#my mom called me ladybug when I was a kid this may have inspired this

[timaeusterrored]

Having dad Kerry thoughts

He calls his kids ‘bug’

Idk why but he does, especially when they are kids, he calls Kim “ladybug” her whole life basically

[liquid-luck-00]

WonderBug

Angst Edition

Diana Prince (Wonder Woman) x Marinette Dupain-Cheng (Ladybug)

I am late. SO, so , so late but here it is

1: Soulmates @maribat-angst-fluff-april

My partner is the wonderful @thedragonbug

Ao3

Fuffy Edition

Soulmates exist, and Marinette hates hers. You see everyone is born with their half or part of a complete soul mark. The other parts would appear when you were closer to your soulmate and be permanent when they were close emotionally. For everyone, the appearance or 'drawing' of the mark was light and warm. But not for her, no her drawing was heavy and hot, like a hot knife digging into her arm.

Her parents knew this, and it was concerning, to know that their child was in pain because of their soulmate. Seeing as the marks were not supposed to be painful. Yet as there was no good reason given by medical and mark professionals, and the fact that her soulmate didn't stay near her for long there was nothing that they could do. They did tell her that few, this phenomenon affects one in a million people and she was just lucky enough to be one of them.

Over the years she grew used to the pain, but every time she did it would come back even stronger than the last. She slowly hated her mark and in turn her soulmate. Marinette would cover her mark, ignore it, even wish it away. All her soulmate did was bring her pain. Sure, it upped her pain tolerance, but it hurt her still.

When she turned fourteen, she became Ladybug. She then recognized that her mark was actually the wire of her yo-yo.

The first time Chat Noir claimed they were soulmates she broke down in tears. luckily for her he told her during patrol and not an attack.

"We aren't soulmates, Chat, and I'm glad we aren't." She nearly whispered.

"Why Bug?"

"Because I hate my soulmate, and I don’t want to ever hate you."

"Why would you hate your soulmate?" He seemed genuinely curious. But no one outside her parents knew, not a single person knew what happens to her.

"Because it hurts when they are close, it hurts so badly. The drawing is painful. I never want to meet the person who keeps hunting me." Tears formed in her eyes and Chat hugged her.

"I'm not your soulmate, then." She shook her head. "Good thing I'm your partner, and Plagg help me I am going to be your best friend. Got that Bugaboo?"

A half-hearted chuckle and a small smile escaped her. "Sounds good Kitty." The first person she has ever told, the person who was convinced that they were soulmates, cares for her, to help alleviate some of her pain.

The two became inseparable after that, to the point that most of Paris believed they were in a relationship.

When Nadia asked them about it during an interview, their reactions were memorable. Both all but gagged, turned to face each other, and then laughed almost falling out of the seats.

"I believe we have missed the joke." Nadia commented, worried, and confused.

"Why would I date my sister?"

"Sister?"

"Ladybug and I consider each other siblings in all but blood."

"Everything between us is simply platonic, not even close to romantic.” Ladybug answered after Chat.

“Then why would the whole of Paris believe you to be soulmates?” She may be good at hiding her pain, but the question must have made her react slightly, or Chat knew how sensitive the topic was to her.

“We aren’t soulmates, not the bonded ones that everyone thinks of.” He began. “We are the holders of the black cat and ladybug respectively because our souls resonate with the miraculous. Sure, they are two parts of a whole, but we are practically twins, two halves of coin. She is the sister I choose, she is my partner, and that is our relationship.”

“He’s completely right, now I think it’s time for us to start our patrol, BugOut!” Her smile now in place and their excuse to leave perfectly timed and respectful they made their exit.

They went on their patrol as normal, except just as they arrived at the Eiffel Tower to end the patrol. She was about to land on the platform when a searing pain flashed and radiating affecting her entire body blinding her momentarily. A single moment caused her to collapse on the tower landing, crumpling on the platform.

“LB!” Her breath came out in short bursts, she was clutching her upper arm eyes squeezed shut. This was the worst it has ever happened before, and she wanted it to end. As soon as the cause of pain came it disappeared. Leaving only the memory and a phantom pain.

"Just give me a minute." She slowly got her breathing under control, starting to get accustomed to the new level of pain.

"You weren't kidding that is the worst I’ve ever seen you hurt."

"Yeah not fun."

---

A month after that her mark burned again. This time during class. The teachers knew she would randomly stop due to pain, but they were told they were random migraines. To the point Mari would hold her head and rub her arm to sooth herself, while playing up a headache. Adrien stayed back after the class let out." You know you don't always need to put on a brave face Bugaboo."

Her attention snapped to him. "Well it's easier than constantly answering questions Kitty." She figured quickly.

Sure, they found out one another's identity, but that worked in their favor. After Tikki got sick, Fu started training Mari, and after a month Marinette was given guardianship. Fu still hasn’t lost his memories because Mari let Wayzz stay with him, for the time being, he eventually returns it to Mari in order to move on with his life, his memories fading gradually.

When Adrien got his hands on the grimoire, he of course showed it to Marinette.

“Kitty I know you don’t want to hear this, but I think your dad might be Hawkmoth.” This seemed to perfect for him to have without him being a villain.

“I know, but…”

“Adrien is there any motive anything that might be what he would wish for?”

“My mom. Dad closed himself off when she disappeared. I bet he would wish for her back.”

“Okay, so I’m going to be blunt okay.” He nodded. “So, if your mom is dead there isn’t anything that can be done without the wish, meaning at least one other person is dying.”

“So…”

“But if she is anything but.” She flipped through the grimoire recalling the studies she’s did with Fu. “There are ways we can find or even heal her.”

“This is all riding on an if.” He looked unsure as if this was too much to accept.

“Do you trust me?”

“If I didn’t, I would have turned tail and run a long time ago.”

“You dork.” She lightly shoved him, but he swayed dramatically.

“You two are close.” The new student in their class came up to them.

“Lila, right?”

“That’s right.” She answered sickly sweet, almost fake. “Are you two soulmates by any chance?”

“No.” Adrien answered. “Why?”

“You’re Adrien Agreste! Why would you be in public school?” She finally seemed to recognize.

“Let’s just say it’s a bit of rebellion.” He chuckled.

“We’re still on for video games, right?” She brought up to end the conversation seeing that Adrien was getting uncomfortable.

“Your winning streak is going down.” He announced.

“You want to join us, Lila?” She offered.

“Why?”

“Because your new and I want to get to know you.” Marinette answered honestly.

“Why?”

“Because we know you lied but still want to know you, the real you.” Adrien added.

“Why?” She asked suspiciously now.

“Question! Is it a felony to kidnap her to play video games, have snacks, get to know her, then let her go?”

“Well the kidnapping part is but if she goes willingly, I call that a hangout session.” Adrien mused.

“True, true.” She hummed. “So, what do you say, because now I am determined to get to know you.”

“Wh…”

“Kidnapping it is.” Adrien decided and grabbed the new girl’s wrist pulling her out of the library. Mari picking up their bags.

Lila herself wasn’t too bad once she started telling the truth, lying is a coping mechanism she created, because she is constantly moving schools, cities, and even countries. She is pretty interesting when she isn’t exaggerating. She was on a Hollywood movie set, but she was there on accident, she was looking for the bathroom in a restaurant and they were filming there that day. She did save a kitten on a tarmac once, but one it wasn’t Jagged Stones, it was a kitten who spooked out of their carrier and rushed down the stairs. Lila dove and caught it before it could leave the passenger unloading area to get the tram to the airport. (Some small airports unload passengers in a certain area of the tarmac and either shuttle them to the building or have a sectioned of walkway that is cleared for passengers, to walk back in only.)

After almost two hours Lila left for home when Adrien’s father called, and he was angry. Together she and Adrien ran back to the Agreste Mansion.

“Adrien!” Gabriel came out disheveled and slightly panicked. “And Miss Dupain-Cheng.” He slightly composed himself.

“Sorry I kept him.” She apologized. “He showed me this really cool book and you know how it is when inspiration hits.”

“Ah yes the inspiring fashion designer friend.” Adrien had walked up and handed his father the grimoire.

“It’s quite an interesting spell book.”

“You can read it?”

“Yes, I can. (Come on out little butterfly.)” Nooroo flew out from his hiding spot. “Hello kwamii of transmission and to you as well Hawkmoth.” She was calm deathly calm.

“How?!” Gabriel growled.

“Calm down. I have a question for you first. You want the jewels used by Ladybug and Chat Noir, why?”

“Would my answer change your plan of action to urn me into authorities and to the heroes?”

“My response may change, but you’ll have to answer to find out.”

“My wife wielder the peacock miraculous, it is broken, and she fell ill, and is in a comatose state.”

“Ah! So here is what is going to happen.” She took the grimoire from Gabriel and flipped over pages. “There is a way to revive her without resorting to using the wish.”

“How do you know this?”

She simply smiled. “You mind gathering these ingredients please Adrien?” She text him a list.

“Sure.”

“How do I know that this isn’t a ruse?”

“One I hate liars, and two because all magic has a cost, and this way is less than if you were to use the wish.”

“What do you mean cost?”

“Just like using your transformation wears on the kwamii, and the power affects your limit. Magic has its cost. The wish because it will always rewrite reality, the price is steep. Bringing back one life means you lose at minimum one other person from your life most likely more.”

“And this?”

“From what I understand. Everyone involved in the spell will have their energies deprecated so they will sleep for a day to a week.”

“Randomly?”

“No, the more people the less each person sleeps.”

“Here they are!” Adrien burst back in the room.

“Do you have the peacock miraculous?” Gabriel nodded. “Okay we’ll need that first, so lead the way to the kitchen.” Both men shuffled confused. “You do know where the kitchen is right?”

“Um well find it eventually.” Adrien chuckled. They were lucky and form it easily and Gabriel left while she and Adrien began to individually brew two separate potions. Adrien the more complex one for his mother’s revival. And she did the simpler one to fix the miraculous. Sue her Adrien is the better one in chemistry, sure he can’t cook to save himself, but he has a gift for chem, and Tikki help her she will teach him to cook. It’s practically edible chemistry, right?!

She took the Brock from Gabriel and fixed it, allowing Duusu out. “Okay so who is going to do this?”

“We will,” Adrien answered for himself and his Father, who nodded.

“Please let be help as well.” Miss Sancoeur offered.

Nooroo, Duusu, Tikki, and Plagg (they came out of hiding now) came to her. “We can help.”

She nodded and saw that Gabriel and Natalie were staring wide eyed between her and Adrien. She thought she heard Natalie say, ‘That explains so much’ but she isn’t sure.

Long story short they were able to wake up Emile, but she took back the peacock and butterfly, leaving Plagg with Adrien. Funnily enough the Agreste’s became a second family to her, once Gabriel finally grasped how to be a father. They told Paris that they had found Hawkmoth, but he would be tried by the order of Miraculous, meaning he would be stripped of the gem and his memories of the miraculous erased. It was a lie but Tikki told her that was what would have happened. There was some outcry, but they explained that they would have no recollection of it, and it wouldn’t make sense to try them.

The next few years of her life were blissfully normal, aside from the fact she had a contract under the Gabriel brand as the designer MDC, who was also endorsed by Style Queen. Chloe isn’t as bad as she puts on when she isn’t masking the hurt of being constantly ignored and bought by her parents.

- - -

It wasn’t until she was twenty-two and accompanying Adrien to a Wayne charity gala, one he didn’t want to go alone and two she was invited anyways, Chloe, Kagami, and Luka were also there on their own merits and invitations so they all stuck relatively together. Since arriving there Marinette was a constant pain, her arm burned and ached, but she forced herself to simply breathe and tried her hardest to push it out of her mind. But her luck wouldn’t hold, three hours into the event she was approached by who she recognized as Bruce Wayne, the host of the gala, and a woman to his left, the pain was almost unbearable the closer the two approached. Her friends noticed, they knew what her pain actually meant, as she opened up to them about it after a while, but she grit her teeth and tried to push through it.

“Mr. Agreste, Miss Bourgeois It is good to see you both again.” Bruce Wayne acknowledged. “It’s nice to meet all of you as well, Bruce Wayne.” He introduced to the rest, shaking hands. “And this is a good friend of mine.”

“Diana Prince.” She also went to shake everyone’s hands and had left Marinette for the last. The moment their hands touched she almost crumpled, she shrunk back and into Adrien and Chloe. “Is she okay?”

“Diana?” Bruce pointed towards her upper arm, the mark most of them overlooked before was now complete and glowing lightly. What Marinette remembered was that there was her yo-yo string and a golden rope that she only saw once before on her own arm. She felt sick, Diana was staring at her now, she recognized that Marinette was her soulmate.

“Melody?” Luka now stepped up.

“I want to leave.” She answered flatly.

“You are…”

She completely turned away, but by now her friends knew what was going on and were glaring at Diana. “I want to leave, now.” She repeated.

“Come on bug, let’s get you away from… this.” He threw a look at Diana, who was looking confused and seemingly alarmed.

The other three were putting as much space as they could between their friend and who is unknowingly causing her pain.

“Please is she alright?” Diana asked stepping forward barely grazing her hand covering her mark. This time it felt as if the skin itself was burning and stung almost like it was being pricked over and over and over again.

“Don’t touch me and stay away from me.” On the outside she looks clam and relaxed, but her voice was soft and raw, her eyes burned in pain. “You and that completed mark can stay far from me.”

“Luka, Kagami mind taking her back to the house?” The two in question led her away and once a safe distance away she broke down in tears, sobbing from the pain she was biting down.

- - -

The two that stayed were simultaneously glaring at her and watching their friends leave the gala.

“Is she alright?” Bruce finally bole the tension.

“As soon as she is far enough away from her.” The girl, Chloe, snapped at her. “Now that we know who is the the person causing her pain, we can keep her from them.” She snapped towards her, but it was a slap to Diana.

“I don’t follow. We are…”

“Soulmates, yeah we figured.” Adrien this time spoke.

“They why would she want to leave, without speaking?”

“One one in a million people are in pain when they are close to their soulmates.” Adrien spoke calmly but stoically. “No one knows why.” He began to fidget with a ring on hi# finger, she couldn’t recall if she saw any jewelry on her soulmate, Marinette, but she has a suspicion. After all she feels similar to her Mother’s aura and presence, that of a Ladybug.

“You are wrong. There is an explanation, but only a few know why that is.” She feels certain that she knows what this is.

“Let me guess you know why.” Chloe remarked, sarcastically and unamused.

“Allow me to explain this another time and place, as this is neither.”

“Fine call this number at noon est tomorrow.” Adrien handed her a phone number and the two turned and left.

“Diana?” Bruce snapped her attention. “What was that about?” He was still calm and collected but she knew he would be the one to ask, figuring out what was the next step, what had the best options of success.

“Magic.”

- - -

The next day she called the number and she was invited to a video call by the recipient. It turned out to be Marinette.

“Hello Diana.” Her voice was not cold but it was emotionless, as if she was forced into this conversation. Granted she did think she would be speaking with Adrien and Chloe.

“I never wanted to harm you, I swear that on the river Styx.” she began but before she could continue Marinette cut in.

“Let’s be clear, I don’t care about your apologies. I just want to know why this is happening and how to either get rid of it or to never have contact with you in any way or proximity.”

“I am apologizing because this is known as the curse of the ladybug and black cat.” She saw the young woman tense at that. “The reason I know of this is from by Mother, Queen Hippolyta Of the Amazon’s.” She allowed that to sink in and the other woman allowed her to drop her defense, nodding to what is said.

“When you say the curse of the ladybug and black cat what do you mean by that?”

“True souls of the miraculous, when in their life they come into contract with their given gems, cause a reaction.” Diana explained. “For the ladybug they receive the pain of their soulmate through their marks. Which is what I assume is going on.”

“Yes you’re right, but this has been going ever since I could remember.”

“Call it what you will fate, destiny, but you were always going to wield the ladybug jewel, that is why the curse manifested itself.”

“What about the black cat?”

“I am unsure, the black cat of my Mother’s time died before meeting their soulmate, but I would assume it would be similar to our situation.”

