#Have some healing Baby Noir to make up for the last ask!

[desultory-novice]

"Noir Fontaine...? I'll admit, I'd never been to France before. Although going so far for a vacation was a bit out of my wheelhouse... I preferred to stay closer to home. Seeing the aftermath of what happened to my home planet, though... I'll admit it was pretty sobering. Anyways, how are you enjoying your vacation so far?" (This ask is from a human OC who ended up on Pop Star - and yes, he did end up visiting Shiver Star. Seeing Earth after the 'big freeze' was... an experience for him.)

"...I've never been either. Though the old countries weren't exactly 'a thing' by the time I was born. Either way, attempting distant travel on Shiver Star was just asking to get yourself stranded."

(And I heard some bad stories of what happened if you did...)

"...Weird that I feel like I've at least SEEN it though..."

"............"

"...It was probably because of mom. She would tell stories about it. Seems that was what got her into music in the first place? Some French singer? Can't remember their name."

"As for Old Earth, I don't miss it."

"If you weren't there at the end? Consider yourself LUCKY."

[Noir's Field Trip Masterpost]

[greentrickster]

While Shady and Claw found out Hesperia's backstory pretty soon after joining the resistance, Chloe doesn't end up hearing about it and the Butterfly Miraculous until she's been with them for about three months. Her instant response?

"Yeah, sounds fake."

Which is a take absolutely no one was expecting, and Alya in particular takes exception to. "I beg your pardon, why, exactly, would Hesperia lie about that? His wife's death is public knowledge!"

"No, I believe that bit," Chloe waves a hand dismissively from where she's perched on a table she's not supposed to be sitting on (and which Claw is also lounging on), "But the rest doesn't make sense - if he could make a kamiko to heal sterility, why not make one that could just fix the Peacock?"

"Oh, he's actually told us that one!" Nino chimes in, "It's because Miraculous are really powerful already and it takes a lot of magic to effect them! So in order to make a kamiko strong enough, he'd have to kamikoize as Miraculous holder with a Miraculous at least on par with the Peacock or stronger!"

Chloe, fully filled in on the Miraculous power scale by now, "And the Miraculous that would qualify for that are...?"

Nino, listing off on his fingers, "Well the Butterfly's on the same level as the Peacock, but he can't Kamikoize himself, so that would leave the Turtle, the Fox, the Bee, the Ladybug, or the- ...Black Cat..."

Slowly Nino, Alya, Shady, and Claw's eyes all drift to where Hesperia is standing, while Chloe nods in satisfaction. "See? It's ridiculous! If he was telling the truth, he'd have asked one of us to help by now, and Shadybug and Claw Noir may be babies about kamikos, but I'm not!"

Claw, meanwhile, sits up, a slight threat to his movements. "Got something you wanna share with the class, Butterfly man?"

Hesperia, for his part, is looking shocked and has one hand to his forehead. "You're right, that's- why didn't I think of that sooner?"

"Because you've been busy reorganizing our plans to include the noobs and also training the noobs," Alya, ever-loyal second-in-command that she is, steps in, "Also, when was the last time you slept?"

"When do you sleep?" Nino adds, "Just, like, in general? You're doing this most nights and you have a day job."

Unfortunately for Hesperia, it genuinely takes him five minutes to remember that he has, in fact, slept in the past twenty-four hours. Well, fortunately in it convinces the skeptics that this really was something that just slipped his mind in the crush of everything else that's been happening, but unfortunately in that he's now got five teenagers judging him for having a crap sleep schedule, go home and get some sleep, fashion man, you're old.

Hesperia: (miffed) I'm not old, I'm forty-three.

The assortment of 14/15-year-olds: Oh gods, he's already halfway dead.

Long story short, Hesperia gets sent home for the night to get some sleep, and the next night he brings the Peacock with him, Shadybug gets kamikoized for the first time into Menderbug*, and the Peacock is finally fixed and safe to use again.

.

*(stares directly into the eyes of anyone reading this who has also played Hollow Knight)

[consumeconstantly]

Summer Photography (aka the thirst trap)

Summary: Marinette is forced to take pictures for Gabriel in order to pay for her summer graduation trip with her best friends from lycee. Adrien, her primary model, wants to avoid the summer heat and pulls in one very attractive bad-boy motorcycle man to be his replacement.

_______________________________________________________

July in Gotham comes with an almost rancid kind of heat.

The kind of heat that is impossible to banish unless the air conditioning is set to 65 degrees and there’s a dehumidifier in the room. The kind of heat that makes babies cry with discomfort and adults curse whenever they have to take a foot outside. The only age population that enjoys it are the teens. More precisely, the teens are more fans of being on summer vacation, rather than the sticky warmth, but they find ways to work with the heat, rather than against it. Some teens gather on apartment rooftops, taking in the rare, smoggy breeze with pleasure. Others frequent their local swimming pool, an ice cream parlor or convenience store. If they get really desperate, they take shelter in the library.

Should a teen be forced out onto the muggy sidewalks full of sweaty bodies, they drift towards parks or areas of ‘city beautification’ and find a tree to rest their weary bodies under. 

Of course, there are always exceptions to these norms. 

“Marinette,” Adrien groans, sweat on his brow. “Can we please do this not during peak heat?”

“No,” Marinette says. “Your father insisted on having pictures of a male model at precisely two in the afternoon, and it took me months to convince him to let us come on this trip, so we’re not going to do anything to jeopardize it.”

“It’s not like he can do anything now. We’re literally an ocean away.”

“Suck it up, sunshine,” Marinette swats her hand at a lazy fly, not bothering to look up from changing the lens on her camera. “Maybe I’d let you get away with a substitution. Gabriel didn’t specify that the person in the pictures had to be you, but we don’t know anyone in Gotham, and everyone we’ve come across so far isn’t exactly the friendly sort.”

Adrien flicks the collar of his t-shirt, desperately trying to generate some sort of a breeze so he doesn’t melt. “This is all Nino’s fault. He and Alya insisted on going to that couple’s show when he could have been out here, taking my place. If Luka were here, he wouldn’t have deserted me like that.”

“We all know of your and Luka’s undying love for one another, but he is busy touring. He’ll meet up with us in New York, though, and you can have your disgustingly sweet love-fest over there. Meanwhile, I’ll be forever alone.”

“Don’t put yourself down like that, Marinette. At least five people in each city we’ve gone to so far have tried to go on dates with you.”

She crinkles her nose and does a test shot, making sure the light setting works out. “Yeah, but they all reeked of desperation and alcohol. Plus, at least two of them were just looking for a person to cheat with.”

“No good,” Marinette says, frowning at the shadows the tree cast. “Gabriel won’t be happy with these kinds of photos. You’re going to have to move out of the shade.”

“No!” Adrien wails. “I refuse! It’s bad enough that you dragged me out here, but to make me go in the sun? You know I burn easily.”

“Yeah, yeah drama queen, but these photos aren’t going to take themselves, and I’m one hundred percent sure that you don’t want to have to do this twice. Which is what we’ll end up having to do if you don’t get your little butt out into the sun so we can take quality shots.”

Adrien whines before a motorcycle revs in the not so far distance. A very Chat Noir smile creeps onto his face. “I don’t think I will. I’ve just found my substitute.”

Marinette follows his gaze, then shrugs. “If you think you can convince him to substitute in, you’re free to go. But remember, it’s Gotham, and if you get jumped, I’m not going to help. It’s too hot for a fight.”

“You underestimate my charm.” Adrien says, already triumphant.

#

True to form, Adrien somehow manages to get motorcycle man over to her. 

“Not sure how Adrien convinced you to do this, but I guess he gets a free pass.” Marinette knows exactly what Adrien’s going to do with his free time. He’s gone on and on about Gotham’s Museum of Vigilantes, and to be quite frank, Marinette doesn’t want to get caught up in another one of Adrien’s rant sessions on the Bat Family. “Anyways, nice to meet you. I’m Marinette, and my awful boss has come of with the wonderfully creative idea of Summer Heat for a photoshoot in the summer.”

She has a bone to pick with Gabriel Agreste. More than one, actually. In fact, she’d say that out of the 206 (well, 207, if she counts the fracture she got in her left pinky toe after that last akuma battle that weirdly, still hasn’t healed) bones in her body, she’d pick a fight with Gabriel over at least 200 of them. The lack of originality is one thing, but she’s not sure how she feels about his blatant attempts to set her up with her son during this trip. Somehow, he still hasn’t grasped the fact that his son doesn’t swing her way despite having hundreds of pictures of being lovey-dovey with Luka all over the internet. In fact, maybe it’s because Adrien and Luka have that many pictures that Gabriel is trying to push for a heterosexual relationship. A lack of vision both for his photo shoots and for his company. Marinette doesn’t understand how she once looked up to this man.

“It’s no problem. I’ve got nothing better to do, anyways.” 

Marinette blinks, then reassesses the man in front of her. Not only does he have a sinfully attractive voice, but his visual appeal isn’t that bad, either. “It’s still nice of you to do this. Should be a pretty quick shoot. Five outfit changes and a few poses in each-- shouldn’t take any longer than an hour, hour and a half.”

She rummages through her bag, fishing out a stack of paper. “You’ll get paid for your time. $250 for the whole shoot, and if you want to keep one of the outfits, feel free.”

If she’s being completely honest, she thinks that Gabriel’s summer collection is a hot mess, and she doesn’t particularly want the burden of bringing back the disgusting articles of clothes back with her in her suitcase. Should motorcycle man not want any of them, she’ll send them back via express mail.

“Don’t need the money, but I’m trying to stay out for as long as I can. Any way you could make the shoot go on longer?”

“You want to stay out in this heat?” Marinette asks in disbelief, taking out a small bag of makeup to apply to his face. She motions for him to sit in the shade of the tree while she sees what she needs to cover up. 

“Beggars can’t be choosers,” Motorcycle man says.

“Like the owner of a custom Harley-Davidson is poor,” Marinette quips. Humming in approval after giving his features once over, she decides that foundation isn’t necessary, only concealer to cover up the dark circles and some old scars.“You have great skin.”

During their summer trip, Marinette has become makeup artist, photographer, public relations manager, and trip advisor. It’s a taxing job, but well worth the reward, which is an all-expense-paid graduation trip with her friends from lycee. Well, Nino and Alya had to pay, but between Nino’s part time DJ gigs and Alya’s ad revenue on the Ladyblog, it wasn’t hard for them to raise enough for the two month long, seven city, four country trip. 

“One of my siblings is insistent that we do our best to minimize the scarring. Don’t know what his deal is, it’s not like our faces are sellable commodities.”

“That’s where you’re wrong-- you’re pretty good looking and could easily go into modelling or acting if you wanted. So props to whoever your sibling is. And thank your genetics too.”

Motorcycle man snorts. “Not cut out for that lifestyle. I like more… adrenaline inducing jobs.”

Marinette almost-- almost laughs. The placement of the scars on his face do imply that he’s gotten in at least one or two knife fights before, and there’s a thin line on his neck that definitely looks like it hurt. Motorcycle man has definitely been in trouble before, but he’s also good enough to get himself out of it. She’s not going to bother asking what his job is. She doesn’t want to be an accessory to any of his crimes. “Action movies, then?” 

“Oh sweetheart, I make action movies look like a kid’s fist fight.”

“Wow, we have a bad boy on our hands, ladies and gentleman.” She finishes applying highlighter and sits back to admire her work. His jaw can cut glass. “Okay, Motorcycle Man, it’s time to take pictures. If you’re good, maybe I’ll draw the shoot out-- I’m not a fan of this humidity.”

Summer is better than winter, if only because she’s acquired a weird habit to almost hibernate when the temperature gets too cold. It’s easy for Marinette to shrug off the heat most days, even when her friends complain constantly.

“The name’s Jason.”

“I think I’ll stick with Motorcycle Man. Alliteration, you know? Now, one hand in your pocket, the other at your collar. Left leg out a little, like you’re ready to take a step-- perfect. Walk forwards a little, yeah, just like that.”

Jason is Adonis personified. The perfect package of cocky, arrogant, and bad boy. It doesn’t hurt that he’s well muscled either-- even Adrien doesn’t have thighs like that, and he spends hours as Chat Noir jumping from rooftop to rooftop. 

“You’re a natural,” Marinette praises. “Have you ever modeled before?”

“Not like this, but I’ve got my fair share of pictures on the internet.”

She’s going to regret asking this. But curiosity killed the cat, not the ladybug. “If not for modelling, then what for?”

“Oh, you know. This and that. A few odd jobs here and there.”

And if that doesn’t make Jason sound more like a criminal, she doesn’t know what will. Marinette decides that she definitely won’t bring up a day job, let alone a night job. 

“All right, next outfit.” She pushes a muscle tank top and light, ripped jeans into his hands.  “You can change in the public restroom, and if anything doesn’t fit, just let me know.”

He takes the outfit, but pauses at one of the other outfits she has in her bag. “Is that… leather and fur? For a shoot with the theme of summer heat?”

“I don’t call the shots, I’m just the poor lackey who has to make them look good. Trust me, if I were in charge of design, the only outfit that might still be in the bag is the one you’re holding right now.” Gabriel is definitely losing his touch. But hey, doing this weird intern summer program for him isn’t the worst thing she’s had to do in her life. It’s good to learn from other people’s mistakes, rather than making them herself. 

“Don’t worry. Crappy fashion isn’t going to scare me away. Have you seen some of Gotham’s villains?”

At that, she couldn’t suppress a laugh. “You’re talking Gotham villains? How about Paris?”

“Paris is some weird alternate dimension. It doesn’t count,” Jason protests. 

“I could say the same for Gotham. Really, why are there so many Robins? Can’t they come up with another name?”

“I almost wish I could argue with that.”

He comes out of the stall, and Marinette feels the summer heat. Jason, Motorcycle Man is ripped. Yeah, his thighs are probably some of the thickest she’s seen, but his biceps are to die for. She’s half tempted to ask for his workout regime, but she’s sure that somewhere he’ll casually throw in ‘beating up random people on the street’ or ‘punching people who piss him off.’ Those are just the kind of vibes that Jason gives off. 

“The arm holes are kinda tight.”

“I’m sure they are,” Marinette breathes, chest tight. Jason’s eyes smoulder. He knows exactly what he’s doing as he places an arm on the door frame and flexes. She thinks she can die happy, now.

They wrap up the shoot quickly. All of the clothes are promptly packaged up except for the tanktop and jeans.  

@jasonette-july-2k20

____________________________________________________________

For the other jasonette prompts i’ve written for so far, i think i’ll probably continue them eventually, so lmk if you want to be added to the tag list for that. pretty surprised these are getting such a good reception thank you guys for that ;)

[p-artsypants]

It was the end. Ladybug and Chat Noir were defeated. Now Adrien and Marinette sat huddled together in Shadowmoth’s lair. Tears running down their faces, and the only comfort being that their partner was there, alive, and someone they loved.

Paris was in turmoil. The Akuma that had captured Ladybug and Chat Noir was violent, and had no qualms about destroying homes, schools, hospitals, whatever stood in his way. And the city was suffering a huge loss. The death toll continued to climb as causalities were left unable to be tended.

But Shadowmoth didn’t care. He didn’t care one bit, because he had the Miraculous and he could make the wish now! Adrien, as frightened and hurt as he was, would understand. And he’d get his ring back after. Gabriel had no need for the continued use.

“Gabriel, I beg you, one last time, don’t make this wish.” Marinette held Adrien’s sobbing face to her chest. “It comes with a price, and if you return someone you love, you’ll have to give up someone else. And there’s no guarantee who that will be.” But she had a horrible sinking feeling it would be Adrien, so she just held him tighter and tighter, pressing kisses to his head.

“You don’t know anything! You’re just a child, and you think you know about the Miraculous because some old man gave you the box in a moment of desperation. You didn’t train. You didn’t study! You know nothing! And Nothing is going to stop me from reviving my wife!”

“Father please!” Adrien shrieked.

“Plagg! Tikki! Unify!”

Marinette couldn’t watch. She couldn’t bear to see the horrors that would unfold. She just held Adrien, and cherished every minute he was in her arms.

“I love you,” she whispered. “You were the other boy. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

His finger curled into her shirt. “My Lady…I have always loved you, and I always will.”

The chaos in the room grew still, and the lights and magic waned.

“Gabriel?” A feminine voice asked.

Adrien lifted his head, hope in his chest. “Mom?”

“Adrien?”

Gabriel was smirking in a smug way, before waltzing over to Marinette and dropping the jewels in her hand. “I told you, I knew what I was doing. But here, take your little friends back. I don’t need them anymore.”

Then he went to the intercom on the wall and called, “Nathalie, Emilie is awake. Would you bring her some tea please?”

There was no response.

“Nathalie?”

Adrien let out a sigh and clenched his eyes shut. “You were right after all, My Lady. Just…my father doesn’t love me as much as we feared.”

The conversation was not missed by Gabriel, and he ran out of the room, no doubt looking for her.

“What’s going on? Where am I?” Asked Emilie, approaching the couple.

Now with no fear of losing him, Marinette let Adrien go to embrace his mother. “It’s okay mom. You were asleep, but dad woke you up. I think…I think it cost Nathalie though. He…” he didn’t finish, too ashamed to say it.

“He loved her. I see.” Emilie was far too smart for her own good. “Well, I have you, my boy.”

Marinette called, “Tikki, Spots on,” as she had a feeling that Ladybug would be needed.

Only moments later, Gabriel ran into the room, with Nathalie’s cold, unmoving body in his arms. “Fix it!” He shouted at her, like a toddler throwing a tantrum. “Fix this!”

“Lucky Charm!” Ladybug summoned a bouquet of flowers, and with it, knew exactly what to do. “Gabriel, your Akuma killed half of Paris today, destroyed millions of homes…and you want me to resurrect the ‘other woman’?”

“I don’t care about Paris! I don’t care about all that! Nathalie doesn’t deserve this! She didn’t do anything wrong!”

Ladybug shook her head. “As much as I would love to give everyone a happy ending, you don’t deserve it. You never did. You didn’t heed my warning. You had no worries about sacrificing your son if need be. But trying to bring back your wife, while being in love with another woman? You can’t have your cake and eat it too.”

“Ladybug!” He shrieked.

“Miraculous Ladybug,” she threw the bouquet up in the air and the swarm took off into the city. The sound of sirens started to quiet as the healing took place.

“No! No no no!” Gabriel shouted. “Give me back the earrings! You don’t know how to use them!”

Chat Noir, now newly transformed, grabbed Gabriel’s tie and yanked, revealing the Butterfly Miraculous. He took the Peacock as well.

“You’re done causing heartbreak, Gabriel.”

“Son?”

“I’m not your son anymore. I haven’t been since you revealed yourself as a monster. I loved you, and I wanted nothing more than for you to love me back. But now I see that you’re greedy, and want too much. You’ll never be content, as long as you live.”

“No! You don’t know that! You can’t!”

Emilie walked up to Chat Noir’s side and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I’ve got you baby. He needs to pay for his crimes. I can let him go.”

“Emilie!” Gabriel screamed. “I gave up everything for you! This was all for you! How can you just—“

She shook her head. “I still love you, Gabe. I probably will for a long time. But I’ve only been awake for a few minutes, but from what I’ve seen…I’m revolted.”

Chat Noir took Nathalie’s body from him, as Ladybug wrapped his wrists with her yo-yo. “I told you, the price was too high.”

Finally, finally Gabriel showed regret, but it was far too late. “I should have listened.”

[fandomsilhouette]

meet me halfway (i hope you’ll stay) part iv

Riposte, parry, advance, slay, watch the fencers fight today. Pull the mask down, keep it tight, one of them will win the fight this very night the darkness shutters, then off the butterfly will flutter onto wristbands and broken hearts, secrets and counterparts that fall apart, don’t start this fight they cannot win, for they don’t know who they have been. 

Happy @felinettenovember​, y’all! This is actually the last of the angst arc, and the last two days of the month will come towards a resolution and cathartic fluff; luckily, the nonlinear timeline means that you’ve read the character development before today’s instigating catalytic event, so we can move directly into the healing. I wrote this entirely on @musicfren​‘s support and baby cousin’s hype (she doesn’t know, but I love talking to her, it gives me so much energy to create), and I hope you feel it in the story. 

