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arty-shadow-morningstar · 4 years ago

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A Failed Betrothal (Part 3)

There were a lack of stuff to read so I posted this instead.

[Masterlist]

(Part 1)(Part 2)

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PART 3

The next day was weird to say the least for everyone but for Marinette, it was another can of worms that she wished she didn’t open. For one thing, Chat Noir’s feelings obsession for Ladybug switched from one black-haired girl to another which unfortunately was Ladybug’s civilian form. Which meant Marinette had to deal with Adrien’s Chat-Noir-level flirting and bad pick-up lines.

Perfect, just perfect.

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Everyone thought that a declaration speech of ‘being soulmates and the only one for him’ in front of the whole class from the ‘love of your life’ would warrant a ‘blushing to death and stammering’ or ‘outright fainting’. Not a facepalm, a groan, “Why me?” and a “I am sorry but NO. I don’t feel the same way about you”. Marinette vaguely wondered if there was some kind of rule for interesting events and confrontations to happen during lunch break while the class waits for Mme Bustier to start the lessons.

Marinette went to sit in her seat next to Chloe in the back row where she and her friends had been exiled to. The class was in stunned silence and questioning about whether or not they had fallen into an alternate universe or dreaming. Nathaniel and Alix tried to hide their snickers. Chloe just started outright laughing, turning very red in the face.

Marinette felt a nudge from Plagg in her bag. Looking down, she saw them holding up her phone to show Lila’s gaping face of horror with a wicked smug grin on their face. She looked through the photos to see everyone’s faces of confusion and shock at her rejection. Eyes wide and jaws dropped on the ground. Different shots of her classmates in the same state. She smirked and showed them to Chloe who calmed down enough, letting out the occasional giggles and took the phone with glee.

“Thank you, Plagg. Here you go.” she whispered, giving them a camembert macaron.(Tom had started experimenting with camembert in his recipes. Plagg is his first taste tester for all of them, making Tom one of Plagg’s favourite people.)

Adrien didn’t take the rejection very well.

“But we are meant to be. You are a designer and I am a model. Our partnership is the one to be envied by many for the ages.”

“And by that logic,” The designer turned to her main model for her MDC website, “Chloe, my love, will you be my one and only? For our love shines so bright ,paralleled only by a thousand suns.” Using the same voice Plagg does when they go on one of their love odes about camembert before losing her straight face and giggling.(Plagg doesn’t know whether to be offended or amused.)

Setting Chloe’s laughter off again. “Mariiiii,...stop….I can’t..*gasps*....I can’t…”

Nathaniel and Alix, finally lost control and joined Chloe in death by laughter. Adrien was flustered, turning red in the face either from anger, embarrassment or both.

“But Chloe isn’t a model.”

Marinette decided to put a stop to this, just on the off chance that Gabriel finally decides to akumatized his own son. She recomposed herself.

“She is the main model for my website and we have a partnership. You, however, work for your father. So does Miss Rossi. Does that sound like the partnership to be envied by many for the ages? Hmmm, Agreste? Anyways, like I said before, I have no interest in dating you.”

“Why not? We are friends and sometimes, friends like each other enough to date each other.” Adrien angrily asked.

“Because-”

“Because, Adrikins,” Chloe cuts in, “friends having to date because one of them is interested in something more makes no sense and is fucked-up. Marinette doesn’t owe you anything. Besides, she already has a long distance boyfriend who lives in America.”

“WHAT!?” Adrien shouted.

“What?!” The class had snapped out of their stupor. Since when had Marinette gotten over Adrien and had a boyfriend?

“What?” Marinette looked at Chloe with wide-eyes. Last she checked she was still single so what the hell was Chloe playing at. For Kwami’s sake, she hadn’t been on a date since the one with Luka which went awkwardly before they agreed that they think of each other as siblings and it will be best to stay that way.

Chloe gave her a look that said ‘I will explain later.’

“Oh yes, they met online a few months ago and now they are all lovey-dovey together. It’s just so ridiculous, so utterly ridiculous how disgustingly in love they are. They have video call dates at least once a week and somehow make it work despite the time differences. He once came all the way to Paris just to see her. He brought her some special flowers that apparently meant-”

Marinette slapped her hand over Chloe’s mouth. “Well, Chloe, Queenie, as much as I love you as my friend, you can stop gushing about my love life now. Because class is about to start.”

She said through gritted teeth as Mme Bustier finished taking her sweet time and walked in. Sadly, Alya wasn’t done with the conversation ,“Wait a minute, since when did Chloe and you become close enough that she is modeling for you? And a boyfriend? Why didn’t you tell me, Girl? I thought we were friends. What about Adrien, he just confessed to you and you had been crushing on him for so long” Many girls gasped, angry that Alya broke the unspoken girl code.

“You have a crush on me?” Adrien looked hopeful. Like a lost kitten that had been stuck in the rain, was let into someone’s home.

“I had a crush on you,” Marinette corrected him, emphasising on the past tense, “and Alya had no business of sharing that information to the entire world despite us not being friends anymore.” She glared at the journalist who at least looked ashamed.

“You wanted to date Kagami so I moved on.”

One of the reasons anyway. I found out that you were my partner who had no concept of boundaries. You are a coward who only wants to maintain the class peace at the price of my mental health, she thought.

“Instead of continuing to pursue you.” She hoped the ever dense and oblivious model would get the hint she gave him. Tikki ,just this once, Grant me that ladybug luck.

“And Mme Bustier, it is time to start the lessons, don’t you think? Instead of focusing on the class drama to gossip about later on.” Marinette glared at the teacher, reminding her to do her job.

“Oh. Right.” Mme Bustier tried to regain her ‘perfect teacher’ image after getting embarrassed at being caught, “Right. Class, turn to page-”

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As soon as the bell rang for the end of school, Marinette dragged Chloe all the way to her room. Alix and Nathaniel followed them because as far as they know, Marinette had no boyfriends and they were as curious to find out what scheme Chloe had cooked up this time. They were as complicated and crazy as Ladybug’s. No offense, Marinette.

“Okay, Queenie, you have to explain why I now have a devoted American boyfriend who I am so in love with.” Marinette crossed her arms with a frown aimed at Chloe. The kwamis got out of their respective hiding places and went to the tray of food set out for them.

The trapdoor to her room opened, revealing the rest of their friend group before Chloe said anything.

“Did we miss anything?” Kagami asked as Longg and Sass joined the other kwamis.

“Juleka said something about an American boyfriend and how he sounds so romantic. Does that have to do anything with the text Alix sent us to come here?” Luka added.

“To recap, Adrien made a love confession to Marinette,” Alix started, biting into some of the delicious pastries the Dupain-Chengs gave them, ”in front of the entire class after an entire day of flirting and bad pick-up lines.”

“Wow, even after having his memories erased of being Chat Noir, he is still after Ladybug.” Luka chuckled, with the others joining in.

Marinette whined, “It was easier when he was Chat Noir. But now as Adrien Agreste, teen heartthrob, it is going to be much more difficult to get into his thick head that I don’t see him that way and it is going to get harder, now that Alya outed my old crush to him.”

“Oof. Sucks to be you.”

“So, our Mari-bug rejected him. He threw a tantrum and sulked, so like Chat Noir, how did we not notice?,” Alix continued, “After demanding reasons why they can’t date, Chloe gave Marinette an American boyfriend who she was in a long-distance relationship with. Speaking of, why did you do that?”

“I have known Adrik- Adrien since we were in diapers and I know how that mangy cat works. He grew up on Disney and had all those fairytales stuffed into his head. If you had told him that you were just not interested in dating at the moment, it won’t work because he will try his hardest to ‘woo’ you, because he still has a chance. He won’t push his luck as much if you were off the market.” Chloe explained.

“I am sure that, judging by the fact that Chat Noir still tries to date Ladybug despite her saying she is in love with someone, Adrien might try to get more proof of this boyfriend to make sure Marinette is just not pretending to have one.” Kagami pointed out.

“Ahh, but luckily I have a back-up plan. I have a friend, Tim Drake. We met at a few galas when we were younger and kept in touch. He also owes me a favor.”

“I hope this Tim Drake is cute.”

“He is and he’s older than you by two years and,” Chloe typed something on her phone, “A fellow caffeine addict so you can bond over that. Here’s a picture of him and his brother.”

On her phone were two extremely attractive and fit young men dressed in expensive suits at what looked like a gala, the older one had a charming polite smile with bright blue eyes, looking somewhat interested at what someone off-screen was saying despite looking like he will fall over any moment. His brother, however, looked like he would rather be anywhere but where he was. He was tanned and had green eyes that promised murder for daring to even breathe in his direction. Marinette noticed that he looked a little familiar but she can’t place why.

“Tim is the one that looks like he hasn’t slept in days and that’s his brother Damian next to him.”

“Wait a minute. That’s Tim Drake and Damian Wayne. The sons of Bruce Wayne, the billionaire co-CEO of Wayne Industries, which Tim Drake is also co-CEO of.” Nathaniel said with wide eyes and looked at Chloe, “You are using your favor to give our Mari here a fake boyfriend.”

“Of course, only the best for our Mari-bug.”

“Chloe, no, he is probably busy as he is with running the company. No need to get him involved in petty teenage drama.” No matter how much she doesn’t want to date Adrien, bothering a busy guy to be her fake boyfriend is not worth it in Marinette’s opinion. Which, of course, gets overruled by the overprotectiveness of her friends.

“I, for one, think this is one of Chloe’s better plans.” Kagami commented, the others agreeing with her. Traitors.

“Hey!” Chloe exclaimed, an offended look on her face, “Anyways, I will call him later.”

“Children, you better go home now before your parents worry.” Sabine’s voice came from below, “Remember we are also going through some drills tonight so try not to be late.” Having a former assassin for a mother is handy when you want to train a team of teenage superheroes.

“Bye, guys. See you later.”

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“Just because you have been trained since birth does not excuse you from the drills. You also need to get used to the black cat.” Lady Mǔ lǎohǔ reprimanded her with her arms crossed. When Ladybug started her new team, she was the first permanent member but as the team got bigger, she stepped back to be back-up and mentor for the team.

“Yes, Maman, I know but I am nearly finished with this commission. I will catch up with you later. Promise.” Marinette stretched, looking up from her latest project. Plagg was napping in the little basket she had made for all the kwamis to sleep in which fit all of them and had some extra space for Nooroo and Dusuu after they had been retrieved.

The reason she had Plagg instead of Tikki who was with Alix was because of the new tactic the Miraculous Team came up with. To keep the balance the Ladybug and Black Cat must be active at the same time but with Adrien gone, someone must wield the ring until a new permanent holder is found and it was not a good idea for both of them to be on the same person at the same time. The team decided to rotate using the earrings and ring between them with Marinette using other miraculouses when the others have them. It also had the added bonus of making it harder for Hawkmoth to find out who has them at any given time.

“See you later, 灵儿 (líng er, means intelligence). I will give you 15 minutes but that’s it. Don’t be late.” Sabine sighed and got out the skylight and went towards the safehouse where the Miraculous team met to get training. (It is one of Sabine’s emergency safehouse to use in times of emergency and it had the required space to train 6 teenagers. Chat Noir never came to training, lazy cat.)

Marinette never made it to the warehouse.

Because a few minutes after her mother left, the skylight opened to let in five figures dressed in dark colours to easily blend into the shadows like they were trained to be. Too bad they weren’t as quiet. Marinette immediately summoned a bo-staff to defend herself.

One of them lunged at her and she retaliated by hitting the end of her staff to their middle, coupled with a couple more blows and landed one that knocked them out. The others threw throwing stars which she dodged by jumping back. Which landed her to be trapped by the two assassins, whom she didn’t notice, had moved. She cursed in every language she knew as she struggled against them. It led to no avail as she was badly out-numbered. There was a prick on her head and her world went black.

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Plagg awoke to a loud commotion. Irritated, they poked their head out to see their new temporary kit knocked out, tied up and hauled away. Recognizing the kidnappers as assassins of the League of Shadows, they scowled. Ra’s Al Ghul was going to pay.

Plagg may not act like it much but the black kwami was patient and smart. Smart enough to leave a note with an explanation somewhere visible with the messy aftermath of a fight before trailing the assassins. Oh, Roarr’s tiger was going to be pissed once she found out what happened. Wherever they were taking Marinette, it would be best to have a kwami of destruction to help her escape. The night made Plagg almost invisible and allowed to move unseen. They caught up easily and hid in their holder’s midnight hair. Now, their patience came into play. It was a matter of waiting for the right moment to pounce.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tag list: @alysrose-starchild, @buginetye, @lookatthestars1, @blackroserelina, @macncheesemonster, @mochinek0, @myazael, @tonicxworld, @thewitchwhowaited, @t1dwarrior-of-earth, @kissa-chan, @iwantasecretidentity, @theymakeupfairies, @user00000003, @woe-is-me0, @kashlyn, @mochegato,@moonlightstar64 , @greatcatblaze, @moongoddesskiana, @tazanna-blythe. @tonicxworld, @toodaloo-kangaroo, @frieddonutsweets, @local-witch-of-mn, @lady-bee-fechin, @iglowinggemma28, @indecisive-mess-named-me, @k-tea-and-coffee, @jayjayspixiepop

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(Part 4)

#damian x marinette #ml x dc #maribat #marinette x damian #daminette #betrothal au: take 2 #A failed betrothal #Adrien salt #some Alya salt #yes. i put fake dating in betrothal au #plagg is protective of his kittens #kidnapping

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marauderundercover · 3 years ago

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This Side of Normal Ch. 10

AO3

Marinette glances around the silent table, willing Jason to say something. Or do something. Or even Dick. She needed one of them to start a conversation, because Adrien hated awkward silences. And if this silence went on much longer, he was definitely going to say something and then she would regret it. Horribly.

“These rolls are purr-fect.” Adrien says, out of nowhere. Marinette lets out a groan, of course he’d skip straight ahead to the cat puns. Of course that’s where his freaking mind was tonight.

“Aren’t they? I’d say Alfred’s cooking is pretty claw-some, myself.” Dick speaks up, grinning at Adrien. Marinette looks at him, wide eyed.

“That’s it. I’ll find a new trapeze partner and a new best friend. Both of you are out of my life.” She deadpans, ignoring Adrien’s offended gasp.

“But Bugaboo, who else would give you a hand with your crazy schemes?” Adrien asks, and Marinette turns to him, narrowing her eyes.

“I swear to god if you take your arm off right now you will never find it again.” She threatens, pointing her fork at him from across the table.

“But Mari, that joke needs the arm. It doesn’t work without it.” He pouts, she rolls her eyes and turns to Damian.

“I apologize for him. He thinks he’s funny.” She says, turning her glance back at Adrien. “He’s wrong.”

“Tt. I’m unbothered by his sense of humor. I have lived with Grayson for eight years. His humor is nothing compared to those horrors.” Damian quips, and Marinette swears his lips almost quirk into a smile. She snorts.

“Guess I made the right choice in throwing Dick to the curb, huh?” She teases, ignoring Dick’s gasp and Adrien’s reassurance to the man. Honestly, who was the adult here?

“It was for the best, Dupain-Cheng.” Damian says and Marinette winces slightly. The only person who called her by her last name (in regular conversation, anyway) was Chloe. And while the girl had long since given up full on bullying her, she still wasn’t Marinette’s best friend in the world.

“You can call me Marinette, my last name is kind of a mouthful.” She says, trying to be nonchalant about it. She’d heard him refer to everyone else as their last name the entire evening. She didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, but him calling her Dupain-Cheng was going to make her uncomfortable in the long run.

“Very well.” He says, and though he doesn’t say her name, she still counts it as a win. A throat clearing catches her attention and she glances at Jason who was glaring at Damian.

“What’s up, Jay?” She asks, quirking an eyebrow.

“Nothing Pixie Pop. Just thinking about the time you kicked the ass of that would be mugger.” He says, and Marinette frowns. Mugger? “You know, the one that was obsessed with you?” He clarifies, and she understands. Copycat had been reakumatized during Jason’s stay in Paris. And he had wanted nothing more than a date with Ladybug. Though, she couldn’t understand why he was bringing it up now.

“I am so lost.” She admits, shaking her head at her pseudo-brother. He grins.

“That’s fine, just sharing that you can kick ass with the table. In case someone wants to try something.” He says pointedly. Oh. He definitely caught the heart eyes she sent Damian back in the gym. Can he blame her, though? Her weakness was green eyes. And Damian’s were the greenest.

“I did walk in on you hogtied, Todd. I assumed she was a reputable fighter after that.” Damian says, and Marinette blushes furiously.

“I’m sorry, what happened?” Mr. Wayne asks, his vapid (and fake) smile replaced with a faux look of bewilderment. She briefly wondered if it was exhausting, putting on a constant act, until she remembered how tired she was throughout collège, before she started lycée and decided she didn’t really care. Yeah, acting constantly was tiring. But why did he do it? Jason nudges her lightly and she blinks, focusing back on the conversation.

“Oh, Jason and I sparred. He apparently had forgotten that I use my surroundings to my advantage and that Adrien is always on my side.” She explains, shooting Jason a smug smile. Jason huffs.

“Not always.” He says, and Marinette raises an eyebrow, crossing her arms and giving him a challenging look.

“Oh really? Name one time that Adrien took your side instead of mine.” She challenges. She grins as Jason starts to think, obviously wracking his brain.

“Earlier today!” Adrien pipes up, and she immediately turns to him, glaring.

“What?” She asks, confused. What had- oh. Of fucking course. “That doesn’t count!” She protests, narrowing her eyes.

“Why not?” Adrien asks, raising an eyebrow in a challenge. She scoffs.

“Because it wasn’t a fight or argument or anything. It was a joke.” She says.

“Are you talking about the adoption shit, cause that was definitely not a joke. All the kids B adopts definitely have trauma and certain features.” Jason cuts in, and Marinette sighs. Of course he would clue in.

“But- no. No. That was a fluke. A glitch in the matrix, obviously. You literally cannot name a singular other time. And technically, ya big jerk, you didn’t even name this time. Adrien did.” Marinette points out, glaring at Jason.

“I’m sorry, how long have you three known each other?” Mr. Wayne cuts in again, and this time- this time- she sees that some of the confusion on his face is real. But it looks odd, like he wasn’t used to expressing a real emotion. She really needed to remind herself to talk to Jason about this later. She didn’t necessarily want to make it a habit to stick billionaire fathers with asshole tendencies in jail, but she would. She’d do it for her boys. Any day of the week. She hums in thought, adding up the time. The anniversary of Gabriel’s defeat had been a few weeks ago, which meant-

“We’ve known Jason for just over a year.” She says, before glancing at Adrien and grinning. “But I’ve been stuck with this goof for four years.”

“You know you love me.” Adrien says with a wide grin. She rolls her eyes.

“How exactly did you meet Jason?” Mr. Wayne asks, and she kind of wants to throw her fork at him. What was it, interrogate the random kids at dinner night? Though, to be fair, they were random kids in his house. But she refused to like the man until she’d talked to Jason about the potential assholeish tendencies.

“He helped me learn some self defence after I got caught up in an akuma attack.” Marinette lies smoothly. Well, it was technically a half truth. But the Waynes didn’t need to know that she was always caught up in akuma attacks.

“Akuma?” Mr. Wayne asks, and Marinette glances at Jason with a frown. Had he not told his father about anything? Not even the basics?

“Wait, is that what the thing that flooded Paris is called?” Dick asks suddenly and Marinette nearly flinches from the memory. That was one of the akumas that still gave her nightmares. One of the ones that was burned in the back of her eyelids when all she wanted was to sleep. And not think about bloated corpses and dead classmates for one goddamn minute. She lets out a steadying breath, glancing at Jason whose face had changed from annoyance to concern. She resists the urge to roll her eyes. She could talk about akumas. It was the past. Sure, she had refused all of the therapy options her parents gave her and Adrien, but she didn’t need it. She was fine.

“Yeah. Technically, her akumatized name was Siren. But, the general term for those attacks was ‘akuma’.” She says, gripping her fork a little tighter than necessary, grounding herself with Tikki’s reassuring nudges from inside her purse.

“There were more?” Dick asks, his eyes wide. Marinette glances at Jason and raises an eyebrow. Why had he not said anything? He’d been there for an entire month of Hawkmoth’s reign. He’d seen dozens of akuma attacks. Jason shrugs. Thank Jay. Super helpful.

“When you get down to it, there were probably hundreds if not thousands more. Some people, like Siren, were turned into the same akuma several times. Some people became a different akuma when they were akumatized again. I think it just depended on the person or their issue.” Marinette explains, hating how dry her mouth felt all of a sudden. She could talk about this. She could. So why was everything a little too bright? Why was the sound of forks against plates a little too loud?

“Did the Justice League stop it?” Damian asks, though by his tone, he seems to already know the answer. Odd.

“No, the local heroes did. Ladybug and Chat Noir.” Marinette says, ignoring the constricting feeling in her chest.

“Why-” Mr. Wayne starts, but Jason clears his throat. Everyone glances at him, and Marinette is unsurprised to see the flicker of anger in his eyes. Especially after she glances at Adrien and sees how pale he’s gotten. She kicks him lightly under the table to get his attention, frowning at him in a silent question. He nods, slightly. She purses her lips, not believing for a second that he was actually okay. But they could talk later. Away from eager ears.

“I’m sure you remember what Dick said about my phone call from when I first arrived in Paris. Marinette and Adrien dealt with attacks like that interrupting their day to day lives from thirteen to sixteen. I get that you’re not the best at knowing when to drop the damn topic, but I really think you should drop the damn topic.” Jason says, and though he’s smiling, Marinette can see the danger behind it. The warning. ‘Drop it, or I’ll make you’.

“My apologies, it was just so interesting.” Mr. Wayne says and this time Marinette winces at the falseness in his voice. And the smile on his face. God, this man could not have lasted a day in Hawkmoth’s Paris.

---

Finally, finally, dinner was over. After the akuma talk ceased, it was extremely awkward. Mr. Wayne looked like he would rather be anywhere else. And Marinette couldn’t blame him, wanting nothing more than to get back to her hotel room and away from the constant lack of real emotion on the eldest Wayne’s face. It was tiresome, just watching him.

“Thanks again, for having us.” Marinette says, mostly directing her comment to Dick and Alfred. Alfred just nods.

“Of course! Come back any time. Really soon, actually, so we can work more on the trapeze. I can’t lose my new trapeze buddy.” Dick says with a wide smile. Marinette holds back a sigh, nodding instead. She liked Dick, she did. But she’d definitely have to make sure that Mr. Wayne wouldn’t be around. She still wasn’t sure what to think of him.

“You should also spar with me, some time.” Damian speaks up and Marinette blinks in surprise.

“Spar. With...you?” She says, tilting her head in confusion. That came out of nowhere.

“Yes. You took down Todd easily, and I am far superior. You would actually have a challenge if we sparred.” He says. She smirks, and suddenly, with a burst of confidence she didn’t know she had, says:

“Sure thing, Pretty boy.” Before turning and walking straight out the door. The second she’s outside, she drops her head into her hands. “I can’t believe I just said that.” She mumbles under her breath.

“Pretty boy?” Adrien says with a smirk, she glares at him and moves down the front steps.

“Fuck you.” She says, no real venom in her voice. The boy knew how she got around crushes. He’d seen it firsthand. With him. With Luka. With Kagami. With the girl with bright green eyes who worked at the coffee shop across the street from the bakery. She was an absolute disaster. He was worse, but still. He wasn’t the one with the quickly developing crush on the youngest Wayne.

“Pretty boy?” Jason asks, a scowl on his face as he catches up to the two.

“Not another word, Jason.” She scowls at him, crossing her arms defiantly. He holds his hands up in surrender.

“Sure.” He says. Her mind rushes suddenly to her previous thought. Youngest Wayne. Damian Wayne. Hadn’t Lila- she snorts, before erupting into uncontrollable laughter, ignoring the worried looks from Adrien.

“I- oh my god, Jay.” She manages to say, straightening up and following Jason to the car he was borrowing to drive them back to the hotel.

“I’m completely lost.” He says.

“Join the club.” Adrien adds, and Marinette just laughs again.

“Your little brother is Damian Wayne.” She says, as if it should be obvious. Jason doesn’t get it, and neither does Adrien. But after a moment-

“Oh my god, that’s hilarious!” Adrien cries, letting out a chuckle. Jason huffs as the trio get into the car.

“Care to share with the class?” He asks, and Marinette snorts.

“Absolutely not, I dislike the majority of those people.” She says, referring to the group who was hopefully already in their rooms and not in the lobby of the hotel. “Now it’s funny that your brother is Damian Wayne because Lila made us come to Gotham instead of New York and London, because she’s dating him.” She explains and Jason scoffs.

“Yeah right.”

“Obviously she’s not actually dating him, Jay. But it’s freaking hilarious that she thinks she’s gonna get away with it. He definitely goes to Gotham Academy, and people are definitely going to call her out.” She says, not even trying to hide the absolute glee she’s feeling. If there was ever a time for all of Lila’s lies to come crashing down around her, now would be good. When she can’t just run away and claim Marinette set it up. If people Marinette didn’t even know called Lila out, well, that would be irrefutable evidence, right?

“Her regime is gonna topple and I’m gonna take you guys out for ice cream to celebrate.” Jason declares and Marinette laughs again. She was so against the idea of Gotham originally, but now, with Jason at their sides again, she’d decided that it wasn’t so bad. Suddenly remembering what had been on her mind most of the night, she turns to Jason.

“Jay, I have a serious question. And I know it’s a little hard to talk about but just know that we’re here for you to support you, and that we’ll figure out a way to make sure you and your brothers are safe and-”

“Whoa, Pix, calm down kiddo. You’re rambling again.” He says gently, furrowing his eyebrows. He pulls the car over to the side of the road and turns to put his full attention on the two. “What’s bothering you?” He asks.

“Is Mr. Wayne abusive?” She asks and Jason blinks. “I saw how hesitant you were to call him your father, and you were tense around him a lot of the night. And I don’t think the man had one legitimate expression all night. He was acting the whole time.” Marinette says, looking at him worriedly. “Look, Jay, I don’t necessarily want to make a habit of putting billionaires in jail, but I’d do it for you.”

“Is he- you would-” Jason stops and lets out a breath, obviously trying to compose himself. “No, kiddo, he’s not.” He finally says. Marinette frowns.

“Really?” She asks, and he sighs.

“Yeah, look. Our relationship has been...rough, for a couple years. We had a sort of falling out when I was a teenager and I stopped talking to him for several years. We reconnected a while ago, but it’s still rocky at times. I don’t usually call him dad or father or anything. He’s just Bruce, or B, to me.” Jason explains and Marinette nods, letting out a small sigh of relief.

“I was worried, Jay.” She admits, and Jason grins at her before pulling away from the curb again.

“I didn’t even catch on.” Adrien says with a frown. Marinette rolls her eyes, smiling at him with fondness.