“Then how do we solve this?”

~~~~~~~~~~

Permanent Taglist: @itsmeevie01 @adrestar @miraculouspenta @vixen-uchiha @animegirlweeb @jumpingjoy82 @thedragonbug@astoriaandroses @icerosecrystal @t1dwarrior-of-earth @moon5606 @zalladane

[miraculouswolf99]

Silver Siren

Happy New Year!!! This is not a New Years story, but it is a story that I am using New Years as an excuse to post it. LOL

*****

Luka Couffaine was often described as the most relaxed and chill guy that anyone could ever meet. Often seen with his guitar on hand, playing what he would call a person's heart song. He was also described as a protective older brother to his sister, Juleka. Especially when it came to her friends.

The only ones that Luka really knew were Rose, Ivan, and Mylene as they were the ones that came over the most often. This was the first time that the entire class was on the Liberty. And if Luka was being honest with himself, he was most intrigued by Marinette, Lyon, and Adrien.

While he had not met Adrien personally yet, the things he had heard from the class made him curious about the model. Marinette also seemed really sweet and the type of person that could brighten a room just by walking into it. And Lyon seemed similar to himself, calm and easily just as observant.

Lyon and his sister had seemed almost like him and Juleka. They liked to be off to the side and observe. They also spoke of animals and plants like they spoke of music, that it relates to everything and everyone. Luka was amazed by their heart songs. So full of life, harmony, and with a slight sense of mysteriousness.

But most of Luka's cool, calm, and collected personality was thrown out the window when his mother got akumatized into Captain Hardrock.

"A treasure in return for freedom," Anarka says. "Ho, ho, ho then I shall be your pirate Hawkmoth."

Black and purple smoke covers the ship.

"Oh no," Luka hears Marinette gasp.

Captain Hardrock rose up. Captain Hardrock has long red hair that is spiked upwards and golden eyes. The upper half of her face is covered with a black mark edged with dark red and she wears a black bandana with a white spiky-haired skull on the front, along with gold circular earrings.

She wears a bodysuit that is red from the collar to the chest and black from the chest, the color separation looking like flames. Her suit includes three yellow buttons vertically on her lower body, three golden spikes horizontally over each knee, and a golden patch above each hip. She has two black belts, one going around the body diagonally and the other wrapped around the waist, that have golden buckles. Over her suit, she wears a black captain jacket with golden inner lining, golden spikes on the shoulders, golden edges, and golden buckles on the sides. Black fingerless gloves with golden edges around the upper holes cover her arms up to her elbows. Her knee-high boots that end below the knees are black and red in a flame-like pattern with black soles, golden heels, black inner lining, and black stripes with golden spikes above the ankles.

"Raise the mainsail, me deck hands let's get swashbuckling around here," his akumatized mom orders.

"Mom," Juleka asks, shocked and scared.

"What's going on," Luka asked, concerned.

"Your mom has weighed anchor, me lad," the akuma says. "I'm Captain Hardrock and today Paris's timbers are about to be shivered by my cannons."

The captain looks through a telescope. Luka took that second to make a quick headcount. He realized that the Greek twins were not on board the Liberty anymore. Remembering that the two were close to the gangplank when all this started, he figured that they had most likely had gone and went to get help.

"Westward ho, Liberty next stop," she orders. "Jagged Stone at the Eiffel Tower. Soon, there will only be one concert in Paris only one Music Festival. We will destroy all the others. Now, get to your instruments and rock those decibels!"

"Mom please, you can't ruin the Music Festival," Luka calmly pleaded.

"You can't force people to listen to your music," Marinette tells the villain.

"No way we're playing like this," Ivan yells.

"Mutiny," Captain Hardrock sounded offended. "On my ship! Liberty, seize these scallywags and throw them down into the hold!"

Chains shot out from different places on the ship. But before any of the teens could react, arrows started flying over their heads and hit the chains. Every chain that an arrow hit instantly froze into ice. Then the next thing that they knew, another weapon flew past them and shattered all the ice chains.

Floating near the ship, above the water, was Beautifly with her shield-sized razor blade flower. And looking over, back on land, was White Wolf. His bow was still at the ready. Luka was amazed that the two got there so quickly and figured that it was because of Lyon and Vallia. He had seen the two newest heroes of Paris on the news and the Ladyblog, but this was the first time in person.

"If I was Cat Noir, I would probably make a very bad ice pun right about now," Wolf smirked. "But I'll stick to freezing things with my arrows."

"And I am happy you are," Beautifly giggles. "I mean, Cat is a great hero and all, but I am very close to slapping him over those cat puns."

"Creatures of the land and air are not welcome on my ship," Captain Hardrock shouts, pointing her sword at the butterfly girl.

"Do I look like I'm on your ship," Beautifly floated around. "If you haven't noticed, I'm not even touching the ground let alone your ship."

"Lock this fly in the brig, Liberty," Captain Hardrock ordered.

Chains, once again, shot out from different parts of the ship. They headed right for the butterfly hero. But unlike Ladybug, Cat Noir, and even her own partner White Wolf, Beautifly is able to fly. But that is obvious at this point. It did give her an advantage over most akumas. The way that she was currently flying around to avoid the chains was one very good example of these advantages.

"I'm a butterfly, thank you very much," Beautifly put her hands on her hips.

She made a quick dive back toward the water, flying barely a foot above it. The chains would hit the water instead as she gracefully dodged them. But she soon made a quick shot upwards as she got close to where her partner had been standing. That allowed him to fire a volley of arrows at the chains following her. Each one of them was soon frozen into ice. She quickly shattered them with her razor flower.

"Nice try, Jackie Sparrow," Wolf smirked.

Beautifly facepalmed. "What you lack in puns, you sure make up for in pop culture references."

"What can I say," Wolf shrugged. "I love American movies."

The kids still onboard the Liberty, meanwhile, seemed to finally get out of shock over the heroes showing up so quickly.

"We need to get off this ship," Alya quickly says.

"How," Ivan asked. "Do you want us to jump into the seine?"

"Would you rather be chained up on this ship," Alya countered.

"All ashore that's going to shore," Ivan headed right for the edge of the boat.

"Never thought I'd have to walk the plank of my own house," Juleka says, surprisingly still as calm as she was during the Horrificator incident.

"Why is everyone in the Couffaine family so shockingly calm," Marinette whispered to Alya.

"Your guess is as good as mine, girl," Alya whispered back. "But they can't all be that calm. Captain Crazy, over there, is one example."

"I am suddenly very grateful for my normal mother," Marinette says. "Yet, I am also intrigued by everyday life in the Couffaine household."

"I hope my crew isn't planning on jumping ship," they were caught in the act by the akuma.

"Shoot," Nino swore.

With a slash of her sword in the air, Captain Hardrock sent another round of chains toward them. Only this time, White Wolf was not fast enough with his bow. He tried, but people need to remember that nobody's perfect. The group of teenagers was soon all grabbed by the chains and pulled below deck.

"Oh, Hades," Beautifly swore. "Now we're going to need a rescue mission. Where are that cat and bug?"

"Don't ask me," Wolf said, freezing another chain.

Meanwhile, Adrien had been in his room. He was watching the news broadcast about the music festival. His father had not allowed him to go to the Liberty and play the keyboard for Kitty Section. He was pretty salty about that. (AN: An ocean pun inspired by Captain Hardrock. hehe.)

"Breaking News," Nadja Chamack interrupted the fun stuff.

"Huh," Adrien knew what this most likely meant.

"Another akuma attack is in progress along the seine," Nadja reported. "This akuma's goal seems to be to take over the music festival with its rock music by taking out all the other musical acts in the city."

"Some people just don't appreciate good music when they hear it," Plagg says, munching on some of his cheese.

"Plagg, claws out," Adrien did not have time for his sarcasm since he knew his friends were at the same river.

His friends may not currently be in much danger, but they were being held prisoner.

While the room wasn't really a brig, but the teens were still trapped in it. Ivan and Mylene were chained together, as were Nino and Alya. Rose and Juleka were both alone in their chains while Luka and Marinette were also chained together.

"You don't seem very worried, Marinette," Luka noticed.

"I am, but this isn't really my first time being held captive by an akuma," Marinette says. "Even if the Evillustrator considered that situation a date."

"Alright," Luka accepted that.

"Alya, remind to apologize to Nathaniel later for bringing that up," Marinette said.

"Girl, I am pretty sure that he wouldn't mind," Alya says. "Nath is almost as forgiving as you. And that says something considering that you could forgive anyone for anything."

"Not anything," Marinette protested. "If anyone insults my parent's bakery, I'll open up a can of butt-kick of fighting techniques that my mother taught me."

The way that she said that so sweetly was enough to send shivers down most of their spines.

Marinette then looked down. She saw Tikki waving at her, having come out of her purse to silently aid her. The kwami phased into the lock on her and Luka's chain, taking a little bit before the lock opened with a quiet SNAP.

"Wow, how'd you do that," Luka asked her.

"Uhh, I, Uhm..." Marinette had to think fast. "With this."

She holds up a guitar pick.

"You're amazing," Luka praised her. "A real magician, Marinette."

"You think so," Marinette asks, going all nervous like how she does around Adrien. "Oh, it was nothing, uh, amazing, really?"

"Excuse me, but some of us are still chained up here you know," Alya says, rolling her eyes.

Before either of the freed teens could do anything, they heard Captain Hardrock walk downstairs and laughing.

"Marinette, she's coming," Nino warned them.

"We'll come back, I promise," Marinette says as she and Luka leave the room quickly.

The two ended up locking themselves in Luka's own bedroom. They had to work quickly as Captain Hardrock soon broke in.

"Run, Marinette quick," Luka yelled out the window.

"Seize him," Captain Hardrock some more chains to catch her son.

It all happened faster than Luka could blink. Chains shot through the open door in order to trap him again. But at the same time, a trio of arrows flew through the open window/porthole and froze all of the incoming chains.

Luka turned around and saw that White Wolf was hanging from an icy-looking rope outside the window.

"My outfit is bright white, how do people miss me," he joked.

"Uh..." Luka had no idea how to respond to that.

"Whatever," Wolf shrugged. "Move that fine-looking butt, handsome, you're getting off this Black Pearl wannabe."

Luka blushed, even if he hid it very well. He didn't have much time to really try and think of anything as his mother was currently breaking through the frozen chains on her way to capture him again.

Taking White Wolf's hand, he was just barely able to get through the porthole.

"Time to leave," Beautifly tells them, seen fighting more chains with the newly arrived Cat Noir.

Luka had to immediately tighten his grip around White Wolf's waist as the icy hero fired another ice rope arrow. The two swung away on the rope, landing on the shore of the seine.

"My sister and friends are still in there," Luka immediately tells him.

"I know," Wolf says. "We will try to get as many of them off of the boat as possible. But we might need to also rely on Ladybug's Miraculous Cure if we can not."

"I understand," Luka said.

"Stay safe, Mr.Couffaine," Wolf tells him, running back into the battle.

Luka couldn't help but get lost as he caught a glimpse of the hero's beautiful eyes.

"Flirt later, Wolf," Beautifly calls.

"Yeah, that's my job," Cat Noir jokes. "OW!"

Beautifly had hit him on the back of the head.

"Sorry, I'm late," Ladybug apologizes, swinging into the fray.

"All heroes are allowed to be late every once in a while," Beautifly stated, blocking a chain with her razor flower. "May I remind you of Cat Noir's late arrival to the fight with Riposte."

"He also told me you were quite late during an akuma attack by someone called the Evilistrator," Wolf said. "That name, by the way, is horrid."

Captain Hardrock, unfortunately, then made her reappearance on deck. She was already angry over her son escaping the Liberty and seeing the four heroes together did not help her mood. She raised her sword.

"Capture those pests, Liberty," she ordered.

The heroes started flipping, jumping, and flying in Beautifly's case to avoid the flying chains. White Wolf aimed another of his arrows at the chain, but Captain Hardrock was having it this time.

"Liberty, fire," she ordered her ship.

One of the cannons aimed at the icy teen. But instead of a cannonball coming out, the cannon fired a soundwave of rock music. It was almost like the soundwave effect that Black Canary causes with her canary cry. It washed over the Greek hero.

White Wolf covered his wolf ears on the top of his head, yelling in pain. The sound was loud and horrible, actually causing pain with his enhanced wolf hearing. When Captain Hardrock sent more of her chains his way, Ladybug quickly threw her yo-yo around his waist and pulled him away from them and the sound blast.

"Leave it to me to face an akuma with sound powers when I have enhanced hearing," he shook his head like he had swimmer's ear.

"Just be happy that you and Beautifly weren't here when we were fighting Guitar Villain," Ladybug said.

"There was seriously a villain with that as a name," Wolf raised an eyebrow. "Does Hawkmoth have no creativity at all?"

"That remains to be seen," Cat Noir comments. "His villain names range from weird, to good, to not very original at all."

"Jagged Stone ahead, Liberty fire," Captain Hardrock ordered.

The ship fired its sound cannons again, only this time entire speakers were shot out. The speakers landed and attached themselves all around Jagged Stone's music area at the Itfil Tower. The music was so loud that it caused cracks to spider all around where the speakers landed.

"Where's a pair of earplugs when you need them," Beautifly remarked.

"Are you the one with sensitive ears, I don't think so," Wolf commented. "My ears are still ringing from that earlier blast."

"What do you think her akumatized object is," Beautifly asked.

"It has to be something on the ship, otherwise she wouldn't be able to control it the way she does," Ladybug theorizes.

"I could Cataclysm the entire ship," Cat Noir offered, raising the hand that he uses to destroy things.

"No," Ladybug instantly shut that idea down.

"There are hostages on the ship, Cat," Wolf informs the hero. "If you sink the ship, they might drown."

"Myself and White Wolf only managed to get one of them off the ship before you two showed up," Beautifly says. "The rest of them are still trapped somewhere on there."

"I think he is Anarka Couffaine's son Luka," Wolf said. "He might know why was hit by the akuma. I'll ask him."

"Fire at XY," Captain Hardrock commanded, the Liberty shooting more of its speakers at the Justin Beiber wannabe.

"Well, do it fast," Ladybug told him, then swung away toward the ship.

"She knows that we're not her sidekicks and she doesn't have to order us around like that, right," Wolf crossed his arms.

"We can tell her off later, let's go, Cat," Beautifly ordered, flying toward the ship.

"We are around some seriously bossy ladies," Cat Noir commented, before using his staff to get to the ship himself.

"I am surrounded by weirdos," Wolf shook his head.

He took his bow in hand, notching another arrow. He aimed it to freeze one of the cannons closed when the akuma saw what he was doing.

"Fire," she ordered.

Another sound blast came right at him. He covered his wolf ears as the sound really hurt with his magical hearing. His bow and arrow fell to the ground. He could hardly tell when another person ran up and picked up his bow. Said person aimed it at the cannon, fighting the headache that the sound was causing. The arrow froze the shooting cannon, stopping the sound.

"I never liked rock music before, and I am most certainly not going to start now," Wolf says, getting up.

"Are you okay," asked the person that fired the arrow.

White Wolf looked and saw that it was Luka that had picked up his bow.

"I'm good now, Mr.Couffaine," Wolf says. "Thanks for the assistance."

"You can call me Luka, White Wolf," Luka tells him.

"Alright, then, Luka," nobody can say that superheroes aren't great actors. "It was very brave of you to use my bow. Very telling as well."

"Telling," Luka was confused.

"Most civilians would be afraid of turning to ice by touching one of my arrows," Wolf explains. "It shows that in maybe another life, you would have made an excellent fit for the wolf miraculous."

"Wow," Luka was still as cool as they come.

"Anyway, did you see what object the akuma landed on," Wolf asked the blue and black-haired boy. "Destroying it is the only way for Ladybug to de-evilize your mom."

"I didn't see exactly, but it is most likely her compass," Luka says. "She has always said that a compass is a sailor's most prized possession."

As someone that grew up near the water, White Wolf actually understood that. He wondered how much easier Odysseus would have gotten home if he had just used a map and compass instead of the stars and a lot of faith. As much as he believed in the gods, common sense is also a thing to believe in.

White Wolf noticed the ice on the cannon starting to crack. He quickly scooped Luka into his arms and ran away just in time as the ice shattered and the sound blast started up again. The two barely got away in time. The sound waves just missed them. White Wolf put Luka down a little way more away from the akumatized ship.

"Stay here, Luka," Wolf directed.

"I have to help," Luka tells the hero. "White Wolf, there has to be a way for me to help."

White Wolf looked at the blue-haired teen. He had shown great bravery when he picked up his bow. Not many people, let alone teenagers, would do such a thing. An image of a silver box flashed into his head, giving him an idea.

"Wait right here, Luka," Wolf instructed. "If any of the others ask, tell them that I went to get help. Beautifly will understand what I mean."

Luka nodded as White Wolf got out his bow again. Using an icy rope, the Greek hero swung away from the Seine. He had no idea what the wolf hero was up to.

The holder of the wolf miraculous landed in an alley on the other side of the street from a beautiful jungle-like flower/garden shop. He de-transformed and out of the alley walked Lyon Garden. The dubbed Ice Prince made his way to the flower shop, greeting his father on the way in. He quickly made his way up to his room, which from what his sister, Vallia, had told him was almost like Marinette's bedroom but made for him instead of her.

Lyon went over to the bookshelf he keeps in his room. He pulled back the one book on the shelf that did not have a title on the spine. In a bit of a cliche turn of events, the bookshelf slid tp the side to reveal a hidden compartment. From the compartment, he pulled out a secure but elegant silver box. It was in the shape of a large jewelry box with bright blue markings that looked like a cross between ice and vines. Silver roses also were dotted around the box.

Lyon opened the box lid, revealing several other pieces of jewelry inside of it. On a raised area of the box was a place for hour pieces of jewelry. The ones marked for the wolf and butterfly miraculous were empty. But there was a bluebird necklace in the space for the miraculous of the songbird and a stag brooch in the place for the stag miraculous. The other miraculouses at the top of the box were around the raised area. A deer head pendant for the deer miraculous, a black snake armband for the python miraculous, a black panther pendant for the panther miraculous, a brown bear cuff bracelet for the grizzly bear miraculous, a feather hair clip for the falcon miraculous, and a white bird hair comb for the dove miraculous.

"I know the perfect choice for this akuma," Lyon talks to himself.

He picked up a necklace before quickly sealing the box back in its hiding place and leaving.

Back at the battle with Captain Hardrock, the remaining trio was having a bit of trouble with fighting off the chains as well as trying to search for her akumatized object.

"I have never seen Pirates of the Caribbean, and this is not making me want to," Cat Noir comments, jumping out of the way of more chains.

"There is a reason why pirates have never been very recorded in Greek history," Beautifly says. "Because there weren't any."

"Seriously," Ladybug raised her eyebrow at that.

"I'm pretty sure," Beautifly shrugs. "I'm a butterfly hero, you really think I know much about pirates at all?"

"I agree with her, only replace butterfly with black cat for me," Cat Noir says. "Cats and water do not mix, in any form."

There was a reason why being surrounded by frost and ice weakened him so much when Lady Wifi locked him in that freezer. Cats and water have never mixed.

"Heads up," Beautifly warned, darting around in the sky to avoid the chains coming her way.

"Fire at Nightingale," Captain Hardrock commanded.

The Liberty shot out more speakers at the energetic pop star.

"Beautifly, where is White Wolf," Ladybug practically demanded.

"I don't know, but I do have a pretty good idea," Beautifly tells her.

"He just abandoned us in the middle of a fight," Ladybug snapped, using her yo-yo to fight off chains.

"Need I remind you that we are not your sidekicks," Beautifly snapped back, blocking chains with her razor flower. "We don't have to inform you of everything we do. I trust that White Wolf has a plan. I do not immediately go for such negative thoughts."

"If he has a plan, he should have told us," Ladybug did not back down. "Maybe he would have if he didn't stop with those ridiculous pop culture references every other sentence."

"Not all heroes have to be stern and serious to be good heroes, Bug," Beautifly did not take any crap if someone insults her brother. "Have you ever seen videos of the Flash? He never seems all that serious, but succeeds every time in his fights."

"I've seen news of his battles, and Beautifly does have a point," Cat Noir said.

But before the other female hero could try to find a comeback, one of the chains managed to hook itself to Cat Noir's left wrist.

"Oh crud," Beautifly swore.

Cat Noir was pulled up to the crow's nest and his hands were pulled to either side of him as he was chained down by his wrists.

"Cataclysm," Cat Noir shouted.

His right hand bubbled with black energy, signaling his power of destruction. With a twist of his hand, he was able to free himself from the chain holding him to the crow's nest.

"Great, because you had to act all high and mighty with trying to boss us all around, Cat Noir now only had five minutes," Beautifly snaps at the red and black hero.

"He should have been paying more attention to what was going on around him," Ladybug countered. "He was probably too busy trying to think up another joke or another lame pick-up line to focus on the fight."

"Or maybe you distracted him by treating us all like sidekicks," Beautifly did not back down.

"These two fight more than most would think me and White Wolf would," Cat Noir thinks. "The whole cats and dogs hate each other stereotype and all that."

That was when the icy hero finally made it back to the fight. He landed not too far from where Luka was trying to keep up with the ship.

"Are those two seriously at it again," he asked the teen in blue.

"It is quite ironic," Luka says. "But their music has no way to harmonize. It is too different and can barely even be in the same song."

"It's funny that you mention harmonizing," Wolf smirked.

"Pardon," Luka faced the hero.

White Wolf pulled out a small silver box from under his cloak. It was like a mini version of the Miracle Box in his room, only square-shaped.

"Luka Couffaine, this is the miraculous of the songbird, symbolized by the gift of heart," Wolf held the box out to him. "You will use it for good in this time of need. After the battle is finished, I shall return to retrieve it should you choose to accept it."

"I...I do," Luka was actually showing shock. "I accept the miraculous, White Wolf."

Luka opened the box, and a ball of light came out. It soon turned into a kwami, but this one was a cute bluebird one.

"Geia, young holder," the kwami greeted. "My name if Meloetta and I am your kwami."

"My kwami," Luka was confused.

"Kwami's are what give me and the other heroes our powers," Wolf explained. "They are also generally good friends and guides of sorts for us."

"Wow," Luka says.

He took the necklace out of the box, putting it around his neck. The color blended quite well into his natural style choice as well as the fact that he was a musician wearing a songbird around his neck. Part of him wanted to ask the wolf hero if that was part of why he had chosen this particular miraculous for him. But he shrugged it off as a coincidence.

"All you have to say is 'Meloetta, let's rock,' and you will transform," the kwami explained. "To de-transform, you say 'concert's over.' Your special power is activated by saying 'Harmonize."

Luka nodded at the kwami.

"You ready to be a hero," Wolf asked.

"I'd do anything for my friends and family," Luka says. "Meloetta, let's rock."

"At least my weapon isn't a children's toy," Beautifly shot at Ladybug.

"Yours is nothing more than an oversized daisy," Ladybug countered.

The two of them were back-to-back fighting off the chains while constantly trading insults back and forth. It also seemed that because of the two's constant fighting with each other, Captain Hardrock had basically forgotten about Cat Noir altogether. He was just watching from the crow's nest and also scanning the ship with his eyes to see where the akumatized object could be.

White Wolf soon landed next to him.

"And Ladybug calls the two of us annoying," he raised his eyebrow at the cat hero.

"I don't even pretend to know anything about girls," Cat Noir put his hands up in defeat.

"Good, because I know a few girls back home that would skin you alive if you tried to ever say that you were a girl expert," Wolf chuckled.

"Even with that little bit of information now permanently etched into my brain, I still would want to visit Greece someday," Cat Noir snickers.

"Not like we'd ever deny the help against the myth spirits," Wolf commented.

"So, was Beautifly right when she guessed that you were getting help," Cat Noir asked.

"When is she ever wrong," Wolf smirked.

Another flying hero then came out of nowhere, even if White Wolf did know where he came from. Moving so fast that he was basically a blur, he used his weapon to slice his way through all the chains until there were none left.

"What in the world," Ladybug was shocked.

"I should have known that Wolf was going to chose that miraculous," Beautifly grinned.

"What," Ladybug gasped.

