#I know they already sold Lady Noire a while ago but I didn’t get it

[magical-xirl-4]

I have an older Ladybug doll atm but my plans are getting a newer one as well as Marinette, Luka and Viperion so I can make Lukanette, Vipernette and ViperBug a reality. And probably a Lady Noire one so I can also make LukaNoire happen 😆

[lobster-tales]

Dancing

Day 14 of @marichatmay. This fic is available here on AO3. 

Summary: Chat Noir crashes a wedding and waltzes with the girl serving cake. Also this is a song fic: the tune is If My Heart Was a House by Owl City

Chat Noir had escaped hundreds of times, just never from a wedding.

Stealth missions taught him how to weave through the crowd, away from the dancefloor. Behind him, a little girl’s voice called his name. Originally, he had promised Manon one dance, but that was seven songs ago, and he had finally managed to break free.

Chat Noir fled into the sculpture garden and ducked behind the hedges, skirting around the Musee Rodin. The building was small in comparison to some of the other art museums in Paris. Because of this, the wedding was hosted instead on the structure’s south lawn.

He arrived at the silent north facade of the building and pulled on one of the doors, ecstatic to find it unlocked. He slipped inside the museum, slumping against the door as he caught his breath.

While the outside of the museum was alight, the inside was still and moody, sculptures and paintings lining the walls. The noise from the party was audible but muffled, echoing strangely off the tile. Kinda creepy, he thought, rising to his feet. The eyes of the statues seemed to all be looking at him.

Chat Noir moved past the artworks, casting each one a wary look. He turned to enter the next room and froze.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng stood there with her back to him. Chat Noir saw her at the cake table earlier, serving the pastries from her parents bakery. When did she leave the party? he wondered. Come to think of it, she’s the only one here who didn’t ask for a picture with me.

She faced a bronze statue of a man, his muscled arm raised to push back his cropped hair, the other hand suspended beside him. Seizing the opportunity, Chat Noir crept forward. He reached out and gently tapped her shoulder.

“AH!” Marinette whipped around, grabbing his wrist, her other hand raised to punch him. She tensed, staring into Chat Noir’s green eyes. “Chat Noir?”

“Good reflexes, princess.”

She scoffed and released him. “Well, you shouldn’t sneak up on people like that! One of these days you could end up with a black eye.”

“I’ve had worse,” he shrugged, standing beside her. He placed his thumb and index finger on his chin, considering the statue. “I see you’re a fan of the male physique,” he said coyly, referring to the sculpture’s nudity.

Just as he hoped, her face flushed pink. “No!” She looked away, embarrassed. “I’m just a fan of… art.”

“Riiiiight, art.” Chat Noir moved in front of the sculpture, turning to Marinette and mimicking the statue’s pose. “Alas,” he said dramatically. “I sold all my clothes to pay the barber, and now he’s cut my hair too short.”

She fought back a laugh, her giggles echoing in the empty room. “Stop that!” she said, swiping at him.

Chat Noir broke character with a smile. “You know, I missed you at the reception.”

Anger flickered across her eyes, disappearing before he could wonder what it meant. “Seems I was the only one.”

“Eh, I’m used to fans.” The sentiment was true: his secret identity, Adrien Agreste, was a model. But no one could know that, he realized, and said quickly, “Y-you know, being a superhero and all.”

“Yes, it must be so hard for you,” she mused. “Everyone fawning over you wherever you go.”

“Well, not everyone. My lady doesn’t.”

“Good for her,” Marinette said with a smirk. “One less person to stroke your ego.”

And neither do you, he thought, but brushed the idea away. “I’m a man of the people. If the citizens of Paris want to snap a few pictures with their favorite superhero, who am I to say no?”

“I’ve been meaning to ask, are you crashing the wedding or were you actually invited?”

“I just happened upon it,” he said, feigning nonchalance. “I tried to stay hidden, but Manon found me out.”

“... So you saw when I..?”

“Showed up late?” He grinned. “Hard to miss.” He remembered Marinette dashing through the party, skidding to a stop in front of Nadja and her new wife. Marinette had apologized profusely, but the brides only responded with reassuring smiles. Anyone that was acquainted with Marinette knew her tardiness was unavoidable. Even Chat Noir had come to expect it from her.

“It wasn’t my fault!” Marinette faced him, her fists clenched.

He raised his hands. “No need to get defensive, princess. Manon was the only one who got upset.” Chat Noir chuckled. “She really wanted that cake.”

Marinette pressed her lips together to hide a smile. “I know. She’s been asking about it for days.”

“Seeing as it’s from your parents' bakery, I don’t blame her.” He watched as she turned away. “So are you a guest or are you working?”

Marinette drifted into a different room. “Both. Neither. When Nadja ordered the cake, I offered to serve it.”

“That’s nice of you,” he said, following.

“Well, she is my best customer.”

“Right, the babysitting.” Chat Noir paused at a sculpture of a centaur. “Manon’s a sweet kid. At least, when she’s not hungry.”

Marinette chuckled. “Let me guess; she’s still looking for you?”

“How did you know?” Chat Noir peered out the window. Manon had returned to the dancefloor, laughing as she danced with her new stepmother. “Actually, it looks like she gave up. Guess we’re both wrong.”

“Guess so.” Marinette stopped to stare at a painting. The light from the party wafted in, illuminating her in a soft glow. Chat Noir felt a flutter in his heart just looking at her, but forced the feeling away. He was in love with Ladybug, and besides, his duty as a superhero meant no dating.

Still, she looked so beautiful. He noticed now that Marinette was not wearing her usual jacket and pants. Her dress was a soft pink, with short puffed sleeves and a bow in the center of her chest. The waist clung to her, fabric spilling out around her thighs. She looked like a fairytale. Or a wedding guest, he thought dumbly.

“I like your dress,” he said.

She kept her eyes on the painting, but smiled shyly. “Thanks. I made it.”

Of course she did. Classic Marinette, overflowing with talent. “You did a good job.”

“Thanks,” she said again.

They admired the sculptures in silence, until she asked, “Doesn’t your… costume thingie have a timer or something?”

He looked at the ring on his hand. I still have time. “Yeah, but the battle today was pretty easy. By the time I got there, Ladybug had already done most of the work. I didn’t even use my cataclysm.”

Marinette searched his face. “That’s good.”

“Right? She’s pretty incredible.” He sighed dreamily. “Milady always has a plan; she’s a master strategist. Not to mention she’s beautiful and daring and kind and-” Chat Noir caught her looking at him with a funny expression. “What?”

“Nothing,” she said, averting her gaze. “You’re just… sweet.”

His shoulders slumped. “I know what you’re thinking. I’m a hopeless romantic. Someone as amazing as Ladybug could never be with someone like me.”

They entered the next room. In the center stood a marble statue with an embracing couple. The man’s hand rested on her hip while her arm linked around his neck, both seated and leaning into each other. Marinette and Chat Noir stared at the statue, enraptured.

“Maybe… it’s not you,” Marinette said quietly. “Maybe it’s just that… love is hard.”

“Yeah,” Chat Noir murmured. “Maybe.”

They exchanged glances, then looked away quickly. In this room, the party music came through clearer. A beat pounded as the crowd whooped outside.

Marinette cleared her throat. “I should probably get back to the party.”

“Oh yeah? Gotta go bust a move on the dancefloor?” He did the robot poorly, and she laughed.

“As if! I’ve got two left feet.”

“What a coincidence,” he quipped. “I’ve got two right ones.”

She rolled her eyes. “Sure you do.” Marinette took a step towards the door. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to plant myself on the edge and do my best wallflower impression.”

“You’re really not going to dance?”

The sincerity in his voice shocked her, and she stopped to consider him. “So everyone can watch me fall on my face? No thanks.”

“Oh come on,” he groaned. “You know how many songs I danced to? And my partner was three feet shorter than me!”

“You got yourself into that mess,” she giggled.

Chat Noir extended his hand towards her. “What if I ask nicely?”

Marinette glared at him. “Still not happening.”

“Please? Just one song.” He smirked. “No one can see you in here, princess.”

She pressed her lips together. Chat Noir did have a point, and the song was upbeat. Marinette decided she could suffer a few moments of awkward shuffling for her friend.

Marinette took his hand wordlessly, preparing herself for a weak shimmy. Just as she stepped towards him, the song changed. The beat disappeared, replaced by a smooth piano melody.

“Nope!” Marinette leaned away, but Chat Noir pulled her close to him. She was surprised at how gentle yet forceful he was, but convinced herself that his quiet strength was part of the super suit.

“Oh no, you don’t,” he grinned, guiding her right hand to his left shoulder. This close, he caught a whiff of her perfume. He stared at her for a moment, caught off guard by the floral scents. The smell reminded him of rose petals.

She shot him a quizzical look, jerking him from his stupor. “S-sorry, just… follow my lead,” he said.

Marinette stiffened as he placed his hand on her waist. Her mind raced as she thought of an excuse. “Th- this song is so slow, though. We won’t be able to dance to it.”

“It’s not slow. It’s just in 6/8 time,” he explained.

Her blank stare reminded him that he was wearing a mask. “Th-that is, it’s um…” Oh, whatever. “It’s not 1… 2… 1… 2… It’s actually, 1 (2 3) 2 (2 3). There’s smaller beats in between, and a full measure has 6 total.”

Marinette’s confusion fell away to awe. “Chat Noir, a musician.”

“Among other things,” he said, taking the chance to wink. “I’m a man of many talents, princess.”

She rolled her eyes again. “So how are we supposed to dance to it?”

“It’s a waltz. Here,” he said, backing away to look down at her feet. “Take a step back with your left foot. Now take your right and step to the side, so your feet are shoulder width apart. Next, bring your left foot next to the right.”

Marinette obeyed clumsily as he continued, “This is a box step waltz, so you’re basically making two triangles, and the triangles make a square. You’re going to repeat the motion, but backwards. So step forward with your right foot, left to the side - shoulder width apart - and…”

She instinctively brought her right foot to meet her left and he said, “Yes, just like that!”

Spurred on by his enthusiasm, Marinette tried again, alone. She stumbled a few times, stepping with the wrong foot. At one point, her legs crossed and she began to fall, but Chat Noir caught her. He helped her stand, taking her hand in his and placing the other on her waist once again. “Here, it’ll help if I lead you.”

They began to dance, slowly at first. Chat Noir was patient with her, guiding her feet with his own as he whispered, “1, 2, 3, 2, 2, 3...” Just as they established a steady rhythm, the song faded.

“Oh,” Marinette said, disappointment leaking into her tone. “I guess it’s over.”

Her sadness struck him, and he asked, “Wanna do another? Now that you’ve got the hang of it?”

She nodded shyly in response, positioning her hands once more.

The next song started with a low synth sound, no tempo discernible yet. The artist’s voice broke through, accompanied by the crisp beat of a hi-hat cymbal.

“You’re the sky that I fell through And I remember the view, whenever I’m holding you”

The song was faster than the last, but Chat Noir and Marinette adapted quickly. His muttered counts fell away, though his mouth still shaped the numbers with each step. Marinette watched his concentration, relaxing in his arms. She had never seen Chat Noir so focused on anything, and the change was welcome.

“The sun hung from a string Looking down on the world As it warms over everything

Chills run down my spine”

He twirled her spontaneously. Marinette gasped and fell to the side, but he helped her recover by pulling her close again.

“As our fingers entwine”

Chat Noir placed his gloved fingers between her bare ones.

“And your sighs harmonize with mine”

Within seconds, they fell back into the rhythm.

“Unmistakably I can still feel your heart Beat fast when you dance with me”

Marinette felt her pulse racing. She pretended it was just from the dancing, the fast movement.

"We got older and I should've known (Do you feel alive?) That I feel colder when I walk alone (Oh, but you'll survive)”

“Here,” he said softly. “Let’s try this.”

“So I may as well ditch my dismay”

Chat Noir pulled away and crossed his right wrist with hers, tucking his other hand behind his back. Their feet slowed from the fast triplet, circling each other on the two main beats.

“Bomb’s away”

As the artist drew out the last word, Chat Noir nodded at her. They switched, crossing left wrists and circling each other the opposite way.

“Bomb’s away”

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

“No,” she lied with a smirk.

He smiled and said, “Big steps now.” Wordlessly, they fell into the waltz again as the chorus started. This time, Marinette stepped farther back with her left foot, then right. Chat Noir turned her to the right as she brought her feet together. She then moved her right foot forward, the left passing, then she turned her body once more to bring them beside each other.

“Circle me and the needle moves gracefully Back and forth If my heart was a compass, you'd be north”

They continued to move in a square around the marble statue. Marinette knew she should be stumbling, falling all over herself. For some reason, though, her steps were confident. Chat Noir kept her steady and secure.

“Risk it all, 'cause I'll catch you if you fall Wherever you go If my heart was a house, you'd be home”

As the chorus receded, they fell into a small box step again, one that saw them through the second verse. Marinette laughed breathlessly, her eyes shining. “Sorry, I’m getting dizzy.”

“Me too,” Chat Noir said with a grin.

“It makes me smile because you said it best I would clearly feel blessed If the sun rose up from the west"

Marinette felt too comfortable in the silence, and invited conversation by asking, “Where did you learn to dance?”

“It was actually part of the hero curriculum.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Oh, so there’s a curriculum?”

“Of course.” A playful flicker crossed his eyes. “My lady got higher grades than me in every class, except ballroom dancing.”

“I see. Even so, I must be a pretty clumsy dance partner compared to Ladybug.” Marinette chuckled.

Chat Noir fell silent, his expression suddenly very serious as the verse ended.

“Flower-bomb perfume All my clothes smell like you 'Cause your favorite shade is navy blue”

For the next part of the song, Marinette held tight with one hand and outstretched the other. She turned into him as Chat Noir took her other hand, twirling her in his arms.