“Course you didn’t Kitty. Reading people isn’t really your strong suit.” She says with a small smile. He huffs, but nods in agreement.

“True.” He says and Marinette laughs. She could officially take Bruce Wayne off her ‘threat to be dealt with immediately’ list and move him to ‘possible future annoyance’ list. A big improvement for the man, and it would mean she wouldn’t be as tense around him the next time she saw him.

Tag list: @toodaloo-kangaroo @laurcad123 @kittenmywaythrulife @lost-in-the-world-of-maribat @queenz-z @daminette-56

#daminette #maribat #maribat fanfiction #ao3fic #platonic jasonette #maribat platonic adrienette #platonic maribat adrienette #damian x marinette #maribat damian wayne #maribat marinette dupain cheng #maribat adrien agreste #maribat jason todd #maribat dick grayson #This Side of Normal

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purrincess-chat · 3 years ago

Text

Guess who's back on her bullshit? It's me. Hi, I am. I need to tell you all about an idea that's living in my head rent free right now because it's almost LadyNoir July and for a long time I have wanted to write a LadyNoir fic where LB is in mad denial about her feelings for Chat because much like my favorite thing to write with Adrinette is Adrien being in denial about his feelings for Marinette and they slowly escalate until he eventually goes "oh shit," my favorite LadyNoir things are LB knowing she loves Chat but trying hella hard to put a lid on that shit because it can't happen.

So, like alternate s2 timeline post-glaciator, the rivals never amount to anything, and LB instead is real hot and bothered about Glaciator. (I'm still salty we've never seen her question that moment once. Bitch you blushed!!) She's just pacing around her room, staring pensively at her Adrien photos, and Tikki is like you good, fam?

"No, I'm not."

She sits down on her chaise with a frustrated sigh, leaning grumpily against her fist. Like how dare he? Be in love with her for real?? And actually do things that are sweet and romantic?? When Adrien exists??

When Tikki seems confused, Marinette gets up again and resumes pacing, rambling about how she is in love with Adrien. Period. No one else. Especially not Chat Noir. He's not even her type. She hates blonds. Adrien is just the exception to the rule. Duh.

She picks up the rose again and groans, annoyed by how hot it makes her cheeks. Who the hell gave Chat Noir permission to be cute?? Whomst???

Tikki: I'm sensing you have some pent up frustrations with Chat Noir.

Marinette: I do not! What gave you that idea?

Tikki: Well, you've been walking around your room rambling about him for the past 40 minutes.

Marinette: And?

When Tikki gives her the 🤨 Marinette is like okay fine! I may have thought for a brief moment just in passing, totally casual, that Chat Noir is kinda cute. And sweet. And he's super dependable and trustworthy, and he makes me laugh sometimes. And if I'm being honest that suit fits him really well. Not that I've ever looked. But that doesn't mean I'm in love with him!

Tikki: okay.

Marinette: Just because I kissed him that one time and thought about it for a week doesnt mean I like him.

Tikki: alright.

Marinette: I mean, I really thought about that kiss. What kind of chapstick does he use? His lips always look so soft...

Tikki: why don't you ask him?

Marinette: Because then he'll know I was thinking about kissing him! And he'll do that thing where he smiles all smug-like and calls me bugaboo and he'll say something like "meow, m'lady, if you're offering your tongue to a cat, would you consider this one?" He cannot know that I think about kissing him.

Tikki: So don't ask him?

Marinette: Right. Because I am absolutely not in love with him, and I don't even want him to think that I am.

Tikki: You should tell him that. Maybe he'll move on to another girl.

Marinette: Move on?? No, no, no. He's in love with me. The only thing he needs to move is that butt over to me, so he can call me m'lady!

Tikki: But if you're not in love with him, isn't it only fair that he go be with someone else who loves him too.

Marinette: We're not talking about me, we're talking about him, and he's in love with ME.

Tikki: But you don't want to date him?

Marinette: God, no. Haven't you been listening? I'm in love with Adrien. Chat Noir is just my super hot and surprisingly romantic partner that I sometimes fantasize about kissing.

Tikki: And you're not in love with Chat Noir?

Marinette: Of course, I'm in love with him! Why do you think I've been pacing my bedroom for an hour?? I'm stressed!

Tikki: Well, if you are in love with him, isn't that a good thing? He loves you too!

Marinette: No, Tikki! Chat Noir is my partner. We can't date each other! I mean, I know everyone in Paris ships us, and clearly, Chat knows his way around a romantic picnic, but could you imagine if I told him I liked him after all this time? And he smiled that stupid dorky smile and leaned in to kiss me with his lips that have no business being that soft? Do you have any idea how humiliating that would be? I have a reputation to uphold!

Tikki: But if you both love each other, and things with Adrien aren't going very well, then-

Marinette, offended: How could you say that? Do you really think things with Adrien aren't going well?? 🥺🥺

Tikki: Well, you don't know how he feels about you, but you do know how Chat Noir feels.

Marinette: What? So I'm just supposed to date a boy because we're in love with each other?

Tikki: isn't that how it works?

Marinette: I can't date Chat Noir! Because... if Hawkmoth found out about it, then he would totally use it against us.

Tikki: Surprisingly, that's the most logical thing you've said all night.

Marinette: This isn't fair! That stupid cat attacked me when I was weak! Weak!! Ugh, and I have to see him every day, and he's gonna flirt with me. It's gonna be disgusting.

Tikki: So, tell him to stop flirti-

Marinette: No! I want him to flirt with me. I just don't want him flirting with me.

Tikki and Plagg meet up later to swap stupid owner stories, and Tikki gets a double chocolate chip cookie.

Plagg: whoa, bringing out the big guns tonight.

Tikki, with blood shot eyes: Plagg, I don't know how much more of this I can take. I'm gonna tell her.

Plagg: That's okay. Adrien only "just a friend"zoned Marinette 6 times this week. It's his personal lowest. I think he's starting to come around.

Tikki: Why are humans so stupid?

Plagg: I dunno. But they make good cheese.

Anyway, I just really love the thought of Ladybug being cranky because Chat Noir is really cute, and she hates herself for admitting it.

#cat speaks #thoughts from my mind prison #i am an adrinette and ladrien fiend #but i also frequently think about these exact situations

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yannowhatigiveup · 4 years ago

Text

My One And Only - Chapter 9

Previous | Next

So this chapter is longer than chapter 8 and I think from next chapter, they got longer. As we get closer to the chapter I’m currently writing, the frequent updates will unfortunately die. Just letting you know so you won’t be too disappointed! Oh and my Wattpad name is the same, ‘yannowhatigiveup’. If you know any way I can improve my writing please do tell me!

Gabriel Agreste stood in his observatory after recently detransforming. 'She can control her emotions well but when she's angry, it's incredibly strong. This girl could be one of the strongest in Paris, she could be one that senses auras. I must find a way. I will use her to eliminate all of heroes. All I need is time'.

————————————————————

The bluenette sat in her uncle Jagged's hotel room, tapping a pen against her lips while watching the conversation, well it was more like an argument, between Jagged and his manager Bob Roth. Bob was stating that they should leave the song writing to the professionals while Jagged protested, saying that his niece was overflowing with talent and that she could do it no problem. Penny was on the phone with someone but Marinette didn't eavesdrop in her conversation. She stated at the blank notebook in front of her, eyeing it suspiciously. Then she got an idea and began scribbling down the lyrics she had in mind, not knowing that she had unintentionally gained the attention of everyone in the room. She managed to write the whole song in one sitting which was very impressive even for professional song writers at the time. "Did it" she said putting the pen down. Penny then came over to take the notebook and read what the bluenette had written. 'I hope it's ok'

"Wow Mari, this is great!" Penny said her mouth agape. She passed it to Jagged but Bob had snatched it out of his hands, only to give it back when Fang looked at him hungrily.

"Yeah, this is rock'n roll Nettie!" He praised her while giving his manager a 'I told you so' look.

"Yes this is exactly what we needed, a little change in the album. Thank you for this Marinette. We shall produce the song while you can sing the lyrics-"

"If that's alright will you of course" Jagged said, interrupting his manager.

Marinette nodded hesitantly. "I can give it a shot" she murmured.

Marinette walked home after visiting Jagged and showing Damian the designs she had in plan for his brothers, without showing the design she made for him. She was careful not to shake her purse too much as Tikki was sleeping, it was a busy day for the kwami as Marinette had let her go visit Plagg for some 'Kwami business'. Marinette didn't press for answers though. Soon she entered her parents bakery to find them already there, waiting for her.

"Maman, Papa what is it?" She asked.

"Your father and I are discussing if we should open a second bakery" Sabine answered enthusiastically.

"There's a few spots available in Marseille, we already booked a flight and a hotel to stay at" Tom answered, maybe even more excited than his wife.

"That's great! But isn't Marseille far away? It's closer to Italy than Paris" Marinette answered.

"Well surprisingly, we're already well known there" Tom replied.

"Oh cool! When will you be leaving?"

"On Saturday at 2 am" Her mother replied. "It's late but it was the next available flight. We'll be gone for a week maybe longer depending on all the paper work"

"Well you better start packing then!" Marinette said happy for both her parents. "I'll be going to bed now. Good night!" She hugged both her parents before going upstairs to change and finishing up her designs.

~~~

Adrien sat in front of his computer early before school, looking through all of Kagami's recent posts and he liked the photo that she posted yesterday, the photo was of when they went for ice cream earlier today. Alya and Nino were also in the picture, smiling for the camera but Adrien noticed someone else in the background. 'Marinette...' She was eating her ice cream, unbeknownst to the picture being taken, with the spoon still in her mouth. Adrien felt distracted by the way the sun reflected off her hair. He loved Kagami truly but his new love for Marinette shadowed it. "Plagg" Adrien said. "I think I have a thing for bluenettes".

"So your type is blue-haired girls? What makes you say that?" The kwami replied, not really enjoying the conversation.

"Well I like Ladybug, Kagami and Marinette and they all have one thing in common. They all have blue hair" Adrien sighed. "The last thing I need is another blue-haired girl to come into my life"

"Ughhh this is too cheesy, I much prefer actual cheese" Plagg groaned while looking around for Camembert.

Adrien sighed, smiling while going back to think of the girls he liked. He liked Ladybug for her quick, sly and smart nature. Kagami was incredibly skilled and very easy to relate to. And Marinette had a kind personality as well as unmatchable beauty. He couldn't decide which one he liked most as all the options were as great as the others. Then a notification on his computer distracted him from his thoughts. It was a notification that Jagged Stone had posted something. 'Huh, I wonder what it could be'

~~~

Jason was flicking through the channels on the TV, looking for something interesting to watch when a notification appeared on his phone. 'What's this?' He then realised that it was a trending post from Jagged Stone and went to view it. "HOLY SH-"

"Master Jason, language"Alfred reminded him.

"Oh yeah sorry" he whispered before shouting again. "HOLY MOTHER OF UM SOMETHING!"

Dick and Tim then entered the room, wondering what Jason was talking about. "What?" Dick asked.

Jason then connected his phone to the TV and showed the post he was talking about.

@official_jaggedstone

(Photo of a blue-haired girl with a medium long braid and her back facing the camera, writing on something)

Wonder what MDC is writing up for the bonus track? 🤔🤔🤔🤔

All three of the boys then fanboyed over finally being able to see what their favourite designer, and idol, looked like. Alfred then sighed while exiting the room.

"She's pretty!"

"She looks smart!"

"What's she writing?"

"I'm gonna call Damian, that room looks similar to the room he's staying in"

"Yes do, I want to pester him"

Dick then dialed a number on his phone. After a few rings, the phone finally answered.

"Tt, Yes?" A stern voice came through on the other side.

"HAVE YOU SEEN JAGGED'S RECENT POST!?" Tim shouted into the microphone.

~~~

Damian had already seen Jagged's post, he smiled to himself. He was about to go back to reading his book when his phone rang. He would've picked it up straight away if he hadn't see the name, it was Dick. He let the phone ring for a little while before answering.

"Tt, Yes?" He said in a stern voice.

"HAVE YOU SEEN JAGGED'S RECENT POST!?" Luckily Damian had the phone further away from his ear otherwise Tim would've exploded his eardrums.

"What about it?"

"He posted an image of MDC, the very first one ever on the internet!" Dick answered excitedly. "There aren't any pictures of her anywhere".

Damian smiled to himself knowing that he had seen MDC before his brothers, he had seen her smile. "There aren't?"

"Yeah! Weird right? She doesn't even show up to Jagged's live performances!" It was Jason's turn to speak now.

"Well I'm sure she goes to the performances, she's just never seen" Tim told his brother in a matter-of-fact way.

Damian rolled his eyes. "Tt, bye now" he said, immediately turning his phone off not allowing any of his brothers to protest. He then texted Marinette.

Me: Just got off the phone with my brothers, they were fanboying over you.

Surprisingly Marinette replied straight away.

Angel: They are too? Everyone is fangirling over MDC

Me: Because of Jagged's post, he posted a picture of you. The back of your head specifically

Angel: Oh hah I see it now, I guess that has to be my signature hairstyle as MDC now.

Me: It looks great on you though

Angel: You really think so?

Me: Mhm

Angel: Aw, thanks

~~~

Marinette had blushed when Damian said she looked good in that hairstyle. She really liked him. Then Marinette looked at the time, she was early for once. She decided to make use of this and get ready for school. She had finished getting ready quickly and she was able to walk instead of run to school like she usually did. When she entered, she noticed that there was barely anyone here. 'Perfect! I can work on my designs' that was until a familiar face showed up.

"Hey girl! You're here early wow!" The sound of her best friend made Marinette laugh until her facial expression changed from surprised to smug. Marinette was about to ask but Alya had brought her to the locker room where they were alone. "So girl, spill"

"What?"

"Do you like Chat Noir?"

Marinette giggled but she saw her best friend's face. "Oh you're not joking"

"Nope, now you can tell me so that I can get you both on a date." She blushed profusely. "And I ain't backing down, I've spent too much time on trying to find out who he is. Don't think I haven't noticed how you're jumping at anytime to be with this boy." She said the last statement with a soft voice.

Marinette sighed, grateful of her best friend but hesitant to tell her without Damian's permission as he never seemed like one for social interaction. "I'll ask" she said while taking her phone out.

Me: Shaytan, my best friend found out that I've been sneaking off to go see you.

Shaytan: Césaire?

Me: Yeah

Shaytan: You said she wanted to be a reporter right? Well then I guess this is expected, she did a good job.

Me: So should I tell her your name?

Shaytan: That's up to you

Me: Ok thanks!

Marinette put her phone away and looked at her best friend.

"So?" Alya asked. "Can you tell me?"

Marinette nodded. "So um, his name is D-Damian"

———

Taglist: @little-bluestar, @miracleofadisaster, @frieddonutsweets, @jjmjjktth, @genderfluidmoma, @starlit-dreaming, @icerosecrystal

#daminette #damian x marinette #marinette x damian #maribat #mlb x dc #ml x dc

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peskygirl13 · 5 years ago

Text

Pics or It Didn’t Happen

Mild salt and slight hints of Maribat, but mostly crack.

I did get some ideas from @unmaskedagain‘s blog.

Their ml salt and/or crack fics sustain me.

~~~

Marinette learned pretty quickly that even if you had proof, not everyone will listen. It’s always better to have pictures than words, because more people will believe you that way.

It was a slow burn, but Lila Rossi had successfully turned Miss Bustier’s class against the girl. It hurt when her once friends called her jealous and a bully.

Her! Marinette!

Did they forget that she had been bullied by Chloe for years? Why would she become a bully after being bullied herself?

And jealous? Jealous of what? Marinette’s crush on Adrien had long simmered out into nothing but cinders. The boy was a spineless coward who would rather pretend everything was ok rather than stand up and face the truth.

It hurt that this had happened, but, oddly enough, Marinette got some of her greatest allies through this.

It started with Chloe.

One particularly gloomy day, Marinette saw the blonde sitting alone while eating her lunch. Sabrina had long abandoned the blonde for Lila’s fool’s gold and, not for the first time in her life, Chloe felt alone.

Now, despite their long hated history, Marinette wasn’t heartless. The Ladybug in her compelled her to sit next to the blonde and eat. Chloe stared at her, surprised, but said nothing as she continued to eat herself.

That lunch started a truce and led to a friendship.

Next was Moriah.

Moriah was an exchange student from America. Marinette was surprised the day she walked into the bakery and saw her parents talking with a shy looking brunette girl with glasses.

Her parents told her that Moriah was a transfer student from America that they would be hosting for the next few years if all went well.

Moriah was very shy around new people, so when they arrived at school the next day, she stayed close to Marinette. Lila saw this and tried to tempt her into her web of lies.

Moriah was interested in Lila’s tales, but cautious. She looked up any proof of Lila’s stories and found no evidence. She looked up Lila’s name. Nothing.

When she tried pointing this out to the class, she was shunned. Chloe and Marinette welcomed her with open arms.

After a month or so, Moriah became much more comfortable. She was witty and funny, and she had no qualms about defending her friends and she always tried to remain to the side of justice.

This was one of the reasons Marinette decided to give her a miraculous.

After a week of living together, Moriah found out Marinette was Ladybug. The girls had to share a room and Marinette came back late in the night, still dressed as Ladybug, assuming Moriah was asleep and detransformed in her room.

Moriah dropped the book she was reading and squeaked behind the Asian girl.

The next few days included Moriah beating herself up about not noticing that her roommate was a superhero.

About a month or two later, was when Marinette began debating whether or not she should give Chloe and Moriah a miraculous.

Chloe, Marinette knew she wanted to give a miraculous too. The blonde had long ago proved that she was trustworthy and ready to re-wield a miraculous, but she didn’t want to risk anyone knowing that it was Chloe like with Queen Bee.

Moriah was a different story. Marinette was scared about risking something and making a mistake like she did trusting Alya. And the risk was much higher with Moriah since the brunette girl knew Marinette was Ladybug and the Guardian.

It wasn’t until when Ondine was akumatized again that Marinette made her choice.

Lila had manipulated Kim and convinced him to dump Ondine, to which she was akumatized into Syren again.

Ladybug had to fight this one almost alone because recently, Chat Noir had been showing less and less. He blamed it on his other life, but Ladybug couldn’t help but get the feeling that it was because she kept rejecting him.

It was a long hard battle and by the time it was through, Ladybug knew she needed help. If Chat Noir was going to be a little bitch, fine. But this wasn��t going to happen again.

That day, Marinette decided to give Chloe the Fox Miraculous and Moriah the Bee Miraculous. They became the heroes; Vixen and Yellow Jacket.

(“This is why I’m a dog person.” Yellow Jacket commented, pointing at Chat Noir as he arrived late to their first fight with disdain.)

Miss Bustier’s class were both excited and confused about the new heroes. What happened to Rena Rouge?

Alya threw her phone when she saw Ladybug announce that Vixen and Yellow Jacket would be the new, permanent holders of the miraculouses.

Many mocked Chloe for being replaced, assuming that the girl would throw a tantrum, but she ignored them.

What Moriah couldn’t understand is how nobody noticed how similar Vixen and Queen Bee looked.

The next ally was Luka, who turned out to be the most helpful.

He never knew about the tall-tales that the class had been told until one day when the girls came by to his house boat and was met with a disgruntled Moriah whose hair was cut.

Moriah had pretty magenta peek-a-boo highlights that were hardly noticeable, but Lila decided to complain that Moriah’s colored hair was distracting her. Mr Damocles ordered her to get rid of the colors from her hair or she’d be expelled.

Moriah, while normally always respectful, especially to adults, looked stunned. She pointed to Alix and Juleka, yelling; “What about Alix and Juleka?! Their hair is more obvious than mine! Why shouldn’t they change their hair?”

She was not allowed back on campus until the color had been removed from her hair. Moriah was furious and called her parents, telling them what had happened, and told Tom and Sabine the same thing with Chloe and Marinette.

Both parties were furious, but there was nothing Moriah’s parents could do since they were in America and Tom and Sabine tried talking to Mr Damocles about the issue, stating that there was nothing in the school rules against dyed hair and why it shouldn’t be more important than the education, but the man refused to budge.

Eventually, after three days of failing to get Mr Damocles to see reason and missed school, Tom and Sabine emailed the school board about the issue and, with no choice until they responded, Moriah was forced to get rid of her highlights.

She flat out refused to dye her hair because to get all the highlights out, they’d have to dye her whole head, so Moriah was forced to cut her locks short to remove the color.

Needless to say, she was pissed.

As was Luka.

The boy had grown to be good friends with the girl and liked her highlights. Seeing the rockin’ pink cut out sucked. When he asked what had happened, the girls told him everything, including Lila’s tabloid tales.

Luka was quick to pull Juleka aside and open her eyes to reason. When the girl found out the truth, the first thing she did was tell Rose.

The blonde girl’s eyes were opened too, and were quick to fill with tears. Everything was a lie. How could they have been so stupid? Then they remembered that Marinette had tried to warn them and were overcome with guilt. How could they make it up to her?

Marinette, Chloe, and Moriah were watching Heathers (Moriah’s suggestion) in Marinette’s room with their kwamis when Rose and Juleka entered. (Tikki, Pollen, and Trixx hid before the girls could see them)

The movie was paused and the girls stared at each other, waiting for something to happen. There was a beat of silence before Rose burst into tears.

“Marinette, we’re so sorry! We should’ve listened to you!”

Rose and Juleka told them that Luka had opened their eyes and that they never should have believed Lila’s stories and how they had tried to prove it to Ivan and Mylene too, but they wouldn’t listen.

They ended their apology by saying; “We know we don’t deserve your forgiveness, but we are sorry and we want to make it up to you. Starting with this.”

Both girls handed Marinette two hundred dollars each. Marinette looked between the girls and the money in shock.

“It’s payment for everything you’ve done for us. Every dress, outfit, accessory, baked good, everything. We know it isn’t enough, but it’s all we can afford right now. We promise to give you more once we have it.”

There were a few minutes of silence after that. Marinette blinked at the girls before tearing up and smiling.

“No. You don’t have to give me anymore. This will do.” She reassured.

Rose and Juleka awkwardly nodded, but Marinette could tell they were somewhat relieved. There was an awkward silence before Moriah spoke up.

“I know you’re lesbians, but do you want to drool over JD with us?”

Rose and Juleka blushed, but nodded their heads happily, rushing over to join the group.

It wasn’t just the girls though. Nathaniel never believed the stories, but was scared about what would happen if he spoke up. Seeing Rose and Juleka of all people step up made him join too. Marinette also had allies in students in other classes too, like Marc, Calude, and Aurore as well as in other schools, like Kagami and Felix. For the first time in a long time, Marinette felt much better.

She should have known it wouldn’t last.

That night she and Moriah returned to their room after patrol, she should have noticed that her sketchbook wasn’t where she left it on her desk.

She should have noticed when she and Moriah got up in the morning, but they were so exhausted from the night before to think of anything more than food and getting ready.

The girls met up with Chloe at the school gates and they had just walked into the classroom when they saw Alya talking with Miss Bustier, Lila and her sheep herded on one side of the room and the rest on the other side, looking murderous. Marinette almost instantly got a gut feeling that something was wrong.

Boy was she right.

When the girls were noticed, Lila’s sheep gave them smug looks while the girl herself gave them a faux innocent look.

She did something.

Miss Bustier cleared her throat before turning to face the girls.

“Girls, because of your behavioral issues, the class decided that it would be best if you three didn’t go on the class trip.”

Oh yeah, the class trip.

During the third and final year, the seniors of the school were allowed a class trip. It was to be organized by the class, mostly the president, and the entire class had to do fundraisers to pay for it.

To be completely honest, the last thing the three girls wanted to do was go on a trip with their class. Nathaniel and Marc had gotten an internship at DC Comics (courtesy of MDC) and that was taking place exactly during the class trip and Luka and Juleka’s mom decided that they were going to sail around the world this summer and Rose got permission to tag along.

It would only be the three girls together with a class who hated them, but Marinette was the class president and had to organize it, and if she had to organize the whole thing then she was going to enjoy the fruits of her labor. And Chole and Moriah weren’t going to let her suffer alone.

The bluenette had already begun planning the trip. Places to go and fundraising to do. She even decided to go ahead and book reservations. It was unfair!

Marinette opened her mouth to argue when her eye caught something in the trash that made her heart stop.

Praying she was wrong, she slowly walked to the trash can and pulled out it’s contents.

There was her sketchbook, tattered and torn.

She couldn’t believe it. Marinette started hyperventilating, looking at the scraps of her work.

Marinette had several sketchbooks, she filled them out rather fast, but that specific sketchbook was one filled with the design ideas she had for Jagged Stone’s tour that was happening this summer.

Marinette felt the world around her spiralling. She felt dizzy. Distantly she could hear people calling her name, but couldn’t comprehend it.

She felt sick.

She was going to be sick!

That was the last thing she remembered before running home, people calling her name as she left the school.

~~~

Always make friends with people who are loyal.

A good friend will make you feel better after someone hurt you.

But a best friend will skip beside you with an old, rusty bat singing “Someone’s gonna get it~”

After Marinette ran out, Chloe, Moriah, Juleka, Rose, and Nathaniel all screamed at their classmates and teacher, telling them how incompetent they were. Moriah, too angry to remember how to speak french, called them scum sucking creeps of the earth that Satan wouldn’t even want in hell.

It probably would’ve gone farther, but the three competent classmates gave Chloe and Moriah a look and told them to go after Marinette.

The girls listened with no hesitation.

They ran all the way to the Dupan-Cheng bakery. They walked in and Tom and Sabine looked at them before glancing upstairs with sad looks. Both girls knew immediately what they meant. They went upstairs to see Marinette doing breathing exercises, trying to keep from crying or even being sad at all. Tikki was patting her wielder's leg.

Moriah instantly ran over to Marinette while Chloe was quick to close any windows, doors, and cover any cracks and creases that an akuma could get through before joining them

Fuck Hawkmoth! There was no way the girls were going to let Marinette try and keep this bottled up so that she wouldn’t get akumatized.

Chloe decided that the best thing for them to do was go to her father’s hotel and have a girls night, which is precisely what they did. What Marinette didn’t know was that there was a double meaning behind it.

The girls and their kwamis spent the night eating junk food and watching chick-flicks like Legally Blonde and Mean Girls. Rose, Juleka, and Nathaniel told the others what had happened, and Chloe and Moriah were met with numerous texts, asking if they needed to come over, but the girls reassured everyone that they had it covered.

Finally, Marinette had passed out. It was after midnight and Chloe and Moriah exchanged looks before getting to work.

Tip-toeing out of the room, closing the door behind them, Moriah unlocked Marinette’s phone and opened her contacts.

Scrolling down the list, taking note of a few names she wanted to ask the bluenette about later, she found the contact they were looking for.

Jagged Stone.

