#I’d start twitching having to watch Marinette fall all over Adrien and then be cool and confident as she rejects chat noir

[another-miraculous-ladyblog]

I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ON LUKA AS A CHARACTER AFTER WISHMAKER AND I’M GONNA DUMP THEM HERE

Luka is such a cool character and he has been a rock for marinette when things got rough for her, but beyond just being a really good and supportive friend I’ve gotta say that if anyone was going to find out both ladybug and chat noir’s identities, luka was definitely the best person for the job. like Marinette better be happy she was basically stuck giving that boy the miraculous of the snake because he might actually be the only one who can handle that level of responsibility.

First of all, he’s ridiculously level-headed until it’s his friends or family who are threatened. I don’t think he’d be akumatized unless someone came directly after his family or friends instead of him- the dude’s ridiculously patient and even-keeled, and as we know from Silencer, a gentle soul. Still though, this guy handles the information of who ladybug and chat noir are ridiculously well.

Like ignoring the weight of the responsibility for a second, just look at how hard it’s got to be to keep his mouth shut on a frustration level- he’s got so much on his plate already and now he’s got to watch these two knuckleheads be the level of oblivious and awkward that they are as civilians knowing full well how close they are as superheroes and how in love both of them are with each other (without knowing it) with a patient smile? The frustration we feel from watching the love square? This boy is living it.

Plus we know from Truth just how important that honesty is to Luka- he values it so so highly and holds himself to such a high standard, but when ladybug asks him point blank to his face whether or not he found out their identities, he lies without hesitation. He literally says that they were never hit (side note: why would he have used second chance then? idk ladybug didn’t ask so she probably assumed something else went wrong or they got stuck since he did seem to let her know that they had used multiple chances so whatever).

He lied to this girl who he cares about so much and compromised his own principles so soon after them being emphasized in Truth without questioning it because he

1. obviously cares about marinette/ladybug and chat noir/adrien and wants to protect them but also

2. because he understands that the responsibility that has been given to him as Viperion has to come before his own principles for the greater good.

He takes his hero-ing seriously, which is what you need from someone who’s going to be given the ability to play with time and potentially be your last resort if everything else fails. He’s known this, but I think after having that responsibility really play out in this episode at the expense of his own principles, he probably understands Marinette and the pressure she was facing and the weight that comes with being a miraculous holder even better than before. He probably went home and rethought everything, especially what happened in Truth with Marinette.

And speaking of the RESPONSIBILITY? All that while trying to not get akumatized and not hint EVEN TO LADYBUG/MARINETTE HERSELF (his friend and the guardian who trusted him with that miraculous) that he knows her identity or chat noir’s? And not hint that they really know each other in real life? And not slip at all even though he hangs out with both of them as civilians all the time?

Like he’s just gonna sit on that information and that responsibility of being the only person in Paris who knows both of their identities and not physically implode from the stress or tell anyone? Knowing that if anyone finds out he will become Shadow Moth’s number 1 target? But he won’t jeopardize his friends by even letting marinette know that he knows so he can talk to someone about it? Like I know he isn’t getting paid but someone get this boy a raise 😭

[scribble-blog]

Soulmate AU part 3!!

First • Previous • Here • Next

Side note, I’m a grandma in a 22 year old body who doesn’t understand technology. If somebody can teach me how to get readmores to work on tumblr mobile, and possibly how to start linking the posts together, I’d appreciate it!

Also, the taglist is now full! Though if people want, I could try doing a supplemental taglist? Either in a reblogged or in a separate post to notify you? Let me know in the replies!

Damian Wayne, as it turns out, is almost very certainly the son of Bruce Wayne, who sponsored their entire trip to Gotham. There are only two official pictures of him that are clear enough to truly check against, but Marinette sees the eyes and she nods. “That’s him.”

Trixx, Pollen, Kaalki, and Plagg are scattered about the bed, napping and lounging. Adrien also lounges, catlike and crosswise with the bed, entirely over the pillows at their back. Chloé holds the laptop that Marinette is hovering over, even from her seated position with her much smaller stature.

“It would be you,” Chloé snorts. “Oh, let’s just traipse over to America for a quick class visit! Oops, my soulmate is the incredibly handsome son of the incredibly wealthy man who invited us here!”

“Still more believable than you, Miss ‘My soulmate and I have literally been standing two feet from each other for weeks because not only do we have the exact same friends, but we’re part of the same superhero group and never realized until Ladybug allowed us to learn each other’s secret identities.’” Adrien doesn’t move as he calls her out, lazily curled into the warmth of his two friends and the pillows cocooning him.

“I don’t think any of us can speak,” Marinette groans. “I’m living a cheap rom com, Chloé’s got all the plot elements of a high budget Shakespearian drama, and Mr. ‘Didn’t know I wasn’t straight until my soulmate mark was a guys name” is straight out of a b movie comedy.”

“At least I got my act together pretty quickly once it occurred to me that I could like guys too,” Adrien points out. “And now Jon and I talk all the time, and he even comes to Paris sometimes to see me, or we’ll meet up for my occasional business trips in America. Which reminds me,” he pulled out his phone, sending off a quick text, “he wants to come meet you guys. Next week, while we’re all actually on the same continent.”

