as possible and fought against his own racing heart to stay as calm as he could. The door made no sound from Nino’s small collision, not even whispering as it brushed over the polished floor and away from him. Releasing his breath slowly, shakily, and impossibly quietly, Nino entered the room fully and pressed his back against the flat expanse of wall adjacent to it, seeing his two best friends across the room from him as Marinette was interrogated by Gabriel Agreste. Nino had been in her position once, Gabriel had called him to the mansion in Paris and grilled him within an inch of his life on every single aspect of Nino’s life, personality, interests and whatever other trivial things the Agreste patriarch had felt the compulsion to know. He felt sorry for Mari but was so thankful that it wasn’t him.

Inching further into the room, avoiding anything that could give him away as he slowly moved away from the door and past the half wall that had initially separated his entry from the conversation being had at the desk beyond, Nino slotted himself into a spot between a large metallic filing cabinet and a wall with a curtain covered window, waiting. Gabriel’s interrogation of Marinette continued, Nino beginning to feel as though this really wasn’t his place to be as the questions became more and more personal and Mari’s answers became more and more shaky, embarrassed. Ears suddenly pricking up at footfalls approaching the study, Nino’s breath caught in his throat again as Adrien’s bodyguard threw the door of the study open fully, rounding the half wall and commanding the trio’s attention with silent intensity.

“Yes, Mr Gorille?” Gabriel’s voice was bored, a tone Nino was more than used to seeing as Adrien’s father tended to have three emotions: bored, angry, and disdainful. Quickly and almost unsuccessfully stifling a laugh at the bodyguard’s surname, the invisible boy’s heart began to thunder again, so loud in his own ears that he was worried everyone else in the room would hear it and he would be done for. “What do you want?”

“Sir, Ms Sancouer fell over one of the balconies,” The Gorilla’s voice was gruff, almost as emotionless as Gabriel’s but there was the unmistakable tenor of worry in his tone as he spoke of Adrien’s new adoptive mother and his good friend. Gabriel immediately shot to his feet.

“Is she alright?” Gabriel didn’t sound or look particularly worried, though something about his posture hinted at him actively trying to experience a human emotion (and failing, much to Nino’s delight).

“One of the superheroes you invited, Queen Bee, caught her just as she tipped over. Ms Sancouer is alright though she did knock her head against the bannister as she fell and is bleeding quite immensely from the temple where her skin has split. One of the waiters is administering first aid as we speak but Ms Sancouer is asking for Master Adrien,” Nodding his head toward Adrien as he finished, Nino saw the change in the bodyguard’s posture a moment after he noticed the abject fear swimming in his best friend’s wide eyes. Nino had almost forgotten that Nathalie had signed the adoption papers for Adrien and that the other young man was still adjusting to having a parent who actually gave a shit about him, of course Adrien would be terrified.