“I walk slowly when I'm on my own”

Within the closeness, he said, “You’re not clumsy, Marinette.”

“(Do you feel alive?)”

She tensed as she repeated the motion, pulling away from him, then returning to spin beside him.

“Yeah, but frankly, I still feel alone”

This time, he held her in his arms for a longer moment. “In fact, you’re the best dance partner I’ve ever had.”

"(Oh, but you'll survive)"

She managed a gulp as they waltzed the small box step once more. Marinette looked away, not wanting to meet his soft gaze.

“So I may as well ditch my dismay”

They crossed wrists again and glided around each other.

“Bombs away”

When she moved to switch wrists, Chat Noir instead reached his hand around her waist. Marinette jumped slightly, her hand going to his neck on impulse. They held each other close as they circled once more.

“Bombs away”

They positioned themselves for the waltz as the chorus started to build. Just as the drums intensified, the sound fell away into a mellow synth. Both of them froze, relaxing when the artist sang once more. They grinned sheepishly at each other. Chat Noir’s cat-like eyes were luminescent in the darkened room. Marinette’s reflected the glow of the party lights outside.

“Circle me and the needle moves gracefully"

Both became acutely aware of his hand on her waist. He shifted his grip, the motion sending a shiver up Marinette’s spine. Her lips parted slightly, and Chat Noir wondered if they had always been that pink.

"Back and forth, if my heart was a compass you’d be north."

Marinette stiffened in preparation to dance, snapping Chat Noir out of his reverie. As the music crashed into passion again, they resumed their waltz around the room. There was no hesitation in their movement, nothing awkward or uncoordinated. The sculpture of the lovers sat at the center of their path, marble lips pressed against each other. The statue’s intimacy paled in comparison to their dance.

“Risk it all, 'cause I'll catch you if you fall Wherever you go If my heart was a house you’d be home”

The dancers broke from the routine at the same moment. They became a series of twirls and spins, Marinette’s dress flaring out with the movement. Chat Noir never looked away from her, and when she finished her final twirl, he placed his right hand on her waist and reached under her knee with the left. The light pressure of his fingers asked silently, and Marinette granted his request by lifting her knee to his grasp, her arm secured around his shoulder.

“If my heart was a house you’d be home”

He held her as they spun, their faces centimeters apart. Slowly, he set her down, and they resumed their waltz as the song played out it’s final notes. Sensing the end, Chat Noir placed both hands on her waist. Marinette let herself be dipped, stretching out one hand gracefully.

When she stood, they held each other’s hands, breathless. The song transitioned into an upbeat anthem, the wedding guests cheering from outside the museum. Despite the noise, Chat Noir and Marinette heard nothing, only the pounding of their hearts. Well that, and…

Beep beep beep!

Chat Noir winced, glancing at the ring on his hand.

“You’re going to transform soon,” Marinette said. She spoke with an unnerving certainty, but Chat Noir had no time to reflect on it.

“Yes.” He stared at her. Her back was to the window, the light illuminating the fabric of her dress. Chat Noir committed the sight to memory, before lifting her hand in his own and pressing his lips to her knuckles. “Merci, princesse.”

With that, he retreated to the shadows, slipped through the door, and melted into the night.

[chocoluckchipz]

The Other You - 2

Read it on A03, FF.net, WattPad

< Previous

His body heavy, eyes drooping closed, Adrien released his transformation and flopped on his bed face down. Who in the world thought that him running a fashion empire after spending all day teaching the principles of physics to teenagers was a good idea? Add in Chat Noir’s obligatory patrols, and you've got yourself a sleep-deprived, confused, and stressed disaster of a man. Yet, despite his exhaustion, Adrien’s lips stretched in a smile as soon as his head collided with a pillow.

“I’m so tempted to just sleep,” he whispered into the silence of his bedroom. “There’s always morning for changing clothes and grooming.”

“Do whatever you want,” Plagg puffed. “But I need disinfection. Seriously, you two need to get a room and preferably a kwami-free one. I didn’t sign up for this uncivilized, touchy-feely stuff. Can’t you just reveal identities and free me from being an involuntary participant in your grossly romantic endeavours?”

“If it were up to me, I would've done that a long time ago,” Adrien murmured. His shoes and clothes already on the floor, he crawled under the comforter, yawning. “But, you know just as well as I do that it isn't up to me, and Ladybug might actually be right about it being dangerous.”

“Hawkmoth hasn’t been active for years,” Plagg whined, finishing wiping himself with a sanitizing towelette and immediately heading straight for his stash of Camembert. “He’s probably dead already. Why do you still need to keep these masks on?”

“Hawkmoth not being active for a while isn’t proof that we’ll never see him again,” Adrien replied, wrapping himself around his pillow. “What if he’s just waiting for us to put our guard down to strike?”

“He isn’t that smart.”

“I wouldn’t say so,” Adrien yawned again. “The man kept us on our toes for a decade. But even if, presumably, he’s out for good, this isn't the time to start a relationship still.”

“Why not?”

“Plagg, please,” Adrien mumbled, his eyes closed as he snuggled the pillow closer. “You know as well as I do that Ladybug is going through a rough period right now. Her job now demands all of her time and attention thanks to that jerk-boss that ditched them. Her relationship with her roommate—her best friend may I add—seems to worsen every time I hear about it. And have you even seen her? She’s lost weight and looks pale and tired all the time.” Adrien paused, opening his eyes. His chest tightened as he looked into the darkness of his bedroom. “Right now, Ladybug needs a friend who’ll support her, not another relationship to work on. And since I can’t help her with her civilian life, I’d be damned if I added to her problems.”

Adrien rolled over and pulled his comforter over his head. Ladybug needed a friend right now, not a boyfriend, and he loved her too much to add a romantic relationship to her already nearly unbearable pile. So until she got her promotion, he’d support her as a friend and would remain close for whenever she needed him. Once she reached her goal, though, that would change because then, Ladybug would actually have time and strength for a relationship with him. Otherwise, Adrien was afraid he was risking ruining everything before it even started. He’d already waited for her for years, he could certainly wait a little longer.  

“Whatever you say, lover boy,” Plagg murmured and started to settle in his little bed, turning and twisting until he found the perfect position. “Goodnight, kid.”

“Goodnight, Plagg,” Adrien replied, his thoughts racing back to his Lady and the effortless friendship they’d developed that tiptoed dangerously on the border of romance. It would come eventually. Adrien knew that, and when it did, he'd make his Lady the happiest girl in all of France. He'd never take her for granted. He'd always—

“Wipe that dopey smile off your face,” Plagg suddenly grumbled. “It’s creepy to grin like an idiot in the dark.”

“How do you even see what I am doing from your wastebasket all the way over there?”

“I don’t need to see it. I can feel it. Now, stop it and go to bed. You have tons of work tomorrow and just a few hours left to sleep.”

“Don’t remind me.” Adrien groaned, flopping on his back. “I should’ve sold my shares and been done with it.”

“Then why did you listen to that dude from your work? You should try it, Adrien,” Plagg mocked. “See for yourself before deciding on what to do: continue teaching or follow in your father’s footsteps. Nonsense, I tell you. You should’ve sold and invested in Camembert production, something useful for once.”

“Max isn't a dude,” Adrien chuckled. “He's a friend, and he has a point. I've spent my life hating the fashion industry only because of my father and his crazy obsession with his work. Maybe—”

“He kicked you out of the house because you followed your passion instead of whatever he wanted you to do.”

“He didn’t kick me out. I left.”

“Doesn’t matter. The point is, this fashion nonsense ruined your life. Why would you want to ‘try it out’?”

“My life isn’t ruined. And I think it’s smart to make sure I really do hate heading a fashion empire instead of simply projecting my failed relationship with my father on the whole industry.”

“A load of BS if you ask me.”

“What’s the big deal, anyway? It’s just for a few months. If I don’t like it by the end of the summer, I’m selling.”

“It’s May now—”

“Almost June.”

“Still May, meaning that there are more than a few months until the end of the summer. And good luck enjoying each and every one of them with Marinette around. She gave you quite a welcome today, didn’t she?”  

Adrien froze, all sleep vanishing at once, events of the past that changed his life forever flashing in front of his eyes.

***

On the day of their high school graduation, Marinette confessed. She blushed and stuttered and was absolutely adorable, expressing in the most beautiful and sincere of ways just how much he meant to her. When she finished speaking, with a trembling, hopeful smile on her lips, she raised her eyes, full of fear and anxiety, to look at him, but stunned, Adrien couldn't reply for the longest time.

He loved Marinette. He truly did, but only as a dear, close friend. He hated to reject her feelings, but even if Adrien wanted to give Marinette his heart, he couldn't. It had belonged to Ladybug ever since the day they’d met.

Speechless, all Adrien was able to do was look back at Marinette with eyes full of regret and apology. She didn’t need words to understand his answer. Whispering something he didn’t quite catch, Marinette escaped before Adrien could do as little as to say how sorry he was.

He’d never forgiven himself for breaking her heart, and if only he had been more careful, Adrien was certain they would’ve gotten through that incident without losing their friendship. Unfortunately, Adrien wasn’t so lucky. A few days later, he learned that Marinette had been pre-approved for an internship at his father's company. He lost his sleep over it because, living his whole life in the shadow of Gabriel Agreste, Adrien knew quite well what working for his father entailed and what it did to people as nice as Marinette. Sure, from the sidelines, being an employee at the hottest fashion house around seemed glamorous and exciting. In reality, there were only two options: you either allow this work to squash you and have a nervous breakdown before your first year was up, or you become just like his father—a cold, emotionless, heartless workaholic. There were no in-betweens or exceptions as far as Adrien was aware.

He couldn't let any of those happen to Marinette. Not when he wouldn’t be there to protect her. Not when, following a massive argument with his father over his plans for the future less than a week ago, Adrien was about to walk out of there himself. As of that moment, Adrien was supposed to move out of his childhood home by the end of the month if he wanted to pursue his dream of becoming a teacher. Otherwise, he’d have to cater to his father’s every whim indefinitely. The choice was clear, and seeing as he was escaping that hell of a company himself, Adrien couldn't silently stand on the sidelines and watch Marinette try to get on board. Not when, unlike him, she didn't know the reality of working for his father. Sadly enough, considering the timing, Adrien doubted that based on his words alone, Marinette would ditch her lifelong dream of working for Gabriel in favour of any other fashion houses that were sure to welcome her with open arms as soon as they saw her portfolio.

That's why he'd done it. That's why Adrien stole her file from his father's office.

He only wanted to protect her. He never meant any harm. He planned to sneak her portfolio to a few of his acquaintances in the other fashion houses that would be a much better fit for Marinette than his father's company ever could.

Perhaps, he could've chosen a better way to go about that, but at that moment, this was all that Adrien could come up with. Better timing also would’ve been nice. With his rejection of her confession, the moment to mess around with Marinette’s passions was as wrong as could be. Still, Adrien was confident his plan would work. The next day, he had a photoshoot for a fashion house that was on top of his list of better options for Marinette, so he stashed a copy of her portfolio in his bag and didn’t think twice about it.

Big mistake.

An hour before he was supposed to leave for the said photoshoot, Alya and Nino dragged him out of the house, picked up Marinette on their way and headed to their favourite cafe for some celebration he couldn’t even remember now. Despite the slight awkwardness between Marinette and him, their hang out turned out to be quite enjoyable. So pleasant, in fact, that Adrien let his guard down and made the second biggest mistake of his life—he’d allowed Alya to rummage around in his bag for mints while he visited the men's room before departing for his photoshoot.

Huge… colossal mistake.

Adrien stopped short of reaching the table on his way back. His friends stared at him in shock; his gaze focused on Marinette.

“Is this the reason no one could find my application when I called them three days ago?” She whispered, looking him straight in the eyes as she clutched her portfolio in her hands. “And the day after that? And yesterday? Today as well? They couldn’t find my portfolio because you took it?”

His body and mind paralyzed, Adrien stood frozen in place. He hadn't expected Marinette to find out. He hadn't the slightest idea of what to do or say.

Hastily, Marinette gathered her things and headed for the door only to halt her steps in front of him a moment later.

“Why?” she asked, her voice trembling. “I can understand and accept you not returning my feelings; no one can control their heart. But this?” Her voice cracked as tears escaped her eyes and streamed down her face. “Why would you be so cruel? What did I do to you to deserve this?”

Stunned, Adrien helplessly watched Marinette for a few moments, his dumbfounded silence only fueling her already rushed assumption about the situation. When his speech had returned, he’d scrambled to explain.

“You can’t work for my father.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “Oh. And why?”

“It’s a bad idea. You don’t know what working for him can do to you. Marinette, I’ve been there. I’ve seen things… terrible things that happen to people because they can’t handle the workload and demands. I don’t want you there. I don’t want you—”

Marinette raised her hand and spat, “Stop it. I don’t care what you’ve seen there. Those people aren't me. This is not yourdecision to make, Adrien. It’s my life. My decisions. And if it would be a mistake, I want to be the one making it!”

“But—”

“Save it. I thought we were friends, but I guess I was wrong. Friends support each other, not—” She swallowed, looking away, and quietly added, “If my feelings are so much of an inconvenience to you that you didn’t even want me working at your father’s company, you should’ve said so. I would have stayed away on my own. You didn’t have to do this.”

With those words, she walked away. Alya and Nino followed.  

“I can’t believe you,” Alya had snarled. Nino kept looking down as he followed his girlfriend.

They’d kicked him out of their private chat room that same day. Adrien's multiple calls, emails and texts over the next few weeks to the three had gone unanswered. His hope for a chance to explain had been slowly dying, and in the end, it was Chloe—the only friend who remained by his side—who’d convinced him to give up. His heart was breaking, but Chloe was likely right; if none of his friends had responded by then, they’d probably blocked him. Adrien had some pride left, and he wasn’t going to impose himself on anyone in person if they wouldn't speak to him over the phone. There was only so much he could do trying to fix that mess; and he’d done more than enough. By the end of the month, Adrien moved out of the mansion, changed his contacts, and tried to start a new life, leaving everyone behind.