The new hero finally stopped, and everyone was able to get a good look at him. He was in a silver jean vest with matching jeans. He was now also had a turquoise t-shirt with darker silver boots. On his hands were turquoise fingerless gloves. His hair was the same black with blue streaks. And to the shock of Ladybug and Cat Noir, he also had angel-like bird wings that were also silver. The bluebird necklace was still around his neck, matching the bird's eye-like mask over his eyes.

In his hand was an ax-like weapon that also resembled a hybrid of a guitar and a lyre.

"Hope I am not late to the party," the new hero comments.

"You're right on time," Wolf smirks.

"Who are you," Ladybug did not like another miraculous being out and about, as when she recruited Alya to be Rena Rouge was risky enough.

"You can call me... Silver Siren," the newly named hero smiled softly.

"Finally, another hero with wings," Beautifly giggles. "I was getting lonely up in the air all by myself."

"Happy to be of assistance to you, Beautifly," Silver Siren smiles at her.

"Guys, we may need to speed this up," Cat Noir shows his ring as it blinked to show he had three minutes left.

"Gottcha," Beautifly gives him a thumbs up.

"Luka said that the akuma is most likely in the compass," Wolf says.

"Once you freeze it, Beautifly and I can destroy it," Cat Noir said.

For once, Ladybug had to play catch-up as the other four heroes went back to battle Captian Hardrock. The akuma did not look happy that another hero had joined the fight.

"Another pest in the sky," she snarled. "Get them, Liberty."

Chains shot at the team from all angles.

"Nature's Heart," Beautifly called upon her power, throwing her flower up.

The gem on her razor flower released a blossom that came down with the weapon.

"Amaryllis," Wolf immediately figured out. "I always thought that was a beautiful flower."

"I know exactly what this flower does," Beautifly said.

Holding up the flower, it released a number of petal missiles. Each petal exploded on contact with the chains, destroying them. The move almost looked like a combo of the draco meteor and pin missile moves from Pokemon.

"My chains too easy for you," Captain Hardrock yelled. "Then I think it is time for you land-loving pests to face the music."

"Land-loving," Cat Noir raised an eyebrow. "She does know that two of us don't even touch the ground, right?"

"Akumas, big on destruction and not so much on logic," Beautifly says.

The ship rumbled as its sound cannons aimed at the five of them. White Wolf, in particular, did not want to have to hear that loud music again.

"Hit it, Silver Siren," he called out to the new hero.

"I'm on it," he responded. "Harmonize."

He strung his guitar ax, blue energy flowing from the strings to his throat. His eyes glowed as he started to open his mouth.

"Cover your ears," Wolf warned everyone.

Just as the heroes covered their ears, Silver Siren let out a loud scream as the akumatized ship sent out its own sonic blasts. Silver Sirens scream came out as powerful sonic waves similar to the Black Canary's canary cry. Only his seemed slightly more powerful and the sound waves were a bright blue color.

The two sound attacks met in the air, a loud BOOM resulting from the collision. It blew their hair and loose pieces of clothing back a little at the wind blast that also resulted from the collision.

White Wolf and Beautifly uncovered their ears as both sides died down their attacks. They had to move quickly.

"Winter's Touch," Wolf quickly called.

His hands started to pour out an icy mist with a slight blueish color to it. The wolf hero then jumped to where he was sure that the compass was on the ship.

"Stay away from my compass," Captain Hardrock yelled.

But with one touch, the piece of equipment was frozen into ice. With a quick jump back, he let Beautifly throw her razor flower at the compass. The weapon smashed right through the frozen compass as easily as it would be to shatter glass.

"Gotta love this thing," Beautifly smiles at her weapon.

A black butterfly soon flapped its way out of the rubble. That was when Ladybug stepped forward.

"No more evil-doing for you, little akuma," she said, opening her yo-yo. "Time to de-evilize."

She caught the corrupted insect.

"Bye, bye, little butterfly," Ladybug released the now white insect.

"That thing is definitely a moth," Beautifly comments.

Cat Noir snickered at the comment while White Wolf simply rolls his eyes playfully. Silver Siren smiled but Ladybug looked annoyed.

"She does seem like the perfect person to know a butterfly from a moth," Cat Noir joined in Beautifly's fun.

"You two give me headaches," Wolf said.

"You know you love us," Cat Noir winks in a flirty way.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Wolf waved him off, making him and Beautifly snicker. "You did great out there, Silver Siren."

"You think so," the new hero asks. "I was a bit worried about using my power against those cannons."

"If I didn't think you could help, I wouldn't have given you the miraculous," Wolf smiles at him.

All of the heroes but Ladybug all started to beep as their miraculouses flashed. Cat Noir had a minute left as his ring lost another piece of the paw. One of the wings on Beautifly's bracelet went black. A feather on Silver Siren's bird necklace went from blue to white. One of the wolf's teeth on White Wolf's medallion went black.

"You can handle the clean-up, Bug," Beautifly says. "We all have to go. Secret identities and all that jazz."

"No one likes smooth jazz, Fly," Wolf said, but then all of them separated.

[dessarious]

Misconceptions, Miscommunication, and Misinformation Pt85

Inspired by @ozmav Maribat AU

AO3   Beginning   Previous   Next

Marinette waited patiently for her mother to finish yelling at her. Right or wrong there was absolutely no point in arguing back and she did her best to keep her expression neutral rather than bored. She had a feeling that this outburst wasn’t just about what she’d said either. Her parents were having to adjust to so much all at once. Finding out she’s Ladybug and the Guardian, her paralysis, and now the living situation issue. It would be a lot for anyone and she should have thought about that before being so flippant. It wasn’t her mother’s fault that Marinette had completely upended their reality.

“Do you have anything to say to me?” Marinette was brought back to the present by her Maman’s stern tone and hazarded to look at her. Her annoyance was written all over her face but Marinette could see the strain underneath was well. She’d caused that and weight of the guilt settled in her stomach.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been disrespectful.” That wasn’t at all what she was sorry about but it’s what Sabine wanted to hear so it was the least she could do.

“As well you should be. And who’s going to be taking care of you while you stay in Paris Damian?” Marinette saw Damian’s posture go ridged out of the corner of her eye. It was hard to tell if he was reacting to Sabine’s tone or just offended that she thought he needed to be looked after. Luckily Tim spoke up before he could set her mother off again.

“Bruce and Selina are flying in to oversee the house purchase and any repairs or renovations that are needed. I believe they were planning on discussing the living situation with you before any permanent decisions are made though.” That seemed to relax her mother but Damian looked livid.

“I don’t see why he has to bring that woman. This has nothing to do with her and she’ll just be in the way. The last thing I need is Father’s booty call trying to make decisions for me.” Marinette looked to Luka but he just shrugged at her. Whoever Selina was Damian hadn’t mentioned her to either of them. Given his obvious hatred for her she was a bit surprised the name hadn’t come up. Tim rolled his eyes.

“They’ve been together three years this time Damian, even you have to admit it’s starting to look like it may stick.” Damian just scowled at him.

“I admit nothing. Their on again, off again bullshit is just a waste of time and money for everyone involved. I refuse to be sucked into such nonsense.” Marinette wasn’t sure why he was so hostile about the situation, but his overall attitude towards romantic relationships was starting to make more sense.

“Whatever it is, it’s between them. You need to chill out Damian. Most likely Selina will stay for a week before she gets bored and then you’ll be free of her. She likes spending time with you almost as much as you do her.” Marinette saw her parents exchange a look and had to wonder if it was because of how disrespectful Damian was being towards his dad’s girlfriend or the fact that his dad was knowingly dating someone that disliked one of his kids. Either way she was grateful for her parent’s solid relationship both for the example and so she didn’t have to deal with anything similar.

“I suppose I’ll just have to find a way to stay away from them until she leaves then.” Damian’s grumbled response caused a spark to form in Luka’s eyes.

“You could always stay with me. My mom won’t mind and Jules is hardly ever home anyway.” Tim’s back was turned so he didn’t see Damian blush or the glare he sent to his boyfriend.

“That’s not a bad idea, at least for a few days while the dust settles. You know how B gets when he has to play mediator with you two and it’ll be worse without Alfred to fix things when he screws them up.” Damian actually looked amused before he hid it behind a mask of annoyance.

“Speaking of Alfred he wanted me to ask you if you’d give my father parenting advice. Though I personally think he’s a lost cause at this point.” Marinette watched her mother roll her eyes.

“I’m sure he didn’t say anything of the sort.” Damian looked insulted.

“I would not have said it if it weren’t true.”

“I’m sure Alfred probably did say it actually. He’s probably tired of Bruce ignoring his advice and is hoping hearing it from someone else will make a difference.” Tim let out an amused huff before continuing. “It’s a shame Alfred isn’t coming since he’s the only one with a successful track record of keeping Damian in line.”

“Maybe that’s because he’s the only one that listens to him. Or the only one that treats him like a person instead of a problem that needs to be fixed or hidden away somewhere they won’t make a scene.” Everyone looked at Chloe in surprise while she pretended to study her nails. Marinette doubted anyone else heard the underlying hurt and anger in her tone as subtle as it was, but she did. Damian was staring at her like she’d grown a second head and Marinette could only sigh. He and Chloe were a lot more alike than either would admit and this was a perfect example of why. They had both been used as tools and props by their parents, especially their mothers. While their fathers seemed to mean well neither seemed to have any real idea how to help them. Damian’s father tried to turn him into himself, while Chloe’s just gave her everything she asked for in the hopes it would calm her down.

“She’s right. All of you seem to push your ideas onto him and ignore anything he says to contradict them. Why wouldn’t he push back?” From anyone else that would have sounded like an accusation. From Luka it was simply a statement of fact and Tim could only frown at him in confusion. Suddenly Marinette decided that it would be mentally and emotionally draining if Damian’s siblings were constantly cycling in and out of Paris. They were going to have to reprogram them all one at a time and hope it stuck until the next time they came back.

AO3   Beginning   Previous    Next

Ko-Fi

Tag List

@noirdots @valeks-princess @chocolatecatstheron @krispydefendorpolice @bee-wrecker @kanamexzeroyaoifangirl @northernbluetongue @paradoxal-occurance @scrumptiouslyelegantchaosqueen @sonif50 @thequestionablyhuman @persephonebutkore @elspethshadow @geekydragonyt @mmwolf1605 @da-tasuky @mjisntme @bluerosette23 @anjuschiffer @littleredrobinhoodlum @tazanna-blythe @resignedcatservant @schrodingers25 @seraphichana @persephonescat @punstoppablechatnoir @magicalfirebird @crazylittlemunchkin @corabeth11 @cyborgcandy @casual-darkness @shamefullove @miraculous-simmer7 @tamoni112 @cat181818meow @littleblue5mcdork @allthebooksandcrannies @enchanted-nerd @disneyfoxuniverse @fallinginthe-void @mandy984 @goggles-mcgee @fontegagrilledcheese @dorkus-minimus @theatreandcomicfreak @zerotosiki @ayuchan07 @mindfulmagics @urbanpineapplefarmer @winter-gardenflower @mooshoon @my-name-is-michell @melicmusicmagic @7-sage-7 @hypnosharkrebeldreamer @alicesangelofmusic @caffeinetheory @nataladriana9 @multplelifes @wanderingreader1019 @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @mvaree @redscarlet95 @storyteller-d @howabouticallyou @ginamarie1512 @kurogaya913 @tbehartoo @maddrag @two-faced-biatch @senyahgirl @unabashedlyswimmingtimemachine @iloontjeboontje @kakashixobito @welcometopradasa @amirahevens @amlesi @miraculousbelladonna @virgil-is-a-cutie @18-fandoms-unite-08 @cupcakeandkisses @angelofmusickaterinapetrova @book-r-the-best @dur55 @moonlightstar64 @fertileleaf @thequeenofpotatoeunicornss @thecaptainthunder @danielslilangel @novicevoice @nyaabinch @interobanginyourmom @welcometopradasa @charlietheepic7 @im-here-for-the-content @maya-custodios-dionach @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @starwindmaden @tired-butterfly @rogueptoridactyl @emeraldpuffguide @suzen23smith @yuulxd @animegirlweeb @alovelyocean @kris-pines04 @semaalcocer-blog @cadencehood @jardimazul-blog @shethecat @silent-storms-posts @simplysslytherin @tog84 @thesunanditsangel @dast218 @tall-and-angry @the-alice-of-hearts @captainmac6 @theyellowfeverexperience @chrismarium @alessialeone6997 @heaven428 @tinyterror333 @smolplantmum @lilyellowink @naoryllis @katiegardneriscoolerthanyou @magewriter @doodledeerest @athena452 @peachedpocky @tired-butterfly @risingmoonyue @lunammoon @mylife-demonstrates-murphys-law  @bobothyross @silvergold-swirl @loysydark @heaven428 @peachedpocky @hauntedwintersweets @awesome-starfish-and-tacos @silvergold-swirl @rosesgonerogue @castielsofficialtoothbrush @myazael @aestheticnpoetic @creator-josie @sturchling @snowstar1016 @myblacknightworld @kittycatwowmeow @midnightkaito @chylou34 @hufflejournals @indecisive-mess-named-me @uwuteamleader @sassakitty @jessigurl-design @demigodgirl20031 @freshbark @soup-served-chilling @elmokingkong @unknownvsworld @thatonegaybitchfromschool @tis-i-beanbandit @damianette-is-life @peachesbackup @nobodyw8s4evr @the-fusionist @iwantwhirlledpeasandlotsatrees @chocolateherringtacofan

[gabriel-agreste-has-no-rights]

Rating: G

Summary: When Marinette has to cook for her family reunion, Adrien offers to help. Only one problem: he has no idea how to cook. With Plagg's help, Adrien proposes a Disney-inspired solution that will either keep him from making a fool of himself, or backfire terribly. (Spoiler alert: it backfires terribly.) A university-aged Adrinette reveal fic.

Word Count: 6437

XXX

“Plagg, what am I going to do?  I don’t know how to cook!”  Adrien pulled at his hair as he paced circles around his apartment.

Plagg, meanwhile, lazily hovered with his paws crossed behind his head.  “Maybe you should’ve thought about that before you tried to swoop in like some kind of superhero.”

“I am a superhero.”  Not that it mattered, because his superpower was destruction. Maybe his Lady would’ve been able to help Marinette cook dinner for her family reunion, but Adrien was … well.  Even though the cat miraculous didn’t actually make him more disaster prone, he had enough bad luck in the kitchen on his own.  He’d survived on spaghetti and takeout since moving into his own apartment this semester.

“Why don’t you just tell her you can’t do it?  Something came up.  You fell headfirst into a pool of cream cheese.  You got zapped by an akuma and all your hair fell out.”

“That hasn’t happened in at least a month.  Besides, I can’t flake out on Marinette.  She needs me.”  He stood up straighter.

“What she needs is someone who won’t turn soup into an explosive.  What about your friend Alya?  Isn’t her mom some kind of chef?”

“She’s out of town for Christmas.  Nino too, or I’d ask him to help me.”  Did he know anyone else who could teach him how to cook in one night?  Kagami was back in Japan, Chloe wouldn’t touch an oven to save her life, Luka was on tour with XY… Ladybug was pretty much his only friend still in town.  She would probably be willing to teach him, but on their last patrol she’d mentioned she’d be busy the next few days with her own plans.

“You need to get some more friends, kid.”

“It’s kind of late for that,” Adrien murmured.  Too many people in his classes were more interested in the Gabriel name than in him.  Besides, he might not have made a lot of new friends, but he’d gotten much closer to Marinette and his old friends now that he had more control over his schedule.  

“Well, as your very first and best friend—”

“Chloe was technically my first friend.”

Plagg glared.  “As your first and best friend, I will help you for the low low price of two wheels of Camembert.”

Adrien stopped pacing.  He only realized he’d ended up in the bathroom when he caught a glimpse of his reflection.

“Wait.  You know how to cook?”

Plagg scoffed.  “I’ve been alive since the dawn of time.  I’ve picked up a thing or two.”

Adrien raised an eyebrow.  “You also thought that my blender was a jet tub for kwamis.”

“Okay, so you humans have invented some fancy new gadgets since I was last out, big deal.  I still know more about cooking than you.”

Unfortunately, he was probably right.

“Alright.  Deal.”  Adrien held out a finger, and he and Plagg shook on it.

“Alright, loverboy, let’s get cooking.”

XXX

“No, not like that!  What are you trying to do, knock someone out with that thing?”

“At least I wouldn’t do it with the smell!”  Adrien instinctively waved the frying pan in front of his nose, and the burned remnants of roux glopped out onto the tile.

“Coward.  It’ll taste good once you put it all together.”

Adrien wasn’t convinced.  But then again, he hadn’t followed Plagg’s instructions exactly.  Plagg never gave him quite enough time to pour the ingredients in the pan or measure the spices with the little spoons.  

“I wish you’d be able to help me while I’m there.”  Adrien sighed.  “I’m going to forget all of this as soon as I leave.”

“You can’t be good at everything, I guess.”  Plagg shrugged.  “You can still always call your girlfriend and say you gave up.”

“She’s a good friend.  We’ve been over this.”  He’d promised not to call Marinette ‘just a friend’ on the grounds that she deserved better than that.  But she still wasn’t his girlfriend.  Which was fine, so why did his stomach sink slightly?  Probably just nervousness about the task ahead of him.  

“And I’m not giving up.  What if you just … hid in my hair and whispered advice?”

Plagg tapped his chin.  “Maybe if you wear a hat …” A grin suddenly split his tiny face.  “Hey, what if you wore that ug—uh, that beret Ladybug gave you?  You know, from your fan club?”

“Great idea!”  Adrien bolted out of the bathroom and towards his closet.  He wore the hat every once in a while—its ridiculous energy was too good to leave hidden like it had been in lycée.  He made a special point of wearing it to every meeting with his dad, though he did feel a little bit nervous of wearing it around Marinette.  She was in their university’s design program; she’d probably think it was tacky.

Oh well.  He’d probably been tackier around her before.

“You sure you’ll fit in here?”  Adrien squinted at the underside of the beret before pulling it over his hair.

“Looks cozy enough to me.”  Plagg slipped under, and Adrien felt him shuffle around. Unfortunately, his voice was too muffled for Adrien to make out after that.

“Plagg?”

“Blegh.”  The kwami scrambled back out and scraped his tongue with his paws.  “Your hair tastes like shampoo.  I can’t talk without getting a mouthful of it.”

“Guess that isn’t going to work …” He pursed his lips as he adjusted the beret.  “It’s too bad real life isn’t like Ratatouille. You could just tug on my hair and do all the cooking for me.”

Unless …?

“Oh no, don’t give me that look.”  Plagg crossed his arms.  “That’s just a movie.  Though it would be nice to show you what it feels like to get dragged around for a change …”

“It’s worth a shot, isn’t it?”  Adrien didn’t really think it would work either, but Plagg was magic.  

“Fine.  But I’m upping my price to three wheels.”

Plagg slipped back under the beret, and Adrien felt a tugging sensation on his scalp.  But nothing seemed to happen.

“Guess that was a pretty dumb idea,” he admitted sheepishly.

Then green light crackled from his ring.  

His arms flung into the air.

“Ack!  Plagg, did you do that?”  

Adrien heard a muffled cackle from under the hat.  Then his legs started walking towards the refrigerator.

“Okay, so this is … working?  This is working!”

Plagg missed a few times before guiding his hand to pull open the fridge.  Of course, his next step was to reach for a wedge of Camembert and hold it up to his head.

“The sweet taste of victory,” Plagg said while popping out to swallow the wedge whole.

“More like the rotten taste of old cheese.”

But Adrien still grinned.  However Plagg had pulled off his puppeteer trick, Adrien wasn’t going to make a fool of himself tomorrow.

XXX

“Adrien!”  Marinette threw her arms around him as soon as she opened the door.  “Thank goodness you’re here. My parents just called and they got a last-minute order and—eep!”  She sprung back, her eyes wide as she stared at his beret.

“Come on, it’s not that bad.”  He rubbed the back of his neck, trying not to feel embarrassed.  Marinette wouldn’t judge him based on what he wore.  “It was an old gift.  I like that it drives my father crazy.”

Plus, Ladybug had hand-delivered it, but she probably didn’t care about that.

“W-well then, it’s perfect.”  She grinned too wide.  “I just don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a hat before.”

“You’ve definitely—”

“Anyway, no time for that!  There’s only five hours before Uncle Wang gets here. Nonna is already at my parent’s, and my other grandma and grandpa are coming for the first time since Mom moved here.  Not to mention fourteen of my cousins I’ve never met and their parents!”  Marinette rushed towards the small kitchen, which was already full of steaming pots and used pans. She threw on her pink oven mitts and pulled a tray of golden-brown pastries out of the oven.

Adrien swallowed.  Marinette’s kitchen might look like a war zone, but she clearly knew what she was doing.  What if he just got in the way?

“How did you end up in charge of the food?”  he asked while throwing on a mint-green apron from inside the pantry door.  Her great-uncle was a world-class chef, and her parents owned a bakery.  Her grandpa Rolland had even taught mice how to bake.  

“I’m not in charge.  I just need to help a little since Uncle Wang is running late, and the reunion starts tonight, and Grandpa won’t bake anything in bulk because ‘that’s not how it’s done’’—she used a gruff imitation of his voice—“and my parents have so much bakery work to do. I’m just trying to do what I can.”

She sighed as she stirred a pot of wonton soup.  “Unfortunately, I can’t do a lot.”

“What are you talking about?  It looks like you could feed an army with all this.”  

He carefully dodged Marinette as she scrambled in a drawer for a fork.  She tested the rice noodles boiling behind the soup, then grimaced and slumped against the counter, fork nearly slipping from her fingers. Her hair was falling out of her bun, and flour smudged her pink apron, contrasting with the splatters of dark sauce.

“I hope so.  There’s just … so much to live up to, you know?  Everyone on both sides of my family cooks.  And now I have to merge styles from two different cultures in a way that will please everyone …”

Her gaze swept across the counter, where dumplings and quiches, brothy soups and thin crêpes—even ratatouille, ironically—lay in various stages of completion. The savory and sweet fragrances somehow melded together in harmony.

“I know I can’t understand how hard that must be. About trying to bridge two different sides of your family, I mean.  But you’re amazing, Marinette.” He stepped closer to her and brushed a streak of flour off of her cheek. “You’ve already worked so hard on all this; I can’t see how anyone wouldn’t love it.  May I?”

He gestured to a spoon sitting in one of the soups, and she nodded.  He raised it to his lips and sipped the tangy broth.  A bit of crunchy bamboo shoot added texture to the savory liquid.  He didn’t want to eat too much—it was for her family, not him—but if it weren’t for that, he could’ve downed the whole bowl.  He could practically taste the love and care she’d put into it.

“See? Amazing.”  He grinned.  “Just like the rest of the food we’re going to make.”

At least, the food she made would be amazing.  He just hoped that what he made with Plagg’s help would be edible.  And not offend her family.

Her lips parted before curving into a smile.  “Right.  Thank you, Adrien.”

She paused, staring for a moment, until one of the shallow pots started bubbling over.

“Ack!  The filling!”

She rushed to switch off the burner and remove the lid before sighing loudly.  “I think it’s still alright.  Now I just need to fold this into the dough …”

“Can I help with that?”  he asked, feeling like a rock in the middle of a river as Marinette flowed between the cooking stations around him.

“Huh?  Oh—um, why don’t you work on filling the crêpes instead?  This baozi is a Chinese dish, and it’s my first time making it by myself.  Not that I don’t appreciate the offer!  You were so sweet to come at all, and—”

“Marinette.”  He squeezed her shoulder gently, wishing he could relieve some ot the tension there.  “I’ll do the crêpes.” 

She let out a breath.  “Thanks.  I was going to do a pear-hazelnut filling, if you’re okay with that?  The pears are in the bottom right drawer of the fridge, and the hazelnuts are on the middle shelf in the panty.  All the spices are up there.”  She pointed to the cabinet above the sink.

“Sounds perfect,” he said with the fake confidence he usually saved for his modeling jobs.

Before he could ask for a recipe, she went back to work, leaving him to his own devices in front of a stack of unfilled crêpes.  A mixture of the rich smells and his own nerves started to turn his stomach.

“Are you ready, Plagg?”  he whispered, adjusting his beret.

In response, his scalp twinged, and then his hand rose and formed a thumbs-up.

“Well, here we go.”  He cracked his knuckles.  

He rinsed out a pan that it looked like Marinette had previously used for some kind of stir fry.  That wouldn’t be a problem, would it?  It looked like every other pan in the apartment was in use already.  

Marinette didn’t stop to correct him.  Then again, she seemed to be in ten places at once, adding spices and stirring and adjusting dials and rummaging through cupboards, all in between filling her baozi.  Watching her work was so mesmerizing it was almost too easy to ignore his own job.

Until Plagg started tugging his hair again, anyway.

This is going to be weird, he thought while Plagg directed his hands to chop the pears.  He was pretty sure he could’ve done that himself—he didn’t want his kwami chopping off one of his fingers.  But resisting at this point would just increase his chances of accidentally getting stabbed.

Besides, Plagg was fast. He diced the five pears in the time it probably would’ve taken Adrien to cut up one.  Granted, he also left a juicy mess on the counter, but it sounded like they were on too much of a deadline to worry about that.

Plagg tossed them into the pan, cores and all.  Adrien frowned at that.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” he muttered.

“What?”  Marinette asked from where she was stretching out dough.

“Um, nothing!  I just, uh, talk to myself while I cook.”