“We will all go. Come,” Rounding the desk, Gabriel pulled Adrien and Marinette with him, like they were planets caught in his orbit. The four of them left the room, leaving Nino pressed against the wall between the filing cabinet and the window.

~~~~~~~~

Dressed as Queen Bee, Chloe cradled Nathalie in her arms gently before laying the woman down on an overstuffed lounge in a parlour not too far from the ballroom. A steady stream of crimson blood trickled from the woman’s temple and onto the pale golden skin of Chloe’s arm as she carefully positioned Nathalie’s head, making sure she was laid comfortably on the couch. Not wanting Alya to tire too quickly as she maintained the illusions, Chloe Bourgeois had slipped away to ‘powder her nose’ and returned dressed as Queen Bee, Pollen having morphed her usual suit into an equally beautiful dress as the one Mari had made for her. She’d just emerged from her hidey hole after transforming when she’d seen Nathalie suddenly sway then topple over the bannister of the balcony across the wide ballroom from her, using her miraculous enhanced speed, Chloe had flown across the room and caught the falling woman before she’d even come close to the shining floor. 

The crowd of people had begun to advance on Chloe as she held Nathalie in her arms, checking that she was still breathing and that there was no damage to her beyond the bleeding wound at her temple. For once in her life, Chloe hadn’t enjoyed the crowd’s attention, wanting desperately to get Nathalie somewhere safe so she could clean up the blood painting the side of the older woman’s face and bring someone to her who had the training and knowledge to be able to do something to help her. Adrien’s bodyguard, the Gorilla, had swept the crowd away so that Chloe could take Nathalie somewhere less crowded, the large man exhibiting a level of emotion Chloe hadn’t been sure he was capable of.

Luka had appeared soon after Chloe had set Nathalie down, the Gorilla having disappeared to find Adrien and Gabriel once the former’s name had been heard faintly leaving her lips, with Kagami in tow, a waiter not far behind the Japanese girl. Assuring her friends that the waiter knew first aid, Chloe moved aside and allowed the dark skinned woman to tend to Nathalie, mopping the blood away from her face and checking what vitals she could without complex instruments. 

Standing silently, arms crossed over her chest as her heart hammered, Chloe tried not to pace as Kagami (still dressed in creaseless culottes and a handmade kimono jacket she’d said Marinette had made for her at the beginning of the year) stood at Luka’s side, one hand entwined with hers while the other tapped out a melody on the thigh of his tux. He’d swapped out into Viperion before Chloe had changed into Queen Bee, Kagami remaining in civilian attire as Alya had suggested. Footsteps approached them from outside the parlour, Kagami releasing Luka’s hand and gliding away from him fluidly as the waiter’s head snapped to face the door, glancing past the two as her dark eyes glazed over Luka appreciatively. Immediately crossing the room to Nathalie’s side, Adrien’s skin had bleached to a pale sheet white as he knelt down beside her and took her limp hand in his own clammy, worry-mottled ones. Marinette hung by the door, Gabriel Agreste floating just outside the threshold as the Gorilla stood guard. Hesitantly, Chloe moved over to Marinette and stood beside her awkwardly as the two girls watched Adrien sweep a lock of dark hair streaked with Nathalie’s signature red stripe away from her pale face.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng,” Unsure of how to greet Mari, Chloe’s words came out too formal and too stilted.

“Hello Queen Bee, you look lovely this evening,” Mari was definitely a better actress than Chloe, not that the blonde girl would ever admit it to her. Keeping her identity as Ladybug from so many people in her life, including Alya, had definitely made her so good at pretending that, if Chloe hadn’t known Marinette better, she might’ve thought they were actually strangers meeting for the very first time and not friends trying desperately not to give up the dangerous charade that they were playing. “I heard that you caught Ms Sancouer as she fell. That was very brave of you and I can’t thank you enough for saving her.”

“It’s alright, helping people is what I do,” Chloe’s smile was sincere but awkward, she wished that Sabrina was here to hold her hand because it’s not every day that you watch your best friend’s mother go toppling off a balcony and you’re the one who catches her, stopping her from smacking into the ground from a height that very likely would’ve killed her. “I’m lucky that I caught her in time though, if I had been a moment later she might’ve hit the ground and would be in much worse condition.”

“Regardless, I’m really thankful that you were there. Where are Ladybug and Chat Noir?” Marinette knew that Gabriel, the Gorilla, and the waiter would all be asking the same question if they could so she asked it for them. Of course, she knew where they were; Chat Noir was kneeling beside his mother with shaking hands and tear stung eyes, and Ladybug was standing back, giving her partner a moment to breathe as he grieved. 

“They’re doing crowd control with Rena Rouge, we thought it best if the two of them stayed with the public and calmed them down instead of having Viperion and I do it. The public love Ladybug and Chat Noir, they’re more likely to trust them than they are to trust us,” The lie was smooth, seamless, almost as if Chloe had been practicing it over and over in her head for the moment that exact question was asked (she had been). Glancing around the room discreetly, Marinette made sure that those who’d needed to hear the lie had and that they’d believed it, convinced that Chloe’s words had met their mark, Mari moved toward Adrien and placed a careful hand on his shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette, Adrien, Gabriel and the Gorilla had gone, leaving Nino alone in the study with the fake miraculous box Mari had made clutched carefully in his hand. He generally wasn’t the type to say that an accident was a stroke of luck but this time, it really had been. They’d thought through how to get Nino in and how to delay Gabriel’s realisation that the real butterfly miraculous had been spirited away from him but there hadn’t been much thought put into how Nino would go about switching the boxes and then getting the fuck out of the study. The Gorilla had closed the door behind the group when they’d left, Nino’s keen ears hadn’t missed the click of the lock as he did so but that wasn’t an issue for now, the issue for now was getting ahold of the real butterfly miraculous. 

Still invisible, Nino crossed the room carefully and rounded the desk, kneeling down so he was at eye level with the column of drawers on the left side of the desk. The lowermost drawer had a keyhole toward the top of it, when Nino tugged on it he found that it was locked (not that he expected it to be unlocked, this was Gabriel Agreste he was attempting to rob and the man was nothing if not thorough). Checking the other side of the desk, Nino found two more locked drawers. Resting back onto his feet, still crouching, he chewed his lip and moved his gaze between the two sides of the desk and the three locked drawers, he’d never actually wanted to try and think like a supervillain but right now he was going to have to because he had a feeling deep in his gut that told him that Gabriel Agreste was definitely not keeping the butterfly miraculous in one of these drawers. Remembering what Tikki and Plagg had said a few weeks ago about how Kwamis could find each other, Nino paused for a moment before relinquishing invisibility and freeing Wayzz from his activated state. The exhausted Kwami hovered in the air in front of Nino as the boy peered over the desk toward the half wall separating him from the door and strained his ears for any sound of someone approaching.

“Nino, what’s wrong?” Confused, Wayzz looked up over the lip of the desk too, a large yawn leaving his mouth. 

Pulling a small packet of jelly beans from his pants pocket, Nino handed one to Wayzz before ducking back down under the desk. “Hey, so you know how Kwamis can find each other?”

“Yes, but it’s not an exact science, Nino,” Chewing slowly on the jelly bean, Wayzz’s smooth brow furrowed slightly. “What do you need me to do?”

“Do you think you can track Nooroo? I think the butterfly miraculous is in here somewhere but I wanna be sure before I start ripping things apart,”

“We’re in Gabriel Agreste’s office, yes?” Nino nodded, heart racing. They didn’t have ages and Nino was too far away from Luka to be able to ask for a second chance at this (second chance would only give him 10 minutes at max anyway and there was always the worry that jumping back to try again wouldn’t necessarily change the outcome for the better) so right now was likely the only chance he and Wayzz had to grab the miraculous and skedaddle the fuck out of this study and back to the party. “Give me a moment.”

“We don’t have long, turtle dude, cause if we get caught, we’re done for, so please don’t take too long,” Finishing the jelly bean, Wayzz nodded before closing his eyes and floating completely still in the air in front of Nino’s face. Moving with his eyes closed, Wayzz floated up under the desk, weaving past Gabriel’s desk chair as he did so. Opening his eyes, Wayzz pointed up to the underside of the desk with a fin.

“There’s a compartment there, he’s in there. I can feel it,” 

“Turtle dude, you are the best,” Crawling under the desk with a grin, Nino slid his fingertips along the underside until he felt a long groove in the varnished wood. Pushing up gently, the board dislodged and, with a slightly angled turn, came away from the underside of the desk into Nino’s gentle hands. Wayzz floated up into the compartment the board had been hiding and disappeared into the darkness within before floating back with a box much too large for him to be moving clutched unsteadily between his small, green fins. “Honestly, man, I don’t know how to thank you enough for this. You are a lifesaver, literally.”

“You should transform back, Nino, you have the box but, as you said, there isn’t much time and I would rather us not get caught,” Slipping the box Wayzz had been holding into the inner pocket of his suit jacket, resting above his heart, Nino pushed the fake box into the cavity beneath the desk and returned the board hiding it to its original position, making sure that the smooth wood that matched the rest of the desk was facing down so as not to give away what had transpired. 

Taking Wayzz’s advice, Nino transformed back into Carapace, his costume identical to the illusory one Alya was maintaining in the ballroom, before slipping back into invisibility with the whispered words: ‘Protective shell-ter’. Double checking the security of the miraculous box, Nino carefully got up and crossed the room to the door, twisting the handle gently hoping that it locked from the inside and not the outside. To his dismay, he found the door locked and refusing to budge, his knowledge of lock picking completely non-existent and thus no help to him in this moment. He couldn’t hear anyone approaching but that didn’t stop the anxious, echoing beat of his heart as he looked around the room for something, anything, that would get him out before Gabriel came back. When Gabriel came back, it was game over. He’d go for the miraculous and find that it was fake, Luka wouldn’t have had enough time to get away before Gabriel unleashed havoc in ways Nino couldn’t even fathom and this would end with Adrien and Marinette’s miraculouses in Gabriel’s possession as well as the rest of the groups. This was a risky game to be playing but it was the only one they had.

Eyes snagging on the heavy damask curtains, Nino moved toward the window and pushed them aside. Looking out into the garden and down, there was a row of rose bushes below (just his luck, eh?) and the window sill was higher than he would’ve liked, though all he had to do was step down from it, he was on the first floor after all. The window had a latch on the inside, which Nino flipped free so he could push the windows open; cold air rushed right at his heated face as he did so and calmed his fried nerves slightly. Pushing himself up over the window sill, Nino dropped down into the garden bed below, narrowly missing the thorns on the bushes as he maneuvered himself as close to the building as he could. Seconds before he began to sneak away, Nino remembered that the window had been closed and locked with the curtains drawn over it before he’d used it as an escape route; mentally bashing himself, he stood up and tried to close the window as best as he could from the outside, the endeavour going about as well as could be expected for a window that opened inward and closed with a latch. He didn’t want to leave it open, anything that could alert Gabriel of foul play had to be eradicated completely. Gaze darting around the room as the too fast beating of his anxious heart returned, Nino again searched for something that could help him, though this search was fruitless.

From where he was standing, Nino could see the door that he’d entered through as well as Gabriel’s desk, in fact, he could see the entire sprawl of the room from this one vantage point. There was a door behind the desk, slightly to the right, that was ajar and there was a light on behind it. Confused as to how he hadn’t seen it before, Nino climbed back into the study and carefully pushed the door open further. Sitting on a plush, velvet lined chair within was a woman in a rather severe state of undress, playing on her phone with a disgruntled look on her face. Mouth curving into an ‘o’, Nino remembered how Gabriel hadn’t seemed as put together as he usually did when he’d entered the room; realisation dawned on him as he looked at this stunning woman with mocha coloured skin and waist length midnight hair chilling in a room attached to Gabriel’s study in her underwear. Gabriel had come in here to fuck before he went all ‘hawky’. Nino’s lips curled into a smile which he hid, despite his invisibility, by pressing his lips together and rolling them into his mouth; reaching to pull his phone out of his pocket, he paused, he knew that he was going to take the photo so he could show Alya but he knew his girlfriend well enough that no matter how he tried to phrase it, she would definitely not take him having a photo of a half naked woman on his phone very well (especially since he’d taken it while invisible). Sliding his phone back into his pocket and looking back at the window, Nino had an idea.

Pushing the door into the room the woman was in open further before he dashed to the window and climbed out unceremoniously, Nino waited below to see if she’d take the bait. Surely, after a moment he heard the woman release a displeased groan before he heard her light footsteps moving toward the window.

“He brings me in here and gets me half undressed then his kid turns up so he fucking abandons me and he had the audacity to leave the window open before he left? Fuck you, Gabriel Agreste,” She slammed the window closed and latched it, Nino below stifling a laugh with all his might as she closed the curtains with an angry flourish and stormed back to the room she’d been sitting in. Once she was gone, he released his held breath with a refreshing whoosh, stood up and sprinted as quickly as he could, Wayzz didn’t enhance his speed as much as Plagg, Pollen, Trixx and even Tikki enhanced the others, toward the guest house. Ducking around the back of the house, chest heaving from exertion, Nino dropped the invisibility and pulled the miraculous box out, checking it over to make sure that it was the right one. Quickly assessing the vicinity around him, he twisted the handle of the back door and slipped into the guest house kitchen.

Opening the miraculous box, Nino caught a glimpse of the butterfly brooch for a split second before there was a flash of dull purple light and Nooroo appeared.

“H-who are you?” The Kwami spoke in a small, scared voice, pressing his fins together as he looked at Nino with an expression akin to that of someone just about to cry.

“I’m Carapace, I’m a friend,” Lowering his voice and trying to sound as reassuring as possible, Nino chewed the inside of his cheek. “Mayura sent me to come find you so we could return you to your miraculous box and keep you safe from Hawkmoth.” Silently, Nino crossed his fingers in the hopes that Nooroo would understand what he was saying.

“M..Ms Nathalie sent you to get me?” Still speaking very quietly, Nooroo floated slightly closer to Nino’s face with the widest eyes he’d ever seen. “Y-you’re going to take me somewhere else? P-please t-tell me t-that you’re go-going to take me s-s-s-somewhere el,” Nooroo hiccuped. “Else.”

“Yeah, I am, but I need you to get back in your box so I can put your box with the others. Then one of my friends, who is also here to help you, is going to come and get the miraculous case and take it somewhere far away from here to keep it safe until we can come get it,”

“W-will you come and get me?” It had been so long since Nooroo had felt cared for. Gabriel had treated him like an object and even the rare moments he got to share with Duusuu didn’t fill the void Gabriel had created within him.

“Maybe, maybe not, but I do know that my friend Marinette, she’s one of my best friends and the best person you’ll ever meet, will definitely be coming to get you. She’s got Tikki with her, so you know you can trust her because Tikki wouldn’t trust just anyone,” Nino didn’t actually know if what he was saying was true but if it would get Nooroo back in his box so they could get him away from here then he didn’t care if it was a lie.

“I-if Tikki chose her then she has to be special,” Nooroo nodded, the gesture making Nino’s shoulders feel lighter for some reason. “I’ll see y-you a-another time. Thank you for saving me.”

“Hey, don’t mention it,” Nino grinned as he held the box open, Nooroo floating back into it before it closed with a gentle snap. Alya had told Nino that he could tell which room was hers and Marinette’s by what was hanging on the doorknob, glancing around the room he saw only one door with something hanging from the knob so he moved toward it, whatever was dangling from it unrecognisable in the dimness within the guest house. Reaching the door, Nino saw that Alya had carefully balanced a pair of his headphones on the knob, they were his favourite pair and he’d been looking for them for days! Grinning and rolling his eyes, Nino pushed the door open and saw a weird, slightly curved lump under the sheets of one of the beds. Suspecting that it was the box, Nino pulled the sheets back and stowed Nooroo’s little, craved black and red box within the much larger black and red one before smoothing the sheets back out, making the box a little bit less conspicuous for when the girls came back. 

Releasing Wayzz and feeding him again, Nino exited the guest house through the back door and, by way of the shadows and some very carefully timed moving, made his way to the hedged garden where he sat down on a wrought iron bench and pulled out his phone, texting Alya to tell her that it was done.

