#still sick but i need to say things about eiffel

[commsroom]

for all minkowski wants to do things by the book, it's soo easy for her to get pulled into eiffel's spiraling vortex of unprofessionalism. what even was the schedule a year into their mission? like, kepler actually trying to enforce protocol was a horrible shock to eiffel's system, and even then. he still overslept and was late for everything. what was minkowski doing? a third of her crew just fully doesn't show up for her briefing, and, what? she's wasting her own time clanging on the door of his quarters with a wrench until he can't take it anymore, and that takes even more time because now he's definitely not getting up. on principle. there's a non-zero percent chance that she's just barged in there and pulled the covers off of him like he's a teenager who won't get up for school. but only once, on the basis of things she would rather have gone her whole life without seeing.

[7ndipity]

Dating Jin headcanons

Seokjin x Reader

Warnings: swearing, teeny bit suggestive

A/N: More headcanons because they're fun and I can't sleep🤷. Working on these lists is making me so soft for the members all over again, it's crazy. Anyway, hope you like them!

Masterlist

Requests are open

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Dating Jin is like dating your best friend.

Cause, I mean, you basically are.

He is a hopeless romantic, in every sense of the phrase.

A Classic Gentleman. Opens doors for you, holds your hand on the stairs, shows up for your first date in a suit with bouquet of flowers(even though your just going to the fair or smth)

So awkward when you first start dating, his ears probably stayed red for a solid three weeks.

Does that blushy, flustered laugh thing anytime you complement him. Like yeah, he knows he's Mr.WWH, but hearing it from you just hits different, man.

He admitted before to getting so lost in daydreaming about his future s/o that he's burned food, and I think that would still happen(hopefully to a less severe degree) now that he has you.

Like, you'll be talking about something and look over at him, and he just has that distant look in his eyes. And you're like "Hello?" And he just blurts out something like "We should get a cat." "What?!"

You've heard his dad jokes, now get ready for the cheesiest, cringiest pick-up lines ever.

"I'm not a photographer, but I can picture me & you together." "Please stop." "Are you from Paris? Because Eiffel for you." "That doesn't even make sense!"

His flirt game is actually pretty good tho, he's just so nonchalant about it, that it tends to catch you off guard.

You:*walks in room* Him: "Wow." You:"What?" Him:"I just forgot how gorgeous you were."

Likes taking you on fancy dates, but usually prefers cozier, lowkey dates with you.

Like, one day he'll take you to the nicest restaurant in town, the next, he's dragging your ass to some lake to go fishing.

Cooking dates that start out pretty cute and sweet, but become increasingly unhinged as time goes on(there's a korean youtube channel TryToEat, that I swear is what he would be like)

Calls you things like 'Jagi' and 'Honey', as well as more weird, Jin-esque names like 'Bubble'(he thinks it's cute, just go with it)

Couples outfits that range from matching sweatsuits to those t-shirts that say "if found, please return to Jin" & "I'm Jin".(He claims it's for safety reasons because what if he loses you at the mall or smth?)

Y'all pick on each other constantly.

"You look like a Pokémon." "Big talk for someone built like fucking Dorito."

Like, you've seen him with Jungkook, he's a menace. But now, he's your menace. (Imma pray for you)

But he's the only one allowed to pick on you. Anyone else who tries is in for the cussing out of a lifetime.

House Husband Vibes.

Takes pride in looking after you, whether that's taking care of you when you're sick, or just making dinner on a random Wednesday. It makes him feel needed.

Speaks as if you're already married.

"Think about the kids." "What kids?!" "The cats!" "We don't have cats yet!" "Aha, yet! So we are going have some eventually!"

Has the tendency to finish every conversation by giving you a lil smooch. (Doesn't matter if he was talking to you or someone else, you're getting kisses)

Needy

Literally hangs off of you whenever he's tired or wants attention.

Long, drawn out kisses where he backs you against the wall or counter that can make you forget about anything else other than him.

Likes to lay on you rather than with you. Like, you are his favorite pillow, and he will whine if you don't let him have his pillow time, cause he's a dramatic mf.

"AGH, Y/N-AH LOVES ME NOT! HOW WILL I GO ON?!

The other members don't call him the actual maknae for no reason, he's kinda baby.

You're one of the only people who get to see his more serious sides though, however brief their appearances may be.

Argues with you over the dumbest shit, but avoids actually fighting with you like a plague.

Overall, he's very sweet though and would do anything for you. Idk, he's just so, 💞ugh, yeah Imma go now.

[hospitalterrorizer]

diary16

9/20-21/2023

wouldn't you believe it, i have a smile on my face right now.

i'm so really for real happy right now for some reason, or for a few reasons, but i'm really happy. one reason why is today was errand day and i kept it together and it wasn't so bad and maybe they won't be that bad ever again. i don't want to jinx it but i feel very optimistic i guess. second reason why is i did 3 songs today, i thought i'd only do 2, and like yesterday i created more presets that can move between songs and will really help out in figuring out these songs. more cool guitar synth sounds, i'm really happy about them, i'm excited to put them in songs and eventually write with them. some actually kind of expand what i can do i think. or what i wanna do, at least. third reason i guess is the song i'm listening to.

their hair is so giant it's kind of hilarious. it's such a pretty song, and really sweet too. the 'funny it's me' part is seriously incredible to me. it's interesting, the daughter of the woman on the left posts under a lot of their songs, it's crazy how the past still lingers like that. i guess not, it's always super obvious ultimately, it's just shocking. the other day i was thinking about jukeboxes, and how we barely experienced them as like, anything beyond something that plays music, meaning, they used to be or could be annoyances, quotidian to the point of drawing ire and so on, and that's just beyond us, it's not shocking to know, but it's an experience we're not going to have and we're also not going to be caught up in the pushing and pulling of living amongst that technology and all the ways the bourgeois manage that annoyance by inventing ways to silence jukeboxes (the thought was spurred by how they had silent vinyl in the machines you could put money in to play). obviously we have many similar situations, technology is designed to be at least 10-20% annoying always (don't ask about my numbers) because if it agitates and there's a way to alleviate that, then you've invented an industry out of your invention, sorta. this is all like, 101 type stuff, it doesn't really need to be repeated, everybody knows, i know it, obvs.

so i'm up to 16 songs done, 9 more to go, i'm thinking with some of the new plugins today one thing i'll do on my final pass of all these, or in the returns what i'll do is an evolution of my saturator return track idea, where i use the saturn 2 and do some subtle tube distortion in the mids, to get kind of what my mic setup was doing to all the sound, and try to reign that in, so i can have the positive qualities of that in the mix. if all the guitars sound better, and that happens, and they still sound good, i feel like that might be kind of 'sick' or 'dope' or something. idk why i'm saying that, i guess to entertain myself a little.

i'm really sort of dreading going back to the first 5 songs i did in this pass, but i'm sure it won't be as bad as i think, i mean dreading listening to them even. but we'll see. i'm excited to finish up this process and get to doing vocals again, and then even just writing some stuff. who knows if it's gonna be for this album or not. if it's like a 10 second long song though yeah it'll be on the album probably. i also did get some writing out today, not music, prose, in the laundromat, ideas i had in the shower, nothing super hefty but it feels like it belongs. funfunfun.

currently still thinking about getting (you know) softube plugins to see if their distortion stuff speaks to me anymore than any others.

i did find a new saturation thingy just now. i hope it's gooder (lol) than some of the other stuff.

when i said i wrote in the laudromat that was wrong, it was on the way there. i don't know why i remembered that wrong. in the laundromat i just listened to the plot to blow up the eiffel tower's first album and stared at the spinning water and clothes. it's crazy how everything that band did after was so much better. it's not bad but they kind of just spend a lot of time goofing around with the jazz stuff, but maybe it is just beyond me. i feel like if i asked someone who knew anything about jazz they'd agree with me though. just a hunch. maybe i will ask my friend huck about that.

also thinking hard about the songs i'm gonna have to begin doing, cuz they're all older ones that are way less 'guitar' heavy, and some even have different drums which means they will take longer.

feeling the itch to go digging on flickr for random photos for collage stuff. that's fun.

one final thing i guess cuz i'm feeling out of it now, today i saw a white goth woman with dreads, really fucked up stuff, cybergoths are still out there, you'll find them working in your local smiths or vons or whatever. kroger. whatever. isn't kroger terrifying as a prospect.

byebyebye

[starfishhua]

整理

看了過去與他交往前的notes,在我們正式在一起以前我就開始這麼用心的珍惜及經營我們的關係,我真的沒有後悔任何一刻與你在一起的時光,因為每個當下我都很認真的與你相處認識你珍惜你

4/12/17

Chatting deeply this time. Talk about serious in person or text. He said he is trying hard to be less serious and more smiles. He said he will smile for me :) He said he does not trust people easily in order not to get hurt or upset. I told him that I was a little angry that he did not make sure time with me last time and he will make up for me😆

4/13/17

We went to paint nite. I was really expecting this but I felt upset because I did not understand the jokes in the paint nite which made me feel there is a gap between he and I. I tried to talk with him more but no becaue of language barrier... In addition, my Eiffel Tower looked like rocket...😞 I also felt bad that I refused to his suggestion that we trade the paintings of each other's.

4/14-15/17

He invited me to John Legend's concert on 5/27. He also created a song lists for me.

4/16/17

I told him that I had a blue Monday and he sang a song for me. I did not expect that he would sing "你好不好". It was very touchy and I felt happy with his romantic voice. He said he will sing for me all the time!! We chatted deeply again. He asked me about my deepest fear. He does not get angry easily but upset. We told about my feeling in paint nite and he used the study of bilingual people will change personality in different language which really explains the things I feel these years.

4/17-21/17

On going chatting. We talk about go running, hiking, cooking, watching movies together... We set up the movie marathon. I sent him a first heart icon but in yellow 💛 on 4/20/17. Then I got ❣️ back again.

4/1/17

He had not texted me for a while... I was still wondering if we will have a dinner the other day. Then I texted him but not got his message for a while. I felt bad that I think at least you have to tell me not meeting tomorrow. Hence, when he replied to me, I just told him that I would not go because of sickness. Happy Fool Day! It was his first time calling me dear in the message. I did not feel too much because I was a little bit not happy about not telling me the plan tomorrow. He was having a big birthday day party so was so busy with hosting that day...

4/2/17

We went to Chinese restaurant. I prepared a cake for him and he was happy that that was his first birthday cake, lol. I started feeling good with him. I asked him to sing to me many times so he eventually sang one in the parking lot which is little happiness 小幸運. He was cute that he sang into it and was luder and louder. He still cared about if others noticing him. We had a American friendship hug from the front (first time). It was cute that he opened both of his arms to ask for hug, lol. I always felt bervous when we finished meeting. Not sure what to do, lol. I actually noticed that he changed his profile picture on his facebook to the picture I took for him. :)

4/3/17

He invited me for bay to breaker. He even said he could run with me for terrain(5/20/17) and bay to breaker(5/21/17). I kinda like he is trying hard to join my life. I also told him that we can jem together once I practice my piano hard.

4/5/17

I showed him that I did eggs dyeing with my students. He showed me that he bought goldfish and the tank. He invited me to paint nite. I was so happy about that because I am looking for someone to accompany with me for that. I like he used "us" when he said he would do one for us.

4/6-11/17

On going chatting. He went to Tahoe and improved of his skill on snowboarding. He booked one paint nite for us. He was providing very professional suggestions of my allergies, rash on my face. He called me a dear again and told me that it means sweet person or important person. I was saying thank you for thinking that I am a sweet person. Although I hope he thinks I am an important person, I think girls might need to bit a little passive, lol. When I was boarding and heading to San Jose. I called him a dear too. I said he is a dear too and not just a sweet person though 🙃. When I arrived, he sent thank you and ❣️to me. It is the first heart icon I got from him.

4/21-23/17

Went to Seattle. He did not text me for whole day even I came back from Seattle 😭😭. Although he said that he had whole day meeting with friends, I still felt upset about that.

4/24/17

Let him know that I felt upset when he did not text back! Thank you, Hopkins, he texted me back frequently and said he will fight my ghost and let me now worry about it. He shared his blog with me. He said he is seldom truely happy! I want to make hime happy!!!

4/25/17

His definition of true love: a little bit of sincerity a little bit of fate and a little bit of magic. Continuing chatting and set up our looong day! He recored the whole song of 你好不好 to me but I like previous one better. He felt his gf dumped him. Poor guy... I told him about angel rule, trust, people do not hurt others intentionally but because of love,,, He said I am awesome >///<

4/26-28/17

Continuing chatting... He asked about a trip in memorial holidays. We decided to go to Chicago.

4/29/17

We went out whole day, hiking, ramen, Logan, going away party for Geoffrey. And, we bought our Chicago tockets!!! He wiped my car windows and inside for me, gave me three specal towels. I leaned on him in the end of the movie and karaoke time. I like he placed his hand on my head and leaned back his head. He was a little jealous with Geoffrey and tried to reset his role and had great chatting with my friends. Thank you for using Mandarin that much. It is touchy when he said that he learned Mandarin and slept late in order to chat with me💛. Like he put his hand on my shoulder when we walked back to the his car.

4/30/17

We said we are exclusive dating 💛❣️

Bf/gf: understanding others need. Being more as a single couple rather than 2 persons

5/1/17

I was struggling in first speech topic. He said he would drive down and support me! Make me know what topic I want- 幸福！Thank you for letting me rehearse my welfare and happines life! Sent him a music 幸福就是

5/2/17

Hopkins came to support my speech in toastmasters! When we had a dinner together, he said that he made a list for us to do in the following time. He said he will give me a tiny cake with a huge fork and a huge pink balloon with a tiny string which I can only pinch it!! I sang A-Lin p.s.我愛你 to him.💛 He gave me my glases that he fixed whole night and this morning for me❣️He is cute when I said I will find others to go with me to the club and then he decides to come with me then ;)

5/3-4/17

We talked deeply about relationship and exclusive boundaries. I felt a little upset because it made me feel like he wanted the relationship is based on marriage... I do not know I can think about marriage now... He is a very nice person who makes me think a lot about good things that ex treated me. Thanks god to give me another chance to catch this man and thanks ex to make me become a person Hopkins likes.

5/5/17

We walked around San Mateo (first time to be there). We hanged out in Draeger first. He put his hand on my shoulder first and then held my arm and then we held hands. I was very nervous but happy 😊. We walked around and then we went to Philz cafe. Mint coffee is good better than the ginger one he likes, lol. We sat together and planned out Chicago trip. Enjoy he hugged me and time we spent together. We chatted a lot in his car. He smelled my hair at first which made me nervous because it was smelly😞😞. Then I smelled his neck back... then oops, that was very close, I felt his face was very close to me. We turned a little bit to each other. His lip touched the corner of my mouth and then we kissed🙈🙈🙊🙊. We chatted about our ex. I thanked for them so we met each other in the right time so luckily!! We found out we started being interested in each other in 4th time we met- his birthday dinner. He felt I am a thoughtful person who brought him a cake. I like he sang to me. He said he really likes me and felt I am very attractive when I told him about others love. He thanked for me to wait him for being slow and I thanked for him to try to understand me even if language barriers! Like you although it seems like we are still in exclusive dating!! 💛❣️

5/7/17 we went running trianing in central park, Fremont. He tried hard to keep up my speed. We had lunch with Emily and Johnny. Thank you him for accompanying with my friends and getting along well with them. Poor baby got super allergic of pollens. We planed our Chicago trip at my place. Let my dear sleep to reduce allergies and we did 色色的事。First time kissing my top>///< 

5/12/17 san jose downtown with my dear... He made a pasta risotto for me but his co-worker mistook and had it 😭.  Wechatted a lot and talked about my life in usa and I almost cried. We did something 色色的in parking lot (touch her >///<)

5/13/17 I brought flowers to mama Poon because of coming up Mother's Day. It was my first time meeting Hopkins' parents. She is cute. He brought me to look around his past schools including elementary and middle schools. He said I am a delinquent, lol. He shared with me his past!! We went to buy coffee ate the store he used to study. We had our dinner and I really liked 蛤蜊義大利麵. We did 色色的when we came back... we both did first time os >///<. My first time overnight and he came out with me for buying my contacts.

5/18/2017 I made a lunch box to my dear. He made a soup to me. I was too uncomfortable so we went to the porridge. 