With his move, his relationship with his father had taken a sharp turn for the worse, the two of them becoming as good as strangers. Thankfully, Adrien had enough work and savings to support himself. Soon, he’d found new friends in university, and life seemed to be regaining at least some sense of normalcy. He regretted neither leaving his father nor trying to stop Marinette from entering Gabriel. Quite the opposite, Adrien would've never forgiven himself if he hadn't tried to save her from the claws of the monster called Gabriel Agreste.

Years passed. Adrien graduated and began working as a physics teacher at a local high school, ending his modelling career as soon as he’d signed his teaching contract.

He never heard much from Gabriel until the day his lawyer called from a hospital. A few murmured words of apology from his father in his final moments couldn’t fix anything, but in his heart, Adrien still mourned. He still cared because no matter how estranged they'd grown, Gabriel was still his father and there had been times when Adrien had been happy with him. He wished it could've been different. He wished they could've had a better relationship, but it was a little too late to change anything when his father was taking his final breaths. A failure on both sides. Adrien mourned that as well.

***

Adrien shifted in his bed. He had never asked to inherit anything. He didn’t need this company. It ruined a good part of his life, and for that, he hated it. Being cut off by his former friends, he didn’t know Marinette had been working there, sending all of his sacrifices to hell. But, boy, was he right. That gorgeous woman that snuck into his father’s office today—yes, he had to admit she was gorgeous; Marinette was always pretty but she had bloomed into a beautiful woman—was so exhausted that her beauty was barely visible. A thick layer of exhaustion glazed over her stunning blue eyes; her flawless skin looked pale; the sagging curve of her pink lips did absolutely nothing to accentuate her loveliness. The deep frown line in the middle of her forehead might have been there because of meeting him, but still, Adrien’s heart tightened. Working for his father hadn’t been merciful to Marinette.

Just as he’d predicted.

The worst part of all, however, was that Marinette seemed to not see it herself, fighting for a company that, without a strong leader, was quickly going under. Didn’t she have anyone in her life to care enough for her to shake her out of that trance? Didn’t she—

A thought popped into his head so unexpected and crazy, his eyes widened. It was rather insane, but perhaps fate was giving him a chance to redeem himself?

Whatever wrong he’d done before, his intentions were always pure: to help Marinette. She used to be his friend. He cared for her. Surely fate or destiny or whatever cosmic force that controlled his luck saw that and thought it unfair for Adrien to be condemned for what he hadn’t done. He wasn’t a backstabber; he was a loyal friend.

So, perhaps if he was the bigger person and helped Marinette now, she’d see his noble objective and would have to admit that he wasn’t as horrible of a person as she probably thought him to be. Perhaps she’d even apologize. He was older now, more mature. Surely, he could come up with better plans for how to improve Marinette's life, help her succeed, and prove the purity of his intentions and sincerity of his character.

He did also kind of owe her for breaking her heart. Maybe this was a chance to atone for that as well.

Adrien shook his head and rolled over in his bed. He shouldn’t. He shouldn’t care for someone who tossed him aside without even letting him explain. He shouldn’t help anyone who wouldn’t even listen to him or give him the benefit of the doubt.

He had been her friend. She had claimed to be in love with him. Why then was a simple mistake big enough for her to dismiss years of friendship and kick him out of her life? Why should he even think about doing anything nice for such a person, even if only to prove himself right?

Because she helped you just a few hours ago despite hating you.

Adrien groaned. Damn conscience! He still shouldn’t! She did it for the sake of her job, not because she cared for him.

She still helped you when you needed help. She isn’t a lost cause yet. There's still good in her.

Adrien pressed his lips together. He wouldn’t! Not after the way she treated him.

Weren’t you the one to deliver the first blow, though?

Adrien sat up, running his hands through his hair. Why was he such a pushover? Why couldn’t he be more like his father when it came to things like these? Why was he already thinking of the ways he could help Marinette?

Because you aren’t your father, and you still care.

“Okay, fine. I’ll help her.” He threw his hands up in the air in defeat. “Just leave me alone. I need to sleep.”

Settling back into his bed, Adrien closed his eyes and hoped for a few peaceful hours of slumber. Instead, his head buzzed with ideas crazy enough to make him chuckle one moment and bemoan his existence the next. By the time the morning rolled in, there were only two things that Adrien was certain of:

First, Gabriel would have to go. His father had built that company on his employees’ tears and suffering. It wasn’t worth saving, even if Adrien thought he figured out how to do that. It might be a petty, personal revenge move, but Adrien couldn’t find it in himself to care. It would be the right thing to do. Most of its employees had already handed in their resignation letters, anyway.

Second, there was only one way for Marinette to make it in this industry now: find a position in a different company. With her talent, it shouldn't be a problem. He just had to play his cards right and find her a company that would appreciate her more than his father ever did—showing her in the process what a grave mistake she made all those years back when she had cast him aside so cruelly.

Next >

[tired-college-student-writing]

If you're into Black Butler, maybe something with that and Miraculous ladybug? Or Black Butler with Demon Bim? I just think you'd do a good job with the Black Butler characters.

Oh boy! I just finished rewatching Black Butler actually! I had forgotten how much I loved the show. So here’s a bit of Miraculous Ladybug/Black Butler :D

ASK BOX IS OPEN SEND ME PROMPTS

________________________________________________

Marinette was different. 

Her family tried to keep her oddities to themselves when they could as the few that found out had branded their daughter as a freak, making the usually sweet girl’s icy glare freeze their very souls before they would leave and never talk to her again. 

When she was born her parents were shocked to see she not only had a sapphire blue eye, but her right was a transfixing purple as well. The doctors had said they should fade into more usual shades as she aged but they never did. Heterochromia they called it, when the eyes were different colors due to a mutation in how the melanin concentration in the eyes, but it was nothing to worry about and about 1% of the population had heterochromia in one form or another.  It didn’t stop Marinette from showing a clear disdain for anyone looking at her purple eye.

By two she was speaking in full English sentences which would have just been advanced for her age if they ever spoke anything, but French and Mandarin around her. But it wasn’t just English no, she could perfectly speak French, Latin, and German with little effort on her part. Never truly understanding why people would look at her strangely when such a small girl would be able to use five-syllable English words in normal conversation. 

When she was five her parents saw the first major mood shift. Chloe Bourgeois, the little terror, had been placed in the same class as Marinette. The girls were at odds from day one, but three months into the school year Chloe had tripped little Nino and almost landed him right into traffic. The sunny little girl had flipped in an instance, ripping into the other girl with the ferocity of a black mamba, controlled strikes verbally reducing the bully into shocked and fearful tears as she tore into everything from the girls clothes and hairs to her parents failing marriage and her father’s inability to fulfill his the campaign promises. She had then turned to Nino who was watching with wide shocked eyes and melted back to the soft caring girl she normally was, fussing over him and basically ordering him to come to her house so her mom could check over his scraped knee. It was months before Chloe said anything negative in front of Marinette for fear of the same attack, only it didn’t come, just earning a scowl and the usual banter that the blonde had come to expect from the baker’s daughter. It seemed there was a line for how far Marinette was willing to let Chloe go, and the blonde was careful never to toe that line. 

When she turned six her hatred of others seeing her right eye had reached its peak as she continued to make makeshift eyepatches out of anything she could get her hands on. Finally, her mother had taken her to the ophthalmologist to get colored contacts, to hide the purple hue. The ophthalmologist hadn’t wanted to give her contacts until her face had faded from the bright smile into a blank mask and she ran through the care and instructions that she had already known on contacts. The doctor decided to just hand them over after that. A blue contact for one eye and a clear one for the other with the prescription that fixed her lacking depth prediction. A single icy glare that nearly bordered on the one she gave Chloe many moons ago stopped any of the students in her class from commenting on her now same colored eyes.

At eight her parents noticed her new ‘friend’. A raven that seemed to have made a nest on her balcony, well maybe not a raven if the blood-red eyes had anything to do with it, but the lack of white tips on its wings ruled out anything else other than a hybrid.  They decided it better not to ask why this raven had roosted there as Marinette grew oddly attached to it quickly, though it was an odd bond they shared. Marinette could often be heard talking to the raven in English as if conversing with it, but gone was her normally cheerful demeanor, instead she would snark and ridicule the raven as if it was an unruly child. In turn, the raven would caw, peck at her and swat her with its wings. At the same time, however, they undeniably cared for each other. Marinette always made sure that the nest was warm and dry, though she never offered food to it, simply taunting the pastries in front of it with a remark about how they tasted so much better than ash.   

 The raven took great care to bring trinkets back to the girl, expensive items it had no way of getting, jewelry, sets of high-end buttons, the finest threads, rich untouched chocolates, once they even found an entire bolt of new fabric on the balcony. If it wasn’t for the cameras they had installed after that event they would have feared someone was visiting their little girl, but the raven was the only visitor to the balcony. Marinette was smart however, knowing where the holes in the camera's view were before they had been there for two months. She had been offended that they thought she would accept presents from strange humans. They relented that they trusted her and that she was a bright young girl but kept the cameras up. 

They asked her about her comments of ash and she didn’t remember ever saying anything like that. 

They asked her the raven’s name and she got a far off look in her eyes before she came back and said she doesn’t remember. 

Tikki appeared when she was thirteen and the little goddess almost recoiled in horror at the dark twisted magic radiating off of the girl chosen to be her holder. Demonic energy, nauseating to see this close around a soul so pure.  The book being swung at her and high pitched screech was the only thing that convinced Tikki there hadn’t been a mistake. The magic was too intertwined with her soul for it to be a new development, for her to have sold her soul in this lifetime.  No this was a deal that never got sealed, never allowed for the demon to consume her soul. It didn’t take her long to locate the raven on the balcony. They came to an agreement of mutual distance, realizing they were both here for the same reason to be here, to keep Marinette safe. 

During the Akuma battles where the heroes’ win is a close call, and her miraculous cure is stretched to the limits from bringing back countless lives, there was often a flash of red in the corner of her eye, simply waiting off in the distance to see if she could pull off the save once more.  Sometimes it would be replaced by a silent black figure or a golden blur, but they were always there. Simply waiting, watching. The raven always seemed more ruffled on the days the red was around. 

It wasn’t until near her 14th birthday did an Akuma come along with the power of fire, did something change. The Akuma was tall and black as night, swift and dancing like the flames they created, willing to kill and burn all of Paris down with them. Cheated on, backstabbed and burned, the woman wanted all of Paris to feel the pain her ex-girlfriend had made her feel. Each human that burned turned into its own flame beast, with the single-minded 

They had been chasing the victim through the streets when they rounded the corner. The bakery was engulfed in flames, inky black smoke billowing from the windows. She felt her heart leap into her throat. Her head screamed at her to run, they were coming for him, how her parents were dead, he wasn’t safe. Why was he out of the manor on her own anyway? He needed to get back, the servants would keep him safe. He needed to find-

Her mind snapped back into place as she realized the implications of her thoughts. Of his memories. 

“Are you alright?” The voice in front of her made her register the black figure in front of her, Chat Noir. Her knight. It seems as if she has one every lifetime. 

“Yes,” She said firmly, pulling away, “But I think it’s about time we got some assistance.” 

“Need to go get a miraculous?” He asked, knocking some advancing flame beasts back with his staff. 

She shook her head taking a step back as he kept her safe and tossed her yoyo as high as she could, no miraculous would help now. This victim was nothing short of a demon, and to fight a demon…

“Lucky Charm!” She shouted, catching the item and began pulling out her contact before she even looked down at the red and black contact case, filled with contact solution. 

“M’lady?” 

“Chaton,” She said with firm determination, turning her two-toned eyes to him, “I’m going to do something that will seem very strange and might scare you but please trust me.” 

His eyes were wide and tail lashing, but he didn’t hesitate to nod his head, never faltering in keeping the beasts away, “Of course, Bugaboo.” 

“Don’t call me that,” She snapped, voice slipping into English, before turning her eyes to the burning remains of her rooftop, “Sebastian, get down here you bloody mongrel. Don’t make me order you.” 

A large black blur flew from the nest she couldn’t make out anymore due to smoke, swooping high into the air before shifting in and gliding down, the once raven now kneeling in front of her, a cunning smirk pulling on the man’s lips, “Sorry for the wait mistress.” 

He was exactly as he was before, silky black hair falling elegantly around his face, framing the burgundy eyes that burned into her as they did the day they had made the contract. The only thing that changed was his clothes, gone was the tailcoat, polished silver pocket watch and crisp white gloves of a victorian butler, replaced by a sleek black suit and white button-down, black nails on display along with the sealing mark on the back of his hand. 

“Best to keep it, my lady, while I’m transformed. You couldn’t tell me the truth before, because…” She trailed off in question, eyebrow quirked. 

“Memory restoration requires a strong emotional response that plays on memories of your first life, my lady,” the demon gave her an innocent look as he rose, “I didn’t think you would appreciate me burning down the bakery before Miss Tikki could repair it.” 

“Sebastian,” 

They turned to look at the cat who had frozen beside them, noting the thinness of his pupil. 

“Chat,” Ladybug said slowly, “This is Sebastian, an old… friend of mine. He can help us.” 

“I-” Chat suddenly leaped forward, staff striking out between Sebastian and Marinette to knock away the beast that had appeared there, darting between them to continue fighting. 

His footwork had changed, becoming lighter than before as the ferocity grew. 

“Of course,” He spat, accented English spilling out of his lips, “Of course Sebastian was never human! I should have guessed,” 

“What?” 

The green eyes were sharp as they turned to the stunned pair, “Are you going to help me, Sebastian? I’m guessing that’s why my lady called for you. I can’t believe I didn’t put it together before! No human could run the manor as you did, I heard stories of the impossible feats you pulled but never did I think, ugh I’m an idiot!” 