~~~~~~~~~~

Shortly after Nathalie’s fall, Alya’s phone pinged, though she remained glued to the illusory Chat Noir and Ladybug’s sides she’d drifted to the back of the room for a little bit more peace and quiet. Keeping up an illusion always made her tired and maintaining one such as this for this many people was draining her in a way she’d never experienced. She’d gotten one of the waiters to bring her an espresso about 10 minutes ago, she’d downed the entire boiling hot cup in seconds, not caring if she signed her taste buds off completely because she would take any energy she could get at this stage. Discreetly checking her phone, Alya had to hold in her joyful whoop as she read Nino’s message. He’d done it. They’d done it. A small smile on her face as the only hint toward what she’d just read on her phone, Alya had her illusions begin to say their goodbyes and make their way toward the exit. It took longer than she’d wanted because people kept asking for Ladybug’s autograph and each time she’d had the illusory form of her best friend decline, she’d felt more and more guilty. 

Once each of the illusions was out the door, herself included, Alya released Trixx from the necklace and fed the starving Kwami before making her way, dead on her feet, to the garden where Nino had said he was so she could collapse into her boyfriend’s arms and pass the fuck out.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Once Adrien and Marinette had arrived in the room, Kagami had slipped out and kept an eye on Alya from the other side of the room. She could see that her friend was getting tired but she kept her distance so she didn’t blow Alya’s cover, after a little while, Kagami saw Alya check her phone and grin slightly. The fake Ladybug and Chat Noir started to say their goodbyes and push through the crowd to the stairs so they could leave, realising that this meant that Nino had done it and that Luka needed to get to the box and out of here as soon as possible, Kagami turned on her heel and walked back into the room where Chloe, Marinette, Adrien and Luka were. 

“Viperion, Queen Bee, if I may be so blunt, I think your friends are leaving,” Adrien’s bodyguard had ignored Kagami as she entered, the small Japanese girl addressing her superhero friends with no hint of recognition. 

Luka looked confused for a moment before he realised what she was trying to say. “Queenie, looks like Buggaboo and Kitty Chat are makin’ a move, do we wanna get a move on too?” Using his head to gesture toward the door, Luka tried to give Chloe a subtle ‘we need to go, Nino’s done it’ without actually saying the words. Luckily, Chloe hadn’t taken as long as Luka had to read between the lines of what Kagami had said, understanding fully.

“Mr Agreste, please contact me once she is better. I would very much like to pay her a visit and make sure she’s alright,” Leaning down slightly to speak to Adrien, Chloe’s voice was soft and reassuring. Unable to form words at the moment as he watched Nathalie’s chest rise and fall so, so slowly, Adrien just nodded. “We’d best be off. I do hope that Rena and Ryuko didn’t lose Carapace in the crowd, it’s almost as if he turns invisible.”

Sweeping out of the room, Chloe fixed Gabriel with a cold stare that the older man didn’t flinch at or even react to, not that she’d expected him to. He’d actually gone further than she’d expected when he met her gaze. Luka on her heels, Chloe made her way across the ballroom and exited just after Alya and the illusions of Nino and Kagami. Allowing the other girl to disappear into the darkness to the left of the door, Chloe and Luka disappeared to the right and released their Kwamis. 

“I’m going to go find Sabby,” Tucking Pollen’s box into the carefully hidden pocket of her dress, Chloe didn’t linger before taking the long route around the side of the house, to the gardens opposite to the one Nino and Alya were now resting in together, and back into the ballroom through large, open glass doors.

“We didn’t do a lot,” Kagami’s sudden voice caused Luka to jump. His heart racing.

“You scared me,” Turning to face his girlfriend, Luka opened his arms for her to walk into. “But I guess that it’s good that we didn’t do a lot, if we’d had to it might’ve meant that something went seriously wrong.”

Allowing Luka to wrap his arms around her waist, Kagami hooked her arms around his neck and let him sway her for a few moments to the melody of the faint classical music emanating from within the ballroom. “Let’s get the box and go,”

“Let’s?” Grinning down at the girl in his arms, Luka squeezed Kagami lightly.

“I’m coming with you. You didn’t think you were going to whisk the box away by yourself, did you?”

“Hmmm,” He let out a noncommittal hum that Kagami responded to with a joking scoff and a gentle smack to the side of his head. “I’d pretty much expected you to come with me, Echo, we make a good team.”