Part 1 here. Part 2 here. Part 3 here. Part 4 below. Part 5-6 coming.

Marinette splays out in the playground grass and tucks into his side, and Felix curls up around her near-protectively, except they both know which one is the dreamer, which one is the doer. Felix always argues it doesn’t make sense to assign identities so unilaterally, that both of them dream and both of them do, and Marinette scrunches her nose and says he’s ruining the aesthetic of the ideal, and that they do pick roles in contexts even if they switch later, and she yanks on her ponytail if he agitates her enough. Felix thinks it’s pretty cute and doesn’t let up until she pouts at him in that crinkled nose, scrunched eyebrows kind of way.

She’s making that face now, half annoyed, half wholeheartedly upset, tracking Chat Noir as he races gleefully across the nearby skyline.

“Not a fan of our resident alley cat?” Felix teases, bumping into her shoulder with his head. Her expression sharpens, more pronounced in its disgust, and she shakes her head against the grass until stray leaves are caught up in her hair. Felix laughs and picks them out, one by one. “Why not, then?”

“He’s a bad partner. It shows.” Marinette speaks in clipped tones and impatient, twitchy gestures, like there’s more she has to say and is tamping down the impulse, vicious and unforgiving with her own self.  

“Partnerships take two, though,” he comments idly, “It’s Ladybug’s fault just as much as his.”

Marinette is already scrambling backwards, rolling out of his arms the way she’s never done before. “What? Why would it be? Chat Noir is no hero. Chat Noir is the one who doesn’t keep his word. Chat Noir is the one who doesn’t show up, who doesn’t plan or lead or even follow. He’s a hero under his own agenda and no other, and that’s nothing more than a little boy with eyes too big for his heart and greed bigger than any akuma.” She’s panting as she comes to a stop, shocked to find herself no longer speaking, as if there was more she kept saying that never managed to make it past her vocal chords, a screeching halt directed by long earned muscle memory and desperation.

She’s pushing to her feet, agitated, pacing, so Felix stumbles up to match her. “Ladybug does too much.” He leans back against the tree they’ve been lazing under and crosses his arms to look at her.

“How could a hero possibly do too much.” It’s not a question when she asks and she makes sure he knows it.

“It’s-- Paris is going to collapse one day!”

“Of course it is!”

“So why won’t she just let it?!”

“Why would she?!”

They’re matching each other tone for tone, tomb for tomb, step for angry forward step until they manage to notice where they are, find themselves in each other’s space, crowded in by the anger and frustration.

“...she needs to let Paris crash.” Felix waits, expecting an interruption, but Marinette has settled back down onto her heels and is waiting for him to explain. “She keeps picking up all the slack, carrying a weight that’s not hers,” and at that Marinette huffs a wry agreement, so Felix feels encouraged to keep going. “And as long as she does, no one in the city is ever going to learn to bear their share of responsibility. She’s going to break under the pressure, and as long as the city isn’t prepared, they’re not going to handle it, Marinette, they’re going to break. We need to practice, we need a controlled crash, we-- we’re going to destroy ourselves because some little girl thought she needed to do everything on her own power, like some kind of control freak--”

Marinette snaps. “You would know about that, wouldn’t you! You have no idea the way--” her words dry up in her throat, and Felix crows about this evident proof that she has nothing of substance to say at all, now that she’s finding herself speechless.

“You’re right, I would know about that, because I’ve lived it, you’ve seen me! And I had to learn to fall and get back up on my own, I never stopped until everyone around me stopped cleaning up my messes all the time! And I never learned to trust anyone until I learned to let go, and I felt so. Much. Better. Ladybug should try it,” Felix adds snidely, just because he knows it’ll rile her up.

It does.

“How! How can she try it, when you fell and left a crater with a wreckage diameter the size of your personal bubble of three whole people, and had your mother and your teachers and me. Who do-- does Ladybug have, who’ll hold her hand when she scrambles back up? Hers would level the city and ripple through the country from there and there’s no one around to pick up the pieces.”

“That’s why she has to do it now!” Felix doesn’t realize he’s shouting until he is, and he doesn’t know how to stop. He wants to, he wants to, he wants to; he remembers being the kind of person who shouted and feels the pressure of all the work he’s put in to be better, live up to someone else’s standard of good, and scrabbles for purchase on this improved self.

“That’s why she can’t!” Marinette isn’t yelling. She’s heartbroken, and it’s clear across her face, and Felix cannot find the piece that makes this puzzle make sense. She’s never even been akumatized.

“You have no idea the way Ladybug has destroyed civilians.”

She recoils, struck. Her voice is quiet when she speaks. “Don’t I, though?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

And then: “Okay. You’re right, I’m sorry, please--” Marinette is reaching out for his hand, hurt and humiliated and hating the way she might lose the only support she has left. “Please don’t go.”

But Felix has remembered how much work it is to be the kind of good that someone else decides is valuable, constantly stretching and straining to clear their expectation of good, right, kind. He slips into the same scowling boy he used to be and finds an old chest of tools tucked up against a wall lined with new weapons in his arsenal of cruelty and self-protection. He takes one, and fires.

“You don’t know how to be sorry. Not about this.” He shakes her hand off and stalks away. Felix was so used to holding onto Marinette, gripping her hand or leaning on her shoulder or tucking an arm around her waist, that walking through the places they used to haunt without her feels lost, untethered, like he’s drifting through a graveyard of corpses that have yet to pass away. It feels like he’s come home.

Ladybug spends the night on rooftops, avoiding streetlights and windowsills and her own tempestuous thoughts, trying to flee faster than the burnout can catch up to her and make its home in her body, swinging from one place to another hoping to catch enough height to clear the bar for a city’s expectation to be good, right, kind. The city’s expectations to be a hero, just like she’s always lived up to, always will so long as there’s nothing below her to fall onto. So long as there’s something left to lose.

They don’t look at each other for a week, and avoid each other altogether when cold winter falls and they settle into break. 

[moonlightsolo]

bête noire

summary: The Resistance sent out spies to track First Order trade but they were ambushed. General Leia has decided it’s time to find a new base. It has almost been a month since you’ve given birth. Your relationship with Poe has grown even stronger than before. Your mind can’t stop overthinking about where Kylo is, you haven’t felt him in a while. It’s been too long.

pairing: kylo ren x female reader

warnings: nsfw!!! (ur welcome)

wc: 5.5k

note: this chapter is a lot to handle. ok go read it, bye.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

It seems like over the next couple of weeks the war escalates drastically.

Two Resistance spies took a ship to go on a mission aimed to secretly observe First Order trade.

A barely audible transmission from their ship was sent to the Resistance on Hoth. Poe brings you to the command center since you have intel on the First Order, maybe they think you could know more than them. 

As you both walk into the large meeting room, you notice that mostly everyone from the base is here.

Leia is sitting down in a chair, talking to someone important. The lady cuts Leia off to speak, “Now that we are all here. Some of you may know we received a transmission from the two searching for First Order trades. Prepare yourself as this is hard for some to hear.”

She steps forward and presses on a button. At first, it was static but then the recording was normal as a lady’s voice erupted on the speaker. They were simply updating Leia on how they are going about the operation but she was interrupted by First Order troopers suddenly invading their ship. Blaster shots and screams are heard as they try to fight back.

A groan was heard from the man who was also on the mission, obviously, he got injured. The woman screams at the troopers to stop shooting, letting them take her as a hostage for the sake of his wellbeing. The sound gets muffled as she screams for them to stop then a single blaster shot echoes. What just happened?

Her cries were heard as they dragged her away. They must’ve captured her. Then the other troopers' footsteps could be heard as they raided the ship then the sound cuts out. “They noticed the transmission being recorded, so they shut it off and it was sent to us.”

Leia assumes that the male who is on the mission was too injured then the woman gave up for them to be taken, hostage. Instead, the troopers killed the man and only took her.

Mostly everyone in the room is teary-eyed from hearing such a gruesome scene that happened to their friends.

“The First Order may track the sent transmission back to us. I don’t want to do this, but to be safe we need to find another planet to take refuge on.” Leia’s voice spoke softly to the group. “I don’t want anyone to freak out but we need to leave urgently. Calmly pack up your things into transport ships so we can leave in the middle of the night.” Leia nods then everyone scurries out of the room to pack.

Poe catches your eye, he knows you are panicking. Your babies are almost a month old, how are they going to survive in a ship wanted by the First Order?

He grabs your hand and begins to pull you through the stampede of people to catch Leia before she leaves. “General!” He calls out and she turns around. She seems off, almost weakened for some reason.

“Do you have any idea about where we are going?” Poe asks Leia’s eyes dart around and there are too many people around so she motions for you both to follow her.

She leads you both to the corner of the room, most of the people have flooded out by now but she wants to stay quiet. “We’re looking at Ajan Kloss. It’s a moon that orbits around Ajara. It’s a jungle moon so it’s going to have a much different climate from here. Hopefully, we can easily acclimate there.” She sighs but gives you a reassuring nod.

“The babies will be okay. We will have our cloaking devices on so we’ll be invisible to their trackers.” She holds on your hand tightly before pulling away.

You look at Poe who pulls you in for a quick peck on the cheek, “Go pack everything up. I’ll be there soon to help.” He then follows her to ask more questions.

Your relationship with Poe has grown so much stronger. Kaydel and Poe called things off, and that made you guys even closer. Only really good friends, but you can’t help but notice how he has come to lay in your bed more and talk. Just talking though, no funny business.

Last time you saw Kylo was when he laid in bed with you the night after you gave birth. You’re hoping he’s okay and that he’s just too focused on his work to think about anything else. A part of your brain thinks that he may have given up on you and his children but you try to ignore those negative thoughts.

You take a deep breath as you walk out of the command room and make it back to your quarters. Thankfully, your shoulder has healed mostly and you’ve gotten rid of the sling. You grab large duffel bags and fold your clothes and put your belongings into one and the droid worked on putting the babies stuff in two different backpacks.

Ani and Ellie are much more active now but still so tiny. It worries you to bring them into a jungle. You just need to keep telling yourself it’ll be okay.

It feels like your senses are wiped from you and you lose your breath. You turn to the side slowly, your eyes look over the dark figure. “You’re fleeing. The Resistance knows The First Order is close to finding you.” His voice is deep and stern, “Tell me where you are.” His hand goes out to try and use the Force on you.

You look over him, taking notice of his darker under eyes and messy hair. His armor is in perfect condition like somebody irons it every day for him.

“Kylo. I’m sorry but that’s not going to work on me.” You almost laugh, his hand slowly drops to his side as he realizes. He takes a gulp, his adam’s apple bobbing. You grow concerned for him, your eyebrows furrowing. “Are you okay?” You take a hesitant step towards him, reaching out for his hand.

He seems closed off, “You’re pulling away. I can feel our connection fading because of the light. You need to stop holding on to them!” He grows frustrated, his voice rising slightly. Your facial expression turns into a frown as you slowly move closer, your hand touches his bicep. “I’m not holding onto them. I’m safe right now. We’re safe.” You look back at the children.

“No. You’re not. Once you get into those shuttles, I can’t save you.” He shakes his head and pulls away from your touch.

You felt tears prick at your eyes, a lump growing in your throat. “Just tell me where you are!” His veins pop out on his forehead. You wince as you back up from him, not wanting to be close to his temper.

“No, Kylo. The First Order will kill them all. You know it. Your mother is here, you can’t kill her. I know you can’t.” You sniffle and swallow your emotions. “You’d regret killing your mother just like you do with your father.” Those words caused something to switch in his brain.

“No. Killing my father was the best thing I could have ever done. I grew stronger. I am the leader of the First Order. The largest military faction in the galaxy.” He begins to pace, “If you were here with me, our family could rule the galaxy and take over.” His voice softens as he looks at you, a gleam of evil shows in his eyes.

His words are causing a knife to dig deeper into your heart, “No.. Kylo... We don’t want the same things. I want peace for our children, to play in the grass and in the sun. Not to be stuck on a gigantic weaponized ship in space.” You snapped at him.

You turn around to sling the duffel bag over your shoulder, wiping your tears so he couldn’t see them.

“Kylo, I know you’re torn. You should come back to your family here. Become who you really are...” You hesitate before continuing, “Ben Solo.” You turn around and notice that he’s gone. You felt another pang in your chest, tears now running freely down your cheeks and snot too. You wipe it off with your long sleeve and continue packing.

Poe walks into the room as you sit on the bed, your head in your heads as your mind runs with thoughts. He instantly takes notice to your inflamed face, “Hey, are you okay?” He comes up next to you to sit down and wrap a comforting arm around your shoulders.

You nod, knowing it’s a lie but you lean into his touch. “It’s okay. You don’t need to say anything, I’m here for you.” He tucks your head under his chin as he holds you.

“I’m going to take our stuff to a ship later, I’ll come to see you when I’m done so we can get onto a shuttle together.” He says the plan confidently. The droid interrupts, “Don’t forget about me.” She beeps out. You and Poe laugh, “Of course not.” He says to her.

Poe takes the heavy bag off of your shoulders to move it to the floor. “Come with me.” He grabs your hand, “You got them?” You ask the droid who nods and opens its arms mockingly.

Poe takes your hand and brings you into his bedroom, nothing is off of the walls nor is anything put away. “I need your help packing.” He laughs and you just shake your head with a playful smile.

It takes about thirty minutes for Poe and you to pack up his whole room. Of course, you chit chat throughout the time about what certain knick-knacks meant and why he is holding onto clothes he can’t fit into anymore.

Now both of you are laying on his bed horizontally, legs dangling off the bed as you stare at the ceiling. “Poe. I have a question.” You state softly, still staring at the concrete ceiling.

“Go ahead.” He looks over at you, turning on his side so he could play with your hair. “Why was I left on Crait?” You turn your head to look at him.

His facial expressions freeze, like he’s in shock. “What? Is the answer that bad?” You ask with a nervous laugh.

He lets out a breath before he starts to talk, “You were dead. Well, at least we thought you were... You had no heartbeat, we couldn’t stop the bleeding and you weren’t breathing either. As much as we wanted to take you with us, we couldn’t. The First Order was already beginning to move forward to enter the base. We didn’t even know if we actually had an exit.” He mumbles softly, avoiding eye contact. “But then Rey saved us. She used the Force and the rest of us got into the Falcon. She asked about you and when we told her the news she was heartbroken. She felt like you were the sister she never had.”

You couldn’t help but get emotional, everyone mourned over you and thought about you as if you were actually dead. “Then we traveled around the galaxy and found Hoth.” He let out a sharp breath through his nose. “For months we thought you were dead. I moved on with Kaydel, I started to finally come to terms with your death. Then all of a sudden, Leia tells us that she felt you through the Force. She felt you. It gave me hope you were still alive. Then she told us you joined the First Order, and that you were working alongside Ren.” He scoffed annoyingly which made you roll your eyes and sit up.

You pulled on your long sleeves to cover your hands, bringing the fabric up to your eyes to wipe your tears. “Poe... I didn’t know you thought I died. Honestly, I thought you guys left me because you knew I was dying and wouldn’t make it. I felt like the Resistance gave up on me.” You sniffle as you try to swallow the lump in your throat. Your brain works as you recall the hazy memories from Crait, you remember being alive and waking up. The pain you felt was indescribable.

Poe sits up too, moving closer to your body to pull you into his side. “Look, you’re one of the strongest people I know. You’ve been through some tough shit. You literally beat death so many times.” He gives you a squeeze. You look up at him with a teary smile.

You notice how his eyes travel from your lips then up to your eyes. Is he going to kiss you? Oh no, he definitely is.

Poe begins to lean forward, his dark eyelashes rest on his olive skin. Your eyes stay open as everything moves in slow motion, you admire his facial features as he nears you. One kiss wouldn’t hurt.

You let your own eyes close as you accept his kiss, one of his hands rest in the dip of your waist as the other is on your knee. Your hand comes up to his jawline to cup it and pull him closer.

The stubble on his face scratches you in the most attractive way. Stop, this is bad, you shouldn’t be kissing him. His lips are so addicting though.

He begins to deepen the kiss, his tongue gently rolls against your bottom lip as he tilts his head. A little squeak escapes your throat as his tongue hits yours, he smirks against your lips.

His hand travels up your knee, his other hand is gripping your hip now as he moves forward so you fall back against the bed again. He hovers over you, pulling away from the kiss so he can take a deep breath. You do the same too.

He dives right back in, his tongue dances with yours as his hands grip your hips to move you farther up the bed. Both of your breathing has picked up as you pant into each other’s mouths. His warm hand makes its way under your shirt to grip your pillowy flesh on your side. He hesitatingly pushes his knee between your legs to open them so he could fit between them.

This is going way too far but it feels too good to stop now.

“I know this is so wrong.” He almost moans into your mouth, “But it feels so right.” He begins to kiss down your neck, leaving little marks that will be gone soon.

You let out a whimper, biting your bottom lip as you try your hardest not to rip your clothes off right now. You haven’t been touched in forever and right now you’re throbbing for some relief.

“Poe, I can’t.” You’re crying on the inside, asking yourself why you couldn’t let yourself have some pleasure. You can’t stop thinking about Kylo. Poe instantly pulls his lips off of you when he hears you say no, “Okay, yeah that’s fine. I’ll do whatever you want.” He is breathing heavy above you.

He gently rolls to the side, his back against his bed now. “Sorry, I didn’t expect it to get that intense.” You mumble shyly, “Don’t be sorry. It’s your choice.” He says quietly. “I’m gonna go now. Thanks for... that.” You say awkwardly as you get off the bed. You look back at him once and smile, he returns it, of course.

You need to go take a cold shower to calm your libido, which is what you do as soon as you get into your room. You notice that the droid has taken Ani and Ellie for a walk around the base.

The cold water trickles down your hot skin as you wash away your thoughts. Everything moves in slow motion as your ears start to ring then your surroundings go silent. It’s Ren. You turn the stream of water off, grabbing your towel to wrap around your body then you open the shower curtain. He’s standing there in front of the door.

“The pilot. He kissed you.” Kylo says under his breath. Your ears barely pick it up since his voice is so deep. You stop in your tracks when you realize what he said. Water continues to drip from your hair and roll down your damp skin.

“How do you know?” You ask, your eyebrows furrow in confusion.

“I felt it. I had a vision and I felt you.” His voice is low.

“The kiss meant nothing.” You practically lie through your teeth, knowing it was much more. The kiss was passionate, like a bomb of built-up tension blew up and everything was let loose but it will never be as good as Kylo.

The raven-haired man shakes his head, looking to the side with his head angled down. He almost seems sad.

“No, I am not sad.” He scoffs at your thoughts, “I cannot blame you for your actions. I haven’t made an effort to connect with you.” His head lifts up and he stands up tall with his shoulders back. Before you could respond he changes the subject, “You called me Ben. That’s why I left. You know that’s not my name. The Resistance is changing you. I’m trying to keep you from going to the light but you’re pulling away from me.” He’s stern.

“I’m not pulling away.” You take a step out of the shower, his eyes follow you as you move closer to him. “I know you. I can feel your emotions. You want to be with me and our children but the path you’ve chosen makes the situation much harder for you to just stroll back to your family. People will be scared, they won’t trust you.” You breathe out, your hand coming up hesitatingly to rest your hand on his chest, feeling the ridges of the black fabric underneath your fingertips.

“I love you. I want to be with you but I’m going to have to choose this path for our children. For their well-being.” You look into his eyes and notice how he grows frustrated with your last sentence.

“For their well-being? You’re packing them onto ships targeted by the First Order. They could be blown up easily. If you would join me, you’d be protected! The Resistance does not have enough ships nor the people to try and go against us again.” He proves a point, “The Resistance left you to die. What makes you think they wouldn’t do it again?”