5/19-20/2017 We went to SF to pick up racing stuff. His first time in pier 39. We walked around and and had dinner at apple bee. I was very happy that I heard he gave poor people food and borrowed them money! He kidnapped me. It was funny and cute that his condoms were all expired and he even did not use one of them. He went out and had one. First sex and he did not …hmm, lol

5/21/2017 We went to bay to breaker. I was happy to run with him. But I hope I could get more private time with him... really like him.

5/26-29/2017 We had a trip in Chicago. We had an airport emergency, lol. I forgot to bring my ID before we headed to SF airport. We went to wrong airport because of my fault when we came back from Chicago. We shared our past. I told him about my fault and then he became scary analytical mode... Eventually he still said he would do all in and asked me to be his gf and gave me a necklace. 5/29 or memorial day is our anniversary. 

06/02-04/2017 cooking for dear's family. First time cooking together. Meet his sister and brother in law. BBQ trip in Monterey with friends and aquarium 

06/06/2017 slept with dear but we both needed to work the other day🙄. Super tired but sweet. Love my dear sang for me to wake me up色色的小海星

06/09/2017 我讓寶貝生氣很多沒禮貌的driver.寶貝一直抽氣

06/10/2017 我讓寶貝不高興因為無辜司機。寶貝被我逼到不只yell還一直打自己巴掌嗚嗚，其實那天看著你的紅眼睛我好想哭⋯⋯寶貝我好想保護你

寶貝的小鎖被打開了覺得我們更近了

我也哭了因為好無辜然後寶貝完全懂我的心以及委屈��我大哭

[lilithdusk]

How am I supposed to move on from THAT ONE gif?

aka Ladybug realizing her feelings for her beloved partner at the end of season 4-

Rain was pouring, leaving Ladybug shivering; or was it at the sight of her city living up after it has been completely destroyed before her eyes a few hours ago?

Shadow Moth has been caught, finally. The fight lasted hours and a team of super-heroes was very much needed to take him down. His reign of terror ended, leaving a mournful son who lost his father after his mom. The official conference press Ladybug and Chat Noir held confirmed that they finally won over and, to protect his family, his identity will remain secret. Paris was now celebrating the news, marching in the streets, music blazing; as if the city breathed again.

Yet, tomorrow, Ladybug will have to declare that the Peacock miraculous was still lost and if she trusted her instinct, in bad hands. The rest has been short, because at the end of the day, Paris still needed the duo of super-heroes to protect them from another villain, willing to selfishly use people to get what they wish.

She had learnt that information the very same day she decided to reveal her identity to Chat Noir.

Walking in cercle in her room, Marinette has been talking for hours, the kwamis understanding after a few minutes that she needed to rant. She never thought she would consider that option and now, she was sick about it. Nervousness running down her body and making her jolt while she was rambling.

“Tikki, you don’t understand. What I am supposed to do? Do I just detransform in front of him? That seems too simple, as if I don’t care and I care! What if he thinks I am lazy? Do I have to set a dinner? Wait, a dinner is too formal, I know we’re teammates but he’s my best friend. Lunch is better right? I’ll go grocery shopping and I’ll cook pastries and- Shoot, what does he like? I don’t even know his favorite meal! How can I-”

When Tikki tried to suggest ideas for the fifth time and not having time to explain because Marinette was already thinking about the worst case scenario, she gave up and nodded from time to time until the girl calmed down. Marinette finally agreed with her and called Alya to rant, a second time. Alya didn’t hesitate to tease her friend about that date Chat Noir and she set after the end of the battle; making Marinette blushed and gesticulated her arms to deny.

“It’s not a date! Just a patrol between him and I to make sure that Paris is doing fine.”

“But weren’t you the one telling him that the secret identities worked until Shadow Moth has been caught?”

“Uh... Yes but perhaps he doesn’t even want to know my identity now! We talked about that months ago, things can change!” A pause. “Wait, do you think he doesn’t want to know? Why would he shut me down now? I want to know!”

At the end of the afternoon, Alya had given advice about the way Marinette should dress if she met her absolutely platonic teammate in her civil form and had finally hung up. She smiled as she transformed and was about to leave her balcony when Su-Han appeared. She felt like a bus was hitting her, it wasn’t over yet. Apprehension and disappointment were quick to take over her as she made her way to meet Chat Noir. At the top of the Eiffel Tower, she found her partner waiting for her with a dinner. His smile dropped when he noticed her mood.

“I am sorry.” She simply said.

Chat Noir waited for her to continue, incomprehension written on his face. Ladybug pursed her lips, trying to hold a sob. She always was the one making sure that their security was the top priority so why a part of her wanted to say screw to that? Why was she so disappointed?

Lowering her head, a tear fell down on the floor; Chat Noir immediately understood and slowly nod. Of course, what was he even thinking? It could never have been easy. He came down to earth when Ladybug hugged him tightly. While crying, Chat Noir learnt the newly issue and decided to just support her for now. Yesterday, she had spent the entire day at Adrien’s side to make sure he was fine and even called some of his friends to take over when she had to leave. He could be the one keeping her safe. He could reassure her and go on, as they always did.

“You okay my Lady?” He moved back, hands still on her shoulder as she wiped her tears.

Green eyes met hers as she sniffed. Sure his smile was a bit low and she could see tears prickled at the corner of his eyes, yet he seemed so confident and calm.

“How do you do that?” She whispered.

Chat Noir shrugged and pressed her shoulders.

“Remember when Bunnix came that one time? We were still fighting together in the future.”

“Yeah, but I thought we would have figured out our identities by the time.”

Chat Noir raised his eyebrows, taken short by her answer. So she wanted to know his identity? That is what she had planned for tonight if the Peacock miraculous wasn’t lost? She actually wanted to know? It wasn’t his own fantasy?

“I wish I could see you.”

Ladybug raised a hand and finger touched the border of his mask then his cheek before lowering it down.

Chat Noir immediately took her hand back to his face.

“You see me. With or without the mask, you’re the only one who truly knows me.”

Her eyes softened and she opened her mouth before Chat Noir continued.

“Trust me, it is just a matter of time. It doesn’t change anything about us my Lady. I’ll be ready to start this all over again if it meant meeting you again.”

Her heart throb and sped up. She remained silence, absolutely in awe. What has she done to deserve someone like him? An invisible force pushed her towards him. She realized how devoted she was for him. Chat Noir could ask her anything and she would do it without question it. She was ready to follow him wherever he wanted to go until the end of the world. She wanted to be a shoulder he could cry on, a hand he would take whenever he felt the need and someone to rely on. Something new was building up in her chest, very different from the usual anxiousness or panic she felt; something ready to explode rather than swallow her entirely.

“It is you and me against the world.” He smiled.

Shining. That was what he was right now. Glowing in the surrendered night, guiding her as he usually did. He was so bright, almost blinding her by how much faith she had in him.

Chat Noir let go of her and turned his head towards the illuminated city, a smile painting his lips. Ladybug never glanced away from him. She remained silence, incapable to say out loud the realization that just hit her.

She sincerely, genuinely and fully loved him. She had no doubt. And it wasn’t just platonically, she knew Chat Noir owned a part of her heart that she thought only existed for Adrien. After all this time, Ladybug could have laugh if she wasn’t so struck by the gratitude she felt for him. She was so thankful to count someone like him in her life, fighting along with her, willing to lose or win at her side. Ladybug was utterly in love with him.

Blushing painting her cheeks, she forced herself to look away. She promised herself she would tell him someday the feelings she had for him. He needed to know how important he was for her. But for now, they would have to face another villain; together.

Masterlist

[fandomlovingfreak]

Glacial Passion (6/?)

Regulus Black/Reader

Rating: SFW, T+, NO LEMON

Trigger Warning: Arranged Marriage

Word Count: 1991

MasterList Link I AO3 Link I Wattpad Link

Summary: Glacial, cold, icy… all words that described Regulus Black’s grey eyes. Was there truly no emotion behind those eyes, or did a caring man exist beneath? Could she defrost those glacial eyes?

Disclaimer: Regulus Black (Walburga Black, Orion Black, and Sirius Black) is a character from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. Reader or y/n is not owned by Rowling. This work has not been created for profit or financial compensation, and is a transformative fair use work in accordance with Section 107 of the United States Copyright Act.

Notes: No real notes today! I hope you enjoy. This story took a “lighter tone” than I expected (at least I hadn’t expected it to, maybe you did ! aha!) but I actually like writing happier stories so I guess my brain just went “cowabummer bro, you’re writing some happy fiction even if you didn’t want to”

Enjoy

***

"Where are we going?" (y/n) asks. 

Regulus felt a bit relieved that (y/n) agreed to come along on his little surprise trip. After last night, which he now realized was a complete mistake, he wasn't sure that his wife would willingly agree to go out in public with him. Especially if he promised some sort of surprise.

She hadn't asked him any questions until they were walking outside, her arm tucked nicely within his. Like it was meant to be there.

"If I told you, it would ruin the surprise." Regulus glances over at his wife. She's got a deep frown on her face. It doesn't exactly mar her beautiful face, but it reminds him a bit too much of his mother's annoyed expression. "Just trust me."

Her little huff of annoyance he decides is enough of a response.

Regulus tries to think of Sirius's advice. Get to know (y/n), even the small things he personally thought were unnecessary to know about a person-- moot things about her. And in turn, be vulnerable enough to share small things back.

"So-- uh, (y/n)."

"Yes?" she looks at him with confusion in her eyes.

"I thought we ought to try and start fresh."

"Fresh?"

"I don't know how else to move from here if we don't have a clean slate."

"I hardly think that would work."

Merlin-- "(y/n)," he stops, halting her as well, "I said I would try to give you what you want. If you shut me down, there's no chance I can."

She gives him a look, "Regulus--"

"Listen," he inhales, collecting himself, "I'm not good at this. You'll have to be patient with me, but I'm willing to figure this out. And I probably won't--" He pauses, "I probably will mess up, a lot. But, please. Give me a chance."

(y/n) studies his face, "Okay."

"Okay?"

"I understand that I'm asking you to step outside of your comfort zone, and I appreciate that you're being open with me."

Regulus smiles, muttering, "Sirius was right." Under his breath.

"What?" (y/n) asks.

"Nothing." Regulus takes her hand in his, "this can be like our first date."

(y/n) smiles, amused, "this is silly--"

"I was serious last night that I will try."

"No pretending. You swear you will not pretend with me?"

"That's why I am asking that we start fresh. Give me a chance. I'm not good at this-- relationships. I need time and patience."

She seems to contemplate his words, "Okay. But--"

"Yes?"

(y/n) looks down at her feet for a moment before looking at him again, "If we're going to-- start over, it needs to be slower."

"Slower?" He frowns. What the devil is she talking about, slower?

"I mean," (y/n) purses her lips, "I mean that it has to feel like we're actually starting a new relationship."

Regulus chuckles, "you want me to court you?"

(y/n) smiles, "if those are the words you think describes what we are trying to do, then yes. I think I would like you to court me."

Now he feels silly making the suggestion because he has no idea what courting entails. He can barely flirt!

"I mean-- I can try."

(y/n) grins. He's at a loss for words. Not once in the time he's known her-- been married to her, has he seen her look this happy. Clearly, Sirius's advice was half-decent. For the first time since (y/n) walked down the aisle towards him, he felt something. Hopefully, the beginning of something great between them.

***

"You brought me to— the Eiffel tower?" (Y/n) looks up towards the cloudy sky.

Regulus flushes, "It's not just the Eiffel Tower."

(Y/n) laughs, "it looks like it's just the Eiffel Tower—"

"Just—"Regulus lets out a frustrated sound, "it's more than that." He pulls her towards one of the legs of the metal tower. He supposes that enough muggles are wandering around that they wouldn't notice the disappearance of the young couple. He pulls his wand out of thin air, tapping where the witch at the hotel told him to. The metal of the tower seems to melt and twist, magically revealing an entrance.

"What—"(y/n) grips his hand tighter, "I had no idea."

"Neither did I. It's called Caché à la Vue," Regulus grins, "c'mon, Mrs. Black."

They walk through the entrance, the metal contorting back into shape behind them.

In front of them, a bustling street moves around them. Wizards and Witches bustle around carrying cauldrons, brooms, and colorful bags holding other wizarding tools. A group of young girls rushes by, giggling in their blue Beauxbaton school uniforms. 

"Oh— it feels like Diagon Alley," (y/n) comments as she steps closer to him, her shoulder bumping his arm as she squeezes his hand.

Regulus nods, keeping her close as they walk further into the crowd.

"I didn't expect it to be like this," he glances at (y/n). She's looking around with interest at the many shops and people. 

"Let's go in here," she's pulling him towards a shop that smells of lavender and sage. The shop is small but comforting with its earthy color scheme and almost luminescent glow. 

"Oh wow," (y/n) detaches herself from him for the first time since crossing into Caché à la Vue. Regulus watches her poke around the shop, always keeping a two-foot distance from her.

(y/n) seems to notice the hovering, "Why are you-- being so weird?" She's got an amused smile on her face. Regulus tries to relax, stepping a foot closer.

"I'm just giving you space."

"Don't you want to look too?" (y/n) beckons him closer, reaching for his hand. He obliges his wife, letting her point out small trinkets and items. 

***

The busy street of Caché à la Vue frames Regulus as I sit across from him. Once we had explored nearly every shop on the busy street, Regulus had tugged me towards one of the little Bistros, mumbling about it being a recommendation or something of that sort. I didn't fight his insistence to stop and eat. I hadn't had much for breakfast or lunch back at the hotel.

The afternoon hadn't been awful. In fact, I was enjoying myself more than I expected. It only partly-- honestly, completely, had to do with the sudden changes in how Regulus and I interacted. He suddenly was more sociable and curious about who I was. Which was sort of confusing, but at this moment, I felt more confident in our marriage. That maybe we did have a chance to fall in love, or even just co-exist happily together. If co-existing was all that could come from this, then I wished it to be at least a peaceful union.

Yet, I want to know him as much as he seems to suddenly want to know me, so I ask questions about his childhood and his life. At first, he seems reserved to answer some of my inquiries, making me more curious about the information he is holding back from me. 

"So--" I set down my teacup, "how was it like growing up in Grimmauld Place?"

This seems to be another question he hesitates over as he stares down at his plate for a full thirty seconds, making me nervous.

"Do you want the truth?"

I stiffen. The tone of his voice has me wondering if it was a good question to ask after all, "I would if you don't mind answering."

Regulus takes another moment to collect his thoughts, "I don't really remember much before going to school. My parents are-- you can probably tell they are not the friendliest of people." The understatement of the century. "They weren't good parents, if I'm being honest."

"What do you mean?" I suddenly feel uncomfortable as I continue down this path.

"(y/n), maybe this isn't a conversation for public." Merlin, that only makes me want to press for more information, but the look on his face tells me all I need to know at this moment. He will tell me the truth, but if he's more comfortable doing so behind closed doors, who am I to push him for an answer right now?

"Is it that bad?" I do feel a bit sick over how he's reacting to this question.

He looks down at his hands before looking back at me. His eyes are back to the icy grey I know so well. "It's not great." I have to look away from his eyes. "Do you know I have an older brother?"

"But--" Regulus is the Heir? How could he have--?

"Sirius was disowned when he was sixteen, effectively passing the burden of the House of Black to me."

"Do you still-- are you still in contact with him--Sirius?"

"I am, but privately. Walburga wouldn't approve. She likes to think that Sirius never existed in the first place."

"That's horrible!" I couldn't imagine pretending one's child never existed-- "what did Sirius do?"

"He ran away after refusing-- well refusing to do what we have done, I suppose." I stare at Regulus, shocked.

"I mean, he didn't-- doesn't believe in the Pureblood idealogy."

I pause, reflecting for a moment on his words. Is he saying Sirius ran away when his parents tried to make a match between himself and some Pureblood girl?

"Are you saying he ran away from an arranged marriage?" Regulus nods.

Merlin's-- He was only sixteen? "Your parents, they really tried to-- he was so young--?"

Regulus nods, "Too young, I know." Not that I felt the ages we were are any more acceptable, but sixteen? He would've been in the middle of school! Just a kid!

"I can't blame him for running away--" I let the words slip without thinking, quickly feeling guilty for saying such a thing to the man I'm married to. The man I married for the same reason his brother left the exclusive circle we exist within. "No offense, of course--" 

Instead of looking offended or getting angry, how I expect, Regulus laughs. A real genuine laugh.

"It's not that funny, Regulus!" The words had just slipped out of my mouth before my brain processed my rudeness.