“That we do, Strings, that we do,”

A/N: I’m a massive lover of suspense and high stakes action but I didn’t think that would fit into this story so, yeah, this resolution was a little easier despite how tenuous and kinda shitty the plan was. Also, yeah, I added a power to Nino’s stuff, having one ability makes you a pretty shitty superhero when it only lasts like 5 minutes so he and Alya got an upgrade, sue me. Honestly, I’m not gonna apologise for a less than impressive resolution chapter because I actually really like this chapter as it is. If you don’t like it, please don’t tell me because I love writing and hearing people say that they hate my work is very demotivating

~~~~~~~~TAGLINE~~~~~~~

@lady-charinette @mochegato @katieykat513 @hnbutt @camelliaflwr @a-star-with-a-human-name @beauty-and-her-books @severalverysmallmangoesinabasket @aussie-lesbian @imgaydontshoot @maniic-pixie-dream-girl @itwasmydog

[whenimgoodandready]

Remember Felix? That scrapped character from the concept stages of the show (Ladybug PV) who was the OG Cat Noir? That one character that Astruc thought was an “anime cliché”, the one type he thought wasn’t “strong” enough to be in a dynamic with Ladybug and said he would “never” ever come into the now complete show “Miraculous Ladybug”? Well, guess what? He’s here! Yea! Except he looks like sh*t! Nay! How bad is the “canon” Felix, I’ll tell ya:

*Felix-We (sorta kinda) know how time works in the show, right? I mean, it’s been like, yeah, a year since Emilie “disappeared” and during that time (according to Alya in “Feast”), it’s been months since the dynamic duo and the big bad birds showed up too. With the questioning timeline, the Agrestes are honoring the one year anniversary of when their matriarch “vanished” and Adriens friends (even the faux fox and retired bee) cheer him up by sending him videos on how much they care about him with Marinette privately confessing her love (yeah, I know he won’t see that and what does that make it? The 563rd time? Not so charming. Oh well, tough sh*t).

From the promos, we saw a “figure” of what looked to be Emilie herself coming back, but since this is impossible, (cuz we know why) the fandom guessed correctly that it was in fact her identical twin sister, Amelie Graham de Vanily. Wow! They actually pulled that into the show, huh? Can this get any more obvious? Anyways, the only difference I could see between the two sisters is that they wear different colored outfits (Emilie-Pale Pink (or is it White cuz of the whole Yin-Yang theme?), Amélie-Black. Granted, it’s cuz the latters in mourning from her husbands death the same time Emilie was comatosed) because I can’t say how their personalities are since all’s we got about Emilie was that she was “loving and caring”, but that’s not enough. Amélie here, she seemed “nice” until we saw how she transparently wanted back the Agrestes wedding rings as they “rightfully” belong to her side of the family. I’ll get to that soon.

Then we have, the moment we’ve been waiting for, the day that we never thought would happen, but it did! After all these years, The one who seemed to only exist in fanfics, brought back by popular demand! The man! The myth! The legend! Felix! (trumpets sound, but then untriumphantly fall flat).............I know.............it’s greatly disappointing (sigh). He differs SO MUCH more greatly than his mother and aunt compared to his PV. The eyes, the hair, the facial structure, the height, the age, I get the gist, I don’t need to explain it to you guys. I’m on the side where I prefer the PV Felix too.

Maybe this would go better if we compared the two Felixes. Let’s start with PV Felix. We only knew him from the concept promo years ago and were only given just a little info until we read up more about him and it was enough to give us an idea of his character. From what we saw, he was a stereotypical anime love interest type being all cold, reserved and distant from others like in the scenes where he was ignoring PV Marinette and in one art, using his powers to make an apple fall on her head. There was a reason for that. He was cursed with bad luck from his miraculous (in the developing stages for the show) and didn’t want to put any one in harms which made him go into a pissy mode. As his Cat Noir self, he was more wild and carefree with a sense of justice and he was happy to spend time with Ladybug. Some didn’t like that he tried to seduce her into kissing him to free himself from the ring, but we don’t know if it gave him the inability to tell her or the thought just never crossed his mind (shrugs). In the end, he seemed like he would’ve gone through character developement had the show been picked up by that format.

As for our “Miraculous Ladybug” Felix, he’s a “Mini Me” because just like Gabe, he too has changed drastically after the loss of a loved one. He was cold and distant to Adrien as well and messed with Plaggs cheese and he had his reason too, he was upset with Adrien for not attending his fathers funeral. However, he acted that way even after Adrien apologized for that! Adrien likes to see the good in rotten people such as Chloe and Lila and tries to excuse their spoiled selves to others. Chloe, he knows her mother walked out on her and she was his only friend growing up. Lila, she’s home alone all the time and he sympathies with that and believes she lies to get attention (which is the first reason). So now, with Felix, it’s cuz he was close with him in the beginning and he lost his father. Little does Adrien know, all three have gone to the dark side. Felix “changes” in the end after almost getting himself killed and makes amends with Adrien (I like to think it’s genuine). However, he still has a grudge with Gabe and pick pocked his ring, but only cuz his mother wanted it. The only thing they kept of “Canon Felix” was his name, clothes and the a**hole personality. Speaking of which, it comes out when he impersonates Adrien and badmouths his friends on his “cheer up” video offending Alya, Rose and Juleka to become the The Punishers Trio.

Oh! Don’t get me started on those three here! I’ve seen fans come up with theories on how they perceived them like for example, them being the equivalent of The Fates from Greek Mythology, but Noooooooooooooooo! That didn’t happen! Instead, what did we get!? Just their signature akumatized forms with a group name! Lame! (although, I did have a tiny theory Felix would side with them, so that part I liked) That just doubles the disappointment for this ep! To make matters worse, THIS WAS THE LAST EPISODE WE GOT FOR SEASON 3! UGH! Biggest.disappointment.for.the.show.ever! :P.

Although disappointing, considering the fandom had high expectations of Felix to be a CGI version of his PV self, there were at least a few interesting things good enough to get through with this. First, Gabriel almost told Adrien the dark truth about him being Paris’s public enemy #1 (maybe this would’ve gone better talking through a heartfelt “mono-a-mono” then traumatizing the poor guy, physically abusing him and even akumatizing him that lead to Kevin Costner’s, “Waterworld”). Then Adrien says he supports Gabenath and that he has his blessing (guess he’s been browsin’ Tumblr and discovering somethin’ goin’ on between his dad and his assistant huh?), but Gabe calls him a “Banana Haired Idiot and to go f**k himself”. Rude! Least somebody knows how to move on and seek happiness elsewhere instead of jumping into supervillainy, brainwashing innocent civilians and almost killing people all for a pair of magical jewelry from two teenagers to bring back his “dead” wife! On the subject of Nat, she can kick ass! So it’s not just as a supervillainess she can do that, she knew moves beforehand! Maybe she should double as Adriens bodyguard. Also, on the ship support, Luka happily ships Adrienette despite his own interest in Marinette cuz he too wants happiness for others. Finally, the best moment that helped get over the ep was the whole “No! means No!” scene between Ladybug and Felix (disguised as Adrien) where she decks him out for being a pig. Girl Power!💖✊ Good thing she knew Adrien was a gentlemen to not be so forward (and as a bonus, give the audience a “Take That!” to the show of how displeased we were of canon Felix). Thank you, Ladybug! Now onto the serious talk, The Graham de Vanily rings. What is it about them that Amelie wanted them back so badly!? It was never explained as that was just to get us hooked and eager for the reveal in Season 4, but just what is so intriguing about them? Are they of value? Like, worth a fortune? Is it an amok to expand on the “Adrien being a sentimonster” theory (and for that matter, Felix!?), Are they magic? Is there a secret Miracle Box we don’t know of where they’re a miraculous? WHAT!? Ugh! More unanswered questions! They just won’t end will they? Personally, I just thought it was low of Gabe to take his own wife’s ring as a replacement, WTF Dude!?

[ladylynse]

Hi! It’s me again :D Okay, this particular ask is gonna be a bit angsty and bitter but I really curious about it. So, there has been a few fan theories about how Chat Noir might go rouge and defecting to Hawkmoth’s side either because he found out the truth and sincerely shares those same goals or he’s going trick everyone by going undercover without letting anyone know. How will the rest of Secret Quartet react to his ‘betrayal’ and how will they cooperate with Ladybug in regards to this?