Goosebumps ran across your skin when those words left his mouth, “They thought I was dead. They didn’t leave me to die.” You took a deep breath then you back up from him, “Let me by.” You look up at him and he doesn’t budge as he keeps eye contact with you, “Please.” Your face scrunches up in annoyance. His large frame moves to the side, his hand coming up to mockingly lead the way for you.

You scoff and open the bathroom door to walk out into the cold bedroom with Kylo in tow. You don’t hesitate as you drop your towel in front of him to get dressed, you can feel his eyes on your body. You’re comfortable with him but your body has changed since you’ve given birth.

You were on a strict training plan when you were with the First Order, but with the Resistance you were definitely a bit more lenient with your food intake and the lack of physical activity.

You’ve gained a bit of weight around your hips and thighs, you have new dainty stripes painted across your stomach and hips from being pregnant too. You took a deep breath as you shimmied into your clothing, some joggers and a long sleeve top to keep you warm. You take your towel to wrap your hair up to dry it faster, “You’re different.” Kylo states softly, as his eyes look over your body once more.

You look at him with annoyance written across your features evidently, “What does that even mean?” You laugh as you move around the room to make sure everything is packed away. “You’re leaving soon aren’t you.” He takes a step forward when he notices that you’re occupied with other things. He can’t see your surroundings but he has an inkling to what you’re doing.

You ignore his question, “What do you mean when you said I’m different?” You put the rest of the supplies into the packs before you turn towards him.

“You’ve changed. I’ve said this to you before. It’s good and bad. You’re... beautiful. Although the light in you...” He takes a few steps closer to you, now arms length away. “It pains me to see you turn away from the dark. You have so much power inside of you. I attempted to help you let this power out... Rey is only trying to tame it.” His gloved hand comes up to brush your cheek with his fingers, his thumb rubbing your cheekbone. “I love you.” He breathes out, closing his eyes as he rests his forehead against yours.

You feel tears in your eyes as you close them, “I love you.” Your arms wrap around his waist to pull your bodies closer.

A knock on the door makes both your heads turn, “It’s the pilot.” Kylo hisses out. You can tell he wants to move and become face to face with him but you hold onto him tightly.

“Yeah?” You call out, “I-I just wanted to see if you were okay... After ya know, everything that happened.” Poe’s voice is muffled from behind the door. “Yeah, I’m good. Just got outta the shower. I’ll be out soon.” You try to get him to leave, “Okay. I’m gonna meet Finn and Rey to get some food. I hope to see ya there.” He begins to walk away, you hear the front door open and close.

As you move your head to look up at Kylo, he grabs your face to press his lips against yours roughly. The towel on your head begins to loosen as he backs you up into the wall, the towel falls to your feet and your damp hair falls to your shoulders. “I want you.” He growls into the kiss, it makes you whimper. The way his other hand grips your hip at the waistband of your pants and his other hand on your jaw makes you melt.

“Nobody can please you as I do. You’re connected to me.” He breathes against your lips then he trails kisses down your neck to your collarbone. His hand slips underneath the waistband of your pants, the warm leather tickles your skin as he moves closer to your core.

That’s when you realize there’s still pressure against your hip like he’s holding it. He doesn’t have an extra arm, does he?

He smirks against your skin when he hears your thoughts, “This is gonna feel so good.” He begins to back up from your body, but something is holding you against the wall and there’s still something in your pants. The Force.

You let out a whimper as the invisible hand tickles over your core, you watch how two of his fingers come up and make a come hither motion. Your head slams against the wall as the Force buzzes inside of you, your thighs squeeze shut in reaction. “Oh.. my...” Your voice is shaky as your knees buckle, you brace yourself to fall but he holds you up.

The pleasure that’s buzzing inside of you is euphoric, almost too much for your body to handle. Something vibrates against your clit which makes you cry out and squirm under his restraints. You bite your bottom lip as you pant, you already feel like you’re going to climax.

“Let go. You’re tense, you need to relax.” The force pumps in and out of you, the pace quickening as he feels you. His eyes closed as he focuses, you see white spots as you let go. You gasp for air as your thighs quiver, your toes curling against the floor.

The restraints leave your body, making you fall forward but he catches you before you could hit the ground. “Good.” He praises you as he easily lifts your limp body up to bring you over to the bed.

“Thank you.” He says to you, giving your forehead a kiss. He stands up next to your bed looking down at you, “For what?” You ask out of breath. He just stares at you, “I found out where you are. I’m coming to get you and our children.” His presence leaves your side as he walks away, disappearing before your eyes. You let your guard down and you didn’t even realize he was reading your mind.

You sit straight up in the bed, moving as quickly as you could. You try your best to walk straight so you could slip on some shoes. You leave your quarters as you start to jog down the hallways then you end up in a full sprint, “Poe! Poe!” You scream as you see him walking down the hallway with Rey and Finn.

“He knows. They know where we are. You guys need to leave. Now.” You say out of breath, your hands going onto your knees as you bend over.

Poe’s eyes go wide as he registers what you just said, he doesn’t say anything he just runs away towards the command room with Finn.

Rey stares at you with fear in her eyes, “How? What happened?” She pulls you up to look you in the eyes, “I let my guard down. He went through my head. I didn’t know, I’m so sorry.” You breathe out. Her brown eyes are wide with fear as she turns around to go follow Poe and Finn.

Then you realize the droid is still with your babies, you need to find them. You push past her as you start to run down the halls frantically, Rey calls your name but you just ignore her.

A siren in the base sounds, red lights lighting up in the hallways. Everyone begins to panic as they’re all moving towards the hangar to get onto the ships. You spot the droid with the babies cradled in her arms, you run up to her and take Ellie. “We need to go. Get the bags.” You and the droid begin to run towards your quarters, laying Ellie on the bed as you exchanged your slippers for boots.

You put the duffel bag over your shoulder while the droid grabs the bags for the babies and puts them on her mechanical arms. You scoop Ellie up and begin to join the stampede in the hallway, making your way to the hangar.

Your brain is working so quickly, you don’t know what to do. Adrenaline is pumping through your veins, your heartbeat is so fast.

As you near the transport ship, you see Poe, Leia and Rey are already inside. Kylo reaches out to you through your mind, “If you get onto that ship, I can’t save you.”

You stop in your tracks as the last bit of people board the ships, “Don’t get on the ship. I’ll order to not attack the Resistance.”

His voice sounds promising, tears are now running down your cheeks. You can’t take the chance of having your children die if you get on that ship. Poe walks out to you, “What’s wrong? What are you doing?” He asks, obviously concerned.

“I can’t go.” You shake your head, “What? Why? Stop it, come on.” Poe asks as he tries to lead you to the ship but your feet are anchored into the ground.

“If I go, we will all die. You need to go without us.” Your hand reaches for the blaster in Poe’s sling, grabbing ahold of it to point it at him. You click the safety off, your finger resting on the trigger. His hands go up in surrender, “I’m sorry. You need to go.” You look at the droid who’s standing still with Ani then back at Poe.

You look back at the ship, noticing Rey isn’t by Leia’s side anymore. “Shit.” You curse as she comes up behind you to disable your actions with her staff. The blaster falls from your hands and so does Ellie, Poes quick reflexes make him fall to his knees to catch her before she could hit the ground.

She instantly begins to cry and so does Ani. They’re frightened. Poe rushes onto the ship with the droid in tow. Your face is pressed against the cold concrete of the hangar, wrists behinds your back with her knee against them. “Rey, please. They’ll kill us all if I go with you.” She pulls you up by your wrists, pushing you forward so you stumble onto the ship. She leads you over to the corner of the ship, sitting you down by pushing on your shoulders.

“She is a traitor!” Rey yells at Leia, pointing at you. The droid situates the babies as the ramp closes to the ship, the hangar opens as the ships begin to fly out one by one. They all have the cloaking device on, hoping to stay under the First Orders radar. Not like it didn’t work the first time on the way to Crait.

Rey and Leia bicker back and forth about you and you listen to their words. Leia is trying to justify your actions but Rey says you’re too far gone to be saved. It might be true. Even though Kylo says you’ve turned to the light too much.

Poe walks up to you, looking at you from above. “He’s in your head. He’s corrupting you. Don’t let him do this to you.” Poe bends down to get to your eye level, “I knew that you wouldn’t hurt me.” He breathes out as he brushes back a piece of your almost dry hair.

“We’re all going to be okay.” He says as the ship leaves the hangar, the white snowy landscape shows itself. You hear the thumps of the other ships entering light speed, then the ship you’re on jolts and you’re surrounded by the swirling blue of hyperspace.

You lean back against the cold metal interior of the ship, your eyes glance over to see your babies being taken care of. You’re so thankful for that droid.

“We’ll be off this ship soon and then we will be safe and sound. I promise.” Poe sits down next to you so you could lean your head on his shoulder. “I believe you.” You mumble as you close your eyes and take a deep breath.

-

The shuttles land in the hangar, troops instantly begin to pile out of them to search the premises.

He stands up swiftly from his seat to leave the ship along with the General who is not far behind.

“Supreme Leader. We’re too late, they’ve escaped.” The smaller man sighs.

Kylo Ren’s dark gaze scans over the hangar. He notices that one of the troopers picks up something from the ground. Another armored man walks up to him as they discuss what it is.

Ren takes huge strides towards them, towering over the two as he snatches the cloth from their hands. It’s a baby hat.

He rubs the cloth between his thumb and pointer finger, the leather of his gloves move against it smoothly. The troopers look up at Kylo, “Continue searching.” Kylo orders them and they scurry away.

General Hux walks up next to Ren, instantly noticing the hat in his hand. “A baby... Who would conceive children during a war?” He scoffs, rolling his eyes as he begins to follow his troops towards the entrance of the base. Kylo lifts his head, blinking back tears as he stuffs the hat in the pocket inside of his cloak.

He takes a deep shaky breath, his jaw clenches as he gulps. His tough facade returns, leaving him as the Supreme Leader of the First Order once again.

The troops continue to move around him to explore the base to see if there are any clues to where they have gone.

Kylo begins to walk forward, moving from the hangar and into the hallways. The base now seems like a First Order has captured this base as their own. There is so troops marching around.

The memory he saw in your head replays as he follows the same hallways you walked to make it to where you were living.

His hand grabs the doorknob to the front door to open it, walking inside the home you lived in for months. His eyes glanced over the area, you definitely left in a hurry. He walked forward, pushing open the ajar door to the room you stayed in.

He notices the two cribs in the corner that you didn’t take. He looks over the unmade bed, his hand runs over where you laid. He walks over the cribs, seeing how they’re stripped to nothing. Only the mattress is left. His hands lay over the mattresses, his head hangs as his emotions get the best of him.

He has to get his family back. He needs to protect them, no matter what the cost.

tag list: @officiallpeterparker @funnysadshit @ymariejp @attorneyl @fangirl570 @trinityrud20 @kylos-sassy-cousin @delicatelyherdreams @fizzywoohoo @savvy7392 @angelias134 @that-girl-named-alex @cas-backwards-tie @glimmering-darling-dolly @glitterypinkkitty @blxkstar @his-snow-white-queen @elsasshole @smiithys @nanocoool @deathbyarabbit @alex-skr @theholycakehole  @averillian  @crazynocturnalkiki @arcanebabe @tinydancer40 @superduckypower  @thomasscresswell @butterfly-writes​ @thatintrovertedbisexual​ @fangirlanotherjust​ @somekindofroger​ @nicci442​ @little-girl-who-dream-too-much​ @wildest-dream-​ @silverlambcaptain​ @cliffordmess​ @xkylorxn​ @lowkeyofsassguard

[miraculousholder]

We Belong Together ~ Chapter 2

We Belong Together ~ AO3

Summary of Chapter 2: A small glimpse of the past from both Marinette and Adrien, shows how they feel about one another...

(Five Years Ago)

Sixteen year old Marinette tightly held onto the small gift box she had made for Adrien’s sweet sixteen birthday. Although the young model didn’t have anything special planned, she still wanted to show her appreciation for their friendship through this small gift. And if she finally gains the guts, then maybe she can ask him out to the movies or to lunch.

“Baby steps, Marinette.” She reminded herself.

Alya comes into campus and spots Marinette pacing back and forth, talking to herself. She chuckles and walks over to her best friend.

“Still not sure how to approach Adrien?” She asked the young teen.

Marinette sighs. “No I know today is the day! I just don’t know when but it’s definitely today!”

“Well you have until break or even after school,” Alya checks their schedule. “If you want I can have Nino bring him over so you can do it in private.”

Marinette shakes her head even though she knew that would be easier. “No I can do this. I promise!”

“Okay, girl come on. Let’s get to homeroom.”

Throughout the whole day, Marinette found it harder and harder to give Adrien’s gift. When she would have the chance, he would be meeting with another classmate. Or when he was alone and she was walking over, somebody else would sit with him. At this point, the universe was really showing Marinette that they were not meant to be.

Until the final bell for the school day rang.

Marinette stayed behind to talk to a teacher about making a banner for the science club and she happily accepted. By the time she left the class and went to the locker room, it was nearly empty.

Adrien sat on the bench and was listening to Natalie’s, his father’s assistant, voicemail. He sighs and ends the voicemail, looking down.

Marinette cautiously walks over. “Adrien?”

Adrien looks up. “Oh hey, Marinette! What are you still doing here?” He asks, hiding the sad tone in his voice.

“Mr. Philips wanted to talk about me making a banner for the science class.” She says and sits down next to him when he made some space for her on the bench. “And you?”

“Oh just waiting for my bodyguard to get here. I guess there was traffic,” he shrugs.

They sat in silence for a moment. Marinette studied his facial expressions and while he remained calm and collective, his eyes told a different story.

“I...I overheard the voicemail your father’s assistant left you,” she spoke up first. “I’m sorry.”

Adrien looks at her and gave her sad smile. “Don’t apologize. I’m kind of used to my father being busy. Even on my birthday.”

“Yeah but still. I feel bad. No one should be alone on their birthday.”

Adrien was about to say something but his phone rang. It was a text message from his bodyguard, saying he was outside.

“My bodyguard is here,” he says and stands up. “Want me to walk you out? A lady should never walk alone.”

Marinette couldn’t help but blush and accepts the offer. On their way out, they spoke about class assignments and maybe getting together with Alya and Nino for a homework session.

Marinette spotted the silver grey car in front of the school.

“So I’ll see you later then?” Adrien says to Marinette.

Marinette nods happily. “Yeah, of course!” Then she remembered the gift she had. “Wait before you...” She started digging in her backpack.

Adrien was surprised to see a small blue box in her hands and she hand it over to him.

“Happy Birthday Adrien,” said Marinette, smiling at the young man. “I-I wanted to give this to you earlier but I got shy. So sorry if it’s a little late.”

Adrien accepted the gift and was stunned. The fact he got a gift from someone and that someone being Marinette.

“Wow...thank you.” He looks at Marinette and hugs her. “I really appreciate this. You’re a good friend to me.”

Marinette blushes really hard and hugs him back. “I’m glad I can be there for you.”

They pull away from each other, Adrien thanking her one last time for the gift before leaving to get in the car.

Marinette was a little sad to be seen as a friend but in all honesty, she knew that’s what Adrien needed.

And being known as his friend was a title she will cherish forever.

But even forever, was a dangerous word to say.

XX

(Present Time)

Marinette snapped out of the trance the lead singer of Cataclysm had on her. She sits back down and sips on her drink, her friends joining her after dancing around to the bands second song.

“They’re insanely talented!” Alya shouts over the loud music.

“They’ve improved a lot since high school!” Mylene shouts. “You guys can see Ivan right?”

Marinette looks and sure enough, each of the band members were some of her classmates from her old school.

Ivan was playing the drums and wearing a unique grey mask with horns that Marinette can only describe as the horns of a goat.

Then another guitarist who she didn’t recognize wore a teal mask and didn’t have a huge extravagant design compared to Ivan.

She can see Kim though on keyboards, wearing a brown mask with a golden head piece sitting on his head. Actually his design was her favorite and she was surprised by how he decided to go with this look. But then again, he was more expressive and loved to show off.

But that Chat Noir...his mask wasn’t impressive and she was thinking up ways to improve it already. A simple black mask couldn’t be enough for someone whose name is literally black cat. No he deserved something more special.

‘Snap out of it!’ She yells at herself. ‘You don’t even know the guy and you already plan to design a mask for him? Get a grip girl!’

Alya nudges at Marinette’s elbow. She leans close to her ear. “Want to stand by the railing again?”

Marinette nodded and joined her friends by the railing of the balcony to continue watching the band.

“Whose the singer?” Marinette asks Alya.

Alya looks at the lead singer and squinting her eyes. “Bad lighting! Can’t really tell.”

No way was Alya going to be the one to tell Marinette that the lead singer was the boy who broke her heart. While Marinette has matured a lot over the years, she can act out irrationally. And knowing how clumsy her friend can be, she’s very capable of freaking out and falling off the balcony somehow.

Luckily Marinette accepted this answer and they continued to have a great time.

The more Chat Noir sang, the more she realized she was falling deeper into the pits of her heart. Was it actually possible to fall in love with someone’s voice? Probably not but yet here she was. She touches her heart and felt it beating faster, almost along side with the drums. It felt like it would burst out of her chest any minute now.

The crowd below her cheered as the band finished their fourth song. She watches as girls go wild as Chat Noir drinks some water. He throws a dashing smile and winks again at the group of girls. They get even more crazier and Marinette couldn’t help but giggle.

“Show off,” she mumbles under her breath. Yet, she still wanted to get to know him.

Nino did say he was bringing them backstage and maybe this was her chance to get to know him. And maybe if she liked how he was as a person, she’ll ask him out to lunch. She wasn’t as shy as before. She’s had a boyfriend before and can talk to guys now without stuttering. She was a goddess! She can do it!

Then she heard him talk.

“Wanted to take a quick moment to thank you all for being here and supporting us tonight. It really means a lot to me and my band.” Chat Noir spoke through the mic. He waited until the crowd’s cheering died down to continue. “We’ve played a few of our old songs, but I’ve written a new one and tonight I’ll be sharing it with you all. I hope you enjoy it as I enjoyed writing it about a special someone who I once knew.”

Chat Noir looked behind his band and his guitarist, nodding in approval so his bandmate can begin to play the song.

The girls looked at Marinette with concerned as her mouth hung open, completely horrified. She knew that voice. She wasn’t stupid. It was the same voice who would crack the dumbest puns ever, but yet they made her laugh every time. The voice that comforted her when she needed to cry over the hardships she had gone through in high school when it came to her friendships and classes, as it sometimes became to much for her to keep up. And the biggest clue of all, it was the same voice she fell in love with over and over again until that horrible day.

She should’ve known those green eyes looked familiar. And she hated just how much of a toll he still had on her.

She held her breath as he sang the first few words of his song.

“You're the light, you're the night. You're the color of my blood. You're the cure, you're the pain. You're the only thing I wanna touch. Never knew that it could mean so much, so much.”

Marinette wanted to run. She felt like the air was getting hotter and her chest getting tighter.

She stood up. “I have to go.” She says and starts grabbing her jacket and purse from the chair.

“Wait Marinette,” Alya grabbed her wrist. “Don’t go please?” She begs her best friend.

“Alya you know-“

“Yes I know and I know you’re still hurt but Marinette...it happened a long time ago. Things have changed. You have to just trust me on this one.”

Marinette looks at her and at her friends.

“If he says or does anything, you have us to kick his ass.” Mylene assured Marinette. Rose and Juleka nodding in approval, backing up Mylene’s claim.

Marinette debated one last time with herself before she sat down. Alya hugged her, rubbing her back. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”

Marinette nods and dabs her eyes before any tears threatened to fall. As Chat Noir- no Adrien, continued to sing, she took a vow for herself.

To not fall in love with Adrien ever again.

It took forever for her heart to heal and while she found comfort in other men’s arms, it still took her a long time to know what real love truly is. And now that she knew what it is, she wouldn’t be falling for some rich kid.

No.

She deserved better then that. Who that better man is she had no idea, but she knew it would be anyone but Adrien Agreste.

XX

“You're the fear, I don't care. ‘Cause I've never been so high. Follow me through the dark. Let me take you past our satellites. You can see the world you brought to life, to life.”