“Kudos to you for shaking off whatever Gabe tried to stuff your head full of,” Chloé says. “Took me ages to admit that I was gay, and that was even WITH my soulmark and both Marinette and Ladybug constantly in front of me.”

“Feeling pretty objectified,” Marinette protests.

“Oh shut it, I know for a fact that you’ve basically been the gay awakening crush of every not straight girl in our class. And several outside of it. And that’s not even counting all the dudes that fall in love with you.”

“I still object,” Marinette pouts at Chloé.

“Objection overruled.” Adrien sits up. “Marinette. You’re like, the perfect crush. They have a warning about you in the introductory packet for Mme. Bustier’s class.”

“They do not,” Marinette gasps, outraged. “I wrote that packet!”

“And then the class unanimously decided you were too dangerous to be walking around without a warning sign,” Chloé pinched her cheek. “If it makes you feel any better, it’s still in the packet despite Lila’s best efforts to get it thrown out.”

That does make Marinette feel better.

“Damian Wayne resurfaces after year of being believed dead,” Adrien reads from his phone. “Gotham’s Newest Wayne: The True Son! These all read like tabloids but as far as I can tell the Wayne’s don’t tolerate stuff like that. So I guess it’s true?”

“I’m tired of looking him up,” Marinette groans. “Can we just leave it be?”

“Nope,” Chloé pops the P. “Congrats, Dupain-Cheng, this is what friends are for.”

“I wish I could talk to Tikki about it,” Marinette sighs. “Especially because I have literally never heard anyone talk about that- electric feeling when we touched. Is it a Ladybug thing?”

Plagg opens one big green eye. “Cool it, Spots. It’s definitely a Ladybug thing. You’re literally the reason these marks exist.”

Marinette sticks her tongue out at the mini god. “I just miss her.”

“Join the club,” he grumbles, closing his eye and going back to napping.

“Good news,” Chloé says, bringing her attention back to the laptop. “Searching your name very easily leads to you, and our class, and the fact that we won the contest. So, unless he decides he’s not ready to meet you, you’ll have the chance to find him at the gala. Or at Wayne Enterprises. Or at any of the places the Wayne’s own, which is two-thirds of our trip destinations.”

“Oh god,” Marinette says. “What if he didn’t want to find me?”

Adrien, Chloé, and four Kwamis hit her at the same time, shoving her back into the bed.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Mari,” Adrien scolds her from his position atop the newly formed cuddle pile. “I saw his face too. If the boy isn’t already in love with you, he’ll be hunting you down just for the chance to fall.”

Trixx nuzzled into her side. “I may not be Tikki but all of us Kwamis know how incredible you are, Marinette.”

She sighed. “Alright guys, get off.”

———

Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Tim already knew who the girl was, because he’d been curious when his favorite artist had started talking about the source of his newest looks.

But having Damian demand his help in searching for everything he could find on her, and then only asking for the bare minimum of information about her trip itinerary- Tim wasn’t an idiot.

“So. She’s your soulmate.” Tim takes a sip of the coffee he’d been working on, making a face and instantly setting it back down when he realized it had gone cold.

Damian carefully did not change his expression, but it wasn’t fooling anyone. “And so what if she is?”

Tim looked back at the monitor. “So nothing. Congrats, Demon Spawn. I’m happy for you.”

He barely caught the edge of the scowl the younger Wayne tried to hide.

“Hey, no.” Tim spun his chair to face Damian. “Look, we’ve had our differences and disagreements-“

“You had me on the superhero equivalent of a terrorism watch list,” Damian interrupted.

“And you literally tried to kill me within the first day of meeting me.”

“A byproduct of my indoctrination from birth into a murder cult,” His brother kept his face still but the tone was wry.

“You kept trying to kill me.”

“I wasn’t trying to kill you!” Damian finally exclaimed, losing his collected demeanor. “Just-“

“Point being,” Tim stressed, “even if we haven’t always gotten along- haven’t ever, really- I’m still happy for you. Soulmates are a special thing. We all kind of thought you might not have one, with the way you always acted when Dick tried to ask.”

Damian forced down the immediate retort and looked at Tim. “I thought that maybe my dying would have prevented my name from showing up for them. And my teachings-“ he said the word with the inflection that meant he was discussing Assassin Upbringing rather than here- “were as such that most connections, be they familial, friendly, or romantic, were- unnecessary and even dangerous.” It felt tantamount to a betrayal of his younger self to confide anything in Drake like this, but... Damian really was, in many ways, a better and more mature person than the spoiled, aggressive, near sociopathic brat he’d arrived as seven years ago. He still kept the veneer of it up, but he was no longer the boy who needed to fight Drake to prove his worth as Bruce’s son.

Now he just waited for Drake to embarrass himself by passing out after staying up for far too long surviving on caffeine and energy drinks. Much easier.

And Drake didn’t ever seem as eager to blackmail and fight as Damian ever had, so he figured a small amount of vulnerability was a proper thank you for his discretion in finding Marinette.