Hitting the face-time button, the girls waited for Jagged to answer. The rock star was currently in America, and should only be mid afternoon over there. Even if it wasn’t, he’d stop in the middle of a live concert if Marinette was calling him.

Sure enough, after two beeps, the screen changed to Jagged’s face.

“Marinette, love! So good to hear from you-” He stopped short when he saw the two girls, neither of which being his honorary niece.

“Moriah? Chloe? What’re you doing calling me on Marinette’s phone?”

That was all it took before the girls told him everything. Lila’s stories, all worthy of a lawsuit, what happened to Marinette’s sketchbook, they even emailed him pictures of the texts that the class had sent to Marinette, most of which encuriged the girl to comitte suicide, and a link to the LadyBlog to prove that everything was true.

About midway during their confession, Penny had appeared on the screen, reading the emails that the girls had sent her. By the time Chloe and Moriah were finished, the pair looked like they wanted to commit murder.

Jagged yelled in fury, wanted to take legal action immediately, but Moriah cut in before he could.

“I agree with you Jagged, but what Marinette needs is a break. She needs a vacation from her class and Paris in general.”

Chloe nodded in agreement.

Jagged brought a hand to his chin in thought. The girls had a point, but what to do?

~~~

It was Penny’s idea.

The first thing the girls did in the morning was burn all the plans that Marinette had made for the trip. They cancelled the reservations and when they got to school, Marinette walked up to Miss Buster’s desk and said; “I’m resigning as class president. If the class doesn’t want Chloe, Moriah, and I to join them on the class trip, then I won’t plan it.”

And that was it.

Lila had been chosen as the new class president.

To her credit, she did do a decent job. She had decent fundraising ideas, but she started late in the school year, so the class only raised enough money to go to Disneyland Paris.

Chloe snorted.

The class attended the trip in June. Their social media and camera rolls filled with pictures. Most of the captions read that they were glad to get away from the bullies at school.

It wasn’t till after the trip that they found out what happened with the girls.

It was Alix who found out first. In the class group chat, save the three ‘bullies,’ Alix texted: “OMG, look at this!”

Underneath was a picture of the three girls at the airport with Jagged Stone, Penny, and Fang. The three were posing like Charlie’s Angels, wearing huge grins, with the caption: “Touring with Jagged Stone All Summer!!”

Penny was a genius.

Lila looked at her phone in horror. This couldn’t be happening.

Oh, my dear liar, but it is!

The first stop was Gotham. Jagged was performing at a Gala hosted by Bruce Wayne, which the girls would be attending. But first, they got a tour of Wayne industries.

The first picture in Gotham was taken by Moriah at Wayne industries. She was looking at the phone camera like she was on the Office while very clearly behind her you could see Marinette talking with Damian Wayne, the youngest Wayne son, and Chloe talking with a boy named Jonathan ‘Jon’ Kent, son of famous reporters Lois Lane-Kent and Clark Kent. Alya nearly snapped her phone in half when she recognized the boy. The pairs were obviously flirting. The picture’s captain read: ”First Day in Gotham and I’m already a fifth wheel.”

The next two pictures taken were a surprise to everyone.

They were taken by Chloe in the late night streets of Gotham. The first one was a picture of Marinette sitting on the driver's seat of the batmobile looking like all her dreams had come true while Batman stood beside her, arms crossed, looking rather stern.

The second picture was Moriah holding two pistols with starry eyes with Red Hood standing beside her, explaining to her how to shoot them, with an alarmed Marinette and Nightwing running towards them in the background.

The girls did take a selfie with the entire Batfam, but they decided not to post that one.

The next few days were mainly pictures of the girls sightseeing (with the occasional sneaky picture Moriah took of her friends with Damian and Jon). However, at one point the girls were adopted (kidnapped) by Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. Chloe and Marinette both agree that the weirdest thing that happened in Gotham was Moriah bonding with a talking plant named Frank.

Eventually, it was the night of the Wayne Gala. None of the girls took pictures of the gala, but the entrance was on tv, which Miss Bustier’s class made a movie night out of.

Sure enough, walking down the red carpet were the girls. Marinette had made new outfits for all of them, just for the gala, and they were stunning.

Marinette wore a long scarlet dress. It was fashioned like a traditional chinese dress, but more Marinette-y. There were intricate designs stitched in black around the bottom of the dress with a silk sash tied around her waist. Her hair was pulled up into a bun with a fancy stain glass rose pin in it.

Chloe wore a glamorous gold mermaid dress. It shimmered with every step she took with glittering blue details on the top that matched her makeup. And if you looked down, you could see her wearing gold, literal gold, heels. Her hair was down in beach wave curls with blue strands woven into it.

Lila and Alya screamed when they saw both girls being escorted in by Damian Wayne and Jon Kent respectively.

Jagged and Penny were linked together. Penny wore a v-neck, sleeveless shimmering silver dress, also made by Marinette, while Jagged wore a dark purple suit. It looked pretty monotone for the man at first, but when lights hit the suit, you could see that there had been music notes embroidered into the suit that turned it into a rainbow of color.

Moriah’s dress came as a bit of a surprise. Marinette knew Moriah was more comfortable in pants than a dress, but she still wanted the girl to wear a dress, so they compromised. Moriah wore a dress that was also crossed with a suit. Kind of like Garnet’s wedding dress from Steven Universe.

She wore a tuxedo jacket over a white, sleeveless dress that draped down longer in the back, shorter in the front. She had a red sash wrapped around her waist and black tights with red shoes to match. Around her neck was a shirt collar and bow-tie that she wore like a choker. Her hair was half up and half down in curls. Moriah wasn’t one to wear make up, but since it was a special occasion, she wore some mascara and a little lipstick.

The biggest surprise was her escort.

Walking beside her was Fang, dressed in his own original Marinette tux that matched Jagged’s.

For the rest of the night, nobody knew what happened to the girls at the gala. It wasn't until the next morning that they found out.

Chloe and Marinette spent most of the night hanging out with Jon and Damian, but whenever they weren’t doing that, they talked with the other guests, most of whom asked for the designer of their outfits, which really boosted traffic on Marinette’s website.

Moriah hung out around the dessert table most of the night, snacking on a bit of everything, while talking with the other Wayne sons. At some point, totally unclear on the how and why, Moriah and the oldest Wayne son, Dick Grayson, got into a dance fight. The gala ended before the fight did, so they had to call a draw.

Their next destination was New York, but they made a slight detour to Metropolis per Jon and Chloe’s request. They got a VIP tour of the Daily Planet and met Jon’s parents: Lois Lane-Kent and Clark Kent.

Moriah recorded Lois tearing into the LadyBlog with a grin on her face, having no remorse in posting it online.

Alya couldn’t understand it as she watched her idol tearing into her life’s work.

Then the girls’ mentioned BugOut, the blog Aurore ran, and Lois was a lot more pleasant.

Alya threw her phone when she got a text from Nino that Marinette got Aurore an internship at the Daily Planet for winter and spring break, and possibly summer if she did well.

The next picture posted was the first one Marinette took. It was of her two friends hanging off Superman’s massive muscles as he flexed. Chloe denies ever drooling.

After that, they left for New York. Specifically, the Avengers’ Tower. It was the anniversary of when the Avengers first became a team, and Tony Stark, an old friend of Jagged’s, highered the man to play at the party.

Before then, they toured the Avengers tower. At one point, they walked in to see Captain America, Bucky Barns, and Thor working out. Shirtless. Moriah let out a quiet but passionate “Hell yes” when they saw them.

After the three men, regretfully, put on their shirts, they showed off their equipment. Chloe couldn’t help but squeal when Captain America handed her his shield. Marinette grinned as she hung off Bucky’s metal arm as he flexed it. Moriah was once again handed guns, this time by Black Widow, which were once again promptly taken from her.

After all that excitement came the big guns. Per the girls’ request, Penny recorded them trying to lift Thor’s hammer. It was all fun and games until Marinette easily picked it up. It was dead quiet before Thor’s voice thundered across the room.

“She is worthy! I must take her to Asgard with me!”

Tony took a step forward. “Thor, you can’t take a child.” He stressed.

Thor tilted his head at the millionaire like a puppy. Moriah winced, grabbing her heart. That face was too cute for a grown-ass space god.

“Then what is the spider-kid?”

Tony faceplamed. “He’s my intern and protege. I’m his mentor!”

“Then I shall be this child’s mentor!”

“No!”

“Miss Potts can be Chloe’s mentor, for they are both fit to rule!” Chloe preened at this.

“Thor, no!”

Moriah raised her hand. “Can the kick-ass, Russian spy be my mentor?”

Natasha raised an eyebrow at the girl before smirking.

“Yes! Black Widow will become Moriah’s mentor! It all works out! Now, I must take my new protege to Asgard to meet the All-Father.”

“Thor, no!”

“Don’t you take my niece!” Jagged ran into the phone’s picture, looking ready to fuck-up a god.

The video ended with Penny dropping the phone and running towards Jagged who was now riding on Thor’s back, pulling his hair.

The video went viral in an hour.

Lila’s hands trembled as she watched the video, feeling herself paleing. She had become enemies with someone who could lift Thor’s hammer.

This wasn’t posted, but shortly after Penny got Jagged off Thor, Loki appeared. He tried explaining that he felt powerful magic coming from the tower, but was cut short when Moriah tackled him to the ground in an aggressive hug.

While we’re on the subject of proteges, at some point, Peter came over. He heard that Jagged Stone was at the tower and wanted to meet him. He, Ned, and MJ were huge fans and he really needed an autograph.

Friday told him that Jagged was with the other Avengers in the training room. Promptly saying thanks to the A.I, the spider boy practically ran to the room. What he didn’t expect was to open the door to see a short, brunette girl German suplex the Winter Soldier while wearing heels. (A trick Natasha had taught her. The Black Widow took being a mentor very seriously.)

Tony turned to see who was at the door and was met with a red faced, dazed Peter Parker who was clutching the area over his heart like it was about to beat out of his chest.

“Natasha, your kid broke my minion!”

(Now Marinette and Chloe got their fill of taking sneaky pictures of Moriah and Peter.)

The girls did normal sightseeing stuff around New York. They went to a town called Riverdale and Moriah met a guy named Jughead. They bonded over having friends with love issues that attracted endless people while they just wanted to eat burgers.

At some point they were in another dangerous situation, but this time they met some guy named Deadpool who would make this One-Shot Rated-R if I actually put anything he said in it.

While in New York, they went to two Broadway Musicals. The first one was Phantom of the Opera. (Jagged didn’t really want to see this one, but he was outnumbered one to four. (Five including Fang. The crocodile had a weird love for Opera music.)) They also had a backstage pass where pictures of Marinette conversing with the person in charge of costumes, Chloe complementing the actress who played Christine, and Moriah hugging the actor who played the Phantom were taken.

After that, Jagged took them to see Hamilton. What the girls’ didn’t know, however, was that this was a special show with the original cast. Moriah screamed when she saw Lin Manuel-Miranda on the stage as Alexander Hamilton and when they went backstage, Moriah started crying when the cast greeted her.

Mylene, who admired the man herself, felt her heart break when she saw the picture of a joy-crying Moriah hugging Lin.

After that, they went to Florida for Jagged’s next concert at Universal Studios. They didn’t meet anyone famous there, but the class were still envious of the pictures.

Moriah was a huge Potter Head, so this was a dream come true. She hissed at Marinette and Chloe when they playfully mocked her Hufflepuff shirt while they sported matching Slytherin shirts.

They also went to Disney World, which was also a dream come true. The funniest thing that happened there was while Jagged and Moriah were off trying to waste hundreds of dollars on ice cream and other junk food with Penny trying to stop them, one of the park’s managers thought that Chloe and Marinette were supposed to fill-in for two of the disney princesses. Jagged, Penny, and Moriah came back to find Chloe dressed like Elsa and Marinette dressed like Mulan. Moriah laughed hysterically at the two girls until the same park manager pulled her away and she came out dressed like Belle.

Originally, Florida was supposed to be the final place, but there was a last minute change. Turns out that Jagged Stone has a sister who lives in Japan with a daughter named Kyoko Jirou.

While they were on tour, Jirou and her classmates had done a performance for their school’s festival.

Jagged, of course, was inspired and requested Penny to schedule one last performance in Japan where he’d have Jirou and her band open for him. It would be a nonprofit concert since Jagged wanted it within the next two weeks, but that didn’t bother him.

The girls had to check in with their parents, but they were allowed to go with Jagged to Japan.

Since it would take every waking moment to plan the concert and write a new song for it, Jagged had the girls join Jirou’s class for the time being despite being a little older.

The first picture taken was Moriah performing the German suplex Natasha taught her on a hot, ash-blonde guy named Katsuki Bakugou who said that the girls looked weak.

The next thing that was posted was a selfie of the three girls wearing the UA gym uniforms with the caption: “Training at the USJ.” With them in the picture were Momo and Hagakure, both of which were adorning new hero costumes.

Marinette took one look at their old costumes and went on a rampage. In the time span of two days, she managed to make both girls new suits (with the help of the support course).

Momo kept her red and white color scheme, but it became a two piece outfit that was pretty similar to a female wrestler’s costume, but with knee and elbow pads. To avoid showing too much skin, they used strands of Momos hair as a way to let her creations move past the more intimate areas of her body. Momo kept her heeled boots because if Black Widow and Wonder Woman can kick ass in heels then so could she, but Moriah gave the suggestion of being able to snap the heels off and use them like throwing darts.

Hagakure’s suit was made out of reflective lenses that could turn her completely invisible without having to be naked, but also amplify any light she admitted. She got a chest plate tank top and pants with built in kneepads. Her boots were sound absorbent for stealth and she also got a pair of rocking goggles to keep her from blinding herself.

Needless to say, both girls were satisfied with their new looks.

For the next couple of days, they took pictures of Class 1-A. Marinette was the only one who could get a picture with the Class 1-A homeroom teacher, Mr. Aizawa. Probably because she made him a new sleeping bag as an apology for their intrusion.

Funny story: When he saw Jagged Stone, he paled, before muttering “Oh dear god, there’s two of them” under his breath repeatedly. The girls didn’t understand this until they met Present Mic.

Moriah and Katsuki somewhat got along after the german suplex incident and she hung out with the Baku-Squad. Chloe took a bit of an interest in a duel-haired boy named Todoroki who hung out with a boy named Izuku Midoryia and the Deku-Squad. Izuku and Marinette got along swimmingly, just don’t look directly at them. It’s harmful to look at the sun, let alone two.

At one point, they met Endeavor. All three girls called him out and chastised him for being a horrible father and human being. Chloe took the lead on this. (Todoroki started looking at her in a new light.)

The next big news that Miss Buister’s class got wasn’t from stalking the girls’ social media. It was the Japanese news. The class couldn’t believe it when they saw that Ladybug, Vixen, and Yellow Jacket were in Japan.

Originally the girls were only planning on going shopping, but when they saw the villain attack, their hero instincts took over and they transformed and apprehended the perp. To avoid suspicion, Vixen cast an illusion to make it look like Marinette, Chloe, and Moriah were in the background in the crowd.

The girls were interviewed by the press. Well… Ladybug and Vixen conversed with the press while Yellow Jacket was giddily talking in the background with the pro hero Hawks, who the girls had aided, with a vibrant blush on her face.

Non Surprisingly, Izuku was there. Ladybug gave him the most attention out of all the interviewer's. (Block your eyes from the sunshine rays!)

The next day, things got even crazier. All three girls were kidnapped by the League of Villains. U.A, Jagged, and Penny were in a panic until Moriah posted a selfie, looking so done with the world, with a black haired, scared man with piercings beside her staring at the phone camera like he was on the Office.

\In the background, Marinette was chastising the villains about how rude it was to kidnap people while Chloe insulted their base’s decor. The caption read: “These idiots didn’t even take our phones.”

They were found two days later by a group of pro-heroes, led by current No. 1 hero, Endeavor, but when the heroes burst in, they stopped short at the sight in front of them.

The heroes found a very smug Marinette demolishing a very pissed Shigaraki at a video game while Chloe, Toga, Magne, and Twice were doing each other’s nails in the corner while gossiping. In another corner of the room, Dabi had decided to give Moriah new, vibrant blue highlights that matched his eyes.

The entire base was refurbished.

The heroes were stunned long enough for the LoV to escape.

The girls had to use the horse miraculous to return to Paris several times to deal with akumas, but it was worth it.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Jagged’s trip was soon over and the girls returned to Paris.

The moment they walked into the classroom they were met with glares ranging from weak to pure shade.

While they were on the trip, Jagged had told every important person they came across every tabloid lie Lila had spun and she was met with a tsunami of lawsuits. As was the LadyBlog. Alya’s eyes were red and puffy, but she still gave a heated glare towards Marinette.

The rest of the class wasn’t off the hook, either. With all the evidence Moriah and Chloe had shown Jagged, the entire class were sued for harassment.

After finally getting to the email Tom and Sabine sent, the school board had found out about everything. Mr Damocles and Miss Bustier had been told to hit the road, and were promptly replaced with new, competent teachers.

The girls gave a bright smile before sitting in the back of the class, high-fiving Nathaniel, Rose, and Juleka on the way.

Best. Vacation. Ever.

#mlb x dc #batfam x mlb #ml salt #mlb x marvel #mlb x spiderman #mlb x bnha #mlb crack #mlb x oc #maribat #damianette #self insert

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the-angriest-bunny-of-the-fandom · 3 years ago

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Tikki the cat - Marichat

"Please. Please please please pleeeeeeeeeeaaase." Marinette went onto her knees infront of her parents who looked like they would rather be anywhere else than here.

She looked up at them, giving her all on the puppy eyes. Her father was already beginning to crack a little bit, slowly but surely agreeing with her when she pulled another one of her far-fetched Pro's out of her ass.

"Just hear me out. Pets are proven to reduce stress and prevent depression! This is an investment. If you really come to think of it, you'd just protect all of us from ever getting akumatized. Didn't you have a tummy ache last tuesday mom? See, cats also help soothe those!"

And when her mother also began to slightly waver, gnawing on her lips, she knew that somehow she had managed it. They were going to get a cat.

Aside from the excitement she felt over her triumph she also felt a little guilty. Not only did the poor cat probably deserve somebody who could be there for her much more than Marinette probably ever could but her parents also had been subject to Marinette's pleading and begging for a full two days now.

She wasn't exactly proud of the mental gymnastics she just had to pull in order to get her parents to agree on getting a cat, but it was all in the sake of keeping her identity safe.

What she was kind of proud of, was how quickly and confidently she had managed to pull her initial lie off, despite of how her blood absolutely freezed when Chat had asked her about having talked to someone named "Tikki".

A suspicious look later and him actually asking her if she knew that was what Ladybugs Kwami was called did she manage to throw him off her tail.

The lie had almost been too good in order to be wasted on just Chat becoming suspicious because he had heard her yelling Tikki's name just as he had come to check on her after an Akuma attack. Seriously, did Tikki just have to tease her about her supposed "crush" on Chat Noir in that exact moment?

Nonetheless even though she had to make it up from scratch, it was fool proof.

Why had he never seen the cat? Of course because the cats was fairly new.

Could he see the cat? Soon, she was currently still nervous in her new enviroment and at the moment hiding under the furniture in her room.

Why had they decided to get a cat now? To do something good! God knows how much stray cats needed and deserved some love, that's why they had adopted one.

For a few seconds Marinette had actually felt smug at how well she had handled that particular crisis. Maybe her Ladybug persona finally began rubbing off on her civilian self?

However all possible smugness was immediately wiped off of her face when Chat began talking about sending pictures of the cat when she'd get the chance and oh how many cute tricks he could teach it.

That was when it dawned on Marinette that she would either have to come clean to him about her identity or she would somehow have to get her hands on one within the next week or so. Needless to say, she had chosen option number two. The cat should also be preferrably friendly already since she had supposedly already been staying with her family for a few days.

That's how she found herself at the nearest animal shelter with her parents looking for one. She briefly pondered if she should get a black one, just to charm Chat a little bit but when she spotted one of the fluffiest ginger tabbys with a kind glint in her eyes that resembled Tikki just a tad too much she knew that she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she didn't bring her home. It was a massive plus of course that Tikki 2.0 couldn't possibly be more cuddlier - nudging Marinettes palm for more pets whenever she got the chance to.

So here she sat, on her bed, cat in her lap as Tikki glared disapprovingly at them across the room. Planting a soft kiss on Tikki 2.0's head she sighed.

"C'mon Tikki, I've already said sorry about 100 times." her kwami turned it's little body away from her with a huff.

"The cat doesn't even listen to the name, so change it." this may have been funny, if Tikki hadn't been so upset.

"Look if I could do that I absolutely would, believe me." Marinette took a deep breath. "But the whole point of this was to make sure that Chat Noir doesn't figure out that I'm Ladybug. The Ladybug who - if you hadn't noticed happens to have a Kwami called Tikki as her companion. Whose name Marinette - not Ladybug shouted at about 3000 decibel while Chat Noir was conveniently on her balcony."

Tikki visibly deflated at her next words. "If he finds out I'm Ladybug... I- well this could end so badly in so many different ways. Just think back on what happened with Chat Blanc." Reluctantly Tikki flew up to her face with a sheepish expression.

"I know, I know. I'm actually very proud of how well you've handled this." sitting down on Tikki 2.0's head - which thankfully prompted the cat to let out a purr instead of swiping at the Kwami, Tikki herself let out a little giggle. "I guess it doesn't matter anyway. At this point it is inevitable that Plagg is going to rub this under my nose for the next 400 years."

Marinette pondered what she could do to make it up to her Kwami for a few seconds but before anything could come of it a loud 'thud' sounded from above Marinette. Well if you could call any of this lucky, that would be the moment to pick. She glanced at her clock. Hm... 4pm on a sunday. That was unusual but not too unusual. Had he tried to catch her off guard?

If he had, jokes on him because she was in fact not caught off guard. A cat just under two hours ago adopted and christened to the name Tikki ready in her lap she immediately shouted "It's open" when a hesitant knock sounded through the room.

The latch thrown open, a leather clad boy with cat ears tumbled through the skylight, hitting her bed roughly. Holding tight onto Tikki 2.0 so she wouldn't be rustled so much she glared at him. Tikki had long since disappeared.

Promptly ignoring her glare Chat let out a delighted squeal when he spotted Tikki 2.0 in her arms.

"Look who decided to come out from under the furniture." he reached out cautiously and let loose another set of squeals when the orange Tabby cat turned to putty under his hands. "She's so adorable! This is the best day of my life. Nothing compares to this." she rolled her eyes at him.

"Is that so? Two weeks ago you told me the stale cookies I had up here were the best thing on earth and nothing compared to them. Can I believe you Chaton?" an offended gasp sounded from Chat.

"Cookies are good but they are absolutely not on the same level as my fursome friend here." somehow Marinette had a feeling that Tikki did her hardest to supress an offended gasp from herself right now.

"Yeah yeah whatever you say kitty."

As Chat beckoned Tikki 2.0 over into his own lap with the help of little coos and a piece of discarded thread from her latest embroidery project Marinette readied her phone to take a few snapshots. As much as she teased him, this had to be preserved for later just because that level of cuteness could hardly be achieved a second time.

A beaming smile, a forced selfie (by Chat) of the three of them and a trip downstairs to get Chat a few Croissants later they were laying on the bed completely relaxed.

Somehow Chat coming closer than ever to finding out her identity had turned out... quite alright. And Tikki had- no wait Tikki 2.0 had already wormed herself into her heart.

Marinette let out a content sigh as the sunrays slowly warmed her cheeks, hand buried in Tikkis fur whose purrs rumbled. She was utterly relaxed and content with her handiwork.

And if Chat still harbored his suspicions... well she didn't need to know that did she?

#Marichat #Fluff #Marinette #Chat Noir

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galahadwilder · 4 years ago

Text

Broken Masks

Chapter 2: Give Me Space

Click here for Chapter 1: The Mortifying Ordeal

Marinette hugged her arms around her stomach as the Liberty began to churn away from the river shore, and for the first time since she'd seen her own name appear onscreen beneath Cataldi's smug face, she finally began to relax. Out here, there was no one looking for her—no one chasing down Ladybug, nobody trying to corner her to pester her with questions or accusations or thanks. And out here, Hawkmoth didn't know where she was, didn't know where Adrien was. They were safe. Or at least, as safe as they could be. For now.

"How are you two doing?" her mother said, her voice tinny through the earbuds.

Marinette huddled deeper into the hoodie she'd borrowed from Luka, watching the waves of the Seine drift by. "He's... not doing well," she said, leaning out over the rail. "It's not safe to for him to go home, and I don't think he knows what to do with himself." She'd pulled the hood as far over her head as it would go, hiding her face—and her distinctive pigtails—from anyone who might be combing the streets looking for Ladybug.

Her mother sighed. "I do feel terrible for that boy," she said. "He deserves a family that cares about him."

"Yeah," Marinette agreed, watching specks of people drift by on the distant shore.

"But Pumpkin," Sabine continued, "I was asking about you."

Marinette's teeth snapped shut, trapping specks of water on her tongue. "I'm... fine," she ground out.

"Oh, no," she heard her father's voice from a bit of a distance. "I know this mood. Put her on speaker?”

Marinette ground her teeth. "Papa," she growled, "I'm fine."

Her father sighed. "Do you remember that time when you were seven?" he said. "When you tried to fistfight Chloé for insulting the bakery—and then punched her father, the mayor, for defending her?"

Marinette shrank into herself slightly, feeling the cold of the railing on her arms. "I... yeah," she said. "Yeah I do."

"And do you remember how you tried to hide it from us until Mme. Blanchet called us a week later?"

Marinette sighed, her eyes dropping toward the black-green waves passing beneath the boat. "Yes, Papa," she murmured. "I remember."

"Sweetie," her father said, "you have always gone out of your way to defend us. You're fierce and stubborn, and that's part of what makes the hero we always knew you could be."

Marinette's heart warmed, and tears gathered in her eyes. "Papa, I'm Ladybug," she said. "If I'm not fine, Paris..." She trailed off, her voice growing wet. "Paris is..."

"Pumpkin," her mother interrupted. "We know you've been shouldering this on your own for years. We know you've been protecting us. Please, just—" Her voice broke. "Just let us protect you."

Marinette's eyes widened. "Maman?" she whispered. She couldn't remember the last time she'd heard her mother cry.

"We're you parents, Marinette," her mother said. "We know things are..." She coughed out a single rueful and mirthless chuckle. "Things are scary right now, and I know you're more worried about us than about yourself."

"You always did look after everyone else before yourself," her father added. "You were Ladybug long before you ever put on those earrings."

Marinette choked, wiping her eyes. "Papa, I'm just..." She looked down at her pockets, where Tikki was napping after their reckless flight from Agreste Manor. "It's so much," she whispered.

"It's okay to not be okay, sweetie," her father said. "I know you've gotten so used to being Ladybug... but it's all right to be our little girl when you need it."

Marinette choked, turning and slamming her back against the rail and sliding down onto the wet deck. "Papa," she sobbed. "Papa, why—why can't—" Tears began to stream down her face. "Why can't they just leave us alone?"

She was still there, her back slumped against the rail, staring at nothing when Luka found her.

"Aria?" he said, crouching down in front of her. "Everything all right?"

Marinette looked up at him through puffy eyes, taking in the familiar face of the first boy she'd ever told she was in love with him. "I... think so?" she said, searching his eyes for... she wasn't even sure what. Reassurance, maybe?

"Come on," he said, holding out a hand. His eyes were soft in that infuriatingly calm and understanding way of his, and not for the first time Marinette found herself wishing things with him hadn't ended the way they did. "Alya called. Mom's finding a place to dock now."

She took his hand and tensed her core, grateful for the surety of his grasp. "She bring everything?"

Luka nodded with a wry smile, lifting her to her feet. "The whole chest," he said. He raised a mischievous eyebrow. "You sure you're ready for him to see it?"

Marinette's stomach clenched, and she bit her lip, looking past Luka into the greenhouse—down the stairs, there was her partner, her Kitty, her Adrien, and she wasn't sure which part of him scared her most. "I—no, I don't... I'm not..." She closed her eyes, breathed in, breathed out. "Doesn't matter," she said, clenching a fist. "He needs it."

Luka chuckled. "That's so very you, Aria," he said. "Putting yourself aside for others." He reached up, brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Can't believe I never saw it."

Marinette snorted wetly, wiping her eye with her oversized hoodie sleeve. "To be fair," she murmured, "neither did he."

Luka smiled softly. "That does make me feel better," he said. He glanced back at the greenhouse, his eyes growing sad. "He hasn't said it, but he's been looking for you," he said. "He looks at the door every six seconds, and every time you don't come through, he sort of... falls a little bit."

Marinette's stomach squeezed, and she bit her lip. She could see the expression on his face—the lonely of Adrien and Chat combined made so much more sense than she'd ever imagined. No wonder Chat clung to her so intensely. "I should go get him," she murmurs. Then, suddenly remembering who she was speaking to, she looked back at Luka. "You're... okay? With me?"

Luka chuckled. "I know you, Aria," he said, squeezing her hand. "I know you're trying to be strong, to not let him see you break down. But you need him as much as he needs you."

Marinette looked up at him, confused. "That's... not what I asked?"

He smiled, taking her head between his palms and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Go back belowdecks," he said. "Be with your partner."

He didn't have to tell her twice.

Marinette bolted down the stairs from the greenhouse into the Liberty’s main living room/practice space, taking them a little too fast—she had to jump the last three. Didn’t matter, Chat needed her. She glanced around frantically, Ladybug-cataloguing the scattered instruments, Tikki munching on a cookie in the kitchenette, unmade beds, very giggly Rose sitting in Juleka’s lap, and the door to the back of the houseboat, but no Adrien. No Adrien.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and steadied herself... and when she opened them again, it was Ladybug looking through them. "Has anybody seen my cat?"

Rose and Juleka both stopped their cuddling and turned to stare at her with confused—and delighted—eyes. She glanced behind herself at the kitchenette, saw Tikki chortling as she stuffed an entire snickerdoodle into her tiny mouth.

”Under here, My Lady,” a quiet, wavery voice said.

Her eyes flicked around—his voice had come from somewhere near the beds, but she couldn’t see him. Where was...?

She glanced at Rose and Juleka. “He’s under the bed, isn’t he.”

Rose giggled. Juleka nodded with a snort.

Marinette sighed—both in exasperation and relief, now that she knew where he was, that he was safe, but also that he was doing silly cat things again. She stomped across the practice deck floor, dropping to her knees next to Luka’s bed and bending down to peer under it.

"Hi, Kitty," she said, her voice soft. "I thought you were claustrophobic?"

Adrien looked up at her with wide eyes. He was curled up underneath the bed in a fetal position, hugging his knees to his chest—and now that he’d stopped, she realized she’d heard him purring from the moment she’d stepped off the stairs.

”Usuallly, yeah,” he croaked. “But... the cat comes out when I’m...” He trailed off. “You don’t need to—to...”

She slid down onto her stomach and reached out to brush her hands through his hair. "Mind if I make it smaller?" she said. "Scoot over, I'm joining you in there."

"You’re not... mad at me?"

"No, Chaton," she whispered, scratching her nails gently through his scalp. "Never."

#miraculous ladybug #original content #broken masks #my fic #miraculous #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #chat noir #ladybug #adrienette #adrinette #post reveal #luka couffaine #post reveal to everyone #rose lavillant #juleka couffain #tom dupain #sabine cheng

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hanaasbananas · 4 years ago

Text

100 Ways to say I Love You Chapter 8

It's two sugars, right? (Marichat)

AO3

Maybe coming up onto the roof had been a bad idea.

The street below her was quiet so late at night, a silence disturbed every so often by rowdy groups of people making their way home after a night out. Marinette shivered, pulling her blanket tighter around her shoulders as a stray breeze blew her hair around her face.

Warming her hands on the hot water bottle on her lap, she leaned forward, looking down at the homework that was spread out across the small table.

This week's akuma’s had been particularly brutal and this was the only time she got to sit down and actually do her homework, but now that she had the time, the words seemed to blur on the page and she sighed.

Letting her head drop to the table, she closed her eyes. If she just rested for five minutes...five minutes to give her eyes a break and then she’d feel a little more refreshed and able to focus.

Keep telling yourself that , Marinette ignored the voice in her head that sounded suspiciously like Tikki and instead shifted to be more comfortable.

Five more minutes. That was all.

***

It was fifty five minutes later that Marinette woke up. She might have slept all night on her balcony if it wasn’t for the loud thump that startled her awake.

“Huh-wha-” she jerked up, looking around wildly until her eyes landed on Chat Noir, sitting across from her.

“It’s two sugars right?”

“Hm?” Marinette blinked, wondering what kind of dream she was having. It seemed real enough, with Chat standing out against the fairy lights strung up on the railing behind him, and...oh, he was talking again.

“—black coffee, two sugars?” He repeated, pulling out some sugar packets and shaking them.

“Oh, yeah” she stifled a yawn, sitting up straighter and pulling her blanket back up around her shoulders. “Sorry, I’m totally out of it right now. What are you doing?”

Chat Noir shrugged. “Consider this...repayment for the hot chocolate the other day—”

“—you didn’t have to—”

“I wanted to, and no offence but you kinda looked like you needed the coffee. And the pastry” he nodded towards the paper bag he’d set on the table.

Pastry.