“Oh, me too.  I was just trying not to do it in front of you.  You know, in case I sounded crazy.”  She laughed, seeming to release a little bit of tension. “I think I picked it up from my mom.  She always says the steps out loud as she does them so she doesn’t forget which one she’s on.”

He smiled at the image of her doing this with Mrs. Cheng.  “Did you cook with your mom a lot?”

“I don’t think I’d say a lot.  I was pretty busy in lycée, and I didn’t appreciate her culture as much as I do now.  I wish I would’ve learned more.”

“It looks like you learned a lot if you can put all this together.”

She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.  “Thanks.  That means a lot.”

He retrieved the hazelnuts and tossed them into the pan.  She still had her back to him, the baozi taking up most of her attention.  Should he ask her to check his work so far?  Plagg didn’t hesitate to nab some spices from the high cabinet and start sprinkling them into the pan.

“Wait—not that one!” he hissed, trying to drop the shaker that read chili powder before Plagg could add it.

“Adrien?  Is something wrong?”

He spun, quickly shoving the container behind his back.  “No!  Everything’s just peachy—er, pear-y.”

She giggled at his joke, even though it had to be one of his lamest puns yet.

“Okay, but you can let me know if you need help.  Sorry I just kind of threw you into this.”  Her arm gently brushed his as she dialed back the heat on the noodles.  “Um—is there a reason you’re holding chili powder?” 

“I was just moving it so I could reach the, uh…”

Plagg helpfully directed his arm towards a different spice.

“... garlic salt?”

Marinette blinked, and he hastily shoved the garlic salt back, selecting cinnamon instead.  He should’ve known that trusting the kwami who liked eating rotten cheese would be a mistake.

“You’re so funny, Adrien.”  She laughed again.  “But, um, you might want to double check your pears.  I think some of those still have the cores in them.”

His face flushed.  Thanks a lot, Plagg.

He picked out the cores with a pair of tongs, hoping that his kwami wouldn’t try to take over again.  Adrien might be bad at cooking, but at least he wasn’t going to try and poison Marinette’s family.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have much idea of what to do next.  He’d turned the burner on high, and the pears were starting to sizzle.  How did nuts cook?  That didn’t make a lot of sense to him.  He probably needed something liquidy to go with them, right?

Aaaand the pears already smelled like they were burning.  He quickly flipped back the knob while he searched for something to turn into a sauce.  Milk?  That would make it nice and creamy, right?

He grabbed the half-gallon from the fridge and splashed a bit into the pan.  Drops splattered the counter, and he winced.

That was when Plagg again decided to take over.  Adrien grit his teeth as he selected the block of muenster from the cheese drawer.  That definitely didn’t belong in the crêpe filling, but Adrien couldn’t get him to stop without making a scene in front of Marinette.  Who would then wonder why he was yelling at himself, and either think he was insane or find out his secret identity.  Both of which would be unacceptable.

He growled, hoping Plagg would get the message.  If he did, he didn’t show it.  At least Marinette didn’t hear over her own soft humming.

The sliced cheese went into the pan, plopping wetly in the milk.  Maybe the finished product would surprise him, and cheese and pears would create a tasty sweet-savory combo, and Marinette would be super impressed by his originality, and she’d invite him over to cook with him again, and they’d make a cute romantic dinner together …

He banished that daydream before he could think too much of it.

By that point Plagg was using his arm to whisk the milk and melting cheese together.  The pears and hazelnuts had settled to the bottom of the pan.  He frowned as the whisk failed to unstick them.

“This isn’t working,” he said under his breath.  “We might need to start over.”

He swore he could hear Plagg’s irritated sigh.  But the kwami jerked the pan up, taking it towards the sink.

“Hey, what are you—Plagg!”  he shouted before he could stop himself.

Plagg dropped the pan in the sink, spraying hot milk-cheese-pear slime all over the backsplash.  And all over Adrien’s apron.  

And, most importantly, all over his face.

“Adrien!”  Marinette dropped her unfinished dumpling back on the counter.  Filling spilled out as she rushed to his side.  “Are you okay?  What happened?”

He hurriedly tried to splash cold water on his face, but spilled it more down his shirt than anything.  She offered him a damp hand towel, which was much more helpful.

“I’m so sorry.”  His face still burned, but not from the hot food.

“It’s okay!  Accidents happen—trust me, I would know.”  She smiled before her eyes widened.  “Oh no, your beret!”

“What?”  He slapped his hands to his head, prompting a tiny yelp from Plagg.  So he was still there.  Under his hat.  Which was still on his head. Phew.

“It’s got milk on it.” Marinette reached up like she intended to take it off.

“No!”  he shouted, and she stepped back, startled.

“S-sorry!  I just thought I’d help you clean it off, since it seems so, um, important to you.”

“I like it with the milk on it.  It adds, uh, character?”

He heard Plagg snicker from beneath the beret.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”  she asked.  “If you need to take a break, or, um, get a new shirt … n-not that I want you to take off your shirt!  Uh—forget I said that.”

She shook her head, and more strands fell out of her bun.

He frowned down at his shirt.  Unfortunately, the splatter had made it under his apron, and his shirt was pretty gross.  He even felt a slimy pear sliding down under his collar.

“I’m okay,” he said.  “Finishing all the food for your reunion is more important.”

“No, don’t worry.  I can handle it.  Just having you here to keep me from freaking out has helped more than you know.”

She took the towel back from him with a smile.  Frankly, he was still surprised she wasn’t angry with him.  He’d come to help, and all he’d done so far was waste her time.

“I’m really not bothering you?”  he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.  Bad idea.  His hands were still a bit wet and sticky.

“You could never bother me, Adrien.”  Her cheeks pinked before she turned back to fiddle with the soup.  

“Really?  I thought …”  He bit his lip, remembering how many times he’d startled Marinette before.  How many times he’d seemed to make her uncomfortable, or awkward, or … he wasn’t really sure what.  There had always been something keeping them apart, no matter how close they became.

Maybe it’s just your little crush, Plagg would’ve teased.  Thankfully, he wasn’t going to talk while trapped under the beret.

“Thought what?”  she asked once she’d added some seasonings to the soup.  

“I thought I’d be your last pick for cooking help,” he said, which wasn’t quite a lie.  “I didn’t want to tell you, but I … well, I don’t really know what I’m doing.”

Best to just admit it now, rather than after he’d ruined her family reunion.  

Marinette blinked before covering her mouth.  “I’m so sorry.  I should’ve known you probably never cooked at your house.  And here I am just asking you to throw together a crêpe filling!”

“It’s okay!  I’m the one who’s sorry.  I should’ve told you, I just … I wanted to impress you.”

Maybe he shouldn’t have admitted that much.  He was sure he heard Plagg laughing from under his hat.

“You … wanted to impress … me?”  She pointed to herself, as if there was anyone else in the kitchen he might have been talking about.

“Is that really so surprising?”

“Uh—yeah, actually.” Marinette stared at him like he’d grown a second head.  Plagg hadn’t peeked out, had he?  “I might be able to cook, but you’re good at everything.  Fencing, basketball, Mandarin—which took me ages to get halfway decent at—not to mention you’re drop-dead gorgeous—”

His heart stopped.  Her eyes nearly bulged out of her head.  

“I mean—you’re a model; of course you’re gorgeous!  It’s literally your job.  I bet people call you gorgeous all the time.” 

“Not when I’m covered in slimy food, though.”  He grinned.  She thought he was drop-dead gorgeous!  Maybe he hadn’t made too much of a mess after all.

“Well—you would be a lot more gorgeous if you took off that stupid beret!”  She pointed at his head.

“W-what?”  He pulled it down over his ears.  “This is my emotional support beret.  I can’t take it off or I’ll cry.”

“Why did you have to pick that one, though?  It’s so—I don’t know!” She gestured vaguely.  “It looks like a fourteen-year-old made it!”

He pouted at her.  “Hey, be nice.  It was probably fashionable in Brazil at the time.”

It did look pretty silly, but that was its appeal.  Fashion-savvy Marinette probably wouldn’t understand that.

“R-right.  In Brazil.”  She shook her head.  “Why do you like it though?”

He blushed.  Aside from spitting in the face of the Gabriel brand, it also reminded him of the day Ladybug had appeared in his room.  That serendipitous event had never happened before or since.

“How embarrassing does it sound if I say my old crush delivered it to me?”

“Your—your crush?”  She blinked.  “But then—you had a crush on Ladybug?”

The soup started bubbling again, but she made no move to quiet it.

“Of course I have a crush on Ladybug.  I’m pretty sure all of Paris has a crush on—wait, how did you know Ladybug was the one to deliver it?”

Marinette’s face went pale.  “I—um, well, I … I think the soup is burning!”

She rushed to stir it again, but Adrien caught her hand.

“Wait, Marinette, please.”  His heart beat faster.  He’d never told anyone about Ladybug’s visit.  She hadn’t been surprised when he mentioned Brazil, either.

But what could he say?  Come out and ask her if she was Ladybug?  That would be too good to be true, right?  Marinette couldn’t be Ladybug; he’d seen them together once.  But he’d pulled crazy stunts to protect his identity too.

She bit her lip, but didn’t pull her hand from his.  

“I can’t answer that question, Adrien.”

It wasn’t a confirmation.  But it wasn’t a denial either.

It had been five years.  Five years, and he still didn’t know who his partner was.  If she was here, in front of him, after all this time …

… he’d still respect her choice not to tell him.  As much as it hurt, he’d do it.

“Alright.”  He sighed.  “I get it.”

An uncomfortable silence pushed between them, punctured only by the bubbling soup and beeping oven.  The first batch of Marinette’s baozi was done; she removed them without speaking.

Why couldn’t they go back to five minutes ago, when she’d called him gorgeous?  He was already thrilled to hear Marinette say that.  But if she was his Lady too?  He’d melt just like that cheese in the pan.

It was going to drive him crazy if he thought about it too long.  He turned on the faucet, hoping that the loud water would drown out his thoughts as he did the dishes.  At least that was one task he could accomplish without ruining any more of Marinette’s food.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, barely audible over the running tap.

“What for?”  He was the one pushing the boundaries between them.  If she was even Ladybug at all.  Maybe he’d managed to misinterpret everything, but he couldn’t see how.

“For not being honest with you.  I wish I could, I swear.”  Her hands squeezed her dough, and it oozed out between her fingers.

“I’m sure you have your reasons,” he said with resignation.  Ladybug was the Guardian.  She couldn’t risk revealing her identity.  Even if it felt unfair, he should be used to it by now.

But before, you didn’t think Ladybug was one of your best friends.

Even more than that, if he was honest with himself.  He’d wanted to be closer to Marinette for a  long time now.  What if he was just deluding himself with wishful thinking?

“I wish I didn’t, sometimes,” she murmured.

He switched off the faucet and turned to face her.  Maybe some things needed to stay secret, but not everything.

“Marinette?”  He swallowed.

She looked up from where she’d been absently rolling the dough again.  So much for not wasting her time.

“Y-yeah?”

He didn’t expect to confess to her while standing in her kitchen, with Plagg hiding under his old beret, with his clothes covered in the ruined crêpe filling.  But it was important, and if he could finally admit it to himself, the least he could do was admit it to her.

“I don’t just have a crush on Ladybug.”

“You—you don’t?”  

Was it just his imagination, or did she deflate a little?

“She’s still very important to me.  I know she always will be.  But I’ve come to realize how important you are to me, too.”  He watched her face as he spoke, but her wide eyes were impossible to read.  Hopefully he wasn’t ruining everything with what he was about to say.

“I like you, Marinette.  As more than a friend.  And I would never want to make you uncomfortable.  All I’ve ever wanted is to be closer to you.”

For a moment, her face didn’t change.  She just stood there, staring blankly, like someone had pressed a pause button.  He would’ve thought Bunnyx had stopped time to reset his screw-up if it weren’t for the soup continuing to boil over.

“Marinette?”  he prodded, his stomach beginning to bubble as nervously as that soup.  

She jumped.  “Yes, I—comfort you me make—yike lou—”

A stream of incoherent noises followed that.  Oh no, he’d broken her!  Why couldn’t Plagg have taken over and stopped him from talking?  

“—ugh!  I thought I dopped stewing this years ago!”  She dropped her burning face into her hands.

Adrien reached out to touch her shoulder and then thought better of it.  His arm fell limply to his side.

“I’m so sorry.  You can just forget I said anything.  I’ll—I’ll let you finish up the food and get out of your way—”

“No!”  She waved her hands, startling him so bad he stepped back—and slipped in a puddle of spilled dishwater.

“Adrien!”  She caught the front of his apron as he fell, but that just meant she was pulled down on top of him.

He yelped as his head cracked against the linoleum.  At least she landed on his chest, his arms cradling her.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry—AAAAAH!”

“What, what!?”  He sat up as she scrambled off of him.

That was when he caught sight of the striped beret lying in the puddle next to him.

Oh no.

Plagg laughed nervously from where he was tangled in Adrien’s hair.  “Hey, Pigtails.”

“Chat?”  Marinette smacked her hands to her cheeks.  “You’re—you’re Chat Noir?” 

“Surprise!”  Plagg wasn’t in Adrien’s line of sight, but he could hear the grin in his kwami’s voice.

“Where’s Bunnyx when you need her?”  Adrien groaned.  Not only was his confession a total bust, but he also ended up giving away his most important secret.

And he still didn’t know for sure that she was Ladybug.

“You’re Chat Noir.”  Marinette plopped down into the puddle beside him.  “Adrien is Chat Noir.”

“Yeah, yeah, we got that,” Plagg said.  “Are you gonna put the poor kid out of his misery or not?”

“Huh?”  She blinked.

“He’s in love with you.  Hopelessly, stupidly in love with you.  He loves you almost as much as I love cheese.”

That was a pretty big point in favor of Marinette being Ladybug. He guessed he should count himself lucky, but that also meant he’d just slipped and fallen in dirty dishwater in front of not only Marinette, but Ladybug.

He closed his eyes.  “Plagg, please let me die in peace.”  

“... Adrien?”

He felt her breath fan over his face, and his eyes back snapped open.

Her gray-blue eyes were hovering right above him.  Well, he had said he wanted to be closer to her.

“Y-yeah?”

“Please don’t die,” she said softly.  Her hand came up to cradle the side of his face—or maybe she was just trying to make sure he hadn’t bruised himself. “I l-love you too.”

Every one of his brain cells fizzled out.  She.  Loved him?

“I think I am dead.”  He smiled, reaching his arms around her.  “I’m pretty sure I just went to heaven.”

Her face flushed.  “You’re always going to be that cheesy, aren’t you?”

“Are you really surprised, Princess?”

“No.”  She leaned in, brushing her nose against his.  “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Ew, gross.”  Plagg gagged.  “This isn’t the kind of cheese I signed up for.”

“You’re the one who said she should put me out of my misery.”

“Yeah, well I think you both need to put this food out of its misery.  The soup’s burning.”

Marinette sprung up, eyes wide.  “Oh no!  We still have to get everything ready!  And the crêpe filling isn’t done and I haven’t finished the baozi—” 

“It’s okay!  We can still get it all done … somehow.”  Adrien winced as he stood up.  Now they were both covered in a mix of dishwater and crêpe filling.  “Just keep Plagg away from it all.  He’s the reason I ruined the pears.  Oh, and he’s the reason I was wearing that beret, too.”

She went back to work as if nothing had changed between them.  It was honestly kind of amazing how quickly she had the noodles and soup under control, like she hadn’t just been freaking out moments before.  

“He’s got as awful taste in fashion as he does in food?”  she asked.

“No—well, probably, but that’s not important.  The beret was to hide him so he could help me cook.  Like in Ratatouille.”

She blinked.  “That works?”

“It would work better if my kwami knew how to cook, but yeah.”

“Hmm …”  She tapped her lips—lips he would hopefully be able to kiss once all this was taken care of, he thought with a giddy grin—before snapping her fingers.  “That’s it!  I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before!”

“What’s it?  Wait—Marinette, where are you going?”

“You’ll see!”  She winked before disappearing behind her bedroom door.

He gave the soup a careful stir while waiting for her to come back.

“You’re welcome.”  Plagg crossed his arms and smirked irritatingly.

“For what?” Adrien scowled.  “All you did was give away my identity and embarrass me in front of the love of my life!”

“Love of your life?”  Marinette appeared behind him.

He nearly knocked over the pot of soup.  It was what he deserved for startling her so much back in lycée, he guessed.

Plagg snickered.  “Bold words coming from the guy who called her a good friend earlier.”

“She is a good friend!  And the love of my life!  She’s Ladybug, Plagg!”

He pointed to the giant red-and-black egg in Marinette’s arms.  The Miracle Box.  She was Ladybug!

“You didn’t know that when you said it five seconds ago,” Plagg pointed out.

“Yeah, well—I guessed it,” he huffed.  

It had been the only answer that made sense.  And it was true.  Hopefully he could blame the tears pricking his eyes on the onion in the soup.  If not, though, crying over his amazing partner (who loved him!) was probably still the least embarrassing thing he’d done today.

Tikki poked her head out of a cookie jar.  By now he’d been startled so many times that her presence hardly registered.

“Don’t worry, Adrien.  Marinette has said way more embarrassing stuff than that.”

“Which we won’t repeat in front of him,” Marinette said dangerously.

His head was still spinning from all the revelations.  Of course, he wasn’t too surprised—who else but Marinette was amazing enough to be Ladybug?—but it was still a lot to take in at once.

“While I definitely want to hear about that later, what’s the Miracle Box out for?  Is there a kwami of cooking?  Or do you think Sass could give us a Second Chance on all this mess?”  he asked, trying to bring his focus back to the problem at hand.

“What you said about Plagg gave me an idea.”  She punched in a code on the spots, and the egg cracked open to reveal the miraculouses.  “He might not know how to cook, but I’m sure some of the other kwamis do.  And if not, I’m sure they can follow directions.”

“Great idea, Marinette!”  Tikki clapped.  “Wayzz and Pollen are pretty good at cooking, from what I remember.  Orikko is too, but you shouldn’t cook chicken in front of him.”

“Makes sense.”  Adrien nodded before turning to Marinette.  “You think they’ll be enough to make up for how badly I messed up?”

“Of course they will.  We’re Ladybug and Chat Noir; there’s no mess we can’t fix.”  She smiled as she equipped the bracelet and hair comb, then passed the Miracle Box to him.  “Have Tikki help you pick out a few more kwamis.  Together we’ll get this done in time. I know it.”

Relief washed over him, and he smiled back.

“As you wish, My Lady.”

XXX

“You’re sure I won’t be intruding?”  Adrien asked as they pulled up to her parents’ bakery.

“Of course not.  There’s no way my family would leave out my boyfriend.”  She shifted her tupperware to her other arm and reached up to adjust his (newly cleaned) beret.  “Even if he has terrible fashion sense.”

“It’s a Marinette original!  There’s nothing more fashionable than that!”

“An original from when I was fourteen!”  she pouted.

“It’s too late, Bugaboo. I’m never taking it off.”  He kissed her forehead.

“I’ll make you a new one.  Anything would be better than mixing lacy hearts and stripes.”

“I guess that’s fair.  But I’ll still treasure this one forever.”

She rolled her eyes affectionately as she pushed open the bakery door.

Not long after, Adrien, Marinette, and her family were settled around the dining room table, a feast of French and Chinese cuisine in front of them. The two sides of her family mingled, mixing as seamlessly as the dishes.  Rolland was deep in conversation with Wang about traditional cooking techniques in France versus China.  Gina (who’d insisted he just call ‘Grandma’) was regaling two of Marinette’s cousins with tales from her travels.  More of her younger cousins ran around the table, barefoot soles slapping against the hardwood floor, their hands occasionally reaching up to snag a dumpling or croissant.  It was a tight fit, but Adrien didn’t mind.  He was thrilled to be included at all.

While they ate dinner, he kept catching her looking at the hat.  But every time she did, he’d make eye contact with her, and then she’d blush and smile bright enough that it was worth every glare.

“So, what are you up to these days, son?”  Tom asked over his bowl of wonton soup.

Son.  Already, Marinette’s parents felt more like family than his own.  He would love to be part of her family for as long as she would let him.

Hopefully forever.

“Oh, not much.”  He put an arm around Marinette.  “Just learning how to cook from your amazing daughter.”

He winked, and she blushed again.  Red was her color in and out of the suit, it seemed.

“He needs all the help he can get.  You should’ve seen what he almost put in the crêpes today.”

Tom laughed.  “Well, it looks like it all turned out perfect.  Thanks for your help, both of you.”

Under the table, Adrien and Marinette shared a fistbump.  This wasn’t the first adventure they tackled together, and it wouldn’t be the last.

[cheshiremadd]

until she falls in love with me

AO3 Inspiration

Interlude: The Ladyblog

Here it is, folks! Last month’s non-akuma video submissions: The Convention Compilation!You guys sent in so much footage; so I’ll be posting a second compilation later in the week. Thanks for your support! - Alya Cesaire, Ladyblogger Extraordinaire

A group of people are down the street from the camera. They are all wearing black and all have blonde hair. The view turns 180 degrees to show Chat Noir. A cheshire grin and a wink, and he turns it back to the group. The camera bobs as he walks towards them. As he gets closer, it becomes clear that every person in the group is in a Chat Noir costume. They range from I-found-this-in-my-closet to well tailored, used-every-reference-image-the-Ladyblog-had-to-offer imitation. One cosplayer turns his head and catches sight of Chat. He waves and calls out, “Hey man, looks like your going to the con, too! Wanna join us?”

Everyone else turns and most wave or call out greetings. “Sure! Mind if I record?”

They all look at each other, shaking heads. The first one responds as he holds out a clawed hand. “I think we’re all okay with that. I’m Bertrand.”

“I’m Chat Noir!” The group laughs.

“Yeah, so are we!” One of the girls says, still laughing. She’s wearing a simple jeans and t-shirt, both black, and a cat ear headband in blond hair that looks more real than wig. “Woah, wicked costume! Are those the ears off Amazon? It’s great to know they actually work.”

The group starts walking again, and Chat follows with his camera. They chatter about which panels to see (Marvel vs Miraculous: What Comics Can Tell Us About Real Life Superheroes and Protagonist? Villain? Goofy Side-Kick? How to Recognize Your Role in Life and What You Can Do About It seem to be two favorites), make bets on what cosplays they’ll see the most of (“I’m telling ya, Bertie, there’s gonna be more Ladybugs!” “Chat’s costume is easier!”), and eventually moves to celebrity sightings.

“Guys, did you see?! Adrien Agreste is coming! He confirmed on Twitter this morning. Says he’s got his costume ready to go and everything!” He hops up and down in his excitement. “Do you think he’ll dress up as Chat Noir? I loved his work on the Ladybug and Chat Noir movie. His portrayal of Chat Noir was spot on! Do you think he’ll take a picture with me?”

“Don’t you mean ‘his portrayal was purrfect’?” Chat interrupted.

The teen smacks his palm to his forehead. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that!”

Amid giggles, Black Jeans and a T-shirt speaks up again. “Okay, but is he a guest? Or a pleb like us? I’m sure that he isn’t going so he can be mobbed by fans, Matthieu.”

“It’s general knowledge that if you go to a convention in costume, people will want to take pictures.”

“It’s general courtesy to ask before you take pictures, and back off if he says ‘no’.”

“Of course!” Matthieu raises his hands in defense. “Of course I’d back off.”

A curious sound, almost like a heavy-duty fishing reel being released and drawn back in, comes over the video. Chat’s slightly awed muttering can barely be heard, “This is one of the best parts of my day..”, and then Ladybug is dropping gracefully on the other side of the multiple Chat Noirs.

“Hi everyone.” She gives a brief warm smile and then turns her attention to the person behind the camera. Her blue eyes are vivid and piercing. “Are you coming or what?” She waits for a moment, expecting an answer. The group trade confused looks. “Look, I know you hate overscheduled days, but I have a lot to do today, and if I don’t follow mine, I will end up disappointing someone.”

The silence continues. Black Jeans and a T-Shirt shifts from foot to foot. Tuxedo Chat wipes her hands on her pants. Professional Cosplayer Chat looks like he’s about to melt from Ladybug’s mere presence. The camera shifts and picks up a muffled snerk that the cosplayers don’t register.

“Uh, ma’am?” Bertrand starts, then cuts off as she looks at him. “...we’re, uh….None of us are actually Chat Noir.” He pauses a moment. “We’re.. cosplayers?”

She stares at him with an amused eyebrow and a barely-there smile. “I know my partner when I see him.” She glances back at Chat, and mischief dances in her eyes. “Alright, fine, but I’m enacting a penalty game.”

Ladybug shifts her weight into a more relaxed position. Brings her fingers to her chin as if stroking an invisible beard. “Hm...I’ll just have to find your Number 1 Fan and see if I can sway her my way.”

There’s a loud gasp. Chat and his camera begin moving to the front of the group.

“Nope! No! Not happening! Sorry, guys, it was fun, but there is NO WAY in HELL that I am letting that happen.”

“I’m sure it’d be so easy, too. She’s a fashion designer, isn’t she? All I’d have to do is show her how fantastic she’d look in red.”

Chat practically chokes. Ladybug looks smug.

“Bug. You have the Ladyblogger. You have Adrien Agreste, and Chloé Bourgeois. Jagged Stone. You can keep your 90% of Paris. But Marinette Dupain-Cheng is mine. You may not have her.”

“Hey! Jagged loves us equally. And it’s probably more like…” She seesaws her hand in approximation. “..78% of Paris.”

“Um…” The camera turns back to the cosplayers, who are wearing a variety of facial expressions. Mouth-gapingly dumbfounded. Disbelief. Confusion. Stars in the eyes excitement.