"You are exactly like Sirius. It's freakish." He grins.

"What does that mean?" I'm hopeful he's complimenting me.

Regulus takes my hand in his over the table, "You just remind me of him. Both of you are unapologetically yourselves. I envy that."

I want to tell him I'm nothing like his brother. Sirius was able to leave the life we grew up in. I clearly didn't have the balls to leave. But, I don't want to say that, not when we're getting along so well right now. 

"You can be unapologetically yourself, Regulus."

His smile is small as he looks down at our intertwined fingers, "I'm afraid I can't be. At least not publically."

"I can't exactly be publically myself either, especially now, but maybe in private, yeah? When it's just us."

He gently lifts my hand up to tenderly press a kiss to my knuckles. My breath hitches at the suddenness of his actions, and I feel suddenly warm. "When it's just us." His agreement, the tone of his voice when he agrees-- it's incredibly intimate.

Dumbly, I nod. Regulus smiles, kindness reaching his eyes and thawing out the ice they held earlier.

After a beat of silence, one I could not find words to fill, Regulus speaks. "Was there anything else you wanted to see?"

I find my voice, at last, saying I did not believe so. 

***

I felt delirious with desire watching her squirm after my lips left her knuckles. 

Something about (y/n) fascinated me and made me want her, all of her. I knew she felt the same way, even after the way our relationship started. I could tell by the way her lips parted and her breath hitched that she felt that spark between us. 

That spark gave me some hope that everything was going to turn out just fine.

[domxmarvel]

Heart of gold

2 year masterlist

Day:21“Do you know her/him/them?” Chloe x Female!Reader

For the last couple of days you hadn’t heard anything from Chloe,usually she’d call you or message you. She wasn’t at school either,so you assumed that she was sick. But it was the end of the week and the teacher asked you to bring her the homework,but Sabrina took it from you before you could. You were already planning on going to see her anyway. Thankfully the hotel wasn’t too far away,her butler greeted you and led you to her room. 

“Chloe?”You called,opening the door. Her room was slightly messy and Chloe was running around panicking. “Chloe!” She stopped in place,finally looking at you.

“Y/N when did you get here?”

“Right now actually. I just wanted to check on you,since I hadn’t heard anything from you. Are you okay?” She started picking things off the floor,you leaned down helping her.

“Not really”She dumped everything on her bed,looking down. It was clear that she wanted to say something but didn’t know how. “Could you,how do I say this? Please I need you to do something for me”

“Chloe what’s wrong?”

“I need you to leave me for a while,”She said,quickly adding. “Not like a break up,I just can’t have you around for a while”She didn’t seem to wanna explain any further. You knew dating Chloe wasn’t going to be easy,but you did trust her.

“Okay,if you need me i’ll always be here”

“You’re the best girlfriend ever,thank you”She suddenly hugged you,kissing your cheek.

“I love you too”

Before you left you decided to grab a drink,the butler poured you a glass of your favorite drink.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course mademoiselle”

“Did something happen to Chloe?”

“Mademoiselle wouldn't want me to say something but her mother is coming to Paris”

“Her mother?” Chloe never spoke about her mother,so you didn’t know much about her. “What can you tell me about her?” 

“Chloe had never gotten along with her,but she always tried to impress her. Still to this day she tries to impress her.”

***

You found out as much as you could about Audrey Bourgeois,she was very famous in the fashion world. The reason Chloe didn't want you around was quickly revealed,Audrey didn't exactly keep her opinions a secret. She probably didn't want her mother to say something about her girlfriend. That week Audrey was going to be in Paris for a fashion show,staying out of her way wouldn't be much of a problem,except you had been invited to the same fashion show that she was attending. You were going there to support Marinette,since Adrien was going to be modeling her hat. 

The show hadn't even started,but you already saw Audrey. She was arguing with Nathalie about sitting in the front row. You saw Chloe standing behind her,she suddenly turned and your eyes met.

"Y/N" Before you could respond her mother looked you up and down.

"Do you know her?" She asked,her tone made it clear that she immediately didn't like you. Chloe hesitated for a moment,looking back and forth between both of you.

"No,I would never be seen with such a fashion disaster" You felt Marinette about to say something,but you quickly grabbed her hand stopping her. Once they walked away,everyone turned to you confused.

"What happened,why did she say that about you?" 

"It's a long story,I'll explain later"

***

The show was quickly interrupted by Style queen. She was shooting wildly into the crowd,everyone that was hit was slowly turning into a golden statue. It was pretty obvious that Style queen was Audrey. Even face to face with a supervillain,you weren't worried about yourself but about Chloe. You needed to find her,Ladybug showed up and that was the perfect opportunity to find Chloe. Style queen was about to fire but was stopped by Chloe,who suggested going after Gabriel first. Style queen took both Chloe and Adrien,you ran out seeing the blur of gold that was the queen,stopped at the Eiffel Tower and quickly left. Picking up your phone,you called her.

"Y/N"

"Are you okay? Where are you?"

"I'm fine,she left me at the Eiffel Tower and left to find Gabriel" 

"I'm coming to get you" You hung up before she could respond.

As you were heading up the stairs,you saw Chloe running down to you. You wrapped your arms around her. "Are you okay?" You asked,looking her all over.

"I'm fine" She looked away from you,reaching out and putting your hand on her cheek. "I'm sorry about what I said back there. I lo-" Before she could finish what she was saying,Style queen came back. 

"I should've known you'd fail me like everyone else,you're fired" She fired at Chloe but you blocked it with your body,gold glitter was starting to cover your body. She started shooting wildly,making the glitter spread faster with each hit.

"Y/N" You felt your body getting stiffer.

"I love you too" 

"Y/N!"

*Chloe's pov*

"No," I whispered,putting my arms around her. Style queen suddenly left and I felt someone's hand on my shoulder.

"Chloe I need your help" Ladybug stood in front of me,holding a small box. 

"Chloé Bourgeois, here is the Bee Miraculous, which grants you the power to immobilize your opponent. You will use it for the greater good." I took the box from her. "Once the job is complete, you will return the Miraculous to me. Can I trust you, Chloé?" I turned to look at Y/N before turning to Ladybug. 

"Yes,I do anything for her" I whispered the last part hoping she wouldn't hear,but of course she did.

"Your girlfriend,you really love her"

"Do you have a plan?" I quickly changed the subject.

***

"Pollen buzz off" I handed the miraculous back to her. "Thank you for trusting me"

"I knew that you'd do the right thing" 

"I have to get back to Y/N" 

*Y/N pov*

When you turned back Chloe was gone. You were looking around for her,when suddenly you saw her running towards you.

“Y/N” She ran past her mother and hugged you. “I’m so happy you’re okay”

“I'm happy you’re okay too. ''You kissed her forehead,you expected her to pull away from you but she didn’t. “You should probably go make sure she’s okay”

“Yeah,can we talk about this later? Say at my place after the show?” 

“Sure”She turned to help her mother,who immediately looked over at you.

“You again”She scoffed,she turned to Chloe “Chloe who is she?”Both of you and Chloe were taken back by her asking about you. Chloe hesitated for a moment,you expected her to insult you again. “Do you know her?”

“Yes,I know her ''She moved to stand next to you instead. “She’s my girlfriend and she is the most amazing girl I've ever met. I don’t care what you say because I love her” You moved closer,taking her hand in yours.

“I love you too”

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Counterpart to this

(Chat noir's side)

Shadowmoth had entered here!

Chat noir was sure of it.

Ladybug had told chat noir to sit tight while she and Rena Rouge went to get help. Sentimonsters were running rampant and the trio agreed that it was too much for them alone.

But how could he when Shadowmoth was right there! This could be the only chance they had of tracking him down!

The Cats night vision helped him naviagate the dark underground of the city. It didn't take long for the cat hero to realize he was in the catacombs.

"Spooky. Oddly fitting for Shadowmoth."

He pulls out his communicator to contact Ladybug... but no signal.

"I can't connect, strange... Ill jump out and call..." Chat noir's sentence was stopped as he collided with a wall.

"What the... I could have sworn that there was a door way behind me." The cat commented.

He decided to start walking. Perhaps finding the villain would make finding the way out easier.

Chat noir began making his way through the catacombs. The place emitted a feeling of ominous dread. He never did like this place.

The tight dark spaces, the creepy feeling of being watched, and the nasty smell. Of course Shadowmoth would feel right at home.

Chat noir found himself hitting a dead end.

"Jeez this place is like a maze."

His nail to scratch an X on the wall.

"Thats one dead end."

The Cat hero made it a habit of doing that whenever he ran into a dead end.

As he encountered more and more dead ends her felt his calm start to shake.

"Is this place getting smaller?" He said in a joking manner to himself, but clearly was more panicked than he was trying to let on.

He started moving a bit faster, trying to find an exit, but every path seemed to take him to an X.

"No way, I know I haven't been down this way before..." Chat noir spoke in disbelief.

He was starting to get frustrated. Surely Ladybug noticed he was gone.

"Calm down Chat noir, Ladybug likely noticed you're missing and will be here to help."

"Hey where's chat noir?" a voice calls out. A familiar voice.

Chat noir focused on the sound, it was Rena rouge! He rushed to find the location of the sound.

"Rena! I am so glad to..."

Chat noir found himself looking at a wall, but something was different. Instead of a blank wall, it was projecting something. Chat noir could see Rena Rouge and Ladybug as clear as day. He could hear them.

"Where is that cat, I told him to wait here." Ladybug stated with a bit of annoyance.

"Should we go look for him?" Rena Rouge inquired.

"Look at the city! we don't have time to search. Im sure he will catch up." Ladybug insisted.

"Right!"

The two fist bump and run off as they head into battle.

Chat noir took that as a sign that he needed to find a way out. But as he turned, he noticed the way he came was gone. There was no door. He was just stuck in the room, with the broadcast. Chat noir finally realized it, this place was alive!

"So its a sentimonster's doing! Lets see how you like it when I destroy..."

Suddenly a pair of eyes show up on the wall. Then another pair.

The cat realized, the sentimonster WANTED him to use his power. It would cause the place to go haywire and he would be put on a time limit. He could be exposed if he tried it. What should he do?

Chat noir looked around the small room and noticed the broadcast was continuing. He took a deep disappointed sigh. All he could really do was watch. If things get really desperate for Ladybug, he will cataclysm the sentimonster and rush to her, consequences or not.

So Chat noir sat down and continued watching the broadcast.

He heard every quip, every word. He saw how Ladybug got down on herself when the guardian's Su Han had called got controlled.

He saw the reveal of Rena Rouge being Alya as she had to fight her akumatized family. That was a shock! And he could see the emotion of the whole situation.

He even saw Ladybug hit her lowest point which seemed to happen whenever Shadowmoth did something extra nefarious.

Chat noir tried calling out to her, trying to cheer her on, but he wasn't needed. Rena Rouge took over. She told Ladybug the encouraging words in his place.

"Even if its just the two of us, we can fight the whole world." Rena Rouge stated confidently. "Trust me."

Ladybug smiled as she met the fox's fist with her own.

"There's no one I can trust more!'

Chat noir felt his heart shatter. Was this real? Was this really happening? Was this just an illusion made by the sentimonster that trapped him? Regardless it was torture.

But he couldn't stop watching. He saw how Ladybug and the other heroes turned it all around. Scarlet shadow moth was shocked. He was in awe of ladybug and the other heroes. He was giving the cliché villain speech of how it wasn't possible, and then at the moment the Rena Rouge snagged his staff, the broadcast ended.

"I wasn't needed..."

He hugged his knees.

"Was I holding her back? Rena Rouge didn't need to sacrifice herself. She did everything I would have done but better..." Chat noir whispered as he felt his heart sink.

Was she just humoring me by keeping me around? Was I there just to be comic relief? Does she even trust me? Did she notice he was gone the whole time? Would she even care if he left?

These thoughts flooded the depressed cats mind.

Was she my partner only out of obligation?

That last thought made him stand up.

"CATACLYSM!" He roared as he hit the wall infront of him.

He heard the wailing of the creature that made up the maze. He saw the walls shifting like crazy! Some expanding and other's tightening. He needed to get out of there!

He still felt those negative feelings and it clouded his mind as he failed to dodge one of the moving walls, snapped on his leg like a mouse trap.

"No!"

Chat noir felt his despair grow as he noticed more walls moving and pulling him down. He was doomed.

"No wonder Ladybug wants to replace me." He said as a tear streamed down his face.

Thats when the cat noticed a black butterfly move towards him.

"No!" Chat noir tried to struggle but he couldn't get away as the akuma flew into his bell.

Chat noir screamed as the akuma tried to get into his head, but he can hear the sweet calls. It can give him the power to escape, he can have the power to show Ladybug he isn't replaceable.

He can show them all.

Chat noir did his best to resist. But all of the emotions he had been trying to suppress had burst to the surface, he couldn't resist.

He felt his resistance slip. The sentimonster stopped moving as Chat noir heard Shadowmoth's words.

“Chat Blanc! I give you the power of infinite destruction, to destroy anything and everything that causes you pain. In exchange, you will bring me Ladybug’s miraculous.”

Chat noir felt himself give in.

His black costume shift to become white. His green eyes turned a cold ice blue. His blond hair also matched his costume.

A new emotion filled him.

Pure rage.

"Mega Cataclysm."

A massive burst of destructive energy burst from his hand. He erased the rampaging sentient maze. He could finally see the outside.

He looked around and saw the Eiffel Tower.

"There." He said to himself before sprinting towards it.

Chat blanc noticed a few foolish individuals trying to stop his approach, but they were not strong enough to stop him. He casually swiped them without slowing his pace.

In a matter of minutes he had reached the top of the French monument.

“Excellent timing Chat Blanc.”

The Cat looked at the villain for a moment, expressionless. Internally he was seething in anger. All of the pain the villain had caused him. He hated him

“Ladybug we might need a lucky charm here”

The cat heard Rena Rouge say.

“It happened again…”

Ladybug muttered in horror.

She seemed to be zoning out. Was he not even worth her attention.

“Now Chat Blanc. Take the miraculous!”

Chat blanc had no interest in the villain's commands. But a thought popped into his head.

“I shall.”

Shadowmoth Laughed only to suddenly de-transform into Gabriel Agreste, right in front of the two heroes.

He had snatched both miraculous from him, and was looking at the villain with sharp eyes.

The cat villain was shocked for a split second. But it made sense in a sick cosmic sense. He decided he didn't care. His father was a monster that didn't care about him, so why should he care about his father?

“Chat Blanc! How dare you disobey me! I am your…”

“You are nothing…”

Chat blanc cataclysmed the man before he finished his sentence.

“… but a failure of a father.”

He turned his attention to Ladybug and Rena Rouge.

“Wow… that was excessive… But no worries. Just pass ladybug the akumatized item and we can undo all the damage done today.” Rena Rouge said as she composed herself.

The cat looked at the fox with contempt, how he wanted nothing more to destroy her for replacing him. But... a new more sinister thought pops into his head.

Chat Blanc raised his hand in the air.

“Cataclysm.”

A ball of white light formed in his palm and began growing.

Ladybug snapped back to reality as the gravity of the situation became real.

“Chaton stop! You can’t destroy everything! This isn’t you!”

He would destroy her legacy.

“Destroy Akuma Charms” He spoke.

Little balls of energy bursted out from the large cataclysm. The tiny energy balls located and destroyed every anti akuma charm Ladybug had ever created.

After that task was finished. Chat blanc lowered his hand, and a Cheshire grin appeared on his face.

“So I finally have your attention.”

[writer-panda]

Ruin and Rebirth - Chapter 1

Ruin and Rebirth

Chapter 2

Inspired by @jumpingjoy82 on Tumblr. Thank you for the amazing prologue.

I don’t own the characters, only the plot. Miraculous and Justice League belong to their respective creators

--------

"It's okay Marinette. Everything is going to be fine. You’re too young to understand, but it was for the greater good."

To young.

TO YOUNG!

It was all the Justice League's fault. If they kept their incompetent asses out of Paris, none of this would have happened.

Apparently, they just spontaneously decided to go through the Watchtower’s recycling bin, and what they found astonished them. Years upon years worth of pleas for help from Paris.

They decide to finally investigate, and it just so happens that it was during an Akuma Attack, and they threw everything the Parisian heroes were telling them out of the window, wanting to do things their own way.

Superman was one of the ones there.

And they learned just how far the Miracle Cure could go.