Marinette couldn’t help but gape and she could see her butler’s eyebrows disappear into his hairline from the corner of her eye as she sputtered out, “Lizzie?!?” 

The blond just glared at her as she batted another beast away, “Ceil, I love you dearly but we’re going to have a serious talk about keeping demonic secrets from your fiance. I don’t care if it was a lifetime or three ago, we’re going to talk once the fires are gone and Sabastian if you think for a second you’re getting out of it, you are strongly mistaken. Now let’s finish this.” 

“Right,” Ladybug spoke slowly in French, “Head in the game Chat, yell at me later.”  

He shook his head as if to clear it, before returning to their normal tongue, “Right, sorry Elizabeth’s memories hit me like a brick wall... It is nice to see you, Sebastian!” 

“Likewise,” The demon hummed, tossing a flaming demon away.

The victim was easy to seduce with Sebastian at their side, the purple butterfly mask flared early on into the fight leaving the victim terrified as if Hawkmoth knew what Ladybug’s purple eye meant and what the man at their side was. Ending the battle was short work. 

“Pound it!” The teens cheered only for Marinette to turn a sly eye at Sebastian, “You two, Sebastian.” 

The demon raised a challenging brow, “Really now? How childish.” 

“Exactly why I want you to do it,” The sugary sweet smile held a hint of cruelness in it, “You’ll feel like a fool doing it, now come here.” 

The demon’s eye twitched but he raised his fist either way, “You haven’t changed at all.” 

[guardiankarenterrier]

Chat Noir and Marinette, Letter U. :)

(for this ask meme / also on ao3!)

(prompt is coming home, which is a DANGEROUS ONE TO HAND ME-)

“Home sweet home,” Adrien grumbles, detransforming as he slips through the apartment window.

He’s pretty sure this apartment’s been sold, now, and that means that he’s going to have to find another place within the week.  He’d like to find one sooner than that,  but he’s worn out enough from the four akuma today that he doesn’t even want to muster the energy to look for some place new right now.  There are roofs and alleys he can claim for a night or two until he has time to look, anyway.  

Plagg’s so tired that his grumbling doesn’t manage words.  He wanders over to the backpack they’d stashed in a corner, out of view of any windows, and phases into it instead of bothering to pull any of his cheese out.

(They’d run out of the last of their Camembert days ago, but Plagg got upset enough when Adrien kept apologising for only being able to get him cheddar that he’s not going to bring it up again).

Adrien flops onto his back on the floor, wincing as the empty hardwood makes his aches all known to him at once.  For all of the miraculous healing abilities of Ladybug’s Cure, he still always seems to find himself sore whenever they’ve had to fight a running battle.

And the two of the four akuma of the day had not wanted to be caught.

Adrien shifts, rolling over onto his stomach and burying his head in his arms.  His stomach growls, but he ignores it.  He’s been hungrier for longer and his desire to stop moving for a while overrides his desire to bother finding something to eat right now.

He should still probably have expected the hunk of cheddar Plagg bounces off his head, though.

“Hey,” Plagg says, and Adrien lifts his head just enough to glare at his kwami.  "Kid, you know you gotta eat.“

"Not hungry, Plagg,” Adrien mumbles, but another loud growl from his stomach makes him wince.  "…not that hungry.“

Plagg flits over and lands on Adrien’s head, hunkering down and purring loudly.  "Oh yeah, I totally believe you.  You wanna tell me yet how come you didn’t, like, clear out the kitchens before we took off?   Looked like that place would have had tons of food.”

Adrien’s aware.  He’d raided the kitchens for Camembert before they’d last left, but he’d left the rest of the food alone.

His stomach feels hollow and it’s not because of hunger this time.  "Yeah.  You would think.“

Plagg pauses.  "Kid?”

Adrien drops his head again, blowing out a breath that flutters his bangs.  He might have to try and cut his hair soon; if it gets any shaggier than this he’s going to look too obviously like Chat Noir.

Though that might not matter.

It’s not like anyone ever sees him detransformed anymore.

“Hey, kid…” Plagg slips off his head, landing on Adrien’s crossed arms.   “Seriously, you know this isn’t, like.  Sustainable.  Right?”

“Not going back,” Adrien says, muffled.

Plagg snorts.  "Yeah, I kinda figured.  Wasn’t gonna suggest it.  But the whole squatting in empty apartments thing? Ain’t gonna work forever.“

"Worked so far.”  Adrien stubbornly doesn’t move.  "And there’s always rooftops.“

"Weather’s a thing,” Plagg reminds him.  "Winter’s a thing.  Not to knock your whole stray cat theme, it’s a good theme, I gotta approve, but pretty sure you humans need shelter when it gets rough out.“

"Thought you said the suit’ll protect me from the elements.”  Adrien finally concedes that Plagg’s probably not about to let him sleep sprawled in the middle of the floor again, though, so he gets back to his feet.  "I could stay transformed.“

Plagg huffs.  "Stop it, will you? You need other humans, kid, and I think you know it.”  His kwami’s eyes narrow.  "Why didn’t you ever try finding somewhere else?  I know the posters are still up, but you’ve wrecked like half of them by now and most of the rest are in bad shape.“

Adrien cracks a tired smile, suddenly feeling sore all the way to his bones.  ”‘Cause there’s still a reward on those posters, Plagg.  Besides, I see more people as Chat Noir than I ever did as Adrien.“  Even if the only one he really spends any time with is Ladybug.  He doesn’t think press conferences and Ladyblog interviews count, exactly.

The Ladyblogger seems nice.  So do her classmates.  Adrien loves seeing them more than anyone but his Lady, but it hurts, too.  Their class is so close, they’re always doing things together, and he’d almost had that.

Almost.

He’s never stopped wishing that akuma hadn’t attacked right as he tried (again) to make it into the classroom without being caught.  He guesses he hadn’t technically been caught, but when Nathalie had hauled him back home-

Adrien’s not actually good at sneaking out, or he wasn’t then, anyway.  He’d been taking advantage of his father’s lapsed attention- not that Father has been very good about paying attention for the last few years, he’d always left that to Mom and Nathalie anyway, but he hadn’t noticed the first few times Adrien had tentatively slipped away after lessons, so he thought he was in the clear.

Except he wasn’t.

He doesn’t know whether it was the Gorilla or Nathalie who’d caught on that he was trying to sneak off to school, but either way he’d lost that freedom as soon as his father had found out.

He’s pretty sure their security system hadn’t been designed to be used like that.

Plagg had hovered over his shoulder, watching curiously as Adrien tried desperately to teach himself lock picking from YouTube and the kind of online tutorials that his ad blockers had strenuously protested against, as Adrien drove himself to tears breaking pins off in the lock and retreated to study the window for a way out.

Plagg hadn’t said anything about it.

Plagg had phased out of the window, unlocked it from the other side, and transformed Adrien as he scrambled out the window and stubbornly ignored the alarms going off behind them.

He knows Father worries about him.  He knows that after losing Mom, especially, his father wants to know that Adrien’s safe, somewhere he can keep an eye on him.

Maybe if Adrien ever actually saw him, he’d feel guiltier about that.

He probably should feel guilty about that.

He does, a little, when he passes posters of his own face stamped with MISSING, stamped with the promise of a (vaguely worded, he can’t help but notice) reward, but not enough to give up any of his freedom.

…he does wish his freedom involved a little more food and a regular place to sleep, but it’s not like he can be picky about it now.  Besides, the more time passes the worse going back would be.

Adrien’s glad Plagg’s the only one around to know just how often he wakes up in a cold sweat, anxiously checking the doors and windows of wherever they’ve crashed and sometimes outright climbing onto a roof somewhere rather than stay indoors at all.

Plagg thinks he’s traumatised.  Adrien thinks a day and a night of being locked in his room, when it’s not like that’s never happened before, is a pretty embarrassing thing to get traumatised over and so he ignores Plagg’s pointed comments about it.

Plagg helps him check the exits when he wakes in the middle of the night, anyway, and while he doesn’t tend to encourage Adrien to transform much- Adrien gets the sense his kwami thinks he’s transformed too often already- he never discourages him, either.

There’s no way he’s getting that sleep he’d so looked forward to now, not when Plagg’s drawn his attention to his complaining stomach, so Adrien hauls himself to his feet with a groan and makes his way towards the bathroom.  This apartment hasn’t been empty long, and he’s been able to actually use the shower rather than trying to sneak into gyms and shower as fast as he can before retransforming- Adrien’s going to take advantage of this shower for the dwindling time he has left.

He does bring his bag with him.  If someone ever does notice running water where they shouldn’t be, he needs to be able to get out as fast as possible.

When he meets Ladybug for patrol later, she’s quieter than usual.  Adrien can freely admit he’s not always the best at reading people but he thinks something’s bothering her.

He’d thought he was good with people, right up until he started going to press conferences as Chat instead of Adrien and discovered that staying quiet and polite and, most importantly, out of the way does not, in fact, mean that he knows how to deal with people.

He knows how to diffuse someone’s temper.  He knows how to fade into the background and let someone else take over.  He knows how to keep silent and still and to be pretty and polite when someone does address him.

He doesn’t really know how to talk to people.

What do people even talk about?

(Ladybug’s never minded when Adrien has to fumble awkwardly to find words.  He’s struggled more than once to tell her how deeply he appreciates that).

Still, Adrien doesn’t have to be an expert at people to figure out that Ladybug’s jumpier than usual.  He’s not sure how to bring it up, though, or even if it’s something he should bring up, so he never does.

It’s a surprise to him when Ladybug does.

"Hey,” she says, long after they’d usually have stopped patrol for the night. It’s also long before Adrien ever wants to stop, so he hasn’t said anything about that, either.  Besides, the lack of akuma tonight has him paranoid- usually if Hawkmoth misses a night it’s only to hit them harder during the day.  "Hey, alley cat, follow me.“

Adrien can’t help the way he perks up at that.  Sometimes Ladybug’s just as restless as he is, but not often, and he treasures those nights that she actually wants to play chase across the rooftops.

He still can’t keep himself from asking, "Are you sure?”

Ladybug gives him an odd look, but she only says, “I’m sure, Chat.”

Adrien accepts that- isn’t sure he can do anything but accept that- and follows his partner along a winding route, touching down on more roofs than not, waving occasionally to other people who are out late for their own reasons.  They almost never fail to brighten when they see the heroes passing by, and that makes Adrien straighten with pride in turn.

He’d always thought before that he knew what it was like to have people happy to see him.  It was never like this, though.  He’s starting to think they were never happy to see him, so much as they were happy for what he represented.  That’s- still true, sort of, as Chat Noir, but at least now he knows it.

Knows what to expect, and what not to.

Ladybug does eventually bring them to a halt, in the lee of a ship anchored on the Seine.  She looks around once, clearly comes to a decision, and leads him onto the ship.

“LB?  What-” Adrien starts, only to fall silent at a hand gesture from her.

She stops and turns back to him at that, and this time he can see the concern in her gaze for what it is.  "I didn’t mean shut up, Chat, I just meant I needed to pay attention.  I wanted to introduce you to some fr- to some people, but I’m not sure they’re home.“

"I’m home,” a new voice pipes up, and Adrien turns quickly to see someone he’d never thought he’d actually get to meet.  Outside of a battle, anyway.

“This is Rose,” Ladybug says, but Adrien already knows that.

He’d run off with his school things, after all.  He has an old yearbook from Chloé, because he hadn’t known how well he’d remember faces at first, and now that he’s- now that he’s living with Plagg instead, Adrien has spent a lot of time looking at that yearbook.

Looking at all the people he never got the chance to know.

“Rose, you know you don’t actually-” Ladybug starts, and then trails off with an oddly guilty look towards Adrien before clearing her throat.  "So, does that mean the spare bunk’s taken after all?“

"Oh, no,” Rose assures her, her own eyes flicking to Adrien and then back away quickly. “I’m rooming with Juleka. And anyway, Luka’s got a trundle bed- oh!” Rose cuts herself off, tilting her head.  "Oh, you meant for- yes, we have still got a spare bunk, Anarka offered it to me but I wanted to stay with Jules.“

Ladybug takes a deep breath, then reaches back and finds Adrien’s hand.  He clasps hands with her without really thinking about it, tangling their fingers together, and takes a deep breath himself when she draws him forward.

"Can-” Ladybug hesitates, then gives Adrien another one of those guilty looks.  "If he’s comfortable with it.  Do you think Chat could stay with you?“

Adrien steps back so quickly he stumbles, Ladybug’s hand tightening on his.

She turns to him just as quickly, her brows drawing together in what he recognises as a combination of worry and fear.  "Sorry, Chat.  But I-” She hesitates again.  "I really need to know you’re safe, kitty, and I don’t think you are.  You’re not going home at night, are you?  You don’t have to tell me where you’ve been staying, but if you- if you need somewhere, I thought I’d let you know we can find people to help.“

"Our whole class would,” Rose puts in eagerly, head twitching back and forth between them.  She’s bouncing on the balls of her feet now, hands clasped together behind her back.  "Juleka helped me.  I think Kim and Alix did something for Nathaniel, too.  And if you need somewhere to get, like, food, Marinette’s parents always keep extra around! You don’t have to go to the side door or anything either, if you go to the counter and just like, let them know somehow-“ Rose stops and makes a face.  "Actually, Juleka sorta told them? I don’t actually know what she told them.  They’ll get you food, though! Uh- if that’s something that you need,” she adds, suddenly sheepish.  "You can just- just ignore that if you don’t.  But Marinette’s one of the nicest people I know and her parents are wonderful, they’d help you just like Anarka!“

Adrien’s silent, unable to come up with anything to say in the face of so many unexpected offers of help.  He can’t shake the feeling that he doesn’t deserve their help.