Marinette stared at him. “You know I live in a bakery right?” she deadpanned, snickering when the tips of his ears tinged pink, his mouth opening and closing silently. In an effort to avoid her gaze, he turned his attention to the coffee, stirring the sugar in vigorously and shoving it into her hands.

“Okay yeah, you live in a bakery, but..how do you know I didn’t get it from here? Hm?” Chat sat back triumphantly, fixing her with a smug grin. Marinette didn’t even look at the paper bag before responding.

“Because it doesn’t have our logo on it.”

He stared at her for a long minute before slumping in his chair. “Yeah, you got me,” he said glumly “I got them from somewhere else, it was a bit stupid of me.”

“A bit?”

Chat glared at her “no need to rub it in.”

“No, I think it was sweet!” Marinette took a sip of her coffee, savouring the taste “and so is this— how did you know I take two sugars anyway?”

“I’m glad you asked!” Chat grinned, looking anything but. At her raised eyebrow, he continued. “Well we’ve already established that you live in a bakery, so I figured you were likely to have a sweet tooth, but having so many delicious pastries available to you at all times, I didn’t think you’d want your coffee to also be very sweet. So I decided you’d most likely take two sugars, and I was right, so…” he blew a raspberry at her.

Marinette blinked.

Either that had been an impressive amount of bullshitting on the fly, or Chat really had put that much thought into her coffee order. She didn’t know which one she’d rather believe. “Alright, Sherlock Holmes” she laughed at his affronted expression, picking up the bag and pulling out the large éclair, holding it up as a peace offering.

“You wanna split this?”

#Chat ABSOLUTELY bullshitted that last part #whilst freaking out internally the whole time #'I cant say hey im Adrien and i know your coffee order bc i memorised it from when we hang out!'#miraculous ladybug #marichat #chat noir #marinette dupain cheng #100 ways to say i love you

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p-artsypants · 4 years ago

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Integrity- Chapter 8

Ao3 | FF.net

Monday morning rolled around with a cool, all encasing fog. The gray mist that settled in between buildings, blotting out sunlight, and casting a refreshing coolness on everything blanketed underneath it.

It was glum.

Ladybug had escorted Gabriel to the police last night, as they had planned. Though he was drunk, Gabriel was well behaved. This allowed Ladybug to convince the Police to stay quiet about his arrest. Of course, it was inevitable that the media would catch wind of it, and it would be all over the news.

But she just wanted to have a few days to prepare to announce it herself, and to give Adrien some time with his mother.

He hadn’t come home last night, not that she expected him too. He may be gone for the rest of the week. Maybe longer. She couldn’t blame him for staying away.

She just missed him already.

“Hey Marinette,” Alya greeted warmly. “Where’s Sunshine? He’s gotta get rid of this fog!”

“Yeah dude, where’s my dawg?” Said Nino.

Marinette smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. How much truth could she spare? This was Rena Rouge and Carapace after all. Surely they were trustworthy. Would Adrien mind?

“Um…he’s with his mother.”

Nino and Alya just stared at her, dawning horror creeping on their faces.

“He’s dead?”

“No!” Marinette scrambled to explain. “No, no…We found his mother yesterday. Well, he found her a few days ago, but we couldn’t do anything about it until last night.”

Alya blinked a few times. “Okay girl, you lost me. You often lose me, but this is like—a whole other dimension. Can ya back up a touch?”

“I’ll tell you guys everything after school, but you have to promise me not to tell anyone.” She leaned closer. “This is just as secret, or even more so, as your secret identities.”

Alya rapidly blinked again. “Wh-what?! What are you—how do you—What!?”

“That’s all I’m saying for now.”

“You can’t just leave us there!”

“That’s all that’s safe to say here. Just...just trust me. Okay?”

Alya took a long breath. They’d been through this before. Her trust was constantly being tested by Marinette. The absences, the tardiness, the forgetful ‘oh I have to go water my hamster’ ness. “Girl...I did trust you. But...are you going to finally explain what’s going on?”

“Yes. I’ll tell you everything. If you’ll just be patient with me.”

Alya exhaled, her shoulders relaxing. “Okay. I think that’s worth it.”

They travelled together upstairs and into the classroom, where several other students milled about quietly. It seemed they hadn’t recovered from the turmoil from last week.

Faces turned to her, weak smiles in place. Sincere enough, but lacking luster. She didn’t really blame them. She felt like that too.

After some time, Miss Bustier arrived, and settled everyone in their seats.

And then there was a knock at the door.

“Come in.”

Miss Bustier invited in the devil, and the mother of the devil.

Lila. Lila was here.

“Hello, Madam Rossi, are you vouching for Lila’s tardiness?”

“On the contrary,” the woman said coldly. “Lila won’t be attending your class anymore, or this school, for that matter. But before we leave, I wanted to make sure she apologized to those she wronged.”

My my, what an interesting turn of fate. Lila stood in front, arms crossed, and full of spite.

“Where’s Mr. Agreste?” Madam Rossi asked.

“He’s not here,” Marinette supplied. “He’s visiting family.”

“Ha!” Said Lila. “That proves it! If he wasn’t guilty, he’d be here!”

“Hush, Lila. I’ve heard enough from you.” Her mother spat. “You, what’s your name?” He looked at Marinette.

“Uh, Marinette Dupain-Cheng?”

“Marinette—first of all, I want to apologize to you and your mother. She called me with concerns and I blew her off. In fact, I didn’t know there were any problems until I received a court summons at my workplace. Not only was my daughter lying to me about her after school activities, but she lied about the school being closed to take an extended vacation!”

There were scoffs of disgust from around the room.

“Mama...” Lila whined.

“I said be quiet, child. Your lying has gotten too far out of control and I’ve had enough of it. It’s time your friends knew the truth. And you’re going to tell them. Now.”

Lila swallowed. “Um...I didn’t actually go with my mother abroad for several months. I was at home. I told her the principal was akumatized and the school was closed.”

“Now, about Marinette?”

Lila groaned. “Marinette was right. I didn’t bully her at all. I made all that stuff up...”

“And regarding Adrien Agreste?”

“Adrien...never touched me. I lied. I was mad because I was fired from Gabriel for harassing Adrien.”

“Anything else you want to get off your chest?”

“No.”

“Well, that’s a shame.” Madam Rossi huffed. “What do you have to say to Marinette?”

“...I’m sorry.”

“For?”

“For lying.”

“Not good enough, Lila. Try again.”

Lila hissed, like apologizing was actually, physically painful. “I’m sorry for tattling on you to your mom. And I’m sorry for trying to get you expelled.”

Marinette pushed her luck. “...and for turning my friends against me?”

“AND for turning your friends against you.”

Eh. Good enough.

“Now, Marinette,” said Madam Rossi. “Lila must apologize to Adrien, but she’s being sent back to Italy right away. Will you record it and make sure he sees it?”

“Of course, ma’am.” Marinette took out her phone and turned on the camera. “Ready when you are.”

Madam Rossi nudged her daughter in the ribs.

“Adrien...I’m sorry I lied about you touching me. I’m sorry I lied to get into modeling with you. And I’m sorry I kissed your cheek without permission...and I'm sorry I spied on you.” With a little shrug, that’s where she ended it.

Marinette stopped recording and leveled a glare at Lila. “You’re not really sorry, are you? You wouldn’t think anything was wrong if your mom wasn’t here making you apologize.”

Lila didn’t answer, but her dead-eyed glare spoke volumes.

“You’re a psychopath.”

“Oh you think you’re so smug! Just because my lies caught up to me first! But you’re just as much as a liar as I am, aren’t you, little miss goody goody?”

Maybe she was being petty. Maybe it was adrenaline. Or maybe she really didn’t like being called a liar.

Either way, she held back just long enough to look in her purse.

Tikki gave her a firm nod.

Time to be selfish.

“Tikki, Spots on.”

In a whirl of pink, Ladybug sat in Marinette’s seat and the room went dead silent.

Except for Alya, who was making some choked wheezing sounds.

“Happy now, Lila?” Ladybug said calmly. “Yes, I lied, and flaked, and ditched my friends. I hated every minute of it, but I knew fighting akumas came first, and everything else came second. I couldn’t tell a single soul until Hawkmoth was defeated. Not even my partner.” She leveled her gaze on Lila. “But you? You just lie because you can. You have no plans, you just lie and then lie again when someone calls you out on them. You don’t care. You never cared. All you care about is yourself. That’s the reason you got caught. I chose to reveal my secret because it’s safe now.”

“Shut up!” Lila barked. Then she actually threw a punch at the hero of Paris.

Naturally, Ladybug dodged it like she had been moving in slow motion.

“You’re the worst! This whole time I thought there were two stuck up, nosy, holier-than-thou bitches in Paris. But now I see it’s only one. You don’t deserve your fame or your powers! I could have had everything! Popularity! Friends! Adrien! Fame! Even powers like Hawkmoth promised me! But you had to ruin it for me! You always ruin everything! I hate you! I hate you!!”

“Alright, we’re done.” Said Madam Rossi. She wrapped her arms around Lila, as she continued to wriggle and scream. “I see now that Italy isn’t going to be a good idea either. We’ll find a nice, quiet...resort for you for a little while.”

But Lila just continued her screaming and kicking. Her mother had to forcibly pull her from the room.

The door shut with a slam, Lila’s tantrum muffled down the hall.

And then, Ladybug stood there, keenly aware of the actions she had just made in front of all her classmates. Even Miss Bustier was slack jawed.

“I expect all of you can keep a secret of this magnitude. It would be best if you never even saw me transform.”

Still silence. But Marinette dropped her transformation and sat down.

Alya was the only one able to find a voice. “Why now? What changed?”

“It’s safe now.” Marinette explained. “Relatively speaking. I’m certain that there’s people out there who still want to hurt me. But if we all keep this to ourselves, I see no harm.”

“What about Lila?” Asked Alya.

“Well, she does have a track record for faultless honesty. Who wouldn’t believe her?” Marinette said sarcastically.

“Safe?” Nino asked, finding his voice. “Safe how?”

It was the sweetest truth in the world. “Chat Noir and I defeated Hawkmoth.”

The sentence was like electricity, jolting the room with excitement, cheers, and hugs. Students scrambled to hug her in gratitude.

“How?! When?!” Barked Alya. “There was no akuma! How did this happen!?”

Miss Bustier sat at the edge of her desk, resigned that there would be no learning today, but she really didn’t mind.

“Espionage.” Marinette said, matter-of-factly. “And to be honest, it was mostly Chat. We just officially arrested him last night.”

“Who was he? How did it happen?! I need details!” Alya nearly screamed and grabbed her by the collar and shook.

“Alya, calm down.” Marinette laughed. “I’d love to tell you all the details, but…I haven’t told anyone else yet. I have to address the public and write a speech…but I don’t even know where to start…”

Miss Bustier clapped. “Marinette! I have an idea!”

She looked to her teacher, skeptical. “Yes?”

“A writing assignment for the class. You give us the details, everyone will take notes, and we’ll help you write the speech! It would be an excellent exercise for writing from an interview.”

Marinette paused, crossing her arms and looking forward towards Adrien’s seat.

Again, the news about Gabriel was going to be public at some point. If she could get it out quickly before the other media beat her to it, she might be able to manipulate the story in her favor. As angry as she was with Gabriel, his motive was fine, and he showed…remorse? Maybe he could be redeemed and maybe Adrien could have his family back one day.

“As long as everyone promises to not talk about it to anyone, I don’t mind sharing the details.”

There was another cheer around the class as everyone gathered their phones and notebooks to take notes.

Miss Bustier clarified for everyone, “If you’re recording Marinette, the video promptly gets deleted after the assignment is over. It does not get posted on any social media, or get sent to anyone. This is for Marinette’s safety, do you all understand?”

“Yes, Miss Bustier!” Called the class, unanimously. After the dreadful behavior with Lila, no one was eager to get on Marinette’s bad side again.

Marinette stood at the front of the room, recounting what had happened, with the smallest twist of having Chat Noir as a separate character. If someone did blab, Adrien’s identity would be safe.

“Adrien’s the hero of our story.” She began. “Gabriel Agreste was arrested last night at 10:30, coming peacefully and quietly. On Thursday night, he confided in his son, that he was in fact, Hawkmoth, and that his assistant was Mayura. He disclosed his purpose was to save the life of his wife Emilie, who had fallen mysteriously ill. He was under the assumption that the only cure was using Chat’s and my Miraculous. It is unknown where he got this idea from. Adrien was skeptical enough to flag down Chat Noir as he was doing a late night patrol. He explained the situation to my partner. From there, they waited until Monsieur Agreste went to sleep, before stealing the Miraculous off of him. Chat then delivered the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous to me, and further explained the situation. After consulting my resources, we visited M. Agreste and told him it was likely we could still save his wife without the need for our Miraculous. He then willingly gave himself up and apologized. He has been taken into police custody.”

“Excuse me, Ladybug,” Alya called out, just like in a real press conference. “What happened to Mayura? Is she in police custody as well?”

“I don’t know about that. The police are aware of her involvement, but she was fired by Gabriel earlier this week. She wasn’t with him when he was arrested.”

“Are you going to go after her?”

“No. She no longer has a Miraculous. This is not a job for us anymore.”

Someone else raised their hand, Nathaniel. “How much do you want us to elaborate on Adrien’s involvement?”

“I only have Adrien’s best interest at heart. While I know he’d rather not be mentioned at all, I think it’s extremely important for the media to know that he was not complicit in his father’s actions.”

“Where is Adrien now?” Asked Chloe, more out of concern than for the assignment.

“He is with his mother while she gets treated. I won’t disclose that information to the public.” Then she added as a side note, “but if you want to know, ask me later, Chloe.”

Chloe just took a relieved sigh and nodded to her. It seemed all the previous animosity between her and Ladybug, or even Marinette, had faded with all this new information.

“Where are the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous now?” Asked Kim.

“Someplace safe.” Marinette smiled. “There’s no fear of someone else getting a hold of them.”

“Are Ladybug and Chat Noir retiring now?” Asked Rose, full of emotion.

“Ladybug will continue her patrols, and try to help around the city. I haven’t talked with Chat about what he wants to do.”

Alya raised her hand again, her eyes shining with excitement. “Any chance of auxiliary heroes getting to join you every once in a while?”

Marinette shrugged. “Perhaps.” There was no reason for them to, but with Gabriel behind bars, there was no reason for them not to. “Any other questions?”

The class was frantically scribbling down notes, but there were no more raised hands.

“I have plenty of off the record questions!” Alya called.

“I’ll answer those later,” Marinette asked.

“Alright,” began Miss Bustier. “These speeches will be due…Wednesday? Does that work for you, Marinette?”

“That should be perfect.”

“Wonderful. Then I won’t be giving anymore literature homework until then, because I want everyone to focus on this. Please write at least one page, double spaced. But more is fine. Ladybug has the right to edit whichever one she picks.” She glanced at the clock. “Goodness, that was almost the whole hour! I’ll give you the rest of the hour to talk among yourselves.”

—

While stories don’t typically have a happy ending in real life, Marinette was happy to note that things were working out nicely. The fog remained the rest of the week as Adrien stayed away from Paris. Juleka, of all people, ended up writing the most articulate, emotional, and accurate speech out of the bunch, and Ladybug presented it at a press conference with the Mayor.

Stories of all sorts of accuracies came out of it from the media, but conspiracies were loudly silenced, as Ladybug’s speech in full was available to everyone. Gabriel had yet to make any statements of his own, but his lack of urgency only lended itself to the official story.

It was over.

Gabriel’s trial would come in time, and Ladybug and Chat Noir would both be expected to testify, but the fight against Hawkmoth was over.

Despite revealing herself to her family and classmates, Marinette felt light. Unburdened, and guiltless. The raised grades were a bonus.

There was just one thing missing.

Adrien.

It had been a week since he stepped into that portal with his mother. He hadn’t taken his phone with him, but she never received a message from his baton. Not even a confirmation that he made it safely.

After several days of solid dependence and partnership, she missed him terribly.

Then finally, late one night, she awoke to a flash of light on her balcony. She was instantly awake, throwing open the door to investigate.

Belle Noir stood there, alone, and looking exhausted.

“Adrien?” She asked softly.

“Miss me, My Lady?”

“Unbelievably.”

Adrien dismissed his transformation and dragged himself over to her room.

“So what happened? How is she?”

“Still asleep.” He landed on her bed, and took off his shoes. “Not likely to wake up for a while still…but she looks better. They told me to go home, since being around her and watching was making me ill.”

“Are you alright?”

“Just need a shower and a good night’s rest. Can I sleep next to you? I really missed you.”

“I wouldn’t want you anywhere else.”

After showering and shaving, a nice clean Adrien flopped onto Marinette’s bed. He inhaled deeply. “Hmm, I missed this smell.”

“Weirdo.”

“Smells like bread and cinnamon and pretty girl.”

“Do you want to hear about all the trouble I got into while you were gone?”

“All of it…if I can stay awake.”

So Marinette told it all, starting on Monday morning with Lila, and leading all the way up to the speech, which she showed him on her phone.

“You just transformed? In front of everyone?”

She shrugged. “Not my brightest move, but Lila was accusing me of lying too…I just wanted to get it out in the air. I don’t regret it.”

“Did you tell anyone who I am?”

“Nope. I thought about telling Alya and Nino, but your identity is yours to tell. Or to keep a secret. It’s totally up to you.”

Adrien had his eyes half closed, the comfort of the bed and the warmth from his girlfriend relaxing him to sleep. “I have some ideas.”

“Care to share?”

“No. Too tired.”

“Okay kitty.” She giggled. Then she shuffled down to lay beside him, before he latched on and nuzzled her. “Hmmmmm My Lady.”

“Goodnight Kitty Cat.”

“Night. I love…”

“I love too.”

—

In the morning, Marinette woke up to an empty bed. For a moment, she worried that Adrien coming back last night had been a dream. But his suitcase was open and rifled through.

Confused, she got up and got dressed, and then came down for breakfast.

“Morning Miss Hero.” Sabine said fondly.

“Morning mama…did you see Adrien this morning?”

“I didn’t, but your father did. Said he got up really early to take care of some stuff.

“‘Stuff’ huh? Sounds vague.”

“I don’t know. But he said he’ll meet you at school. So instead of interrogating me, you can go to class and find out for yourself.”

“Oh I suppose!” Marinette said, dramatically. Then she took a seat at the table and started pouring herself some breakfast.

“They’re talking about the Hawkmoth story again.” Sabine gestured to the muted TV. “Some people are calling for a reinstatement of the guillotine.”

Marinette scoffed. “Yeah, maybe if there had been any lasting damage, maybe. But as it stands, no one died, no collateral damage…maybe some trauma I guess.”

“You’re being awfully defensive of the man you’ve been fighting the last year.”

Marinette shrugged. “I just…want Adrien to have his family back. I know Gabriel has to face punishment, and jail might even soften him up to be a better dad when he gets out. I just want him to be able to have his dad in his life…even if it’s just a little bit.”

“Even after all this, he doesn’t hate his father?”

“I couldn’t say.”

—

The fog had lifted. The morning sunlight was warm and bright, the birds chirped, the flowers bloomed. Adrien was back in Paris, somewhere, and all was right with the word.

Marinette almost skipped to school.

Half of her class awaited her by the steps, and when she came into view, they all started calling for her. “Marinette! Marinette!”

“Carry your bag to class?”

“Carry you to class?”

“Guys guys,” she laughed. “I’m flattered, but you don’t need to keep pampering me. It was fun last week, but we’re cool now, okay?”

“We just wanted to let you know that we were sorry and we appreciate you!” Said Rose, enthusiastically.

“I understand. And I forgive you. The cards, and the back rubs, and the foot rubs, and the manicures…I got it. But I don’t want our friendship to revolve around you guys just worshipping me. And I especially don’t want to be treated like this because of who I am. Let’s just…all go for ice cream this weekend?”

“Fine, but I’m paying for your ice cream!”

“No! I want to pay!”

Marinette chuckled to herself and led the throng of followers into the school. Maybe…one more week of being spoiled wouldn’t hurt. Right?

“Have you heard anything from Adrien?” Nino asked, as he asked everyday.

“Actually, I did! I’m fairly certain he’ll be in class today too!”

Nino pumped his fist.

“What should we do to make him feel welcome?” Asked Rose. “We were pretty crappy to him last time we saw him. After all he’s been through…”

Marinette looked over the remorseful faces staring at her. They wanted to make things right.

“I think apologies, hugs, and just being there for him will be enough. I think he’d appreciate affection, but not being treated like he’s fragile. He’s incredibly strong, you know.”

They all nodded, but she could hear them conspiring with each other about cards and a cake. She wasn’t going to fight them on this. Adrien needed his friends, and sincere ones at that.

Walking into the classroom, Marinette’s eye immediately fell on the very expensive handbag on her desk. Chloe sat at her own desk, admiring her nails.

“Is that—?”

“A Hermes Birkin Togo Handbag with gold Hardware? Why yes, it is.”

“Why is it on my desk?”

Chloe shrugged. “what, that old thing? I got it, but it doesn’t match my wardrobe, so I figured you would appreciate it.”

“But…this is new this season! It hasn’t even been released yet!”

“Well, it’s old to me. Give it to your mom if you don’t want it. It’s no skin off my nose!”

Marinette gave her a genuine smile. “Thank you Chloe, this means a lot to me. Especially after all that happened.”

“Are you talking about my silly little tantrum? Puh-lease. Even I’m not immune to the allure of pretty jewelry. But it won’t happen again, I’m over combs.”

“Well, I’m crazy about this bag, so thank you.”

Chloe’s mouth twitched before she said, “you’re welcome.”

Alya and Marinette spent the rest of the morning gushing over the bag, because regardless of who it came from, it was a nice bag. Miss Bustier came in and started the lesson.

It was then that Marinette realized Adrien still hadn’t shown up.

“I thought you said he was coming today?” Whispered Nino.

“I thought he was. He doesn’t have his phone on him anymore either.”

A few minutes passed before a black blur whizzed by the window. It back tracked and Chat Noir landed on the ledge, knocking on the window.

“Chat Noir?” Miss Bustier asked as Kim opened the window.

“So sorry I’m late! I was packing up some of my mother’s belongings to take to her later.” He stalked across the room, with Adrien’s bag draped over his shoulder. Then he stopped at Marinette’s desk, before stooping to kiss her on the lips. “Good morning, My Lady. Sorry I left without saying anything. I woke up early and I didn’t want to bother you.”

“It’s okay.”

“Claws in.”

And then it all clicked. The class went ballistic. There was screaming, hugs, well-intended punches, and overall excitement.

Miss Bustier rolled her eyes fondly. “Guess I’ll have to remove your absences too, to be fair.”

“Oh, sorry. When Marinette told me she revealed her identity to the class, I knew I had to too, and even more dramatically.”

“You’re such a goober.” Marinette teased fondly.

“But I’m your goober!”

#miraculous ladybug #ladybug #ladynoir #chat noir #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #adrienette #fanfiction #identity reveal #integrity

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fridayfirefly · 5 years ago

Text

Lost and Found [Part Ten]

Masterlist | Ao3

Marinette climbed up the ladder into her bedroom, where her friends waited. She carried in her hands a tray of snickerdoodles, chocolate chip cookies, and macaroons, leftovers from the bakery that had been made fresh that morning.

"Snickerdoodles!" Chloé cheered, snatching two cookies off the tray before Marinette had even made it the whole way up the ladder. Chloé always took two of everything, one for herself and one for her Soulmate, who had woven his way back into Chloé's good graces, despite their rocky beginnings.

Marinette finished the climb and shut the trapdoor behind her, not wanting to wake her parents. Given the time difference between Paris and Gotham, Marinette, Chloé, and Nino were trying to adjust early, staying awake until 4 AM and sleeping in until 1 in the afternoon. It was an uncomfortable change, but a necessary one if Marinette, Chloé, and Nino wanted to arrive in Gotham without crippling jetlag.

"It's a shame that you four won't get to try any cookies," Marinette said to the screen of her laptop. Adrien, Kim, Alix, and Kagami were all attending the sleepover via video chat. Kim, Alix, and Kagami were all in Japan, as they were spending the summer vacation getting to know each other. Adrien was in New York City for Fashion Week, though he would meet up with his friends again after the wedding when he came to Gotham to join them in visiting their Soulmates.

"That's okay," said Alix. "Kagami will get to try your fantastic cookies when she comes back to Paris with us."

The trio of Soulmates had decided that they would spend three weeks in Japan, then spend three weeks in Paris, allowing Kagami the opportunity to see Alix and Kim's hometown.

"I'll make something extra-special for you, Kagami," promised Marinette. Marinette couldn't wait to meet Kagami in person, though the two already became friends over video chat.

"Thank you, Marinette."

Marinette smiled brightly at her new friend, then turned to her two friends who were attending the sleepover in person. Chloé had the trapdoor open and was tossing cookies downstairs to be lost. Nino was on his phone, the sort of on his face that he reserved for Jon and Jon only. "Nino, are you going to try anything?"

Nino glanced up from his phone. "Oh, I wasn't paying attention." He grabbed a chocolate chip cookie, taking a bite as he returned to his phone.

"Too busy texting Jon to spend time with us?" Marinette teased.

Nino flushed, setting his phone down. "Sorry, we're both excited about the trip."

"You don't need to apologize. I'm excited, too." The plane to Gotham was leaving at midnight, only twenty-four hours away, and Marinette, Nino, and Chloé would all be on it. In less than two days, all teens would get to meet their Soulmates for the first time.

"What's the first thing you're going to do when you finally meet Damian?" Nino asked.

Marinette shrugged. "I don't know. Should I know? Should I be planning for our meeting, or just do whatever feels natural? What if he sees me and I'm not what he expected? What if he's disappointed? What if-"

Chloé pressed her hand over Marinette's mouth, stopping Marinette's anxious babbling in its tracks. "Stop worrying so much. You aren't meeting a stranger, you're meeting your Soulmate, who you talk to literally all the time. Just act natural."

"But-"

"Don't overthink it," Chloé advised.

Marinette nodded. Chloé always gave good advice. "You're right. I shouldn't be overthinking our first meeting. Damian and I already know each other. We're already friends."

"Friends," Chloé hands moved to finger quote the word. "You two talk constantly. How are you not dating yet?"

With a shrug, Marinette answered. "We've never really talked about it. He's never brought it up, so I assume that he's not interested. We're still pretty young, and it's not uncommon to wait until you're both older to start dating. He probably wants to date other people for a while before he goes into a serious relationship."

Over the camera, Adrien narrowed his eyes in skepticism. "But is that what you want?" asked Adrien. It was less of a question and more of a statement, as everyone already knew exactly how Marinette felt about Damian.

Marinette stared down at her hands. "No," she said quietly, "I want to have a relationship with Damian, I really do. I just don't want him to feel stifled. If he wants to date other people, then I'll accept it. I don't want him to get into a relationship with me just because he feels like he has to. I don't want him to resent me."

"Unless Damian is a fool, he will not resent you for speaking your mind," Kagami advised.

"Kagami is right," said Chloé. "You have to tell him what you want when you want it. Communication is key for relationships."

Marinette's anxiety over messing up her relationship with Damian was too great to be overcome by simple logic. While she knew that Chloé's advice was correct, she couldn't bring herself to accept it. "He's never shown any sign that he wants to date me. I don't want to spring it on him out of the blue."

"He's bringing you to his brother's wedding as his date. How is that not clear enough for you?"

"He invited me as his Soulmate, not as his date. I mean, J.T. did the same thing for you, Chloé."

"The reason J.T. invited me as his Soulmate rather than as his date is that we both agreed that we weren't going to attempt a relationship until I turn 18, next September. Our situations are radically different, Marinette."

"How about this," suggested Nino. "We'll flip a coin. If it lands heads up, you have to make the first move on Damian. If it lands heads down, you can wait for Damian to make the first move, and none of us will bother you about it until after our trip to Gotham. Does that sound fair?"

Marinette nodded, "That sounds fair."

Nino pulled a coin out of his pocket and tossed it in the air. Marinette willed her miraculous luck to help her out in that moment. The coin landed.

"Heads up." Chloé's smile was so smug it was almost painful to look at. "And I know the perfect way for you to show him how you feel."

Marinette knew better than to try and argue with Chloé. "What's your idea."

"You walk right up to him and without saying anything, just kiss him."

"No," Marinette spluttered. "I can't just walk up to him and kiss him without saying anything first."

"Fine," Chloé conceded. "You walk right up to him, tell him that you've been in love with him for years and then you kiss him. The kissing is non-negotiable."

"No fair. You aren't making Nino kiss Jon," complained Marinette.

"Chloé doesn't have to worry about Jon and I kissing," Nino piped up. "

"Alright, I'll kiss Damian. However, you have to give me a little time to do it."

"How about..." Chloé thought it over. "You have to do it before we leave the airport to go to his house."

Marinette was certain that she could have pressed for a better offer, but she knew that in the end whether she kissed Damian two minutes after they met or two hours after they met, it wasn't going to change the fact that she was kissing him at their very first meeting. "I agree to your terms."

"Shake on it." Chloé held out her hand, and Marinette shook it.

"Chloé, it's your job to catch their first kiss on video," said Adrien. "If I don't have the chance to experience the first kiss in person, I at least want to see it secondhand."

"Make sure you send all the Daminette videos to Kim, Kagami, and I, too," piped up Alix.

"I can't believe you guys," Marinette laughed. "You gave Damian and I a ship name!"

"If it makes you feel any better, we made a valiant attempt to give ship names to all three of you, but Daminette was the only one that we came to a consensus on," said Alix. "The best we could come up with for Nino and Jon was Jonino, and we're waiting to learn J.T.'s real name to ship him and Chloé."

Marinette laughed. She loved her friends. They were so supportive of her, pushing her to be her best self.

Eventually, Kim, Alix, and Kagami left the call, as they had a full day planned in Kyoto. Adrien hung up just a few minutes after them, as he had to start getting ready for bed. His Father allowed Adrien to video chat with his friends after his modeling duties were fulfilled, but if it started interfering with Adrien's sleep schedule, leading to telltale dark circles under his eyes, Adrien's laptop would surely be taken away from him.

Marinette, Chloé, and Nino went to bed a few hours later, but despite Marinette's exhaustion, she couldn't fall asleep. A thought had been bothering her for weeks - she was going to have to keep the fact that she was Ladybug a secret from Damian. Marinette loathed the idea of secrets between her and her Soulmate, but Tikki had already made it very clear to Marinette that revealing her identity wasn't a decision to be made lightly. Marinette needed to truly know Damian before she could tell him about the Miraculous.

In a way, Marinette was a little bit jealous of Chat Noir. He didn't have a Soulmate, so he didn't have to deal with the stress of keeping his secret identity a secret from them. However, Marinette knew better than to not appreciate what she had. She loved Damian, and she wouldn't give him up for anything, even if it meant she had to keep some parts of her life a secret from him for the time being.

——————————————————————

Marinette watched the ground get further and further away as the plane to Gotham took flight. Anxiety bubbled up in her, but it wasn't caused by the flight or the heights. She was nervous to meet Damian, and despite all the reassurances that her friends gave to her, Marinette couldn't seem to shake the anxiety deep within her that he would find her lacking in some way.

"I wish I could text Damian," Marinette sighed, staring longingly at her phone, which she had turned onto airplane mode as soon as she stepped onto the plane.

"Don't worry, Marinette. You'll get to speak to him in person in seven hours," Nino reassured.

Marinette nodded, but she still felt restless. As soon as the overhead light to stay in the seats turned off, Marinette was heading to the on-plane restroom to pen Damian a note. She had enough paper in her pocket for three notes, but every time she drafted one, it came out wrong. The first sounded needy, the second sounded impersonal, and the third sounded just plain pathetic. Marinette threw each of them away in the bathroom trash can, making sure she watched where they landed so that there was no chance that Damian would find them by mistake.

Marinette returned to her seat, yawning as she greeted Nino. He had his headphones on and was listening to music. Chloé was curled up in the seat across the aisle, fast asleep, her sleep mask covering her eyes. She buckled back in and got comfortable, hoping to get a few hours of sleep before the plane landed. The gentle humming of the plane engine and the quiet music coming through her headphones was enough of a distraction that Marinette began to forget about her worries. Despite her anxiety, she was exhausted enough that it took her no time at all to fall asleep.

Marinette woke as the plane was landing, Nino gently prodding her arm. "Wake up, Marinette. We're in Gotham."

Marinette blinked her tired eyes open. "Already?" She yawned out the word. Marinette hadn't intended to sleep for all seven hours of the plane ride. She wanted at least a few minutes to try and conquer her pesky anxiety, but now it seemed that she would be jumping straight into the deep end. As she looked out the window, Marinette could see the twinkling lights of downtown Gotham, just a few miles away from the airport, trying for a moment to forget that she would be meeting her Soulmate in just a few minutes.

As she pulled her carry-on bag out of the overhead compartment, Chloé turned to face Marinette. "Remember what you promised to do," Chloé reminded in a teasing manner.

Marinette nodded. "I remember."

Marinette's spiking anxiety must have shown on her face, as Chloé immediately looked guilty. "You know, you don't have to kiss Damian if you don't feel comfortable doing it. I just wanted to help you take the first step in your relationship. I don't want you to get hurt."

Marinette took one deep breath, then another. "I will do it. I have to take the first step now, or I'll waste the whole trip second-guessing myself." Everything was going to be fine. She just had to get off the plane.

They filed out of the plane and walked towards the terminal, Nino in front, then Chloé, with Marinette bringing up the rear. With only seconds to go before she was to lay eyes on Damian, Marinette tried to picture him in her find. There were some features that she instinctively knew that she would see - soft dark hair, warm green eyes, and strong arms to hold her.

As Marinette walked into the airport terminal, immediately locking eyes with Damian. He was so unbelievable perfect, Marinette couldn't help the smile that overtook her face. Five years had led to this. Exactly five years and two weeks since the moment Marinette first found that knife underneath her bed, she looked her Soulmate in the eyes for the first time. It was the most amazing feeling in the world. He looked at her like she was the most beautiful thing in the world, like she was a sprawling garden or a crystal clear ocean or the starry night sky. Damian looked at her with so much love in his eyes, Marinette felt her racing heartbeat start to calm. She walked towards him, knowing exactly what to do.

"Hello, Damian," Marinette greeted, her smile growing.

Damian smiled back. "Hello, Marinette. It's nice to finally meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, too. I know it's a little late, but I have one last birthday gift to give to you."

This was the moment of truth. Before he could ask her further question, but giving him enough time to stop the kiss if that wasn't what he wanted, Marinette leaned forward on her tiptoes, bridging the eight-inch height difference, and pressed a kiss to his lips.