Tim just took another grimacing sip of the cold coffee. “Man. In that case, even happier for you that you’re shrugging off yet another of the Child Assassin School’s upsetting and frankly terrible rules. Though as for the dying thing, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t matter as long as you don’t actively die now that you have the mark.”

Damian shrugged. “Irrelevant now, as I will not be dying anytime soon, and neither will she. And she clearly knows that we’re soulmates.”

“Still confused about that,” Tim frowned, looking back at him. “You said there was an electric current between you? Or it felt like that?”

Damian couldn’t stop his hand from twitching, the memory of it clear enough to feel. “Yes. I don’t understand it myself either.”

“I’ll search around. See if anything comes up.” Tim handed him a pile of papers. “Here, the info you wanted on her itinerary, plus things I thought would be pertinent without going over whatever line you seem to have drawn.”

Damian took them, and very begrudgingly said, “Thank you,” before ducking out of the room.

He waited until he was back in his own room before flicking through them, finding the trip schedule and the hotel rooms listed, the names of her class and teachers, and finally a list of her accomplishments and a copy of the paper that had won her class the trip, authored by her.

He read through it, noting the names of her classmates and their own community efforts, and the way her own section in the paper was minuscule compared to both each other persons section and the list of accomplishments Drake had drafted.

One classmate had, if no less written than than any other person, a distinctly different tone to what Marinette had written, and most of her community building and service events were merely echoes or assisting what another person had done. Damian shrugged it off, as there were sometimes people who simply tagged along, and never put their own effort out there. Followers, and not leaders.

All in all, he found himself more intrigued than ever about her.

TAGLIST:

@the-fusionist @rebecarojas07 @lowandco @kotaleartzu @resignedcatservant @alenee13 @mystery-5-5 @ladybug-182 @actual-disaster-human @loysydark @rumbelle18 @magic-miraculous @vixen-uchiha @athena452 @mochegato @ash-amg @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @thestressmademedoit @sassakitty @doriebell @jessigurl-design @emotionalsupportginger @kceedraws @kuroko26 @moonystars14 @toodaloo-kangaroo @myazael @theatreandcomicfreak @mer-mel @dahjokester @northernbluetongue @area51qt @renscorpio @redscarlet95 @razzledazzle247 @rosep16 @tired-butterfly @catthhay @shamefullove @imanerddealwith @chaosace @captainmac6 @bigpicklebananatree @abrx2002 @cici-schnee @multplelifes @shreky-boi @purple-people-eaters-productions @crazylittlemunchkin @weird-pale-blonde-person

[lnc2]

Small Talk

Summary: Marinette and co. get coffee.

AO3

“So how long are we going to ignore that I’m insanely in love with you?”

Marinette choked, her coffee catching in her throat.

She glared through her tears, horrified and coughing, as she looked first at Adrien, then Nino and Alya ordering with the barista, and back.

“Now?” She hissed, reaching for his water without asking because, well, apparently it was time for sharing things.

“So you do remember,” He said, somewhat smugly as he passed a napkin over to her.  “I was starting to wonder.”

Marinette wondered at his cool as she wiped at her mouth.  Arms crossed and staring at her like she stared at her lucky charms.  A puzzle to be solved.

And she thought this would be a simple coffee run.

Not that anything about the last three weeks could have been called simple.  Not by Marinette’s standards anyways.

Then again, what did you say to your superhero partner after spending an afternoon playing house?

Nothing, if you were Marinette.  Nothing at all.

Because despite what her memories and the Ladyblog and Chat’s quiet but searching glances were telling her, as far as she concerned, the events of that day were to be locked in a lead box and dropped in the bottom of the Seine.

A topic too heavy to be touched.

It figured Chat would have different plans.  It figured Adrien would be the one to launch the first attack.

It was always the quiet ones you had to watch out for.

“Well?” Adrien said, a little sharply as she continued to stare at her crush-turned-idiot partner in disbelief. 

“Well what?” She asked, because, um, valid.

He couldn’t honestly think they would have this out here.  Not with a soon-to-be caffeine-fueled Ladyblogger metres away.

“Well what?” He mimicked in a high falsetto. Oooh she could just smack him.  “What do you think well?”

“I think,” Marinette said, face red, teeth gritted. “That you picked a horrible time for this conversation.”

“Because you’ve given me so many opportunities to bring it up before,” He scowled, falling back against the booth with a sigh.

Marinette stamped down her irritation.  He wasn’t wrong.  But that didn’t mean she wanted her cowardice thrown in her face.

“Chat.” She glanced over to their friends who were making their way back to the table. “Please.”

“Fine, fine.”  He rolled his eyes before plastering a smile to his face.  He almost looked sincere.

Really, the transformation was remarkable.

“Any Ladynoir updates for us, Alya?”

Remarkably infuriating.

She could scarcely afford a swift kick to his shin before Nino slid in beside him.

Alya pouted.  “No.  I still can’t believe they kissed.”

“It was pretty unbelievable,” Adrien said, nodding.

Marinette snorted.

Alya sent her a look. “And all it took was Nino and I tag-teaming it.”