He decided to use his super strength and threw a car at the akumatized victim, who moved out of the way at the last minute, so the car sailed right through the Tom & Sabine Bakery, promptly, catching on fire, giving no time for the people inside to get out. No one got out alive.

Ladybug froze for a moment, before fighting with more determination than before, knowing that the Miracle Cure would bring them back.

She was wrong, which brings us back to this point.

"I don't give a damn about you so-called 'greater good' and now you’re telling me, that I'm too young to understand, but am I too young to experience it? Too young to actually see everything and everyone I love torn from me because of these heroes?! Why the hell are they here now? Where were they when this first started? What changed? And now, because of them, my entire family is dead!"

After that everything was hazy, but she knew, she hated superheroes.

They never knew when to stop, and just like Chat Noir, they expected to be praised for whatever happens, no matter if there were casualties or not.

The world would be better off without them.

----------------

The sun has long since set over Paris. The fires were still burning in some parts of town. For the first time since Ladybug first appeared, the citizens of Paris felt true fear. It was ironic. They didn’t fear the akuma. They feared the heroes that came to their rescue. For the first time in four years, the casualties were piling up. And the akuma was responsible for none.

True, many of them initially asked for it. With each fight, Ladybug and Chat Noir were taking longer. It’s been obvious for some time that they were slowly being worn out. Some media started to criticize the duo, question their skills, age, their right to act in Paris. They weren’t part of the UN Justice League Charter. Their only real authority came from the trust of the citizens themselves. And that trust was lost. The civilian pleas to the Justice League increased in number and frequency. Under public pressure, the mayor had no choice but to issue an official plea for help.

But then, then… the heroes came. 

In retrospection, almost everyone would agree that it was a mistake. Justice League was not used to fighting magical threats. They weren’t practiced in dealing with possessed villains. They didn’t understand. And they treated Ladybug and Chat Noir worse than sidekicks. 

That flying chicken even dared to wrap Chat Noir in a metal bar so he wouldn’t get in the way. 

Ladybug… tried her best. She allowed herself to trust the new heroes. She stopped saving every civilian from the rubble. She focused on the akuma. If heroes didn’t bother with the lives, it must’ve meant they trusted her cure, right?

WRONG

They were like a tank, riding through the city with a singular goal in mind. 

It didn’t help that they deemed the akuma a “world-level threat”. Yeah, right. Stormy Weather was powerful, but the damage could’ve been repaired. 

Or so she thought.

The volcanos, the tsunami, the tornadoes, the earthquakes? Those were fixed. The rubble caused by them was put back in place and those who suffered under them were better than new. 

But not the damage caused by the heroes. 

Not the bakery.

There was no magic in what happened. There was nothing to reverse. Those were human actions. For the first time perhaps, the people could see how much of the damage caused by the fight was the fault of heroes. How many deaths they caused. That is if they admitted, before themselves at least, that it was their fault. 

And yet, the so-called ‘heroes’ dared to lecture her about responsibility. About the sacrifice of few for the lives of many. About the innocence of young. 

She ran away. She managed to dodge them and vanish. Meld with the crowd when there were no cameras in sight and she was sure they couldn’t track her. 

Now, Ladybug stood alone on the top of the Eiffel tower, with her yo-yo communicator in her hand. She sent the message fifteen minutes ago. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but at this point, she no longer cared. There was nothing more for her. 

“He thought this was a trap.” A voice spoke from behind her. Ladybug twisted immediately, taking a guarded stance. She was still avoiding the Justice League after all. Before her stood… someone. She suspected it was an Akuma. The woman had pale skin and wore a black dress, black gloves, and a black veil over her face. 

“It isn’t. I’m alone. The city suffered enough as it is today. I suffered enough.” Ladybug’s voice cracked slightly.

“I see…” The akuma pursed her lips. For a moment, a purple butterfly appeared over her face before the woman nodded. “Fine. Give me your miraculous and I will take you to him.” 

“That isn’t going to work and you know it. You would just leave me stuck here. I’m willing to offer a token of goodwill though.” With that, Ladybug pulled a necklace and dangled it before the akuma. 

“Is that…?” 

“The miraculous of the fox? Yes. No tricks. I want to negotiate. In-person.” She made sure to emphasize the last part. 

The outline of the butterfly appeared in front of the Akuma’s face for a moment before she silently nodded. “I can lead you to him, but not before you reveal your face.”

“Fine.” Ladybug didn’t hesitate. She was past that point long ago. There was no hesitation, no doubt… no regret. Not for her actions anyway. No more.

In the flash of light, instead of Ladybug, Marinette stood before the akuma. 

“You’re…” the woman’s voice was stuck in her throat.

“I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” 

Tikki, floating nearby gasped in fear. The Kwami didn’t get a chance to explain before Marinette resumed her transformation. 

“Fine. Let’s go.”

The two leaped from the tower and started to zoom over the city. At first, they remained silent. Neither wanted to speak. It was tense anyway. It was, of course, Marinette who broke the silence first. 

“Your… your look. Have you lost someone today?”

The woman didn’t answer immediately. She appeared to be mulling over the question at first. Or wondering if she should answer.

“A… colleague; coworker. He was… a friend of mine you could say. We’ve been working side-by-side for at least a decade.”

“I see…” Marinette pursed her lips into a thin line. “I’m sorry.” She spoke up after a moment. “I imagine you blame me now?”

“No.” The akuma snapped. “You’re just a child. I put the blame where it belongs. With heroes. And with people who chose to invite them.” 

“Not hawkmoth?” Escaped ladybug’s mouth before she realized it. 

“He… he never wanted this either. He isn’t a villain you believe him to be.” The akuma hesitated for a moment, but Marinette could sense it was her own opinion. She filed it in her brain under interesting. 

-----------

When they arrived at Agreste manor, Marinette was surprised.

When they entered the study, she was baffled.

When they went down the secret elevator, she was angry. 

When she stood before Hawkmoth, she was furious. And it wasn’t because he was her mortal enemy. 

“So that’s why you neglect your only son?!” She screamed at him as soon as he turned to see her. His mouth moved, probably to give some excuse. “I don’t care if you want to rule the world or be a god or whatever. No matter what little sick excuse your brain found to justify your actions. You are not allowed to just ignore Adrien like that! He needs a father. He is a teenager and he needs you!” 

“Madmoiselle Dupain-Cheng.” His voice was cold, but in a different way than she ever heard Gabriel Agreste or Hawkmoth speak. 

“Gabriel Agreste. And I assume you akumatized your Assistant, Nathalie?” She pointed to the woman next to her. 

“Astute observation, Ladybug. You risked a lot coming here to speak with me. I could take your miraculous now, or any other time. You gave me your most precious protection: your secret identity. So… what was that important?”

“I want to know. What is so important to you that you’re willing to go any length to get it?”

“That’s it?” Hawkmoth raised an eyebrow. “That’s all? You’re ready to risk everything over that little piece of knowledge?”

“Yes.” Once more, there was no hesitation. There was no doubt. Her heart had no place for doubts anymore. Her heart was still stuck under three levels worth of rubble. 

“And what, pray tell, would you do if I told you?” He asked with a hint of amusement in his voice. 

“That depends.” She could see he was now intrigued, so she started to explain. “On whether I like the goal or not. And on whether you understand fully the implications. If you pass, you will get my miraculous and I will deliver you Chat Noir’s miraculous too. If you fail, you still get my miraculous. But you will never get the ring. I made sure that if something happens tonight, he will retire. He will leave Paris and toss the ring into the ocean in a concrete box. You would be left to torture the city all you wish until the League found you, but the ring’s power would forever remain out of your reach. You would be left with nothing but a criminal record. And your son would sooner than later be left without both parents. Of course, you could abandon your crusade, but then I would’ve won. I’m not a naive girl without a plan. Not anymore.” She spat the last part angrily, but her gaze was not focused on Hawkmoth, but far in the distance. 

“I… see. Clever. You’re right. This will probably end tonight.” He looked her over top to bottom. It was the first time he stood so close face to face with Ladybug. His nemesis. 

Gabriel wasn’t sure if he was impressed with her, or infuriated. Scratch that, he was sure he was both. She outsmarted him. She was willing to make an ultimate sacrifice for the sake of ending the fight. In that very moment, in her determined expression, he saw a reflection of another headstrong woman he knew. It was as if Emilie’s spirit stood before him. 

“So? How will it be?” she asked impatiently.

“Follow me.” He simply motioned for her and started walking. 

Soon, the group entered a large chamber, lit by several lights. In the center of a platform in the far end stood a glass coffin. Even from the distance, Marinette easily saw there was a woman inside. She was quick to pass Hawkmoth and get there, even as he was trying to grab her.

When the akuma and Gabriel arrived, they watched as Marinette was carefully pacing around the coffin and muttering under her breath. 

“She overused the damaged miraculous.” It wasn’t a question, but Hawkmoth answered anyway.

“Yes. Only the wish can bring her back.”

“You’re one of the biggest idiots in this whole city!” The girl screamed. “She is not dead, you moron. There are literally five different ways listed in the book which, may I remind you, you possess!” She continued to yell at him. “Hell! You could akumatize someone and give him healing power. You know… use the butterfly miraculous like it was meant to be used!” She scolded. “But nooo! You’ve got to be an idiot and immediately go for the most dangerous, imprecise, reckless, chaotic, risky solution there was! I’m sure she would’ve been ashamed.” 

Gabriel was at a loss for words. Was it really that easy? It couldn’t have been. He checked several times. He would’ve known. The akuma left Nathalie, who collapsed onto the ground. Some tear stains were now visible on her face. “I… I was just… I did what she told me. Only the wish can bring back the dead.” He stammered. 

“She. Is. Not. Dead.” Marinette made sure to punctuate each word. “She is in a coma. She is alive you moron. Tikki! Spots off!” The flash of light signaled the end of her transformation. “Be silent, little one.” She said in a caring voice. She couldn’t bring herself to take her anger on Kwami, but she couldn’t doubt now. “Akumatize me. Give me the power to heal her.”

The corruption left the akuma that was floating in the air, only for Hawkmoth to get his hands around the white butterfly and pour a new dose of power into it. It flew the short distance between them and sunk into Marinette’s purse. She smirked as the corrupted energy passed through her, turning her into an akuma. That is until she could see how she looked. 

“I’m not sure how you can call yourself a designer and yet dress me in this!” she complained. Her skin was now deep red, the color of blood, and her clothes turned into a white nurse uniform. Still, she walked to the coffin and easily opened the top. From her purse (now medic’s bag) she pulled a needle and injected the content into Emilie.

When the beautiful woman started to move, letting out an exhausted groan, Marinette sighed in relief. 

“Wha… what’s going on… the last thing I… Gabriel!” She bolted upright and immediately moaned in pain. Her hand instinctively flew to her back. “Gabriel Agreste! Did you keep me in this coffin for a whole week!?” She yelled at her husband. “And who’re those two?” She pointed at Marinette, who was smiling next to her, and Nathalie, still exhausted on the floor. “You were supposed to only reveal this to Adrien if anything happened to me. There was no talk about your assistant and… um, who’re you?” The woman turned to the akuma, who sighed and tore a strap of her bag. The butterfly left the item and Marinette reverted back to her normal form. 

“I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I’m… was… used to be Ladybug.” 

“But you’re just a kid. And why was Ladybug active… Gabriel!” She roared and her husband took a step back. 

Marinette was… surprised. She didn’t expect Emilie to be like that. From what Adrien told her, she was supposed to be the kindest, nicest person in the world. Then again, he might’ve been looking at it through tinted glasses.

“Yup.” The bluenette couldn’t stop herself from commenting. “He decided that the best way to wake you up was to get the miraculi of Ladybug and Black Cat.”

“You nincompoop. That plan was only for when I was dead.” She glared heatedly at her husband and Marinette couldn’t help but be a bit smug. “And you couldn’t get the items from a kid? How many other heroes are there?” 

“Only Chat Noir. He’s my age. And I sometimes call in some help from others.” Marinette supplied quickly. She was having entirely too much fun from watching Emilie tear Hawkmoth a new one. 

“Two kids! You couldn’t defeat two kids! I leave for just one second and you start getting your rear kicked by kids!”

“He also neglected Adrien for the last two years.” Marinette decided to have as much fun as she could while it lasted.

“Gabriel Agreste. You’re officially grounded until I sort this mess. Now take your secretary and leave. I will sort the mess with you later,” she ordered. Her husband could only nod and leave as quickly as possible. 

Marinette was now holding her sides laughing. ”That was amazing. Merci Madame Agreste. I didn’t think I would get to laugh tonight… But this was too good.” 

“Oh sunshine, don’t worry. I will get him in line for you. Whoever decided to let kids fight for them was clearly sick or senile.” 

“Master Fu was… he made some mistakes. I… maybe if I wasn’t so young…”

“It’s not your fault. Whatever you blame yourself for. You shouldn’t have been responsible for Paris. Or whatever else my husband did. I think some time on the couch will do him great.” The woman got up and walked over to pull Marinette into a hug. She then led the girl back to the (now half-open) coffin and seated them both on the edge. “Why don’t you tell me what ails you? I’m sure I can help.” 

For a moment, Marinette looked the woman in the eyes. Then, she started talking. She told her everything.

About a class full of idiots who believed every lie and actively fought against her.

About Lila, who manipulated everyone and did everything to turn her life into a personal version of hell. 

About the teachers, who preferred to let her be walked on then do their jobs.

About her partner, the dorky cat who couldn’t take life seriously and at times was immature. She came to like his antics, but he infuriated her as much as he kept her sane. 

About the so-called heroes, who came into the city and ruined her life.

About the destroyed bakery. The four bodies inside.

“It was her birthday. Today my nonna had her sixtieth birthday. We were celebrating when the Akuma happened. Except the Justice League came. Funny thing. The cure can return anyone killed by magic. It can’t return those killed by aliens tossing cars around.” 

“Do you have any other family?” Emilie asked, worried about the girl. She walked through so much pain in her short life. 

“My uncle… but he lives in Shanghai now. Papa was the only child and Maman moved here from Asia… I’m not sure what will happen next.” The girl revealed. 

“Next? Next, you will come live with us. No strings attached. I have no need for your earrings or other miraculous and I can keep my husband in check. I owe you that much.”

“I… you don’t owe me anything, Madame.” The girl quickly protested. “You’re not responsible for what happened. I don’t blame your family. Those were the American heroes who killed my parents. They were the ones that destroyed half the city. They are the ones to blame,” Marinette informed the woman in a solemn tone. 

“And that’s why I want you to stay with me. With us. I can protect you. Teach you. You can have your vengeance on those who wronged you. I can make you a queen. They will regret the day they wronged you.”

“I… I accept.” Marinette bowed her head.

[unhealthyfanobsession]

Soft Nessian cuddles/slice of life? 🥺 writers choice for universe ❤️

See now that writers choice of universe was dangerous because it got me thinking about a comment from one of my faves- @talkfantasytome on Going For Gold asking for more of a certain day. I won’t call this canon for that fic because I don’t think Nesta was quite at this point then in the story, but I’m writing the Drabble I would’ve put in that chapter if Nesta were more of a soft girl.

No worries if you don’t read GFG, this can be read alone. Context is simply: Olympic Village AU, Cassian just won a gold medal and Nesta just realized she’s in love with him. He’s been in love with her for some time now, obviously.

It was annoying, quite frankly. This feeling. Like her heart was trying to pry her rib bones apart and offer itself raw and unprotected to the giant teddy bear of a man in front of her.

Nesta was an elite athlete. Her heart rate was so low most of the time that she barely registered it was in her chest. Which… maybe that was a metaphor, but Nesta didn’t have time to care about metaphors right now because as previously stated, her heart was pounding.

And it just got worse. As everyone piled on to congratulate Cassian. As she saw his face splashed across her news app. As she waited, patiently, for them to be alone. She was feeling unsettled and apparently now when she was feeling unsettled she wanted to be near him. Which was ridiculous. And inconvenient as hell.

It took approximately four hundred years before they were back in his bed. Where they’d joked that morning about him leaving her there because he loved to see her all warm and cozied up in his covers.

Nesta said nothing. Only took his hand and pulled him into his own bed. Sat cross legged with her spine against his pillows and motioned for him to do the same.

Cassian knew something was up, but he just smirked a little and joined her. Mimicking the position so that his knees knocked against hers.

“No.” Nesta shook her head. “Nope. I can’t look at you while I say this. Ugh!” Nesta humphed herself out of the bed and pointed at her vacated spot. “Up there.”