@queenofhearts7378 is probably the best person to ask about these sorts of things but I do enjoy giving my take on it (ie I’m still glad to be asked) so here goes nothing.

It would come as a shock, of course. They wouldn’t believe it of him until they see proof of it. He never let on anything the last time they worked together, and he was always so enthusiastic about defeating Hawk Moth with Ladybug whenever the subject came up. He wanted to prove to her that the two of them made a good team, that they should stay a good team. Partners. (Jake had pointed out that, as he understood it, she already did, but Adrien would always dismiss him. There have been too many times where he’s unwittingly left Ladybug to fight the akuma alone; being the one to help her defeat Hawk Moth would prove to both of them that he’s worthy of being her partner and always was, despite the occasional setback and moonlighting as part of the Secret Quartet.)

Ladybug hadn’t met them before this, and she doesn’t know their real identities. She just knows them as Phantom, the American Dragon, and the Ninja. The only reason she can contact them now is that Chat Noir—with their permission—had entrusted her with their contact info. In case he was away and she desperately needed him. In case something happened.

She had never thought something like this would happen.

She didn’t realize anything was amiss at first. He didn’t turn around and threaten her with Cataclysm. He just…missed a few more times than usual. Made a few more mistakes. Every time, it gave the person they were fighting an opportunity to get the jump on her. She didn’t think anything of it at the time. The attacks had gotten more frequent, and they were both exhausted. When she went to recruit other Miraculous users to help with a particular fight, he never questioned it, and she could see how tired he was. How his usual cockiness had become a bit more forced, his smiles more strained. She’d thought it normal. She’d been making more mistakes, too. They’d had a lot of close calls.

She didn’t suspect sabotage, didn’t realize the truth, until she was rooted in place by a villain who could control plants. Chat Noir was still free, and he hadn’t used his Cataclysm yet. She’d called for him to free her.

“I’m sorry, my lady,” he’d said. “I can’t.” And then he’d turned away. Left her to the mercy of the akuma.

Hawk Moth had nearly won that day.

Ladybug had done what she’d felt she’d needed to do. She’d gone to Alya and done an exclusive interview with the Ladyblog. She’d told Paris about Chat Noir’s treachery. She made it clear that they didn’t know his reasons, asked that they not condemn him too harshly until they knew more, but she warned everyone that he was not to be trusted. She didn’t want anyone following him in the belief that he was still a hero. This wasn’t a Copycat, this was her partner. Former partner.

When Alya asked who he really was so everyone would be able to keep an eye out for him, Ladybug was forced to admit she didn’t know. They had never revealed their identities to each other, made no contingencies to do so. If she had known Chat’s identity, she could have told everyone who he was—but if he had known hers, he would have had another way of defeating Ladybug.

When Ladybug asks to meet up with the trio, she tells them the story again and shows the account of the fight Alya has on the Ladyblog. They are still reluctant to believe the truth. They still think of him as their partner.

She asks them who he is. She knows they associate when they aren’t all wearing masks. She knows the American Dragon has a human form, knows Phantom can pass as human, knows the Ninja just needs to remove his mask to rejoin society, just as she does.

They all exchange glances.

None of them volunteer the information.

“He might be controlled,” the American Dragon points out. “This might just be a different form of magic. There’s…a lot of different kinds. Way more than just what you know with your kwamis. The Ninja deals with that kind of thing almost on a daily basis, and I’ve run into my fair share.”

“This has been going on for weeks. Would a spell last that long?”

“It would if it’s renewed,” the dragon replies.

“Or if the connection is just never broken in the first place,” adds the Ninja. “Like the Am Drag said, it depends on the kind of magic. What I’m used to? That would probably last if I didn’t stop it. I’ve seen animals controlled for a long time. Humans wouldn’t be much different.”

“Ghosts can possess people for ages, too,” Phantom puts in, “but there are some obvious tells with that, especially when the ghost in question doesn’t know the person they’re supposed to be impersonating very well.”

Ladybug thinks they won’t help her, and her desperation shows on her face. “We’ll check up on him,” the Ninja says. “Drop by for a surprise visit. See how things go.”

“He’ll know I told you.”

They looked at each other again. “We’ve been doing this for longer without him,” Phantom finally says. “He won’t be able to trap all of us, even knowing what we can do. We’ll find out what we can and report back to you.”

“If you find something,” she says, “don’t bother reporting back to me. Just stop him. I can find out the truth then.”

Danny winds up doing advanced scouting. He can’t identify anything terribly different in how Adrien is acting, so he finds Plagg. When he offers Plagg some camembert, Plagg looks devastated. He doesn’t take it. He also refuses to say anything, but that already tells Danny all he needs to know.

Something is definitely up.

They change their plans and decide to send Jake in alone with a story of being in town to meet up with the new French Dragon. Something about intercontinental relations in the magical community. Jake never did pay enough attention to that sort of thing, and Adrien would know that, so he figures the excuse will work.

Adrien doesn’t let on that he suspects anything out of the ordinary, easily deflects Jake’s tentative questions, and seems his usual self. He passes the few more subtle tests Jake manages to do to check for some sort of magical control, too—ghost possession included.

They decide not to take risks. They know how dangerous Adrien can be as Chat Noir and aren’t keen to battle their friend. The plan is for Danny to possess him, take him somewhere else, let him be tied up, and swallow what’s basically a truth potion brewed up by Fu before Danny stops overshadowing him.

That gets derailed the moment Danny runs into the ghost shield that blocks him from entering Adrien’s room.

That erases any lingering doubts they had. Adrien had planned for them even before he knew Jake was in town. Randy tries sneaking in instead, but he gets caught on the surveillance cameras Adrien never used to have pointed towards his bathroom window. He is dealt with as any intruder might be—burglars wear masks, too, after all—and he knows better than to say who he really is.  Danny ends up breaking him out of prison while Jake uses his magic to impersonate Nathalie when they know she is out of the house.

Adrien’s father is the one to realize something is up. He wants to know why Nathalie is back already. Jake makes his apologies, saying he’d forgotten something, that it wouldn’t happen again and that he’d be quick about it— And then Gabriel says something that Jake later realizes is a reference to something. It is a test.

He fails it.

He just hadn’t realized he’d failed it at the time because he hadn’t realized Gabriel would know to test him, would know what he could do.

He hadn’t realized how much there was to this.

None of them had.

It isn’t until much later that he works it out. It isn’t until he finds himself on his hands and knees in a park, surrounded by grass pockmarked with chunks of ice and scorch marks and no idea how he got there, that he realizes what happened. The green shield in front of him drops as a flash of red passes over, erasing all the damage, and Jake looks up. He isn’t surprised to see the white butterfly flying away.

“I’m sorry,” he says to all of them. Then, to Ladybug, who had helped him to his feet, “I know what happened.”

Jake doesn’t know if it is just a ruse on Chat Noir’s part, doesn’t know if he is merely pretending to work with Hawk Moth to bring him down from the inside, doesn’t know if all of this has merely been a way to prove his loyalty to Hawk Moth and gain his trust before he makes his move to steal the Butterfly Miraculous—

But Jake does know why it might not be.

He does know what might have caused their friend to turn.

“Chat Noir is Adrien Agreste,” he says, “and Hawk Moth is his father.”

(That’s when they stop keeping secrets from each other. They’re more aware of the risks now, but they have a target—two targets—and Marinette fills in Master Fu. None of the trio wants a Miraculous for themselves—they’d rather stick with their own powers—so she recruits the other heroes, the ones who know how to use the powers they’ve been granted because they’ve helped before. They’re introduced to the trio only by their hero identities and vice versa, but they’re told the truth about Hawk Moth and Chat Noir. Queen Bee thinks they have it wrong—Gabriel would never endanger Adrien—and Carapace doesn’t want to believe that his best friend would ever betray them like this—especially Ladybug, since he knows how Adrien feels about her—and Rena Rouge hates the idea but doesn’t question its validity—because she’s realized that masks don’t need to be physical, and if Adrien has been Chat Noir all along, well, clearly he’s better at hiding behind one than she’d ever realized. “Sometimes you just don’t know a person as well as you think you do,” she says, and Ladybug swallows and starts to lay out a plan without meeting her eye.)