“In evil and in health, babe.” Nino said, reaching forward to bump his girlfriend’s fist.  “Too bad Miraculous Ladybug canceled it all out.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” She wailed, her cry muffled by her arms as she started to beat her head against the table.

Marinette refused to look at Adrien.  “Careful, Al. You’re starting to sound like Hawkmoth.”

Alya lifted her head and fell back to the booth with a dramatic sigh.

“I’d take their miraculous myself if I thought it would get those two to admit they’re perfect for each other.”

Adrien shrugged. “I don’t know if Chat Noir would put up much of a fight.”

“Pfft, yeah.” She shook her head and reached for her danish.  “Enough fantasies. Tell me something happy.”

“Adrien’s dad almost acknowledged me last week.”

“I thought she said happy, Nino.” Adrien rolled his eyes.

“Fine.  How’s Kitty Section?”

“Neutered.” He grimaced.  “Officer Raincomprix shut us down after the neighbors complained."

“Don’t the Couffaines live on a boat?” Nino asked.  “Can’t they just… float away to new neighbors?”

“Because that worked out so well the last time,” Marinette said. “From what I heard, they’re trying to find rehearsal space at the university but Luka says it’s a long shot.”

She regretted the words almost as soon as they left her mouth.

“Luka says that, huh?” Alya grinned, nudging her shoulder.  “What else does Luka say?”

Honestly, she could just kill Alya.

She watched Adrien freeze from the corner of her eye, but coward that she was, she refused to look at him.

“Mr. Guitar Hero himself, huh?” Nino leaned across the table with a mischievous grin.  “And an older man too. Marinette.”

She could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks as she stuttered for some kind of response.  Really, what explanation could she give for Luka?  He was just a friend.  In the same way Adrien was just a friend.

Well.  Maybe not the same way.

So how long are we going to ignore that I’m insanely in love with you?

It was quickly becoming difficult to breathe in this little booth.

Marinette decided dignified silence was the best response and reached for her coffee–

“Luka could encompass everything Marinette is looking for.”

– and promptly choked.

Alya’s smile was was downright evil as she patted Marinette’s back in faux concern.

Death, slow and painful, was too good for her.  She opened her mouth, a respectful fuck you on her lips, only to be cut off by Adrien’s languid drawl.

“I don’t know,” He said, leaning forward to rest one arm on the table.  She dared to meet his eyes only for him to smirk at her over his tea. “Something tells me she can do better.”

“Really?” The redhead said, looking at him appraisingly.  “What makes you say that?”

Adrien laughed off Alya’s suspicious tone.  “Call it a gut feeling.”

The intonation was slight, but she heard it nonetheless.  It made her want to scream.

Unfortunately for him, she could gut this feline no problem.

Because Marinette had more than luck on her side.

She had Alya.

Even as the thought formed she felt her best friend’s hand on her knee, squeezing lightly.

“Speaking of feelings.  How are things going with Kagami?”

Marinette fought her twitching lips, ultimately giving up on hiding her smirk as Adrien processed the question.

“What about Kaga – Oh. ” His face transformed from cocky to confused to mortified in an instant.  His eyes flashed to hers and she batted her lashes right back.

Take that.

Ladybug: 1

Chat Noir: 0

Nino laughed at his stunned friend.

“That good huh? I always knew you were a lady killer.”

Marinette ignored the twinge she felt in her chest as she took another sip of coffee. Okay maybe that hurt her a little too.  But she’d be damned if she let him know that.

Not when he started it.

“You should see this guy when he’s on it,” Nino continued, grinning even as Adrien seemed to sink further into the collar of his shirt.  “Back before you and I got together babe, when I liked Marinette, he had all the lines.”

“Sunshine’s a smooth operator huh?” Alya said, smiling.  She squeezed Marinette’s knee again in a silent question.  Marinette nodded to let her know she was fine.

She wasn’t fine.

Not when Nino said,

“You should have heard him.  Whispering sweet nothings in my ear like Cyrano or some shit.  Urging me to say I love you, Marinette like it was the easiest thing in the world.”

She nearly spit the last of her coffee.

“Okay,” Adrien snapped, practically shoving Nino out of the booth, his face fire engine red.  “Enough.”

Nino and Alya laughed.

“Don’t sweat it.  Like I said, you’re butter.  No wonder Kagami likes you so much.”

Awkward.  This was so, so awkward.

The only silver lining to the pit of nausea settling in her stomach was that Adrien looked like he could just die.  Served him right for trying to embarass her.

She only wished this conversation weren’t just as mortifying for her.

“Coffee.” She squeaked.  “I’m going to– coffee. Yes.”

She could hear Adrien’s halting explanations that things weren’t like that with Kagami as she escaped the table.

Tikki peeked up at her from her purse.

“Do I need to say I told you so?”

“No,” Marinette sighed.  “But I know you want to.”

“You probably should have talked to him sooner.”

“Yeah, well,” Marinette muttered under her breath, pausing to smile at the barista and placing her order.  Impulsively, she added one of the biscottis near the register. “He doesn��t have the greatest timing either.”

“No,” Tikki conceded, chirping gratefully when Marinette passed her the cookie.  “But he doesn’t have to be such a butthead about it.”