When Adrien first wrote this song, he immediately thought of Marinette. She was the only girl who struck such a strong nerve on him that she was hard to forget.

She was beautiful, strong, smart, kind, did he already say she was beautiful?

Marinette was the girl every parent wanted their kids to bring home to be introduced as a friend or girlfriend. However, Marinette’s first official meeting with his father wasn’t exactly what he had pictured.

(5 Years Ago)

Their class were getting ready to leave for the New York trip in honor of French American Friendship week. They had sent in their video that briefly told the story of the relationship between George Washington and Marquis de Lafayette.

Almost everyone was going. Except for Chloe, Lila, and Adrien.

While the class can careless about Chloe and Lila, they were upset for Adrien since he wanted to go to the trip.

“Haven’t you tried talking to your dad?” Nino asked him.

“Yeah, but he’s so busy I’m lucky if I see him for dinner.”

Lila chimes into their conversation. “Well don’t worry Adrien. I’ll still be here since I have charity work to get done so you won’t be alone.”

Marinette frowned upon hearing Lila. No way would she allow for Adrien to be alone with her.

“No!” She yells and everyone looks at her. “I mean...we can’t just leave a fellow classmate behind! If Lafayette abandoned George during the war, then there would’ve been no French American Friendship week.” She points at Adrien. “Adrien, you are our Sock Washington! And I will talk to your father and convince him to let you come with us.”

Adrien was stunned. Would she really stand up to his own father just to allow him to go on this trip?

“Wow...thank you Marinette.” He smiles and the classes cheers.

After school, Marinette and their class went to the Agreste manor. Upon seeing the doors to the house, Marinette began to develop cold feet.

“So! Whose coming with me?” She asked her classmates.

Alya chuckles. “Oh no class rep this was your idea and you’re going through with it. You’ll be okay.”

“Yeah! It’s not like he’ll shame you for questioning his parenting skills, remember your name, and ban you from the fashion world.” Spoke Nino and Alya elbowed his stomach.

Nino held his stomach. “Ugh! I mean...you’ll be okay!”

Marinette nodded and turned around. She took a deep breath and walked up the stairs, where Natalie had the doors open for her already.

Gabriel was standing on top of the staircase. “I was told you wanted to briefly speak with me, Ms. Dupain-Cheng?”

“Yes! It’s about your son.” She cleared her throat. “He told us that he wasn’t allowed to go on the trip to New York and I don’t really think that’s fair.”

Gabriel raises a brow. “Oh? And why do you feel that way?”

“Well...all the students who are allowed to go have to have outstanding grades all throughout the school year. Adrien was on top of the class when it came to grades so he was the first to get the invitation. He’s responsible to and always goes to his lessons after school. And on top of that he always has his modeling appointments. I think it would be cool to let Adrien have this opportunity plus there will be chaperones with us to keep us all safe.”

Gabriel frowned and stayed quiet. Marinette began to feel the tension in the air and she started to get nervous. But then Gabriel smiled.

“Very well, Miss Dupain-Cheng. You’ve convinced me. Adrien will go to the trip.”

“Really!?” Marinette cleared her throat. “I mean, thank you. I know Adrien will appreciate this very much.”

“You must really care for my son if you went this far to make sure he was allowed on the trip.” Gabriel comments.

Marinette tried her hardest not to blush. “Yes, sir. He’s a g-good friend of mine!”

“Very well Miss Dupain-Cheng. If this is all then I shall best return back to my office. I will tell Adrien the news when he returns from his fencing lessons.”

“Thank you, Mr. Agreste!” She smiles widely and happily leaves to tell her classmates the good news.

Once she had left with his classmates, Adrien had been given the news by his father that he was allowed to go on the trip as long as his personal bodyguard went along.

Gorilla, terrified of flying, only agreed cause he knew it would make Adrien happy.

Adrien was shocked but extremely happy that his father came around.

“You should also thank your classmate, Marinette. She’s the one who came here to convince me.” He says and left it at that.

Adrien knew Marinette planned to talk to his father. He just didn’t think she would go through with it. But the fact that she did, shows just how much she cared for him.

And during that plane ride to New York, they both stared out at the window. Looking at the sunset.

He glanced over and didn’t realize just how pretty she looked as the sun brightened up her face. Nor did ever think why his heart beat so fast when he hugged her and then shared another dance with her on the rooftop party.

And when he finally realized it all, it would be to late.

(Present Time)

Adrien continued to sing, nearing the end of the song. He looked up to where Marinette was and sang, “Oh, I'll let you set the pace. Oh, 'cause I'm not thinking straight. Though my head's spinning around, I can't see clear no more. What are you waiting for?”

What exactly was he waiting for? To find the opportunity to talk to Marinette and clear a lot of things up. It’s the least he can do after what happened between them.

Yet Marinette can sometimes be stubborn so to even get her alone for five minutes will be challenging. But it definitely isn’t impossible.

XX

After his song, they continued on with the show and finished by midnight. The club would be open for a bit longer, now just listening to a DJ play the music.

Marinette and her friends head downstairs to go backstage. Alya whispered to the security the code and they were allowed to pass by. As they got closer, Marinette started to feel dizzy and sick.

She did have a few drinks but she didn’t think it was the alcohol affecting her.

They get to the dressing room and they’re let in by the staff. The girls walk in and sit wherever felt more comfortable and waited for the guys.

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen Kim and Adrien!” Says Rose.

“It has been awhile hasn’t it?” Juleka spoke softly.

“I wish Alix was here.” Says Mylene.

“She’ll be back next week. Then we can all go out to lunch.” Alya suggested and everyone else agreed.

Marinette started to feel pale as soon as the guys came in. She drank some water but her stomach started to feel weird.

And then she saw him.

Adrien Agreste.

His hair was messy and his shirt was slightly damped because of the constant sweating from the heavy lighting. And once he took off his mask, she can finally see just how much Adrien has grown since she last saw him.

He lost his baby fat so his jawline was more firm, yet on the stage she knew he kept his boyish grin. His shirt was loose but his arms were exposed, which allowed for Marinette to see how his muscles have also grown and were defined. Was that a tattoo she also saw on his upper shoulder?

Adrien was handed a towel to dab the sweat off his face. He looks at Marinette and he felt his world freeze. He can hear their friends talking in the background, but they were only mumbled noises to him.

Marinette was getting dizzy and heard her stomach making a weird noise as Adrien took a few steps closer to her.

“Hey, Marinette.” He says softly. His voice still sounding like the sweetest song to the young women. “Long time no see huh?”

Then, she threw up on his shoes.

[nitholites]

Assuming someone in the BatFam is the end game:

It's been only a week or so since Tony figured out who Ladybug is

She's captured everyone's hearts, but has to go to Gotham soon

For help, but also because of her internship

The Stark Gala becomes a 'you better live and come back one day, Mari or I STG' party, hosted by Tony Stark, of course

She makes all the outfits of the Starks, her parents, herself, Jagged, Penny, Luka, and Kagami (the last two friends minus Chloe from Paris) and she makes extra in case someone has a wardrobe malfunction

Meanwhile, the Waynes have heard a lot about the newest Stark: MDC

Tim is a fanboy. He's found everything related to his favorite rock star's designer/niece there is to find ("I'm not obsessed! They're just super talented, and I'd like something from them! Stop laughing at me, Dick!")

Dick has no room to tease him, as both him and Jason are pretty much in the same boat

Kor'i and Mar'i love MDC, as well

Every one of the Bats are huge Jagged Stone fans

Like... Nearly rabid

(Damian, Bruce, and Alfred redact that statement)

They're invited to Tony's gala thing (he only started it to surpass the Wayne Gala, like the Lil Shite he is)

The night of the party, only Bruce and Jason go, since the rest of the bats are busy

Bruce, Jagged (who brought Fang), and Tony are all chatting in the middle of the floor, 2/3rds of the group are just talking up Marinette

Jason, meanwhile, accidentally runs into this small, adorable child who proceeds to spill her punch all over his suit

He insists it's fine, but she won't take 'no' for an answer ("I am so sorry, please let me make it up to you" "Kid, it's fine, accidents happen" "No, seriously, let me help")

There's a look in her eyes that insists she do something, and he eventually agrees

Cue to Marinette having a suit jacket that matches and fits Jason because "You look like you're the same build as Mr. Stark (she's all for joining Peter in calling Tony 'Mr. Stark' to get under his skin)"

"you know Tony?"

She shrugs, and doesn't comment anymore on it

"give me your address, and I'll bring this back when it's clean again. I'm moving to Gotham for a while soon, anyway"

He does, she doesn't realize he's a Wayne, and they part when the party ends

Cue the entire BatFam sprinting into Jason's room, chasing after a full on scream

Like, they didn't know Jason's voice could get "so high and squeaky, what the hecc?"

They pause as they see Jason litterally jumping up and down

"What the hell, Todd."

Instead of answering, he shoves the jacket in Tim's face with a shite-eating grin

It takes a moment, but Tim scowls and pulls out his wallet

When the rest of the family only look confused, Tim sighs and explains

"He got an MDC original first."

"...you had a bet on that?"

Jason freezes, eyes widening

"HOLY SH*T, I MET THE MDC! SHE WAS SO TINY, OH MY GOD, BATS, WE HAVE TO ADOPT HER!"

They're confused for a solid minute

"YOU DONT UNDERSTAND SHES AN ANGEL AND HAS BLACK HAIR AND BLUE EYES!! SHE'S OBVIOUSLY A WAYNE!"

It takes all of Bruce's willpower not to adopt her on the spot when she visits them

Like, he almost brings up adoption papers

But he knows Stark would fight tooth and nail to keep this baby

So he restrains himself

(for now)

(he swears if one of his children doesn't marry her, he's bringing the adoption papers to court)

She doesn't stay long, only meeting all the Waynes at the house and going back to her hotel

The next day, a villain goes after Mar'i, near the park/mall/something Marinette is by

Instead of becoming Ladybug, she heccin kicks arse

As Marinette

She gets both her and Mar'i out of danger without a scratch using a yo-yo of all things and meets Batman and Robin as they clean up the rest

She's all like "no, it's alright, I'm sure anyone would do the same please stop thanking me, my family's gonna kick my ass to next year for scaring them like this"

Bats comes up and takes her statement, and she happens to mention the situation in Paris

"oh, this was nothing compared to some of the Akuma I've faced" "What's an akuma?" She paled, eyes widening in shock. "You don't know? About Ladybug, Chat Noir, Ryuuko, Viperion, Queen Bee, Red Wasp, Multimouse, Hawkmoth, Mayura, Carapace, Rena Rouge, and all them?"

She explains a little, giving basic information everyone knew, then shows him the app she made a while ago

The Akuma Alert app that held much more than just akuma-related things

She leaves soon after, and Batman has a goal in mind

Within the day, Diana is furious at the lack of response towards the Paris situation

"This Ladybug was left alone for all this time?! Shame on you all, leaving my mother's successor alone!"

When Ladybug is later spotted (hehe, get it?) in Gotham, the entire BatFam finds her and gets her in touch with the League

She explains how she asked both the League and the Avengers for help, all those years ago, and was pushed aside with warnings not to send in prank calls anymore

Of course, Iron Man has already looked into it, but he's not exactly a detective and the more brains on this, the better

Meanwhile, as civilians...

The normal shipping stuff happens

With the exception that nearly every criminal in Gotham low-key adopts Marinette

They may think she's the next Wayne, but the Angel of Gotham is off limits

And not because the little Wayne chases after anyone who even looks at her wrong with a katana

Not just as Robin. As Damian

Marinette actually meets a few villains on the street

She was going to a commission, carrying some hero, vigilante, and villain themed macaroons when she got lost

(before meeting the Waynes officially, actually)

She was in a park, looking lost when Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn came up

She offered treats, and ever since she's the Angel of Gotham

Once, when on a date with her romantic interest, Killer Croc tried taking the restaurant hostage after robbing a bank

Key word: tried

Marinette calmly slipped behind him, grabbed his tail, and dragged his butt outta there

(he blames the fast French girl and the tile on the floor, which didn't let him get a good grip)

By the time Bats and the police got there, Croc was in tears as this tiny French girl lectured him about manners and interrupting dates

(the BatFam can't think of a funnier time)

When the Joker actually kidnaps her as a way to get to Batman, literally everyone rages a rescue mission

Harley, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze (Marinette reminds him of the daughter he's always wanted, with his frozen wife), Two-Face (Marinette talked philosophy with him, showing him he still had choices beyond the black and white), Killer Crock (who was impressed by the tiny French girl who threw him out of a restaurant by his tail that one time), Batman, Robin, the Teen Titans, Red Hood, Red Robin, Wonder Woman (she could feel Tikki's influence on Marinette and guessed her identity), Nightwing, all the Avengers, Red Wasp (Chloe, with the Bee Miraculous because she earned it back ages ago), Sabine (no one messed with her baby. No one), a teenage boy wielding a potato gun (who let this kid here?), Pepper, Penny (the two women were fast friends, bonding over their husbands' eccentric ways), Jagged with Fang, Audrey Bourgeois, and the entire police force storm the Joker's hideout

He didn't have a chance

Later, they admit it was kinda funny watching the small Sabine beating the crap out of the deranged clown

Fang, who was usually a puppy with scales, didn't hesitate to bite off the Joker's hand, reminiscent of Captain Hook and the Croc

Marinette's fine (or not, depending on how much angst you want in the story. It's easy to have her tourtured and nearly killed in the Joker's clutches {or actually killed and focused on angst from everyone who knew her [possible heavy Lila/class salt]} and see her move past her PTSD) and she gets home eventually

Around this time, she's made the Guardian of the Miraculous

She eventually goes back to Paris with her huge family (or everyone she thinks could keep their emotions in check)

They kick Gabriel's arse, but Adrien gets away with his mother (who was healed by Ladybug)

Possible second book

Marinette's ship becomes the Black Cat

Time skip, fiveish years later, some of Marinette's classmates see her for the first time since she left

They insult and sass her, not changed since school

Her S/O scowls and debunks them easily, defending Marinette

When they don't stop, Marinette's S/O calls Bruce, Tony, Jagged, and the rest of the League and the Avengers to destroy the morons in the class because they know how long they've waited for this moment

Mari puts her head in her hands, but doesn't stop them because she knows how long they've waited for this moment

Three hours later, the speeches and lectures aren't done yet

Lila eventually goes to Gotham or wherever Marinette is, and tries to warn the person on her arm about Marinette's 'bulling tendencies'

That gets another lecture

Or, her class gets a tour at either SI or WE, depending on when in the story you write it (could be both, and the class just doesn't learn or Tony, Pepper, and their kids were visiting WE to talk about Mari Protection Measures when they overhear it)

Lila goes off on how Mari's S/O is actually Lila's, or how she's BFFS with Batman/Iron Man/ Bruce Wayne and his kids/ Tony Stark and his kids/ the Avengers/ the Justice League

Cue the class seeing Mari

Instant bullying

The resident children and billionaire steps up, insulting and embarrassing the class while defending Mari

Lila tries to turn it around, but they're having none of that

First the kids jump at the chance to defend their little sister and/or girlfriend, then the big guns show up

At WE, it's Bruce, a highly protective Jason, and Tim, who has every single sin/mean thing/lie pulled up in a folder

It's thicker than his hand, and hard to hold

It's both in digital and physical form and sent to every single member of Mari's family- blood related or not

At SI, it's Tony and Pepper

FRIDAY steps up, too

Harley shoots Lila with the potato gun mk 3 until she leaves

The class don't know what they did wrong, but they swear to make it up just to get the scary CEOs and relatives

Also, if anyone knows the AU where Marinette was a street kid with Jason and his little sister (I can't remember who made it or what it was called, but I fell in l o v e), that could work with this one too. Jason would be so proud of his Lil sister being so famous and awesome and "how dare you let me think you were dead!! Do you have any idea how worried I was?!" "I made you worried?! You up and nearly got killed last I checked!"

Jason swore not to tell her he actually died once. He prays she never finds out.

@tired-butterfly @evil-elf16 @doggiediva13 @krispydefendorpolice @mochegato @legallyspawned @kryptored

[flightfoot]

Adrichat Hell - Day 24 - Healing

@adrichatnovember2020 AO3

Part 1 of the Tangled AU

Adrien looked out the window of his tower and sighed. “What am I supposed to DO, Plagg?” he asked. “I’ve played piano for hours, studied all those language books Father brought, practiced fencing as best I could without Father as my partner, brushed my hair,” he grimaced, “you know how long THAT takes, and even wrote down a hundred different pun ideas! Not that Father ever appreciates them, but still…”

Plagg meowed before going back to licking his paw.

“At least you don’t seem to care about being cooped up,” Adrien said, giving the cat a fond smile. “Then again, it’s not like you’ve ever been outside either.”

Technically he could leave. He knew how; just let down his hair, using it as a sort of pulley. His father came up that way a lot.

Father always warned him against leaving. Said that all manner of criminals would kidnap him, hurt him, steal his hair.

Now for most people, having their hair stolen might be a major psychological blow, but that was it. It grew back.

For Adrien it was different.

He touched the short brown strand of his hair - the only part of it that wasn’t long and blond.

When he was a baby, some foul would-be thief had attempted to cut it off, trying to steal its power for his own.

But it didn’t work. It simply left his hair powerless. Useless. 

And if they found out their efforts were all in vain, if they decided to take it out on him…

He shuddered.

Father had only gone into detail about what those people would do to him a few times.

A few times was enough.

*thud*

Adrien looked up, startled. 

Father had said he’d be gone for a few days…

Heading to the kitchen, he grabbed a frying pan.

Father didn’t always do what he said he would, but… this still seemed out of place. 

Muttering filtered down from the room above. “Why is there a tower here? With no door? I don’t understand.”

Well.

He didn’t SOUND like someone dangerous.

Slowly Adrien peeked around the corner, drawing in a gasp.

A young teen, appearing about the same age as him, 14, looked around the room. He was dressed a bit oddly with his leather cat ears, full-length black leather bodysuit, and belt tail, but Adrien didn’t mind in the least. In fact…

The boy’s cat ears flapped. He turned, looking directly at Adrien.

Why… why did he feel warm all of a sudden? 

His heart beat rapidly, his breathing increasing to match. 

Was… was this fear? It felt kinda similar but- but weirdly good? Fear had never made him want to get closer to the person or thing he was afraid of though. Never made him want to enter the room, to greet the person, to meet their eyes, to hear them talk to hi-

“I’m- I’m sorry for intruding,” the boy told Adrien.

Adrien blinked.

Played back the last few seconds.

OH HELL HE’D DONE THE THINGS HE WAS THINKING ABOUT. HE HADN’T MEANT TO DO THAT.

“You’re cute!”

MOUTH. STOP.

The cat boy blinked. His eyes looked like Plagg’s, like a cat’s. His cheeks reddened. Maybe he was feeling the same thing Adrien was? “Thanks,” he said awkwardly for a moment before rallying. “Of course I’m not just cute, I’m the coolest, suavest, most amazing gentlecat in the kingdom, the one and only Chat Noir!” he proclaimed, before approaching Adrien, bending over in a half-bow and kissing his hand.

HE WAS GOING TO EXPLODE INTO FLAMES, BUT HE WOULD DIE HAPPY.

“I- I’m Adrien,” he stuttered out, attempting to function. He’d made words come out, so he assumed he was doing okay.

“Pleased to meet you, Adrien,” Chat Noir said. He clasped his hands together (claws! His gloves had claws!). “Like I said, I’m really, really sorry for barging in like this. I really needed to lay low for a minute, and this was the best place I could find.”

Adrien blinked. “How did you even get UP here?!”

Chat Noir grinned, pulling out a black rod. “See this?” 

He clicked a button. It extended out from being about a foot long, to nearly being as tall as Chat himself. “It can go longer too,” Chat explained while Adrien gaped like a fish. “But unless you want me punching a hole in the ceiling, I figure I’d better not show off exactly how far.”