“Bossy,” Cassian grinned, settling himself against the headboard. “I could get into that.”

Nesta just rolled her eyes. Crawled back into the bed like some stupid pathetic love sick kitten and laid her back against his chest. Pulled his legs apart so she could sit in between them and lulled her head back onto his broad chest. Cassian, the unreasonable pillar of perfection that he was, instantly rested his chin on her head and wrapped both of his massive arms tight around her waist.

Her only consolation was that his heart was also racing where she could feel it beating against her back.

“Congratulations.” She said quietly.

“Thanks.”

“This… this is supposed to be about you. And I know that. And the rest of the day can be. You made it about me when I won my medals, but first we have to talk. Because I have a problem.”

His whole body stiffened against hers. “Ok?”

“My problem is that I don’t do this. And I’ve told you that. And you’ve been patient and sweet and understanding. You haven’t pushed me at all. Which is a part of my problem.”

“You want me to push you?”

“I want you to be less perfect,” Nesta grumbled. “Because when you do things like wrap your arms around me at night and tell me I’m beautiful and that you don’t even care when I’m being a massive bitch. When you do things like let me drag you around a museum for hours and point at me in a crowd the second after you win a gold medal I… I start to get feelings. Feelings that I don’t understand.”

Cassian’s chest rumbled with laughter against Nesta’s back.

“Don’t mock me!”

“I’m not.” Cassian assured her with a kiss to the top of her head. “Why don’t you finish and then let me know when it’s my turn.” He said it casually, but his legs moved to tangle with hers and his arms tightened until she wasn’t sure if she was keeping herself together or he was doing it for her.

“Ok. You make me want things, Cassian. Things that I never knew I could even want. I knew I could want sex and physical touch and maybe even love in some weird way, but I never… you make me want to prance through the street like an idiot holding your hand. You make me want to visit the Eiffel Tower and drink too much wine in a candlelit restaurant. You make me want a life that I… I’m so afraid I’m not capable of. You make me want a little house on a cul de sac. You make me think about what a person who was half me and half you might look like. You just… you make me want things, Cassian. And I don’t know how to have those things.”

“My turn?”

“Your turn.”

Cassian grasped his hands around her waist and easily flipped Nesta around, her legs spreading around his hips and her arms going around his neck until she was hanging onto him like a baby koala bear. It was disgusting. And everything she had ever wanted.

His hand rubbed idle circles along the small of her back. “I love you.” He’d said those words for the first time that morning and he thought it was a mistake, but it wasn’t. It couldn’t be. “I’ve wanted those things since the second I saw you, Nesta. Every minute with you is like being a person I don’t recognize. I’m a wrestler! And you make me this gooey, marshmallowy, puddle of puppy dog eyes and searing touches. The games aren’t even over yet but if you want to see the Eiffel Tower then let’s go. If you want to see the pyramids or the Congo or go white water rafting down the damn Nile then let’s go. You and me. Whatever you want.”

Cassian’s shirt was damp. Not a lot, just a little puddle where Nesta let out a few silent tears. “You can have anything you want. Anything. You are extraordinary and I know you’re scared. I’m scared too, but I’m also sure. Sure of us and the future and what we can do with it. I’m sure about you, Nesta.”

“I’m so scared to be apart after this,” she admitted.

“I’m not.” Cassian held her closer. “We could be in different dimensions, different universes, and I would still love you. I’m not afraid of the distance, but… why don’t you come with me?”

“What?” Nesta blinked up at him, blue-grey eyes wide and bleary.

“After the games. Come with me to England. You need to figure stuff out for you and Feyre’s move and I’ll be there for months on this project… come with me.”

Nesta smiled, but Cassian couldn’t see it. Because she lurched forward and smiled against his lips. “Yes,” she whispered between earth shattering kisses. “Let’s do it. Let’s be together. Let’s… want.”

“No,” Cassian smirked, “let’s have.”

[fandoms-are-insane]

“Take you to Paris”

Shigaraki Tomura x reader (angst-to-fluff-to-smut)

Word count: 2813

Some hurt comfort smut because I want to hug Shiggy rn

It all started with Ratatouille.

Tonight wasn’t any different from usual. Friday is date night, a tradition Shigaraki and I have managed to uphold ever since we started dating four months ago. It’s not always easy but we manage, despite his hectic lifestyle.

Going out, having to deal with people, has never been either of our strong suits. Because of that it usually ends up with him stealing us buying a random game and trying to speed run it, or renting a movie. 

Hence how we got to Ratatouille.

His arm is draped over my shoulder and I’m cuddled into his side. His hand absentmindedly draws patterns onto my shoulder, artists gloves allowing him to move this freely.

The Eiffel Tower comes on screen and I can’t help but let out a tiny gasp, “I wish I could go to Paris one day.” I said it more to myself than anything, just marveling at the beautiful animation, but suddenly the hand on my shoulder freezes and I feel him stiffen up against me.

I look up at him questioningly, “Baby are you oka-“

My question dies in my throat when I see his face, well, more like the face. It’s a shield, formed by years of ignored hurt. It's a shield that he puts on around others, but usually never me, at least for a long time he hasn’t now. Though his eyes are still firmly trained on the tv,  they’re unfocused, I can tell his mind is somewhere else, somewhere dark.

“Shiggy?” I question as I slip out of his grip to turn the movie of. As soon as my warmth leaves his side he shrinks in on himself, eyes now dropping to the floor, hand flying up to his neck.

I quickly make my way over to him, snatching his wrist and pulling it away from his neck, he flinches at my touch and pulls his wrist out of my grip like I’ve burned him. I try to reach out again, lift his face to look at me but he cowers away from my touch again. So instead, I kneel down in front of him, putting myself right in his line of vision to try and meet his gaze. It’s only now I see that they’re glossed over, filled with tears that want to spill but are being held back.

“I can’t take you to Paris-“ he mumbles it quietly, so quietly I assume I must’ve heard him wrong. I place my hand on his cheek and try once more, “What baby?”

“I can’t. Take you. To fucking Paris!” He slaps my hand away from his face and I flinch at his unusually harsh tone.

As soon as his own reaction registers to him his eyes widen in horror. He stands up and walks all the way to the other side of the room, trying to put as much distance between us as possible.

“Shiggy I don’t get what yo-“

“You want to go to Paris and I can’t take you,” he curtly states, like that is supposed to explain it all. Instead, he only manages to confuse me even more, “I wasn’t actually serious.”

“That’s not the point, don’t you get it?! Look at me Y/N!” He gestures wildly to himself, “I’m a villain, I can’t take you to the movies, we can’t go shopping, hell, you can’t even have pictures with me on your phone! So I’ll never be able to take you to fucking Paris!”

“Baby you know I don’t care about that, I know who you are and I love every part of you, no matter what.”

“Don’t say that so carelessly! I know you don’t mean it! I know that you’ll eventually realize how big of a mistake you’re making and leave! And if you don’t then you’re a fucking idiot,” he’s pretty much shouting at this point, words laced with venom making my chest tighten, “I have done so many bad things, that’s why here, inside these four walls, will always be the only place I can be with you, don’t you get that?” His words hurt but I ignore the dull sting they leave.

“I might be an idiot,” I say softly, crossing the distance between us in a few swift strides. “But,” I continue as I grab his hands and hold his gaze in mine, “I’m not leaving you. Ever. And I’m not ignoring the things you’ve done either. I know what they are but I love you despite that. You, Tomura Shigaraki, are the love of my life and the thought of having to spend a day on this earth without you makes me sick. No matter what, I will love you with every fiber of my being until the day I die.”

My words finally get through to him and he crumbles, tears flowing freely as he quite literally falls into my arms. Soft mumbles of ‘why?’, muffled by my shirt, fill my ears as I stroke through his hair, each of them breaking my heart.

After a couple of minutes pass, I pull his face up from my shoulder so I can rest my forehead against his, “I love you,” I whisper once more, just for him, and lean forwards capturing his lips in a soft kiss. A sob wrecks through his body, he continues to cry softly as my tongue licks at his lips, tasting salty from his tears, but he nonetheless still parts them to grant me access.

After a while his hands find purchase on my hips as he tries to pull me impossibly closer, as if he let go I might disappear. 

“I love you,” I murmur against his lips again before I move on to kiss his cheek, “I love your laugh,” I kiss his ear, “I love your shouts when you lose a game,” I kiss his jawline “I love our indoor date nights.”

I travel lower until my lips are pressed against his neck where tiny scars litter his skin, “I love your scars too,” he lets out a whimper as I softly place my lips on the skin there, “they don’t define you, but they’re a part of who you are so I love them just the same.”

I lean back and bring one of his hands up to my lips, “I love the way your hand feels in mine,” I take my time to kiss all of his fingertips before pressing a kiss to his palm, “I love how it feels when you let your fingers dance along my skin,” another whimper, “and I will not stop loving these hands because they can do bad stuff.”

“I will not stop loving you,” his tears have stopped flowing but his lips are still trembling so I put a tiny peck on them, “ever.”

“I love you too,” it's silent for a few moments before he hesitantly continues, “please let me make love to you.”

His words catch me by surprise and I feel my face heat up.

It’s not like we haven’t had sex before, we have, but ‘Making love’ would never be a good way to describe it. It’s always rough and fast with Shigaraki, gentleness not of concern. 

“Okay.”

His lips are on mine again in an instant, slow and passionate in their movements. The pace is bittersweet and leaves me lightheaded.

He walks me backwards until the back of my knees hit the bed and I softly let myself fall down, Shigaraki following my movements not wanting the kiss to be broken for even a second.

My hands tangle in his hair as his find their way under my shirt and explore my soft skin, the difference between the smooth silk of the gloves and his calloused hands leaving goosebumps in their wake. My shirt and bra are soon to be discarded and his hands eagerly continue their exploration.

He softly cups my breasts and toys with my nipples, all the while not breaking our kiss, and I can feel heat start to pool between my legs.

I pull at his shirt and he helps me take it off, “See, now it’s fair,” I giggle against his lips, I feel them curl up into a smile before he finally breaks the kiss, smiling down at me for a second before greedily attaching his mouth to one of my nipples while his hand continues to toy with the other.

His hips are already slightly rutting against my thigh, he’s rock hard, more slick pools in my panties and I can’t take it anymore, I need him even closer and I need that now. 

“Tomu, stop,” I call out to him, he immediately lets go of me, eyes frantic in fear of having done something wrong, “lie down for me baby.”

He gives me an unsure look but nevertheless follows my request.

I situate myself between his legs and slowly slide his pants down, I leave small kisses and nips along his leg as I do so, when those are removed, I follow the same process as I make my way up again. A large spot of precum is already staining his boxers, “let me take care of you m’kay?” I say as I pull the waistband of his boxers down, he hisses as the cold air from the room hits his sensitive member, head red and already coated in precum.

I place a kiss to his tip, followed by a small lick that makes him groan. The bitter taste of his precum making me let out a low hum as well.

Shigaraki holds my hair back for me as I take his head into my mouth, swirling my tongue around it and savoring the flavor some more before I slowly start bobbing my head up and down his length. I find a steady rhythm, taking him as deep as I can while pumping what doesn’t fit. 

Shigaraki is already a whimpering mess above me, the slow pace such a huge contrast to how it usually is that it makes his heart flutter. He softly pulls my hair, guiding me up and down his shaft at a slightly faster pace. I gag a few times but also fall into the rhythm after a while. His moans making my core ache for some relief.

I snake my hand down my body and into my, now soaked, panties. I rub slow circles along my clit causing me to moan around his shaft. Which in turn makes him let out a guttural groan. 

He pulls me off and I whine at the interruption, “No matter how amazing this is, it’s not what I want right now. I need to be inside you baby, gonna fill you up nice and good. Can I do that love?” His vermilion eyes bore into mine with an indescribable earnest, his pupils blown wide with desire, I whimper; “please.”

Shigaraki swiftly flips us over, pinning me below him. His lips find mine again in a sweet embrace but he pulls away before we can get sucked up into another heated kiss. He’s still close enough that I can taste his breath, “I’m going to make you feel so good baby,” with a huff he pulls up my skirt and rips my panties off. 

I let out a yelp in surprise which quickly turns into a drawn-out moan when he plunges his index finger into my tight heat. “Such pretty sounds,” he mumbles against the skin of my neck before leaving a dark bruise there as his thumb start to circle my clit, ripping even more sounds from my throat. Soon after, a second and third finger are added, the long slender digits turn my brain to putty.

The coil in my stomach pulls impossible tighter as I near my orgasm, Shigaraki can feel it too by the way I’m clenching down on him, “Go ahead love, let go. Fuck-  you have no idea how beautiful you look right now.”

His husky voice finally sends me over the edge, the knot in my stomach snaps, I let out a high-pitched cry as Shiggy guides me through my orgasm. I don’t get long to catch my breath though, not even a moment later he’s already pressing another kiss to my lips.

“Ready baby?” he asks while lining himself up with my entrance, I nod and he slowly pushes himself inside. Once fully inside he gives me a moment to adjust, no matter how much he stretches me or how often we have sex, it always causes a dull ache in the beginning.

“You can move Tomu, please move,” Shigaraki doesn’t need to be told twice.

He pulls out almost completely before slamming all the way back inside, and again, and again, and again, until he eventually falls into a steady pace. The pace is slow, but that doesn’t matter, not when his tip is nudging my cervix with every thrust and he’s staring at me like that. His eyes stare into mine with so much love and adoration that I completely lose myself in them.

The sound of skin slapping skin fills the room as a thin layer of sweat starts to form on both of our bodies. “Tomura!” I shout as he hits that spot inside of me that has me seeing stars. He smirks, angling his hips in order to keep hitting it, succeeding even further in turning me into a moaning mess.

It doesn't take too long for the knot in my stomach to tighten again, I pull his head down for a deep kiss and he swallows up my moans as it snaps for the second time tonight. My orgasm brings him closer to his own, he fastens his pace and pushes my legs up until my knees are to my chest, allowing him to hit even deeper.

“Fuck Y/N, ngh, I’m close, I-I’m close,” he says with a strained voice, grip in my thighs turning bruising as he continues to piston into me. ”Don’t pull out,” my own voice surprises me and it startles him as well, he looks at me with wide eyes, hips faltering for a second before continuing his brutal pace, “a-are you sure? You’re not on-”

“I know,” I cup his face and smile up at him, “I’m sure. I love you so much Tomura.”

“Shit,” is head drops to the crook of my neck, his thrusts growing sloppy until he stills inside of me, hot white ropes of cum coating my insides and shooting directly into my womb.

We stay like that for a moment, both catching our breath before Shigaraki finally sits up. I whine, wanting to keep him close, but my body is too worn out to make any useful protest. My eyes follow his figure across the room and into the bathroom, where he soon merges from again with a damp cloth. He cleans me up before discarding the cloth onto the floor and slipping under the covers with me, the rest can be worried about later.

He pulls me close against his chest and nuzzles his nose into my hair, I let out a happy sigh and melt into the embrace. We rest like that in a comfortable silence and I can feel my eyes start to droop as his steady breathing lulls me to sleep, until: “We’re leaving.”

“Hmm, Shig, what?” I try to move back to look up at him but his arms keep me pinned firmly in place.

“I said we’re leaving,” he takes a sharp inhale before he continues, “I still don’t know what kind of mistake the universe made that made you end up with someone like me-” I try to interrupt him but he pulls me closer to him and sighs, “Let me finish please.”

I nod and he continues, “As I was saying, I have no clue how it happened, but it’s the best thing that ever happened to me. You, Y/N, are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I fell madly in love with you and miraculously you felt the same. I didn't want to let myself believe it at first,  I couldn't, not when at any moment you could become aware of the mistake you were making and leave, taking my heart with you in the process. But now I know that you plan on staying, I’m never giving you that chance again. I want to stay with you forever, I-I wanna have a family with you, love,” his hand gently strokes over my stomach, “but I can’t do that. Not yet at least, not while we’re still here.”

I try once more to look up at him and this time he lets me, his eyes are teary but he has the happiest smile on his face that I’ve ever seen, he pushes his forehead against mine.

“Let me take you to Paris.”

[dakotacrisis]

Adrien’s Sick Day

(This dumb idea would not let me sleep. Adrien gets sick but refuses to miss school so chugs a bottle of Nyquil but starts crashing when he gets to school. Shoots back an energy drink to keep awake. Disassociates so hard he comes to with a new fencing trophy and a girlfriend.)