It was her first kiss and it was perfect. Just like Marinette read in books and heard in songs, it was a rush of emotion that was so powerful, Marinette never wanted it to end. His lips were soft and warm, and in her eagerness, Marinette, inexperienced in kissing, accidentally scraped her teeth against them. Damian let out a sharp breath, then started kissing her back, snaking his hands behind her back to hold her, gently lifting her to bring her closer to his lips.

Marinette could've kept kissing Damian forever, but the sound of Chloé's muffled laughter brought Marinette back down to Earth. In an instant, she remembered that she and Damian were in public, in the middle of the airport, with Marinette's two best friends, Damian's best friend, and Damian's brother all watching. Marinette broke away from the kiss. "Hi," Marinette said breathlessly, gazing up at him with bright eyes.

Damian grinned like the cat that got the cream, as he teased, "Thank you for the gift."

Marinette blushed furiously, realizing exactly what she had done. "I- I thought that we should get it out of the way right at the beginning, whether or not we want to start our relationship now or wait a few years. As you can probably deduce, my vote is for starting it now."

Damian leaned down towards Marinette and pressed another kiss to her lips, less passionate than the first, but just as lovely. "I think we're in agreement. I would like you to come to Richard's wedding with me, not only as my date but also as my girlfriend."

"I would love that." Marinette placed her hand in his and squeezed. "I'm so happy to finally meet you face to face."

"It's been a long time coming," Damian agreed. "Five years."

"Five years and two weeks exactly, since the day that..." Marinette's voice trailed off, unsure of how to bring up the subject of the knife. Marinette had a vague memory of herself promising Nino, Kim, and Alix that she would confront her Soulmate about the subject when she first met him. Eventually, Marinette decided to rip off the bandaid in one go and just confront it head-on. "Since the day that I found the knife."

"I will explain that, but not tonight. It's a long story, and we have to get back to the house. I promise I will explain everything tomorrow."

Marinette nodded. "I've waited five years and two weeks, I can wait a few more hours."

"Damian!" The man standing next to Chloé called out. "Are you going to introduce your girlfriend to us, or are you going to keep kissing her. I'm getting a little tired of waiting. None of us are getting any younger here."

Chloé elbowed him in the side. "Ignore Jason, he's being an asshole on purpose."

Damian, however, didn't seem at all bothered by Jason's words. He gently brought one arm around her shoulders. "Todd, Jon, this is my girlfriend, Marinette."

Marinette smiled at Jason and Jon. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, Marinette. I have just one question though. Do you know Chloé?"

"It's kind of a long story. Could we explain in the car?" Marinette asked.

Jason shrugged. "I won't be driving home with you, so how about you explain it over breakfast tomorrow?"

"What do you mean you won't be driving home with them?" asked Chloé, narrowing her eyes accusatorially.

"I have to stop at my apartment and pick up some things before I come back to stay at the Manor. Don't worry, I'm not ditching you just yet."

Chloé rolled her eyes, but Marinette could tell that she had been genuinely worried. Having a mother like Audrey Bourgeoise would give anyone abandonment issues.

They all got their luggage, then walked from the airport terminal to the car, parked in the parking lot outside. Marinette and Damian held hands the whole way there, Marinette pressing her body into his side as they walked. After five years of separation, Marinette was desperate for some physical intimacy.

Damian got into the driver's seat of the car, but not before opening up the passenger door for Marinette. "Thank you," Marinette said, giving him her brightest smile.

The drive home was quiet, as everyone was too tired for any in-depth conversation. Nino was sleeping on Jon's shoulder in the back seats, while Chloé was typing rapid-speed on her phone, likely telling Adrien and the rest of the group chat about Marinette and Damian's first kiss.

Marinette stared wide-eyed out the window, trying to take everything in as they drove through the brightly-lit streets of downtown Gotham. Skyscrapers loomed overhead, the distinctive gothic architecture. Even at two AM, the streets of Gotham were bright and busy. Massive screens illuminated the streets with advertisements. People bustled around underneath, as if unaware that two AM was supposed to be the dead of night. The city had so much energy, it was hard to believe that it was the crime capital of the world. Marinette had expected dark, foreboding alleyways and sketchy characters lurking on every street corner.

"Gotham doesn't seem as bad as I anticipated," Marinette commented.

"It's not so bad in the heart of the city. The worst crime you'll experience in downtown Gotham is pickpockets and purse stealers. Once you get into the less wealthy parts of Gotham, that's where the worst of the crime takes place," Damian answered.

Marinette let out a hum of acknowledgment, which quickly turned into a yawn. Though it would be seven AM in Paris, she had adjusted her sleeping schedule to the point that her body knew that it was the middle of the night. "How soon until we get to your house?"

"We'll arrive at Wayne Manor in approximately half an hour."

A realization shocked Marinette out of her tired state. "Wayne Manor? As in Bruce Wayne!?"

Damian winced. "Bruce Wayne is my father."

"Your father is the billionaire owner of Wayne Industries." Marinette could barely believe it. She knew that Damian came from a fairly wealthy family, as he often got her expensive gifts and the car he was driving (though Marinette didn't know cars very well) appeared to be from a luxury brand, but Marinette never expected that Damian was the son of a billionaire.

"Yes." Damian glanced at Marinette. "I know I should have told you earlier, but I wasn't sure how to break the news. Are you upset?"

Marinette shook her head. "I'm not upset, just overwhelmed. What if..." Marinette's voice trailed off. "Do you think that your family will like me?"

"Of course they'll like you. Timothy already believes that you must be a saint, the way you're able to put up with me."

Marinette smiled, reassured by his words. "How fancy is the wedding going to be? I designed a dress myself for the occasion, but I'm not sure if it'll be nice enough for such an expensive wedding."

Damian shook his head. "The wedding will be a small ceremony, in the Wayne Manor gardens, with the reception directly preceding it in the Manor ballroom."

"I'll have to show you my dress tomorrow," decided Marinette.

"If you designed it yourself, I'm sure it will be perfect."

The car started leaving the downtown of the city, traveling down the highway for a while before pulling off onto a dark lane that wound its way through a forest. They drove for almost ten minutes, past houses that got progressively larger and progressively farther apart until Damian pulled up to a gated driveway. He pressed a button on the dashboard and the gates opened up. Marinette couldn't help but be impressed by the show of wealth. As the car made its way up the long driveway, Marinette waited for the house to come into view. She knew that it would be large - it was called Wayne Manor, after all - but the knowledge didn't prepare her for the massive mansion that sat on the top of the hill. Though it was difficult to see through the dark, Marinette could tell that it was beautiful. Wayne Manor was a stunning example of gothic architecture, more like something out of a nineteenth-century romance novel than an actual house that people lived in.

"Wow," Marinette breathed out the word, stunned.

Damian got out of the car and opened up Marinette's door for her. "Welcome to Wayne Manor."

Taglist: @fanboy7794 @mikantsume @hetalia-lover-is-here @howtoshuckatlife @you-will-never-know-how-i-think @redscarlet95 @derpingrainbow @friedchickening @melicmusicmagic @beautym3 @kunstner1 @shizukiryuu @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @crazylittlemunchkin @black-streak @darkshadowguardian @mystery-5-5 @trubel43 @fandomfan315 @vincentvangoose @royalchaoticfangirl @mooshoon @drama-queen-supreme @kae690 @unabashedlyswimmingtimemachine @zoerayne2426 @littleredrobinhoodlum @lunar-wolf-warrior @dani-ari @sam-spectra @be-happy-every-day-please @xxmadamjinxx @interobanginyourmom @northernbluetongue @eliza-bich @romanoff-queen @scribblinggraveyard @dur55 @jeminiikrystal @sassakitty @miss-mysterys-blog @aegyobutpsycho2 @pirats-pizzacanninibles @chaosace @pepelachanel

#maribat #miraculous ladybug #daminette #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Damian Wayne #lost and found #maridami #marinette x damian #miraculous ladybug fic #my work #fanfic

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angelofthequeers · 5 years ago

Text

From the Liar’s Mouth

Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.

Summary: “If you want to take down Lila, you have to play the long game,” Kagami says. “That means winning over your classmates. You’ve tried the direct approach and where has that gotten you?”

Who would've thought that Kagami's advice would not only let Marinette tolerate Lila's existence, but also land her both a boyfriend and a girlfriend?

AO3 link

“…and I just don’t get how Mr Damocles could believe her like that!” Marinette waves her hands around, nearly spilling her orange juice all over the table. “A condition that makes her lie? There’s no such thing! And I don’t want to go into “you need official proof of your disability to be believed” territory, but with as many conditions as she says she has? Why hasn’t anyone called her mother and asked for everything they should know to accommodate her? Especially when I needed, like, ten pieces of paper just to prove to them that I’m autistic!”

Across from her, Kagami just smiles and takes a sip of juice. Why is Kagami smiling at a time like this? This is a disaster! Lila gets off scot-free, with an even more iron-clad excuse for lying, and Adrien is Kagami’s friend too, right? Why isn’t Kagami worried for him?

“How can you smile when she’s just gotten away with it again?” Marinette bursts out. “Especially after how she hurt you with that picture of her kissing Adrien?”

“I’m going to choose to take your statement as worry for me after what Lila did to me and not an accusation, since I know you meant the former,” Kagami says rather calmly. “And if you would stop allowing your contempt for Lila to cloud you, you would see that she’s just handed you victory on a silver platter.”

“Me? She’s the one who gets to lie about everything!” Marinette says.

“Exactly,” Kagami says. “She supposedly has a condition that makes her lie uncontrollably. You have an admission that she’s a liar from the horse’s mouth. How long will it take before people start to doubt her word? And they will hear about her condition. Mr Damocles will have to inform Ms Bustier, so there’s no chance that the rest of the class won’t find out.”

“And if Lila somehow manages to keep it from them?” Marinette says. Kagami’s smile widens into something that a predator might give their prey before going for the jugular.

“Whether or not she keeps it from them, she’s backed herself into a corner,” Kagami says. “Now is the time for calmness, Marinette. Fall back and strategise. First of all, you have to ingratiate yourself with your classmates again.”

“Ingratiate myself with them?” Marinette scowls and takes a violent swig of juice. “After they doubted me and shoved me to the back and – and treated me like –”

“If you want to take down Lila, you have to play the long game,” Kagami says. “That means winning over your classmates. You’ve tried the direct approach and where has that gotten you?”

“I know, I know,” Marinette sighs. “Just…all that’s necessary for evil to triumph is that good people do nothing.”

“You won’t be doing nothing,” Kagami says. “Doing nothing would involve shrugging and writing your classmates off as a lost cause, allowing Lila to have them. That’s not what you’re doing. You’re falling back and searching for another angle of attack, just as Ladybug and Chat Noir would temporarily retreat from a battle to find another way to attack the akuma. To achieve your ultimate goal, sometimes you have to accept a few losses.”

Marinette stares. How…how has she never thought of it that way? “God, why didn’t I talk to you before?” she says. Kagami’s lips twitch.

“Because we weren’t friends before,” she says. “Now, here’s the plan to take Lila down. I do warn you, though, it involves playing nice with her.”

With a groan, Marinette thumps her head on the table. “It’s not like I can do anything else,” she mumbles into the wood. “Fine. What’s the plan, Kagami?”

“Alright,” Marinette sighs, staring at the school building looming over her like a gigantic akuma. “You can do this.”

“It’s okay to be nervous!” Tikki says. “After being expelled yesterday, I’d feel nervous about facing my classmates too!”

“It’s not just that,” Marinette says. “I…have to be nice to Lila. I have to sit there and let her lie and just smile along with it!”

“Well, Kagami did have a point,” Tikki says. “The direct approach isn’t getting you anywhere. All you can really do now is let her lie herself into a corner.”

“Which is what Adrien told me to do. Bet he didn’t think I’d get expelled over it.”

“Adrien didn’t think she was much of a threat. You’re coming from a completely different angle, Marinette! You’re taking the active approach to letting her hang herself.”

“True…” Marinette squares her shoulders and marches through the school gates. “I can do this! I’m strong! I’m confident! I’m Marinette!”

“That’s the spirit!” Tikki cheers.

Marinette’s burst of confidence lasts right until she’s outside the classroom door, where Lila’s holding court with her loud lies about hanging out with Clara Nightingale or something like that. She gulps and clenches her fists. Nope. She can’t do this. She can’t face them. She can’t stand there and look at Lila’s smug little smirk and feel like she’s letting Lila get away with this –

Something bats against her thigh. It’s Tikki, still inside her purse, who looks up and gives her a reassuring little smile. Marinette swallows, then nods and pushes the classroom door open. Almost as though she’s walking to the gallows, every single classmate falls silent and turns to stare at her.

Fantastic. Everyday Ladybug, her arse.

“Oh, Marinette!” Lila clasps her hands to her chest. “I’m so happy to see you’re back! I’m so awfully sorry, I didn’t mean to get you expelled!”

“It wasn’t your fault, Lila!” Kim says. “You can’t help your condition!”

Ah. So, Lila has told them about her supposed condition. That makes Marinette’s job a lot easier. She pastes on a smile and tilts her head.

“I’m so sorry, Lila,” she forces herself to chirp. “I had no idea about your condition! I just really hate liars, see, and I saw you as a threat to my friends, and I’m so used to protecting them from Chloé. If I’d known that you couldn’t help it…”

“Wow, thanks,” Chloé drawls. Something flashes in Lila’s eyes, too fast for anyone else to see.

“You were just worried for us?” Rose rushes over and throws her arms around Marinette. “Oh, that’s so sweet of you, Marinette! It’s so good that you’re apologising!”

“Yes, Marinette, thank you for your apology,” Lila says with a tight-lipped smile. “I completely understand your reaction. And it’s so noble that you were just trying to protect your friends.”

With that, something in the atmosphere seems to shift, like Lila’s welcomed Marinette into the fold and her classmates have once again accepted her. It takes every little shred of willpower to keep smiling and not go on the attack, but Marinette forces herself to take her seat and listen to Alya’s speech about coming to her senses and pushing her jealousy aside.

God, this sucks.

“…and she said, “Oh, Lila, I simply must make up a music video about you! You have to be in it!” But you guys know me, I simply can’t bear the attention –”

“That must have been so hard for you, Lila!” Marinette says. It’s been a week of this, a week of pretending that Lila’s a saint, and god, if she wasn’t doing this to avenge Kagami for the Oni-chan thing just as much as for herself, she’d have lost her shit by now. “After the song that Jagged Stone wrote about you, it must have been so tempting to let Clara Nightingale make a music video about you!”

“Oh, yes!” Max says. “You did mention that Jagged Stone had written a song about you, Lila!”

“Can’t hate attention that much, then,” Chloé scoffs. Although she cops a few glares, there are also a few quizzical looks aimed at Lila.

“Oh – well, a song is so different to a music video!” Lila says.

“Not really?” Nino says. “They’re both songs, dude. One’s just got visuals.”

“And Nino would know,” Marinette says. “He’s the best DJ and filmmaker around!”

“Dude!” Nino reaches back to fist-bump her. Next to him, Adrien’s watching Marinette with a furrowed brow, like he’s trying to figure out why Marinette’s been so chummy with her mortal enemy for the past week. But she’s not confiding in him after that photoshoot. She’s telling no one. No one apart from Kagami. The last thing she needs is for Lila to get wind of what’s going on, if she doesn’t already suspect it.

“Well…it just felt odd, you know?” Lila says. “Jagged wrote that song because I saved his kitten, but I haven’t really done anything for Clara!”

The class seems to accept that. But Marinette doesn’t miss how a few of them, like Nathaniel and Alix, stare at Lila with frowns even after Ms Bustier arrives and calls the class to order.

“Hey, Marinette, can I talk to you real quick?” Adrien says once class is over and they’re filing out. Marinette forces herself to smile.

“Sure!” she says. She hasn’t really spoken to Adrien since the photoshoot he’d done with Lila, more for his sake so that she doesn’t explode about colluding with the enemy, but maybe it’s time to clear the air between them and just…get it all out there. Keenly aware of Lila’s scorching glare on the back of her neck, she follows Adrien out of Ms Bustier’s classroom and to the locker room, which is thankfully empty since it’s lunchtime.

“Do you…believe Lila about her condition?” Adrien says once the locker room door is shut and they’re separated from the rest of the school. Marinette scoffs.

“Of course I don’t,” she says. “But Kagami told me –”

“Kagami? You’re friends with Kagami?”

Marinette stares. “Yeah…though I don’t know what that’s got to do with this.”

“Nothing. I just…always got the impression that you didn’t like each other.”

“Not at first. But we sorted it out. Anyway, she told me that I have to play along with Lila’s condition, make myself look innocent, and Lila will eventually lie herself into a corner.”

“Which is what I said when she got back here, didn’t I?” Adrien says. Marinette raises an eyebrow.

“No,” she says. “You said to just let her be. Kagami told me to push her into lying herself into something she can’t escape while being all nice about it.”

Adrien winces. “Right. Marinette…I’m really sorry. I thought Lila was just an attention seeker. If I’d known she was that dangerous…I shouldn’t have let you get expelled before doing anything.”

“Like having a photoshoot with her?” Marinette says. Her eyes widen seconds after those words slip out. “S-Sorry! I’m sorry! That was really rude –”

“No, no, you’ve got every right to feel hurt,” Adrien says. “I didn’t know what to say before, or I would’ve come to you days ago. I didn’t want to be in that photoshoot with her. I only agreed so that she’d tell another lie to get you un-expelled.”

“You –” Marinette’s eyes widen. Everything makes sense now! Why else would Lila care about undoing her damage? “That was you? You sold your soul for me?”

“Of course I did.” Adrien crosses his arms. “You’re my friend. And if I’d done something before now, you wouldn’t have been expelled. Or nearly akumatised!”

“Adrien –”

“Do you know how terrifying it was to see you with that Hawkmoth mask over your face?” Adrien’s green eyes seem to plead with her very soul to understand. “To watch our everyday Ladybug nearly get akumatised? You’re so – so strong, Marinette. You always manage to stay positive and figure out a solution to the problem. Seeing you about to give in to Hawkmoth…it didn’t hit me until then just how bad this Lila problem was.”

Her cheeks flaming with the blood that pours into them, Marinette looks down at the floor and tries to form a coherent sentence, both in her mind and out loud. But what comes out of her mouth is something that vaguely sounds like a strangled groan; certainly nothing resembling words.

“So long as Lila leaves you alone, I’ll put up with her,” Adrien says. “Think of it as my contribution to yours and Kagami’s plan. The inside man, right?” Then he winks. Dear god, how is Marinette still alive?

“I – um – you shouldn’t – it’s your body!” she manages to babble. Adrien’s volunteering to do this for her? “You shouldn’t have to put up with someone treating you like a living mannequin!”

“She’s going to do that anyway,” Adrien says. “Remember what happens whenever we call her out? I might as well make use of it. It’s the least I can do for letting it get this far.”

“Um – uh – if sure you – if you’re sure!” Marinette forces out. She clears her throat and straightens up. “But you have to detox with me and Kagami. If that won’t hurt your plan, of course…”

“It won’t,” Adrien says. He rests a hand on her shoulder and yep, Marinette is deceased right now. “Lila can’t stop me from hanging out with my friends. And the odd photoshoot here and there will keep her happy. All she wants is attention, so if I give it to her, she won’t see you coming.” With another wink as he slides his arm around her, he says, “I’ll be the Chat Noir to your Ladybug.”

Marinette groans and shoves him. “You’d better not pun like he does or I’m tattling to Kagami.”

“I make no pawmises,” Adrien says with a grin that makes him look scarily like Chat Noir.

“Nope. That’s it. Get out. I can’t be seen with you.”

“You know, I never thought you two would actually get along,” Adrien says. “What exactly were you two fighting about?”

“Oh, you know,” Kagami shrugs. “How we were both crushing on you and thought the other was the spawn of Satan.”

Marinette chokes on her mouthful of André’s mint and raspberry ice cream (why raspberry? Last time it had been peach. Oh, well). How can Kagami just…up and say that? Doesn’t she have any shame?

“Oh, is that all?” Adrien laughs and licks his strawberry choc-chip and blackberry ice cream. “I thought it was something serious.”

“We eventually figured out that we were just a couple of idiots and it wasn’t worth fighting over a boy!” Marinette says in a high-pitched voice. Well, Kagami’s outed her, so she may as well roll with it. Although for some reason, she’s not mad at Kagami like she’d be if Alya just went up and told Adrien about her crush; probably because Kagami had as much to lose as her if Adrien took it the wrong way. And Kagami might not even have realised that you shouldn’t just up and tell your crush that you like them, considering her previous lack of social skills every other time Marinette’s talked to her.

“Good,” Adrien says. “I hate it when my friends are fighting.”

The tension in Marinette’s shoulders starts to melt away like ice cream on a hot day. So…Adrien doesn’t hate her for crushing on him. He’s not even making a big deal out of it. That’s…actually a relief.

“So, um…” Marinette forces out. “Are anyone you crush, Adrien? I mean – are you crushing on anyone?”

Adrien stares at her, then laughs. “Is that why you act weird around me? Thank god. I was worried that you still secretly hated me for the gum thing.”

“No! Never!” Marinette shakes her head wildly.

“Sorry, the gum thing?” Kagami says.

“Chloé put gum on her seat on my first day and she thought I’d done it because I tried to take it off,” Adrien says. “I managed to catch her after school and explain the misunderstanding but…I thought she still hated me for it and was just putting up with me.”

“Try the exact opposite,” Marinette groans. Her face must be just as scarlet as Adrien’s ice cream at this point, but she’s not dying or being horrifically rejected, so that’s something at least. “You gave me your umbrella and boom, it was…l-love at first sight.”

Kagami actually laughs long and loud at that, even throwing her head back. It’s so unlike her that both Marinette and Adrien are rendered silent as they stare at her in awe.

“Um…wow,” Marinette eventually says. “Have you checked her ice cream for drugs or something?”

Kagami hiccups and shakily licks her scoop of bright pink dragonfruit ice cream that’s neatly cushioning the same mint as Marinette’s. What that could mean, Marinette has no idea.

“There must be an akuma around,” Adrien says.

“You’re both awful,” Kagami says, her shoulders shaking with the last of her laughter. “And you’re both oblivious. So, Adrien, who is this girl you’re in love with if it’s not Marinette? I was always under the impression that Marinette was your target.”

Adrien blushes. “Don’t laugh, okay?” he says. “I’m in love with Ladybug.”

Beep. Beep. Marinette.exe has crashed. Adrien’s…in love with her? But not her? But yes her, he just doesn’t know it?

“Ladybug?” Kagami says. “Of course you’d fall for a superhero. Adrien Agreste can’t do anything by halves.”

“Well, she picked me to be a hero and I utterly trashed that opportunity, so I’ve probably got no chance with her,” Adrien says. “Maybe I need to focus on people a little closer to me.”

“You didn’t trash that chance,” Marinette squeaks. “You did your best every single time.”

Adrien frowns at her. “Every single time? How do you know which Miraculous Ladybug gave me? I Second Chanced every time I was out in public, so no one should’ve known.”

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckmissionabort –

“Hold on…” Also frowning, Kagami leans in so close that Marinette can count each freckle on her pale cheeks, and Marinette’s so flustered by Adrien tilting his head at her and Kagami’s breath ghosting across her face that she doesn’t realise what’s going on until Kagami’s moved her hair aside to expose her black earrings. Adrien’s frown changes into bulging eyes.

Fuck!

“Oh my god, really?” Adrien throws his free hand in the air. “Of course she’s you! Of course she’s you! How didn’t I see it before? The one girl who’s just as brave and kind as her and I didn’t even – I’m an idiot.”

“No arguments there,” Kagami says dryly. “Thank you for trusting me to be Ryuuko, by the way. And for the advice.”

Marinette’s brain has once again shut down. Two people know her secret identity. How could she be so stupid and let something like that slip? “You can’t tell anyone!” she finally manages to say. “My secret identity is vital!”

“I know,” Kagami sighs. “Hence why I can’t be Ryuuko again.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Adrien holds up his right hand to show the silver ring he’s always worn. Except…no way…could it be…it can’t…but…

“Oh my god.” Kagami pinches the bridge of her nose. “So, you’ve been in love with each other without even realising. This is like those awful soap operas that people seem to enjoy watching.”

“You and your stupid puns!” is the first thing out of Marinette’s mouth when she’s finally able to speak again. “All this time! You’re such a – such a dork!”

“I know!” Adrien looks like the cat that got the cream. “But you secretly love my puns, milady.”

That nickname coming from Adrien’s mouth? Stuff Marinette in a coffin right damn now. “As if,” she scoffs. “They’re awful.”

“Don’t you mean –”

“No!” Marinette and Kagami shout.

“– clawful?”

“I’ve changed my mind,” Marinette says. “You can have him, Kagami.”

“You claimed him first,” Kagami says. “He’s all yours.”

“How about we just forget about him and date each other?” Marinette wrinkles her nose.

“Sounds like a plan, Marinette.”

“Hey!” Adrien whines.

“It was so cool of you to organise this picnic for Lila, girl!” Alya says. She nudges Lila. “Right?”

Lila’s smile is thin and sour, like someone’s replaced the lemon tart on her plate with an actual lemon. “Yes, Alya. It’s very considerate of Marinette.”

“I just wanted to make up for our rough start!” Marinette says. It’s kind of funny how she’s just naturally slipped into being as sugary sweet to Lila as possible, but after seeing how it annoys Lila to no end that she can’t actually retaliate without looking bad, it’s gotten easier over the past few weeks. Huh. She so owes Kagami a massive box of pastries for this.

“Hey, guys!” Adrien waves as he approaches with Kagami. Lila gasps and smiles brilliantly.

“Adrien! You made it to my picnic!” she says.

“Of course I did,” Adrien says and sits down next to Marinette, pulling her to lean against him. Thank god she’s been able to equate Adrien and Chat Noir in her mind since their outing to get ice cream; now, when he touches her, her cheeks only grow warm and her brain thankfully doesn’t turn to mush. “And I brought a friend, if that’s okay?”

“Lila, right?” Kagami says with a smile that’s all teeth as she also sits down and pulls Marinette’s legs into her lap. “My name is Kagami. Adrien’s told me so much about you.”

“He has?” Lila smiles at Adrien, though Marinette’s certain that she can see a wariness beneath that smile. “All good things, I hope.”

“Trust me, I’ve heard nothing but the best information from him,” Kagami says. “I’m so glad that he’s found a girlfriend he’s really close with.”

“Girlfriend?” Alya scoffs. “Lila’s just a friend. You must’ve heard wrong or something.”

“Yes, of course,” Kagami says. “Sorry for my presumption. After that photo you took with him and the photoshoots…well, I seem to have gotten the wrong idea.”

“Lila told me once that Adrien would be hers, so I don’t blame you,” Marinette says and passes Kagami a plate of macarons. Kagami eagerly selects a strawberry one.

“Oh! I meant to say that he’d be my friend!” Lila says. Marinette covers her mouth to conceal her smirk.

“Really? I’m sorry for misunderstanding!” she says. “What with your condition and all…now it makes sense. I was a little confused what you meant by that, since you can’t really own a person, and I suppose that must have added to my bad feelings.” With a sweet smile, she adds, “But we’re friends now, so no harm done!”

“Yes,” Lila says. “Friends…”

“You’re so stiff!” Marinette says to Kagami, pulling her down so that she’s snuggling against Marinette’s side. “This picnic is all about relaxing!”

“In that case…” Adrien heaves so that Marinette’s sitting in his lap, and she shuffles around to lean back against his chest so that Kagami can lie across her thighs. Now Lila looks like she’s swallowed nails, while Alya’s eyes are bulging at the sight of her ship snuggling.

“Excuse me, girl, but when did this happen?” Alya says.

“A few weeks ago,” Marinette says. “Kagami and I ended up spilling to Adrien. Now we’re all good friends!”

Yeah. Very good friends. But the others don’t need to know that, especially since Marinette and Adrien are not only going slow with figuring out what’s between them, but Marinette’s also been unable to get the memory of Kagami’s breath across her face out of her head.

Oh, well. Such is life. And if navigating the prehistoric days of having both a girlfriend and a boyfriend is currently occupying her mind more than Lila, well, Marinette counts that as a win.

“I’m so happy for you!” Lila says with a wide, plastic smile. “And a little envious, I must say. After the drama with my boyfriend in Germany –”

“Mhm,” Alya says. “Not the one in Argentina?”

“Oh – no, this is a different one –” Lila splutters. Alya just shrugs and turns to offer the croissant plate to Rose and Juleka.

Okay. So, Kagami may have been right about this one. Sure, Lila might have thought that she was giving herself a free pass with her “condition”, but now no one really takes her seriously anymore. No one hates her or anything but, well…no one really seems to believe her or care about what she says either. Probably because every word out of her mouth is about her, and people are finally starting to realise that a) she doesn’t actually talk about anything else and b) her promises still haven’t come to fruition.

It does mean that no one’s actually apologised to Marinette, but oh well. C’est la vie. At least they’re not treating her like the devil anymore. And Lila’s largely harmless now, so that’s something as well. She can’t exactly get akumatised once a week or whatever as well; not without drawing undue attention to herself, since even Chloé hasn’t been akumatised more than three times, if one counts Heroes’ Day.

“Your parents’ pastries are magical,” Kagami says, reaching for a blueberry muffin. “They could melt even my mother.”

“My father would probably demand I marry her instantly,” Adrien snorts. “Not just for the pastries, but for her talent. “Snatch her up before Audrey Bourgeois, son!” he’d say if he actually spoke to me more than once a year.” He makes a face.

“You’ll have to defeat me for Marinette’s hand,” Kagami says dryly. Adrien smirks and boops her on the nose.

“Fatality,” he says, and Marinette snorts.

“You know what?” Alya throws her hands up. “I give up. I don’t understand you weirdoes. I’m gonna go find Nino and leave you three to be…whatever you three are.”

“Bye, Alya!” Marinette, Adrien, and Kagami chorus at her back. Now they’re left with Lila, who checks to make sure that no one’s looking before snarling at them.

“What are you three up to?” she hisses.

“What do you mean?” Adrien says. “I realised that I liked both Marinette and Kagami, and they liked me too.”

“And each other,” Marinette says, running her fingers through Kagami’s silky, dark hair.

“Why are you being so nice?” Lila jabs a finger at Marinette. “You hate me! And I know Kagami does too! Adrien, you’re supposed to be my –”

“Your friend?” Adrien says. “Of course I am, Lila. I did say that before our photoshoot, didn’t I?”

Marinette smiles at Lila, sugary sweet, not even finding satisfaction in how Lila’s bottom lip juts out and quivers like she’s going to throw a fit. Maybe the Marinette of a few weeks ago would have, but now? Honestly, she just pities Lila. Marinette’s the one with a boyfriend and a girlfriend, and she and Kagami are the ones that Adrien likes. So, she reaches over to pick up the plate of macarons and holds it out to Lila.

“Want a macaron, friend?” she chirps.

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yannowhatigiveup · 4 years ago

Text

My One And Only - Chapter 16

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Chapter 16! When I have new chapters, I post it on Wattpad first then here then on AO3 as fast as I can. I watched Gang of Secrets yesterday, I fangirled greatly.

Adrien hoped that Ladybug wasn't too injured, she's far too valuable and important to be lost, especially at the beginning of, what looks like, Hawkmoth's new rise of power.

"Something tells me things are about to get a lot more serious from here on out"

————————————————————

"-ngel, Angel it's time to wake up" Marinette's eyes fluttered open at the sound of Damian's soft voice. She lifted her head off of his chest and sat up next to him, the green-eyed boy nuzzled her neck much like a cat. "Sorry for waking you but I do not wish to have your sleep schedule destroyed"

The girl giggled. "Kinda ironic that the true user of the miraculous of destruction doesn't want to have my sleep schedule destroyed" Then she shrugged. "Well I suppose you can't destroy something that's already destroyed"

"You should really get a full 8-hour sleep at least once a week" Damian grumbled as Marinette got up from the bed.

"Tell that to my cup of depresso- I mean espresso" she jokingly replied.

"In all seriousness, though" the green-eyed boy got up to sit in one of the armchairs in his hotel room. "How will you create a new team of heroes and who will you choose to uphold this responsibility?"

"Simple," she took a sip from her coffee, leaning on the wall. "I'll give each new member a miraculous, the first to join should be Adrien Agreste"

"The model?"

"Yep" the bluenette replied, popping the 'p'. "Believe it or not he was Chat Noir"

Damian raised one of his eyebrows. "They do seem quite different at first glance"

"I know right! Anyway, like I said, he was Chat Noir and he admitted to believing he was not the true owner of the miraculous. Though he might not think things through all the time, he's willing to listen and he's a good fighter"

"Admitting to that must have taken a lot of courage. He is attentive and skilled in combat" the black-haired boy hummed. "He sounds like an adequate addition to the team you are forming"

"You're just as important in this team as I am, Dami" Marinette reminded before putting a finger on her chin and thinking thoughtfully. "I was thinking maybe giving him the dog miraculous would work best"

Plagg scoffed. "The kid's gonna go from a cat to a dog eh? I know he doesn't make the wise decisions all the time but-"

Marinette rolled her eyes and continued as if Plagg hadn't said anything. "What's the power of the Dog miraculous, Tikki?"

"The Dog miraculous has the power of Location, it's ability is to retrieve and identify where any object or person is. The ability can locate them, hold them in place, bring them to the holder and/or rescue them possible captivity" Tikki stated, floating over to smack Plagg on the back of his head.

Marinette mumbled incoherently before humming thoughtfully. "I also think we should bring Alya into the team"

"Césaire? I understand she is your reporter now but what other significance does she have?" Damian questioned, trying not to offend his girlfriend's best friend.

"She's the first one other than Chat and I to join the heroes, she was Rena Rouge"

"Ah I see so you want to bring Rena Rouge back?"

The bluenette nodded as the green-eyed boy stood up from where he was sitting.

"Wanna come with me to get the miracle box?"

"Sure just... give me a minute" Marinette tilted her head in confusion as Damian went towards one of his cases and pulled, what looked like, a training mannequin. She watched as he then drew his katana and slashed at the poor mannequin, it was obliterated. The bluenette winced when the pieces hit the floor while Plagg barked a laugh.

"Now that's destruction" The black kwami then flew up to the boy and rested on his head. "Good job, kid"

Marinette giggled as he rolled his eyes and put his katana back. "In all honesty, I thought you were going to do a lot more damage in the battle. I'm surprised you're not that angry"

"Oh I am" Damian replied calmly. "Enormously so, I have just merely bottled my anger. If even the smallest ounce of it were to escape then, well, I don't think Hawkmoth would like a powerful Akuma whose only goal is to see him suffer"

The bluenette walked up to the angry vigilante, wrapped both of her arms on his left and rested her head on his shoulder. "No I don't think he would" she giggled as Damian kissed her temple. "You can use all that pent up anger in training later. For now, let's go get the miracle box"

"Lead the way, Angel"