“Well it is Chat Noir,” She said, before they both broke into quiet giggles.

Giggles that were quickly cut short by hot breath on her neck and Adrien’s wry voice murmuring, “Talking about me, my lady?”

Marinette yelped, whirling around to glare up at the blonde smirking down at her. 

“No,” She lied.  “Not everything is about you.”

Adrien glanced down at Tikki who nodded loyally.

The barista called her name and Marinette broke his too-knowing gaze to grab her drink.  The drink she nearly spilled when she turned back right into Adrien’s chest.

“Stop doing that!” She hissed, sucking a few hot droplets off her hand.

Adrien didn’t acknowledge her scolding.

“Okay then,” He said instead, taking her by the elbow and turning her away from Nino and Alya’s prying eyes.  “You weren’t talking about me just like I wasn’t talking about you. Can we now?”

Marinette frowned.  “Can we what?”

“Can we talk about me?  And you. Me and you.” Despite his cool demeanor, his words ran together, giving him away.

That and his ears were turning red.

She was loathe to admit it was kind of adorable.

Stupid cat.

“Now?” She asked, again. Again.  Her eyes strayed behind him to their waiting friends.

Adrien really did have terrible timing.

But when she looked back to tell him as much, her heart stuttered.

His eyes were wide, a little hopeful, his smile was small, a little pathetic. 

And his ears, his stupid ears, were still red–

a lot more than adorable.

God dammit.

“Fine,” She sighed, more to make a point than any real reluctance on her part. “Let’s go talk about how you’re insanely in love with me.”

Just saying the words, even as a tease, made her stomach swarm with ladybugs.  But Adrien’s blindingly joyful whoop! bowled over most of her reservations. The enthusiastic thumbs up Nino and Alya were sending from across the room removed the rest.

Absently, Marinette wondered just what exactly she’d missed when she left the table.

She didn’t have much of a chance to ask before Adrien practically swept her up in his arms.  Only her indignant swatting and quick-thinking feet kept her on the ground.

“My coffee,” She said, scandalized, as half the contents of her drink sloshed to the ground.

Behind her she heard one of the put-upon staff members call for a mop.  Adrien hardly looked repentant as he took the mug from her hands to set it down on the counter.

“I’ll buy you another one,” He said and this time he did sweep her into his arms.  Marinette squawked, not at all dainty or ladylike.

Adrien grinned down at her anyways. 

“After we talk.”

[ladylb]

To Cry

Chapter 17  Lila Just Can't Escape

This chapter can be found here on AO3

To start at the beginning, chapter 1 is here on AO3 or here on tumblr

Summary:  Lila wants to sneak away and come up with a plan, but the class will not have it as they process everything that they've already heard and then some...

Lila looked around nervously as the other students crowded around her. Alya, Nino, Rose, Kim and a few others surrounded her as they watched Marinette interact with Jagged Stone and Penny the way that Lila had previously been saying that she was helping them with their wedding plans, which didn’t sound real at all right now, obviously.

Their classmates were still taking in the information that Chloe of all people confirmed that Lila didn’t know Jagged Stone or his crocodile Fang, not Kang, and according to Jagged not only did he not know Lila, but Fang wasn’t a rescue that she found in Australia, but from a farm of some kind.

Plus, there was the bomb that Marinette admitted to, that she considered Adrien as ‘just a friend’ and the one from Adrien that he was NOT secretly dating Lila, like Lila had suggested.

Their classmates whispered to each other as they tried to understand it all as they waited for the answer to Rose’s text to her friend Prince Ali asking if he knew Lila.

Meanwhile, they couldn’t help themselves as they listened in on Marinette’s conversation with the visiting celebrity and his fiancé as they ignored the crowd and Lila. Honestly, it was as if Marinette didn’t care about Lila or the situation at all.

“Well Marinette, back to business. Do you think that you could make something for Fang for the wedding and maybe for us too? We want him to be our ring bearer.” Penny asked Marinette nicely.

Marinette looked thoughtful as she glanced at Fang, “actually, I think a whole tuxedo wouldn’t be quite right, I mean as Jagged says he’s really Rock and Roll the way he is.”

Jagged grinned, “well, you got that right but if we’re getting dressed up, it wouldn’t be right to leave out Fang.”

“Oh, I know, I was just thinking about making him a sparkly tuxedo coat with twin tails and a matching top hat. Oh, and I could make it so we could tie the rings to the top of the hat so he could carry them for you!” Marinette looked excited by the idea as she pet a happy Fang’s head, “you’ll be the best ring bearer, won’t you Fang?”

“Marinette!” Jagged Stone exclaimed as he surprised her when he picked her up and swung her around as Penny laughed, “that is such an awesome idea! Can you do that for us?”

“Sure Jagged, now please put me down.” She squeaked as she smiled up at him before he put her down.

“That’s Uncle Jagged to you Miss!” He wagged a finger at her and she laughed along with him and Penny.

“And soon I’ll be your Aunt!” Penny grinned.

“I’m looking forward to it.” Marinette answered, which was when the five-minute bell rang, “but we’ll have to talk about it after school.”