---

Adrien was sick. He never got sick easy but he was sicker than a dog today. His temperature was through the roof and the only medicine in the house was a bottle of Nyquil.

“Sounds like an easy day in.” Plagg said. “Chug it down and let’s get back to bed.”

Adrien shook his head. “I wanna go to school.”

“School?” Plagg rested on top of his head, “Kid, do you really want to attempt class today?”

“I have already missed normal human interaction for the first fifteen years of my life. I am not missing another day!” Adrien chugged down the Nyquil. “Let’s go!”

Despite Plagg’s protests to stay inside Adrien collected his bag and headed to school. He was doing well up until he stepped inside and the medicine really started kicking in. Right...the medicine wasn’t the non-drowsy kind.

“Hey dude,” Nino clapped him on the back to which Adrien almost fell face first into floor. “Dang, what’s wrong with you?”

“Fever. Medicine. Sleepy. Not missing class.” Adrien rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Got any coffee?”

“I have this.” Nino pulled out an energy drink from his bag. “You can have it if you really want it but I think you should just go home.”

“No, I’m fine. Hand it over.” Adrien took the drink and walked with Nino into class.

In the blink of an eye Adrien was no longer in class but back home in his room holding a half empty cup of boba. “What the...” Adrien looked around. “How did I...”

The sun was further down in the sky so it must be later. Oh god, where did he put his phone? On his desk was a new fencing trophy he didn’t remember earning. Hanging off the trophy’s miniature epee was the lucky charm Marinette had lent him.

This was strange. He checked the clock on his computer and was surprised to see that it was five in the evening. What had happened all day? He couldn’t remember a thing.

The sound of his phone ringing with a notification caught his attention. He rummaged around in his bag and pulled it out. The background on his phone had changed too. Instead of the picture of him and Nino it was him in his fencing uniform holding a trophy in one hand and his other arm wrapped around Marinette who was kissing his cheek.

Okay. What the heck happened today?

He went to his contacts and hit Nino’s number. Hopefully he could shed some light on this situation.

“Hey bro, what’s up?” Nino shouted over the roar of a crowd in the background, “You change your mind and want to come out to the party?”

“Party?” Adrien asked. “What party?”

“Well I guess it is turning more into a festival. I know Marinette said you should go home and rest but you sound a lot better. We’re currently out under the Eiffel Tower if you wanna stop by.”

“What festival? What’s going on?” Adrien couldn’t make heads or tails of what he was saying. He was fairly certain there wasn’t any parties or holidays today.

“Sorry dude, I can’t hear you.” Nino shouted over the noise, “Eiffel Tower! Come out! Have some fun!”

He hung up and Adrien was back at square one but with even more questions. Maybe there were some clues in his phone. He checked his pictures and saw that there were more pictures he had taken today. The picture he had set as his background was there. There was a group shot with the guys who held Adrien up on their shoulders. Those were taken around four.

Adrien checked his calendar and saw that he did have a fencing tournament today at three. So that’s where he must have been for that hour. And he ended up placing first while zonked out on cold medicine. Adrien wasn’t sure what to make of that. Either his opponents weren’t that great or he is just an amazing fencer when he’s blacked out. Neither sat right with him.

That’s still leaves the seven hours from school and the hour between when he won the tournament and when he got home. Wait! Plagg! Plagg was by his side the entire time! He’d know!

“Plagg!” Adrien called, “Plagg! Where are you?”

“Ugh, you said I could relax.” Plagg’s voice came from the cheese cabinet. Adrien opened it and saw Plagg nesting atop a large wheel of camembert. “Haven’t we done enough today?”

“Plagg, I don’t remember what happened today. You have to fill me in.”

“Seriously?” PLagg laughed, “You don’t remember a thing?”

“No! And it’s creeping me out!” Adrien pulled him out of the cabinet. “Please tell me what I did.”

“Well I don’t really know.”

“How do you not know? You hide in my bag all day!”

“I sleep in your bag all day. I only woke up for the akuma.”

“Akuma? When was there an akuma?”

“A bunch of akumas. We had another Scarlet Akuma pandemic going on before you ran off to go fencing. You and Ladybug were really struggling for a while there until your doppelgangers showed up. Something happened after the akumas got purified but I was tired and bored at that point and stopped paying attention.”

“No! Plagg, I need to know what happened! And what do you mean by doppelgangers?”

“Oh right, bunny girl brought future you and Ladybug back in time to help with the akumas.”

“My future self! Future Ladybug?!” Adrien was going to throw himself off a building. He had completely missed meeting his future self and seeing what Ladybug looked like grown up. She could have only gotten more beautiful.

“Yeah, it was trippy.” Plagg said. “That’s all I remember though. After you transformed back you had to go to fencing and I stayed in your locker resting.”

“So you don’t know anything else? Not even about this?” Adrien showed him the picture of Marinette kissing him.

“Awe, finally got that girlfriend of yours I see. But no. No idea.”

“You’re awfully helpful.” Adrien sighed. He needed answers. He wasn’t gonna be able to focus until he filled in the blanks from today. He got online and started combing through the footage from the akuma attack. Plagg wasn’t kidding. This was the most akumas Adrien had ever seen. It looked as if half of Paris had been infected.

Him, Ladybug, and some of the other heroes were fighting against them but losing ground fast. A shining portal opened up and...holy crap. It really was his future self walking alongside a grown up Ladybug. Bunnix also joined them. The footage sped by as the heroes, future and present fought side by side. Adrien had always thought that he and Ladybug were a well oiled machine but seeing their future counterparts fight made them look like fish flopping on a deck. It was as if they were thinking about each other’s moves five steps ahead.

There was an eruption of white butterflies as the akumas were purified. The people cheered. Future Chat grabbed Future Ladybug and spun her in the air in victory. And then...oh…present Ladybug grabbed present Chat and kissed him. Seriously?! Another kiss he couldn’t remember!

“PLAGG!” Adrien shouted, “YOU SAID NOTHING ELSE HAPPENED!”

“Nothing did!” Plagg shouted back.

“LADYBUG KISSED ME! THAT’S NOT NOTHING TO ME!”

“How is this any different then the other times she kissed you and you forgot?”

“Y’know what--!”

“Can’t hear you. Napping.” Plagg started snoring loudly.

Adrien sighed. He turned his attention back to the screen.

There was only more cheering as the two kissed. Wait. So he kissed Ladybug and Ladybug kissed him back and they both remember so why had Marinette been kissing him in his fencing picture? Once again, more questions.

The future miraculous holders went back through the portal. His present self and Ladybug waved to the crowd then vaulted out of frame. According to the akuma report online that was from 12:40 to 2:55. Another two hours accounted for. Yet it was the minutes in between that seemed to hold all the answers.

Adrien grabbed his school bag and dumped it out looking for more answers. There had to be something else. All of it looked pretty normal. Books, homework assignments, a couple empty containers of camembert, and a few loose papers. He picked up one and saw it was an excerpt of a script. A Midsummer Night’s Dream? What was this doing in his bag? They were supposed to start their Shakespeare period in literature class so it wasn’t so out of place.

The assignment was to recreate a scene from one of Shakespeare’s plays. At the top of the page was Adrien’s name as well as Marinette’s. He guessed they must have gotten partnered up. Maybe he should try calling her to figure out what was going on.

He picked up his phone and searched for Marinette’s contact, her name in his phone had been changed to Girlfriend with a bunch of sparkly hearts around it. So apparently she was his girlfriend now, according to his phone at least. He called her but the call went to voicemail. Okay, maybe Alya knows. He called her next and was relieved when she answered.

“Hey lover boy!” Alya was shouting over the same crowd as Nino had been, “Nino said you called. Feeling better already?”

“Alya, you have to tell me what I did today.”

“What?”

“What did I do while I was at school? I can’t remember.”

“How do you not remember?”

“I was zonked out on cold medicine! I don’t even know how I got home let alone how I won a fencing trophy and got a girlfriend in the past few hours.”

“Wow. Just...wow. I knew you were kinda loopy today but I figured you’d remember confessing to Marinette. Girl was over the moon.”

The memories tickled right in the back of Adrien’s brain but he just couldn’t get to them. They had been washed away in a tidal wave of medicine and energy drink. He needed answers. He needed to talk to Marinette. “Are you all still by the Eiffel Tower?” Adrien asked.

“Yeah, you coming out?”

“Yeah. I’ll be there in a few.” Adrien hung up and grabbed his coat. He felt much better physically than he had that morning which was nice. The walk to the Eiffel Tower gave him plenty of time to think about what it was he was missing. There was a significant piece of the puzzle missing, the one piece that would make the rest of the day make sense. If only he could figure out what it was!

He found his friends and everyone cheered when they saw him and pulled him into their circle. Standing with Alya was Marinette. Face alight with a smile and laughing. She turned when she felt Adrien’s eyes on her and her smile grew.

“Hey, I thought I told you to go home and rest. Or was it that you didn’t want to miss out on all the fun?” She grabbed his hands, “I suppose I’ll let it go this time seeing as how today was very taxing and we could do with some fun after that Scarlet Moth fiasco.”

“Yeah, about that,” Adrien said, “Can we talk somewhere a little quieter?”

“Sure,” She pulled on his hands as she led him away from the group. Their classmates whistled and teased as the couple left. When they were far enough away from the noise and people Marinette spoke to him, “What is it you want to talk about?”

“Right um…” Adrien felt heat climbing up his neck, “So I was kinda really sick this morning and I took a bunch of drowsy cold-medicine that I tried to counteract with an energy drink and now I don’t remember anything that happened today. Nothing whatsoever.”

Marinette stared at him, her wide, unblinking baby blue eyes piercing through his skull. “Are you joking?”

“No. I swear I am not. I’ve put together some of what happened but there are some things that I don’t understand like how um, you know, how you and I…” He looked down at his feet, mortified that he had to have this conversation with her. He felt like he was breaking her heart or something.

“You dumb kitty.” Marinette bonked the top of his head, “That explains a lot actually. I’ve always known you to be kinda spacey but today was something else. How is it that when you’re out of it you can still function as a human being?”

“Marinette?” Adrien looked up at her, “What did you call me?”

Marinette sighed and motioned for him to sit down on the bench. “Alright, so this morning when class started…”

*Earlier that day*

“Did that help at all?” Nino asked Adrien as they sat down for class.

“I guess we’ll see,” Adrien almost missed his seat when he went to sit down, “So far it is a rousing success!”

“I really think you should just go home, dude.” Nino shook his head. “I think the caffeine just made this worse.”

“Nah!” Adrien corrected himself and slid himself into his seat, “I am fine! Look how fine I am! I am super fine!”

“Sure are.” Nino snickered, he couldn’t help it. His best friend was essentially high as a kite right now.

Everyone took their seats as Ms. Bustier began the lesson. “For this unit we will be focusing on William Shakespeare. I figured we’d start off with something fun so I want everyone to get into pairs or small groups and perform a scene from any Shakespeare play you would like. Group up and figure out what you’re performing in class today. Go over your lines and we’ll do the actual performances tomorrow. Try not to do really long ones. Have fun!”

Immediately everyone around the room started pairing off. “Hey Adrien,” Alya grabbed his attention, “How’s about you and Marinette team up? You would make a wonderful Romeo and Juliet.”

“But I wanted us to do Romeo and Juliet, babe.” Nino pouted.

“That’s fine, Alya. You two can have Romeo and Juliet.” Marinette told her, her face tinted a cute pink. “Adrien and I can do something else.”

“Hernia!” Adrien shouted, “You can be Hernia and I’ll be Lightsaber!”

“What?” The other three teenagers stared at him. “What are you talking about?”

“You know, that play, the one with the donkey head?” Adrien mimicked large donkey ears on his head.

“Oh! I got it!” Marinette said, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream. You want us to be Hermia and Lysander.”

“Yeah! Those two!” Adrien nodded, “Hernia and Lightsaber.”

“Adrien, sweetie,” Alya looked at him with an amused smile, “Their names are Hermia and Lysander. Not Hernia and Lightsaber.”

“Got it. Got it.” Adrien continued nodding so hard he looked like a bobblehead. “We can be them.”

“Alright, I’ll find us a scene to do.” Marinette started looking for a good scene. They eventually agreed to do the opening scene when Hermia and Lysander plan to runaway together. Marinette was being super giggly through the reading which made Adrien start laughing which made her giggle more until they were in a perpetual loop of laughter.

When class ended everyone got up to move onto the next class. Nino and Alya went on ahead leaving Marinette and Adrien alone still chuckling over their inability to be serious during their scene.

“It may be the fact that I was laughing through the whole thing but I have to confess that I have no idea what Lysander was saying.” Adrien squinted at the text before shoving it in his bag. “Did you?”

“It’s pretty simple actually,” Marinette said, “The couple are lamenting that none of Hermia’s choices that she was given from Theseus let her be with Lysander. Lysander though figures that they don’t have to follow their rules and talks Hermia into leaving Athens with him and getting married where the Athenian laws don’t apply.”

“I wish I could do that.” Adrien sighed.

“Do what?”

“Runaway with the love of my life. I have this whole plan with an island and a hamster but I know you’d never go with me.” He slumped, looking utterly defeated. “Why don’t you wanna go with me?”

“Love--love--love--love of your what? Runaway? Me and you? To an island? With hamsters!” Marinette was stammering as she tried to piece together what it was Adrien had just confessed to her. Was this really happening?

“Oh wait,” Adrien frowned, “I meant my lady.”

“Huh?”

“Ladybug is so pretty…” Adrien murmured dreamily, “She’s so awesome but she only sees me as a tomcat which--just--boo! I love her! Why doesn’t she see that?  My spotty lady! Buggy boo! I love her spots and her eyes and her pigtails…”

His green eyes turned to Marinette and batted a hand against Marinette’s hair. “Just like your pigtails.” He muttered, “You remind me a lot of Ladybug. You can be my Maribug!”

Tomcat? In love with Ladybug? No...there was no way. Surely someone like Adrien couldn’t also be her dorky partner in crime fighting.

“Hey Adrien,” Marinette smiled nervously, “Why do you think that Ladybug thinks you’re a tomcat?”

“Because I am a cat!” He stated proudly. Then his expression soured. “Or as Ladybug says, I’m a bad kitty that needs to stop flirting with her cause they’re working and she likes someone else. It’s sad that she likes someone else. I wish she could like me…”

Yep. Definitely Chat Noir. Although Marinette had never called him a bad kitty before. Chastised him for flirting an inappropriate moments? Yes. But she never berated him. She’d have to have a talk to him later as Ladybug.

WAIT! Chat Noir is Adrien! Adrien is Chat Noir! The love of her life is also her partner! Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy! Crap! Calm down, Marinette! More important things to focus on right now!

She looked over at Adrien who was still pouting like a sad little kitten. She put an arm around his shoulders. “Well I got some good news for you, kitty. I know who Ladybug is really in love with.”

“Really?!” Adrien looked at her with stars in her eyes, “Who? I’m gonna whoop their butt if they mistreat her!”

“Ladybug has a crush on Adrien Agreste.”

“Boo! He sucks!”

“Dummy, Adrien is you. Ladybug likes you.”

“Oh...SHE DOES?!” He nearly screamed and Marinette clamped a hand over his mouth. He moved his head away from her, gaping at the information. “How do you know that?”

“Because that’s who I have a crush on.” Marinette’s cheeks felt entirely too warm. When she looked at Adrien there was absolutely nothing going on behind those big green eyes of his.

“Adrien?” She waved a hand in front of his face? “Goodness, you silly kitty, you are really out of it, huh? Give it a moment. It’ll come to you.”

Marinette started counting in her head. She got to one hundred and seventeen before Adrien finally perked up like a meerkat. “Ladybug?!” He pointed at her.

“There it is.” She ruffled his hair, “I’m guessing you’re happy?”

“I--I--”

BANG!

*Present*

“Then that’s when Scarlet Moth and all the other akumas hit and we went to got fight them. Our future selves showed up to help kick some butt. We kissed. Then we went back to school so you could get to your fencing tournament. You won. You looked pretty tired so I walked you home after but you insisted we stop for boba first so we kinda went on an impromptu boba date. Got you home then I came out to celebrate with everyone about today’s akuma win.” Marinette finished, “Did that fill you in well enough?”

“So you are…”

“Yep.”

“And you like me?”

“Also yep.”

“And I somehow managed to do all this while disassociating to the point of amnesia?”