~~~

The couple were on their way when Marinette heard a familiar voice, one that wasn't a friendly voice. She quickly pulled Damian and herself out of sight, leaning flat against the wall to safely ease drop.

"Is it true that you know the world-renowned chef Wang Cheng?" An unidentifiable voice asked.

"Yep! He actually gave me Master Class cooking sessions, that's how I've become an amazing chef myself!" The others awed at Lila's lies, Marinette felt her anger bubble, no one takes her Great Uncle's success and uses it for their own personal gain. "Actually, I was the one who helped him create his recipe for his signature dish"

"Oh my gosh, really?!"

"Yeah! I didn't help that much, he did most of the work" Lila's voice faded into the distance, Marinette was grateful that she didn't have to listen to the brunette anymore but she was also worried, 'How many lives is she willing to ruin just for popularity?'

The bluenette turned to glance at her boyfriend, only to be met with a visibly angry expression still looking at where they last saw the brunette. Marinette opened her mouth to start conversation but Damian beat her to it.

"Who does she think she is? Disrespecting Cheng Shifu in that manner" The green-eyed boy snarled. Marinette blinked in surprise.

"You know Cheng Shifu?"

Damian then looked at her, almost offendedly. "Of course! He is not just a chef, Cheng Shifu is an artist. We went to a grand opening of one of his five-star restaurants, arguably the place I was served the most exquisite food throughout my entire existence" He placed a finger on his chin in thought. "The best dish I was served had to be his signature recipe, Celestial Soup. Though, I think the name has changed to Marine-"

He paused and looked at his girlfriend's smug face, he presumed his face appeared to have an epiphany. This thought was confirmed when Marinette's giggles turned into proper laughter.

"No..."

"Yes" she giggled, resting her forehead on his shoulder. "He's my maternal great-uncle"

"My god, your mother must be an excellent cook then"

"Yep! She's the best! Now come on, to my house!" Marinette dragged Damian towards the bakery and use her keys to open the front door. His eyes diverted to a wrapped package of cupcakes. "Oh that's for Nadja, she'll come by to pick it up in a few minutes" She then gestured for him to follow her. They both went up through the trapdoor and to Marinette's room.

Damian knew that his angel's favourite colour was pink so he presumed her room was drowned in said colour, when he entered he was greeted by the splash of rose as expected but he was also greeted with many rolls of fabric. It wasn't a messy mess per se, more of an organized and pretty one. It correlated with Marinette quite well in his opinion. The green-eyed boy sat on the girl's chaise as she brought a spotted box out of one of her drawers. Box in hand, Marinette sat next to Damian and pressed a button, opening one of the cabinets and out of the cabinet appeared a new kwami.

"Hello, Great Guardian" The kwami began. "Do you need my help?"

"Hello Barkk, there's really no need to address me so formally" Marinette replied to Barkk, fidgeting her fingers. "And yes, I believe it's time for you to get a permanent holder"

"Really? Great! But what happened for you to make this decision?" The kwami noticed how Marinette flinched at the question and flew closer. The kwami gasped. "Nooroo's energy... did Hawkmoth do something?"

"He did" The sudden appearance of Damian's sharp voice made the Kwami rise slightly.

"Who-"

"Lover-boy over here is my true chosen, Barkk" Plagg and Tikki appeared through the floor after eating downstairs.

"Hmm, he does seem to have your energy"

"Yes Barkk, Damian is the true user of the Black Cat miraculous. He's also my boyfriend" Marinette's cheeks were dusted with the lightest shade of pink, they grew deeper in colour as Damian pressed his lips against her skin. "We were thinking of having Adrien use your miraculous and Alya using Trixx's miraculous" The bluenette stated, half-glaring at the green-eyed boy for getting her flustered.

"I think he'll be a great fit for the Dog miraculous" Barkk replied, happy to have a new permanent holder.

"Alright!" Marinette took the collar necklace from the compartment, followed by the necklace. The bluenette turned to face Damian, the collar necklace in her palm. "You can give Adrien his new miraculous, I'll go find Alya and we meet at the Eiffel Tower. It'll save time"

"But shouldn't you give the miraculous? Considering you are the guardian after all" he questioned.