The feed cuts as they all ask for autographs.

-

"Mommy, look! It's Chat Noir!"

A small girl runs up and hugs him. She has a navy dress, red hair bow, and an orange bag.

“Élodie! You need to ask before you touch.” Élodie’s mom sounds both like she’s said this a hundred times today and like she thinks the scene is adorable. She steps around part of the crowd and into the camera view. Élodie immediately lets go

“Can..can I ha-have a hug?”

Chat Noir looks delighted. His eyes shine and his grin is threatening to overtake his face. He drops to his knees to better accommodate the four year old. “Absolutely!”

She’s squeezing him for all she’s worth, and he’s holding her as if she’s the most precious child in the world. Her mom quietly produces a phone and snaps a picture. She glances at the screen with a small smile. Chat only pulls back when Élodie does.

“You are the cutest Kiki!” Chat tilts his head. He’s still on his knees, at her eye level. “But where is your Jiji?”

Élodie lights up even more and paws for her bag. The black cat plush is proudly presented. Chat takes it, gingerly, and says, “Did you know that cats can talk to one another?”

The little girl nods enthusiastically, hanging on his every word. He lifts Jiji to his cat ears and closes his eyes. Tilts his head. ‘Listens’ for a moment. She squirms, doing a kind of butt wiggle like she can’t possibly contain her excitement.

Finally, Chat nods. “Mm-hm. I’ll be sure to pass the message on.”

She jumps once, twice, three times. Her little hands are clenched fists not quite hiding her mouth. “What’d he say? What’d he say?!”

“He says that he loves you. And also please stop hogging the blankets at night.” His smile turns teasing. “Are you a blanket hog?”

They talk for a few more minutes. She asks him every question under the sun (“Ca-can you really see when the sun goes down? Do you eat cookies? Could you tie up a dinosaur and a tiger?”). She touches his ears and tries to stop his tail from moving. Her last question has him tapping his chest and beckoning Ladybug closer with his other hand. Élodie looks to her mom, who nods and smiles, and lays her head where he indicated. Ladybug slips a hand into his hair and, with what is clearly practiced ease, begins scratching. His eyes droop and close. They stay paused for a moment, until Élodie shrieks with laughter, pulls away to tell her mom giddily, “He purrs, Mommy! Like Jiji!”, then goes back to hear again.

When the little girl and her mom finally go on their way, the cameraperson has scooted close enough to the heroes to catch one final exchange.

Ladybug, who hasn’t taken her eyes off her partner and his tiny fan the whole time, says “Chat, if you ever decide to have kids, you’re going to make the most incredible father.”

-

The previous scene ended with a red faced Chat Noir. And this scene starts with one.

The view zooms out to bring a full view of the dark haired Chat. Her costume is perfect, down to the honeycomb pattern on the fabric. Hair unbound and rockstar teased, blue cat eye contacts, clawed hands nervously twirling her belt-tail. She’s in a convention hall, surrounded by crowds of people. Some are in costumes like her, some in regular clothes.

“Are you livestreaming this?” Marinette says.

“Nope! But you can bet I’m putting it in this month’s submission compilation post. Your work deserves to be shown off!”

“Alyaaa, you’re making me blush!”

Alya laughs, then gasps as a giant space marine moves and reveals the real Chat Noir. “Chat! Chat Noir! Care to share a few words with the Ladyblog?"

He waves and works his way to them. He’s smiling brightly until Marinette turns to greet him, and he stops dead. His eyes widen and his mouth drops open. His face is now very, very red. He waves his hands like he’s trying to get something out and is having trouble, but then reigns them in, covering his mouth with one and putting the other to the opposite elbow.

“That’s, um,” His voice comes out high and squeaky. He clears his throat and tries again. “Wow. That’s wow. How, uh, how did you get the fabric to do that?”

She seems too stunned to answer for a moment. “L-lots of experiments. And practice. I had to do so much research on how fabrics are made.”

“Wow,” Chat says again. His eyes are roaming all over her form, taking in every detail.

“Hey, M, turn around. I want to get a good shot of you two!” The two jump a bit, but do as she asks and line up facing the camera. Standing next to him only exemplifies how exact her creation is.

Alya leads her impromptu interview with: “How long did it take you to make your outfit?”

“Mmm...six months or so, about when the presale tickets went live.”

“So long?” the superhero asks. He’s mystified.

Marinette just shrugs. “I knew that I’d have to work around school and commissions and other stuff, and I wanted to give the project the consideration it deserved.”

“What was the hardest part to recreate?” Alya asks.

Marinette laughs. “Definitely the fabric! I went through so many different types, trying to figure out the best way to get the pattern on right, because it’s just not something you’ll find in a store. I ended up contacting someone that I’d met at a design competition, and they were able to point me in the direction of a company that will print your pattern for you.”

Chat’s eyes widen once more and he pulls out his baton and starts tapping on it. Nino walks up, in a store-bought Chat Noir costume, also holding his phone out.

“Babe! No Adrien?”

Nino glances at Alya, then back down. “He says he’s here, but there’s so many people, it’s impossible to find anybody. Oh, hey, you found Nettie and Chat Noir. HOLY SHIT MARINETTE. That costume is wicked!”

He circles her, putting his phone up, then holds his fist out. She bumps it with a grin.

Chat harumphs and replaces his weapon. “Looks like LB’s already detransformed. I wanted to show off Marinette’s amazing skills!”

Alya laughs. “Ladybug’s right, though. M does look fantastic in red.”

Chat stares at her, decidedly grumpy. The girl in question snorts out surprised laughter. A tall Mad Hatter in the background notices the camera and sticks up crooked bunny ears over Chat’s head. Alya cackles in delight.

“As I told my lady,” he wraps a possessive arm around Marinette’s shoulder, “my Number 1 Fan. Not hers.”

He looks directly at the camera. “Oh, and to anyone still arguing over the position: Look at this” he gestures to her costume “and don’t even bother trying to convince me otherwise.”

-

Dorothée Beranger Yeah, that’s fair... She wore that costume to school the next day and it’s *chef’s kiss*. Also she’s, like, Chat Noir’s biggest defender. Word of advice: do not insinuate that he’s a sidekick anywhere this girl might hear.

Antonin Lamarre I've seen her Chat rants on the Ladyblog! She really knows her stuff!

LuminousPollywog Seeing Chat with that little girl cleared my face, watered my crops, and gave my grades the boost they needed.

miraculousluckycharm13 THAT SOFT LOOK! #LADYNOIR IS REAL --Paradiddle --are we just going to ignore the marichat? chatinette? in the room?

[sasuhinasno1fan]

Enchanting circus snake- Lukadrien June Day 12

I like watching aerialists and contortionist. I only ever saw one Cirque du Soleil show in person, but my favourite acts were those. It’s just amazing to watch. I was watching their video on their best contortion acts in different shows and one guy was on the list, I think. I wasn’t too sure about the last person. While interesting, since I think contortion is more geared to females, I also realized i could see the bends in the body way more clearly. Maybe I’m usually distracted by the make up and costumes of the other performers but I did get slightly grossed out but I have to remember that all these other contortionists bend like they have no bones and use those bodies to balance off of each other so...yeah. So Marco and Rose have been theorized to get the Goat and Pig Miraculous so that’s who I’m talking about when I talk about those people. I don’t think this is my greatest. Subject I’m not the most familiar with don’t come out well if I try to describe it so I only explained the stuff I have a kinda good understanding of. (Realized I could of asked my cousin who’s been learning how to do silks and hoop recently so...don’t yell at me, I walked in the sun for so long today, I’m so lucky I didn’t pass out when I got back home.) @lukadrien-june​ Enchanted

Adrien loved the circus. Not just the whole classic idea with clowns and such, but ones like Cirque Du Soleil. Those had been the types of circuses his mom worked with when she was younger. In almost every new production the Cirque had, they’d call his mother to perform. She was an aerial performer. His earliest memory was her teaching him how to properly hold himself on the straps so he didn’t hurt his shoulders. Even after she passed, even if it meant sneaking out of the houses, he’d go to circus gym to practise aerial, learn how to do contortion and keep himself as loose as a cat, just like his mother used to call him.

“My little chaton, you have no bones. You are going to astound people with your talent one day.”

Of course, after his mother passed, any mention of a circus would usually mean grounding or punishment. He’d have to beg his father’s assistant to not say anything if she caught him, convince his only friend to lie to his dad that he was with her when he would go to the gym or even ditch the only extracurricular activities his dad approved of outside the house. He was toeing the line constantly, but to do the thing he and his mother loved, it was worth it. So when Chloe surprised him with tickets to Miraculous Box, a new and upcoming circus that was getting a lot of buzz, he almost squeezed her to death.

“You’re lucky I’ve actually liked some of their stuff and didn’t think it completely ridiculous like all those other circuses you love. You have no idea what I had to do to get tickets after I missed the opening sale.”

He was sure she just bugged her dad to offer a huge donation so she could get tickets, but he didn’t say anything. He’d seen a few things about the circus: they wore masks and had code names based off the Chinese Zodiac and supposed animals associated with the 5 elements in Wu Xing, costumes to match and even though most had their own separate acts, they were skilled enough to do groups ones, usually acrobatics. He loved watching the ladybug aerialist, the turtle German Wheel user and even the goat slack rope artist. But one of his favourite was the snake themed contortionist. Chloe always squealed in slight disgust watching guys do contortion, mostly cause they were usually shirtless and you could see all the bends of their body. She still did it when he showed her a video of him, but she had to admit, much like a snake moving in a way to distract their pray, the contortionist moved in such a powerful and enchanting way, you wanted to keep watching.

And he was finally going to get a chance to see him in person.

                                                  _____________

Adrien felt like a little kid as he watched the ladybug dressed silk aerialist. The ribbons from her mask flowed as she held herself up with the black silk. Her red costume stood out as she gracefully moved. When she eventually reached the floor and bowed to the audience, Adrien loudly applauded and would have been standing had Chloe not grabbed his arm. She didn’t want to risk him being seen by anyone.

“Another round of applause for our lady of luck, Ladybug.” the master of ceremonies, Fu Wang he introduced himself as. “Now, please prepare to have your minds astounded as you see this snake slither into shapes.” behind him, stage hands quickly wrapped up the crash pad that had been under Ladybug as a music box looking stage rolled easily rolled out. Adrien could just make out a lip the top didn’t cover with a hand balancing block attached to it. “Now, you may ask why a music box? Well this snake can play you emotions with his guitar but since he can do that and do contortion at the same time, though I know he’d try, we hope you can find the music in his performance. Please welcome, Viperion!”

a stage hand stayed back from moving the crash pad and opened the lid to the music box. A pair of hands covered in a dark turquoise point gloves poked out grabbing onto the balancing block and then following, shirtless, a tight similarly coloured pants and snake inspired mask, was Viperion. His dark hair was tied back, just the blue tipped bangs hung in front of his face, clearly not bothering him as he lifted himself out of the box and into a backbender handstand. The stage closed and Viperion flipped his legs back to stand on the stage. Applause filled the room as he stood to greet his audience and Adrien could only stare. He had chipped nail polish and gauges in his ears and he could move his body in ways similar to a snake. Adrien had a bit of a fanboy crush on him. The music started and he sat himself down and started the bend. He could hear Chloe trying to hold in her comments, but Adrien didn’t care that he could see the part of Viperion’s stomach look like it was bending from where his ribs rested or that his legs looked they weren’t attached to his hips. He was every bit of the snake his costume suggested and Adrien was his pray.

“I think he’s staring at you.”

“Huh?” he broke his gaze away from the performance to see Chloe nodding to the stage. He looked back at Viperion, who was on his forearms, legs split in the air. As he grabbed one foot and straighten out the other leg, he stared at the crowd. But it almost looked like he was staring at Adrien. “No he isn’t.”

“Say what you want, but he’s totally checking you out.”

Viperion’s act ended with him twisted at his waist, hand out like a snake’s head ready to strike. This time Chloe couldn’t stop him from standing up and applauding.

“A round of applause for our musical snake! Before we move to our last performance, please check under your seats. For those of you who are new to our little circus, if you find a pass under your chair, you are invited to an aftershow meet and greet with our performers and if you’re skilled enough, maybe you can do a trick or two with them. The pass had a special mark that can only be revealed by our flash lights and they’re chipped too. You can thank Pegasus for that, he’s a bit of a computer nerd as well as skilled with the Cube. I ask that you don’t try to sneak in, Multimouse’s boyfriend wouldn’t like to have to throw you out. After the show, please stay in your seats and our performers will come and check your passes.”

Adrien pulled out a black and red card with a Chinese style motif printed on it.

“Looks like we get to go see if he was flirting with you.” Chloe said, a similar card in her hand.

“He was no. he was probably just looking for a focus point. Now pay attention, they’re gonna do acrobatics.”

the Goat and Pig named performers where thrown in the air to land on towers of their other performers and while it was nail biting and so amazing to watch, Adrien thought he deserved a bit of credit for being slightly distracted. He’d get to meet Viperion after.

After the show was over, those without passes lingered a little, but with the lights back on full brightness and stage hands acting as ushers, the crowd disappeared and left only the lucky winners left. The performers came back out, wearing matching jackets with their stage names and animal printed on the back but masks still in place.

“Welcome everyone! It’s said that ladybugs are good luck, so it seems you’ve all seen one in your past few days as you’ve gotten the chance to stay back after the show. The performers will come check your passes. Once you’re cleared, please come join me in the centre.

Ladybug was coming to do their section when Viperion stopped her. They talked for a moment, Ladybug smirked at the contortionist and then went to another section.

“Oh he was totally staring at you.”

Adrien rolled his eyes. “How do you figure that one out your majesty?”

“Well peasant, our section is pretty empty and we’re the first ones who’d get our passes checked. Why did he stop that other girl from coming to check our tickets? To chat with the mom and her kid in our section?”

“Maybe.” a long shot possibly but Adrien didn’t want to get his hopes up. Last thing he wanted was his memory of his favourite contortionist laughing at the guy with the fanboy crush.

“Passes please.” oh god, there he was. With all the control of a model, Adrien handed him the pass which was handed back after a moment. “Hope you enjoyed the show.”

“Loved every moment of it.” Adrien couldn’t help but glance at the still bare chest underneath the jacket. “Every bit.”

as they got up to head to the centre, Chloe whispered, “I saw that.” to which Adrien shushed her.

“Welcome everyone! I hope you enjoyed our show. We’ve invited you to come get to know our performers better. You can even ask their names if you wanted, the masks are just protection since most of them are underage.”

“He does have permission from parents and guardians before any of you panic!” Rena Rouge, the fox magician, assured. “We have a public Instagram where you can see us.”

“Thank you my dear. So, does anyone have any questions, want to see something or even show something?”

“He does!” Adrien heard before he felt his hand go up.

“Chloe!” he yelled, yanking his hand away, but everyone was staring. He was sure people recognised him.

“Yes my boy?” Fu kindly asked.

“Um, uh, I just wanted to say that the show was amazing and I really liked the contortion. I’m learning how to do it myself. I’m better at aerial though.”

“Are you now? That’s amazing to hear. How long?”

“Um, been doing aerial since I was a kid. Started learning contortion on and off about the same amount of time? I’m really flexible.” he kept seeing Viperion stare at him. Not in a mean way, but in a ‘I’m very interested’ way.

“Helps when his mom is Paon Graham.”

What was she doing? “Chloe!” anyone who wasn’t sure had to know who he is now. His mother never shed away from sharing her circus life.

“I thought you looked familiar. I got the chance to work with your mother once. Same in awe look whenever she watched performances.” Fu said.

“Do you think you could show us something?” Viperion asked. Adrien felt himself getting red at the attention.

“Oh, no I couldn’t.” Mostly cause if a video got out, he was dead.

“Oh please? Your mom was such a huge inspiration to me.” Ladybug begged.

“We’d really like to see. Most people can mostly do cartwheels and such.” Viperion asked.

“I guess I could.” he really hoped his fanboy crush on Viperion would wear off one day. It was surprising how easily he bent to those kind eyes.

Viperion’s music box was brought out again and he climbed up. He was used to all eyes on him but this was different. Chloe was the only one who’d seen him doing tricks like this, now he had professionals and a crowd watching him. He took a breath and put his hands on the block and pushed his gravity forward so his legs came above his head. He slowly took one hand off, finding his balance before grabbing the leg near the front of his head and pulling down so he was more slanted. It took him a second but he was able to start turning the block.

“Alright Adrikins!” Chloe cheered as the group clapped for him. He glanced up, seeing Viperion smile at him.

Yeah, he didn’t see himself getting over that fanboy crush anytime soon.

                                                  ______________

Luka was happy to have the day off and he should of gone to visit his mother but he was sure she’d be ok with him putting it off. Last night during his act, he looked in the crowd, tantalising it and caught a pair of green eyes fixed on him. Then he actually looked. Even in the dim light, he could make out the blonde hair, fair skin and those, enchanting green eyes staring. He felt the urge to talk to him, flirt a little maybe. Marinette had definitely been right to guess that Luka had been showing off more than usual last night. He wanted to catch someone’s attention. Then when the guy’s friend said Paon Graham, he realised he wanted to flirt with the guy who’s picture was plastered all over Paris. He always looked beautiful in those pictures, flawless almost, but Luka thought he looked most flawless doing that trick last night up on the stage that had been designed for him.

Somehow Kim got the girl’s number and passed along a message she had: “Adrien practises his tricks at Cirqu’Aouette, they have a private gym that I paid for him to use. I watched a guy do contortion which looks so much weirder so if he doesn’t get a date out of this, your circus’ tour won’t be a big enough wing span to escape my wrath.”

he really hoped that meant just focused on him and not the circus. He followed the address Kim forwarded to him to a building at the side of Cirqu’Aouette. He glanced in through the window to see Adrien pulling himself up on a ring and hook his legs through, dangling there without a care in the world. He eased open the door so not to startle Adrien.

“Not many guys to hoop.” he said, Adrien opening his eyes and staring at him.

“Viperion!” he pulled himself up and dropped onto the crash pad beneath him.

“It’s Luka actually. Luka Couffaine.” he said, offering Adrien his hand so he didn’t stumble off the pad.

“Luka. Um, what are you doing here? I thought you guys would of headed out.”

“Well, pretty much the whole company is from this town so this is our homecoming show, so we get a little time  to spend with our family. I wanted to talk to you though.”

“Oh?” Adrien looked nervous.

“I’ll be honest, your friend threatened to either hurt me or the circus if I didn’t come talk to you, but I’m glad she made me come cause I thought your trick last night was pretty amazing. Not many people have the bravery to get up in front of a crowd and do something that’s kinda scary to be honest.”

“Oh, well, not nearly as good as what you do.” the model replied modestly.

Luka looked up at the hoop. “So aerial is more your thing?”

“Yeah. I love being in the air. My mom would call me a cat because of how I can bend but she was always in the air growing up and I wanted to do the same.”

“So I’ve always wanted to learn aerial and while I’m sure Marinette – Ladybug,” he clarified when he saw the confused look on Adrien’s face, “could be an amazing teacher, I was hoping maybe you could teach me? I’d be more than willing to teach you more about contortion. Who knows, maybe we can make a cat out of you yet. If not, then would I still be able to ask you on a date?”

“A date? Me?”

Luka nodded. “I don’t usually go showing off to the crowd. I tend to stick to my routine and stay with it, but I saw you and before you ask, no I didn’t know who you were nor does that matter, and all I wanted to do was keep your enchanting green eyes on me.”

Adrien’s face turned red and he ducked his head, fingers messing with his shirt, getting chalk marks on the dark fabric.

“Oh, well, um, I guess I wouldn’t oppose to teaching you, or a date. Whichever works for you. I know you’re on tour still.”

“For two more weeks. And both would work for me.” he smiled when he saw Adrien bite down his own smile. “Can I see you perform on the hoop, if that’s ok?”

“Can I borrow your phone?”

With a Lindsey Stirling song playing on his phone, Luka watched Adrien bend and contort around the hoop. Maybe it was still the big pull that had drawn his eyes to him last night still affecting him, but watching him hold himself by the strength in his legs, he never looked more enchanting.

[bugaboowritings]

Tikki Talks: ABOUT PAST LADYBUG IN PARIS!- Fic

Tikki spits at fine art 

This could connect to my Past!Ladybugs AU, but it fits better in what I think could happen in canon if Tikki were to talk about the past ladybug holders and their hidden history. (It builds up slowly and it’s long so enjoy)

May write a second part ....

Marinette stacked the last of her books on her shelves. Knowing very well that they wouldn’t be touched until the start of the new school year. Being dust collectors until she needed a last-minute review on the past semester.

“Can’t believe that school ended. Too fast if you ask me.” Marinette reflected. Throwing her head back to look at her red and black spotted kwami while she tucked the last bit of her commissions in a cardboard box.

“All good things must come to an end. Whether we try to stop them or not.” Tikki nibbled on her cookie. Quickly stuffing her mouth with more baked goods before Marinette could question her tone.

With her room now cleaned, Marinette could finally breathe without her anxious ideas creeping on her neck. Her room decluttered from the mess (burden) of schoolwork and commissions deadlines. Her schedule that once hung with sticky notes and reminders now was wiped off and nearly empty.

Nearly.

Of course, it still had some events here and here scattered around. Like Adrien’s rumored trip out of the country and a party that was planned before the summer break was near.

Her classmates were relaxing with their family as Marinette took the silent in her home with a grain of salt. Knowing that it could easily be revoked with a blink of an eye.

On cue, she heard her father call her down to the bakery. Marinette swiftly threw her purse around her shoulders for Tikki to join her.

Tourists were already flooding in great numbers. Whether in groups or with translators, they all enjoyed the idea of having a fresh-baked pastry for breakfast. So orders enter the counter quicker and buns were already baking in the oven for the next dozen. The heat of the machines, which could beat the burn of global warming, made the small store sweat. Sabina hastily urged her daughter to open a window or two and get started on their iced teas for the lunch rush. Marinette, doing what she was told, couldn’t help but think to herself that this wasn’t what she had in mind on how she would spend her summer break.

Free from her responsibilities from school she was bombarded with the task of keeping a business open. One that didn’t stop till the people did. Don’t get it wrong, Marinette loved working in the bakery. It was an easy way to lose her worries in the recipes and glass bowls. It was like how people ran to clear their mind or draw to help them relax. It was just hard to take in the scent of fresh cinnamon and sweet, organic fruit-fillings when someone was breathing down her neck to get their order in. Luckily, her mother could handle the customers with ease.

“Marinette, honey,” Sabine beckoned while she waved off to the last customer.

“Yeah, mom,” Marinette answered back. Cleaning up the flour she spilled on the floor.

“Why don’t you go off with your friends or get some fresh air? Last thing you need to do if worry about the bakery.” Her mother hummed. Marinette couldn't help but turn to her father. Who gave her a nod and a smile, telling her that it would be good for her to get some air.

-------

“See you in a bit then.” Marinette waved. Closing the backdoor before she overwhelmed the air-conditioning with the heat. Pulling out her phone to call up her best friend.

-------

Marinette walked the streets of Paris alone for the first time in not so long time ago. The one day she was free to make plans everyone else seemed to be busy.  Alya had to take her little sisters to a summer event their school was hosting. Rose and Juleka were handling some details for Kitty Section for an upcoming gig. Mylene was on a date with Ivan. Alix was- actually she preparing to do a mural near the Louvre. Technically, Alix was working but told Marinette if she could come by to say hi. Maybe even go into the museum to check out the new exhibit her dad and older brother were working on.

Tikki peaked out her head from Marinette's bag. Taking in the warm, sunny day as she softly hummed, “It’s surprising to finally have some peace and quiet.” 

“If the Effiel Tower isn't nearby then it’s not something that tourists tend to 'overflow' in this time of year,” Marinette recalled her past experiences.