“Apparently so.”

“I am never mixing Nyquil and Red Bull again.”

“Turned out okay in the end though, right?” Marinette flashed him a bright smile.

As all the information settled within him Adrien smiled back and kissed her. She squeaked for a second not expecting it but eagerly kissed him back. “I’ll take that as a yes.” She giggled. She stood up and pulled him to his feet. “Come on, kitty, let’s go have some fun.”

*The next day*

“Hey bugaboo,” Adrien entered her room holding a hot cup of tea, “Sorry for getting you sick. Probably wasn’t a good idea to have kissed you so many times while I had a cold.”

Marinette blew her nose. “Worth it.”

[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

[teacup-crow]

Scar Tissue

Imagine losing Officer Eiffel. Imagine losing him slowly, by inches…

Even in full gravity, Renee still has Doug to worry about.

Whatever the opposite of a fix-it fic is. Post finale sadness (spoilers for all of Wolf 359). CW pulmonary fibrosis/sickness/hospitals. For the Nightmares prompt from @badthingshappenbingo

She sat in a too-small plastic hospital chair and pretended to read something on her laptop, some minor feel-good filler piece Dominick asked her to edit about a new tech startup helping disabled kids. He didn’t really need her help; most of his coverage was more significant these days, but she tended to steer clear of the front pages. All too often, her face was still on them, thin and bloodied and grimly set, Jacobi and Lovelace propelling her out of the pilot’s chair. It had been six months since they all gave their testimonies, but the Goddard Futuristics trials were expected to take years to conclude, and every new accusation or scrap of evidence, every new department head put in jail dredged the story up again. Jacobi had had the right idea; he’d vanished off the radar within seventy-two hours of touchdown. Lovelace, too, had gone travelling, to shake hands with an aging, widowed father somewhere in Brussels; a mother and sister in Liaoning Province; an ex-boyfriend in Melbourne. But Renee had Dominick to think of. Renee had Doug.

God, she craved a cigarette. The entire time in space and the decade before that, she hadn’t touched them or even considered them except to confiscate Eiffel’s out of thin air, yet now… It must be the smell of the hospital, she thought, the sound of footsteps squeaking along the floor, of wheeled gurneys and old men coughing and wheezing. Or perhaps it was the fact that she’d been here for twenty-nine hours, watching the brown haired man hooked up to the oxygen tank, watching his chest rise and fall.

There was something in him that remembered what he’d been through. It was torn from his mind by Pryce, scrubbed from his skin by the alien blood that had not only regrown his fingernails but fixed the broken bones from the final shuttle crash so perfectly the doctors here didn’t believe they’d ever shattered. Still, the trauma had a way of lingering in the subconscious: the body remembered what the brain did not. The scarring on his lungs also remained - the Dear Listeners had neglected to mend all the damage done before their arrival.

Doug’s eyes opened, unfocused. He tried to scream around the breathing tube, but it was a hopeless attempt, a scratchy and guttural dead end. Being in the hospital made the nightmares worse, she’d noticed. Too much like a laboratory. She took one of his curled hands in hers, and rubbed circles with her thumb, talking just to fill the silence. That was always his job, before.

“…you know, we watched the new Star Wars movie the other night at the theatre, Dominick and I. You’d like it, I think. I…”

The attempt to scream became more desperate, his hands scrabbling claws, and the nurse rushed in to sedate him further, then to falter backwards and stare at them both because how often did you get to see the famous fucked up astronauts? Renee had to bite back something sarcastic, words from Isabel and Daniel teetering on the tip of her tongue.

“Anyway, as I was telling you. Star Wars. The first thing we’re doing when you’re feeling a bit better is going out to see it.”

She wondered what part exactly he was dreaming about. He almost never recalled the nightmares when he awoke, and she was pretty grateful for that. There had been one time, before he got this sick, where he’d sat bolt upright and told her I was alone, wasn’t I? Alone and cold. She’d nodded, and he’d passed back out again, and to her own horror she’d found herself crying.

“C’mon, Officer Eiffel. Of all the things that nearly killed you, it’s going to be pneumonia back on Earth? Think of what Lovelace would say! She’ll never let it go.”

When the nurse next drew back the curtain to gawp, she found Renee asleep with her face smushed against the wall, and draped her in a blanket. Renee walked a pitch dark corridor, guided only by the voice of Hilbert’s ghost, never quite sure if he was leading her to safety or to suicide, if she were hunting something or playing the part of the hunted this time.

His hand twitched, and was suddenly gripping hers, blinking himself awake. She woke with a start. Doug’s face had a different quality to Eiffel’s - there was a softness, an openness there. She resented it for its wrongness, and hated herself for that.

“Doug? Are you okay?”

His eyes fluttered once. Yes. She missed the sound of his voice more than she could say

[the-alice-of-hearts]

Kids again Ch 1

AO3 Next>

Ch 1: She likes to drink her coffee black

Summary:

Soulmates come in twos; At least they usually did

98% of the world's population has a soulmate bond. Of those, 80% have platonic bonds. Only .2% of all soul bonds connected more than two people.

Having three soulmates is exactly the kind of cosmic joke the universe would play on a True Wielder of the Ladybug Miraculous. If it gives a boy who still had a lot of life to live a second chance, well that is still in Creation's domain, now isn't it?

Marinette loved the boy in her heart, and the other two links were twisted around each other in a way only romantic pairs could be. If only she could have loved him enough to save him /||\ Jason wanted, more than anything, to protect the girl who his heart belonged to; protect her from the harness of the world, and then from what he had become.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves here, let's start at the beginning.

Ch 1: She likes to drink her coffee black

The first time Jason looked into his Soulmate’s life she was happy. Whoever she was, she seemed happy. The first strong emotion that he got from her was pure bliss and a sense of major accomplishment. The first time he got to see through her eyes he was eight years old. She was rushing out the door waving goodbye to smiling parents, a thermos in one hand and a cute pink backpack in the other. He cherished this memory like no other. There were other strong emotions from the bond, most of them were similar. She was happy and seemed strong. After that, Jason tried not to let his emotions overwhelm him; he didn’t want the girl with the happy laugh and the pink backpack to see where he was.

He knew he didn’t do as good a job as he tried. The feeling of worry in his heart that he knew came from her told him so. He could feel when she worried about him not eating enough, so he tried not to go to bed hungry too often. He could feel when she would panic because she hadn’t felt anything from him for too long. He would go and listen to the musicians playing on the streets; trying desperately to feel as happy as he could for her.

When he had gotten stabbed defending another kid from a man with a knife, he wasn’t sure if his panic was his own or hers. He felt like he was watching someone die though, so he was pretty sure it was her panic feeding into his own pain. He made sure to take care of himself so that she didn’t think he had died.

This went on for a long time; him looking in and seeing small bits of her life and later try to send good things back as much as he could. He figured out she was from Paris when the Eiffel Tower was in so many of the small glimpses he saw. So, he stole an English to French dictionary. He then found a bookstore, he could steal from it pretty easily, that had a copy of a book filled with his favourite fairy tales in French. He learned French, then he took it as his language elective. Slowly, he started to understand what she was saying in his visions of her. She had a small number of friends, but they were pretty close. She still worried about him far too often, but he noticed that on days where she was worried she would go out of her way to be as happy as possible. It was like she was trying to make him warm from the inside. And on those days, when was cold and hungry and desperate for a safe place to sleep, he would hold on to her happiness and promise himself that he would be happy for her tomorrow.

When he became Robin he was worried about her finding out. What if Bruce made him stop being Robin? For this reason, he stayed quiet about his Soulmate. Most bonds were platonic anyways, so he just didn’t mention that his bond was romantic.

He hoped she would at least get to see happier emotions from him. He knew that she had to have seen some of where he grew up, but he wanted to believe that maybe she would now get to see these happier moments. Jason vowed to live every happy moment to its fullest.

He hoped she got to see Alfred teaching him to cook, and him learning how to bake all her favourite pastries. He hoped she saw Dick teaching him gymnastics, seeing all the times he fell but got back up. He wanted her to see him and Dick goofing off and the times they would go sneak off behind Bruce’s back when he told them not to skip patrol to do just that and get ice cream in the suits. He hoped she saw him and Bruce sitting in the library reading, the two of them watching movies together when he was too sick to patrol. He wanted her to see that he had a family that loved him now. He hoped that she wouldn’t worry about him so much anymore; that he wouldn’t be a burden on her anymore.

He thought he had hidden this from his new family, but somehow Alfred always knew everything. Jason almost panicked when Alfred broached the conversation while he was teaching Jason to make macarons

“Does your Soulmate have a favourite flavor, Master Jason?”

“I- uh,” he tried to come up with a way to deny it, but knew that he would never get something past Alfred. Still he tried, “What do you mean?”

Alfred smiled, not looking away from measuring the ingredients. “Growing up, my best friend had a Soulmate that grew up in a troubled home. He told me he knew when she was in a better place because she started pouring emotions into everything she did so that he could feel, as well as see, that she was safe.” Alfred turned back to the cabinet looking at their ingredients. “I just thought that you seemed to be doing something similar. I apologize if I misread the situation.”

Jason stood there thinking for a moment. He looked around and listened to make sure Bruce wasn’t about to walk into the kitchen. He moved closer to Alfred so he could whisper, ”Her name is Marinette. I heard one of her friends call her Netté, though.” When Alfred didn’t stop him from talking he kept going. “She likes matcha ones best, but she always tells her mom that she likes strawberry ones because they're less work.”

That was all that was said. They finished making the cookies and Alfred packaged them up for him to have in his room. Jason was pretty sure that Alfred knew he was hoarding food, but so long as no one stopped him and probably even if they did he would keep doing it. Living on the streets taught him that a next meal isn’t guaranteed, and even if it was unlikely he would ever go hungry under Alfred’s watchful eyes, he still wanted a back up plan if he needed to make a break for it.

The next time someone asked about her was about a year later on a stakeout in Blüdhaven with Dick. Bruce had gotten scared when Jason got hurt and wouldn’t let him patrol in Gotham until his injuries had completely healed. Jason got antsy and ran away to crash on Dick’s couch until Bruce let up on the restriction.

Dick had just sat down next to him on the building they were on. “Hey, Little Wing”

Jason turned to him. “Yeah?”

“Do you ever try to send your soulmate messages?”

Jason’s throat closed up in terror. Dick kept talking as though he hadn’t noticed Jason tensing up and planning an escape route. “It’s just, sometimes I see what he’s seeing and I don’t know how to tell him that I want to look out for him, ya know? And his dad is kinda distant, but his mom loves him a lot. I don’t know though, because sometimes I can feel dread coming from my soul link but without any glimpses into what he’s seeing. Alfred thought maybe I have a platonic soulmate that is experiencing dread. Lately I’ve only had happy and joyful feelings so I’m worried that if I do have a platonic soulmate that maybe something bad happened to them. I have no idea how I would be able to send a message to a platonic soulmate though, so I wondered if maybe you knew?”

Jason had slowly gotten more confused while listening to his brother. He hadn’t considered the possibility of having more than one soulmate. “Wait, you mean you can have more than one Soulmate? I thought Soulmates were pairs?”

Dick shrugged. “My parents explained it being more like pieces of the same picture. Most bonds are platonic and platonic bonds are more likely to be someone who you grew up near, so you would have similar experiences with similar emotional responses. That’s why people don’t always notice them, but when you have a romantic bond that you can actually see through each other's eyes, you notice, yeah?”

Jason nodded. “So you have a romantic Soulmate, but think you also have a platonic bond?”

Dick ran a hand through his hair staring out at the windows they were watching, “Yeah, I don’t know how to describe it though. Honestly, I’m pretty sure I have three soulmates. The third is a lot quieter though. My mom laughed once and told me maybe it wasn’t that I had three soulmates, but that my soulmates had another link to each other.”

“Does that happen?”

“I don’t think so, but the stories about that happening are more fairy tale than concrete evidence. I like to think I have three though. I hope that, whoever my platonic bond is, they have their own romantic bond they can lean on. I don’t know if there is anything I can do for them unless I figure out who they are.”

Jason scoffed and then went on the alert seeing movement in the room. “We’ve finally got company.”

Dick smiled and ran back a few steps. “Wanna see me do a flip into the window?”

“Ten bucks says you don’t break the glass and fall on the ground.”

He laughed at that. “Be ready to pay up, Little Wing. I’ll get the two gunmen, then you swing in and help me with the others.”

He took a running start and jumped off the roof they had been on, doing a flip to keep his momentum up. He crashed through the glass rolling into a handspring, kicking the guns out of the two goons' hands. Jason followed using his grappling hook to get across to the now-broken window.

A short fight later and they had the men all tied up. Dick called the police with the info and then they were grappling away from the scene.

“Hey, Dick?”

“Yeah?”

“Earlier you said that you wanted to figure out who your platonic soulmate was.”

Dick landed on top of the building his apartment was in, then looked at him. “Yeah. I just want to know if I can help them.”

Jason followed him down the fire escape, “I thought that soulmates knew when they found each other; you make it seem like that’s not how it works?”

Dick walked into his room to grab clothes. “When you only have one soulmate, there is a glow when you touch each other the first time. It’s your soul telling you it’s complete, but if you have more than one you only get that if you find all the pieces of your soul.”

“Oh.” He caught the pants Dick threw at him. “Thanks for talking to me about this. I guess there was a lot I didn’t know.”

They crashed on the couch to play video games and eat leftovers. The conversation hung heavy in the air, though. Jason felt like, if he talked first, he would tell Dick everything, but, if Dick had had a romantic Soulmate this whole time, then Bruce had to know about it.

He looked up at his brother from where he was laying with his legs over the side of the couch. “Does Bruce know you have a romantic Soulmate?”

Dick looked down at him from where he was perched on the back of the couch. “Yeah? Why?”

Jason shot Dick's character while he wasn’t paying attention, trying to make him stop looking at him like that. He mulled over the question while avoiding the looks Dick was still giving him during his respawn times. In a small voice he finally answered, “He didn’t make you stop being Robin?”

That made Dick pause the game. He dropped down to sit on the cushion of the couch, leaning his head over Jason to look him in the eyes. “Jason, Alfred would never let Bruce use one of us having a Soulmate as a reason to kick us out of the suit.”

Jason pushed him back so he could sit up. Turning to look at him, he took a deep breath. “He kicked me out of the suit for being hurt. He fired you and sent you here. Why would having a Soulmate be any different?”

Dick reached out and hugged Jason. He felt Dick’s shirt becoming wet from tears he hadn’t realized he was crying. “Oh, baby bird, no, that’s not gonna happen, and if Bruce tries it, then you have a place here. You did really good back there, I would love to have your help anytime.”

Jason sniffled and wrapped his arms around Dick. “What if he tries to make you send me back?”

Dick was still rubbing circles on his back, talking soothingly. “Bruce can’t make me do anything. My bank account has Alfred as my responsible party, and Clark is the name on the lease. If you want to stay here you can, and no one gets to take my brother away from me okay?” Jason nodded, still sniffling but getting his tears under control. “Now enough sad talk. How about I kick your ass in this game and tomorrow I’ll take you to the gym I use and help you with your flips.”

Jason laughed wholeheartedly at that. Sitting up and discreetly wiping his tears, he grabbed his controller again. “Don’t know why you keep trying. You’re not gonna win at this any more than I’m gonna be able to do a backhandspring tomorrow.”

And that was it.

Bruce either didn’t know about his romantic Soulmate, or he really didn’t care. Jason started keeping a journal of written notes about her. He wanted to be able to find her one day, so he needed to know everything he could.

An incomplete list of things I know about my soulmate

Her name is Marinette

Her friends also call her Netté or Mari

She drinks a lot of coffee, usually black. She grabs it on the way to class. Is that a french thing? I feel like I only ever see her with coffee? That can’t be right, maybe it’s from the all-nighters? Her friends have teased her about not sleeping before. Is that more often than I think?

She ignores her own needs to help her friends

She’s like a year younger than me I think.

Her nonna (grandmother?) calls her Marinetta or Little Fairy (could I call her Pixie?)

Lives in Paris

She has an Asian mother; Chinese?

She has an Asian name, but I don’t remember it. Her parents use it but not often enough for me to write it down

Her father is French-Italian

She is in gymnastics, but can be clumsy

Kim, Nino, and Alix are her friends.

Chloe used to be her friend. She doesn’t know what changed things

She likes to draw

She wants to be a clothing designer

She made me something? I couldn’t see what it was, but her mom was really proud of her accomplishment.