Swallowing around the lump in his throat, aware that he’s confirming at least some of their suspicions with his answer, he asks, "Can I think about it?”

When he goes to the bakery the next night (patrol’s not every night, no matter how much he’d argued for it- Ladybug had insisted that they do both need to sleep sometimes, and she’d sounded exasperated enough that he’d backed off), the lights of the bakery itself are off.

But the balcony up top is both lit and occupied.  He’s not sure how obvious it is from the ground, but he didn’t get here from the ground.

Adrien’s spent most of the day searching the city for an alternative place to sleep now that their 'borrowed’ apartment’s been sold. He stays well away from Le Grand Paris- Chloé might well offer him a place to stay, but only as Adrien, and Adrien’s still missing.  Chat Noir is not.

He spent the rest of his day going through his battered yearbook, recognising Rose, finding Juleka and Alix and Kim, finding Nathaniel and Marinette.

They’d all have been in his class.

He recognises Marinette, where she’s waving from the balcony, but it takes him a moment to register that she is waving.

Adrien’s dropped down beside her before he finishes thinking about it, landing in a crouch and feeling his tail lash behind him as he rises slowly.   “Good evening-” He’s not supposed to know her name.  He kind of balks at calling anyone else lady, even thought that’s what feels most natural on his tongue.  "-princess.“

Lady would probably have been better.

Marinette snorts and leans on her railing, though, not looking offended in the least.  "Good evening, kitty.  I guess I should count myself lucky, since lights are usually more prone to attracting moths.”

Adrien very carefully sets aside his immediate reaction to that.  He’s been doing that a lot, though he’d needed Plagg’s help at first- he’s had to detransform somewhere safe and let his kwami talk him through breathing easier again more than once, especially during those first few weeks.   Even now Adrien spends a lot of time on his own keeping a wary eye out for any dark butterflies.

(He’s pretty relieved that he’s not the only one he’s seen startle badly at perfectly normal butterflies, too).

“Hey…” Marinette’s voice draws him away from that line of thought.

When he looks up, she’s gesturing towards a plate left out on the balcony.   It’s filled with a fairly wide variety of pastries and Adrien’s mouth starts to water immediately.  Even living in the mansion, he hadn’t been offered sweets all that often.

“We had leftovers,” Marinette tells him, taking a seat on one of her folding chairs and nodding towards the other.  "If you want some?“

Adrien doesn’t even try to hide how eagerly he reaches for a croissant.

It’s definitely the best thing he’s eaten in weeks, if not months.  That might be partly because he hasn’t been eating all that much and partly because it’s a gift, but he thinks it mostly really is that good.

Marinette giggles when he licks crumbs off his claws, but she tosses him another croissant immediately, too.

"I’m Marinette, by the way,” she tells him as he settles into the other chair and sets to work on the plate of sweets.  He might regret that later, but right now he doesn’t think he has the energy to care.  "And I’m pretty sure everyone already knows who you are.“

He gives her a weak smile.  "My reputation proceeds me?”

“Something like that.”  Marinette frowns down at her sweet bun, turning it over in her hands.  She doesn’t look at him when she says, “A little ladybug told me you might need a place to stay.  We don’t have a lot of room, but there’s a chaise lounge in my room if you ever need a place to sleep.”

Adrien blinks, mouth still half-open, and lowers his roll.  His ears flick, giving him away as he says, “I-I might have a place to stay….” He trails off.

He doesn’t really want to stay on the boat.  Rose promised that the spare bunk there would mean he’d have total privacy, that he wouldn’t have to risk his identity, but something about staying there still hadn’t felt… right.

Marinette’s offer feels right.

Adrien’s learned very quickly ever since getting his Miraculous that he has instincts he should trust and instincts that he shouldn’t, and Plagg had thought his instincts about the Liberty were good ones.   Adrien still wants to ask his kwami later, because he knows he’ll feel better for the confirmation, but he thinks he’s already decided to stay with Marinette.

He doesn’t regret that, when he finishes the plate almost by himself and follows her through the skylight.

He doesn’t regret it even when he’s awake again and nauseous some hours later, because Marinette wakes up too and starts apologising frantically when they realise why he’s nauseous, that he’d definitely tried to eat too much all at once after weeks of getting by on scraps and handouts, and she shows him to the bathroom and then stays up with him until his stomach settles even though he thinks it’s a school night.

(Probably.  He’s kind of lost track).

It’s so easy to stay a second night, and then a third, and then she introduces him to her parents and they keep offering him things- carefully, like they’re afraid of scaring him off, somehow- and they kind of do, actually, Adrien bolts that fourth night and spends it curled around Plagg and trying not to hyperventilate in a spot where two roofs meet right up until he has to answer the akuma alert again.

And then he goes back to the bakery.

And the night after that, he goes back.

“Kid,” Plagg says, during the day when Adrien’s crept into someone’s unattended greenhouse to take a nap in the sunlight.  He’s not succeeding at it very well.  He can’t entirely shut off the part of him that’s still watching warily for anyone to notice him where he’s not supposed to be, any sign that he might have to transform and flee in a hurry.   Sometimes it’s hard to detransform just because he knows he has to be ready for the next attack, and akuma can be anywhere from several hours apart to only bare minutes apart.  It’s hard to breathe for the uneasy feeling that’s made a home deep in his chest.  

He’s always uneasy when he’s not transformed.

“Kid,” Plagg repeats, nestling down between Adrien’s shoulder blades.  "Why didn’t you just stay at Marinette’s? You like it there.  You coulda gone up to the balcony if you wanted some sun.“

Adrien catches his first response, which is that he doesn’t want them to know he’s technically homeless.  They have to know. It’s still true that he doesn’t want them to.  

"Marinette could find out my identity,” he says instead, pressing his head into his arms and taking deep breaths.  "And you know they’re still looking for me.“

The bright surge of emotion that rolls through Adrien at that is one he’s long since given up on untangling.  He knows it’s part guilt and shame that he’s putting Father and Nathalie through this so soon after losing Mom, but there’s a lot more to it than that.

They are still looking, they just… aren’t looking very hard.  He’d really thought that they would look harder.

They had, that first week. There’d been enough posters up and enough of a reward offered that Adrien had stayed transformed the whole week, to Plagg’s immense displeasure.

He’s been Chat Noir for long enough now that half the time he’s not sure he remembers how to be Adrien.  He’s not sure that he wants to be.

He doesn’t want to hurt his father or Nathalie, but he can’t shake the horrible tangle of terror and dread and desperation that the bars closing in on him had brought.  Even this much later he can’t think of it without wanting to detransform and hold Plagg for a while.

Plagg is surprisingly tolerant about how badly Adrien needs him.  Adrien still feels really weird about relying so heavily on his kwami, but it’s not like he really has friends.  He has Plagg and Ladybug and since he can’t go to Chloé, that’s it.  That’s- all he has.

Except it’s not, now.  He has Marinette now.  He has her friends, if he’s only willing to let them close.  He has her parents, who have been nothing but welcoming, even though he feels like a strange boy in a leather catsuit should absolutely not encourage them to be so kind and supportive.

If he can just bring himself to trust them, he might have the friends he’d so badly wanted.  

He’s still realising just how much his father had shattered his trust when he’d engaged the security system against him.  Adrien didn’t expect to have so much trouble trusting anyone else after that (with the obvious exceptions of Plagg and Ladybug), but he does.

Mostly he does.

He trusts Marinette.

He just doesn’t know why.

(He doesn’t know why then, anyway.  Once he’s been staying with them long enough to start feeling more like he belongs there, he’ll find out, and going to her will finally make sense).

Adrien does try the spare room at the Liberty, but he only stays the one night.  There’s nothing really wrong with it, and the privacy is reassuring, but-

If he’s completely honest, he’s gotten too used to the reassuring sense of someone else sleeping in the same room as him.  He’s never stopped having nightmares where Plagg isn’t around to let him back out, and when he wakes up disoriented the steady sound of Marinette’s breathing is always immediately comforting.

But then M. Dupain- who’s asked Adrien to call him Tom- takes him aside one day and tells him quietly that Anarka homeschools her son.  That he’s sure she wouldn’t mind another student. That she’s more than familiar with the local homeschooling groups.

It never stops feeling a little weird to show up to the Liberty still transformed, but by now everyone only knows him as Chat Noir.  The only one he ever talks to as Adrien is Plagg, and even then he can’t stop himself from keeping half his attention on his surroundings because he really doesn’t want to know which of his churning emotions an akuma might latch onto.

Mme. Couffaine- Anarka- the Captain, sometimes- never even mentions it.  She doesn’t comment even once on the way he’s always already transformed when he’s there; she just teaches him right alongside her son Luka, and Adrien’s both off-balance and grateful because Luka swiftly becomes another friend, and so does his sister, and so does Rose.  He knows Rose and Juleka go to school with Marinette, but they’re at a lot of Anarka’s classes anyway, and Adrien has no idea how to express how happy it makes him to learn with other people instead of alone.

The bakery is warm and close and kind, and the Liberty is chaotic and noisy and free, and both of them are worlds and worlds apart from Adrien’s previous life.

It takes him a while to realise he’s settled in without ever really meaning to.

(But he detransforms less and less often, and he thinks he wouldn’t detransform even that often if he didn’t make a point of talking to Plagg at least once a day.   Plagg saved him, whether his kwami acknowledges it or not- Adrien’s lock-picking had not been going to work and he knows it).

Marinette’s never asked him who he is (he’s not entirely sure she doesn’t know), but Adrien very gradually becomes less wary about detransforming when he’s staying with her.

By the time he hesitantly, quietly asks her about detransforming to sleep, he’s staying there every night.

Marinette hesitates herself, and Adrien feels his spirits plummet.

"You shouldn’t have to be transformed all the time, Chat,” Marinette says hastily in response to whatever shows in his expression.  She reaches for him and Adrien doesn’t recall reaching back, but his hand is suddenly tight around hers. “I’m glad you asked.   I’m glad you’re comfortable enough to ask.  I just.. I just have something to tell you, first.”

He thinks he knew before Tikki shows herself.

He thinks he’s known for a while now.

He trusted her more than enough to detransform already, but knowing without any room for doubt that she is his partner means Adrien detransforms with a grateful sigh of relief.  He’s slept transformed so often now that he’s mostly stopped thinking about it, but he learned while they were still hopping around to different empty apartments and uninhabited (unlivable, sometimes) spaces that he desperately prefers to have Plagg with him.  Marinette’s friends and family and Rose’s friends and family have all helped, but Adrien’s more aware than ever now that Plagg’s been the closest thing he has to family for the past few months.

Or he had been, until Marinette and Rose had pulled him into their families as well.

The bakery feels like home in a way the mansion hasn’t in a long time.  The lessons on the Liberty are far more engaging than any Adrien’s ever had before, save maybe fencing, and he has near-daily spars with Ladybug to make up for that loss. He has Ladybug, most of all, who’d led him to these people in the first place and then backed off to let him make his own decisions.

For all that she’s in charge of their battle strategy, she’s always been careful to let him make his own decisions.

Still-

“You didn’t want us to know,” he says uncertainly, watching their kwami flit about the room and feeling something in him relax for the first time in weeks.  When he glances sidelong at Marinette, she looks more settled too, and he realises guiltily that she hasn’t been able to see much of her kwami while he’s been here.

He also realises, uneasily, that she also really has to know who he is.

She hasn’t stopped calling him Chat, though.  She hasn’t let go of his hand either.

“I didn’t want us to know for our safety, alley cat,” Marinette reminds him, tucking herself against his side the way she sometimes will after a long patrol.  "I don’t think keeping it a secret was doing very much for your safety after all.“

"What about your family’s safety? And your friends?” Adrien leans back against her even as he asks.

Marinette snorts.  "For one thing? It isn’t like Hawkmoth doesn’t already try to go after everyone.  For another- Chat, you’re part of my friends and family.  We want you safe, too.“  She moves her head away slightly, and his heart starts to pound when she gives him the kind of assessing gaze she usually reserves for a particularly challenging Lucky Charm.  "And if you’re okay with it… I think we should call Juleka and Rose.”

He starts, not at all prepared for that.  "W-what?  Wait, why?“  He’s only just worked himself up to telling her. He didn’t think she’d want him to tell anyone else, especially not his- friends? Classmates? Maybe it’s not the school experience he’d hoped for, but he does have classes with them now.

Marinette has to stretch up on her toes to ruffle his hair, but that never has stopped her.  "Because you said you don’t want to be transformed all the time.  You know what Juleka and Rose are really, really good at? Hair dye and cosmetics.  Rose can give you a different face if you want, trust me on this.”

He trusts her.

He still spends a lot of time as Chat Noir, because he’s established a whole new life as Chat Noir mostly by accident, but sometimes he goes out with his friends untransformed now too.  He has a lot of trouble deciding on a name for them to use, because he doesn’t feel safe using Adrien but he doesn’t actually want a(nother) new name, but his friends don’t seem to have any trouble with that.

Tom and Sabine still call him Chat.  Marinette still calls him Chat.  He knows Marinette knows who he is, he’s asked, but she also admits she’ll call him Adrien only if he wants her to.   (He doesn’t, mostly, but sometimes when it’s just them he asks her to).

With everyone else Adrien’s 'name’ gets lost in the shuffle of more than one introduction instead, and eventually they all start using the rotating cast of nicknames Anarka gifts him with.  It doesn’t feel as weird to him, somehow, when it’s multiple aliases instead of just one.

(None of them feel like his name the way Chat Noir still does, anyway).

[tsuki-chibi]

Passionfruit (November) Day 19: Gear

Catch up on AO3: Passionfruit

————

Adrien swallowed as the car pulled up out in front of the school’s gates. Marinette’s expectation was a heavy weight. His stomach fluttered with nerves when he saw that Nino was standing there as per usual, waiting for him. Nino grinned at him as Adrien climbed out of the car.