"It really has changed so much," Tikki admitted. Marinette opened her mouth but quickly close it as she reached a crowded traffic light. Cars racing passed while she awkwardly stood by bystanders. Holding her tongue as the light finally turned red, allowing her to walk safely and quickly to the other side.

"Tikki, " Marinette hushed, away from curious ears. "This isn't your first time in Paris?" Holding her bag closer. "There been other ladybug holders in France, right?"

Marinette imagined the history behind her earrings. Tikki has been around since the beginning of the beginning so she could have seen when Paris was built or when France barely had its name and borders set. She could have seen the Renaissance flourished or observed both World Wars. Tikki could have been there in the French Revolution, there when Napoleon surrender or when he crowded his wife queen. Witnessed the construction of Versailles. Testified to the history books when The Hundreds' Year War took over Europe or suffered alongside Parisians as the Reign of Terror shook the streets. Tikki could have seen the things that Marinette can only read.  

Tikki bit back her tongue. She mentioned the other miraculous holders that have passed to Marinette. However, never really went into detail about them. Her current holder knew a bit, but revealing the history of creation could be a bit shocking. At one point in time, finding out that a little creature like her is the god of it all have made people mad. Knowing that what they believe was wrong or had no real purpose. However, Tikki wasn't in the Middle Ages or surrounded by monks. She was at the hands of her Chosen. Someone that was picked to wear her miraculous for a reason.

Pushing out an old smile, Tikki replied: "It's better if you saw it yourself, Mari."

----- Alix was nice enough (or maybe didn't really care) to let Marinette use her admission pass. Offering it to her when Marinette explains that she needs inspiration for her upcoming designs when asked why she rushed to this part of town so quickly.

For the summer break, the museum was a bit lonely compared to its usual numbers. Better for Marinette in the end since now she doesn't have to pretend to be on her phone so she could openly speak to Tikki. Without anyone thinking she's crazy for holding a conversation with her bag.

Marinette acknowledged the obvious when she looked over the museum's map. "The only known Ladybug artifact in this building is the hieroglyphics in the Egyptian Exhibit. Which did gained some popularity thanks to the Ladyblog," She crossed her legs. "How could there be other artifacts here? Surely, they would be noticed by now. Especially with Alya investigating Ladybug."

"They're here." Tikki winked. "They just hide under the crevices of history and the impossible." Flying out of the bag and marking their destination on the map. "You just have to know where to look."

---

Marinette wrinkled the map in her hands as she walked by the paintings. All sporting diverse techniques that made pigments seem to jump out and touch her. Stepping slowly to the corner of the room to a portrait that Tikki wanted to see. Directing her to a large painting. Which didn't look that exceptional really. . .

      "A Cavalier."

Marinette pulled out her phone again to type the name of the artist in the search bar. Only to meet a loading screen due to the Louvre's slow wifi. “I don’t get it, Tikki,” Marinette whispered, not helping herself as she impatiently tapped on the screen. “Why is this so personal to you?” Her mind bounced back to the hallways filled with grand and spectacular works of arts. How structures of marble were crafted to look like silk on a hot day or canvases had perfectly mirrored a queen’s flawless hair and jewels. Yet, she was here by a painting that didn’t really pique her interest. All as the internet lagged on her phone. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a peck of red flying out of her bag.

��Tikki!!” she hushed. Keeping her screams in her throat as she jumped. Throwing her hands up as her eyes widen in horror. Whipping her hair around, almost breaking her neck to see if anyone was around to witness a red bug-mouse floating up to a priceless painting.

“Tikki, there is a sign that explicitly says ‘DON’T TOUCH’! Tikki, wha-what are you doing?”

Tikki looked back at Marinette, "Showing you what hides under history.”

“Tikki, no-”

Then Tikki did it. She did the worst thing that she could ever do to a work of art. She spat on it. She spat on the painting worth more than her organs in the black market. Tikki, the god of creation, spat on a priceless, antique work of art. 

Marinette felt her heart drop at that moment. As if someone dumped a weight on her poor, fragile soul making it hit the bottom of her stomach. Throwing her knees on the ground. She’s going to jail. She’s going to be charged for vandalism. Then she will be a wanted criminal. Then be imprisoned for life. Then not only be away from Adrien but never be able to ask him to the movies. With her in a small cell with no way out Hawkmoth will be able to akumatized Paris without her to stop him. Chat Noir will be forced to work harder and face the damage after an Akumas. Paris will fall in a dark reign of power. Then she will be dragged for leaving Paris when they needed her. Adrien would never want to date her. Who would blame him!? Who would want to date a criminal or a failed superhero? Then she will never have a house to call her own or three kids named Emma, Louis, and Hugo and she can forget about the pet hamster the moment she gets cuffed up and taken to-

Marinette’s anxious thought peeled the color from her face. Her anxiety could have turned her lips blue if Tikki didn’t speak up. Grabbing her holder’s attention and tongue as they awed at that Tikki has done. Yet, spitting (magic spit, of course) on the painting seemed rough and boorish but it changed the painting for the better. Or revealed a hidden layer.

What once stood a man with brown curly hair and a mustache now a woman with black wavy hair. The simple, light brown tabard turned a bright red with black ladybug-spots, ending above her knees. Underneath her tabard, was a long, white sleeved shirt with a lace collar. With trimming that Marinette wished she knew how to mimic. A black cloth corset replaced the blue that hugged her waist as the black scabbard stayed in place.

As the painting became a totally different one, Marinette only focused on her face and hands. Her pale face carried light, blue eyes that were covered with a red mask. Carrying no expression. In her gloved hands, the woman held onto something that Marinette was familiar with.

The yo-yo.

“She- she was a ladybug holder,” Marinette whispered. “She’s a Ladybug. . .”

“Marinette,” Tikki smiled. Standing proudly in front of this astonishing canvas. “I present you to La Coccinelle. A hero that once walked the streets of Paris and worn the same earrings as you.”

-----

Tikki might have lived through history when she was about to witness Marinette at the verge of making a new chapter.

-------

[shadows-twilight]

RWBY Volume 7, Chapter 5

My thoughts and opinions on Chapter 5 of RWBY Volume 7, "Sparks"

SPOILERS BELOW:

Once again, Team RWBY are in their classic bunk bed configuration, albeit now with them on the same wall.

I must say, I like the standard issue Atlas Academy pajamas.

Due to Penny waking them so cheerily, I wonder if Penny, a robotic being really understands the concept of tired.

Montage Time!!!

New song!

Is it just me, or do these Manticores and Beowolves look different from the others? It seems Grimm have regional variations as well.

Haha, the the doodle of Nora braiding Ren's hair on the latter's concept art is officially canon.

Yeah, don't try and split up the Bees at this point, Marrow. It's not going to go well for you.

I love how the anime lines changed color with Yang's eyes.

So that was the "Really Thirsty Moms" segment. Not as far in the forefront as I expected, but still funny.

I love their training room. Very X-Men.

I wonder what Vine meant by "extending [one's] aura". Are you able to make a wider shield around oneself?

I don't know why, but the animation of Ruby getting out of bed and geeking out to Penny reminds me of Marinette from Miraculous. Ironic, considering who shows up later.

TEAM FNKI!!!!! I absolutely love Neon and Flynt's new designs, and their teammate's looks are pretty swanky too.

I'm guessing Nora's weapon upgrade was her riding it around like a broomstick?

I love the upgraded for Neon's propulsion semblance (assuming that's what her rainbow trail is). Very ethereal looking while still rainbowy

Ruby may be asking why they aren't using airships, but what I want to know is why they're not using bigger vehicles. With all of the stuff they're supposed to transport, surely they could do better than a small U-Haul.

PENGUINS!!!

Why do I get the feeling that relationships are going to be a big theme from for this Volume? I mean, sure, we've had little ship-bait moments all over the place, but even on a grander scheme, we've had the Ace-Ops talking about their professional relationships, Weiss calling the rest of Team RWBY her family, and now this conversation with Penny. I really can't wait to see how this plays out as the Volume goes on.

Yeah, honestly that's about how I would imagine a poker game would go for Bad Luck Charm vs Good Luck Charm. Guess their semblances don't cancel each other out as much as we were hoping.

I am still incredibly wary of just how likeable Clover is. Do I want to know what the six possible outcomes were that Penny planned for, because I can't help but feel that at least one of them involved everybody dying.

At long last, we get to meet Robyn Hill, voiced by Ladybug herself, Cristina Vee.

So the "Show Them Your Teeth" graffiti wasn't a White Fang tag? Good to know.

So Ironwood is diverting resources from Mantle's security to this whole Amity plan. Yeeeaaah, this is doing nothing good for Ironwood's credibility.

I must say, I really like Robyn. She can be diplomatic when the situation calls for it, but she's not afraid to get her hands dirty when need be. Very on brand for her character inspiration.

I'm getting the feeling that Penny isn't exactly enjoying having to go against the potential Mantle representative.

Video games are for kids. Real Huntress siblings play with Semblance Summons!

"Irownwood isn't keeping secrets. Not from me." Any other Steven Universe fans think that line sounded a little too familiar?

I don't know if there are other security features in place that they just chose not to show us, but with all of the different semblances that are out there, are these guards really going to let Winter through on visual confirmation alone?

So that's the Winter Maiden. She's pretty.

I like the look of the Maiden's room. The easel and the kitchen area make it look very homie. Can't say I'm too hyped about the two aura transfer pods in the corner, though.

So her name is Fria? As in, based off of Freya? The Norse Goddess? Oh boy, those are certainly some implications.

Winter's gonna be the next Winter Maiden, because Ironwood chose her to be so. Yeah, remember the last time the Ozluminati tried to choose the next Maiden? Remember how well that went? I remember how well that went.

Wow. Jacques (or rather Watts) managed to find a way to lay off almost his entire workforce and yet spin it in such a way that everyone else is the bad guy. Perhaps he is suited for politics.

An episode that didn’t end on Watts and/or Tyrian doing shady shit? Combo Breaker!!!

[bunnielyse-blog1]

Sneak a Peek CHAPTER 5

Sneak a Peek: Sometimes you have to break the rules

*Author’s note* *Waves arms* I’m here! I’m here!

Sorry it’s been so long since I updated!  This is my longest chapter yet (just at 10 pages!) so I hope you don’t mind the wait!

I hope you enjoy!

Xoxo, Bunnie

Chapter 5

The way Adrien had been scoping his fellow classmates was almost comical.  He was sure he looked crazy and paranoid.  

That morning before classes he loitered in the locker room and carefully watched his classmates file in, meet up with their friends, and head to their respective classes. He took careful note of every girl that came in.  He watched not only his classmates, but girls from other classes and grades as well. So far he had counted nearly fifty girls that were all wearing those simple pink ballet flats by Gabriel.  

This wasn’t going to be easy.

Sure, he knew he could analyze their hairstyle, eye color, or body type, but if his own Miraculous transformation altered his appearance, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that hers would be changed in some way too.  He didn’t want to take any chances by eliminating girls he thought may not fit simply because they didn’t look the part.  Furthermore, a new beauty crazy had taken hold of Parisian teenagers, inspired by Ladybug herself.  It wasn’t unusual to find someone sporting a pigtail hairstyle or wearing red and black polka dot leggings.  Some even went so far as to wear blue contact lenses.  

Similarly, a new health craze called Miraculously Fit had swept the city, helping people to stay healthy through sports like martial arts and gymnastics. Adrien found this to be especially vexing.  Now, most teenagers would openly flaunt their “moves”, which were exact copies of moves him and Ladybug had used against villains.

Instead of finding a girl who should have stood out from everyone else, he was finding hundreds of facsimiles.

Even now, as he sat against a courtyard wall with Nino, Alya, and Marinette during their free period, he watched as a couple of younger students practiced their martial arts, all flaunting the latest in Ladybug fashion.  They were loud and distracting as they laughed and posed for selfies, mimicking his Lady.

He contemplated other methods in which to distinguish copycats from the real Ladybug. If he couldn’t rely on looks, physique, or talent then he’d have to take a deeper look into what made Ladybug, Ladybug.

She was kind, funny, quick on her feet, dedicated, fearless, unrelenting, and full of determination.  She never gave up and she always spoke her mind.  Most of all, she was forgiving.  At times, Adrien had found himself angry or disappointed in the people who had been akumatized, but not her.  She put herself on their level and comforted them when they were confused and most needed it.

She was selfless.

She was perfect.

‘Where am I going to find someone like that?’ he thought, perplexed. 

“I know!”

Adrien was shocked out of his thoughts by Alya’s loud squeal.  He looked at his friends, instinctively sculpting his mouth into a smile to try and hide that he hadn’t been paying attention.

“I cannot believe that Jagged Stone is creating his own clothing line!” Alya continued.  Her phone was in her hand and her fingers flew over the screen as she browsed through the online store, shoving her phone into Nino and Marinette’s faces whenever she found a particularly exciting item.

“Oh,” Adrien said thoughtfully. “I remember hearing about this awhile ago.  My father’s company tried to make a contract with Jagged to design the clothing, but Jagged turned him down.”

Marinette looked surprised. “Oh really?  But Gabriel Fashion is one of the biggest companies in Paris!”

Adrien shrugged and flashed a small smile. “I don’t know the details,” he said unenthusiastically. “Jagged probably didn’t want to get caught up with someone as uptight as my father.”

“I don’t blame him!” Nino said loudly, balling his hands into fists. “No offense, dude, but your dad has a huge stick up his a-”

“Anyway!” Alya interrupted.  Nino and Adrien laughed.  “Aren’t you excited, Marinette?”

“Y-yeah!” Marinette mumbled, a bit flustered. “It’s way cool, I just wish I could afford it.”

Alya lifted a hand as if to brush Marinette’s comments out of the air. “What about when you work at the bakery?”

Marinette laughed, “It’s not a big deal.  I’ll just make my own Jagged Stone clothes.  It won’t be that hard; he’s all about edginess, spikes, rips-”

Nino’s eyes widened, “Really, Marinette?  You make it sound like creating clothing from scratch is easy.”

Alya hugged her friend with pride.  “Are you kidding, Nino?  Everything Marinette wears is something she made!  Right, girl?”

Marinette giggled and rubbed her arm in embarrased pride. “Yeah, totally.  All my parent’s money goes into the bakery, so instead of buying clothes, I just make them.”

Adrien raised his eyebrows in surprise.  He knew Marinette designed fashion and had made a few pieces in the past, but he thought it was just a hobby.  He had no idea that she was an actual, experienced, seamstress.

Without warning, he realized he felt some disappointment.  He knew that his Lady had been wearing Gabriel ballet flats; the butterfly insignia had been unmistakable through the pool of whipped cream. If Marinette wore clothing only she made, then it just further proved that his initial belief that she was Ladybug was wrong.

‘I don’t get it,’ he thought.

He had never looked at Marinette in the same way he looked at Ladybug, so why did he feel disappointment course through him?  Was he disappointed that Marinette couldn’t be her?  Was it just because he had been close to finding out her identity? Was it because she had potentially been by his side all along?  

Or was it something more; was he wrong about his feelings?  In the last few weeks since he mistakenly assumed she was Ladybug, Marinette had crept into his thoughts.  Even though he had crumpled up that theory and thrown it in the proverbial trash, thoughts of his raven-haired friend ensnared his brain.  She had certainly entered his thoughts, but had she snuck into his heart?

“What about your shoes?” he asked suddenly.

Marinette’s head swiveled quickly to look at him. “W-what?” she asked timidly.

He saw his father’s logo on her shoes. “Aren’t your shoes Gabriel brand?  They have the butterfly.”

“O-oh!” Marinette said with a nervous laugh.  “Y-yeah!  I really love your dad. Father! I love your father! I mean! I love Gabriel. The brand!”

“What she means is,” Alya interrupted. “Those shoes are her pride and joy.  That’s why she wears them all the time.”

‘In other words, she didn’t make those…’

“R-right!” Marinette shouted.  She took a deep breath, as if recognizing that her voice had gone up a decibel. “I really look up to Gabriel as a fashion designer and so my parents got me these shoes for my birthday when I entered collège.”

“Y’know,” Alya said thoughtfully, looking at Marinette’s shoes.  “Yours do look different than the ones I’ve seen.  Were they special edition or something?”

Adrien followed her gaze and noticed that tiny rhinestones adorned the toe and heel of each shoe.  He squinted in thought, trying to remember if his Lady’s had the same details, but the whipped cream must have covered such delicate designs.

He realized he still had his eyes trained on her shoes and hurriedly looked up, directly into Marinette’s curious blue ones.  He was mildly embarrassed to see that she had caught him staring.

“Yeah,” he added to cover his discomfort. “I don’t recall seeing any designs with these stones.”

Marinette quickly shook her head and smiled. “No, I put these on myself!”

“Really?” Nino asked in surprise, his mouth full of cheeseburger. “All of those? That had to have taken forever!”

“No, not really!” Marinette smiled. “Even though they’re Gabriel brand, I felt like I still needed to make them my own, you know?  So my mom and I glued them on with fabric glue.”

Alya and Nino continued to eat their lunch and talk about the Jagged Stone clothing line. They each suggested that Marinette should create something for them, to which she eagerly agreed.

“Can you put some rhinestones on mine too?” Alya asked excitedly.  She was already flipping through her phone for some edgy fashion inspiration.

Adrien couldn’t help but notice how Marinette’s face lit up and felt the unmistakable tingling of his heartstrings; a sensation that he only ever felt around Ladybug.  

Maybe his feelings had begun to change.

“Sure!” she said enthusiastically. “But I’ll have to find a new type of glue to use.” She ran her fingers along the stones on her shoes. “Some of mine have fallen off, so I want to make sure yours stay on.”

Alya squealed again, hugging her friend. “Girl, I am so excited!  You’re the best!”

Adrien smiled at his friends, his eyes hovering on Marinette a little longer than usual.  Nino was a welcome distraction from his malstrom of thoughts - now even more confused than before - as they discussed Jagged Stone’s clothing and plans for the weekend.

The rest of the day was a whirlwind to Adrien, thanks to his muddled thoughts of Marinette and Ladybug. He couldn’t get his friend out of his mind.  As if a seed had been planted and was taking root, he began connecting what he knew about Marinette and what he knew about his Lady. The puzzle pieces were fitting together to form a bigger picture of who his Lady might really be and his imagination was running wild.  

He imagined himself as Chat Noir fighting alongside Ladybug.  

Then he was Chat Noir flying high across the city with Marinette in his arms.  

Him and Marinette sunbathing on a beach in the south.

Sipping coffee together.

Cuddling next to a fire.

Saving their city.

Smiling.

Laughing.

“It has to be her, Plagg.” Adrien said quietly as he watched the sun begin to set.

Plagg twitched his whiskers, “Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t.”

Adrien rolled his eyes, but smirked at his friend in semi-annoyance.  “Don’t you know how to say anything else?”

“Can’t you do anything else besides roll your eyes?” Plagg shot back with a smug flick of his tail.

Adrien grimaced inwardly when he realized he was about to roll his eyes.  “Touché.”

“Well, Lover Boy,” Plagg teased as he floated over to Adrien and leaned against the window pane.  “Do you want to go clear your mind, or what?”

“You read my mind,” he smiled. “Plagg, claws out!”

Soon they were flying through the air and Chat’s smile grew into a huge, toothy grin as the wind pleasantly whipped his hair off his forehead.

He ran across rooftops and vaulted from building to building.  He enjoyed hearing gasps from the Parisians as he passed and waved when they held up their phones for a quick picture.

The sun was nearly set as he settled onto a sloping rooftop near Marinette’s balcony.

He hadn’t planned on visiting her when he first set out, but the words, ‘What if…’ buzzed around his consciousness like an annoying fly.

What if…

He was right?

What if…

He talked to her as Chat Noir?            Would she act differently?                        Would she give herself away?

What if…

There was was an Akuma attack tonight?            He could watch her as she heard the news.                        He would see her Kwami.                                    He would see her transformation.

‘What if…’

Those thoughts were still fluttering around his subconscious as he debated whether or not to make the jump to her balcony.

His mind was made up for him, however, when he heard Alya’s familiar shrill float up from the open balcony door.  Chat vaulted onto one of the patisserie’s many chimneys - careful to land silently - so as to listen to their conversation with ease.

“Girl!” Alya gasped. “He asked you what?  How long have you even been talking to him?”

Chat’s ears perked up even further. ‘Him? Him who?’

Marinette giggled and Chat recognized that she sounded a little uncomfortable. “Since the music festival.”

There was a long whistle - ‘Probably from Alya,’ he thought - followed by a short silence.

“How’d he even get your number?” Alya asked.

“I think Juleka gave it to him.”

Silence again.

“Oh stop, Alya!” Marinette sounded annoyed, a tone Chat had rarely heard from her, except when she spoke with Chloe.

“What?” Alya asked defensively.

“I just think you’re getting a little too protective.”

“Bu-”

“I mean, thank you for caring and making sure I’m okay-”

“Girl-”

“But you don’t have to be my caretaker either.”

Marinette had said everything in a rush and let out a long sigh after she finished. Chat assumed she had been holding that in for a while.  It must have taken a lot of courage for her to say that to her friend.  He smiled slightly at the thought.

Alya sighed and Chat could imagine she was her rubbing her eyes. “Marinette, I know you don’t need me to fight your battles.  But do you even really know this guy?  I mean, he’s like what, three years older than us?  Isn’t that a little weird?”

“Two years,” Marinette corrected.

‘Two years?’ Chat thought, his jealousy growing.  That practically made this guy an adult.  What’s an adult doing chatting up a teenager?

“It’s not weird,” Marinette added. “He’s still in school.  And he’s a nice guy!  It’s not like he’s some weirdo off the street.”

“Okay, okay, fine!” Alya acquiesced.  “I mean, if he’s Juleka’s brother, he can’t be that bad.”

“Thank you!” Marinette said happily.

‘Luka?’ Chat thought back to that day on Juleka’s boat and the music festival.  Since the festival, him and Luka had met up occasionally to play keyboard and guitar.  Luka was a talented musician and Adrien found that it was easy to keep up with him as they improvised songs.  

What was he doing talking to Marinette?

“Hey!” Marinette said suddenly. “I thought you were all for me chasing after Luka?”

Her friend scoffed. “I’m all for you chasing after someone else!”

Chat’s eyes narrowed in thought. ‘Someone else?’

Marinette’s accompanying sigh was full of frustration and unhappiness. “That’ll never happen.”

“Adrien’s blind, Marinette.”

Chat shot up at full attention.  He had to physically slap a hand to his mouth to muffle the yelp that escaped his lips.

“You’ll have to make the first move on him, girl,” she continued.

Marinette squealed in embarrassment. “I can’t!” she whined.

Alya was speaking in between her laughter, but it sounded like another language to Chat’s shocked mind.  Until Marinette began speaking again and his heart felt like it was on a rollercoaster.

“No, Alya,” she said soberly. “I can’t. I’m trying to move on.”

“I don’t believe you!” Alya said sarcastically. “As long as I’ve known you, you’ve been in love with that boy.”

‘In love…?’ Chat’s heart was beating out of his chest.  Marinette loves him?  Was that why she was always so ditsy and flustered around him?  It wasn’t because he was a celebrity?  It was because she had a crush on him?  

He had been wrong about her this entire time and he felt terrible.  He was so used to being gawked at and asked for autographs and selfies from equally flustered and ditsy fans, that he had immediately placed her in the “crazed fan” category.

But she had never asked for his autograph.

All of their selfies were with their friends and not for fansites.

He felt a large weight rest in his gut as the guilt settled in.  He had always put her at arm’s length all because he had jumped to conclusions and had the wrong impression of her.  He had never given her a chance to get to know her outside of class or social gatherings.  He lamented his distance from her as realization hit him that she truly cared about him as a friend.  She was always kind to him, even giving him her unique lucky bracelet.  She was always encouraging in his pursuits, like the music video.  She was funny and quick witted and he admired how often she would jump in to defend a classmate against Chloe.

He just wished she was comfortable around him, crush or no crush.  He had begun to appreciate her true personality, but was quickly disappointed when she shied away from him.

He just wanted her to treat him like she treated Alya.

To talk to him and joke with him.

In his recent memory, the only time Marinette talked to him without fumbling over her words was when he visited her as Chat Noir.  He considered for a minute that maybe he should continue to visit her in his disguise, but he quickly shook the thought out of his head.