She is a really good baker

She likes matcha macarons best; but she never asks for them. She feels guilty about her parents making them just for her

She can lift a giant bag of sugar like it weighs nothing

She likes to help people

She likes pink

She is nice and good. At least I think so.

The list was in a small red notebook. It stayed with him all the time; that way whenever something happened, he could write down any details. He filled the other pages of the book with things he wanted to tell his Soulmate, small bits of his life that he wanted to share with her. He had a spot in his utility belt for it to be, and a pocket in his jacket that he kept it in. He had once shown Dick the list and the pages that he had written about him and Alfred. He smiled when Dick showed him his own similar notebook. Dick’s romantic Soulmate was also from Paris; they both wondered if their Soulmates knew each other.

Jason liked to think so

[airi-p4]

From above the stars - Chapter 7

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | ... 

_____________________________________________________

Sorry for the long wait! I’m not forgetting about this story!! I love it and I’m stopping overthinking it so it can progress at last. I hope you enjoy 💙

Chapter summary:

Gabriel offers Marinette something unexpected she can't refuse. At the same time, Luka stops coming to the cemetery, and she can't help but worry: he had promised her he wouldn't disappear...

AO3

___________________________

CHAPTER 7 - Lost

Marinette was staring at Luka's only message on her phone, dated from the previous morning (the one he sent to confirm his contact), when she received a SMS: Gabriel Agreste.

She felt uneasy from being summoned again by her late ex-boyfriend's cold father, but despite hating the idea of meeting him, she got ready to pay him a visit. Gabriel Agreste received her coldly as always, but this time, instead of mourning his son, he had an offer she didn’t expect.

"Marinette. I want to reassume the fashion business. I need someone talented to take care of the designs of Agreste’s future collections and I’m confident you could fill in for that job position. I've seen your sketchbooks and Adrien was right: you're very talented."

Marinette didn't know what to say. It's true Adrien had mentioned showing her designs to his father, but he always ended up apologizing because, in the end, Gabriel would never listen to him. Marinette didn't have much time to think as his suggestion progressed.

"Bring me a few new designs the day after tomorrow and we can discuss this matter further. Take it as a test to see if you’re fit for that job position" He asked.

"The- the day after tomorrow…? I- haven't drawn much lately, I'm not sure I can-"

"I'm sure you won't disappoint me. I would really appreciate it if you joined the Agreste empire. You're the only one I can trust"

Marinette felt sick. Not only because of the autoritharism he launched towards her, but also by the word 'trust'. Was it fair he ‘trusted’ her when she was already moving on from the love she used to have for Adrien- his son? Wasn't she betraying both father and son if she accepted Gabriel Agreste's offer? What options did she have, though? She couldn't refuse- she had had her part to blame for the accident and had to take responsibility for her actions. For Adrien...

"Thank you, Mister Agreste. I- I'll try…" she answered unsecure.

"Good. You can go now. You have some designs to work with. See you the day after tomorrow, here, at the same time"

Marinette nodded at Gabriel's cold back in front of her before passing through the main gates of the mansion to the street. She would have been happy to receive a chance like this when she dated Adrien, but now…? She wasn't sure if she wanted it anymore. She knew she needed a job other than helping at her parents' bakery, but how was she supposed to design anything after months without properly working on her fashion designs? Moreover, working with Gabriel made her uneasy. She could already feel the pressure on her shoulders from a task she shouldn't have trouble to accomplish under normal circumstances. These weren't normal circumstances. She didn't belong to the Agreste family anymore, yet she couldn't find the courage to tell Mister Agreste- or worse: to disappoint him. He needed her and she didn't want to fail his expectations- especially when she felt she was partly at fault for his son's passing.

Snapping from her never-ending thoughts about her new job offer, Marinette checked Luka's message on her phone again. ‘Thank you for today’. No matter how many times she read it, it never failed to help her find some calm. Unknowingly, she would always embrace her phone and smile at it. 'I want to see you' Marinette thought on her way to the cemetery, after buying some flowers.

___________________________________

Marinette knew she was supposed to work on her designs instead of waiting for Luka, but she couldn't stop herself. She waited, patiently, for hours, even for longer than the time he usually left… but nothing: he didn't come.

It wasn't like him to miss his visit to his sisters. Plus, he had promised her he wouldn’t disappear as long as anything unexpected happened. Marinette became anxious. 'Did anything happen to him? Did he catch a cold during the chill night? Did he become wary of her for depending and relying so much on him? Was his promise out of pity?' She couldn't know the answer.

Lonely and distracted, she went to Trocadero, where she usually hung around- either to babysit Manon, to draw and design or on her dates with Adrien- a place full of memories and her favorite corner in Paris. She expected to find the inspiration that used to overflow whenever she held a pencil in her favorite drawing spot.

She sat at the stairs and looked at her surroundings: the majestic Eiffel tower in front of her, the merry-go-round at her right, with cheerful children playing on it, the candy and ice-cream stalls at the left side. A pair of skaters racing, couples, families and groups of friends were also what Marinette's eyes usually enjoyed observing. She tried to look for inspiration on the landscape, but nothing. Her eyes may have been looking at Trocadero, but her head was somewhere else: Luka. She couldn't help but worry something bad may have happened to him.

Inspiration didn't hit as she called it a day. Still concerned, she read Luka's message again before going to sleep.

________________________________

The next day the story repeated: her last message was still not marked as read, and Luka didn't appear at the cemetery. Two days in a row without him was starting to be too hard for her heart. She spent the afternoon at Trocadero again, and when she didn't expect it, as a way to cover her impatience and negativity, her solitude, her fears and her desire to meet him became her sole inspiration.

The morning after, Marinette woke up early to go to Agreste's mansion. Gabriel welcomed her with a hug, and soon he asked for her sketchbook. The old man's strict eyes observed: every detail, every color, every choice of fabrics… Marinette could feel his judging eyes on her through her pencil-drawn sketches.

"Marinette" Gabriel called after closing the sketchbook, and turning to face her with piercing eyes. "What's the meaning of this?"

"I- My new designs…" she answered, scared of his glacial look on her.

"This… this is absolutely worthless" he coldly stated, startling Marinette. "I can understand the negative and longing feelings, but this?” he signaled. “This is not Agreste's style. Can you imagine Adrien wearing any of those? What were you thinking? I'm so disappointed…" he sighed.

Marinette gulped and her body was trembling, afraid of the cold man in front of her. She should have imagined her drawings would turn out to be not of Gabriel's likings. It was obvious they didn't fit with Agreste's style, with elegance and high-class as its trademark. She had been inspired by Luka, and the rock style of her newest drawings screamed his name everywhere. But it was the only thing she could come up with in her state, no matter how hard she tried.

"I'm so sorry… Let me re-do them, please" she begged, seeing the chance she had always dreamed about vanish before her eyes at that instant.

"You have one more day. I have great expectations put on you, Marinette. Show me your true potential- the designs my son was fond of"

"Yes sir. Thank you" she bowed her head, quickly excusing herself to walk through the main gates. She was trembling like a little mouse in front of its predator. She needed to throw out those disgusting feelings of inferiority and devaluing. She needed to recover her steady breath and calm. She needed Luka's presence close to keep her feet on the ground. She needed him to keep her sanity.

But, once again, he didn't come to the cemetery. Another day without him around. Another day with growing anxiety and worry. Another day of painful loneliness… but new designs still needed to be done...

Back at Trocadero, she decided to try to keep her head occupied with her drawings. She tried remembering her dates with Adrien- or what she used to base her designs on before.

She remembered walking hand in hand with him, sharing André's ice-cream, sharing one spoon, and being scolded by a baby's mother when she tried to give her baby a candy from the candy stall. She also remembered bumping with the flyer man- Mr Banana- when she had been rushed by Adrien, all his papers flying and scattered on the ground. She still felt a little bad for not helping him recover his flyers (especially when Adrien stepped on some of them). She also remembered riding the merry-go-round with her ‘Prince’ and she, his ‘Princess’. She remembered picnics with their best friends, too. Even the selfish, prideful and arrogant Chloe, Adrien's childhood friend, had finally accepted her as Adrien's girlfriend in front of the Eiffel tower. She wondered where her past friends were now.

The memories she had now were bittersweet- happy but also sad. How much truth and how much fantasy was in her memories? Adrien's perfection had been an illusion of hers. And their mutual friends 'friendship' appeared to be so too, when they hadn't called her in months. At least Chloe still greeted her when they met in the street, and she still brought Adrien flowers once a week. 'What was Gabriel looking for in her designs?' she had asked herself. Her answer was clear- 'the illusion of a perfect life'.

______________________________

Gabriel's eyes studied her newest designs the day after. Elegance, class, innovation- Gabriel's lips displayed a faint proud smile under his serious facade and Marinette could finally breathe.

"Marinette. You really are talented. You outdid yourself here" he said, closing her sketchbook to look at her. "I'm going to ask Nathalie to make your designs part of the new collection. With only a few arrangements they'll be perfect. Good job"

"Thank you, Sir", she bowed.

"As promised, I want you to be the new designer of the company. Take it as training. I expect you to become the pillar of this company in a few years". His chin raised to look at her from an upper position. Marinette’s eyes couldn’t possibly open more as she gasped.

"Wha-! With all my respect, I- I don't think I deserve that, Sir" her head sank between her shoulders.

"Nonsense. You're the only one who cared about my son. You're all I have left from him now, my daughter-in-law. You're the only one I can trust" he reassured her with a hand on her shoulders, under his melancholic facial expression. "I count on you"

"Yes, Sir" her mouth automatically responded. Gabriel hugged her in a grateful manner, before stating the work conditions: a full sketchbook of new designs per week. No fixed schedule, just a deadline every Friday. Marinette agreed with the conditions, still doubting her capabilities.

When she stepped out of the mansion, she wanted to scream, to cry, to jump… but most of all she wanted to meet Luka. Three days without him and she already felt like she was losing her mind. She hoped to finally meet him and hug him and tell him how much she had missed him- but nothing: no new flowers on his sisters tombstones apart from hers.

Disappointed and worried, she moved to Trocadero again. Her message to Luka was still unanswered and marked as unread. She contemplated the idea of calling him, but she supposed she would be a nuisance if he was at work- or maybe he was unreachable when he had yet to read her message. She had no claim on him, anyway. There was nothing else she could do. Before she could notice, tears were falling from her eyes.

She must have been showing a very depressing aura, because soon, André Glacier approached to offer her an ice-cream. The candy stall lady offered her a strawberry flavored lollipop and even Mr Banana offered her a paper crafted flower made out of his flyers.

For the first time, Marinette realized she was also part of the landscape she loved the most in Paris, and she was moved by their welcoming affection. The merry-go-round old man also offered her a blanket to rest on the grass. She was exhausted from the swirl of emotions she had been going on these past days and she soon fell asleep. She could have sworn she could hear Luka's guitar nearby- the song he always played- but her eyelids were too heavy to open. 'Luka…' she cried, and she entered dreamland with the feeling of someone's hand softly caressing her hair. Through her almost closed eyes, she could almost swear she saw nails painted in black, but she convinced herself she must have just dreamed it.

That night, she armed herself with courage and sent Luka another message. 'Let's meet tomorrow. I'll wait for you'.

Before going to sleep, she wished to the stars to meet him again… but they must have been angry at her because no one expected a strong windstorm for the next day. Marinette's parents forbade her to go outside in that weather, but she escaped through the back door and fought the winds to go to the cemetery.

'Why am I even here?' she thought, looking at the still unread message. 'There's no way he comes in this weather… I’m such a fool...' Marinette sighed. She could see some tree branches falling down; and cardboards, metallic plates and other pieces of various materials being carried by the windstorm. She sought refuge behind the Couffaine's family mausoleum, wishing for their forgiveness as the clock hit Luka's usual curfew.

He didn't come. Again.

Defeated, she reached for her phone: no new messages. 'What was the point of being there when he was obviously not going to come?' She felt stupid. And maybe she was. She probably was. Stupidly in love, she realized. Was she even allowed to love someone she had hurt so much? Did she even deserve his attention? Or his help? Will he ever come back to her? Was he even real?

She was losing her mind.

The strong howling winds were covering her loud painful shriek. Her hoarse throat felt ready to tear anytime as her crying amplified. When was the last time she cried like that? Right. After her first visit to Adrien's grave- months ago, when she first met with Luka.

"Luka… I miss you… I want to see you… please… I need to know you haven't left me behind too… please… don't leave me alone… Please… I need to know you're safe… I need you..." she cried in exhaustion, her body curled, sinking her head between her knees. With one last check on her phone, she lost all her hope: no new messages, despite the message marked now as read.

He willingly ignored her, she supposed, devastated. He didn't want to meet with her, didn't he? She was abusing his kindness when his suffering was worse than hers. And his sisters… Of course he would secretly hate her… Maybe living had no point anymore, she thought, utterly defeated by the depression she had been fighting since she woke up in that hospital room. Maybe it was her destiny, or a curse. Once again, she was surrounded by her inner darkness.

‘Maybe it’s time to give up…'

"Marinette!" She could hear someone calling. Probably her imagination, she assumed. "Marinette!" The same voice repeated- Luka's voice. She thought she was at the border of losing her sanity when he called again "Marinette!", but this time he appeared in front of her, sweating, with his hair messy from the wind.

If it weren't for how he ran to hug her immediately, she would have convinced herself he was a product of her imagination. But the touch was real. He was real. And he was there with her. "Luka…!" She cried, clinging to his clothes.

"What are you doing here in this windstorm? Haven't you seen the news? It's dangerous! You could have injured yourself" he scolded her, panicking and worrying. "What would I do if anything happened to you…?" he whispered, so low she wouldn't have heard him if his mouth weren't almost touching her ear.

"Luka... Luka! I was- so scared! And worried! I- I've missed you so much!" She screamed between whimpers, as her arms grip tightened around him.

"I'm here Marinette, it's ok. Sorry for being late" he apologized, hugging her tightly. "I'm so sorry"

"Luka, I-" before she could continue, two voices joined the wind sounds.

"Marinette?" "Marinette!"

"My parents," she gasped, recognizing their voices.

With his usual gentleness, Luka offered her his hand and helped her stand up, but she refused to let go of him.

"Go with them. They must be worried" Luka said in his usual calmed voice.

"But-"

"I'll be here as usual as soon as the weather allows me to. Rest assured". His hands on her shoulders were more reassuring than the unreadable look on his face, but he sounded sincere to Marinette and she decided to trust him.

"But- what happened? Why didn't you answer my messages? She cried. "You promised you wouldn’t willingly disappear and yet… I was so worried something bad could have happened to you..."

"I'm sorry, Marinette… Something happened, it’s true, but-” he looked away and took a deep breath before looking at the directions Marinette’s parents' voices came from. “I'll tell you next time. You better go now. Your parents sound very worried"

"Will you really come again?" Marinette asked, squeezing his hand, scared of him disappearing again.

"I promise. I won’t fail you again” He nodded. “Now go."

Marinette was hesitant, but she finally let go of his hand and started walking towards her parents' voices, encouraged by Luka's hurt smile and his slight push on her back.

"Mom! Dad!" She cried, running to hug them.

"Marinette! We were so worried! Why did you escape? It's dangerous! What if anything happened to you, all alone here…" her mother hugged her.

"No, mom. I wasn't alone… I was with-" she turned to signal Luka, but he was nowhere to be found. 'Did she imagine it?' she frowned her eyebrows in disappointment.

"Let's go home" her father said, with his arm behind her back.

Sad and confused, Marinette looked back once again, wondering if her meeting with Luka had just been a product of her imagination. But when she looked back again, he was indeed there, watching them from afar.

In relief, Marinette waved back at him, but he walked away- not before Marinette's mother caught a glimpse of him.

"See, mom? Luka was with me!" She signaled, noticing how she had seen him too. Sabine’s reaction was not what Marinette expected. She had a look Marinette’ had never seen before on her mother’s face: a mix of anger, sadness and fear. Her words only amplified the bad vibrations she was giving off.

"Marinette. You should stay away from that man" she coldly warned her daughter.

Marinette was confused. "Why?"

"Just stay away from him, please"

Why? Why did she have to stay away from Luka? Why would her mother dislike him? Did she know him? Why did it feel like everyone was keeping secrets from her?

Marinette didn't plan to listen to her mother. No matter how massive was the concern and fear her face reflected.