The bluenette shook her head. "Its a good way to get to know each other because, well, you'll technically be my partner meaning that you're one of the leaders of this new team. You need to know who you're working with and you need to trust them to save your life, if it were to come to that"

Damian slowly nodded, reaching for the collar necklace. "Meet you at the Eiffel Tower then"

~~~

A certain blonde was strolling down an empty street in Paris, in sun was setting and it was deathly quiet. Luckily, his schedule was cleared for the whole day. However, had no idea how to spend his last few hours of freedom. Usually he would go out as Chat Noir and jump from rooftop to rooftop. But he wasn't Chat anymore. Adrien winced at the reminder of the events that occurred early that day, he felt so useless. Thank god for Noir. 'That is his name right? He's incredibly attractive, the hero has only showed up once and he's giving me a run for my money' Adrien couldn't help the flash of red that appeared on his face before pushing it down completely. 'If Kagami talked to me the way he normally sounds then...'

His train of thoughts stopped when a figure landed in front of him. His first instinct was to get into a protective stance, which he did, but he recognised the figure as Noir, the mysterious hero that saved Ladybug earlier, so he dropped his stance.

"Hi Noir, what can I do for you?" Adrien questioned trying to act poised when he knew the only suave one here was Noir himself. He was totally not fanboying over the new hero, no way.

"Adrien Agreste" The black cat-themed hero began. "I'm sure you are aware of the... predicament that occurred earlier today, considering the fact that you were a witness of the whole ordeal"

"Yeah..." Adrien tried to look at anything other than Noir, but he sighed as he failed.

"Knowing that Hawkmoth has had an increase in power, Ladybug and I have come to the joint decision to have other permanent holders and form a team of superheroes." Noir looked at the blonde straight in the eye.

"And you want me to be a part of the team?" The blonde's eyes widened as Noir nodded.

"You were Ladybug's first choice"

"I- really?" Adrien stuttered out in disbelief, 'She still wants me to have a miraculous? Even though I couldn't do anything today?'

"You were Chat Noir, my predecessor, were you not? I have a lot to live up to" Though Adrien couldn't see most of the hero's face, he could see his eyes and the encouragement that shone through. "Do you wish to help us?"

"Absolutely" the blonde wasted no time in confirming.

Noir nodded and pulled out a box. "Adrien Agreste, this is the dog miraculous of Location. Ladybug has entrusted me to entrust this miraculous to you, you shall use it for the greater good. Can we trust you?"

Adrien carefully took the box and nodded with determination. He opened the box and, similarly with Plagg, a small peach-colored glowing orb spun around him. When the light died down, a dog kwami was facing him. "Hello, Adrien. My name is Barkk. To transform say: 'Barkk, to the rescue!'" He out the collar around his neck.

"Barkk, to the rescue!" The blonde was engulfed in peach-colored light, leaving a new superhero when it died down. Adrien now stood in a brown suit with a white belly reaching up to his neck, white boots, white gloves, brown floppy dog ears that contrasted well with his blonde hair. He also had a short, brown, metallic tail that which on command, would appear in his hand as a boomerang-shaped weapon. The blonde found out that it could be pulled apart into two separate rods and that with a flick of the wrist, the boomerang could snap into place like a baton, similar with his staff as Chat Noir. "Pawsome!"

Noir nodded. "It would be best if we head to the Eiffel Tower as soon as possible, Ladybug and Rena Rouge are probably waiting for us" The cat-themed hero then used his staff to propel himself in the direction of the city's landmark, Adrien followed closely, his new powers allowed him to jump like Rena. Sure enough, both heroes arrived on the building where two heroine's were waiting.

"I was wondering when you were going to get here" Ladybug's voice rang out, stepping out from the shadows. Noir had transformed and left before Ladybug had but now he wished he was there to see it.

The spotted heroine's suit had changed greatly. The top part of her suit had changed to black, running down her arms fading to the familiar red. The bottom part of her suit remained the same red with black spots but she had matte-black along the bottom part of her legs, mimicking boots. The long ribbons in her hair remained the same except they faded to black at the tips. Noir looked away to stop his cheeks from getting any redder than they already were.

"Something wrong, Minou?" She asked teasingly.

"Tt, of course not"

Ladybug giggled while Rena and the dog-themed hero exchanged knowing glances. The spotted heroine turned to Adrien and gestured for him to introduce himself.

"Oh, I'm Le Chien"

"Well, Le Chien, Rena, Noir, we have some training we need to do"

~~~

By the end of their patrol and training session, Le Chien was exhausted. He bid the other heroes farewell and detransformed. Giving Barkk a sugar biscuit, which honestly smelt a lot better than Camember, Adrien ran down the Seine, hoping to meet up with two people in particular. Said figures appeared in the distance and when he was closer enough, Adrien pushed himself in between the two and placed one arm over each shoulder.

"Hey you two, what's up?" Adrien asked.

"We just wanted to watch the sunset" Kagami answered, "Right Luka?"

"Yes, the sky is very beautiful at sunset" The guitarist answered. Suddenly all three of their phones chimed. "Chloe's inviting us for a sleepover at the hotel"

"Did she say who would be there?" The bluenette asked.

"She invited us, Alya, Nino couldn't make it, Marinette and... Damian? Do you know who that is?" Luka looked between the blonde and the bluenette.

"No, never heard the name before" Adrien's oblivious self replied.

Kagami hummed, both boys looked at her in confusion. "You'll find out who he is later and before you ask, I know who he is. Now let's go get the things necessary for this sleepover"

~~~

When the trio arrived at Chloe's door, they were greeted by both the blonde herself and Alya.

"Hi Chloe, Hi Alya" Luka greeted the two.

"Just come on in already, the movie's about to start!" Chloe walked away from the door to sit on a space on her sofa out of the current view of the two bluenettes and blonde.

"What movie are we watching?" Kagami asked, entering the room first.

"Une Petite Frayeur, it was premiered just last week" Alya replied, "I don't know what the genre is yet, Chloe is refusing to tell" The brunette with glasses led them to the sofa, the coffee table decked out in snacks.

"Please don't tell me it's a horror movie" a soft voice whined.

"Oh, hi Marinette! We-" Adrien stopped mid sentence when he noticed Marinette sitting next to an unfamiliar figure. He walked up to the both of them and when he got close enough, he started spluttering. After a good minute, he managed to say words. "This man isn't doing anything yet he's a better model than me! You are waytoo attractive for your own good. Y-you're illegally attractive! I'm gonna have to take your good-looking license away"

Adrien held out his hand much like a police officer, one of Damian's eye brows shot up in amusement while Marinette giggled at the display. The bluenette looked Adrien in the eye, wrapped her arms around her boyfriend. "No" she deadpanned.

"Adrien, Luka, Kagami" Marinette got the other two's attention. "This is Damian, my boyfriend"

"Pleasure to finally meet you, Damian" Kagami held out her hand which the green-eyed boy took.

"Likewise"

"Wait you two know each other?" Adrien asked, his mind thinking of many different things at once.

"That explain's why Melody's music has changed"

"Alright enough chit-chat, let's watch the movie already!" Chloe cut in through the conversation.

"What genre is it?" Marinette timidly asked.

Chloe looked straight into the bluenette's eyes and smirked. "Horror"

~~~

Luckily the film wasn't that scary, well actually it was but the teens were busy arguing about how stupid and unrealistic the plot was.

"The murderer manages to get from point A to point B going at legit 2 kilometers per hour before the main protagonist, who just so happens to be sprinting, and they're insisting that they're human?!"

"Now you understand my frustration!"

"Well... he could've been running off-camera...?!"

"Well that wasn't implied!"

The rest of the sleepover was relatively quiet, at around midnight most of them had fallen asleep. If Alya, who were awake, managed to get a picture of Marinette cuddled in Damian's arms while they were asleep, the couple wouldn't know.

All but Chloe left in the morning after breakfast, Kitty Section would be practicing on the Liberty and Kagami came to watch. Alya would be on a date with Nino and Chloe was going to spend time with her parents, leaving Damian and Marinette free for the day. They decided just to spend the rest of their free time at Marinette's house, she had some commissions she needed to finish and Damian wanted to paint on her balcony.

When Marinette went up to her balcony through her trapdoor, she saw Damian sitting on the floor with some watercolour paint next to him. The bluenette had never been able to master using watercolours but she loved the way the paint looked. Peering over his shoulder, Marinette saw a realistic piece of the Notre Dame Cathedral and the air nearly escaped her, it was incredibly detailed. From the piece of artwork itself, the bluenette envisioned many pieces she could create and rushed to her sketchbook so her ideas could be on paper.

In the end, Damian gave the artwork to her so she could get inspiration whenever she wanted. He kissed her goodbye, since she had school the next day, and went back to the hotel.

~~~

"Marinette! You're going to be late!" Tikki's voice echoed in the bluenette's ears.

"Oh! Thanks Tikki!" Marinette shot out of bed, got changed, grabbed a croissant and rushed out the bakery, eating the croissant on her way. Alya was there waiting as usual.

"Hey girl!" The reporter called out after noticing her best friend, the bluenette waved back.

"Hey Alya!"

"Wow, this is probably the first time you've been early in a long time!" Marinette huffed while they both went to their lockers.

They found the room empty when the two arrived, making it easier to converse. As Alya was about to mention the photo she took of Marinette and the green-eyed boy, the bluenette winced, clutching her chest. The reporter rushed to her best friend's side but the blue-eyed girl ran to the bathroom, Alya followed not far behind. When the girl entered, she found Marinette in front of the sink, double-over with tears of pain threatening to spill. Not knowing what else to do, Alya went over to inspect where Marinette's hand was clutching, presuming that was the source of her pain. It was in the space of her curves, 'Isn't that the...' Alya gasped and looked at Marinette. It was so obvious, why hadn't she seen it sooner?

"Marinette?"

The bluenette looked at her best friend with a look that told her to continue.

"...You're Ladybug, aren't you?"

———

Taglist: @little-bluestar,@miracleofadisaster,@frieddonutsweets,@jjmjjktth,@genderfluidmoma,@starlit-dreaming,@icerosecrystal,@lolieg,@kashlyn,@mochegato,@eggadoodle,@walkingthroughonautopilot,@toodaloo-kangaroo,@lady-bee-fechin

#daminette #damian x marinette #maribat #maridami #marinette x damian #damianette #mlb x dc #ml x dc

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gabriel-agreste-has-no-rights · 4 years ago

Link

Rating: T

Summary: Marinette needs a model to finish her figure drawing portfolio. If drawing Chat Noir will distract him from asking why she refuses to ask Adrien, then she'll make it work. (It's not like his suit leaves much to the imagination, anyway.)

Word Count: 4729 | Chapter 1/2

Notes: See AO3 for notes. tldr: the main genre is humor and despite what you may think, there are no sexy times

XXX

“This is terrible!” Marinette flopped face-first onto her bed and wailed into her pillow. “I’m going to fail figure drawing, and get kicked out of the design major, and never get an internship and starve trying to get commissions and I won’t be able to afford cookies for you which means you’ll have to find a new chosen and Chat Noir will hate me and—”

“Marinette, breathe!” Tikki ordered, lightly smacking the part of her cheek that wasn’t buried in her pillow. “You’re catastrophizing again! None of that is going to happen.”

On a conscious level, Marinette knew that. But that didn’t particularly matter right now when her mind was racing and the final due date for her portfolio was days away and there was no way for her to catch up now.

The figure drawing lab was closed for the models to prepare for their finals. This wouldn’t be a problem, except she had missed too many classes due to akuma attacks to finish the pieces she needed. All she had were five out of fifteen finished drawings and six loose sketches, hastily abandoned while she made increasingly awful excuses to go transform. “I need to go water my plant” had been the most recent. It was a miracle Professor Carbonneau hadn’t kicked her from the class already, considering how coveted the seats were.

But it didn’t matter if she was technically in the class if she couldn’t draw enough live models to pass.

“It’s hopeless, Tikki. There’s no way they’ll let me retake this class. I barely got a spot in the first place.”

“It’s not hopeless,” her kwami said more softly. “You’re Ladybug. You’re luckier than that. And you’ve worked too hard to fail now. I know you’re stressed, but you can’t give up!”

She rolled over onto her back, shoulder brushing a drawing that had slid down the wall and gotten lodged in the crack next to her bed. She pulled it out only to crumple it and toss it towards her trash can. Even the better designs she’d hung from a wire with tiny clothespins felt more like mockery than inspiration right now.

“If I wasn’t Ladybug, I wouldn’t have had to miss so much class in the first place.” She sighed.

“I know, Marinette.” Tikki patted her shoulder consolingly. “I wish it didn’t have to be so hard on you. You give everything you have into both being Ladybug and creating your art. You shouldn’t have to give up one for the other.”

In a way, it felt like she already had. She’d never abandon Paris, no matter how frequently fighting Hawkmoth’s villains cut into her classes. But could she really abandon her dreams of becoming a designer either?

“You’re right, Tikki. I’ll… figure something out.” She smiled and rubbed Tikki to her cheek. “I can look up reference pictures online, I guess. The details won’t be as good as drawing from life, especially for the size of paper I have to use, but it’ll have to work.”

“I could always model for you!” Tikki joked, flashing a few poses she’d surely seen from the Agreste magazines Marinette used to have plastered everywhere. She figured she’d look weird enough to her flatmates from her odd sleeping habits and patrol times without adding photos of her old crush into the mix.

“Thanks for the offer, Tikki.” Marinette giggled at the kwami’s attempt to look flirty. “But I think this course is meant to teach human anatomy.”

“I bet one of your other friends would model for you if they knew how important this was,” she insisted. “What about Adrien?”

“No!” Marinette smacked her fist to her forehead to try to dislodge the image of Adrien shirtless and posing for her that came unbidden. “I can’t ask him! I’m trying to actually get art done, not drool all over the carpet.”

“I haven’t seen you drool in a while. Not over him, anyway.” Tikki smiled knowingly, and Marinette glared.

“I do not drool over Chat Noir either.”

“I never said anything about him.”

She groaned, flopping back and wishing the mattress would just swallow her up already. She didn’t drool over Chat. He’d gotten over his crush on Ladybug before they came to university. Unlike her, apparently, he knew how to move on.

Not that it mattered, because she didn’t have time for a boyfriend! She was stressed enough as it was!

She took a few deep breaths and pulled herself back to the matter at hand: finishing her portfolio. She wouldn’t dare ask Adrien to model for her, even if there was a slim chance he’d actually do it. They were finally comfortable as friends, and while she was used to staring at nearly-nude models in class, she didn’t trust herself to not make things weird again if she had to stare at him in his underwear for hours.

Though unfortunately, he was probably the only one of her friends used to sitting and being stared at for hours. Maybe it would be worth it…?

“Nope, nope, not doing it.” She shut her eyes again. She hadn’t been able to confess to Adrien in the past four years. There was no way she could risk revealing her crush in such an embarrassing way, even to save her final grade.

...Granted, she’d done worse. He’d gotten her constipation pills and she hadn’t given up.

“What are you not doing?”

“ACK!”

Marinette bolted upright, nearly toppling off of her bed at the voice from the window. For a moment it had sounded like Adrien himself, summoned by her thoughts. Thankfully, it was just the blond boy who was a more regular visitor to her fifth-story window.

“Chat!” She whirled to scowl at him through the windowscreen. “Don’t you know it’s rude to eavesdrop?”

How long had he been there? Had he heard Tikki? Had he heard her not-confess to drooling about him?

“You left the window open.” He shrugged from his perch on the outer ledge.

She had left the window open because she needed some fresh air to keep from suffocating under the pressure of her deadlines. Sure, usually the open window meant Chat was welcome in, but…

Actually, maybe Chat Noir was exactly who she needed right now.

“I guess I did.” She sighed before prying off the screen to let him in.

He slipped over the sill, bowed, and produced a pink rose from behind his ear.

“For your hospitality.”

She laughed and tucked it in the vase on her desk, replacing the wilting flower he’d brought her last week. She was lucky her roommates weren’t as nosy as Alya, or she’d never hear the end of it.

“You know, if you’d really wanted to get me something, you could’ve brought the rabbit miraculous.” She leaned back against her creaking desk as he took his usual spot on the cushion in the corner of the room.

It was a joke, but as she said it, the idea sounded tempting. Alix wouldn’t mind parting with Fluff for a day while she patched her portfolio back together, would she? If she weren’t worried about causing some kind of temporal paradox, she would’ve done it.

“Rabbit? Sorry, someone else has already hopped on that one.” He grinned, crossing his legs beneath him. “You don’t feel like squeaking by with the mouse again?”

She stifled a laugh. “You’re terrible.”

“But you’re smiling.” Only he could look so smug about it. She always frowned just to prove him wrong. But she did feel better already, the way she always did around him. “So what’s up? I didn’t come to my favorite civilian’s house just to drop a few amazing puns.”

“Awful puns.”

He waved her off. “Anyway, I just wanted to see how you were doing, with finals coming up and everything. Akuma attacks always spike around now, you know.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” She rubbed her temples.

“Don’t worry, though. Ladybug and I have special patrol routes this finals week. We’ll take care of any akumas faster than you can say ‘thank you Chat, you’re the best superhero ever’.”

Despite everything, she laughed. The daily patrols would be just one more stress placed on her, but it was necessary after Finalizer destroyed the entire university last semester. But Chat was surely dealing with the same thing, and he’d still taken the time out of his studying to come make sure she was alright.

“Thank you Chat, you’re the best superhero ever,” she said with a teasing grin. She didn’t expect the blush that spilled out from under his mask.

“I-I guess I am pretty great.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“And I guess bragging about yourself is supposed to scare off akumas, huh?”

“Yeah, I mean—hey!” He pouted, sending her giggling again.

“Sorry, sorry.” She joined him on the ground by the cushion. “You are great. I wasn’t expecting you, but I’m really glad you came.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s just… been a long day.” She sighed. “I missed my last class today, and now I don’t know how I’m going to finish my portfolio for my final.”

“Are you feeling okay?” He reached out to press his palm over her forehead, as if he’d be able to feel anything through his glove. “I’ve heard people get sick around finals week, too. Do you want soup? I can bring back some soup—or juice maybe? What do you like when you’re sick?”

“Stop, Chat, I’m not sick.” Though her face probably warmed enough at his concern to pass as a fever. “I just missed class because… um—I stayed up too late studying and accidentally fell asleep!”

“Oh.” He pulled back his hand and nodded sagely. “That makes sense.”

She held in a sigh of relief. “Anyway, I need to finish at least four more figure drawings before… three days from now? Which wouldn’t be a problem except I need a live model and it’s not normal for friends to strip down to draw each other.”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t sound that weird to me.”

She pointedly did not imagine him stripping down in front of her. ...Not entirely, anyway.

“Yeah, well, unless you want to model for me—”

“I will.” He grinned before pink tinged his cheeks. “Um, or I would. I don’t think I can take off my suit without revealing my identity.”

“You—take off—” She made some noise that vaguely approximated a keyboard smash. Not because of the thought of seeing him shirtless! But he really trusted her that much, even as a civilian?

“Sorry, forget I offered. It was stupid.” He suddenly looked even more embarrassed than her, which was saying something.

“No, no! I—I really appreciate it, Chat Noir.” She squeezed his arm and smiled gently. “I would never ask you to detransform for me, but it means a lot that you even thought about it. Really.”

“You know you’re one of my best friends, Marinette. Of course I would. Besides, I’m used to—nevermind.” He ruffled the hair at the back of his neck. “Anyway, I’d gladly model for you if I could. But hey, don’t you have a friend who’s literally a model? Why don’t you ask him?”

Her eyes widened at the sudden subject change. “A-Adrien? NO! I—I mean I can’t, I—” She groaned and dropped her head in her hands. It was bad enough for Tikki to tease her, but if Chat Noir found out about her maybe-not-so-old crush? She would never hear the end of it.

“Why not?” His head tilted, his brow creasing beneath his mask. “He is your friend, right?”

“Yes.” She sighed. Just a friend, who would probably not enjoy her ogling him half-naked. Which wasn’t the point! She was just trying to pass her class, not stare at boys!

Maybe she should ask Alya at this rate. She was ride-or-die enough to do it. But Alya had a worse finals schedule than any of her friends, with all the journalism papers she’d put off while chasing akumas for the Ladyblog. Nino, then? No, he had several music scores to finish composing.

Adrien probably had as much work as the rest of them, with his math and physics classes. It wouldn’t make sense to ask him.

“Then I don’t see what the big deal is,” Chat said. “I’m sure he’d love to model for you.”

“He’s probably busy,” she said, which was true. “And besides, modeling for figure drawing is completely different from clothes modeling. You have to hold poses much longer, and some of them are weird, and you have to, you know, wear a lot less clothes.”

Her face burned. She was stupid to even bring it up; she was just digging herself an even deeper hole.

“I think you underestimate how long photoshoots take,” he quipped back, and she raised an eyebrow.

“How would you know, anyway?”

“I-I wouldn’t! I just think, all things considered, he’s your best choice. I’m just trying to suggest what’s best for your grade, as a good, supportive friend should do.”

“Uh-huh.” She frowned. It did seem a bit odd how insistent he was on this. Had he guessed her not-so-secret-crush after all? “It doesn’t matter, because it’s not going to happen.”

“But—”

“Nope,” she cut him off, shoving him a little to make room for herself on the cushion. He scooted to let her smush in next to him. “I’d sooner draw you suited up.”

“...Would that work?”

She glanced at his chest, which was about at her eye level with the way she was slouched against him. She never really thought about it before—really, she hadn’t—but the suit didn’t leave too much to the imagination. If she used Chat as a model and just fudged a few parts, would anyone really be able to tell? It would definitely be easier to get the proportions right than it would be drawing from a screen, especially for the quick gestures that were supposed to comprise a third of her portfolio.

And if it distracted him from asking about Adrien, well, that was just a bonus.

“You know what? I think it would.” She grinned and scrambled up to get her drawing board, which she’d dropped against her desk as soon as she’d gotten home, too exhausted to store it properly. Part of the giant pad of newsprint was coming off of its clips, and she adjusted it before propping it up against the foot of her bed. It was even less comfortable than the benches in the drawing lab, but it would do.

“You—really?” He beamed.

“Of course, silly cat. I might not be able to use you for the detailed figures, but need gesture drawings too. Your suit is tight enough that—nevermind.” She flushed again. This was such a bad idea.

But it would work. If she could be professional with Chat Noir while fighting akumas, then surely she could be as professional as she was with the paid figure drawing models.

She expected him to tease her over that last comment, but he just sprung up and started striking ridiculous poses.

“So, how do you want me?” He flexed, and she snorted.

“Not like that. These are warm-up gestures, so let’s have you do a few that you can hold for at least thirty seconds. They can be standing or sitting or using props, it doesn’t matter.”

“Props, huh?” He tapped his chin before reaching behind his back for his baton. It wasn’t like it was unusual for models to pose with staves in class, but she still had a feeling she was going to regret giving Chat Noir that permission.

Two seconds later when he had an arm and a leg wrapped around his baton, she knew she regretted it.

“How’s this?” He asked, flashing a toothy grin.

“Chat.” She glared, and he laughed before stopping his joking attempt at pole dancing.

“Sorry, sorry.” His grin was unrepentant, but he rested the baton behind his shoulders instead. “Better?”

She shook her head while letting out a little laugh. He was just such a dork.

“Sure, that’ll work.”

She fished her conté sticks out of her pencil case, set a thirty second timer on her phone, and swore that she wouldn’t make this awkward.

She looked up to find him pursing his lips in a kissy face.

Aaaand she promptly burst out laughing.

“If you’re going to make that face, I’ll have to ask someone else to model for me.”

“Nooooo! I’ll be good, I promise!”

True to his word, he schooled his face into a neutral expression. His charcoal-lidded eyes peered up through golden bangs.

She forgot to breathe for a few seconds.

“Marinette? Is this better?”

“Uh—y-yeah! That’s great, just hold that until the timer goes off, then switch poses.”

She pressed the start button and brought her conté to the paper before she could get lost in his eyes again.

From there, it was much easier. She was used to staying professional during her figure drawing classes, and all she was doing was capturing his form, not the bright green shade of his irises. Not that the sharp curves of his shoulderblades and defined calves couldn’t be distracting too. But the timer helped with that; she couldn’t lose focus when her warm-ups each lasted thirty seconds.

“How do you draw so fast?” He asked after shifting to pose where he knelt close to her sketchpad.

Her face colored in embarrassment. It was much harder to draw someone when they could watch you. Gesture drawings weren’t particularly interesting to the untrained eye; he probably thought she was wasting his time drawing glorified stick figures.

“Woah,” he breathed.

“Stay still,” she said before he could learn farther into her space.

“Sorry.” He snapped back into position. “It’s just your drawings—I don’t know much about art, but they just. They look like they’re moving.”

“You can tell?” She smiled hopefully, briefly forgetting about the timer. “That’s the point of gestures. It’s to warm up and get the form on paper without getting lost in details. It’s not what I draw the most, since I’m taking this class to prepare to draw my fashion designs, but I’ve enjoyed it a lot.”

“It really shows. And you can do this even though you missed so many classes?”

“Er—well I do practice outside of class as much as I can. It wasn’t easy.” She’d nearly snapped her conté sticks from frustration those first few weeks. Professor Carbonneau was pretty lenient with her students, but that didn’t stop her from comparing her drawings to all of the studio art majors who had clearly been practicing for much longer. She knew her art still wasn’t the top of the class, but as long as she could pass with a grade high enough to stay in her major, she would be grateful.

The timer buzzed, reminding them both to get back to work.

“Let’s move it up to a minute this time,” she said.

“Whatever the Princess wishes.” Chat Noir bowed, holding the pose for her to draw.

She laughed and went back to putting him down in black and white.

Tension leaked out of her as she swept her conté in long arcs, soft shadows, sharp edges. Somehow Chat Noir was a much better model than she’d expected. He barely twitched under her scrutinizing gaze. Every once in a while he cracked a joke that set her line shaking, and she had to force herself to glare at him.

It was normal. It was fun. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

At least, that was what she thought until they finally got to the fifteen-minute pieces.

Fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes of staring at her partner lounging on the cushion like a real model. Taking down the contours of his legs and side and maybe-occasionally just staring at his chest.

If he noticed, he was at least kind enough not to comment.

She swallowed, glanced at the timer, and kept drawing. This one would be for her portfolio; she couldn’t afford to get too distracted. Not that she should find him distracting in the first place.

“Let’s take a break. You’ve been at this for a while,” she said when the timer finally went off. She folded the cover back over her sketchpad and set it aside.

“You’re the one who’s been drawing. All I had to do was sit there.” He shrugged.

“That must not be easy to do for so long, though. In our class, the models get breaks every thirty minutes.”

“Really?” His eyes widened. “That must be nice.”

“We can’t have anyone falling asleep on us,” she joked, standing and holding out a hand to help him to his feet. “Come on, I’ll order us a pizza. It’s the least I can do after everything you’ve done for me.”

His cheeks pinked below his mask. “It’s nothing, really. I’m a pro at sitting and looking pretty.”

She rolled her eyes, but unfortunately couldn’t argue with that.

XXX

“So,” Chat Noir said before swallowing a mouthful of pineapple pizza, “did you get enough drawings for your class?”

“Not quite.” Marinette sighed, running her fingers over the edge of the paper plate in her lap. “I still need a few thirty-minute pieces. I don’t want to keep you here all night, though.”

“You know cats like to stay up late, Princess.” He winked. “But in this case, I do actually have a study session early tomorrow. What if I came back tomorrow afternoon?”

“Hmm… I guess that could work.” She took a bite of her pizza. “I didn’t want too many drawings of the same model, but I don’t have many other options. And you are really good at this. I just wish I could...”

“Could what?”

“I could really use someone who doesn’t wear a full body suit for the longer poses.” She sighed. “Your suit’s too shiny for me to pass it off as skin, and I can’t make up the shading from scratch. My professor will know.”

“There’s always Adrien,” he said with a smirk.

Marinette had half a mind to throw her pizza at him. “Why won’t you let that go?”

“Because I know for a fact he would love to help you out.” He shook his crust at her.

Her face flushed at the word love. She thought she was better than this by now!

“Really? And how can you be sure?”

“Because I—uh—because…” He glanced back and forth before shoving the pizza crust into his mouth.

“Come on, spit it out, Chat—no not literally!” she exclaimed when he frantically spat the crust back onto his plate.

He sheepishly grinned and put the slobbery food back in his mouth. She smacked her forehead, probably getting pizza grease there.

“You’re gross, you know that?”

He swallowed. How he didn’t choke on the crust, she didn’t know.

“But you love me anyway.”

“Keep dreaming, kitty.” She managed to get it out without so much as a stutter, despite the heat remaining in her cheeks. Whatever feelings she did or didn’t have for Chat, it wasn’t like she could act on them. Not when they couldn’t know each other’s identities, and not when she still couldn’t get over Adrien.

Not when he’d already gotten over her.

“Anyway, what were you trying to tell me?” She asked before she could dwell on that.

“Oh. Uh.” This time he didn’t have any more food to use as a distraction. His eyes darted back and forth before he sighed. “I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but… IthinkAdrienhasacrushonyou.”

Marinette felt her brain cells fizzle out at trying to process that sentence. She had to have misheard, hadn’t she? “Come again?”

“Adrien,” he said more clearly, “has a crush on you.”

Was she dreaming? She was dreaming. She had to be.

“And how would you know that?” She asked, her voice a little higher than normal.

He crossed his arms. “A cat never reveals his secrets. And besides, even if I’m wrong—which I’m not—he’d still help you because you’re his friend, and he cares about you. So I really think you should ask him, or else I’ll use my superheroly powers to get him to model for you myself.”

“You wouldn’t.” Her eyes narrowed, though her heart was beating out of her chest. Adrien? Having a crush on her? It wasn’t like they’d seen each other too often this semester, with both of them being busy with their classes. Why would he like her now?

At first she thought he was going to argue, but then he seemed to deflate. “Fine. I’m sorry for being so pushy, I just… you really don’t like him, do you? Did something happen?”

Why did he seem so hurt by that? “N-no! I mean, I do like him, I like him a-a lot actually, and—you can not tell him this,” she threatened with a finger near his nose.

He went cross eyed trying to look at it, but nodded.

She dropped her hand. This was stupid. If Chat knew about her crush… she’d worried about him teasing her, but really, he was her friend. Her best friend. She had to keep enough secrets from him because of her identity. It would feel good to at least be able to share one.

“I’ve had a crush on Adrien forever, Chat,” she finally admitted. “That’s why I didn’t want to ask him to be my model. I don’t want to get distracted. I need my drawings to be the best they can, and I especially don’t need him catching me ogling him.”

Her face burned. It was one thing to share secrets, but maybe she didn’t need to share that much.

He laughed. Was her crush really that funny? He almost sounded surprised though, like there was any chance she wouldn’t fall for a sweet, caring, kind friend who also happened to be unfairly attractive. Maybe he was only surprised because he thought puns and roses were the way to a girl’s heart.

(His way had worked too, though, hadn’t it?)

“So you want to ogle him.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“Yes—no—shut up!” She shoved him, and he collapsed laughing on the carpet.

“I’m hurt, Marinette. And here I thought you wanted to ogle me.”

“I hate you,” she said through her fingers as she contemplated ways to erase this conversation from existence. Could a Lucky Charm do that? “I can’t believe I ever thought I liked you.”

“Ouch. And here I thought your dad’s punches hurt. Whoever made up that ‘sticks and stones’ saying was a liar.”

It took her a moment to realize he was referring to the time her papa was akumatized. Of course he wouldn’t expect that she actually liked him now.

That was for the best though. She wasn’t supposed to admit that, not as Marinette, especially not when she’d just learned Adrien (probably) had a crush on her. She could hardly go out with Adrien when Chat Noir snuck in her window a few times a week, could she?

It hurt too much to think of letting her strange more-than-friendship with her partner go.

“So, you think there’s time for one more drawing?” he asked, brushing his hands off on his suit.

“If you’re still up for it.” She couldn’t turn down the opportunity, even if she was even more afraid of giving her feelings away now. Besides, if he thought she only liked Adrien, he wouldn’t notice her acting weird. Right?

“Of course. Can’t deny you the opportunity to capture all this.” He flexed his arms in a few different poses.

“You know, I was going to thank you, but now I think that might go to your head.” She laughed.

“Ah, it’s too late for that.” He grinned. “You’ve already inflated my ego beyond repair.”

She didn’t see how, but he was already holding his pose, one hand on his hip, the other arm flexing up near his head. His legs were braced in a slight squat that would probably hurt to hold for too long, but left her with an all-too-good view of his quads.

She set her timer for thirty minutes and hoped that she could keep her secrets to herself a little longer.

#marichat #miraculous ladybug #fic tag #marinette dupain cheng #chat noir #tali writes #charcoal lines #humor

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caffeinetheory · 5 years ago

Text

Protection [Maribat Monday]

@maribat-mondays honestly not sure where this went, we got some more Roy/Mari action though. I might make another one later with Connor but we’ll see

///

One wouldn’t think that a ladybug would be a fearsome opponent, those people have never met a Miraculous holder. To give some credit the current holder liked to play innocent and non threatening, because she was. Unless you mess with the people she cares about.

Cholé and Kim had found that out the hard way when they tried to make fun of Nino, they didn’t see it coming. It took some time but soon they were the ones she’d protect and not be on the other side of her wit. Even before she became Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a name people knew not to mess with.