A grin slowly spread across Adrien’s face, excitement slowly building. “Can- can you show me more later,” he asked, trying not to sound too eager and completely failing.

Chat looked startled for a moment, then gave a smile and a nod. “Of course!” He nearly skipped over to Adrien, his excitement having been infectious… and winced.

Adrien frowned. “What’s wrong?”

Chat’s smile grew pained. “See, this is part of why I came here for shelter in the first place. I twisted my ankle and needed somewhere to rest it and hopefully make a brace or splint for it.

“You won’t need that,” Adrien told him.

Father had always said to keep his magical powers secret, but… if he didn’t know, he couldn't be angry, right? Besides, he highly doubted this boy was going to hurt him.

Retrieving some of his hair, he wrapped it around Chat’s hurt ankle. “Now this might be surprising, but it shouldn’t hurt and you’ll be healed afterwards,” Adrien told him.

Chat Noir blinked, but allowed him to continue.

Adrien sang.

Flower, gleam and glow

Let your power shine

Make the clock reverse

Bring back what once was mine

Heal what has been hurt

Change the Fates' design

Save what has been lost

Bring back what once was mine

What once was mine

Chat Noir let out a strangled gasp as the glow slowly traveled down Adrien’s hair until it reached Chat’s leg. 

After the song finished, Adrien unwrapped his hair from Chat’s ankle. “Try it out.”

Chat Noir stood and walked around for a moment, before looking back at Adrien. “You’re amazing,” he breathed.

Oh.

OH.

He wanted to hear Chat Noir talk to him in that voice again.

“It’s just something I was born with,” he said, looking down. His voice grew somber. “Bad people tried to cut it off once, tried to steal it. But when it’s cut…” he fingered the brown strand. “It becomes powerless. Father’s kept me here for fourteen years, safe, where outsiders can’t hurt me. 

Chat Noir frowned. “But how do you go out? I didn’t see a door.”

Adrien shook his head. “I don’t. Ever.”

Chat’s face screwed up as he muttered some choice words that Adrien couldn’t quite catch. After a moment, Chat looked up. “Would you like to explore the outside world for a bit? It can be dangerous, that’s true, but… being alone, staying locked up inside, has its own dangers. And I’ll be there to show you around.”

“I- I’m not supposed to, but-”

But Father would be gone for awhile.

And things didn’t seem quite as dangerous with Chat Noir by his side.

(Plus he was super cute and kind and he didn’t know whether he could just let him go without knowing when he’d see the cat boy again.”

“Okay!” he told Chat Noir. “I need to be back within three days, but… there’s nothing I’d like more than to spend that time with you.”

Chat Noir reddened again. “Of- of course. Sure! You’ll have the best three day vacation of your life!”

[ashintheairlikesnow]

Bad Things Happen Bingo: Nightmares (Nate/Danny)

I ended up having a sick day from work today, so I had time to write up the second of these... after this I’m going to need some time before the next! But it’s coming, I promise!

For @badthingshappenbingo​, @my-whumpy-little-heart​ requested: For BTHB, could you do nightmares with Danny and/or Nate? It would be interesting if they were still with Abraham, but you can do whatever you want with the prompt. Thank you :) 

That ended up being… a hell of a prompt. I actually got a second request for nightmares with Ryan, so I’m going to do that one twice! It will get a second sticker. (Chronology: within the first year of captivity, but I’m not sure exactly where in that timeline)

Requested: blood stain Completed: puppy sticker

Tagging: @bleeding-demon-teeth​, @spiffythespook​, @special-spicy-chicken​

CW: Implied/referenced/pretty obviously noncon, noncon touching, noncon kissing, referenced evidence of violence/torture. NSFW implications, although nothing outright, as always. As always, keep in mind that Abraham Denner is a bad, bad man. Well, not man… he’s a bad something.

“Psssst. Wake up.”

Nate’s used to this, so when he feels the fingertips, cold as ice, against his forehead, softly brushing the black hair back and away, he doesn’t even tense up. He floats back to wakefulness slowly, trying to cling on to the dream he’d been having. 

It had been a warm and hazy thing, one of those bizarre dreams that means nothing but neurons firing at random inside the brain, the dreams he liked because they were so much better than all the ones about the living hell he’d never been able to fully escape.

He’d been dreaming about the doorbell ringing. The cabin doesn’t have a doorbell, but it doesn’t really matter, it rang anyway. Bram sent him to answer it, and when he opened the door he discovered fifteen cats in a trench coat and black film noir detective’s hat waiting when it opened. 

Can I help you? He’d asked, baffled not so much by the sight of fifteen cats in a trench coat or even that they had somehow managed to find them this deep into the woods, but mostly by the fact that they were coming by so late at night.

Fifteen pairs of night-reflective eyes had turned to look at him all at once, and he’d heard Danny behind him shout, let them in, Nate, let them in!

He’d stepped back and opened the door wider, gesturing inside in that foggy ghost way you sometimes do things in dreams. As soon as he did, they simply collapsed back down into cats, leaving the trenchcoat and hat in a cartoon puddle on the doorstep and racing through the cabin.

They climbed onto the fireplace, knocked books off the shelves, meowed happily and loudly, scratched up Bram’s couch and pulled threads from the woven-rag rug.

A brightly-colored calico, vibrant with red and brown and black and white, settled herself into Danny’s lap where he sat on the floor looking around at the chaos with delight. Do you think the cats could save us? Danny asked him, smiling, as the whip-skinny calico had put her paws on his shoulder, licked a rough tongue up the side of Danny’s face, batted at his hair. Do the cats know the way out?

Nate had jumped when he realized one of them had climbed straight up him and settled around his shoulders without him realizing, a black cat with cold blue eyes that swiped gently at his hair. Baby, wake up, you have to see this, the black cat purred, rough in his ear, in Bram’s sleep-slurred, loving voice.

“Nate. Wake up, sweetheart.” The voice is low, and soft, a breath of cold air against his ear, and he shivers a little, pleasantly, at the feeling. 

“Mmmmn, is Ashley up already?” He asks, and he doesn’t know why - she’s dead, she’s been dead for a year now at least, why is he asking that? But for a half-second, with Bram’s voice in his ear, he forgets.

There’s a hesitation, and then Bram says softly, sadly, “Not yet. That takes time. But look, Nate, look at him.”

He opens his eyes... and looks right into Danny’s face, baffled for a second before he remembers that Danny had slept in the bed last night.

Danny had cooked Bram’s favorite dinner without being asked, had remembered all the rules all day without even one slipup, had made their drinks with dinner perfectly and faster than ever before, served their food and waited to be given permission to get his own, waited for Bram to tell him if he could use fork and spoon to eat with without having to be reminded.

He’d even dropped to the floor to eat sitting right next to Bram’s chair like he wanted him to, with Bram’s hand petting through his hair, Danny’s eyes on the ground and the red flush of humiliation in his face. 

He’s been so good today, baby, and the King always says you have to include positive reinforcement, too. Do you not think he’s earned some positive reinforcement? 

Th-that’s not what I m-m-meant-

No, that’s definitely what you’re saying, that you think he shouldn’t be given good things when he’s good, Nate. That seems mean, don’t you think? Cruel to make me hurt him when he’s been so good.

I’m n-not telling y-y-you to hurt him, I’m s-s-saying leave him al, alone!

No, our pups has two choices tonight: get his reward or I’ll open all the wounds from last time up on his back again. I’ll let you choose.

Bram, pl-please-

I said choose, baby.

… the r-reward.

While Nate doesn’t particularly want to think about last night ever the fuck again (and neither, he is certain, does Danny), he couldn’t quite bring himself to regret seeing Danny actually warm for once, this morning.

He’s curled up in the center of the bed under the layers of heavy blankets, rather than the thin and threadbare things he’s normally allowed on his little mat in the living room. If it hadn’t been for the wrists bound together above his head, nearly palm-to-palm, and tied hard to the headboard, he might have even looked comfortable.

Bram had been on the other side of Danny when they fell asleep but that side of the bed was empty, now. Instead, Bram was behind him - the cold at his back where he leaned over from where he stood, fingers curled just slightly to shift back his hair, gentle and loving. Nate felt himself split like he always did into two people - the version of him that wanted to snarl and push the hand away, and the version of him that wanted to melt into the touch.

He settled for somewhere in the middle and just whispered, without really moving at all, “Is it m-morning already, Bram?”

Sometimes he stammers less when he first wakes up, when his voice is still mostly the voice from his dreams, where he never stammers at all. His dreams never seemed to catch up with whatever had happened to the connection between his brain and his mouth.

“No, baby, it’s like four.. But look at Red.” Bram’s fingers slide down, slide along his cheekbone to his jaw, take hold of his chin, tilting it up a little bit. Nate can feel the bed shift, as Bram leans his weight on it by one knee, the pressure of it along his back. 

“B-Bram, I-”

“I said look. Our little puppy is dreaming.”

Nate blinks the last of the sleep from his eyes, the final hints of the cabin full of cats, the calico climbing up on Danny’s shoulder to look at him with the same bright hopefulness Danny wore, sometimes, before the darkness took it over again. 

Bram settles down behind him, his cold breath on the back of Nate’s neck as the two of them look over at Danny.

Nate hadn’t really noticed it at first - he’d still been too lost in trying to find his way to consciousness, honestly - but Danny’s eyebrows are furrowed together beneath the healing bruise on the side of his forehead, and his already-rubbed-raw wrists jerk a little at the ropes, fingers twitching like he’s trying to grab at something. Nate watches his mouth moving, breaths of air that weren’t quite sentences escaping in occasional snatches of words Nate can almost, almost hear if he listens hard enough, the healing cut on his lip.

The red marks around his neck from the last round of barbed-wire are nearly faded completely, but underneath the thin sleep shirt Nate knows there are more bruises, more cuts. Danny’s back is still bandaged from the drinks incident, and Nate couldn’t forget the way he’d screamed when Bram punished him for that moment of rebellion, couldn’t ever forget the look on his face.

The top part of the bandage, the adhesive holding the giant swaths of gauze over it, is sticking up out of the neck of his shirt, nearly up to his hairline. 

Danny whimpers, softly, in his sleep, and Nate winces at the sound. It’s too much like the dog Bram keeps insisting he is now.

“I think he’s having a nightmare,” Bram breathes with unabashed delight into Nate’s ear, rubbing at his shoulder with one hand in excitement. “Like a midnight snack to feel all that coming off of him. I wish you were already like us, so you could feel this, this is so… does anyone still say ‘jacked’? Or is that out of style now?”

“H-how would I know?” Nate mutters. “I didn’t know what people said before all of this.”

“I guess you wouldn’t. Still... I wish I could read thoughts, I’d love to know what he’s seeing in that head of his…”

“I al-always kind of th-th-thought you c-could read minds,” Nate whispers back, keeping himself still and relaxed under Bram’s touch, refusing to react one way or the other to the hand that runs back down his arm and curves over one hip through the blankets, rests there, like a block of ice that won’t melt holding his body down. 

Danny’s little breaths are faster, now, his eyes moving rapidly under his closed eyelids, Nate struck again by the odd copper-bright eyelashes he’d never really seen on anyone else before, how pretty they are. He jerks a little harder at the ropes, whispers something, and Nate feels Bram leaning even closer from behind him, sees the sweep of white-blonde hair from the corner of his eyes.

If he doesn’t look, doesn’t see the cold ice-blue, he won’t fall in, and he can hold onto the hatred that he feels, hold on to wishing he was somewhere else. Hold on to his sense that someday, someway, he is going to get himself and Danny out of this.

I got myself out once, I can do it again.

Can’t I?

“No, baby, I can’t get into anyone’s head unless I do it the old-fashioned way, like I got into yours.” Bram’s fingers dance up the side of Nate’s head, over his ear, ‘walking’ over his hair, and Nate grinds his teeth together and keeps his eyes firmly fixed forward.

“St-... stop,” Danny whispers in his sleep. Bram chuckles behind Nate and he’s trapped - he’s stuck between Bram’s happiness and Danny’s unconscious misery and he can’t get out of this moment. All he can do is lay still, wait for Bram to move, wait to see if Danny wakes himself up. “D-don’t, st… b’good… be…”

“Oh, he’s dreaming about me, fuck yes.” Nate can hear the smile in Bram’s voice as he presses an excited kiss to the back of Nate’s neck, then pushes himself back up to get a better look. “I love when they dream about me.”

“Wh-who’s ‘they’?” Nate blinks, twisting back to look up at him without thinking. Bram looks back down and their eyes meet. Nate smiles, a little, at the man he loves and hates and cannot resist, and Bram smiles back.

“All of them,” Bram answers, as though that says all he needs to say. “All my boys.” 

How many boys are there inside your head? Nate wants to ask. How many people like us have you destroyed? Also, do you actually understand that I am a grown man? 

Somewhere in him, there is still a man who can think, I wish someone would bury a knife if your goddamn heart and I wish it could be me.

Stronger than that man, though, is the one who thinks, I love you.

“Stop… st, stop, ‘braham, I c’n, I’ll be good, want to be good, I… pl-... I, I don’t... stop… stop!” Danny’s whole body shudders all at once and his eyes fly open, wide open without quite being fully awake, unseeing. He pulls hard at the ropes and hisses in pain as they only tighten even more, dig in deeper. Nate sees the first smear of red just below one of his palms. “Oh god, I just, I… where-...” 

“What did I do to you, Red?” Bram asks, in a low voice nearly thick with an awful happiness. He looks like wolves covered in blood on nature shows, licking their chops after eating a kill. 

Danny looks slowly up where Bram looms over he and Nate, Danny’s warm blue eyes dark with Bram’s shadow as he tries to shrink back, stopped by the ropes, kept right where he is in the center of the bed. “I… I don’t… Abraham? N-Nate, why am I…”

“Don’t you remember yesterday, little Red? You were so good for me and we gave you your reward?”

Danny swallows, hard, and then slowly nods, his fingers wrapping around the ropes like he can find some comfort in holding onto them. “Y-Yeah. Yeah, I remember… I remember now.” His face turns bright red, nearly fading the scars out completely, all the way red to the end of his nose with embarrassment, with shame. “Ah, um… thank you for my re-reward-” His voice cracks a little on the word, barely forcing it out, and Nate has to keep his eyes open until they burn to avoid seeing behind his eyelids what Danny’s reward had been. “-and letting me sleep, Abraham… I’m s-sorry, I woke up, I woke you up… I’m sorry, can I go back to my mat now?”

“Oh, absolutely not,” Bram laughs, sliding back and off the bed, giving Nate a few precious seconds of space and the ability to breathe and warm air at his back, before he gets back in on the other side, sitting on the bed with his legs crossed, looking avidly down at Danny like a child on the library floor at storytime. “Oh, no no no no. Nate, baby, go make us some coffee.”

Danny gives Nate a pleading please don’t leave me here look, then turns back to Bram, searching his face for any sign of gentleness, finding none - just that terrible good cheer. “Coffee’s my j-job, if you just, if you just untie me, I can go make, um, make the coffee, Bram-”

“No, puppy. Nate will make the coffee today. Do what you’re told, baby, I gave you an order.”

“Y-Yes, Bram,” Nate says, standing up himself, guilty as he all but flees the room with Danny’s eyes burning into his back… but not guilty enough to go back in before the coffee’s good and ready.

Yesterday he found something in the back of the closet and had an idea, but he doesn’t have enough courage yet to use it, and he doesn’t know how much time there is left before Bram is done with Danny, before he wants to find someone new to break. 

He can’t kill him. I can’t lose him, I can’t lose Danny, I can’t. 

Do you want to save him, Nate, or do you just want to have him instead?

Does it matter which, if I would never ever hurt him?

As he steps into the living room and heads for the kitchen, he hears Bram’s voice behind him, the slippery-smooth snake charmer voice, soft and vaguely hypnotic.

“I want you to tell me all about that dream you were just having… because I want to make sure we recreate it in the most excruciatingly accurate detail. If you don’t tell me, then I’ll just have to come up with something fun to do to you all on my own, hm?”

Nate hears the rattle of Danny’s ankle chain as he tries to move again. “I don’t, um, I don’t want to…”

“Since when have I given a single flying fuck about what you wanted, puppy? I told you to tell me about your dream. If you won’t - or if you try to lie, you know I can always tell when you’re lying - we’ll just have to see if maybe some time down in the dark will help convince you.”

“N-no! No, I don’t need, um, I don’t need the cellar. I swear I don’t. I’ll be good, I’ll try harder, Abraham, I want to be good for you!”

“Then prove it.”

“Just, um. Give me a sec. Will you - will you please untie my hands, then I can, I can tell you…”

There’s a silence as Nate pulls down the coffee beans and the little electric grinder Danny asked Bram to pick up on his last supply run (whole bean coffee is, um, it’s better, Abraham, this would let me make better coffee for, for you - can I please make better coffee for you, Abraham? please?) , the pressure like the air just before a storm.

“... you’ve got a deal, little Red.” There’s a pause, far longer than the time needed simply to untie the knots, long enough that Nate feels bile rising in his throat at the thought of what might be going on behind him. Finally, he hears Bram laughing, the high-pitched hyena bark he only makes when he’s truly, genuinely happy. “Oh, you’re good at that now, huh? Who says I’m not nice to you when I want to be, hm? Now what do we say when someone does us a favor?”

Danny’s voice, when he speaks, is low and soft, nervous and eager-to-please. “Th-thank you for untying me, Abraham. I can… I can tell you the dream now.”

“Don’t try to lie, puppy, you’re the worst fucking liar I’ve ever met.”

“I… I know, Abraham. I won’t. I was just-... I did something bad, so you said, you said I had to learn my lesson...”

The defeat and fear, the submission in Danny’s voice is too much. He can’t take it. He can’t, or he’s going to start screaming and never fucking stop. This is his fault, for meeting Danny, for talking to him when he caught the younger man looking at him, for agreeing to see a movie together. This is his fault for thinking he’d gotten away, that maybe Bram would let him be, think he was too much trouble to go after.

He’d made a mistake, leaving Bram, and Danny is suffering for it.

And he’s about to suffer more.

“What lesson am I going to teach you today, Red? What did you forget in your pretty little head while you slept?”

“I-I… um, I, I-” Danny’s voice cuts off, and there’s another pause that lasts too long, that Nate knows too well from long experience. His skin crawls, but it’s his fault, isn’t it, that Danny knows the rules? “-forgot the rule not to pull away from you…”

Bram begins to laugh again. “Oh, that’s my favorite rule… What do we say when we break a rule, Red?”

“You say you’re sorry and then you get hurt so you don’t break the rule again,” Danny says all at once, memorized, pushing the words out so quickly they’re barely even separated sounds. “I, I know, Abraham, but it was just a dream-”

“Breaking rules still counts in dreams, little one. Come here and let’s talk about how you can fix that mistake you made in your sleep so you won’t even dream about breaking my rules again…”

 Nate jams the coffee grinder on and tells himself he’s not complicit if he can’t hear a thing over the sound.

[agrestenoir]

linearity is over-rated

Summary: How “I love you” follows the story of Marinette and Adrien over the years. A non-linear love story told in 25 parts.

“Where do you want to start?”

“At the beginning.”

  * 

As a hello, Marinette crawls under the covers and sticks her cold feet against the back of his knees. He squirms in response, trying to pull away, and there’s a rustle of sheets and muffled grunts. “Hi,” she tells him, all bright blue eyes and tousled black hair. “I love you.”

Adrien hits her in the face with his pillow. She simply laughs and laughs and laughs.

  * 

With a hoarse voice, under the blankets, he reaches across her bare waist to pull her closer, simply staring at the morning sunlight slipping through the window to wash over her soft, pale body. 

“I love you, you know that?” he says, lips pressed against the back of her neck. 

In his arms, she stirs, casting a simple smile over her shoulder. Blue eyes stare at him without the mask, and it’s all so new and beautiful and still so breathtaking. “Of course, I do,” she tells him in response. “I always have.”

  *

A scream that rips through the Paris sky, wind rushing past as they fall to their deaths from thousands of feet up: “If I never get the chance to tell you, I love you, Ladybug!”