“You’re on Marinette love!” Jagged grinned as he led Penny back to the limo, Fang happily walking ahead of them, a bit loopy from all the pets, “see you later Marinette!”

“I’ll call you to set up an appointment for measurements!” Penny called out.

“I look forward to it.” Marinette told them brightly. “Bye Jagged! Bye Penny and Fang!” Marinette waved goodbye to them as they got in the limo and waved from the vehicle as they drove off, just as Rose’s phone chimed.

Rose read the response to her text and gasped, “Lila! You lied about knowing Prince Ali too!”

“What?!” More than once classmate exclaimed.

“I, I can h-hardly believe it!” Rose squeaked as Alix took her phone.

Alix frowned as she read the text herself, “hey! It says it right here, he doesn’t know a Lila Rossi and he’s never partnered or worked with an Italian Ambassador’s daughter on anything!”

Everyone gasped as Nino asked as he looked at Lila, who was pouting a bit, “Dude, what else have you lied about?”

“Oh, uh, you know celebrities they can’t tell people who they’re really close to…” Lila tried to explain as she started to pretend to cry, “I-I mean, I’m s-sure Prince Ali is just t-trying to protect me!”

“Try again Lila,” Chloe pointed out. “Even Jagged Stone, the musician that you claimed htat sung your praises repeatedly didn’t recognize you just now or even admit to knowing you. He’s probably unable to keep a secret for as long as you claim to have known him, like his engagement announcement that lasted, what? A week as a secret, tops? That’s saying a lot about a guy that willingly adopts Dupain-Cheng.”

“Thanks?” Marinette wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not.

“Plus, she wasn’t dating Adrien, unless he’s lying about that.” Kim pointed out.

Adrien shook his head almost violently in denial as he stayed away from Lila.

“I’m not. Not only do I NOT like her like that, but I don’t think I’m allowed to date anyway.” Adrien pointed out, before he quietly added, “besides, there’s uh, that other girl that I like anyway.”

“But… but… but,” Lila stammered, fairly certain that her lies were finally being exposed, “I can explain.” She turned to Adrien and pleaded as she grabbed his arm again, “you can tell them about us, they’re your friends, they can keep our secret!”

Adrien frowned, “we have no secret because we’ve never gone out Lila. Stop trying to lie about it, I have never dated anyone! Unofficially or officially.”

Lila wiped her eyes and stomped her foot, “if you just give me a minute everyone I can explain!”

“No, you can’t. You’ve told so many lies, why would anyone with half a brain cell believe you now?” Chloe sneered as she flipped her hair over her shoulder dramatically, “not that I believed any of them in the first place. Come along Sabrina.” Then she waltzed away with Sabrina following right behind her.

“Coming Chloe!” Sabrina answered as they left the main group.

Alya gasped as something finally sank in and then she screeched at Lila, “WAIT! That TOTALLY means that you DON’T know Ladybug!” She pulled out her phone, and glared at Lila as she pointed a finger at her. “If I didn’t have to get started with cleaning all of this up, I’d deal with YOU RIGHT NOW!”

Alya took a deep breath as she clutched her phone like a lifeline and looked at Marinette, “I am SO SOOO sorry Gurl and I want to give you a better apology later, but I gotta get out of here before I do something STUPID that might land me in jail.” She glared at Lila again who shrinked away from her, because even Lila realized that you do not cross Alya.

Then Alya marched away from them as she started typing furiously while mumbling, “I have to delete those stupid interviews, write SO many apologies and retractions! Oh my gosh, and Ladybug! What must she think? UGH!”

Nino shook his head at Lila, “dude, not cool.” Then he glanced at Marinette, “Dudette, I’m totally sorry too and I’d apologize more, but I think I need to be on Alya watch.”

Marinette nodded, understanding how horrible this was for Alya and glad that she had her boyfriend there for her.

Nino then added, “just don’t forget, we are so talking more about this later Dudette.” Then he ran after Alya.

“So not cool.” Kim shook his head at Lila as he shouldered his bag. He then took a breath and pouted a little as he turned to Marinette as he said, “I’m sorry Marinette, I haven’t been a very good friend lately, I know I don’t really deserve it, but could you forgive me? Please?”

Marinette smiled at the jock as she replied, “sure Kim.”

He nodded, “thanks!” Then he headed inside too, followed by the rest of the class as they also apologized to Marinette on their way in. Which finally left behind Adrien, Marinette and Lila.

“You did this!” Lila pointed at Marinette with a growl as she finally quit trying to grab Adrien again now that her audience was gone. She was sporting a glare and a twitching eye as she realized that her spell over the class had been broken.

“I did what? Allowed the truth to be known? It was going to happen eventually.” Marinette shrugged, “so I send Jagged an interesting little video. All I had to do is to have a talk with him Monday night to be ready to get it.”

She didn’t need to mention that she sent the video minutes before he showed up. Marinette had insisted that he shouldn’t show up at all until she had some actual proof of Lila lying and the lies about Fang were certainly enough for Jagged to come running.

Marinette looked at Lila, “you’re the one that lied about someone special to me.” Then she glanced at Adrien, “and about Adrien too, this is all on you Lila.”