~~~~~~~~~

Green Arrow knew he fucked up, he could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up the second he stepped into the Watchtower. Speedy, no Arsenal, followed behind him head hung low after yet another lecture about how his life isn’t going in the right direction. It was amazing Queen was even able to get his former ward to come with him, then all his nerves were telling him run.

In less than three seconds Roy was in the tight embrace of a smaller heroine that had recently joined the League and her steely blue eyes stared right at Green Arrow, no they bore into him. If looks could kill, he’d be dead before he knew it. He stared bewildered at her hard gaze for what felt like hours, a true stand-off, it couldn’t have been more than a minute though. She broke first, her attention going to the man in her arms.

Oliver took this chance to try to leave but something caught his ankle and he was hanging upside down by a yo-yo of all things. Her gaze was back on him, Roy looked much happier, a confident smirk a wisher on his lips.

“I don’t care how long you’ve done this, NO ONE not even Wonder Woman will stop me from giving you a piece of my mind if I hear you putting him down again. Do you have any idea the emotional trauma you give him,” she was pointing at Arsenal her face never leaving the man she had tied up, “by Tikki you are lucky I have a meeting to be at, but take this as a warning.” She dropped him with a flick of her wrist and went off with Arsenal in a different direction.

~~~~~~~~~

Oliver didn’t take those words to heart, after about 3 weeks he was back on Roy’s case. What was it for this time you might ask? Well, Roy had been dating for almost a year and hadn’t told him. Oliver only found out after following Roy to a date one night.

The lady was stunning, charming and could easily pass for a goddess. Roy clearly had an influence on her as she was currently wearing a crimson crop top and ripped jeans darker than her hair. Her blue-grey almond eyes filled with love upon seeing Roy, she lit up. Her undercut was fresh and the combat boots she wore were well worn, something seems familiar but he couldn’t place it. Roy gave her his leather jacket, at least he knew to be a gentleman. Roy was such a loose canon and rash, she could do so much better.

Oliver was so lost in his thoughts about how she was out of his former ward’s league he didn’t notice himself walking over. He slung an arm over Roy’s shoulder ignoring how it tensed, “So this is the lady you convicted to date you?” The smug tone in his voice was not appreciated. Oliver held his hand out to the lady, “Oliver Queen,” she took it after a second. Her grip was tight, too tight, “Mariette,” she had a pleasant smile on her lips but her eyes held warning and a fire.

Oliver might be dense but he took the hint...this time.

~~~~~~~~~

There was a villain team up and Oliver needed help. Despite how Roy seems to hate him he was by his side along with two of his teammates.

This fight had been going far longer than they thought it would, Arsenal was almost out of arrows, Green Arrow could only watch in horror as the knife made its way toward the man he viewed as his son. A blur of red and black deflected the knife, the women holding it still spinning something for cover as she checked over Arsenal.

“I’m sorry I’m late, I had to pick up something extra,” she dropped two quivers of arrows to the archers.

“I knew I could count on you babe,” they shared a quick peck before they went off in different directions. “Queen,” her voice was commanding, “take those, I’ll provide cover.” He found himself following her and her plan. Nothing got past her.

It was only when everything was said and done that Oliver out two and two together. This was Ladybug, and she was the one Roy had been hiding from him. With her by their side no one took unnecessary hits and everyone got the care they needed.

~~~~~~~~~

When it was Oliver’s turn for Watchtower duty he looked into Ladybug’s file. Things finally clicked, he was lucky. He didn’t know how and honestly doesn’t want to know why he hasn’t had her wrath. It’s clear he should have with how he’s been told he treats Roy. Her fights are fascinating and the later ones in Hawk Moth’s rein were devisating but she always, ALWAYS came out on top. Her personal life seems much of the same. Former bullies turned friends, the city knew not to mess with her. She was a force not to be taken lightly. And one that had held back against him, Oliver knew he needed to be better to Roy but nothing was a better motivation than his girlfriend.

~~~~~~~~~

She was like an angel, how Roy was dating her he didn’t know. Watching her fight though, it was something that wasn’t worth fighting. They clearly had something special. Something she deemed worth protecting, and he wasn’t that stupid. A Ladybug’s wrath he was spared and he was not about to risk it.

///

Not my best work and mostly from the outside but here y’all go :)

Roy/Mari tag list: @queenmj10

#maribat monday #my writing #maribat #roy/mari #ladyarrow #olivers pov mostly #protection #one shot #a small break from tim this week #the first double dip for the monday #not a new pair this time #yall proud of me?

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quicksilversquared · 4 years ago

Text

The Substitute Ladybug: Chapter 5

After Lila takes things too far and Marinette ends up with a broken leg, Paris is going to have to deal with a different superhero arrangement for a bit. Having to share her superhero identity with her parents before Hawkmoth can be defeated isn’t something that Marinette had planned on doing, but- well, it might end up being a bit of a blessing in disguise.

links in the reblog

"Why do you always put Sass away when you get Tikki back for the evening?" Mrs. Cheng asked curiously one evening as she and Marinette worked together to make dinner. "Surely it wouldn't be that hard to have both of them out, would it? They seem to get along just fine."

"Wearing more than one Miraculous tends to drain the energy out of whoever is wearing them," Marinette told her mom. It was still weird to be openly talking about the Miraculous like this, even two weeks after her leg broke, but Marinette was slowly getting used to it. Besides, despite how strange it felt, it was nice to be able to talk with someone besides Tikki about the Miraculous again. "I've done it before, of course. For only a couple hours is fine, but I don't want to risk slowing down how fast my leg heals at all."

Mrs. Cheng's eyes grew wide, and she stopped chopping up vegetables for their dinner, slowly setting the knife aside. "Oh, my. Yes, I can see where you maybe wouldn't mess with that."

"Marinette has worn over a dozen Miraculous at once before," Tikki said proudly, settling down on Marinette's shoulder next to Sass. "And handled it throughout an entire akuma fight! Most people would collapse and lose consciousness at once."

"Most people would collapse with far fewer Miraculous," Sass agreed. "It was really impressive!"

"That sounds dangerous," Mrs. Cheng fretted. "Who knows what that could do to your health in the long-term?"

Tikki giggled. "As long as our holders aren't multi-wielding long-term, it's fine! We give our holders enhanced healing abilities, since it's never good for them to be out of commission for long. So maybe people are tired in the short term, but they start healing as soon as they go back down to one Miraculous."

"And if they take on too many Miraculous and pass out?" Mrs. Cheng worried, glancing at Marinette. "And can't take the Miraculous off? Could the kwamis-?"

Sass shook his head. "No, not unless they had given us express permission before collapsing."

Mrs. Cheng looked even more worried. "Have- have people died from that before?"

"I was careful, mom!" Marinette protested, knowing what her mom was so worried about. After all, Master Fu had been concerned as well, and had insisted on checking in with her every day for a solid two weeks after the Kwami Buster fight. "Splitting myself with the Mouse Miraculous made the effects a lot more spread-out and easier to bear. And Master Fu was there when I put them on, he could have pulled off some Miraculous if I couldn't take it!"

"It's a sign of a strong spirit," Tikki said proudly. "I'm very proud of her."

"We are, too," Mr. Dupain boomed cheerfully, bursting into the room with a basket of leftover loaves of bread. "What exactly are we discussing here? Marinette, of course, but specifically?"

Marinette tried not to sigh as her mom and the kwamis filled her dad in. Her parents had always been proud of her, but now that they knew about her double life as Ladybug- well, they were impossibly more proud not and they weren't at all hesitant about showing it. That she was able to juggle even more than they had originally thought and still be managing as well as she had- well, they had been impressed.

"Papa, what's the bread for?" Marinette asked as soon as they had finished talking, eyeing the basket. It wasn't unusual for her dad to bring up a single loaf or a few buns for them to have with their dinner, but this was more than their usual amount unless they had company. "Are there people coming over?"

"No- oh, I forgot to tell you, dear, I'll be going out on a bit of a patrol with your partner this evening. Not late, since I need to stay on a baker's schedule, but if Hawkmoth is going to scale back to only harder attacks, I need to get in more practice." Her mom smiled. "And Chat Noir loves it when I bring snacks, of course. He's a growing boy who's getting plenty of exercise. Did you know, the last time I brought treats, he managed to identify what bakery I had gotten things from just by taste? I had made sure that I didn't bring anything that had our logo on it, but apparently he's familiar enough with the bakery that he can pick out our products just by tasting them!"

Marinette blanched. "Maman, what about secret identities?"

"I didn't say that we had made them, just that I brought treats and then he guessed where they were from. I'm being careful with secret identity stiff, dear. It's really more your partner who isn't, but- well, I won't share too much of what he's said." Her smile turned sad. "Not all of it would be mine to share, either."

Marinette blinked, considering that, then decided to push it out of her mind for now. She had known for a while that Chat Noir didn't have a great home life- he had never said anything specific, but there had been a good number of hints and offhand comments- but she didn't want to pry.

"That's very cool that he knew where you had gotten things," Tom said, nodding in approval. "A lot of people go 'oh, if it's just bread, there's no difference'-" he made a face "-but he must be one of those people who slows down and properly enjoys his food enough to pick up on what makes us different." He shot a sly look towards Marinette. "I don't suppose you've changed your stance on making Chat Noir our future son-in-law? Absence is meant to make the heart grow fonder, after all!"

Marinette promptly turned bright red. "Papa!"

"To be fair, Adrien also seems to really enjoy what we make in the bakery," Mrs. Cheng chimed in, only making Marinette's blush grow worse. "And what we cook at home, too."

"Ah, yes! That's a fair point." Her dad tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe we should expand the range of things that you bring with you to share with Chat Noir. I know he liked the things we made for brunch, but he didn't gush like Adrien sometimes does."

Mrs. Cheng huffed. "Oh, the boy was just nervous and put on the spot! It's not fair to compare them, really, is it, Marinette?"

Marinette could only bury her face in her hands and groan, already looking forward to dinner being over and being able to escape this whole conversation by hiding in her room.

It was weird enough for her parents to know about her double life. For them to apparently be so shipping her- Ladybug-her- with Chat Noir...

Seriously, when had her life gotten so strange?

Two and a half weeks into her superhero sidelining, Hawkmoth appeared alongside Mayura and both a sentimonster and an akuma. Marinette considered that, considered the odds, and then took the temporary chair lift they had installed- a rented one, courtesy of Lila's bank account- down to the bakery to fetch her dad. It was nearing the end of the day, so it wouldn't be hard for one of the back bakery workers to cover the counter for ten minutes- five for the superheroes to move on-site, five for the actual fight- and then Marinette could take over until her parents returned.

A Turtle Tom would be-well, no one in their right mind would want to cross him.

"I'm sending the Bee, too," Marinette told her dad, pressing a second box into his hands. "Chat Noir has done fusions before, he can handle it. Then you guys can take one fighter out in one shot and have it be three against three instead of three against four."

"And you don't just want a fourth fighter out there?" her dad asked. Marinette shook her head.

"It's too many people to keep track of. That, and- well, Queen Bee was Chloe, and she never should have been a Miraculous holder in the first place. I just went back to her because she had experience." She made a face. "But with the hissy fit she threw when Chat Noir and I told her no more- when she joined Hawkmoth for the day without being akumatized first- she ended up revealing almost all of our teammates' identities. So we're definitely not going back to her. And I don't want to have two completely new people out there at once."

"Solid logic," Mr. Dupain said cheerfully. "All right, I'll deliver the Bee to Chat. I'll see you- no, sorry, hear you out there?"

"Of course, papa!"

Marinette watched him leave- he was going to find an alleyway to transform in, since he would be a bit too noticeable leaving the bakery already transformed- then took the chair lift back up to her temporary room to transform, taking several deep breaths to steady herself as she did.

This was going to be the biggest fight that she had guided as Vipera. There were going to be a lot of moving parts to remember and keep track of, and that was pretty intimidating. The akuma and sentimonster were the biggest priorities- she knew from experience that once those were defeated, the supervillains tended to flee pretty fast- but she had to make sure that whoever was fighting Hawkmoth and Mayura stayed safe, too.

As soon as Vipera pulled out her lute to get set up, she could see her three teammates were out. Her dad was still moving, racing to catch up with Coccinelle and Chat Noir, who were clearly waiting for instruction. Vipera hastily pulled up her video feeds, doing her best to catch up on the situation as fast as she could. Soon enough, the news would break that the superheroes had been seen out and about and where they had last been spotted, and they would lose part of the element of surprise.

"Ah, nice choice on the Bee," Chat Noir said cheerfully as soon as Tanker arrived and handed over the box. There was a crackle of static as he transformed. "A very a-bee-ling choice."

Vipera groaned. "No."

"And I look un-bee-lievably handsome," Chat Noir continued, the smug grin clear in his voice. "In fact-"

There was a muddle of muffled words on the other end of the line and then mercifully, the puns stopped.

"Right, so use the Bee right away to take someone out," Chat Noir said after a moment. "Got it, my Lady. Are we ready?"

Vipera took a moment to breathe, falling into her normal state of- well, focus, but also connection with the Snake's powers. "Ready. They're moving south- if you can circle around to the north, you might be able to surprise them. Da- Tanker, maybe hang back a little. You're a little more. Uh. Noticeable."

Tanker laughed. "Okay. If you say so."

Onscreen- thankfully, Sass had been more than fine with accommodating her request for more screens, so that she could have multiple views plus a map of Paris with where her partners were all up at the same time- the akuma and a sentimonster raged on. Hawkmoth and Mayura were staying largely to the side, sometimes not even visible. Clearly they were banking on the superheroes not seeing them- or perhaps they were assuming that Ladybug was out of town and so the superheroes wouldn't have access to the backup Miraculous, so in turn it wouldn't matter if they knew about the supervillains being there. Coccinelle and Chat Noir would have to come out either way, after all.

The supervillains were going to regret that assumption soon enough. After all, the trio out in the field was carrying not one but two extra Miraculous with them in their initial push, something that rarely ever happened. Normally Ladybug ended up retreating to grab an extra Miraculous or two mid-battle, since she and her partner could generally handle the akuma battles themselves.

Hopefully it would give them a serious edge this time. It probably wouldn't be able to happen often, since Marinette was often at school when akumas attacked, but this one time everything just seemed to come together perfectly.

"Getting close," Chat Noir murmured in his earpiece. "And- oh! Sting!"

Vipera bit back her already? when she spotted her partner on-screen He had managed to sneak up on Mayura and, as she watched, slammed his trompo into her back. Mayura froze up with a cut-off squawk. Hawkmoth let out an angry yell, and Chat Noir was forced to dodge away from Mayura as the akuma of the day wildly shot beams of light in his direction. As soon as he had an opening, Hawkmoth dashed over to Mayura and grabbed her up, hauling her stiff body away over the rooftops as the akuma covered his escape.

Vipera blinked. Well. That was one way to kill two birds with one stone. Now they just had to finish up the fight with both the akuma and the sentimonster before Hawkmoth could stash Mayura somewhere out of the way and come back.

"I see the possessed item- it's the belt!" Coccinelle announced, peering over a rooftop. "Vipera, can you activate the timer? I want to know if our weapons and deflect those blasts, and that's the safest way to do it."

"Of course. In five, four, three, two, one- set." Vipera gave a sharp nod to herself as she set time zero. Onscreen, her teammates surged forward, weapons spinning or- in Tanker's case- simply held out in front of him. The akuma fired, and several seconds later, Vipera hastily reset.

"Okay, the weapons do deflect the beams, but then they reflect off wildly," she told them as the surge repeated. "Dodging is better, so you don't accidentally send the beams at each other!"

Chat Noir snorted out a laugh as he dodged straight into a roll. "Let me guess- last time, we did just that?"

"Yeah, two of you were taken out." Vipera winced at the memory. "That wouldn't have gone well- Chat, dodge left!"

With three on-site fighters and only the sentimonster and akuma to deal with, it only took a half-hour's worth of corrections to turn the battle into a four-minute smackdown. Most of those corrections had to do with stray reflected beams- those were just annoying to deal with, she didn't envy the superheroes out there- and because of that, most of her comments had to do with ducking at certain times.

"That was great," Chat Noir said cheerfully, once everything had been set to right with the Cure. "Really good job, my Lady. These fights are going so smoothly- or at least on our end they are. Did that take many tries?"

"Not really," Vipera told him. "Nothing awful, at least, and I really only had hints that were easy to remember this time." It really was sweet of him to worry. Her mom had mentioned more than once before how concerned Chat Noir was about her using Second Chance, and she could understand why. If the full five minutes- or almost full five minutes were reset again and again and again, that could add up to a lot of time, time that only she really remembered.

...somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered if it would be considered abuse of the Miraculous if she used the Snake in the morning to snag a few more minutes of sleep after her alarm went off.

(It probably wouldn't work.)

"And really good job with that Sting first thing," Vipera added quickly. "That was smart thinking, taking Mayura out. I thought you would go for the akuma or the sentimonster, honestly, but what you did was much better."

She could imagine the small smile and the slight blush on Chat Noir's face as he murmured, "Thank you, my Lady."

Praise almost always made him strangely bashful, or at least when it was coming from her. It was pretty adorable, actually.

"I don't think I was really needed at all," Tanker commented with a booming laugh. "Better safe than sorry, though, I suppose, and it was an interesting experience to be able to jump from roof to roof. I don't think that I would want to do that on a regular basis, though."

Chat Noir laughed. "I'd say it grows on you, but I actually really enjoyed it from the start, so..."

"I want to be out running on the rooftops," Vipera said grumpily. It was funny, really- when she had very first started being Ladybug, she hadn't wanted anything more than to be back on solid ground as soon as possible, her feet solidly under her and not dressed in magical spandex. Now? "Or running at all. Crutches are getting old really fast."

"I'd offer to carry you on a piggyback loop around town, my Lady, but your parents have already forbidden it," Chat Noir told her. "Something about the jostling probably not being good for your leg?"

Vipera pouted, then sighed. Even with as antsy as she had been feeling, it wasn't worth risking injuring her leg further. Her parents were right. "I'll survive without it." Her Miraculous beeped again, and she added, "I have to go, but good job, everyone."

"And to you, too!" Chat Noir chirped again before her transformation finally gave out. Marinette grinned at Sass, handing him a treat before hauling herself out of bed and reaching for her crutches. She had to get downstairs and cover the counter fast, before her parents' employees started wondering about them.

As she did, though, her mind returned to the problem she had thought of earlier, before the fight really started. Today they had been lucky, and she had been at home to fetch the extra Miraculous. If she had been at school instead...

Well, maybe she could have called her mom up, but that depended on Mrs. Cheng not having left yet. Coccinelle could always turn around and go back to the house, of course, but... well, it was probably better if they minimized the number of times that Coccinelle returned to the bakery while transformed. The risk of someone seeing her...

Maybe that should be a last resort sort of thing.

Marinette frowned in thought. Really, she needed to be able to get to the Miraculous Box quickly, and then get whatever bonus Miraculous they needed to her teammates so that they could either double up or bring the Miraculous to a temporary holder. And that would be impossible-

-except it wasn't. After all, the Horse existed. She would have to charge up between portals, of course, and then her mom could bring the Miraculous back after the fight. All Marinette would have to do would be to always carry the Horse- in a super-safe spot, of course; even if Lila was no longer at the school, she didn't want to risk Chloe or Sabrina digging through her bag, or Alya accidentally stumbling on it- and she would be able to get back to her room right away.

Another bonus: not having to direct a fight from a random closet or study room. It would be much safer and more comfortable to sit at her desk.

It would probably be less risky if she made a secret pocket in her bag, maybe one protected by a small lock. Marinette could make that tomorrow, probably, and have it in place by Monday. Then she would really be ready for anything.

Marinette smiled to herself as she took over the bakery counter, her mind already whirring with ideas of how to install the pocket without it being obvious. She had fabric that would match the lining of her bag, so that was easy enough, but she would have to hide the stitching from the pocket on the outside of somehow. Maybe some applique flowers would be just the thing, a fun little touch to really make the backpack personalized while hiding the seam lines and distracting from any odd shapes in her bag. Add in some embroidered vines that would twist and turn between the flowers, and any odd seam stitches left visible would soon be forgotten. It would all have to be hand-stitched, since her sewing machine was upstairs and it would be difficult to use inside of the backpack anyway, but that was fine. The stitching would be even easier to hide that way.

Hopefully her parents would get back soon. Marinette was already itching to get upstairs and start sewing.

#Miraculous Ladybug #My writing #The Substitute Ladybug #marinette dupain cheng

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