Ladybug tightens her arms around her partner, squeezing her eyes shut because she doesn’t want to see what happens next.

 *

Over a cup of tea, Marinette watches Adrien ponder over his pastry at the little table in her parents’ bakery. “When do you feel like it’s the right time to say you love someone?” The question is something he’s been holding in for days now.

With a sigh, she thinks bitterly of Kagami, all dark eyes and rare beauty that moves with a grace Marinette never could muster. She thinks of the look on Adrien’s face when he sees her, of the soft smile that adjourns his face when her name pops up on his phone screen, the laugh that falls from his lips when he’s talking to her. 

“If you mean it,” she says, “then it’s always the right time.”

 *

Over a beer bottle, she’s drunk and screaming at him. “You think it doesn’t kill me when I see the way you look at her? Of course, it hurts!” Marinette throws the empty bottle onto the floor between them, glass shards bouncing across the hardwood. “I love you! I love you!  Of course, it fucking hurts!” 

The words hold him at gunpoint, and Adrien doesn’t dare move.

  *

On a sunny Tuesday afternoon, the late sunlight glowing in his hair, Marinette runs a hand through the golden locks and wonders if this is what angels look like. “You’re so beautiful,” she tells him softly like a whisper caught on the edge of the wind. “I love that about you.”

“The billboards must render you catatonic then,” he teases, green eyes sparkling. She squawks and tackles him in retaliation, but he ducks around her, tight and quick, so good at it because it’s a dance they’ve spent ten years learning.

 *

As a thank you, the words fall from his lips without a second thought. “God, I love you.”

His partner of a month quirks an eyebrow over the rim of her coffee cup. “It’s just from Starbucks,” Ladybug says, but it doesn’t matter. 

Chat Noir’s already gone.

 * 

As an apology, he stands in the doorway of her apartment with an intense expression, bangs flustered against his skin from the rain outside, still dripping puddles on the hardwood floor of the hallway. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to leave, I just…” He closes his eyes and shakes his head. “I love you so much, Mari.” 

It’s not what she wants to hear, but it’s enough for now. With a heavy sigh, she reaches forward and grabs his wrist, tugging him back inside. “You forgot your umbrella,” she tells him, like it makes all the difference.

*

When baking chocolate chip cookies, Adrien stands in a puddle of flour, trying to figure out how long to put them in the oven. From the corner of the kitchen, Marinette covers her mouth with her hand, unable to hide her giggles, because the smartest boy she knows can’t even master the basics of baking.

Her mother, Sabine, pops her head in and smiles at the sight. “So this is the one, huh?” she whispers to her daughter, quirking an eyebrow high. 

Marinette shrugs helplessly. At sixteen, she isn’t sure what she’s found, but she’s pretty sure it’s love.

 *

Not said to her, Adrien holds Kagami’s hand between his, intertwining their fingers in a loose grip, as they hide in the corner of the ballroom as the New Year festivities reach a crescendo. “I know we’ve been together for a long time, and I do love you,” he tells her quietly, a book end to one of the best parts of twenty. “But….” 

“It’s Marinette, isn’t it?” she asks him, dark eyes heavy.

Adrien can only shrug. “I love her. I’m sorry.” 

With a sigh, Kagami gently pulls her hand from his. “It’s okay,” she says. “I think I’ve known for a long time, actually.” 

She lifts up onto her tip-toes and presses a soft kiss to the corner of his lips as a goodbye, but even as she pulls away, Adrien catches sight of Marinette sitting on the opposite of the room. She’s holding a bottle of Coors Light with a white-knuckled grip, blue eyes steely as they watch him and Kagami. When she sees Adrien staring, she pushes herself to her feet and walks away. 

“Go,” Kagami mumbles under her breath. “Go get her. It’s what you want.”

Like he does with most other things in life, Adrien follows Marinette.

 *

With a shuddering gasp after their first time, Chat Noir falls beside her in the darkness, trying to catch his breath. “God, you’re amazing.” 

In the darkness, she can’t see who he is or what he looks like (which was the whole point in the first place), but she wishes she could with a visceral urge that reminds her of something innate, like remembering how to breathe or how to speak.

Ladybug doesn’t know if she’s falling or if he’s already caught her, but all she knows is that she loves him.

 *

When they lay together in the fresh spring grass, Alya nudges Adrien’s side with her elbow and flashes them a wicked smile. “So when are you gonna tell Marinette you’re in love with her?”

Marinette glares at her from the other side of the picnic blanket as Adrien simply laughs and thinks of Ladybug instead. “Marinette?” he says, confused. “No, she’s just my best friend.” 

But as he muses over it later that night before sleep takes hold, he figures that loving Marinette wouldn’t be the worst thing in life. 

Not at all.

 *

In a letter, scrawled hurriedly in the margins of her latest design, are the words: Mrs. Adrien Agreste. A smile sprouts across his face as he catches sight of it, and a warm blush blossoms over the apples of his cheeks. 

“I love you too,” he tells her as he hands her the sketchbook. “But you know I’m taking your name, right?” 

 * 

A whisper in the ear as Ladybug stands over Hawkmoth, sweat-tangled hair falls out of its updo, and blood-streaked hands grasp the collar of his shirt. “I loved him, and you tried to kill him.” She bears her teeth, eyes wild. “I’m going to destroy you.” 

 *

Loud, so everyone can hear, Adrien stands on her balcony and screams out into the Paris evening air. “I am in love with Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and I’m not afraid to say it!” 

The twenty-one-year-old has her hands wrapped around his waist, desperately trying to tug him back inside to her bedroom. “No, stop it! I hate you, you asshole! I’m still mad at you, Adrien Agreste!” 

The rain still pours, and she’s getting drenched, but the horrors of the night are simply washing away. Soon, she forgets why she was even mad at him in the first place.

 *

Over and over again, till it’s nothing but a senseless babble, she chatters in his ear, “I love you, I love you, I love you!” He struggles not to drop her, confusion etched across his face, because he doesn’t know what it means to come home and have his wife freak out (albeit in a pleasant, perfect sort of way).

“Are you okay?” he has to ask.

Tears glimmering in her blue eyes, she kisses him firmly on the mouth. “I’ve thought a lot about this,” she says. “And we’re going to name her Emma.”

The pregnancy test lays discarded on the bathroom counter, the pink plus sign shining for all the world to see.

 *

When the broken glass litters the floor, Marinette is on her hands and knees picking up the remnants of the vase and roses, unable to meet his heavy gaze. “If you have to leave, then do it.”

Adrien chews on his bottom lip, all chapped and broken, dark shadows under his eyes like never-healing bruises. It’s been that way since his father was arrested three months prior, and no matter what she does, she can’t make him whole again. She can’t make things okay.

“I love you,” he tells her, and she knows what’s coming. “But I need some time, Marinette.”

“Just go,” she says again, gesturing to the front door of her apartment. Outside, it’s rain and lightning and thunder, echoing the storm brewing in her heart. “I can’t be everything, Adrien. Just go find what you need, and leave me alone.”

There’s silence that lingers, thick but fragile, until the sound of the door closing reverberates through the room.

Adrien’s gone. Marinette sits on the floor and cries.

 *

From very far away, Adrien’s voice sounds over the laptop. “Okay, tell Mama I love her, Emmy. Daddy has to go back to work now.”

Emma giggles in response, and there’s the pitter-patter of little footsteps as she runs back to the camera. “Mama says you gotta come home soon.”

“I know, baby.” Adrien smiles softly. “I miss my girls too.”

Emma shakes her head. “Nooo. You miss Hugo too, right?”

“Hugo?”

“My baby brother!” His daughter jumps up and down with unbridled excitement. “Mama’s gonna have another baby!” Suddenly though, her eyes shutter, and she leans close. “But you can’t tell Mama I told you, Daddy, because it’s supposed to be a secret.”

Adrien is silent for a moment, and then… “MARINETTE!!! COME BACK TO THE LAPTOP, RIGHT NOW.”

 *

With no space left between them, the words tumble out, easy and free, “I can’t remember the last time I told you I loved you.” Chat Noir glances at Ladybug with a puzzled expression, unsure how to proceed. “Is that weird?”

His partner sighs and settles against him, the warm Paris night bustling around them. “Probably because it means something different to you now.”

“How so?” he asks.

“Well you’re dating that girl now, right?” She shrugs and shakes her head because there’s not much else to say. “You’re in love with her now.”

“Doesn’t stop me from loving you though,” he tells her honestly, green eyes piercing. She stares at him in bewilderment, and he only laughs. “I mean… I may not be actively pursuing your heart and trying to date the hell out of you anymore, but I just want you to know that you’re still the most important person in my life.”

“…You too, Chat Noir.” Her voice is soft and smooth like glass, and just as easy to break if he wanted too. 

“Ladybug, that’s never going to change.”

*

As they huddle together, the storm raging outside, fifteen-year-old Ladybug shivers against his side and bites out, “Don’t get any funny ideas, chaton.” Despite her rough words, she snuggles deeper against him as they ride out the horrid weather.

“As if you’d ever let me touch you,” he grumbles with a smile, and Ladybug can’t help the bark of laughter that falls from her lips. “But I swear you’ll fall in love with me someday, Ladybug.”

“Keep dreaming, Chat Noir.”

“Gladly.”

 *

Over her shoulder, she glances back and him and quirks a brow high. “I love you, but you’re being ridiculous if you think I’m getting into this school.”

Adrien groans and falls back on her bed, her university results clutched in his hand, still sealed in their respective envelopes. “Mari, when are you going to realize how awesome you are? You are singlehandedly the best person I know, so why can’t you see it yourself?”

Marinette simply smiles in response and snatches the letter from his hand, still not opening it. “Careful,” she tells him. “You don’t want Kagami to hear that.”

Adrien doesn’t know what his girlfriend has to do with things, but he pushes Marinette to open the letter from Esmond anyway.

She’s accepted. He’s not surprised.

 *

Muffled, from the other side of the door, his voice comes through. “Come on, Marinette, please let me in. I love you.” She shudders at his words as they echo through their shared bedroom, too afraid to flip the lock and let him in. “I didn’t mean to take the shot for you, but when it’s your life at stake, I’ll do anything. You know that.”

She doesn’t answer because her heart is screaming in her chest, banging against her rib cage like a wild animal desperate to let out. Marinette doesn’t know what she would even say to him though, too caught up in that flash-second of him freefalling and getting hit by the akuma. It’s been two years since Gabriel Agreste was arrested and Adrien almost died, but the newest Hawkmoth, just as clever and chaotic as the last, has a habit of bringing back those dark times.

Adrien bangs against the door again, but Marinette still won’t open it. When his life means everything to her, she can’t speak her peace without their being some sort of repercussions.

So she lets him keep screaming, and she keeps crying, because they are both two souls willing to put their lives on the line when they mean the universe to each other.

It’s a hard hand to deal.

 *

Through a song, his hands dance across the piano keys. “My mom played this at her wedding,” he tells her, eyes distant and lost in a memory. “It’s one of the first songs she ever taught me.”

“It’s beautiful,” Marinette muses, just listening to the soft notes fill the air. “What’s it about?”

“It’s a love story,” he says. “It’s always a love story.”

 *

Without really meaning it, as the flour explodes in her face, streaks of white dusting her skin and hair, Adrien erupts into laughter. “Oh my god, you suck at baking too,” he says breathlessly, body shaking. “God, I love you.”

Marinette stills, smile frozen on her face as the weight of it crashes over her. “You love me?” she asks.

He stares at her in confusion. “Don’t sound so surprised.”

The smile on her face grows larger, and all she can think is how much she wants to hear him say it again.

 *

In a blissful sigh as she falls asleep, the sound reaches Chat Noir as he pauses in the doorway of the bathroom. “I love you,” comes Ladybug’s voice.

Suddenly, the bruises on his hips and the marks on his neck ache like something furious. He bites his bottom lip and tries to pretend like he didn’t hear a damn thing. They promised that the sex didn’t mean anything, so the thought of Ladybug without barriers letting that pass makes his pitiful heart jump into overdrive.

What does it even matter if you won’t say it to my face? He closes his eyes and shakes his head and wonders if it’s finally time to move on.

He calls Kagami in the morning.

 *

Broken, as Ladybug clutches the sleeve of his jacket and begs him not to leave, the words fall from pale lips, stammered and rushed. “You can’t just end it like this.”

The winter swells around them in a swirl of blistery air, snow clutching onto the red of her suit and the curls in her hair, and she stands like an ethereal angel, but the sight just breaks his heart. “You know how I feel about you.”

“Chat Noir,” she whispers. “Please don’t go.”

“I’m always going to be your partner,” he tells her. “But I can’t be anything else.” He licks his lips in thought, trying to salvage their fracturing relationship. “There’s a girl outside the mask who’s not afraid to love me, and I could see something real happening with her.”

“Please.” There’s tears now, and he’s at a loss for words.

“Ladybug…”

“Just don’t leave me. Please.”

 *

A taunt, with one eyebrow raised and a grin bubbling at his lips, he stands in the living room with his hands on his hips. “You think just because I love you that I’m going to your stuffy office party? That’s not how this works, my lady.”

Marinette squeals and snatches one of the pillows off the sofa and throws it at him. “I married you, you ass, it’s in our fucking wedding vows. You don’t have a choice.”

He catches the pillow effortlessly. “Look, my father dragged me to one too many of those when I was a kid. I’m not sitting through that torture again.”

“You said in sickness and in health,” she reminds him with a heated glare. She skips around the couch, coming closer to Adrien. “That includes company parties where I have to listen to Chloe Bourgeois for hours and hours. You’re stuck with me.”

“I will never—OH SHIT!” He doesn’t catch his wife this time, as she leaps into the air and tackles him to the ground.

 *

When they’re dead, Paris mourns Ladybug and Chat Noir. Marinette and Adrien watch on television from their dark living room, Hugo and Emma asleep between them, with heavy hearts as the city grieves the loss of their heroes.

“Did we do the right thing?” Adrien asks her, eyes haunted with the ghosts of the last battle.

“I don’t know,” she tells him softly, voice hollow. On screen, people cry, and her own tear drips down her cheek like candlewax, thick and slow. “What I do know is that I love you, and I never want to lose you.”

Outside, it’s raining.

It’s always raining.

 *

 Slowly, the words dripping from his tongue like honey, he spells out the truth she’s waited desperately to hear. “You are my best friend, Marinette, and my partner, Ladybug... and I love you.” He runs a hand through her hair, eyes softening as he presses his forehead against hers. “I just want to be with you.”

Outside, fireworks erupt as it strikes midnight, and Paris rings in the new year with a joyous applause. Inside, they find sanity in the spaces between their shared heartbeats, hot and heavy breathes warming pink, cool skin, as they take comfort in the feeling of finally being together.

 *

Too quick, mumbled into his scarf, she asks him to say it again.

A light pink dusts the tips of his ears as Adrien clears his throat. “I said, ‘I love you, please marry me.’”

Flabbergasted, she can only stare at him. “But we’ve only been dating for a year.”

Instead of answering, Adrien simply shrugs, that stupid scarf falling off one shoulder with the movement. “So? We’ve basically been together since we were fifteen anyway.”

Marinette is silent, and he fingers the frayed ends of his sleeves, refusing to look at her. There’s a short pause, the span of a single heartbeat, and then she’s dragging him close by the scarf to kiss him.

 *

In awe, the first time he realizes it, Ladybug stands on the Eiffel Tower with a proud smile, Paris safe and the world becoming something new. Her blue eyes burn with something bright, dark hair whipping in the wind, and she’s all red and black, just like his heart as it pounds harder and harder for this girl he just met. 

 “I love that girl,” he says like a promise.

*

In a way she can’t return, Chat Noir leaps in front of her as Hawkmoth strides forward with his rapier, the thin metal piercing through his armor, gleaming red with his blood under the afternoon sun.

Ladybug’s eyes widen with horror as she stares up at him, too shocked to comprehend what she’s seeing. “No…” she whispers, voice cracking.

“I love you,” are the last words he manages before he collapses, broken body barely breathing. 

Ladybug’s screams echo through the city. Hawkmoth continues his rampage.

*

On a post-it note, his messy handwriting adjourns the neon green paper on their fridge. Holding their sleeping daughter in her arms, she lets a soft smile stretch across her face as she reads it: Have to jet to London for a meeting. Be back soon! Love you both <3

“Silly daddy,” Marinette whispers to the toddler. “I was gonna tell him about your new brother today.”

 *

Before they jump, Chat Noir grabs her hand and yells out above the explosions as Hawkmoth continues his attack on Paris, the Eiffel Tower shuddering beneath them. “If we survive this, I’m gonna marry the hell out of you someday!”

Ladybug shakes her head. “You don’t even know my name!”

“Doesn’t matter if we’re gonna die anyway!”

She squeezes back and screams, “For what it’s worth, it’s Marinette!”

 * 

As a goodbye, Adrien smiles that awful broken, cracked thing. “I love you… but there’s so much that we have to deal with, and I don’t know if I can right now.” 

“I’ve loved you for years,” Marinette tells him, eyes glinting angrily form her spot on the sofa. “As Marinette, as Ladybug…”

“But there’s Kagami.” He ducks his head from view, glancing at the exit instead. “She doesn’t know yet, and with everything that just went down, I think I need a little time to… process.” 

She sighs and crosses her arms against her chest, smiling bitterly. “I can’t believe the two people I love are the same person… and I can’t have either of them.”

He doesn’t say anything to that. He just walks away. 

*

And when she tells him, with that soft, sad smile, wrapped in the sheeting the first morning after. “I’m going to love you forever,” she says to him, asleep and blissfully unaware. “Just try to stop me.”

[acefrogmonarch]

My Turn :) Pt.3

(❁´◡`❁) (❤´艸｀❤)(✿◠‿◠)(✿◕‿◕✿)~(￣▽￣)~*(❤ ω ❤)

Tags @vivilakitty @mystery-5-5 @northernbluetongue @thatrandomfandomsgirl @vixen-uchiha

I hope that’s all of you guys in the tags if not then eh.

Tell me

1 | 2 | 3 (You’re here) | 4 - ao3

Uh heavy warning.

‼❌‼  WARNING ‼❌‼ WARNING ‼❌‼ WARNING  ‼❌‼ WARNING  ‼❌‼ WARNING  ‼❌‼ WARNING   ‼❌‼ WARNING  ‼❌‼ WARNING  ‼❌‼

A COUPLE OF DAYS BEFORE

Diana had just landed her invisible plane on the outskirts of Paris and makes her way to the inner workings of the city.

Bruce had called her to notify her of the situation in Paris. She, herself, had never been present when an Akuma was and always missed the chance to fight one.

Every time she was either off-world or on a mission. Finally, after ranting to Bruce about it, he seemed to inform her that he was taking the initiative within the following week. "Finally some good news after all this time!" Stretching out her limbs, Diana wasted no time in arriving in Paris.

Diana went to her boutique first, she trusted the girl that ran it when Diana left for her 'business trips'. リリーパッド regularly left her school books in the back of the storage. Scribbled post-it notes on her desk as she checked out every few months. A mess within the mess but always order within that chaos.

リリーパッド was, already is, family and often asked if she could help lighten the load of Diana's work or hide from her friends and family at her store.

'From embarrassment.' Is Lily Pad's excuse but Diana still teased her, she wasn't safe anywhere. Diana had sent a message an hour ago when she passed the Atlantic ocean but had yet to receive a text.

It was well past bedtime and Diana couldn't get mad at her little helper's very wise decision to sleep on a weekday. Taking out her keys, Diana opened the door to her boutique to find her helper there. "Marinette!" The girl jumped, started awake and focused her eyes at the door. "Mademoiselle Prince!"

Wiping her mouth, in case she drooled, Marinette checked around the surroundings on her desk. "Mari, it's 22 at night why-" Diana didn't bother to check the time, striding to Marinette's table, beginning to scold her. Marinette bites her lip, hesitant to speak up, but does so anyway.

"Uh, Actually, it's 21:57." Diana looked at Marinette with an unapproved stare and a hand on her hip. "You are not sassing me out リリーパッド." Marinette smiled at the small nickname. She rubbed the back of her head. "I hope you're not mad, I stayed without your permission."