“Hey Dude!”

“I think we should go to the zoo after school!” Adrien blurted out. He was pretty sure he heard the Gorilla snort. He frowned and shut the door, watching as the car sped away. Okay, that hadn’t exactly been smooth, but at least he’d asked.

‘Mon minou, that was the very opposite of smooth,’ Marinette thought dryly.

‘Shut up,’ Adrien thought back, pouting.

“You want to go to the zoo?” Nino repeated, looking a little baffled.

Adrien nodded. “They have a new panther exhibit. I already asked my dad and he said yes.”

“Your dad said yes?” Nino seemed more amazed by this than anything. “Seriously?”

“I told him how educational it would be for me to see animals in person. I’ve never been,” Adrien confessed. “My Chinese language got canceled tonight because my instructor is sick, so the alternative was me going home to watch anime. It was pretty funny how quickly he cracked and said yes.”

“Niiiiiiice,” Nino said. “But wouldn’t you rather go with Mari?”

“She’s coming too! So is Alya,” Adrien said, aiming hard for nonchalant.

Nino narrowed his eyes. “Alya too, huh?”

‘He’s onto you! Act innocent!” Marinette thought, a little panicked. Adrien calmed her, smiling at Nino.

“Well, yeah. Alya is my friend. Or at least, I think she is,” he said, realizing that he’d never actually clarified that with Alya.

“Of course she is,” Nino said quickly. “I just thought you and Marinette might want some time alone, that’s all. It’ll be awkward with me and Alya tagging along.”

“Mari and I get lots of time alone. I want to spend time with all my friends,” Adrien said. “But if you don’t want to come, I understand.” He sighed, looking downcast.

“No! No, I can make it. Who knows? I might even learn something.” Nino chuckled and nudged Adrien in the ribs. “Right after school, you said? Tell me you’re planning to pig out on junk food for dinner.”

“You know it,” Adrien said with a grin.

‘Mission accomplished,’ he thought to Marinette.

‘Great job!’ she thought happily. ‘Alya and I are walking to school together. I’ll ask her on my way.’

‘Good luck,’ Adrien thought. He didn’t envy Marinette. Alya was way more suspicious than Nino was and would have way more questions.

He followed Nino into the school, blatantly eavesdropping on the girl’s conversation. Naturally, Alya was incredibly curious to know why she and Nino were being invited along on Adrien’s and Marinette’s date. Marinette demurred as much as she could, but Alya wasn’t easily swayed by the thought that Adrien and Marinette got plenty of time alone. Everyone knew how busy Adrien’s schedule was.

‘Help!’ Marinette thought as she and Alya approached the school. ‘She won’t stop quizzing me. This is never going to work if we can’t get Alya to come. She totally knows what we’re trying to do.’

‘We’re in the classroom,’ Adrien thought, which of course Marinette already knew. He could feel them approaching and geared himself up.

The door slid open and Alya walked in, followed by Marinette. Even without their soul bond, Adrien would’ve been able to tell how badly Marinette was struggling. Her eyes were practically screaming for an interference, not that Adrien could blame her. Alya was in full journalist mode. He almost hated to speak up and bring the full force of her curiosity onto him.

But, faithful to the end, he put himself in the line of fire for his lady.

“Hey Alya, are you coming to the zoo with us after school?” he asked.

Alya’s head snapped around to him. “You sure you want me to? Seems kinda weird you’d want Nino and me around cramping your style.”

Adrien cocked his head with his best innocent expression. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. I just wanted to spend an afternoon with all of my friends, but I get that the zoo isn’t that interesting to everyone. I mean, I’ve never been before. It would be my first time and everything.” He sighed loudly. “But it’s okay if you don’t wanna.”

“Oh,” Alya said, visibly softening. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. The four of us never get to hang out!” Adrien said. He could see Marinette trying not to laugh over Alya’s shoulder.

‘Kitty, you are a fantastic manipulator,’ she thought.

“Well... okay,” Alya said, walking around Nino’s desk to go up to her own desk. It didn’t escape Adrien’s notice that Nino and Alya barely looked at each other, but that was possibly because Nino was turning to stare at him.

“Dude,” Nino said. “You totally played both me and Alya, didn’t you? What are you up to?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Adrien said breezily, turning back to his work. He heard Marinette giggle as she passed his desk and grinned down at his notebook. He was pretty sure that both Alya and Nino suspected what was going on, but he also knew that both of them would show up anyway. Nino because he was a good friend, and Alya because, if nothing else, her sense of curiosity would drive her crazy otherwise.

The school day dragged by. Adrien really was excited about spending time with his friends, and when the bell finally rang he leaped out of his seat. Nino, Alya and Marinette all laughed at him as he grabbed his gear and rushed over to the door. They followed him outside; the zoo was only about a fifteen minute walk away so they had all agreed upon walking.

Adrien fell into step beside Nino, while Marinette and Alya walked ahead of them. He shoved his hands in his pockets and smiled happily as he listened to Nino talk about music. Sensing his emotion, Marinette peeked over her shoulder at him and winked. Adrien grinned back at her.

‘I sure hope you’ve got a plan,’ he thought.

‘Of course! We can walk around for a little while together, but then we’re going into one of the movies. We can slip away from Alya and Nino in there,’ Marinette thought.

‘And how do you know the two of them will stay get together?’ Adrien thought.

Marinette frowned. ‘Uh... shoot. I didn’t think about that. It would be just like Alya to ditch Nino out of pure stubbornness. This might be harder than I thought.’

‘I’m sure you’ll think of something,’ Adrien thought reassuringly. Marinette’s plans were always the best.

When they got to the zoo, they each paid the small fee and walked inside. Adrien picked up the booklet that had a map of the zoo on it and slowly flipped through, growing intrigued as he saw all of the animal exhibits that were available. There were so many of them! He would’ve said he didn’t know where to start, but -

“The panther first, right?” Alya said. She jabbed her finger at the map. “It says we have to walk towards the center.”

“For someone who didn’t want to come, you’re awfully excited,” Marinette said slyly.

“Panthers are cool,” Alya said, hitching her backpack higher. She took the lead this time. Adrien reached over and took Marinette’s hand, which earned him a shy smile and a squeeze.

He was literally just starting to relax and think that it was going to be a great afternoon when Adrien heard the sound of someone screaming. He tensed up immediately, eyes darting around. Marinette had a similar reaction. Nino chuckled at them and pointed over to where a little girl was screaming with excitement over seeing a bunch of monkeys.

“Paranoid much?” Nino said.

“It’s Paris. You can never be -”

Marinette was cut off when someone else screamed. And this time it was not the happy kind of screaming. Adrien just barely managed to yank her to the side to avoid both of them getting trampled as several people raced by them. Following closely behind the group was a - Adrien blinked, just barely stopping himself from rubbing his eyes.

“Was that a wolf?” Marinette gasped.

“Akuma!” Alya exclaimed, lighting up. “Yes! That means Ladybug and Chat Noir here! I can get my pictures!” She took off in the direction the people had come from.

“Alya, wait!” Nino shouted, running after her.

‘Guess that’s our cue,’ Marinette thought glumly.

Right. Adrien cleared his throat. “I’ll, uh, go find a place to hide.”

“Me too,” Marinette said awkwardly.

They looked at each other for a moment, then parted ways. Adrien ran towards a small stand that sold ice cream. The seller had abandoned it. He ducked behind it and opened up his jacket. Plagg emerged, yawning loudly.

“Do we have to?” he whined.

“Yeah, we do. Claws out!” Adrien whispered. Chat popped back up and raced towards the direction the screaming was coming from. He was swiftly joined by Ladybug.

“Hi Chaton,” she said, as though they hadn’t just seen each other literally moments ago.

“My Lady. Funny meeting you here,” Chat said brightly.

“Yeah, imagine that,” Ladybug said, rolling her eyes. “Let’s get this over with quickly, okay? My boyfriend and I have plans that do not involve an akuma.”

Chat was tempted to ask her about those plans, but then they caught sight of the akuma. It was a black panther with glowing purple eyes, and it had Max and Kim cornered. He hit the ground and aimed his baton, knocking the akuma away from their classmates. Ladybug rushed over to them and he knew she was getting them to safety, but he was more concerned with the panther.

“I’m afraid Paris is only big enough for one black cat,” Chat said, scooping his baton off the ground.

The akuma snarled. “Guess that means I’ll have to destroy you.”

It leaped at Chat and he squeaked, flinging himself out of the way. Razor sharp claws came within an inch of raking across the back of his suit. He caught his balance and swung around, just barely bringing his baton up in time. The akuma was fast too, to the point where Chat was breathing hard as he dodged and tried to get in a few blows of his own.

Ladybug’s yoyo appeared suddenly, wrapping the akuma up from head to toe. Chat had exactly enough time to feel a spark of victory before the akuma shimmered bright purple and morphed into an eagle. The akuma cawed loudly before taking to the sky. Chat watched it go with an open mouth.

“Okay, that is so not fair,” Ladybug said. “Chat, run!” She grabbed his arm and pulled as a bunch of animals staring charging at them.

‘This is not good,’ Chat thought as he ran. ‘What do we do?’

‘You find Kim and Max. I’ll deal with Nino and Alya, then meet you,’ Ladybug thought back.

Nino and Alya? He followed her gaze and saw their friends being chased by a gorilla. Ladybug changed direction, leaving the herd to follow Chat; there was no time or space for him to find Kim without leading the herd straight there. So he leaped straight up, landing atop a tree, and watched in amusement as Ladybug scooped up Alya and Nino and dropped them in the gorilla enclosure. She then slammed the door on them, ignoring Alya’s completely outraged expression.

‘You know, you can never tell Alya that you’re Ladybug now. She’ll kill you,’ Chat thought. He looked around, but the animals had run right past the tree and was now charging down one of the paths in the distance.

‘Focus, Kitty! Now come on. We gotta find Kim!’ Ladybug thought back, but not even her stern words could hide her delight.

‘At least one of your plans worked today,’ Chat thought, jumping down to join her.

Ladybug grinned breathlessly. ‘All of my plans are gonna work, just wait and see.’

[thewritewolf]

Inseparable Chapter 28: Community Service

Ladybug and Chat Noir relucantly attend a banquet in their honor.

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@ladynoirjuly2019

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3

“...And it is my hope that our heroes, Ladybug and Chat Noir, will respond as quickly as they are able to this offer. Thank you for your time.” Mayor Andre gave a nod of his head and stepped away from the podium, ignoring the sudden wall of questions from reporters in the audience.

Marinette turned off the television just before the news anchor began their commentary. The mayor had made the proposal just yesterday and it was still a major piece of news - all the more reason she had been considering it. People seemed worried that they hadn’t seen either of their heroes in over a week.

Marinette looked over at her partner. It had been a few days since she had woken up and recovery was proving slow. Just walking down the stairs and into the living room had been exhausting. The one good news is that the pain had largely subsided and with the help of some painkillers there wasn’t much more than a dull throbbing when she moved. All of this added complications to the mayor’s offer of a charity banquet in their honor.

“They don’t need us to go,” Adrien began, still looking at the blank television, his face shadowed by the one light above them. It was getting late, but before Marinette could go to sleep they needed to decide on what they were going to do.

“Maybe, but if we promise to attend, then they will definitely be able to sell more tickets for a higher price.” She frowned. “Besides, the whole thing is in our honor. If we don’t go, it might not even happen.”

He looked into her eyes and she saw the concern that was plain on his face. “We don’t know if you’ll be better by then. And the more rest you get-”

Throwing her hands up with only a twinge of pain, she exclaimed, “I’m already getting rest, Adrien. One night at a public event won’t undo all that.”

“It might.” He crossed his arms, but she could tell he was starting to waver.

“I’ll be fine. I’m tougher than you think, kitty.”

“I suppose…”

“We need to let Paris know that we’re still out here, watching over them. That the good guys won and they are still protected. Besides,” she held out her arms as an invitation and Adrien sat beside her on the couch and held her in his embrace, “we’ll be going together. I know you’ll be right there if I need help.”

“Just like always,” he said as kissed the top of her head. After a few minutes, he swept her up into his arms and carried her back upstairs. Normally, she’d insist that she walk up herself, but she was only barely awake at that point.

In fact, by the time her head hit her pillow, she was asleep. But Adrien didn’t lay down beside her like usual. Instead, Chat Noir left through the skylight.

They might be going to this banquet, but he was going to be sure it was on their terms.

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

Another week passed before the day of the banquet arrived. Despite Marinette’s most fervent hopes, she hadn’t improved a whole lot more in the meantime. The only saving grace was that she hadn’t needed to go to school since it was winter break. While that didn’t help her figure out how she was going to handle the banquet, it at least meant that she hadn’t had to miss school.

Adrien knelt down in front of her as she brushed her hair and rested his arms on her knees. “Don’t worry about it, Marinette. I borrowed a wheelchair and stashed it at the place the banquet is being held. I can carry you there if I need to.”

“Thanks, Adrien. But…” She frowned. “I don’t know if the building they will be using is wheelchair accessible.”

“Well he promised it would be so-” He was silenced when she put a hand over his mouth.

“Woah there kitty. Who promised?”

He blinked innocently at her as she removed her hand. “I… might have visited the mayor and made some… requests. To make sure that they were as accommodating as possible.”

"Adrien! You know I don’t want you to coddle me!”

"It was more for my sake, my lady. If I saw you swamped by a bunch of nosy, prodding reporters while you're recovering from a near fatal magical overload, I might get a little testy." He flashed her his biggest, most innocent smile.

As much as she wanted to be upset about him going behind her back to do this, she couldn’t find it in herself to be anything but grateful. It meant that she wouldn’t have to push herself too hard to make it through tonight.

So, with a sigh, she leaned forward to press a kiss to his forehead. “Thanks, chaton.” She shooed him off so she could stand up. “I think it’s about time we headed out, don’t you think?” He smiled and nodded. “Tikki, spots on!”