“I’ll get you back.” Lila swore.

“How?” Marinette tilted her head and raised an eyebrow at her, “and why? What horrible thing have I done to you Lila besides not believe you and let my friends know that they can’t trust you? It’s not like I threatened to take everything and everyone you hold dear away from you, that’s not my style. It’s yours.”

Lila growled loudly, “and I meant it too!” Then she raised her hand to slap Marinette, who only stood there to take it.

Adrien though, quickly stepped up and blocked her from hitting Marinette. “That’s enough Lila. You were warned not to lie and now you’re going to have to live with the consequences of your lies falling apart. Leave my friend alone.”

Lila huffed, “as if you’d do anything about it. I could ruin both of your lives and do it with a smile.”

“That sounds like a threat to me.” Marinette stated and glanced at Adrien, “did that sound like a threat to you?”

“Yeah, too bad we don’t have it on tape.” Adrien commented sadly.

“Who said we didn’t?” Marinette’s eyes twinkled as she gave him a wry grin, “my phone has been recording everything since Jagged arrived.”

Lila screamed and stomped away, “I’ll get you Marinette Dupain-Cheng, if it’s the last thing I do!”

Marinette and Adrien watched her stomp away, as Adrien sighed. “Well, someone should call Ladybug, she’ll probably be akumatized before class starts.”

“You know, I think that’s okay, Chat Noir and Ladybug can handle it.” Marinette shrugged, “I’m just glad that it’s not me. Besides, Ladybug already knew that Lila was a pot that was getting ready to boil over any day now. Sooner is better than later if you ask me. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to run and, uh, pick up something that I forgot at home, yeah.”

“Sure, I’ve uh, gotta hit the locker room.” Adrien replied as they both darted away to transform for the inevitable akuma battle.

As Marinette darted back home as a purple butterfly was released from Hawkmoth’s lair, only to fly in the direction of a certain Italian girl…

…

After the battle with Lila’s newest akumatized version, Ladybug and Chat Noir pounded their fists together, “pound it!”

Lila of course screamed at them, accused them for ruining her life and was about to stomp off to go home on her own, after they politely declined giving her a ride due to the rumors that could surface if they were seen together.

“After all, I would hate to risk your safety if just helping you home made it look like we were friends, which would be very dangerous and I’d never endanger my friends by telling them who I am or even by spending time with them while I wore my mask.” Ladybug loudly announced just as Nadia the local reporter showed up, but before they started taping. Ladybug shrugged as she added, “besides my Kitty here anyway.”

Chat Noir grinned at Ladybug’s comment. Lila growled and left them angrily.

“Whoa! Care to comment on your best friend’s most recent temper tantrum?” Nadia asked Ladybug.

“I’m afraid that I don’t know that girl, aside from all the times that we’ve had to save her from Hawkmoth’s influence.” Ladybug rolled her eyes as she added with a slight mutter, “you’d think she enjoys it.”

Chat Noir cleared his throat, “I’m afraid Ladybug and I have to scat as well Nadia.” Then he nodded to the north, indicating that’s where he wanted to go and Ladybug nodded that she understood.

“Right, bye Nadia.” Ladybug waved goodbye, “bug out!”

Then they left together, only to stop on a nearby roof.

“My Lady, can we uh, talk?” Chat Noir asked her hesitantly since it was the first time that they had met after what had happened the other night, after Ladybug had cried herself out.

Ladybug nodded, “of course, I just can’t right now Kitty, but maybe later, like tonight on patrol?”

Her earrings beeped for the second time to emphasize how much time she had to get back home.

“Oh, uh, sure. How’s 9:00pm? I could bring something to share for dessert.” He offered flirtatiously.

Ladybug sighed, “Chat, I know we need to talk about what happened and we will, but it would really help if you pulled back on the big romantic gestures right now, please?”

“No big romantic gestures, got it!” He confirmed with a grin.

“I mean it Chat, I need a break from all of that, but we’ll talk about it later. I’ll take care of the snacks; I’ll tell Viperion and maybe Pegasus about the meeting?”

“What? They, I mean he’s still got his Miraculous?!” Chat Noir exclaimed.

Ladybug nodded, “it’s one of the things that we need to talk about.”

“Milady.” He looked at her sadly, with his ears and tail drooping at the news. “I, I kind of wanted it to just be us.”

She looked down, sad for some reason. “Look, Viperion, he’s uh, he’s been a really good friend and I think that it would help if he joined us this time, is that okay?” She looked up at him with those gorgeous eyes that he just could not deny.

Her earrings beeped for the third time.

Chat Noir sighed, “as you wish my Lady.” *(author’s note, can I really not write a story without this phrase anymore? I guess not. It’s a quote from the movie The Princess Bride. It literally means ‘I Love You.’ I’ll let you decide if he knows that meaning though.)

“Th-Thank you. I-I’ll see if he can make it,” Ladybug tried again, nervous and blushing now for some reason. “I’m sorry, but I g-gotta go now Chat…” her earrings chimed again, “bug out!”