Diana smiled at her helper and went to drop her purse in her office. "Not at all, what's happened since I last left?" Marinette fumbled with her collar and shrugged, looking away.

At the lack of response, Diana looked through the doorway. "Marinette?"

Marinette had taken off her turtleneck and revealed her fading light purple, gruesome green, and yellow hue of a healing bruise crawling on her neck.

From the doorway, Diana froze at the sight of the small women in front of her. "リリーパッド, Who did this to you." Marinette walked over and held her hand, slightly smiling.

"It was the most recent Akumatized victim." Quickly recovering at the memory, Marinette smiled at her. "But don't worry! I won't let that stop me from work!"

Marinette loosely wrapped her scarf around her neck. Marinette wanted to change the subject and noticed the texts from her boss. "Why, are you back so early mademoiselle?" Diana turned to look back at her desk.

"I have something that's caught my attention." Crumbling an old piece of paper, Diana controlled her growing anger. "Marinette, stay away from here."

Marinette in the meantime slipped on a jacket and entered Diana's office. "But Madam. What about work?" Diana shakes her head 'No'. 

"You were already caught up in this. I don't get caught up again." Marinette gave a small smile and walked up to Diana. "It's very hard to do that when your classmates are shit."

Diana smiled back and hugged her. "Maybe, but if you see one. Run away." 

.

.

Marinette had tried, really she did. But she couldn't stop helping people even if she didn't want to.

'Thank god, Royal is alright.' The white noise dimmed around her and she regained consciousness. In a colder place, good. From experience, Marinette could tell this grogginess is from blood loss. Looking down at her stomach she saw the torn clothing and Chat Noir's arm.

'Never again, screw this." Blinking at her surroundings, Marinette grabbed onto the arm that's wrapped around her. "How long was I out?" A little louder than her normal tone. She was right to panic a little, they were in the middle of an Akuma attack! "Not long."

Both Chat Noir and her aren't there to take care of it and Mademoiselle Prince! Struggling to move away from Chat Noir's, Ladybug instead leans into her partner. "I don't know who is Mdm. Prince but she doesn't matter right now, the Akuma has been dealt with, those two strangers helped me deal with it."

Chat Noir placed Ladybug on a chair and went to go get supplies. "You know the drill, don't move." Ladybug waved her arm in his general direction. "Whatever you say. Cat boy."

Ladybug held her stomach, in her hand was her yo-yo. "Lucky charm." Weakly throwing it up the air, Ladybug caught the polka-dotted burner that fell back down.

Marinette laughs at the situation. "Not even right now? Really" Sighing as she waited for Adrien. She needed it anyway and she was already guessing that Adrien did too. "Thank god this doesn't happen often."

Adrien enters the lobby, his hands full of items. A pot, a sewing kit, Alcohol and a couple of water bottles. "I got everything." Marinette nodded and sat up to ease her head.

"In a pot?" Adrien briskly walked back to her. "Y-yeah." Adrien was stopped to stare at her open wound. "Hey." Marinette smiled weakly and held out her hand.

"I'm going to be okay." Adrien grabbed it and fell to his knees again. "How come the Miraculous could cure me but not you." Gripping her hand and quietly letting his tears flow.

"Easy there, I won't be back up to my usual self if I don't hurry." Sniffling, Adrien nodded and took the burner and turned it on. Adrien gives her the cold water bottle and alcohol.

Wordlessly he moves to help Marinette. Adrien boiled another water bottle and took the sewing kit he found and waited for the water to boil. Once it's boiled, Adrien takes the thread and washes it in the hot water, the same with the needle.

Marinette in the meantime detransformed. Tikki went off to guard the place, She couldn't bear to see her companion hurt. Marinette lifted her shirt to lather the areas around the slashes with-- Marinette checked the bottle. "Bourbon?" Adrien didn't reply to her, too busy watching water boil. Marinette shrugged and took a sip.

"Better than last time." Grabbing a few tissues, Marinette covered the gaps and applied pressure. Dousing the outside of her stomach with bourbon she continued. Adrien stood up from the pot delivering the disinfected needle and thread to Mari with a pair of pliers and eyebrow pluckers.

Marinette takes them into her hand, she bends the needle into a hook. Pausing to look up to her partner, he hasn't expressed disconcert since he gathered the supplies. "You don't have to look, you know." Marinette tied the knot on the needle.

Adrien shook his head. "I passed out last time, I have to look." Marinette stared at him. "Don't push yourself 纯儿." Adrien grimaced and breathed out slowly. "G-got it."

Marinette took the plier in one hand and the bottle of bourbon in another. Taking a big gulp of the bourbon and steadying her hand, she slowly worked to tie the first throw together.

After successfully getting the first know she continued on the smaller parts of the claw marks. Catching her breathe, Marinette stops and takes a sip of the water and bourbon. "The pot."

Wordlessly Adrien hands the hot item to her. Adrien gags and covers his mouth with his hand. Marinette pulls the two strips of skin together and presses the hot iron on it.

Melting the skin together and the agonizing burn makes it difficult for her to be awake. Adrien stands up abruptly and runs out, covering his nose and moth with the palm of his hand. The smell of burnt skin and seeing his friend in pain makes him puke.

His lunch comes up as Marinette finishes her first claw mark. "A" Marinette bites back her cries and throws the pot away. "Ah, Merde." Adrien cleans up his puke and makes his way back to the Marinette.

"Looks like I can't wear a two-piece bathing suit anymore." Marinette lightly jokes, Adrien doesn't smile at her attempt to lighten the mood. His somber state brings Marinette worry, a silent beat passes.

"You looked better in a one-piece any way." Marinette snorts but quickly develops into pain. "Ow." Adrien detransforms and looks at Plagg. He floats closer to Marinette's face and nuzzles her cheek.

"Mari-bug, get some rest. I can handle it from here." Marinette giggles at his whiskers, lightly grazing her cheek. "Got it Plagg." Grinning softly at Plagg and Adrien; Adrien held her hand and rubbed the back of it. Marinette closed her eyes, letting the pain and sorrow consume her body.

"Adrien, get the pot and reheat it." Plagg barked orders at Adrien's inability to move. He nods and scurries off to fetch the pot. "Sorry about this baby bug." Repeating the procedure for the claw mark above the first one, Adrien and Plagg worked tirelessly to ensure the rest of the injury closed.

.

.

After finishing and closing the wounds, Adrien went to Marinette's side. "We're are ready to finish the Purification of  the Akuma." Plagg went off to find Tikki at Adrien's words.

When Plagg found her, she was looking onto the city, sitting in the gutter. "Sugarcube." Turning to find her partner, Tikki doesn't cheer up. Plagg spins around her and grabs ahold of her paws.

"She's all patched up!" Plagg strived to match Tikki's endless cheery euphemism. It didn't work and it got out a sad smile from her. "You should leave the optimism to me, sock." 

Plagg nudges her, leads her back to Marinette. Tikki hovers at Marinette sides, Plagg drifts from afar. Leaving enough space for Tikki to take in the sight of her little ladybird. "When knowledge when is used to help others and not yourself, then is it a gift."

Tikki wasn't wise, that belonged to Wayzz for a reason. But by any means is she naive. Tikki dreaded the injuries she couldn't heal and how restricted her powers were without a proper vessel.

"Don't be so tough on yourself love." Plagg grabs a paw from Tikki and floats around her. Almost like dancing, Adrien couldn't help but stare at the little gods dance. "Oh no, you are not calling me those nicknames again." Tikki took back her paw and crossed her arms.

Plagg nudges her again and holds her. "Come one sweets, how long are you going to be mad at me." Tikki flies off and goes to Marinette. "I will stop being mad when you give me a reason too." Adrien catches Plagg with his hands.

"Maybe we should leave the girls to themselves." Plagg stares at Tikki from a distance and sighs. Then flips the switch from crushed to apathy in an instant. "Gender is a fake construct and time isn't relevant."

"Uhh" Leaving Adrien in a dazed and confused state. Plagg floats off for some food. "Okay?" Adrien trails after Plagg into the kitchen.

Tikki glides down to Marinette's sleeping form and proceeds to nest on her hair. "Everything is going to get better, I promise Крошечный жук" Tikki pets her hair slowly.

[sing-in-me-oh-muse]

List All the Titles of Your WIPs Challenge!

Image credit.

Aaah, thank you, @ladyofthenoodle for tagging me with the List All the Titles of Your WIPs Challenge! I have... so many... I’ll be listing them for like, an hour. Apparently I’m starved for attention, so here we go!

Published WIP Fics:

These are the fics that already have a chapter or two up. The titles will link to the chapters on Ao3.

Breaking Bread (crack) (1/??? chapters done) - Tom and Sabine drug front AU based off of a cracky chapter from my Choose Your Own Adventure story, The Startling Souffle. I have literally nothing past the first chapter, even an outline. I am also writing a Breaking Bread (hardcore) version that focuses on Luka as Tom and Sabine’s drug mule which I have the first few paragraphs for and half an outline. 

Chat Loaf (2 out of 3 chapters done) - Adrien and Marinette pre-reveal make out where Adrien has cat tendencies and kneads Marinette’s belly, revealing himself. That was all this was supposed to be, but then Rikka had to go and say “oh, by the way, cats knead because they were improperly weaned from their mothers,” and the angsty second chapter and the cute third chapter outlines were born! 2/3 chapters are published, but I have nothing on the 3rd but an outline in my Fics to Write list.

desperation, there’s danger in frustration (5/??? chapters done) - This is my current huge multichapter fic. It started out with a post-Hawkmoth defeat make out session where a 22-23 year old Adrien and Marinette just... went after each other because they were so desperate to be alive. And now it’s ballooned into something angsty and keeps getting worse for our heroes. I’m on chapter 5 out of ???.

I want you I need you I love you (help me) (1 out of 4 chapters done)- Also titled Lovesquare Pining, this fic starts out with Chat thinking about how much he wants/needs/loves Ladybug. I have plans to explore mutual pining on all sides of the square. I have 1 out of 4 chapters complete.

The Song of Silencer (1/??? chapters done) - This is a crack-treated-seriously fic that started as a one shot, but exploded into a massive, multichapter monster. Basically, rather than saying Lucky Charm and helping Ladybug, Silencer uses Ladybug’s voice to say “De-transformation.” Seeing he has hurt Marinette, Luka fights off his akumatization. Song of Silencer turns canon completely on its head. I have 1 chapter and a full outline.

Non-Published WIP Fics:

These are the fics which I have some chapters/full outlines for.

Chat Gets Therapy (working title) - A multichapter fic in which 23-year-old Adrien, suffering from depression and the inability to care for himself, seeks out a therapist. Unfortunately, the doctor is a bad one. I have an outline and a 1 1/2 chapters. 

CYOA: I only have pies for you - This is a multichapter sequel to my Choose Your Own Adventure: The Startling Souffle where a pre-reveal Adrien and Marinette bake pies and can’t keep  their hands off each other. Tom and Sabine are highly amused by the couple. I have a full (very complicated) outline and a few chapters.

Gaslit Marinette (working title) - This multichapter fic came from a prompt from @ladyofthenoodle: “ When the Order of the Guardians show up in Paris and ask him to relinquish his miraculous, Chat Noir refuses, and assumes Ladybug will do the same - after all, with her memory attached to the Guardianship of the Miracle Box, she has a lot to lose. But he’d underestimated her sense of duty, and now he has to contend with a new ladybug holder that refuses to work with him, escalating pressure from the Order, and the fact that Marinette Dupain-Cheng doesn’t remember anything about him. Or anything about the last year and a half - and he’s pretty sure that’s not a coincidence.” I have a half an outline written and a lot of enthusiasm. *sweats* 

Get you a man who... - A cute one shot for my Domestic Cavities series, which involve fluffy domestic scenes at all stages of life for Miraculous Ladybug characters. This fic is all about Adrien being sweet to Marinette and his family, and Marinette telling her toddler things like, “get you a man who will let his baby daughter paint his nails.”

rose-tinted glasses - This is a protanopia one shot. Protanopia is a condition where the person or creature affected cannot see the color red, or anything along that spectrum of colors. In short, cats have protanopia > Chat has protanopia > The more time he spends transformed, the faster Adrien starts losing his ability to see the color red. I have an outline and the first few paragraphs.

Lovesquare Makeouts - This multichapter fic was a group project that never got off the ground, so I begged asked to take the project over for myself. It’s just what it says on the tin: pre-reveal pre-relationship make outs on all sides of the square. I have the first chapter written and an extensive outline.

must be the season of the witch - This multichapter witch AU started as a typo of all things. Rikka meant to curse out Gabriel, but said “Duck Gabriel” instead, leading me to write a first chapter and an outline of a witch Marinette turning Gabriel into a duck for Adrien’s sake. Once again, crack treated seriously, as the two teens take the newly-minted canard and go on the run. I have a first chapter and a vague idea as to where the story goes next, but no full outline.

my bones are shifting in my skin (and you, my love, are gone) - Dead Ladybug fic. Hawkmoth gets ahold of both miraculous and makes the wish, choosing Ladybug to pay the price. Emilie is resurrected, Gabriel goes to jail, Ladybug dies, not in that order. The fic covers Adrien’s journey through grief and anger and pain and healing and letting go of his partner--and of Marinette. I have half a chapter and a single, huge bullet point in my outline.

Fics to Write List

I also have a Fics to Write list of bullet points, which is extensive. Some of the bullet points are stream of consciousness, half-formed outlines themselves. If I were to list them all, I’d probably be here all night, haha!  

People I’m Tagging 

I’ll tag @dramatic-daisies​, @celestialtitania​, @leo112358​, and @torilovesmiraculous​!

[pulaasul]

Luck and Order - 2

The Wizard Shazam, who was once a Lord of Order, that something was amiss. The balance between luck and misfortune was in disarray. So he implores his young Champion - Billy Batson - to investigate and correct the Balance.

Set years after the series Finale of Justice League Unlimited.

1 

FFN I AO3

---------

Holey Moley!" Billy exclaimed. "A giant baby!" He yelled. "A giant freaking baby!"

The feeling of exasperation and surprise didn't last long and Billy immediately transformed into his champion form of Captain Marvel and flew out the window to chase down the infant innocently causing massive property damage to the city

Billy had just moved in to one of Paris' apartments. He chose to move in to this apartment considering its proximity to the school where he was a part of the School Exchange program.

He had just finished unloading his clothes when he saw the giant baby.

Captain Marvel fired off a series of three balls of electricity towards the extremely oversized infant to distract the baby and to assess the situation.

The lightning based hero took a closer look at the gigantic infant that was happily flailing around with his balls of electricity when he saw that somewhere on the baby was a huge concentration of magic that was spreading outwards.

"So far he's acting like an actual baby." Captain Marvel commented. "That concentration of magic does concern me."

Before Captain Marvel was about to add another set of balls of electricity, in response to his first set flickering out, Paris' own set of heroes appeared on the scene and began to battle the gigantic infant.

He chose to hide behind one of the buildings in the city and took a closer look at the heroes.

As far as he can see, there was nothing wrong with the spotted heroine – Ladybug – her powers were unaffected by whatever was tipping the balance of creation and destruction.

The Black Cat – Chat Noir – however, he was sure that Eris – goddess of discord – even Klarion – Lord of Chaos – would squeal in glee if they saw what was happening to the hero.

Chat Noir's magic was chaotic, to say the least.

If Captain Marvel would hazard a guess, the Miraculous of the Black Cat was probably battling something inside the boy under the mask which brought upon the focus on flirting than actual combat.

----------

"I can understand Mr. Ramier getting akumatized lots of times." Ladybug huffed. "But seriously, akumatizing babies for getting upset is just a new low." She growled as she dodged a merchandising cart. "Even worse, akumatizing the same baby."

"I meow right milady." Chat Noir agreed. "Why don't we just adopt the baby?" He offered. "And we'll be one happy family with kitten August." He cooed.

"Focus Chat." Ladybug called out in exasperation.

The 'battle' with the giant baby went on with failing results. This was mostly due to Chat Noir's focus, or lack thereof, on the battle at hand against the akuma, but rather on his partner.

Ladybug was forced to carry everything on her own.

She was forced to adapt instead of initiate.

"We're getting nowhere!" Ladybug growled.

"I furry much agree milady." Chat nodded. "I can't woo you purropurrly if we're battling a giant baby." He pouted. "We should just destroy the Akuma." He suggested. "It's purrobably on that pacifier."

Ladybug rolled her eyes but took note of her partner's suggestion and took a closer look at the baby, and indeed the rather small pacifier right by the baby's neck was sticking out.

"Cataclysm!" Chat called out as black magic coated his right hand.

The Black Cat hero leapt from roof to roof and dodged the flying cars that the baby was throwing his way.

"W-wait!" Ladybug called out. "I said wait!

"Don't worry milady." Chat yelled out his assurance. "Once the akumatized object, you can have me all to yourself."

Chat's inattentiveness caused him to be slammed upon the roof of an airborne car and disintegrated it when he magic-coated hands made contact with the vehicle.

Ladybug had half the mind to chide her partner for his inattentiveness and lack of focus but she opted to focus on the Akuma, splashing waters by the river.

"Lucky Charm!" The spotted heroine called out.

A swarm of magical ladybugs congregated above Ladybug and conjured a spotted red lightning bolt that landed on Ladybug's waiting hands.

The heroine's first instinct was to look around her immediate surroundings and see if she could form a plan from the Lucky Charm that was conjured by her powers.

But she couldn't find nothing.

Ladybug continued to look formulate a plan as she dodged the incoming projectiles.

----------

"Looks like that's my cue." Captain Marvel murmured to himself as he observed the ensuing battle.

The world's mightiest mortal flew into the scene and caught three flying cars along the way.

"Ladybug, what's going on?" Captain Marvel asked as he faced the heroic duo.

"Who're you supposed to be?" Chat Noir challenged. "Milady has already retired the other Miraculous heroes." He hissed.

"No time to explain Chat Noir." Marvel shook his head as he fired an electric ball at the infant, distracting it.

Ladybug on the other hand stared intently on the new arrival as noticed the similarities between the new hero's emblem to the Lucky Charm she summoned.

"I'm sure he can explain once we capture the Akuma." Ladybug reined in her partner. "Basically something transformed a baby into that giant." She explained while dodging a flying cart. "That something is located on the baby's pacifier by his neck."

"That's where the concentration of magic's coming from!" Captain Marvel exclaimed. "Leave that to me." He assured as he flew towards the baby.

"Be careful not to hurt the baby." Ladybug reminded.

"Will do!" Captain Marvel acknowledged. "I need a distraction."

"Kitty, we're up." Ladybug called out. "Let's cause a scene."

"As you wish milady." Chat obliged, bowing before his partner.

As Paris's heroic duo gathered the cars and trucks that the citizens of Paris vacated in light of the Akuma problem, Captain Marvel tried different things to destroy the pacifier without hurting the toddler that was wearing it.

The World's Mightiest Mortal powered down his strikes, but the pacifier infused by magic was hard to break.

"You don't need to hold back!" Ladybug stated as she passed by the lightning hero, swinging from roof to roof. "The Miraculous cure heals everyone and anyone hurt by this Akuma attack."

Captain Marvel nodded gathered electrical energy around his fists as the baby continued to play around the water of Siene River. He grabbed the hanging pacifier and instantly disintegrated it with his electrified hands.

A purple colored butterfly flew out of the pacifier as the baby was coated in purple ooze and transformed back into its regular size in mid-air.

Captain Marvel flawlessly caught the baby and cooed at him.

Ladybug on the other hand managed to capture the Akuma purified it.

"Bye bye little butterfly." The spotted heroine smiled as she waved at the white butterfly flying from her yoyo.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" Ladybug yelled as she threw the lightning emblem lucky charm she received earlier above her.

Magical Ladybugs began to disperse from the Lucky Charm and return everything to the state before the Akuma attacked.

"Okay Mister show off, who are you?" Chat Noir challenged.