“Plagg, claws out!”

Marinette felt more stable once the suit was on, but she understood it was only a temporary measure. She stepped over to her bed and grabbed the skirt she would be wearing for the evening.

“Oh! You’re getting dressed.” Chat said with mock surprise. “Let me just turn away for a moment.”

She snorted as she slipped the black skirt on over her suit. Now it just looked like she was wearing a long sleeved dress. He turned his back to her and moved over to her dresser, where he had stored a lot of his spare clothes. He’d practically moved in during the time she had been unconscious and she couldn’t help but be grateful. Having him constantly nearby had done wonders in keeping her sane. She wasn’t sure she’d have been able to endure being cooped up otherwise. And something told her the same was true for him.

“Ta-da!” She looked up at him and grinned. Fastened under his bell was a red bow tie that matched her suit.

Hip checking him, she cooed, “Ooo, you’re looking more handsome than usual, kitty.”

He placed a kiss on her hand. “And you are absolutely stunning, bugaboo.” She squeaked when he swiftly scooped her up into his arms. “Shall we leave?”

“Paris awaits us,” she said and kissed his cheek.

The trip didn’t take too long - possibly by luck, possibly because Adrien had picked out a venue that was close by. Either way, they arrived within ten minutes of running along rooftops. They snuck in the backdoor, let in by the sparse staff milling about in the back halls. When she left Chat Noir’s arms, it was to be put into a wheelchair that had been left waiting for her. As much as she preferred walking on her own, regardless of the pain, she had to admit that it was nice to have her beloved partner pushing her along.

She braced herself for the crowd as the massive double doors opened before them, only to be surprised when the great room seemed sparsely occupied. Sure, the massive size was probably making the crowd seem smaller, but still…

“Another concession I won for you,” Chat whispered in her ear. “Limited tickets and only a couple reporters. And don’t worry - those tickets were sold at auction to the highest bidders. Plenty of money got raised anyway and you don’t get swarmed. Win-win, right?”

The knot of worry in her gut untwisted and she let out a relieved sigh. Another problem that her doting boyfriend had anticipated and fixed in advance. Although even now, there was a surprised murmur going through the well-dressed party goers as Chat pushed her towards the seat of honor at the back. There was a table and two ornate chairs with high backs placed at the end of a red carpet that went down the middle of the room. All the decorations existed to direct attention to it, and that’s where Marinette would be spending the rest of the night.

She took a deep breath to steady her nerves. Getting attention as Ladybug was nothing out of the ordinary, of course. But she wasn’t quite used to this kind of attention.

A few hours went by as party goers would stop and visit. Practically everyone here was a celebrity of some kind. Some were familiar. Jagged Stone shook both of their hands and promised an epic rock song commemorating their victory over evil. Despite his outward excitement at the prospect, she could feel the hollowness of Chat’s smile.

It hadn’t been that long ago that he’d found out his father was Hawkmoth. He’d practically thrown himself into caring for her and she knew he did it out of love, but at least part of the zeal behind it had to be just distracting himself. If helping her was keeping him sane, then she’d be willing to swallow her pride and let herself be helped. But she knew that it would be a long and difficult road of recovery for the both of them… and there was no magic tonic to help heal Chat.

Unless, of course, one considered love to be a magic tonic.

Their last guest was Nadja, one of the few reporters allowed into the party. One of the few concessions Chat had been forced to give into was a small interview. And although Marinette was completely drained by the time that interview came around, she knew that it had to be done. This was a big reason she’d wanted to do this banquet after all - to give peace of mind to the people of Paris.

The first few questions were about what she expected. How they found out about Hawkmoth, how the battle went down, what happened to her. Withholding only a few key details - such as the location of that final showdown - they explained as best they could.

“Nathalie Sancoeur, the assistant of Gabriel Agreste, is believed to have fled Paris once the discovery of Hawkmoth’s identity was made clear. Do you have any intentions of assisting in the manhunt for her?”

“No,” Marinette said, sparing Chat from having to comment. “She is not armed with a miraculous, meaning that law enforcement will be more than adequate to catch her. Besides, we have no intention of scouring the rest of France, which would leave Paris unguarded.”

“Speaking of the Agreste household - can you tell us what has become of Adrien Agreste? After your fight with Hawkmoth, he seems to have completely vanished.”

“Don’t worry about him,” Chat chimed in with a smile. “He’s perfectly safe and being cared for. It was agreed that some time outside the spotlight would be the best for him in these tough times.”

“It was a brave thing he did for Paris. I’m sure most Parisians would agree that he deserves a vacation,” Nadja said with a polite smile. “And what about his father, Hawkmoth? What were his goals, should he have ever succeeded in capturing your miraculous?”

Marinette thought back to the underground complex with its webs of pipes all funneled into the glass sarcophagus that housed his ‘dead’ wife.

“The sad truth is that we may never know,” Marinette lied. “Unless Hawkmoth himself tells us, of course.”

“Speaking of which - do you have any idea what caused Gabriel Agreste’s coma? Or if he will ever wake up?”

“His abuse of the miraculous is to blame for the coma. As for when he will wake up, that’s anybody’s guess. Magic can be very unpredictable.”

Nadja made some notes before looking back up at them and smiling. “I just have a few more questions. Nothing nearly so heavy as the previous, but no less important to some people.” Her eyes gleamed as she looked between them. “It has been plain to most people today that you two seem closer than ever…”

At one point, having to dodge questions about her relationship with Chat Noir would’ve been annoying. Now that the two of them had laid their feelings of each other out, it was almost fun to give Nadja the run around. It wouldn’t be a good idea to confirm their relationship… not yet, anyway.

But it was her last question that gave them both pause.

“Now that Hawkmoth has been defeated and his miraculous taken away… What’s next for the heroes of Paris?”

[otakuprincess15]

In Black and White - Day 1: Soulmates - AU Yeah August

Day 1 – Soul Mate AU – In Black and White (@auyeahaugust )

Summary: At thirteen years of age, Marinette has never seen colors, but her parents' love inspires her to dream of it. Adrien’s life is devoid of the colors that he has heard so many people praise, and he isnt sure anyone in his home will ever see them again. Then one fateful day, two small jewelry boxes change both their lives in ways they never expected.

A retelling of the origins episodes.

You can also find it posted on my account on ff.net under penname- marauderluverz

Marinette Dupain-Cheng had only ever seen in black and white. Living in a world where you only saw colors once you found your soulmate. And even then, you could only see colors if you were touching them in some way.

She knew of colors, of course. It had still been taught to her as a child. And what shades of gray tended to correspond to the colors her parents and other people spoke of.

She was inspired by her parents love, and hoped that one day she’d be able to live like them. The couple constantly allowed their hands to brush while working in the family bakery. Sometimes she would walk in and see her mom resting a hand against her dad's back while he carefully decorated a wedding cake. Because of course at a wedding there would be a need for a colorful cake. More than half the people there would be able to appreciate it.

Marinette only hoped that one day, she would have something just as special in her life. After all, designing would be so much more fun with colors. Although, she supposed it could be successful without them too.

Gabriel Agreste had managed as much. Marinette's favorite designer had lost his wife in recent years and all the news reports had said this would be the end of his company, his brand. Instead, he had found inspiration in the monochrome. His designs had become bigger and better even without the color they used to have. The designs sold especially well with the younger generation. It was rare to find your soulmate before sixteen and so the preteen and teen clothing lines were quite popular.

And while Marinette frequently wished to find her soulmate so she could see colors too. Or if she couldn’t have her soulmate yet, for something exciting to happen in her life. This wasn’t exactly what she meant.

She hadn’t wished for one of her classmates to transform into a strange rock monster. And she hadn’t wished for that monster to attack their city. And she most definitely hadn’t wished for a strange bug-mouse creature to appear in her room.

She stared at the strange creature that had appeared out of the jewelry box. It was a… kwami she had said? But what the heck was that even?

“I'm your friend, Marinette. You must trust me,” Tikki told her, “You’re the only one who can stop Stoneheart.”

Marinette shook her head. “This has to be some mistake. The only super power I could possible have is super-awkwardness.” She thought for a moment. If we need a superhero…

“I know! Alya would know. At least, I think she would. She loves superheroes.” Marinette nodded, “She’d totally be up for the job. You should go see her.”

Tikki flew closer, “Marinette, you’re the chosen one.”

Marinette had given in, she had put on the earrings and transformed (albeit by accident) into a superhero. And now she was using a yoyo of all things to swing across Paris.

She yelled as she flew through the air. I knew this was a mistake! I’m gonna crash and die now and-

CRASH!

Marinette’s eyes stayed closed as she felt her body smack into something that surprisingly wasn’t the cement. She opened her eyes to find she and whoever she had crashed into were tangled in her yoyo and hanging upside down.

She looked at the person and found herself staring into the most vivid eyes ever. Except, she could see colors. She wasn’t exactly sure what color his eyes were, shed have to check a color chart later, but that wasn’t what mattered now. What did matter was that she was sure his eyes were the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. The color made her feel like bolt of electricity had struck her. She took in his hair, the sheer brightness of it made her feel warm inside.

She glanced down and saw that her suit was red. That’s what Tikki said it would be. She looked back up to find that the boy she was currently tangled up with was staring at her, his eyes wide. Well, that was fair, she had just crashed into him.

Adrien had known how awesome life would be as soon as a little cat creature had appeared in his room. Being a superhero was a dream come true. But now something even more amazing had happened. He had found his soulmate and she was beautiful. The way her eyes sparkled in the sunlight. The shock of her costume’s boldness. Beautiful.

He helped them both down from the tangled yoyo and was disappointed when his vision turned back to black and white.

“So, you must be the partner my kwami told me about. I’m…” he thought for a second. “Chat Noir. Yeah, Chat Noir. What’s your name?”

He fought the urge to touch her again. Obviously, she was still adjusting to everything, he didn’t want to freak her out.

“I'm M-” she tugged on the string of her yoyo, until it came loose suddenly, swinging through the air and promptly smacked him on the head. She pulled it to her. “Madly clumsy. I’m so clumsy. Sorry.”

He laughed, “No worries, Clumsy girl. I’m still learning the ropes myself.” He paused for a moment, unsure how to bring up the color that had flooded his vision moments before.

“Did you-” they both started at the same time.

“Sorry.” Both of them again. He could only smile as he gestured for her to talk.

“Did you see what happened just a minute ago?” She asked.

Adrien's smile grew. “So it wasn’t just me?” he held out a hand to her and waited for her to accept it.

Marinette stared down at the black clad hand. She knew now that his costume was actually black. But the thought of taking hold of it scared her. If she did, and if her world filled with color, wouldn’t that mean she’d just found her soulmate?

Her eyes darted up to look at his face and she saw that his smile was fading into an uncertain frown. He pulled his hand back.

“It’s all right,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “Everything’s kind of happening fast.”

Marinette nodded sheepishly. Did I really just refuse to hold my soulmate’s hand?

She didn’t get another moment to dwell on it though as the next moment there was a crash as a nearby building toppled.

Chat extended his baton, bounding off in the direction of the crash.

“Where are you going?” she yelled after him.

He glanced back. “To save Paris, of course!”

She stared after him before looking down at her hand again. “Trust yourself. Trust yourself.”

Then she flung her yoyo toward the nearest building and screamed as it pulled her along.

“Pound it!”

The moments their hands touched the stadium lit up in color. And even though she expected it to, Chat Noir’s hand didn’t linger against hers.

She opened her mouth to apologize for before but Chat's ring beeped again as another pad disappeared.

“You need to go before you transform back,” she told him.

He nodded, “See you later Super Bug!” he called out as he leapt away from the stadium.

Marinette stared down at her hand. “See you, Chat Noir.”

The next day at school, Marinette was fuming after her interaction with the new kid in her class. She was already having a rough day after finding out that she hadn’t purified the akuma properly and had therefore put Paris in more danger. But to then come to school and find she would have another bully to worry about was too much. Adrien Agreste seemed every bit as stuck up as Chloe. No wonder they’re friends, she thought to herself as she sat in class.

It was too bad too. With her love of fashion, she was sure they could’ve been good friends. They would’ve had tons to talk about.

Marinette glanced at Adrien. She watched as his eyes flicked in her direction and she quickly averted her gaze with a frown. It really was too bad.

The following day, as Adrien watched Ladybug give her speech atop the Eiffel Tower, he found he couldn’t be any happier that she was his soulmate. She was… miraculous. He smirked at his mental pun.

“All right, Chaton, time for us to go.” She waved before spinning her yoyo to swing away.

He reached out and grabbed her shoulder. “Wait! Shouldn’t we talk or something? We just found out we’re soulmates.”

Ladybug fidgeted, uncomfortable with how green (she’d since remembered that that’s what the color was) his eyes were. “I- we can’t right now. We have to go before we detransform and I don’t know that I’m ready for us to reveal our identities just yet.”

Adrien nodded, trying to hide his disappointment. “Right. That’s fine. No rush, My Lady. We can talk next time.”

And with that, Ladybug took off into the Paris skyline, leaving Chat to wonder when they'd see each other next.

Adrien walked into class feeling great. They had successfully defeated their first akuma, his dad had decided to allow him to attend public school, and he had found his soulmate. Even if she did seem a bit… reluctant. She'll warm up to me eventually.

He stepped into the classroom and waved to Nino. Then with his hand still raised, he greeted the girls sitting behind them. He watched with dismay as Marinette turned away with a huff.

And she’s still mad at me, he thought, dropping into his seat with a sigh.

“Dude, you wanna make friends, right?” Nino asked. “Then talk to Marinette about the chewing gum.”

“But what should I say to her?”

Nino smiled, “Just be yourself.”

Adrien tried all day to find a moment to talk to Marinette, but she did a good job of avoiding him. He groaned as he threw his books into his bag. “Plagg, how am I ever going to fix things with Marinette if she won’t give me the chance?”