[adventures-in-mangaland]

ChatBug!

Hey @judiejodia, here is your full Christmas present for @mlsecretsanta! (I was on tumblr mobile before.). I tried for Beauxbatons, and failed, but I’ll try to finish it for you one day! In the meantime, have silly identity/friendship shenanigans. Also, link to the fic on AO3 here.

It was an act of desperation.

Mme Bustier stood at the head of the class, smiling benignly, completely unaware of the despair she had inspired.

“I’ll be collecting your forms now. I do hope you all found a suitable placement for the next two weeks. Remember, M. Damocles and I will be reviewing all your applications, and depending on their approval, you should all be able to begin your Work Experience on Monday!”

She seemed delighted for them. Marinette just cringed, sinking even lower into her seat.

This is going to be so humiliating.

She had tried everything.

She had asked everyone in the class (except Chloe) if their parents might have work experience placements for students in their work places. She had contacted countless Fashion Houses and Design Studios. She had scoured the newspapers and Yellow Pages. She had asked random customers at the bakery and phoned all of her parents’ friends. She had even advertised her desperation on Craig List.

Finally, she had asked Mme Bustier if she couldn’t just work at the bakery, only to be told her family’s business was not an option.

“It’s a chance to experience a new working environment, Marinette,” she had explained kindly. “To prepare you for your first day of work after you finish school.”

And then she had found it.

Her Salvation and Destruction in one neat bundle.

As her teacher collected the accursed form she groaned and let her head hit the desk with a defeated thunk. Alya patted her back sympathetically, clearly trying not to laugh, before shaking her head sternly at Nino when he turned around with an inquiring look.

But that thrice-damned sign she’d found pasted to the wall of the bakery, like a portent of doom, had been her only lead in her mad scramble of a job search, and the only positive response to boot.

So, as of Monday, she would be sacrificing her dignity in the name of Work Experience.

This was the worst day of her life.

Correction, this was the worst day of her life.

She stared at herself in the mirror through her parted fingers, aghast. The suit was not completely skin tight (it had not been designed for her, after all) and sagged in strange places, despite stretching tight over her bust. Not to mention the material was cheap and luridly bright. And the red of the boots they had given her to wear did not match the rest of the outfit, and had heels to boot.

Heels! I thought I was supposed to be doing a lot of walking! Why would they give me heels! Ladybug doesn’t even wear heels!

It was grossly unfair, especially as she had seen their Chat Noir’s costume, and he had not been subjected to the same indignity.

There was a knock at the door and it opened before she could squeak a reply.

“Ready?” It was Claudine, the co-ordinator of the Tour Company. She gave Marinette a once over and nodded her head in satisfaction.

“Good. Good. You’re a little younger than the real Ladybug, of course, and it shows, but you certainly look the part! Have you memorised your lines?”

Marinette gritted her teeth, but managed to nod with a smile.

She had memorised them. She had memorised every single cringe-worthy one.

Claudine beamed. “Excellent! I’m sure you’ll have a great time! Your Chat’s almost ready, and your first group should be arriving in about ten minutes, so just relax and go over the FAQ in the meantime. I must say, your knowledge is excellent. Just don’t let us down!”

On that passive-aggressive note, she waved and left the room, shutting the door with an unnecessarily loud bang behind her.

Marinette slumped.

This was definitely the worst day of her life.

This was the best day of his life.

Adrien grinned and bounced on his toes as he admired his reflection in the changing room’s mirror.

True, the material of his suit wasn’t real leather, was rather tacky, in fact, and true, his bell didn’t jingle right, and his tail was a limp, inanimate belt. But here he was Adrien Agreste, dressed up as his Crime-Fighting Alter-ego, and his Father couldn’t stop him.

He had tried, of course, insisting that as a celebrity, Adrien’s security could be threatened, that he didn’t even need work experience, since he had plenty with his modelling, and that if he had to waste two weeks of schooling, he might as well spend it doing something useful, like learning the ropes of his own future business.

But to Adrien’s intense gratification, Mme Bustier had stood firm.

No, the point of the placement was to expose Adrien to new experiences. No, he couldn’t spend the time working for his Father. No, he couldn’t work for any of his Father’s business associates at a rival Fashion House either.

She did concede the need for anonymity, for the sake of Adrien’s safety, a concession he was more than willing to embrace.

And then she had brought him the advertisement with a kind, expectant smile.

“I know it might be a little outside your comfort zone, Adrien. But I’ve noticed you’re a little shy sometimes, and this opportunity could really build your confidence! And your experience as a model should help. It’s a little silly, I know, but I think you could have a lot of fun with it.”

Lord knows, you need it.

She hadn’t needed to say it, but the words hung in the air, and Adrien whole-heartedly agreed.

So here he was, brimming with a tingly mixture of nerves and excitement. All the freedom he usually experienced as Chat Noir at his fingertips, and he was still Adrien.

No Gorilla, no schedule, no name.

Even his Father had admitted that, without the name Agreste, and with his face obscured by a mask, he was in no more danger than any other teenage boy. So, with strict instructions to call Nathalie at the beginning and end of every shift, and during his breaks, to prove he was still alive, he was free to explore Paris as himself.

He glanced at the clock. Claudine had said their first tour would be starting soon, so really it was time to go and meet his ‘Lady’. His stomach buzzed with nerves again and his smile faltered.

Would she like him? Could they be friends? What would she be like? It was weird he couldn’t tell her his name, wasn’t it? Would she find it creepy?

Anxiety began to overtake the excitement.

He had never really met people his own age outside of school before. And there he had a schedule, and clear, unwritten boundaries to dictate his behaviour. There he had Nino, not to mention school work to save him from the need to interact with anyone else. Not that he didn’t like socialising with his classmates, of course. But after a mostly solitary childhood, it could be overwhelming. What unspoken social conventions was he stepping on now? It was a mine field, one he was glad to walk, but nerve-wracking anyway.

His own reflection caught his eye again.

I’m Chat Noir. I’m a Superhero! I can do this.

Squaring his shoulders, he threw open the door.

And froze as he heard it make contact with someone’s face. Pushing the door more cautiously, it swung back to reveal a girl in a Ladybug costume, cradling her nose and swearing under her breath.

Shit. Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! What should I do? She’ll hate me!

“A-are you OK?”

She looked up and blue eyes met his, looking so much like his Lady as her face scrunched up into a scowl at the sight of him.

“I’m fine. No thanks to you. Stupid Cat.”

She immediately clasped her hands to her mouth, looking mortified and began to stutter an apology.

But, for whatever reason, her irritation eased the tension from his shoulders and pulled a smile from his lips. Whoever they’d hired to play Ladybug must have been a megafan, because her impersonation so far was excellent.

This was familiar. This was the pattern of so many of his actual encounters with his Lady. True, it wasn’t real, but he could pretend; this whole job was about pretending. And no one could do Chat Noir better than him.

He straightened, stretching as an excuse to flex, while watching her out of the corner of his eye.

“I am so sorry, My Lady. What can I say? I always make an impact!”

She just scowled and rolled her eyes, muttering something before saying more loudly: “Come on, you. The tour group will be here in five minutes. Let’s go over the routine.”

So it wasn’t too terrible.

Marinette loved Paris, and once she put over the indignity of the costume (and the one-liners), she rather enjoyed showing it off to tourists.

True, most of them were interested in hearing about how it had been torn up on numerous occasions – it was a Miraculous themed guided tour, after all – but that didn’t stop her attempting to sneak in some historical and cultural facts alongside epic accounts of explosions and akuma.

Surprisingly, her partner had been some help there. He acted like an irresponsible poser of a flirt, but he knew his history, always ready to back her up with a date or an anecdote, and even quotations.

He’d only mouthed “Home schooled” at her over an English tourist’s shoulder at her raised eyebrow.

He might have posed far too much, and he told terrible jokes, but he was kind of fun to be around.