‘No,’ he thought. ‘If I want to get the real Marinette, I need to be the real Adrien.’

Sitting on the rooftop, the warm breeze tickling the hair at the nape of his neck, Chat finally accepted his feelings for Marinette.  They didn’t measure up to his feelings toward Ladybug, but he couldn’t ignore the warm feeling in his heart either.  He didn’t necessarily reciprocate her feelings of love, but he couldn’t deny the crush he was forming for her.

A small smile began to grow on his lips as he made up his mind to get to know the real Marinette.  He was determined to make her comfortable around him, enough so that her Adrien-induced stutter would stop and they could speak freely.  He found that he wanted to know more about her.

He hadn’t noticed that the girl’s voices had faded and was jolted back to reality when he heard the bakery’s front door open and close.  He carefully crawled along the roof so he could peek down to the street below.  Alya and Marinette were standing just beyond the entrance to her home, saying their goodbyes.

“Marinette, I know Adrien’s a sensitive topic and I’m sorry I brought it up.”  Alya hugged her friend and Marinette nodded in understanding.  “I think a date with Luka sounds great.  How about we all go.  Like a double date!”

Marinette clapped her hands together and jumped a little. “That’s a great idea! Are you sure?  I mean, would Nino mind?”

Alya waved her off. “Not at all!  It’ll be fun. Granted, he’ll probably be just as confused as me that you’re getting over Adrien-”

‘Getting… over?’

“But he likes Luka, musician to musician.  So it’ll be fun!”

Marinette smiled and hugged her friend again.  “Thanks so much!  You’re the best!”

The two friends separated and Chat heard Alya call out, “Keep me posted!” before she disappeared around the corner and Marinette made her way back inside.

Chat sat in mild shock.  It seemed too ironic that the moment he realized his feelings for her, the moment he decided to gain the courage to possibly date her, she was over him and dating someone else.

First Ladybug turns him down on the roof and now Marinette decides he’s not worth chasing after.

He couldn’t win.

‘What does Luka have that I don’t have?’ he thought in frustration.  But his own argument was quickly snuffed when he remembered that he could only blame himself.  She had been smitten with him for over two years, but his disregard for her feelings had pushed her away.

Feeling dejected and full of self-loathing, along with a large dose of Luka-aimed jealousy, Chat stood to his full height and vaulted into the night and away from bakery’s aroma.

To be continued…

*Endnote*

Ah!! I hope you liked it!!!

I was going to continue this chapter, but I think it just makes more sense to continue into a new chapter.

Adrinette & MariChat was SO CLOSE!!!!!!  (I ship MariChat hard, btw) >.>

Anyway, I really mixed up my writing style in this chapter, but I hope you guys liked it. I felt like Adrien’s thoughts were so all over the place and jumping from one thing to another that I began writing his thoughts in an unstructured/structured/poetic form.  Sort of like how I think all of our thoughts are stream of consciousness; one thought comes from another thought that comes from another thought and so on.

What do you think?

Next up:

Possibly the last chapter!  Plagg continues to not-so-helpfully help Adrien find Ladybug’s true identity. Amidst the confusion of teenage love and moonlighting as one of Paris’s superheros, Adrien is brought back to reality when someone from his past resurfaces

Bunnie’s Reviewer, Follower, and Subscription Shoutouts:

Fanfiction: LycoRogue, marauderluverz, Tiger Priestess, Demi clayton (guest), Weebo23, StarryNight101, Edelisle, DANIELA123, jon4576, archer71, KassandraConK, digifreak15, xXtomboysRuleXx, LustLets, WhiteTigerMisty, ReiGriffins, littledoe1369, Narakat57, onetkdgirl, darkroxas92, Zlotowlosa, Joe12321, BeccaArenas, Jake Day-Rea, Coed-Mor Draig, & TinyFox2

Ao3: Hilzabub, Draxynnic, WhimsiKitty, & Msmiley4

Thank you to all who left Kudos and Favorites!  All of you give me life!!!

Please, don’t forget to review! I’d love to hear what you think; the good, bad, and ugly!  

°˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

Xoxo, Bunnie

P.S. I’m on Fanfiction, Ao3, & Tumblr! (same username: BunniElyse)

[pof203]

I’ve been thinking of writing this fanfiction for sometime. It’s a crossover with Miraculous: The Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir and Miles from Tomorrowland. But now it’s Mission Force One. However, I’m still going to write this. It will just be a little different, especially not that Miraculous is in Season 2. Well, here it is: Leo Callisto is...

Jet Black Retrograde

WARNING: May contain spoilers about Season 2. Then again, they’re not exactly spoilers anymore now that they have been confirmed.

It started with an invitation.

Dear L. Callisto,

A science exhibition will be held at College Francoise Dupont in Paris, France on Earth. We know it may take time out of your busy schedule, but some of our students who desire to join the Tomorrowland Transit Authority would love to be visited by you who works for the TTA. You do not have to answer right away, but please consider the idea. We hope to here from you soon.

Sincerely,

D. Damocles

Principal of College Francoise Dupont

This was the answer.

Mr. Damocles,

Actually, I think I can make time to go to your school. I’m sure the TTA would love to know that some of your students want to join us. I’ll be looking forward to showing everyone what the TTA has to offer.

Leo Callisto

At College Francoise Dupont, everyone was a buzz about a special visitor for the science exhibition later that day. Marinette Dupain-Cheng and her best friend, Alya Cesaire, were walking down the hall and noticed everyone talking.

“Everyone is so excited about this,” said Marinette.

“I know,” said Alya. “A lot of people in the school who are interested in joining the TTA can’t wait for Leo Callisto to come. Nino’s excited for him to come too. And you want to know who else is going to be there?”

“Please don’t say it. I know he’s going to be there.”

“... Adrien.”

She said it. No sooner Alya said the name of her crush, Marinette started spazzing out.

“You had to say it! Now I’m worried. What if Adrien gets so into joining the TTA, he’ll want to move into space and go on great adventures while I’m stuck on Earth like some lowly spinster.”

“Girl, relax. Adrien is still to young to join them. Plenty of time to make him like you. And the exhibition might be the perfect chance. And the best part is: Chloe isn’t going to be here when it happens because her relatives are coming for a visit.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Alya goes on ahead to class. Carefully, Tikki the kwami, sticks her head out of the bag.

“Life in space?” asked Tikki. “The world really has changed.”

“The TTA wants to connect the universe. I really don’t mind if Adrien wants to do his part to help. Just as long as he doesn’t forget about us.”

“I guess that also means you.”

Marinette blushes at that, but smiles a bit.

Time went by and before anyone knew it, classes were over for the day and the exhibition was about to begin. A lot of people gathered at the courtyard for the exhibition. Marinette and Alya arrived. They recognized some of their classmates present. On the left side, Max Kante and his best friend, Le Chien Kim. Max was clearly excited for the exhibition to begin. Not to far from the two girls, they saw Nathan Kurtzberg. They made their way to him.

“Hi, Nathan,” said Marinette. “I didn’t know you were interested in this stuff.”

Nathan turned to see the girls and blushed at the sight of Marinette, who he secretly has a crush on.

"H- Hi, Marinette,” said Nathan. “It was my mom’s idea. She thought I was getting lazy in science, so she convinced me to come here.”

“I see,” said Marinette.

“But it’s not so bad. This stuff is actually quite interesting. I hear that art actually has a part in the TTA.”

"And speaking of interesting,” said Alya who was pointing to the front of the stage.

At the front was Nino Lahiffe who was recording the event on his phone. And with him... was Adrien Agreste. Marinette almost fainted at the sight of him.

“He is here,” whispered Marinette.

Nathan couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous. He liked Marinette and yet she liked Adrien. But he knew that there was nothing he could really do. All he can do is just live with it.

Later, Mr. Damocles came on stage.

“Attention, everyone,” he said. “As you know, I invited someone from the Tomorrowland Transit Authority to speak at this exhibition. From what I have learned, he is an engineer, inventor, and a pilot.”

“Not to mention a great blastboarder and plenty good lookin’.”

Everyone suddenly looked up to see a man coming down on a surfboard with rockets on it. He was followed by what looked like a spaceship. They both landed on the stage. The man got off the board as a woman came out of the ship.

“Mr. Callisto, so glad you can make it,” said Mr. Damocles.

“Please, call me Leo. And this is my wife,” he said.

“Captain Phoebe Callisto, a pleasure to meet you, Principal Damocles.”

“Hello, College Francoise Dupont. Sorry if I mispronounced it. My French isn’t that good. Have you ever wanted to go out into space? To meet new lifeforms who could one day become your best friend? At the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, or TTA, you can do just that. But being part of the TTA is about more than just traveling to other worlds. Like the ancient Builders, the TTA follow three simple things: Reach. Build. Connect. I like to think the build part could mean the things I do. I build things for the TTA. Like the IOTA. Look.”

Suddenly, a little flying robot came out of the spaceship. Everyone was fascinated, especially Max.

“There’s also the Scout Rover.”

Leo brings up a hologram of a hi-tech rover.

“And my all time favorite, the Blastboard.”

Leo gets back on his board and take flight around the courtyard. Everyone couldn’t help but be excited by the display. Adrien and Nino were cheering, so were Marinette, Alya, and Kim. Even Nathan couldn’t help but feel impressed by what he saw.

“I like to call this baby Moon Shredder. She’s special because she has modifications only I could work.”

Then, he makes a great landing on the stage.“So, now how many of you want to join the TTA?”

Then, a lot of hands shot up.

“How exquisite,” said Mr. Damocles. “I guess you have your answer, Leo.”

“That’s great. Now, I’ve got a special treat for you. I brought some blastboards over and to see how well you learned from my demonstration, you will give your blastboard your own modifications, giving it that special personal touch of yourself. Who interested?”

More hands shot up.

“Then I suggest you all line up to get your blastboard,” instructed Phoebe.

Everyone made a line to the stage. Marinette, Alya, and Nathan joined the ques. Max and Kim were right behind them. In front of them were Adrien and Nino. Marinette blushed knowing that her crush was right in front of her.

“Oh. Hi, Marinette,” said Adrien. “I see you and the others are interested too.”

“Y- Yes,” said Marinette with a stutter.

“That blastboard demonstration was sick,” said Nino. “I wonder if I could try something like that.”

“Looks like we're about to find out,” said Alya. “We're up next.”

When the friends got to their turn, they saw that Leo and Phoebe were talking.

“I just wish Miles, Loretta, and MERC could see this,” said Leo.

“I’m sure they wish they could be here,” said Phoebe. “But being in Mission Force One isn’t something that happens everyday. We have to remember they’re not our babies anymore. They’re grown now.”

“Talking about your kids?” asked Kim.

The couple noticed us.

“Hmm? Oh, yes,” said Phoebe. “They’re part of a group that takes up their time, so they couldn’t be with us. But if they were here, I’m sure they would proud to know that their father is inspiring you and your fellow students to join the TTA.”

“I’m sure they will,” said Marinette.

“You know,” said Leo. “You look like kids who would definitely be interested in this stuff. Can we know your names if your blastboards get our attention?”

“Sure,” said Adrien. “I’m Adrien. Adrien Agreste.”

“Agreste?” asked Phoebe. “As in Gabriel Agreste.”

“So even the TTA know about my father,” said Adrien.

“Well, Admirals Watson and Crick told me that Gabriel Agreste would be basing he next line on space.”

“I think he would, but I don’t think he himself would actually go up there. He’s needed more in Paris. Anyway, these are my friends from class. The one in the cap is my best friend, Nino Lahiffe.”

“What’s up?” said Nino.

“Space if you’re interested,” said Leo with a laugh.

“The girl with the glasses is Alya Cesaire.”

"Nice to meet you,” said Alya. “You should check my website, the Ladyblog.”

“The one about Paris’s famous heroes?" asked Phoebe. “I’ve heard about it. I’ll be sure to check it if I have the time.”

“The cute girl next to her is her best friend, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Cute!? thought Marinette with a blush.

“The artsy one is Nathan Kurtzberg.”

"I kind of... Liked what you did with the blastboard,” Nathan said, shyly.

“You don’t have to be shy about it,” said Leo.

“I also like the artwork on it. It looks a bit Hawaiian.”

“Yeah, it does, doesn’t it. That’s just one of the things that makes it special. What can you do to make your blastboard special?”

“I don’t know. But I guess I can find out. I mean, science is basically like art. I’m sure I can do something.”

“The other glasses kid is Max Kante.”

“I see,” said Leo. “Maybe you can make a better blastboard. You look like you could do it.”

“Thank you,” said Max. “But it’s your robot that intrigues me. However, my friend, Le Chien Kim, is interested.”

“I’m not that good with machines,” said Kim. “But Max is a wiz. I just tell him what kind of blastboard that would be like me and he would do it.”

“He’s right.”

“I see,” said Leo. “But don’t forget, a blastboard is more like you if you do it.”

“I’ll think about it,” said Kim. “But for now, Max is a better science geek than me.”

“Thanks,” said Max, a little offended.

The group were given their blastboard, well, Marinette, Adrien, Nino, Nathan, and Max. Alya said she would record Marinette, Adrien, Nino, and Nathan while Kim instructs Max about his blastboard.

About 2 hours later (5 if you count the trials and errors that occurred), the blastboards were done with their new mods.

Marinette’s blastboard was pink on the bottom and black on tome with the same floral pattern on her shirt.

Adrien’s blastboard was white on top and black and orange on the bottom with three lines going down the middle. The lines were purple, green, and yellow.

Nino’s blastboard was blue with a red stripe down the middle with his eye symbol on it.

Nathan’s blastboard was was grey on top and purple on the bottom with an orange circle on it with his black symbol in it.

And the blastboard Max made for Kim was red with a white stripe around it and his star insignia.

“Alright, everyone,” announced Leo. “Let’s see how well you did.”

Most of everyone had unique designs, but I’ll leave them out because I want this story to be as short as possible. Finally, it was on to Marinette.

“Okay, Marinette, let’s see what your blastboard can do besides fly.”

“Yes,” said Marinette. “Since you wanted our blastboards to be like us, we did just that. My blastboard can quickly scan your height and size so it can quickly design a space suit or another kind of attire.”

Marinette got on her blastboard which took off. Then, a green light went up Marinette and in a flash, she was wearing a pink space suit.

“It’s perfect for in case you find yourself stranded in space.”

“That function’s based on Marinette’s passion to become a fashion designer,” said Alya.

“That’s terrific,” said Phoebe.

Leo was impressed, but a blastboard that can do something like make you an instant space suit in case you get lost in space... He never thought of that.

“Moving on,” said Leo. “Adrien, what mods does your blastboard have?”

“Well,” said Adrien. “My blastboard can produce spikes that can be use to incapacitate anyone who might be doing wrong. Especially those in Nemesystems.”

Fred Haprele set up a dummy for Adrien to practice his blastboard on. When it took flight, it shot spikes that trapped it.

“That’s impressive,” said Phoebe. “Really impressive.”

“Nice,” said Leo. But in truth, this worried him. He never thought of something like this.

“I’m next,” said Nino. “My blastboard can admit a sound blast that can shatter glass and give people a big headache. I know sound can’t be heard in space, but it can also sent out radio signals to call for help.”

“That’s really useful,” said Phoebe.

“Yes it is,” said Leo. He had no idea what was going on. Why was he getting so hung up over these designs?

"Here’s my blastboard, sir,” said Nathan. “It can shoot up to 3 yards of paint. It can hold up to 20 gallons of paint. There are four tanks that hold 5 gallons each. And each holds a primary color.”

Nathan’s blastboard shoots red, then yellow, then blue, then white paint.

“It can even mix colors.”

The blastboard then shot green, orange, and purple. It also shot pink, brown, lavender, and other colors.

“That’s not all it can do. Look.”

Nathan taps the black symbol and the artwork on the board changed. Now it looked like the same pattern as Evillustrator. It was black at the bottom which slowly becomes orange as you go down it. It was white at the top with a red upside down triangle at the very top and the black symbol was replaced with Evillustrator’s symbol.

“It can change its image to match any occasion.”

“That’s really good,” said Phoebe. “It could be good for camouflage. I know that Blodger would love that.”

“Yeah, I know,” said Leo. “He would.” He still didn’t why he was feeling for this. Could this be...

“We’re the last to go,” said Kim. “The blastboard me and Max have been working on is strong. It can hold up to ten times its weight and can go through anything.”

“Observe,” said Max.

The blastboard flew through a brick wall easily into a classroom. Mr. Damocles wasn’t too happy about that, but he knew it was for science.

“It can even fire trick arrows that can move up to 17,600 mph so it can go swiftly though space,” continued Max.

The blastboard then shoots an arrow that turned into a net that caught someone. He made a thumbs up to let them know he’s alright.

“I’ve gotta say,” said Phoebe. “That was blastastic!”

“...” Leo was silent and thinking. Could this be... jealousy?

“Leo?” asked Phoebe. “What do you think?”

“... Did I tell you my blastboard can survive something even stronger than the Zuma Whirlpool?”

Everyone was silent with surprise, even Phoebe.

“When did you modify it again?”

“... Just last week. Look.”

Leo gets on Moon Shredder and tries to do a fancy trick. He has the Star Jetter set up a situation similar to the Zuma Whirlpool. At first, everything seemed to go well, until... he fell. Everyone was shocked by the sight. Even Phoebe couldn’t believe her eyes. It wasn’t like her husband to have a wipe out like that.

“Leo, are you alright!?”

Leo nodded. He was speechless. Apart from his wife and son, he was the best blastboarder in galaxy. How could this have happened.

“I... Need... I need a minute alone.”

Leo took his blastboard and went into an empty classroom.

What no one knew was that another member of Marinette’s class was there. The most cunning and most sly student in the school besides Chloe Bourgeois, Lila Rossi. Thinking it might be a good idea to stir up some trouble, Lila followed Leo into the classroom where he was pondering why something like that happened.

“Why is this happening?” Leo asked himself. “This feeling just doesn’t seem right. Why am I so upset? Was it because I saw those kids’ blastboards? Why?”

“That’s easy,” said Lila, surprising Leo. “You... are jealous. You’re jealous because someone made a better blastboard before you could. Guess it just means you’re getting to old for this job.”

“That’s not true. My older brother is in the Space Guards and my father is currently semi-retired and they’re doing great.”

“Well, I guess I was mistaken. I guess you’re really... not good enough for anything.”

“Huh!?”

“Think about it. Your father and brother have the most exciting jobs while you don’t. And it’s not just them. You’re the father in your family, yet it’s your wife who’s the captain. Even your own kids are starting to out shine you. And now you’re being upstaged by a bunch of teenagers. And after seeing that, I think the real reason why you feel so jealous... is because you’re actually quite useless.”

The words hit Leo hard, like a knife through the heart. This girl can’t be telling the truth. She has to be lying. He needed to think. So he took his blastboard and left the classroom. Phoebe spotted him.

“Leo, is something wrong?”

“It’s... It’s nothing. I just need a moment alone.”

Leo quickly left the school and to the streets. No one noticed Lila trying to sneak away until Marinette spotted her.

“Lila!” shouted Marinette.

“What are you getting so mad about?” asked Lila. “All I did was tell him the truth.”

“As if anything that comes out of your mouth truth,” said Alya.

Lila left with a smirk on her face.

“I take it you know that girl,” said Phoebe.

“Lila Rossi has a way of getting under people’s skin,” explained Nino. “She makes Chloe Bourgeois look like an absolute angel.”

“If she’s involved, we better find your husband before a certain villain does,” said Adrien.

“Yeah, I’ve heard,” said Phoebe.

Phoebe tried to make her way out, but a loud beeping sound came out of the Star Jetter along with a woman's voice.

“In coming call from the Zenith. It’s Miles, Loretta, and MERC.”

“Right,” said Phoebe. “Thank you, Stella. I’ll be right there.” She didn’t know what to do. If she leaves Leo to talk to there kids, he’ll be akumatized.

“You go talk to your kids,” said Marinette. “We’ll find Leo.”

“Thank you,” said Phoebe as she left for the Star Jetter.

“Nathan, Kim, Max, do you think you can watch things here while me, Adrien, Alya, and Nino go find Leo?”

“Alright, Marinette,” said Nathan.

The four friends ran out the school and each one made an excuse to separate. When they were sure no one was around... Their kwami friends appeared.

“Tikki, spots on!” shouted Marinette.

“Plagg, claws out!” shouted Adrien.

“Trixx, let’s dash!” shouted Alya.

“Wayzz, out of the shell!” shouted Nino.

Marinette becomes Ladybug, Adrien becomes Cat Noir, Alya becomes Rena Rouge, and Nino becomes Carapace. They went on their way to find Leo.

What they dont’ know... That they will be too late.

On a bench near Notre Dame and in front of the Seine, Leo was still thinking about what Lila said.

The real reason why you feel so jealous is because you’re actually quite useless.

It can’t be true, thought Leo. I’m not useless. I can do all the things Joe can. I can do all the things Phoebe can. I can even do all the things my kids can. I just know. I’m not useless.

Leo got back up on his blastboard and tried to do another trick that involved making three loop da loops. It did go well, but nearly lost his balance. Then, he tried to do the trick Miles made, the Captain Curl. But when he did, he fell off again. Several people who were watching pointed and laughed at him. Leo snatched up his blastboard and reseated himself back on the bench, tears streaming down his face.

“It’s not true!” he shouted. “I’M NOT USELESS! ... I’m not useless... I’m not...”

Leo put his hands down and cried.

At Hawk Moth’s lair, its master heard Leo’s cries.

“A brilliant mind who is now convinced that he is past his prime. That his worth is nothing. But no one really knows what is past prime.”

He takes a butterfly, covers it, and turns it into an akuma.

“Fly away, my little akuma, and evilize him!”

The akuma took off over Paris until it finally found Leo. It landed on his blastboard and possessed it. A mean and angry look came on Leo’s face as Hawk Moth spoke to him.

“Jet Black Retrograde, I am Hawk Moth. You now have the power to make others inferior to you and show them that you are the greatest genius ever. In return, bring me Ladybug and Cat Noir’s Miraculouses. Do this and who knows, you might become the new Commander of the Tomorrowland Transit Authority.”

“Hot Jupiter, I like the sound of that,” said Leo darkly. “Have no fear, Hawk Moth, I’ll get them for you. Now to show those fools not to mess with me!”

The darkness covers Leo and he transforms. Now he was wearing a black version of Jet Retrograde’s costume, except, his hair was still exposed and he was wearing a cape. His blastboard was also different. The red patterns on it were now purple and the the tiki head was replaced with a butterfly.

Suddenly, a hi-tech car stopped by. JBR got on his board and with a tap of foot on the board, a laser bazooka appeared out of it. He fired it at the car and the car turned into a primitive covered wagon. The passengers ran for their lives.

"Now I’ll show them,” said JBR.

Not to far, Rena Rouge saw what happened.

"Damn,” she said under her breath. “We’re too late. But at least I have an idea where the akuma is.”

Then, the other heroes came along.

“Guess we were too late,” said Ladybug.

“But you know what they say, my lady,” said Cat Noir. “It’s not really a party until all the guests are here.”

“And we’re all here now,” said Carapace.

“But there’s a bright side,” said Rena Rouge. “I saw where the akuma is. It’s in his board.”

“Then that’s what we’re after,” said Ladybug. “But we better hurry.”

JBR then flew his blastboard to the school, not knowing that the heroes were following him.

Back at the school, everyone was still admiring the blastboards Marinette and the others made. Kim was further tasting his when JBR flew in.

“Anyone like a taste of this?” shouted JBR.

He fired his bazooka at Kim. Thankfully, he missed and Kim and the blastboard fell on the crowd that managed to catch him. Max tried to run for it.

“Not so fast, smart guy!”

JBR fired his bazooka again at Max and Max turned into the negative stereotype of a stupid caveman who began chewing on a door.

“MAX, NO!” shouted Kim.

Phoebe ran out of the Star Jetter to see what happened.

“Leo?” she said. “What happened to you?”

“Call me Jet Black Retrograde. And I have upgraded.”

“No, they were too late. Leo, you have to stop, you’re not yourself right now!”

"Why should I?” mocked JBR. “Maybe this is my real self.” 

JBR fires his weapon at the Star Jetter and turned it into a pile of rubbish.

“Leo Callisto, as your wife and captain, I order you to land at once!”

“You are my wife, but I think it’s high time you relieve control of the crew to me.”

“Leo, no!”

“And stop calling me that! I’m Jet Black Retrograde now.”

JBR fires his weapon at Phoebe. Thankfully, Ladybug and the other heroes arrived and Ladybug managed to get Phoebe out of the way with her yo-yo.

“Sorry, Jet Black, but I’m pretty sure the universe isn’t ready for a cave captain,” said Ladybug.

“What about Captain Caveman?” asked Carapace.

“Never mind him,” said Rena Rouge. “We need to deal with this guy. And maybe get some good footage for the Ladyblog,” she whispered.

“Stay out of my way, heroes,” said JBR. “I will show everyone I’m a better inventor.”

"But this isn’t the way,” said Ladybug. “Just because there are some people who can make a better blastboard than you doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. If anything, this should have inspired you to make your own blastboard a little more better.”

“Don’t listen to her, Jet Black Retrograde,” said Hawk Moth’s voice in JBR’s head. “You can invent anything to stop anyone who get’s in your way. But if you want to keep that ability, bring the Miraculouses!”

“I don’t need to listen to a child like you, Ladybug!” shouted JBR. “I will show you I’m better and take your Miraculous to prove it!”