The black cat hero was eyeing the new hero, threatened by the new arrival's presence.

"Chat! Show some respect to the person who helped us." Ladybug chided. "But with all due respect sir, we kind of like answers."

"Your kwamis can provide you with answers." Captain Marvel responded. "I'm Captain Marvel this world's champion of magic."

Before both heroes could even respond to Captain Marvel's words, their Miraculouses started beeping.

"Go on." Captain Marvel nodded. "Your kwamis will know how to find me."

"Well then, bug out." Ladybug and Chat Noir Left the scene.

----------

As Captain Marvel hovered over the city and watched as both heroes scrambled before they transformed back into their civilian forms. He just realized that he was able to communicate with the local heroes despite the fact that he doesn't know even a lick of French.

"I knew the Wisdom of Solomon could help me learn a new language." Captain Marvel muttered. "Didn't know it'd be instantaneous."

Before the World's Mightiest Mortal could even process further what was happening, a few reporters had called for his attention.

"Sir! We would like a word!"

Captain Marvel hovered down to the street and meet with the local media.

"Yes? What can I do for you?" Marvel smiled, remaining amicable to field reporters.

"Are you Paris's new hero?" One lady questioned.

"Do you wield a Miraculous?" A man added.

"Do you have any leads about Hawkmoth?" Another lady asked.

Some more questions were unheard of as all them were speaking over another. Captain Marvel raised his hand in a stopping motion, signaling for the local media to calm down and ask their questions one after another.

"Sir! Alya Cesaire!" A young girl immediately raised her hand. "You're Captain Marvel, Fawcett City's local hero." She started. "You left the Justice League a few months into your membership." She added. "Is there anything in Paris that warranted your attention?"

"Paris's situation has been ignored by the Justice League for a long time." Marvel answered honestly. "Although I cannot fault them as some of them believe that magic does not exist and will likely think that everything that's happened in Paris so far as a big prank." He continued. "Ladybug's powers of removing the damage done in the battle, it makes sense to think that everything was done with special effects."

Captain Marvel, while not resentful for his bout with Superman, was still hurt that the hero he idolized so much disregarded his opinion on the matter and let his biases control him. This was his way of calling out the Justice League but at the same time defending them.

After all the Flash once stated that magic didn't exist.

"Why now?" Alya followed up.

"I'm here because the balance has shifted." Captain Marvel responded. "The Activation of both the Moth and the Peacock Miraculous has shifted the balance, to counteract the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous were activated." He explained. "What exactly has thrown the balance, as other might say, out of whack, that is what I'm here to find out." He finished.

Once he finished stating his answers, he immediately flew away from the scene.

[thenovelartist]

An Impromptu Proposal, 30-31

<<Previous

And this concludes LadyNoir July and all the Love Square months! I do not know how I managed this, but I did, holy cow. :D Hope you all have enjoyed it!

30. Inspiration

Marinette was so intent in designing for her portfolio that she didn’t hear her husband slip into the room. Therefore, she was not expecting him to lean over her shoulders and startle her.

He was laughing at it. “Scare you, bugaboo? I wasn’t exactly being quiet.”

She sighed, her heartrate steadily calming. “You know when I get into a design, everything else disappears.”

“That I do,” he assured. “What are you working on?”

“Just some portfolio pieces,” she dismissed.

“Well, I knew that. What kind of pieces?”

Marinette looked down at the entire line that she had drawn out. “Formal wear inspired by our superhero costumes.”

That piqued Adrien’s interest as he reached towards one of the many pieces of paper scattered all over the desk. He examined the designs on it, which were several versions of a Chat Noir themed suit.

“I know I’ve done them before,” Marinette said. “But with the superheroes being so big still, I thought it would be fun to do it one last time before retiring the idea all together.”

“Make money off them while you can,” Adrien teased.

Marinette chuckled. “More like… I feel like it’s a last hoo-rah, you know? Like… like a sort of closure.”

Adrien hummed before giving her shoulders a squeeze. “Well then, bug, I say go all out and don’t hold back.”

“That’s the plan. But to be fair, when do I ever hold back?”

Adrien chuckled. “True.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “You’re really passionate about everything: designing, superheroing. You really throw your all into it. But that’s just one of the things I love about you.”

Marinette felt her face warm, along with her heart.

“I’ll let you get back to it. I can start dinner.”

“But it’s—” Marinette froze when she looked at the clock. “It’s five.”

She could hear the smile in Adrien’s voice. “Yes, it is.”

“I’ve been at this for four hours straight already.”

“Yes, you have. But just proves my point of how passionate you are.”

She pushed away from her desk. “I can make dinner.”

“Nah,” Adrien dismissed. “You’re on a roll. Don’t let me stop you. I’ve got dinner. You can continue working.”

She shot Adrien a smile. “Thanks, kitty.”

“Anything for you, my lady.”

 ...

31. Waiting On You

It had been a little over a year since Adrien and Marinette had defeated Butterlie and retired as superheroes. While they had originally planned to start up a family shortly after, they decided that it was better to wait. Between the counseling, Marinette finding a new job, and Adrien starting up an online university, they thought that bringing a kid into the mix was a little too much at the moment.

Until Alya announced that she was pregnant.

Adrien had been utterly thrilled for Nino, who was extremely excited at becoming a dad. But at the same point, Adrien was a little jealous. And one look at Marinette proved that she had been, too.

Hence why both of them were sitting on the couch at home, side by side, ready for that big talk.

“Do you think we’re ready?” Marinette asked. “Like, obviously we both want kids, probably enough to not be having this conversation, but I think it’s important.”

“I agree,” Adrien said. “But, at the same point… I think we’re ready.”

Marinette smirked. “Impulsive as ever.”

“Well, yeah,” Adrien admitted. “But think about it. I’ve been doing a lot better with the counseling and all. And I’ve started up schooling, and I feel stable and secure in my future and health. You; you’re fine. You stopped going to counseling because you’re healed enough to not need it anymore. You’ve got a job as a designer; you love it; things are going good for you. I think if we wait until everything’s perfect, we’re gonna be waiting a very long time. So, do I think we’re ready? Yeah; yeah, I do.”

Marinette’s surprised expression gave way to one of amusement. “Someone’s been thinking this over.”

“Honestly, I couldn’t stop thinking about it since we left Alya and Nino’s place.”

She chuckled before crawling into his lap. “This is the end of the conversation, isn’t it?”

“Probably,” Adrien answered with a smirk as he wrapped his arms around his wife.

“If I bring up any point, you’re gonna tell me I’m over thinking, aren’t you?”

“Bug, you know me so well.”

“Even if I suggest we wait so that we can think without jealousy clouding our mind.”

Adrien quirked a brow. “Are we ever not going to be jealous?”

Marinette paused, her lips pursed.

“You know I’m right.”

With a grumble, she laid her head on his shoulder to avoid looking at him.

Adrien smirked, liking the feeling of winning that conversation.

“So,” Marinette eventually said. “Are we starting tonight?”

His heart jumped in his chest as a smug smirk crossed his face. “Who says we have to wait for tonight?”

He shifted slightly so he could see his wife’s face, watching as her cheeks turned red before burying her face into his shirt.

“I’m teasing,” he said.

“No, you’re not.”

Adrien couldn’t deny that.

“How, out of all the people in the world, did I end up falling in love with you?”

“Because I’m literally the yang to your yin.”

Marinette giggled, coming out of her hiding spot in his shoulder to smile at him. “That’s true.”

…

It was two and a half months later that Marinette was showing him a positive pregnancy test.

Which meant that this was really happening. They were really going to be parents.

Which spurred Adrien’s desire to sell his apartment and find a family home to move into.

“We should have thought about this earlier,” Marinette commented as they were going through listings.

“Well, considering you’re only about a month along, I think we are doing this in good timing. But just so you know, I’m not letting you do any heavy lifting when we move.”

Marinette sighed. “Overprotective already?”

“Yes. Don’t argue.”

She giggled, wrapping her hands around his arm and leaning her head against his shoulder. “You’re gonna be a good daddy.”

He was going to be a dad. Holy crap, he was going to be a dad. The mix of panic and excitement was enough to make his head spin. “I’ll give it all I have.”

“I know you will,” she assured in a sweet tone that was calming his nerves but ramping up his heart. “And you’re gonna be a great dad.”

His heart light from her genuine words, he leaned over to kiss her head. “Thanks, sweetheart.”

“I love you,” she said. “And our kids are gonna love you, too.”

Adrien loved this woman; he was so lucky to have her. “I love you, too.”

…

Marinette looked over her new house with some pride. It had taken some time to find the right house and pack up everything, but Marinette couldn’t be happier. Especially since a baby would come in about three short months to fill the place with even more life.

Adrien slipped behind her, wrapping his arms around her belly. “What’s got you lost in thought?”

“We own a house.”

Adrien chuckled. “Yes, we do.”

“Together.”

“Yup.”

“We have a baby on the way.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“And we aren’t superheroes anymore. In fact, we haven’t transformed in months.”

“Yup and yup.”

“Is this what normalcy feels like?”

Adrien laughed, giving her a squeeze. “Yes, I think so.”

“It’s weird.”

“How?” Adrien asked, clearly amused.

“It’s… normal. I feel like something crazy and unordinary needs to happen.”

“What? Moving houses while you’re six months along wasn’t crazy enough for you?”

“Not really?”

Adrien shook his head, walking around her to kneel in front of her swollen stomach. “Hey, baby girl,” Adrien said, his hands carefully cradling Marinette’s abdomen. “Hurry up and get here. We’re waiting on you to throw our normal lives into chaos.”

Marinette chuckled before playfully smacking her husband. “Don’t encourage her. I feel like she’s going to be like you enough as it is.”

“You say that like I’m the chaos causer.”

“Well…”

With a chuckle, Adrien stood. “You know, whether this little one is easy or difficult doesn’t matter, because I don’t think we were suited for normal lives, anyway.”

Marinette couldn’t help but smile. “You’re probably right. But honestly… I think I’m okay with that.”

[thewritewolf]

Eating Habits Chapter 14: Baby Steps

Marinette is freaking out since the student spring fashion show is coming up soon. Chloe finds healing in her own way. 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 (Final)

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3

Marinette’s foot tapped a rapid tempo as she watched the final preparations for the dry run of the spring show from her chair near the changing rooms. She wasn’t sure what it looked like from the seats, but backstage it was a sort of ordered chaos, not unlike backstage at the Jagged Stone concert a few months ago. Except, this time the stakes were far more personal.

Her nerves were shot to pieces, but that was about what she expected. This show was the culmination of everything she’d been working towards for the entire semester. Her fellow students had pulled out their best work as well and it was all she could do not to rush to her pieces and do even more last minute adjustments.

A hand settled itself over her knee and stilled her fidgeting. She blinked up at Adrien who was smiling at her patiently, wearing one of her spring outfits. Crouching down in front of her, he brought his eyes level to hers.

“You must think I’m freaking out over nothing,” she said, hunching her shoulders and looking away. “I know, this isn’t much compared to… um, everything else we've done, but…”

“No, I don’t think that at all,” Adrien replied, touching her chin to gently guide her gaze back to his. “It’s your first real fashion show with a bunch of people giving their all to make an impression. People are watching now, people whose opinions are listened to in the world of fashion.”

“You’ve only gotten better at these pep talks over the years, kitty,” Marinette said dryly.

“Let them watch. I know for a fact that you are one of the best designers here, if not the best. And I’ll be right here for the entire time, doing my damnedest to show off your amazing work. They’re going to see you just like I see you.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “As the amazing.” A kiss to her temple. “Wonderful.” Her cheek. “Talented.” A chaste kiss to her lips. “Designer who is going to rock the entire fashion industry to its core.” His hands left her knees and took her hands. “And I’ll be right there, cheering you on every step of the way.”

Between the nerves and the stress and his sweet words, it took all of Marinette’s will not to turn into a crying mess right then and there. Instead, she hugged his neck and whispered thanks into his ear.

As he pulled away, she first noticed the lack of his warmth. Quickly following that was the realization that he had grabbed her coffee.

“Hey!”

“Sorry, sweetie,” Adrien said, taking a large sip. “I told you no coffee or energy drinks till the show is over. We both know that they make you more anxious than you usually are and only barely help.”

“But… tasty…”

“I’ll make you a fruit smoothie when we’re done, I promise.” He took a few steps backwards and gave her a very Chat-like wink before tossing the remainder of the cup into the garbage and taking his place in the line up.

Marinette crossed her arms and grumbled to herself. “Stupid boyfriend, trying to have my best interests at heart…”

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

Marinette clenched the fabric of her skirt in her hands, desperate to release any of the nervous energy she was holding onto. Meanwhile, Alya reached for a macaroon. Halfway toward getting it to her mouth, Alya noticed Marinette’s distress and raised her eyebrows.

“You wanna talk about it, girl?”

Marinette dragged her eyes away from where Tikki and Trixx were chasing each other in the kitchen, and looked at her friend. “Actually, if we could talk about anything but the upcoming show, that’d be great.”

“Are you sure? Talking it out might help you get some of that frustration out.”

“At this point, it’s just me over thinking things. I’m happy with where my designs are, but I keep imagining them in my head, looking for anything that could go wrong.” She sighed and buried her face in her hands. “I just… need to think about something else.” Poking out from behind her fingers, she asked, “So how’s work?”

“Oh they’re about to send me out of country on some dangerous missions. But it’s all to bring the truth to the people, so that’s all that matters, right M?”

Marinette’s eyes widened and her hands ceased her fidgeting to instead cover her mouth, which had opened into a small ‘o’. “Really?!”

“No.”

All the tension that had suddenly appeared in Marinette’s shoulders vanished as quick as it had appeared. She leaned across the couch to smack Alya. “Not cool, Al! You really worried me!”

“Sorry,” Alya replied with a snicker. “But nah, they’ve still got me doing local news stories. Which isn’t so bad, Paris is a pretty interesting place after all. Even without the supervillains.” Alya took a deep sip of her glass of red wine, a constant companion of their girls’ night in days. “And don’t get me wrong - I get why they don’t want to give the big, juicy stuff to the newbie reporter.”

“But…?” Marinette prompted when Alya starting staring into space, biting her lower lip.

“But… I’m starting to get restless again. I feel that energy from back when I was doing the Ladyblog - always something to do back then! An akuma to track down, a victim to interview, puzzle pieces to put together.” She absently swirled her wine glass. “A lot of freedom too...”

“You’re getting that look again.”

“Look?”

“Mhm. Your game face. You want your next big challenge.” She gently shoved Alya’s shoulder. “And go for it, Al! You can still do your job while having something on the side. A passion project or something.”

Alya considered this with another sip of her wine.

“You might be onto something there, girl.” She nudged her with her elbow. “But hey! Talking is only part of what we came here to do. How about we start up a bad rom com?” Marinette groaned. “Oh, hush. You’re basically a living rom com anyway, with how you and Adrien are.”

While Marinette sputtered and tried to argue, Alya cackled as she ducked out of Marinette’s reach to put the dvd in.

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

“How I missed Paris,” Chloe sighed as she stepped outside of the fashion boutique, carrying two large bags of the latest styles. “You should see some of the things I saw Americans wearing. Ridiculous, Adrikins. Absolutely ridiculous.”

Adrien chuckled as he fell into step beside her, the padding of his comfortable shoes drowned out by the confident clicking of Chloe’s heels. “So that’s all you missed while you were abroad, Chlo?”

Chloe peered at him over her large sunglasses. “Coy isn’t a good look on you. But no,” she added after a moment, “I suppose I missed the people too. You. Kagami.” Adrien watched her patiently and eventually she groaned and stamped her feet. “Okay, fine! Even Alya, Nino, and Marinette.”

“I’m happy to hear it,” Adrien said, giving her a thumbs up. “They’re certainly warming up to you too.”

“Right. Good. Not that I care, or anything.” Chloe sniffed and walked just a little bit faster. Adrien fought down a smile - he could recognize Chloe running away from her feelings any day of the week. Which is why he was surprised when she slowed down again, just before they reached her living space. When she spoke, it was more of a whisper. “So mom called again.”

The smirk he’d been wearing vanished in an instant, a serious expression replacing it. “What did she want this time?”

“Same as usual,” Chloe replied while swiping her card at the gate. “She was asking when I’d be coming back. It’s getting harder to tell her that I won’t be.”

“You’ll have to eventually,” Adrien said patiently. “You’ve already put it off for more than six months now.”

“Duh, Adrien. I get that part.” There was venom in her voice, but it was half-hearted and gone by the time she continued. “But knowing that and actually doing something about it aren’t the same thing.”

“You’ll get there eventually,” Adrien said, putting a hand on Chloe’s shoulder. “And it’s alright to be scared. She dominated your life for a long time. No one is expecting you to get over that overnight.”

“Yeah… I guess…”

“If you want, I can be there when you call.” Adrien brightened up and said, “And you can invite Kagami too! She’s got a lot of experience at telling parents to back off, so I bet she’d be willing to give a few tips.”

Chloe smirked. “You might be onto something there. If I freeze up, maybe she can even take over and chew out dear old mom for me.”

“There’s the spirit!” Adrien held up his hand. “High fives for spunky Asian girlfriends!”

Laughing, Chloe managed to high five him. “Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.” They stepped into her apartment. She stopped and frowned at the air. “You know what I just realized?”

“What’s that?”

“It’s not just about taking out the toxic people in your life. You need to add good people if you want to heal.” She smiled at him. It was a rare smile on Chloe - there was no smugness, no spite to it. Just honest joy and peace. “I’m glad you’ve been in my life all these years, Adrien. Even when I didn’t deserve it, you were always a good friend.”

She hugged him and after a moment of hesitation he returned the hug.

“That’s the thing, Chloe. You always did deserve a good friend. You just didn’t realize it.”

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

Adrien as Chat Noir slipped in through their shared balcony after a long day hanging out with Chloe. He was emotionally spent after doing all he could to help his old friend and at this point all he wanted to do was curl up next to Marinette and go to sleep.

That plan had a slight hiccup when he looked up to see Marinette walking around in a circle, staring at one of her outfits for the spring show. It was actually one of the ones that he would be wearing, but the important fact was that it had been finished weeks ago. Specifically because it was so easy to get the measurements done.

“Hey, kitty,” she said absently, never once taking her eyes off of the outfit.

“Hey, love bug.” He walked behind her and put his arms around her waist, tucking his chin on the space between her shoulder and neck. This close, he could practically feel her exhaustion, from the way her body was sagging a little, to how her eyes struggled to stay open even as she focused on the task at hand. She needed sleep, even if she pretended like she didn’t. “Whatcha you looking at?”

She sighed. “Just… going over all my pieces for the show. Again. I need to make sure everything is perfect.”

“Hm…” he made a show of peering at the spring outfit. “Looks perfect to me. Why don’t you give it a once over in the morning, huh?”

“No, no, that’s alright. I might as well get it done now.” She squirmed a little against his embrace, but didn’t really try to escape.

Changing tactics, Adrien said, “Well, I’m going to bed. It was a long day today… I could use some cuddles.”

“Uh-huh,” Marinette replied distantly. Her focus was entirely on the mannequin in front of her. “Go to bed, I’ll be there in a bit.”

“Well, I didn’t want to have to do this, but…” Quickly changing his grip, Adrien picked her up in a princess carry. Marinette squeaked in protest as she was carried to the bedroom.

“Adrien! I’m-”

“-driving yourself crazy trying to find non existent flaws? I agree completely. Besides, you’re practically dead on your feet.”

“I am not,” Marinette said with a yawn. Her already feeble struggles had turned into her resting her head on his chest, eyes fluttering as she tried to keep them open.

“Mhm. If you really want to worry yourself sick again, you can do that in the morning.” He gently set her in bed and pulled the blankets over her. “Claws in.” A flash of green light later and he was crawling in beside her. “But for now - sleep.”

“No, I don’t want to,” she said, but she was already clinging onto him, eyes shut and face buried into his chest as she drifted off to sleep.

Adrien listened to her steady breathing as he stroked her hair, feeling himself follow her into unconsciousness.