And today, the biggest recompense of all.

“Jagged Stone!”

Turns out, he was a huge Ladybug fan. Not surprising, really, considering the number of times he had been caught up in akuma attacks, not to mention his own akumatisation. And to Marinette’s unending delight he had requested a private tour. With her.

“You’re that young girl who designed by glasses, right? And the cover of my album.”

Marinette fought to keep her face calm and composed.

“Yes! I am!”

So much for that.

“Great! You’ve got good taste! This tour will be rockin’!”

She wasn’t sure what her artistic taste had to do with her competency as a tour guide, but Marinette beamed until her cheeks ached.

Beside her, ‘Chat’ shuffled awkwardly, glancing surreptitiously at their guest with a slightly annoyed expression before ducking to whisper in her ear.

“You don’t have to make that weird face. He’s just a guy.”

Marinette’s smile froze. Fortunately, Jagged was busy chattering animatedly with his manager and hadn’t heard.

“What are you talking about?” Her lips barely moved as she attempted to keep the smile in place. “He’s Jagged Stone! He’s a rock star!”

And he remembered me.

She chose not to add that last part.

Her partner huffed and crossed his arms petulantly. “He’s still just a guy. He’s nothing special.”

This time, Marinette didn’t even try to cover her annoyance, huffing and fixing him with a look. “Oh, please! I saw how you reacted when you saw the roster for today. You actually screamed.”

“I did not scream!”

“Yes, you did! You were just as excited as me.”

“Well, at least I haven’t been drooling over him since he arrived! It’s not… It’s not professional!” He finished loftily, impressed with his own flash of inspiration.

“Well, I don’t think – ”

“Excuse me? Is there a problem?”

Jagged’s agent, Penny, was watching them with a look of concern. They both flushed at being caught bickering.

“Of-of course not! Everything’s fine. We’re just… preparing.”

“Yeah. Chill, Penny. They’re getting into character! They sound just like Ladybug and Chat Noir!” Jagged patted his manager’s shoulder, grinning at them expectantly. Marinette managed to return the smile weakly.

“Mr. Stone has met Ladybug and Chat Noir,” Mlle. Stone announced ominously as the Walking Tour got under way. The So you better not screw upwent unsaid, though Marinette would probably laugh about it later, when she wasn’t choking on completely irrational performance anxiety. Luckily, her Chat had no such issue.

“Oh yeah!” He said, with his usual cheerfulness. “I remember that one vividly. On the Eiffel Tower, right?”

Jagged preened, looking pleased by the acknowledgement. As if he wasn’t a famous Rock Star and akumatization wasn’t a traumatic event.

Chat laughed. “So, shall we skip that one on the Tour? Been there, done that?”

“No way!” Jagged cried, as oblivious as Chat to Marinette’s glower, because, really, that was just insensitive. “I want to know all about The Mime!”

“It was pawsitively awesome,” Chat agreed. “My Lady was breathtaking. Every swing of her yoyo wrapped itself a little tighter around my heart. And saved a precious landmark,” he added, as an after thought.

“Yes, she and Chat Noir saved the day, protecting the city’s heritage and preventing cat astrophic property damage and loss of life.”

Chat shot her a grin and a fist bump.

“Any other favourites?” Chat asked innocently.

“Oh yeah! I want to see that Plaza were Animan swallowed Ladybug! And the fountain where Ladybug fought Chat Noir! And Hotel de Ville! I have got to hear about Darkblade and Kung Food. I was there, but I don’t remember! It was wild!”

“We could do a re-enactment!” Chat exclaimed, brimming with enthusiasm.

“Would that be safe?” Mlle Rolling cut in, eyeing Chat dubiously.

For some reason, that irked Marinette. Sure, he was some teenager, not an actual super hero, his insistence on anonymity aside, but dammit, he was still her (temporary!) partner. She opened her mouth, and was saved from a breach in professionalism by Jagged cutting in.

“It’ll be totally fine!” he said, brushing away his manager’s concern, like crumbs.

“I’m just not sure if there’ll be time,” she hedged.

“Oh, no worries, Penny. I don’t know if you have noticed, but all these akuma attacks happen in this exact area.”

“Convenient,” she said dryly.

And it certainly was for Chatbug Tours, and for Marinette’s Work-Superhero-Life balance. It was almost as if she, Chat Noir and Hawkmoth all lived in the exact same neighbourhood.

Eh. It was great for tourism in Central Paris, at least.

So they stopped at Trocadéro for Timebreaker stories (Marinette did not tear up) and pictures of the view. And an epic recreation of the Eiffel Tower’s near death experience, complete with Chat whipping his cheap plastic baton around athletically and energetically enough to attract a small crowd.

They agreed not to cross the river, but continued on through the Right Bank, paying tribute to the Pharaoh at the Louvre - “Penny! What rhymes with Egyptian?” - and Stormy Weather’s Ice Dome park.

Jagged even exclaimed over the bakery as they passed the scene of Animan’s defeat.

“Penny! We should buy croissants!”

Marinette cringed. If her parents saw her in this get-up she might be forced to drown herself in the Seine. But Chat was already bouncing forward, like an overexcited kitten chasing a butterfly.

Heh. She’d have to save that one for Chat later - the real Chat, her Chat. It suddenly felt like ages since their last patrol.

“This is where Ladybug and I made our strategic…. retreat during the battle,” Fake Chat announced, interrupting the sudden onslaught of feelings . “But, that’s not all! Ladybug and I would be nothing without the brave citizens of Paris -”

“You wouldn’t have any akuma, for a start,” Mlle Rolling muttered.

“ - And this fact has never been more evident than during that tumultuous struggle! The Dupain-Cheng family, who own this bakery, risked their lives to protect us and sheltered us within these very walls!”

He was hamming it up mightily, clasping his hands to his chest with emotion. Jagged was enthralled and even Mlle Rolling looked reluctantly impressed. Despite herself, Marinette couldn’t help wiping her eyes. Her parents were awesome!

“We have got to go!” Jagged crowed, shaking his manager’s shoulder, like a child begging for a treat.

“Right!” Chat enthused. “Their madeleine are to die for!”

Also, wait. How did he know all this? Was he one of their regulars? She appraised him subtly, but, as usual, got nothing. Just a teenage boy her age, like millions of others in Paris.

He probably lived in the area. Perhaps his school was making him do Work Experience too?

Small world.

Chat started to cross the street, grinning like he could already taste the macaroons.

And that was when the screaming started.

[serendipitystation]

Read it here, too: AO3

Summary: Investigator Dupain-Cheng (dubbed Ladybug by the public) is used to strange cases coming her way, but her latest one involves murder, intrigue, and an actor with peridot eyes that she can’t seem to shake. Perhaps it’s just her, but something about this seems…personal. Rated T, Adrienette/LadyNoir, film noir 1950’s AU, ongoing.

Length: Medium

Rating: PG-13

——————————

It’s tough being a lady in a man’s world. A lot of people say that the 50’s are a time of freedom, such words uttered by government officials and barkeeps alike, talked of in church halls and on velveted stages. But this only goes so far. For Marinette, the cage she wears of linen, lace, and ladylike behavior feels stifling. Her parents are progressive people who support her and let her be herself, but it isn’t until she dons her black and red trench coat that she really feels herself. When she takes up the mantle of Ladybug, the detective pseudonym she’s been given over the years by the public, she is invincible.

Though her friends and family accept her career, not everyone does. Marinette’s office is the talk of her city, Ladybug infamous for her efforts at crime-fighting. The older women on their morning strolls too their noses in the air as they pass her office and men gawk at it, surprised at the gall of the local woman detective. Still, she’s been successful on more than one occasion and the police, though they don’t work with her, can’t deny the leads she’s supplied them with. Thus, her reputation has grown and there’s always a strange smattering of people frequenting her office.

Today, however, is no ordinary day. That morning, Marinette arrived at her office to find a man waiting at her front door. When he wrung hiis hands nervously and asked her to come to a theater downtown at the request of his employer, Marinette was cautious in accepting, but intrigued. Now, standing in the opulent auditorium of the theater and taking in the scene before her, she knows she made the right decision.

The scene Marinette observes is straight out of the film noir stories she likes so much. On the worn stage lies a woman, heavily done up and beautiful, her auburn hair fanned out on the wood floor. She looks like a Hollywood starlet, dressed in deep green velvet and picture perfect, save for the dark stains of blood on her gown and the gaping wounds where they begin. Around her, policemen work, taking with the startled employees and taking photos of the crime scene. Marinette approaches the gathering of people, drawing near to a light-suited man who she assumes must be the manager of the establishment. She is correct; the man in question sees her walk near and breaks off his conversation with a policeman to meet her halfway.