JBR tried to fire his weapon at Ladybug, but something got in the way. It was in arrow. Kim had managed to get back on his board and fired one of the arrows.

“Muscle bound moron,” said JBR. “Stay out of my way!”

“Not likely,” said Kim. “Carapace, think you can cover me?”

“Are you sure, dude?” asked Carapace. “What if he hits you?”

“You can just block him with your shield, right?”

“Okay, you asked for it. Rena Rouge, will you do the honors?” 

“Will do,” said Rena Rouge.

She takes our her flute and begins playing. When she does, an illusion light shines that blind JBR.

“Alright, let’s go!” shouted Kim.

Carapace took the blastboard he made as Nino. No sooner that he touched it, the art design changed. Now it was green with the same design as his costume.

“Huh!?” asked Carapace. But he knew now was not the time, he had to help Kim.

He got on board as the light faded and JBR regained his sight. He tried firing his weapon at Kim, but Carapace kept blocking it with his shield as Kim fired electric shock arrows at JBR to stun him, but JBR keeps dodging it.

“While this is going on,” said Cat Noir. “How about we get a Lucky Charm, my lady?”

“Guess I better get to it,” said Ladybug. “Lucky Charm!”

Ladybug’s yo-yo then summons a red bumper sticker with black dots on it.

“A bumper sticker?”

“I don’t see how decorating the blastboard is going to help us,” said Cat Noir. “In the meantime, I’m gonna help the others.”

“Me too,” said Rena Rouge. “Carapace can’t block that beam alone.”

Cat Noir grabbed Adrien’s blastboard which became black with Cat Noir’s green paw symbol.

“How did it do that?” asked Cat Noir.

“I can explain that,” said Nathan, coming out of his hiding spot. “Don’t tell my friends, but I sort of put a decoration changing mod on their blastboards just like mine. I know I shouldn't have, but I wanted to surprise them.”

“I see,” said Cat Noir. “That’s... very thoughtful of you.”

Nathan did a quick thumbs up before his got hit by a stray blast from JBR and turned into a caveman that began doing cave paintings on the walls. Cat Noir, then took flight to join the fight.

“I need to know what to do with this,” said Ladybug.

She looked at the bumper sticker first. It flashed. She then looked at JBR. His visor flashed.

“I need to get this on his visor. That should blind him. But how am I going to get close enough to do it?”

“I think I have your answer,” said Phoebe. “You see, I said one last thing on my call on the Star Jetter before it was lost. In fact, they should be here right about... now.”

Suddenly, something flew in fast that got the heroes’ and JBR’s attention. It was a boy dressed like some kind of superhero riding what can only be described as a robo ostrich with a funny costume on.

“Th- That’s...” began JBR.

“Call high! Call low! Call Jet Retrograde, Space Hero!” shouted the boy. “Hot Jupiter! Some dastardly villain has turned one of the TTA’s best inventors into an evil version of me! I can’t just let this go by. I must help my fellow heroes save him!”

Ladybug looks at the boy who calls himself Jet Retrograde. He flashes as he gets off the ostrich and on his own blastboard.

“I think I got an idea,” said Ladybug.

She looks at the blastboard she made as Marinette. It flashes. She takes the blastboard and it turns red with her symbol on it. She gets on and blasts off.

“Back off, boy, this is none of your business,” said JBR.

JBR tried to fire his weapon at Jet Retrograde, but he dodged it with the Captain’s Curl.

“Cat, I know how we can get the akuma! Think you can use your staff to pin him down?”

“I’ll do you one better,” said Cat Noir.

He tapped his foot on the board which fired spikes that pinned JBR to the wall by his cape.

“How did you know it could do that?” asked Ladybug.

“I saw Adrian Agreste do it, so I thought I should too,” he quickly responded.

“Now will you behave yourself?” asked Jet Retrograde.

“Not for you, impostor!” shouted JBR as he detaches from his cape and freeing himself.

“Here goes!” shouted Ladybug.

She then did a flip over JBR and stuck the sticker on his visor, blinding him.

“Hot Jupiter, I can’t see!” he shouted.

He began firing his laser in every direction but kept hitting everyone and everything else instead of our heroes.

“Kim, now!” shouted Carapace.

Kim fired a trick arrow that formed a net under JBR as Carapace fired a super sonic wave that knocked JBR off his board and on the net. Moon Shredder was now flying out of control.

“Now’s my chance,” said Cat Noir. “Cataclysm!”

Cat Noir got a hold of the blastboard which came to pieces and the akuma came out.

“No more evildoing for you, little akuma,” said Ladybug as she opens her yo-yo and swings it around. “Time to de-evilize!”

Ladybug catches the akuma in her yo-yo and releases it as a white butterfly.

“Bye bye, little butterfly. MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!”

She threw the back of the sticker in the air as it turned into a magical swarm of ladybugs that flew around and undid everything that happened since the attack. Everything that was made primitive was returned to normal as well as the people. JBR changed back into Leo who was confused about what happened.

“Hot Jupiter, how did I get back to the school?” asked Leo.

“Pound it!” said Ladybug and Cat Noir as they fist bumped.

Back in Hawk Moth’s lair...

“Curses, I almost had them. But don’t get to cocky. No matter where you are in the universe I will have your Miraculous!”

Later, the heroes changed back to their civilian selves and returned to the school.

“I can’t believe this happened,” said Leo. “It’s my own fault. I got so jealous over how great your blastboard mods were. They even more greater than the ones Moon Shredder have. When that Lila girl said those things, she was kind of right. Maybe I am useless.”

Jet Retrograde removed his helmet to reveal himself as Leo and Phoebe’s son, Miles and the robo ostrich is named MERC.

“Dad, I know that there will always be someone better than you at what you do. But instead of being upset about it, shouldn’t you use it as a motivation to try and be even more better instead of trying to make others miserable. It doesn’t mean you’re useless.”

“...”

“Don’t give up just like that, Leo,” said Phoebe. “You’re still the best engineer any captain can ask for.”

“... Alright,” responded Leo. “I won’t just sit aside and feels sorry for myself. This old inventor still has a lot more energy to spare.”

“That’s the spirit,” said Miles. MERC chirped in agreement.

“Just have faith,” Marinette whispered.

She looks over to Adrien. Maybe she shouldn’t give up just yet. Adrien looks at Marinette. She quickly blushes. Tikki watches from Marinette’s bag and giggles a bit.

The End

I apologize for how crappy this story sounds. When I began writing it, I was in a bit of a hurry. And I wanted to keep this story as short as possible. Maybe I’ll write a better version someday. I just hope you like this story. Thank you.

[miitzwrites]

chapter 8. Slipping Away

Hey y'all! After watching the latest episodes, the inspiration came, so the new chapter is here!

I want to point out that this episode is mostly flashbacks than actual plot, because a comment on FF.net made me realize that there may be some plots that I need to fix.

Thank you all for the comments, kudos, favorites, etc! Your support fuels me to keep going!

If you have any question, prompt or just wanna chat, you can find me here! ;)

And as always, this chapter was unbeta'ed, somewhat edited, and English isn’t my first language.

Enjoy!

(Part 1) (part 2) (part 3) (part 4) (part 5) (part 6) (part 7)

“When did you find out?”

Her voice betrayed her. The nervousness was clear in her tone, and even turned away from him, Ladybug knew Chat would sense her mood. Chat shrugged off, and took a couple of tentative steps towards Ladybug. “I think I’ve known since the beginning, My Lady,” he answered, “My kwami told me something about my enhanced smell. It was so obvious, I literally had all the clues under my nose.”

Ladybug nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“Because, Marinette, you were clear you didn’t want to reveal your identity, and I respect that. I guess, after all this time, being friends and all, I got used to be close to you. As long as you allow me to be with you, I don’t mind if I talk to Marinette or Ladybug.” Chat’s answer didn’t convince her, and calling out her transformation, Marinette stood there, shaking from a mix of anger and the cold air of the night.

“You don’t understand, Chat!” Marinette angrily answered, turning around to face Chat. “It does matter to me. Ladybug and Marinette have so little in common, and you surely think so highly of her.”

Chat walked up to Marinette, placing his hands on her shoulders, his gaze locked with hers. “You’re right. I think so highly of her, and you wanna know why? Because she’s amazing. Ladybug is strong, she’s sweet, and I couldn’t do this without her. How can I not admire her?”

Marinette’s eyes were filled with tears at Chat’s admission. It felt like a punch in the stomach to know that he admired Ladybug. Even after all these years, a part of her was still a little insecure about her good job as Ladybug. “You’re so cute,” she heard him saying. With his fingers, Chat tipped her chin to make her look at him again. His eyes expressed kindness and he smiled. “You wanna know something else? I love the girl behind the mask. Because she’s fierce, she’s brave, she’s the sweetest person I’ve ever met. And without you, Ladybug wouldn’t exist. You make her real, Marinette, never forget that.”

She weakly nodded, and Chat took the chance to pull her closer and hugged her. Physical contact wasn’t strange for them. As Ladybug and Chat Noir, they were best friends, but as Chat and Marinette, they had become friendly over the course of the past year, more than that, they had developed romantic feelings for each other. They knew perfectly when the other needed support. And Chat was a big fan of hugging his princess.

Chat called out his transformation, noticing that Marinette was trembling. “You’re shivering,” he murmured, taking off his coat and placing the garment around her shoulders. Marinette looked up to stare directly into a pair of green eyes that she had loved for years. “Oh. My. God. Adrien?!” She exclaimed, surprised, and he only smiled. “Well, the cat’s out of the bag,” Adrien grinned, and for the first time that night, she let out an honest laugh.

A week later, they started dating. And six months later, they moved in together.

Ooooo

“I thought you’d be happier, My Lady,” Chat Blanc said, rubbing her flat stomach affectionately. “Say something, Princess, you start to worry me.”

The impression caused her to pass out. Everything was happening too fast, she could hardly believe that one day she mourned the loss of her love, and the next, she had him back -kind of -, and with the news that she was pregnant.

Chat Blanc lifted up his eyes, a gentle smile crossing his lips. Lovingly, she kissed her stomach and then her cheek, then he raised from the bed. “Rest for now, princess. I’ll come back to you, soon.”

Ooooo

“May I have a word with you, Gabriel?” Master Fu asked, although it was obvious he wouldn’t get a no by response. Gabriel sighed, but nodded once, indicating the shorter man that he may speak.

“When you used the magic that Nooroo provided you with, you were reckless. This wouldn’t be happening if you had followed the instructions correctly. The spell said.-“

“How could I have known that this would happen?” Gabriel snapped at the former ex master, “The book said that I could bring my son back, and I followed the instructions correctly. I needed his miraculous to help Cecilia.”

Master Fu narrowed her eyes, grasping his cane a little bit tighter. For him, Cecilia was a personal failure , and it still hurt him when he remembered her. “Don’t you dare to mention her, Gabriel. When she had the accident, I told you I could bring her back. Only a master has that ability, and you knew it! I told you I could help you and her, and you.-“

“She’s not dead.” Gabriel cut him off, effectively silencing the Master. After her accident in The Tibet, her prognosis wasn’t favorable. Doctors said she would be dead within 48 hours, and instead of accepting help, Gabriel decided to bring her back to Paris, where a team of professionals could treat her. What Master Fu didn’t know was that Cecilia was connected to a machine that helped her to fill her lungs of oxygen. Gabriel put her in more unnecessary pain, all because he refused to let her go.

The heads of the others gathered around, turned to watch the argument. Master Fu lowered his voice then, “Where do you have her?”

“She’s recovering.” Gabriel told him by response, but Master Fu shook his head. “It’s been seven years, Gabriel. The magic that hit her, has left her system. There’s no way she could recover now.”

Indignantly, Gabriel left the room, fuming. “That’s why I want the miraculous of the Black Cat and Ladybug. And I won’t make the same mistake again.”

Ooooo

To say that he was nervous, was the understatement of the century. As he had promised, Adrien visited his father’s mansion, and anxiously waited outside his office, gathering as much valor as he could. While it was partially true that he would finally tell Gabriel that he would quit modeling, there was something else that needed to be discussed, and frankly, he feared his father’s reaction.

“Adrien, stop pacing. I know you’ve been outside for almost fifteen minutes. Please, come inside.”

Adrien went pale when he heard his father’s voice, but he took a deep breath, and opened the door. “Good evening, father,” he casually greeted the other man, trying to appear more serene. Gabriel didn’t look up from the drafts that he was reviewing. “Good evening, son. Please, take a seat and tell me what brings you here?”

“I’d rather stay here, thanks.” Adrien answered, idly playing with the bracelet that Marinette had given him years ago. “I hope I don’t interrupt anything important, but I need to talk to you about something . Well, about two things, actually.”

Gabriel remained in silence. His fingers skimmed over the designs that he needed to evaluate. When he didn’t add anything to the conversation, Adrien continued. “You see, father, I’ve been thinking about this and I believe it’s time for me to quit being the face of Gabriel’s. It’s important that I focus on my studies, and I can continue learning from you, but I don’t see myself doing more photoshoots.”

That captured Gabriel’s attention. The designer immediately stopped and finally, looked up from the pages scattered over his desk. Adrien gulped, and waited for his father’s reaction.

“You’re an adult now, Adrien, but your contract states that you will remain in the company until you turn 25, meaning that you still have to work for me for three more years.”

“But father, you don’t understand! It’s not only for me that I’m doing this, but also for Marinette.”

“Oh, so she, the famous, amateur designer, told you to quit?”

“No, she didn’t.”

“Then what is it? Because I’m surprised that you don’t respect our agreement. She’s a young woman with talent, but that doesn’t mean I will let her interfere in your career.”

“Father, please, that’s not what I wanted to tell you.”

“I’m sorry, but this conversation is over.”

“She’s pregnant, okay? And I want to marry her!” Adrien blurted out, and a weight seemed to lift off his shoulders. He wasn’t exactly sure that she was, in fact, she didn’t know that, but if Plagg was right, then he could smell her even before she noticed the changes in her body.

Gabriel closed his eyes, briefly, as if he was trying collect his thoughts. “Well, that can potentially hurt your career.”

Adrien knew how to control his raising temper. He had practiced this conversation for weeks, studying every possible answer and outcome. But this, he wasn’t expecting that plain reply. “How could you say that?” Adrien did his hardest not to lose it, even if he wanted to get out in that very instant. “A child never ruins anything.”

“Some kids do.” Gabriel coldly muttered, ignoring the hurt that was printed on his son’s face.

“No wonder why mom left you,” Adrien muttered in return, turning around to leave the office, but before he could cross the threshold, a hand grabbed him by the arm, and pushed him against the nearest wall. In his confusion, he couldn’t avoid the hand that slapped his cheek. “Don’t you ever say that again!” Never in his life had he seen his father losing the composure. Yes, talking about his mom was practically forbidden, but this reaction was extreme.

Adrien brought his hand up to his face, to wipe off the fine trail of blood that came from his lower lip. The shook was still evident in his face, as he turned around. He only managed to whisper “Thank you for your time, father,” leaving the office, and decided to never return to this house.

Some time later that day, Hawkmoth walked down the streets of Paris. After he got reminded why he desperately needed the miraculouses, he decided to stop waiting for another failure. He will obtain the miraculouses, or he would die trying.

Ooooo

A loud noise coming from downstairs alerted the rest of the heroes of the presence of someone. Alya and Nino were the first two to run towards the noise, and Chloe and Master Fu followed them close behind.

When they reached the end of the stairs, they found Gabriel unconscious, and a dark figure towering over him. The man’s eyes shone brightly, reflecting anger on them. “Cat got your tongues, huh?” He smirked wickedly, and then added, “as much as I love the reunion, father and I have some unfinished business.”

Before he could escape, Master Fu stepped in. “Adrien wait!” He grabbed his cane for support, breathless. “I’m not entirely sure about what happened between you and your father. But you can’t take him with you.”

Chat Blanc shook his head, with a mocking expression on his face. “And why would I listen to you?” “Because Gabriel knows where your mother is.”

Chat Blanc’s face was painted with disbelief, but was quickly replaced with anger. He was about to launch forward Master Fu, but the rest of the heroes stood in front of him, defending the Great Guardian.

“That’s a lie!,” Chat Blanc growled, grabbing the limp body of his father by the neck, and threw him against the wall, like a rag doll.

Alya was about to attack, but Master Fu took her hand, preventing her from making a move, and signaled the others to remain quiet, as if they were dealing with a savage beast.

“Your father tried to take care of her, but it was too late. Her mind and soul had abandoned her body.” Master Fu explained to a confused Chat Noir, and for a moment, he could see that the eyes of the young man changed to a more olive color, before returning to the bright green.

Chat Blanc wasn’t a fool, and even in his altered state of mind, he could understand the meaning behind Master Fu’s words.

“Cecilia was very dear to me, Adrien, but she’s not here with us. Her body might be, but not her heart. I’m sorry, son, but she’s dead.”

[seasonofthegeek]

What You Do Matters

This little drabble takes places after the events of Return of the Comic Shop Heroes. If you haven’t read it, all you really need to know for this is that Marinette and Adrien have been married around ten years and have two children. SPOILER ALERT: they gave up their Miraculous to the next generation of heroes and Marinette is having a harder time than she anticipated. Enjoy!

Adrien opened the door to find his wife on her hands and knees in the kitchen floor, scrubbing at an expanding pool of pink. An overturned cup lay beside the mess and a hill of spaghetti noodles and sauce settled beside it.

“Dada!” Willow called, reaching sauce-covered hands at him from her high chair.

“Will threw all her food on the floor,” Tamaki explained. “And then she poured out her juice.” He rolled his eyes as he slurped up a spaghetti noodle. “She’s so annoying.”

“Hey, be nice. You were a terror once too,” Adrien reprimanded. He crouched down and kissed the top of Marinette’s head. “Hey, beautiful.” She grunted in reply and kept scrubbing.

“They’re finally both down,” Marinette sighed, dropping to the couch. “I didn’t think this moment would ever come.”

“Rough day?” Adrien asked, glancing up from his computer screen. Free Comic Book Day was coming up and he was tragically behind in getting the store ready for the event.

“They’re all rough days.”

Adrien studied her tired face. “Are you okay?”

Marinette rubbed a hand through her hair. “No,” she finally answered.

“Talk to me.”

“I just...I’m so tired. And I feel lost, maybe? Every single day is the same routine with the kids of cleaning up messes and breaking up fights and sometimes I wish I could just transform and run for a bit to clear my head but..”

“But you can’t.”

She nodded. “And I know it’s for the best, but I feel like nothing I do matters anymore. I mean, I know I should go work on some new pieces when the kids are sleeping but I don’t have any motivation to and I’m always so tired. And before you say it, I know taking care of the kids is an important job. I know that...” she trailed off. “When I was Ladybug, I had purpose. I was special. As Marinette the Mom, I just feel run-down and used up.”

“Is there anything I can do? I try to help with the kids but I know you’re still doing most of the work.”

Marinette rested her head on his shoulder. “It’s not you, I promise. This is just something I’m going through. Maybe it will get better.”

Adrien worried at his bottom lip. 

“I think I’m just going to go to bed.” Marinette pulled herself up from the couch and went down the hall.

The next morning, Marinette woke to Willow poking her in the eye. “I waked up,” the two year-old explained.

“I can see that,” Marinette mumbled, yawning.

Adrien scooped the toddler off the bed and sat her on the floor. “Sorry, she was gone before I even turned around.”

“It’s okay.” Marinette sat up, rubbing her eyes. “You’re not usually still here this late.”

“I decided to take the morning off. Felix is opening the store.” Adrien placed a tray of breakfast on her lap. Marinette blinked in surprise. “I just wanted to show you how much I appreciate everything you do. Relax and enjoy.” He kissed the top of her head and picked up Willow. “Come on, my little Lady, let’s let Mom have some alone time.”

Marinette looked down at the eggs, toast, and sausage. A tall glass of orange juice and a mug of coffee sat on the edge of the tray. There was also a small slip of paper tucked up the juice glass. 

“You are special! What you do matters. I love you.”

Marinette smiled as she bit into a slice of toast. She may not be as special as Ladybug anymore but she supposed this wasn’t so bad either.

I had a rough night and found this sweet note from my husband this morning. It inspired me to write a little Adrinette. :) Thanks for reading!

[forgottenliving-blog]

Mother's Day and a Built in Bookshelf

It's Mother's Day this weekend, and I'm kind of doing a mash up with this post. I want to share a big project that Andrew and I completed a couple weeks ago, but I also want to share with you what inspired it, at least on my end. First, this project that we did was a big built in bookshelf for our library. We built it willy nilly with no building plans or any silly like that. We decided we wanted to use a honeycomb pattern, both for aesthetic and sturdiness. This bookcase was built entirely out of 1 x 10 boards. I stained and finished them (which took for freaking ever, oh my god), then we cut them and simply screwed them together. We attached the longer boards to each other with simple metal brackets and we also secured the whole thing to the studs in the wall for extra support. Here's the whole process in pictures. So much staining:

Cutting:

Moved all the boards upstairs, ready for assembly:

Then, it was just a case of endless pre-drilling and screwing boards together.

The cats worked really hard to help:

Then we picked up the whole thing and set it against the wall. It will never leave that room, you guys. Ever.

It doesn't really look that big does it? Let me put some perspective on it for you:

There are 603 books on those shelves. And there are still empty holes that we are filling up with knick knacks, and still more empty shelves after that! Not to mention the two bookshelves we had before we built this one, one of which is entirely empty. I'm actually going to be putting a library pocket in most of these so friends can borrow them. We are calling our library the Ladybug Library because earlier this spring ladybugs were colonizing in one of the room's windows and we had to carry out probably over 100 ladybugs and release them outside. Some, sadly, fell to the mighty killer Sebastian. I have always wanted a personal library. But now, for the more important part of this post. Let me tell you why. I have been a bookworm all my life. My siblings are bookworms. We grew up gorging our imaginations on countless books. We read the dictionary and 11th grade history books for fun. One of my very favorite things to say to kids now is "When I was your age, television was called books." (If you know what that's from, we can probably be friends.) But there was a reason I grew up that way. My mom stayed at home and home-schooled all three of us. She taught us, well, everything. But she also instilled a love of books in us. She would take us to the library and let us go wild. She read out loud to us almost every night, right into our teenage years. On Sunday nights, she'd make popcorn and we'd slice apples and have extra special story time. She has read the Little House on the Prairie series out loud probably 15 times or more. When we were really little, she'd have kids' books memorized and could "read" them out loud from memory to us while she was driving. That's freaking impressive, you guys. If I had to read a book out loud over 10 times, I would probably throw something, let alone do it happily and with as much gusto and enthusiasm as the very first time. She can still recite Dr. Seuss' ABC book. She taught me how to read, but while doing so, she taught me to love reading. She encouraged us to read new books and thereby let us gorge our imaginations on amazing books. I wish more kids out there had that. I do not have children, but if I ever were to, you can bet your ass we would have story time every night, we'd go to the library whenever they wanted and we would make our home a place where reading books would be an encouraged family past time, just like my mom did with us. A lot of people say they would do things a lot differently than their parents. I would, of course, be different in some ways, but I would try to teach my kid just like my mom taught me. If it weren't for everything my mom taught me, I think I would be a pretty boring person, honestly. Mom may have chuckled when she'd see us lost in an 11th grade history book or Shakespeare before we were even teenagers, but she never ever discouraged us from doing so. Ever since my mother nurtured my obsession with books (which has kind of turned into an addiction, honestly) I was determined, if I ever owned a house, it was going to have a library in it. Well, I have been fortunate enough to see that dream come true. But that dream wouldn't have existed without my mother, teaching me to read, and then teaching me to love written word. So, Mom, on this Mother's Day, know that I am forever grateful for you sacrificing so much and teaching all three of us all throughout our school years and beyond, putting up with our quirks and always making us believe that we were intelligent and creative children. And thank you, very much, for helping me to discover the magical world of books, and for spending literally hours upon hours reading stories to us. I'm pretty sure that the amount of times that you read Little House to us may have been what made me always secretly want to be a homesteader. Now that dream is coming true too.   Thanks, Mom. You're the best. Click to Post