Plagg floated just inside of the locker. “So what? Who cares about pigtails girl anyway? Let’s go get some camembert.”

Adrien rolled his eyes as Plagg zoomed inside of his bag. He stepped out of the locker room realizing he was one of the last people at school for the day. “I guess I’ll just have to try again tomorrow.”

So, the last thing he expected, was to walk out the school door and find Marinette standing just under the awning.

Now is my chance.

“Hey,” he greeted, giving a small wave.

Marinette turned away and Adrien looked down. Guess not.

Adrien pulled out his umbrella. “I just wanted you to know, I was only trying to take the gum off your seat, I swear.” He watched as her eyes were trained on him. “I’ve never been to school before. I’ve never had friends. It’s all sort of new to me.” He shrugged, then turned and held out the umbrella toward her. One last chance to get her to see I'm not a bad guy.

He watched her eyes widen at his gesture. Then her hand reached out slowly to take the umbrella. And when their fingers brushed, the first thing Adrien saw was blue.

“Chaton?” she asked.

Adrien couldn’t help his grin as he answered. “My Lady?”

[thegeminisage]

time for MORE ZELDABLOGGING hell yeah today’s stream of consciousness:

i’ve decided that i wanna go south bc like im never gonna catch up with my brother and im Not in the mood to do heat-resistence stuff so i might as well see a thing he hasn’t, right?!

if i get too bored i can always turn around and go north!!

furthermore he’s getting closer to hyrule castle and i dont wanna lol

fast traveled to the dueling peaks and found the tower already

ooh and lake hylia is south as well! tho ofc im doing the southeast one first

and i’ll probably get tired of storyless exploring before i get out that far hahaha

wow the tower is close to the border, i can see the lake hylia province from here

there’s an Immense palm tree lookin jungle and i think i see a giant armos?

but the mountains divide it pretty neatly so it looks to be an easy walk assuming those guardian statues don’t move

ah. of course they move.

at least they can’t get up and walk around :|

too bad you can’t play around in the menu while you wait out rain. i’d rewatch m memories and shit

i climbed this one red looking cliff and the sky went green and the weather changed to all cloudy forever so im probably about to die

and just like that, glided to the tower. easy peasy

ah, the faron province!! cooool

ah wow!! it’s bigger than i realized *w*

watching a lightning storm from one of these towers is fucking terrifying

that lightning does Not fuck around

the maddening thing about this game is seeing so much cool shit in the distance and you can’t check it out yet, or it would be such hard work

i see some glowy shit and a giant pink tree and i wanna explore everything but also it’s so Much

it’s kind of creepy out here :/ maybe i want to go do story after all lol

im ging back to the shrine you hang glide off of so i can start from  somewhere familiar >_>

idk why im so cautious playing this game. like. its a game. its not like it can hurt me

im having trauma flashbacks looking at eventide island

wait is this a

i hear town music!!! omg omg

PEOPLE ;_;

ohhhh my gosh what a beautiful peaceful beachside town

reminds me of bodhum/new bodhum and bits and piece of ff11, which i say with the greatest reluctance

i love everyone in this village just bc they are here

oh god it’s so beautiful i love beaches so much i want to live here

oh my gosh there’s a gerudo here!!!!!! OH MY GOD I HAVEN’T SEEN YOU SINCE MM TALK TO ME

she’s asleep in the inn lol

oh hey the painter dude is here too

some of these hylian npcs are poc which is so do cool and overdue

ooh a chest game

i lost lmao

OH MY GOD

the gerudo lady is awake and she is. so tall oh my god

im gay

i am Gay

I Am Gay

oh, man. oh man

are they all  so beautiful. so Strong. good god

i wish this village was bigger i could have happily stayed here for hours

omg

someone a long time ago was standing on a mountain that looked like a broken heart and was like, is this not the place to find your soulmate…? but i haven’t found mine yet

someone mentioned a similar legend here and on the map i see a mountain with a whole heart on it pfffft

im so sick of seeing these stone cirlces everywhere…i can’t blow them up..what do you DO with them? complete the pattern maybe??

oh my god it worked

i’ve passed by so many…how will i ever get all these seeds……..

i know the game wants me to sail here but i hate sailing, it’s tedious, i want to control my boat with the fucking control stick

holy fuck dude the sword im using is so strong?? it cut down a palm in a single swipe!!

the longer i play the more i hate the blood moon

oh no i found a hinox

i was going to avoid him but he has an orb….

idk where it goes tho so there’s no point there’s no point the blood moon will bring him back okay Okay

hes a red one anyway so no big, when the time comes

oh my god ANOTHER hinox with an orb

i bet they go to the twin shrines near the village

but i’m supposed to find a tablet before i do that…….i don’t wanna skip another quest like the zora helm also thats a Long walk jesus christ

NNNONONONO GOD

GUARDIAN THAT CAN WALK OVER THERE NO FUCKING THANKS SO GLAD IT DIDN’T SEE ME

so fucking glad

exploring is so dangerous Why

why do i suck SO much at combat

oooh a bokoblin camp with a black mobiln :/ Yikes

aaand bomb arrows takes care of THAT

i love seeing farosh flying around here but i can NEVER CATCH HIM

i was just a few minutes too late to getting him at a really good spot

but the dragons seem to take the same route over 24h, so there’s that

oh hey im back at green cloud plateau

okay Um am i crazy or did i just hear something roar? was that the wind??

oh god i see a question mark from here something already knows im close

oh ogd oh god why i bet it’s big and awful

IT’S A LYNEL LOL

i dont have any healing or defense stuff no way

oh no i think there’s a shrine up there where he is ): but i can’t get it

AND A HINOX RIGHT NEXT TO HIM? NO THANKS LOL

jesus i knew i’d die here

at least there’s no orb on this one

oh noooo more lightning god the storms here are brutal

omg i found shelter behind a waterfall and there’s the shrine i was sensing!! yes!!!!!

holy fuck im not safe here either i nearly just got fried

in the shrine we go holy shit

may the weather be better when i get out

damn i keep finding ore today… #blessed

I SAW FAROSH AGAIN HE WAS SO CLOSE BUT I WAS STILL TOO SLOW…okay they DEFINITELY take the same route everyday i think

or at least if not at the same time, the same places

ugh i went over to this one place and the weather turned to all lightning forever

KASS? HOLY SHIT DUDE YOU’RE GONNA GET FRIED

im so glad to see him ;_; it’s creepy out here

uh…i think…i have to get struck by lightning…on this hill…oh my god i’ll die???

maybe my lightning rod will work……? please…………..?

aaaaand it did nothing. great. ok

/saves game

……../dons metal armor weapons and shield

LMAO IT WORKED HOLY SHIT

oh my god im alive!!!! i had mipha’s grace just in case but i took an electric elixir

jesus FUCK

yes nice i didnt even have to do anything just get the…chest…….

B R O

i got rubber tights!!! electric resistance!!!!! NICE

ah and when i came out the storm was over :3

but kass is gone ): i wanted to tell him i figured out his song!!!

i knew i should have talked to him before i went in :/

lol i find a boat after playing in the water for 100 years…..not that i wouldve used it, but

aw i met and saved a traveling couple, i’ve saved them before

oh my gosh a STABLE!! all the way out here!!!!

THERE ARE PEOPLE

man i wondered what that couple was doing out in such a remote place

oh wow beedle gave me a single ancient arrow…apparently it deals huge damage even to guardians

maybe this is what the start screen meant by the right tools!!!!

but there’s only one…

robbie from akkala gave it to him…NICE i’ll remember

ah some guy here said there was something glowing at the top of floria waterfall…i gotta check that out

ooh a shrine back here too…nice

god there’s a chest in here that’s REALLY hard to get bc camera angles but it has an ancient core (looked it up) and i need one to upgrade my runes………smh

man…nah. im out. there will be other cores & this is crazy ridiculous

its just the stasis rune anyway and i use that one the least

five big hearty radishes means TWENTY FIVE EXTRA HEARTS

but you can only have a max of 30 lol so

AAAH HERE COMES FAROSH AND IM FINALLY AHEAD OF WHERE HE’LL BE OH MY GOD

I HIT HIM I HIT HIM

I FINALLY GOT A SCALE

almost died for it but. i got it. he throws electricity involuntarily and it’s major stuff i shoulda worn my rubber gear

i kinda wanna wait and see if i can get another……..but i have shit to do

holy shit farosh came back around & i got another scale…wish i could hit his horn

AAAH NO A GIANT STONE THING IS HERE….i have no idea how to fight them im leaving

well idk if the stone thing or the dragon or the shrine was what was supposed to be glowing up here but i don’t see anything new

im almost done exploring this province, actually

gotta walk along one beach and climb the heart mountain and that’s it!

a little tempted to grab my horse since it’s such an easy direct road, but i’d be getting on and off all the time ):

fml there’s a guardian on this beach…pls dont move pls dont pls dont

oh thank god its stuck in the sand

omg there was a chest in the sand but it WASNT A CHEST it was one of those yellow octoroks!!!! but!! i shot it! and got money!!!!!!!! #nice

NOOOO another stone thing!!

but you know the last one took a lot of damage from one accidental bomb so maybe

how do you fight it?? i can’t damage it???

OH OMG THE ORE THING!!! OKAY LET’S DO THIS SHIT let’s go i cooked up so much good food

oh my god i took him down in just a handful of bomb arrows…THATS what ive been running from?

not nearly as scarly as lynel tbh

and i’ve been marking the minibosses on my map so now i can look for jewels there if i ever need to

i found a fuckton in this region but lol i sold them all

i know one great fairy needs 10k rupees and like…..Yikes

im getting pretty good with my bow, i can hit far off targets bc i know how high to aim and shit

i’ve kind of been wondering what happens if you get to the edge of the map

but the wind gets so strong on the beaches i bet you just either run out of stamina if swimming or can’t make the boat get past it if sailing

but what happens if you get to a land edge though…?

i actually dislike getting to edges of maps haha it creeps me out. that disreality unrealization shit. no thanks

in la noire the edges of the map have u-turn streets and you realize the cars are all just on one endless track and no one is in them and no one ever goes home and you start to wonder if this actual universe is a simulation and it freaks you out

anyway.

omfg someone from the yiga clan selling bananas like i actually could have bought some if i wanted LMAO

he actually had me fooled for a moment even though i know what npcs named “traveler” mean

why do they all give me bananas when they die anyway………whats going on with this.

oh my god this dude at the heart shaped pond is in love with this gerudo lady here. and like. same oh my god she’s so Big

but lol you can choose to say “yeah talk to her” or “nope, rival time!”

me: aggressively wants to flirt with the gerudo lady but not in a straight way

pls this cutscene was so cute

but she deserves better than a weirdo like this guy

he like, gave me a twenty, and she fussed at him for being stingy, so then he have me a hundred, and THEN

HE ASKED FOR HIS MONEY BACK LMFAO no way fucknuts

wow and with that im All Done with this province O:

i mean yeah i got quests and shrines to come back and do, but i’ve SEEN everything, yk

maybe now i’ll go up to death mountain haha i feel so slow ): i hope what i saw and did made up for my slow story progress

whoa this weapons guy said he’d remake mipha’s trident if i ever broke it!! what a relief

ah i finally figured out the shrine puzzle by zora’s domain…gotta give that thing a dragon scale. but i like my dragon scales too much so i won’t. maybe later

oh hey the death mountain region tower! that was easy

uhhh what…is that

oh my god a FLYING GUARDIAN are you KIDDING me??? why???????

and they’re everywhere! fantastic!!! my ass is DEAD

oh okay this region is called akkala

at least i get guardian arrows here eventually :|

oh my god ONE SAW ME FUCK

oh my god

I RAN UP TO THE TOWER AND IT’S COVERED IN THE BLIGHT

what is that thing crawling all over death mountain?!

what is happening OH my god!!! so much!! everything!!! all at once!!!!!!!!

wait

that’s the divine beast

oh my god

oh my god.

oh my god it’s so big but even still it looks tiny in comparison to the mountain, oh my god

omg it gets cold up here only at night?? omg

NO there’s a still guardian up here too ;_;

i’m gonna try to kill it!!! good first try it can’t move and there’s cover RIGHT here

second try really but im stronger now

now, i have bomb arrows and lightning rods

ok lightning rod does nothing, bomb arrows dont work in the rain, but i killed it with shock arrows!!

and it wasnt v hard bc i was behind cover the whole time lol

but like, with those arrows - i used maybe 9 or 10? and that was all i used, i threw a couple of bombs at it too i guess

now to figure out how i even get IN here w/ all this gunk…..

fuck a bokoblin near a cooking pot saw me and accidentally set itself on fire lmao

ok i can’t climb past the blight, i tried, but how the fuck do i get rid of it i dont see any eyeballs )))):

……………………….w ait

this bokoblin has a shield with the hylian crest on it. the HYLIAN crest

these ruins have the red carpet with the double line of gold on the side

i’m crying this was someplace special

i don’t know what it was bc it can’t be the temple of time or hyrule castle but it was someplace real i recognize the style of it so faintly and it’s COVERED IN BLIGHT

oh my god………..this is so Much

ah ok a beam fell when i shot the first eyeball and i was like why arent there anymore?? but apparently i can magnesis it

oh wow i found a piece of a room…….totally trashed, jesus christ

must’ve been a lab or library

omg its thundering outside…..that has nothing to do with zelda but it makes this creepier

THERE’S A GUARDIAN AT THE TOP SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME

its not alive tho thank christ

jesus fuck the divine beast is SO BIG and the mountain is still SO MUCH BIGGER i feel so tiny every time i look

anyway it’s 5am and there’s lightning so i gotta unplug for many reasons, this is a fine stopping place, can’t wait to get my ass kicked by that thing and rescue a goron, holy fuck