“You are Ladybug, yes?” He asks, a broad Italian accent coloring his words. The manager doesn’t give Marinette time to reply and continues.

“This is a horrible affair- horrible, I say! To come in here this morning and find Catherine dead like this! What a horrible thing!” The manager says with impassioned gusto, before leaning in slightly, as if saying something in confidence. “I cannot have this thing ruining my theater, you know. Terrible it is for business, just terrible. I’ve heard of your success and I wonder if you may take a look, see if you can find the one who did this. I have money to offer if you can find the killer.” He says, his concern at his theater’s prospects clear on his face.

“I’ll investigate and see what I can find out.” Marinette says calmly, drawing a relieved sigh from the manager, who begins to speak to another policeman. Marinette takes to the stage stairs, finally reaching the victim’s body. As she crouches down to examine the victim, the policemen greet her with impassive nods. The local police force has gotten used to seeing her at crime scenes and don’t bother her like they used to; it’s an impersonal, unspoken arrangement she has with them, but it is done on good terms, so neither side complains.

Slowly, Marinette takes in the victim’s body. Close up, it is clear that the actress is slightly older than her get-up would have her appear. Still, age has dealt her a good hand, as she remains a handsome woman. Marinette’s eyes narrow as they fall on the wounds on the victim’s chest. A number of deep gashes mar the velvet bodice, concentrated on the stomach area. The entrances of the wounds are surprisingly clean and regular, and the wounds’ placement seems strangely uniform as well, following a vertical pattern. Confusion runs rampant in Marinette’s mind; in all the murder cases she’s investigated, no puncture marks have ever looked like that. Putting aside her wondering, Marinette gives the rest of the body a once-over. Aside from noticing the lack of a wedding ring, light bruising on the right forearm, and a curious slip of paper bearing a drawing of a butterfly that rests beside the body, Marinette doesn’t see much else that stands out and she stands up.

Before she talks to anyone, Marinette decides to take a look at the victim’s dressing room to see if anything reveals itself. Unfortuantely, her efforts prove unhelpful. The room is neat to a tee, stage makeup lined up precisely on the lighted table in the corner and clothes hung up straight on the costume rack. A glittery dress hangs on the back of the door, all tulle and hasty stitches, clearly half-finished. Though show posters hang on the walls, the rest of the room is fairly impersonal, providing no clues as to the murder. Casting a final glance at the place, Marinette turns out the lights and rejoins the crowd in the auditorium.

For the next half hour, Marinette interviews the manager and a few of the staff. In her discussions with them, she learns some key details about the victim. Her name was Catherine Gregory and she was one of the principle actors of the theater’s resident company. She’d been a regular of the company since the 30s and was considered one of the most accomplished local stars still in the acting circuit. Marinette’s interviewees all give the same impression of her; regal, proud, and a touch haughty in the way aging divas tend to be. She had her enemies, of course- one wardrobe mistress mentioned a rival of years past from a neighbouring theater, which Marinette takes note of for later- but there were few names that came up. When Marinette asks about the victim’s relationships, another actress mentions a boyfriend with whom Catherine left on bad terms recently and who reportedly left behind the bruises on the victim’s arm. Marinette keeps this in mind for later as well. In addition, the medical examiner confirms Marinette’s suspicion that the abdominal wounds were the cause of death, calling the approximate time of death as midnight that nigh, and none of the people Marinette talks to have any clue as to the mysterious butterfly card’s origin or meaning. As Marinette works through the staff present at the scene, she slowly accrews clues and information, building up leads to follow. However, nothing she learns jumps out at her or spikes her intuition.

As she makes to leave the scene, Marinette asks the manager if there is anyone left whom she should talk with. The manager glances around and points at a man who had walked into the theater only seconds before. Following his direction, Marinette looks up and meets a pair of leaf-green eyes, bright as a neon light and staring right at her. Marinette is not one easily intimidated or taken aback, but something about the gaze and its intensity sets her on edge. It isn’t until she gets closer to her last interviewee that she understands why.

The man in question is tall, slim, and tan, his features streamlined and precise. He has the kind of face that a woman would stare at dreamily in a magazine and his stance- open and easy- suggests such reactions wouldn’t bother him. He is dressed casually but smartly, clad in a dark blazer and pants, a wide brimmed hat on his head and the top button of his white shirt undone. Everything about his appearance screams of money and ego and, yet, it is his face that undoes the whole image. Where one would expect a charming smile or bedroom eyes, he has the expression of an eager schoolboy. It’s this energy in the man’s gaze that sets Marinette on edge. Most people she talks to during a crime investigation are bereft, confused, or anxious about speaking to her. This guy looks almost happy when she reaches him.

“I’m Investigator Dupain-Cheng and I’m looking into a murder at this establishment. May I ask you a few questions?” Marinette says briskly. The man blinks slowly.

“Of course. I’m at your service.” The man says in an easy voice, giving her a smile far too cheery for a murder scene. Marinette clears her throat.

“Please state your name and occupation.” She says.

“Adrien Vermonte. I’m an actor with the theater’s company.” The man replies.

“Did you know the victim, Ms. Gregory, Mr. Vermonte?” Marinette asks. At the victim’s name, Mr. Vermonte gapes.

“Cathy? Of course- I used the dressing room next door to hers.” The actor shakes his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe someone would kill her.”

“What do you know about the victim?” Marinette inquires.

“She’s been with the company for a long time, longer than most dames her age. She was worth it, though- her voice was legendary and she had a cadre of dedicated fans. She was a star and she knew it.” At this, Mr. Vermonte chuckles. “She wasn’t liked by everyone- she had a tendency to rub people the wrong way sometimes, but she was quite the personality. I liked her well enough. She had a soft spot for me- said I looked like her favorite nephew.” Mr. Vermonte smiled fondly at the thought and Marinette sighed ever so slightly. So far, nothing new from this guy.

“Was there anyone Ms. Gregory had problems with?” Marinette asks flatly. The actor looks thoughtful for a moment.

“No one comes to mind in particular- no one with things to kill over.” Mr. Vermonte replies. “I did hear one argument, though. It was yesterday, I think, in the afternoon. I was getting into costume for the show that night when I heard Cathy yelling next door. It sounded like she was really laying into someone, as though someone had made her angry. A few minutes later, I heard the door open and close and someone walk down the hallway, but it wasn’t Cathy- I could hear her warming up in her room not long after. That’s all I remember.” The actor lets out a huff as he finishes his sentence and Marinette knows she’s found a goodd lead.

“That’s all the questions I have for you for now. Thank you for your time.” Marinette says, but, before she can turn away, Mr. Vermonte pipes up.

“‘For now’? Will you be back?” He asks curiously. Marinette blinks confusedly but keeps her composure.

“It depends on what the investigation reveals. If I need to ask you more questions, I trust I know where to find you.” She says plainly. But the actor still isn’t finished.

“You know, I’m on pretty good terms with the rest of the actors. I’d be happy to keep my ears open for any other information that might help you.” Mr. Vermonte says casually, looking rather excited at the idea. At this, Marinette frowns. A curious interviewee isn’t uncommon, but one that could make people suspicious and risk tampering with the investigation or tipping off the murderer? Not helpful at all. Marinette turns a cold smile on the golden-haired actor.

“Mr. Vermonte-“ Marinette begins, before the actor interrupts her.

“Adrien.” He says with a warm grin. Marinette ignores him and continues.

“This is an investigation of a serious crime. Any active interfering of citizens could hamper law enforcement or hurt the case. I advise you to stay out of the way and stick to acting. Thank you.” Marinette finishes tersely, walking down the theater aisle quickly to avoid being held back by Mr. Vermonte anymore. Even as she leaves, she feels his gaze follow her up and out the doors.

The investigation had just begun but something told Marinette that this would be a particular tricky case. And it wasn’t just because of the peridot eyes that linger in her mind long after she leaves the theater.