A disappointed Chat Noir made his way back to the school, not really knowing why he had mixed feelings about spending time with his Lady and their new team members that evening. Still, he wouldn’t miss any time that she would give him for the world, even if he had to share it.

[pinetasticapple]

What if we had known each other first and fallen in love second: Stormy Weather

Also on ao3 and ffnet

The night was cool and clear of clouds, but the stars were barely visible because of the street lights that illuminated the city. Not that any of the superheroes paid attention to them, as they were currently snuggled up under a blanket to watch the laptop screen, tonight's choice being a cartoon of Adrien's choosing.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" Chat sang along with the video, earning a light jab on the ribs "what? It's a good song!"

"Hm hm" Ladybug giggled "I didn't say it was but keep it low, we might alert someone."

"Only if you promise we can sing this before we wreck Hawkmoth and win the fight."

"Oh my god" she laughed "that is so overly dramatic Chat,"

"But it would be so worth it!" he pouted "please?"

"First we would need to know where he's hiding" she sighed "we've been at this for months and there's no clue of where or who he is."

"That is true" Chat sighed as well "but I must admit these months have been the greatest because I got to meet you and go to school."

"Only you would be excited about school" she giggled "but I get it, I'm glad I met you too."

The episode ended and both teens stretched, Chat Noir making sure to pack the laptop and small speaker. Saturday nights were amazing in the sense they could get to do this, watch movies or cartoons to their contempt after a few rounds of patrol. He loved them, even if he was watching something for the tenth time, he loved his partner's comments afterwards.

"Well then," she packed the blanket in her yo-yo, still surprised at the capacity of the magic device in storing about everything "are you good for tomorrow?"

"The photoshoot?" Chat frowned "I can't believe he scheduled it for a Sunday."

"I'm sorry, it's supposed to be vacation time and you are going to be working."

"It's not your fault bug" he shrugged, his eyes brightening as he snapped his fingers "but it would be such a surprise if you were to be around the park say… around noon?"

"I can't promise you anything" she sighed "I promised a family friend I'd babysit her daughter and Alya is going to tag along at my house" her eyes lit up "I mean I could take her to the park but I don't want you to get in trouble."

"Hey, parks are public spaces, it is bound to happen" he grinned "and it'd be great to see friends outside of school."

"Sneaky, sneaky" she flicked her bell "but you win chaton."

"Don't I always?" he grinned, strapping the bag to his shoulder and ran off before Ladybug could retort.

She just huffed with a smile and made her way back to her home, falling right onto her bed as the transformation faded away.

Marinette knew she had to stand up more for herself in certain aspects of her life. Knowing when to say no was one of those. It was a long path and it wasn't as if she couldn't do it, but sometimes it was too exhausting.

Like right now, as she ran after the little girl going in circles with a prototype hat Marinette had been working on for days.

She could handle akumas, she could handle weird magical disasters. But a girl running around her house while making Marinette trip and bump her head in numerous surfaces was beginning to get the better of her.

"Why did I agree to do this?" she mumbled right as Manon ran away with her hat again.

"If you can handle Manon for a day, any villain here on out will be a piece of cake" Tikki smiled behind one of Marinette's pigtails.

"You read my mind" she smiled just as the doorbell rang "oh that must Alya."

Marinette ran to open the door, relieved to see her friend there.

"So what seems to be the situation?"

"You've said it, you are an expert with your sisters, I need your help."

"Ah," Alya smiled "of course I shall impose my wisdom upon you, my sweet can't say no friend."

Marinette ignored that last part. One step at a time she told herself.

"Besides, Adrien is having a photoshoot at the park and he asked if I could also be around so he doesn't feel so lonely."

"Girl, you have got to work on your time management, but the park is not a bad idea."

Manon took that chance to sneak past Marinette's legs, looking up at Alya with curious eyes.

"And who are you?"

Alya kneeled to be on Manon's height and started to say stuff that Marinette had to blink surprised at how easy Manon was hooked to every word. Marinette was not going to deny Alya was good when it came to little kids. Soon she was practically lifting Manon up and hoisting her on Marinette's shoulders, the girl clinging to her hair as they made their way to the park.

It was a nice day out, a little hot but nothing not manageable. As soon as they were in the park, Marinette spotted Adrien posing next to the fountain, no doubt already bored from doing this on a nice day.

"Alright, how about we run you tired first?" Marinette put Manon down, the girl laughing as she pointed at a balloon stand.

"I want a balloon with Mireille's face on it!"

"That's…odd?" Marinette looked at Alya "didn't they were just going to announce the winner today?"

"You know how some places have their merchandise up and ready before they announce a winner" Alya shrugged.

"I suppose," Marinette looked at the red balloons. It was a high possibility but it still stuck as weird in her head. But she hadn't paid much attention to the weather contest since she had been quite busy chasing after Manon back in her home.

"Ok, let's get you one" Marinette took Manon to the stand, looking up just as Adrien sent her a small wave. She waved back and pointed at Manon, her eyes conveying the message that she was going to be around, only to be also pulled by Alya to the balloon vendor.

Adrien was glad she agreed to be around, even if his time was way limited with the amount of shoots the photographer wanted to take, not to mention his bodyguard was there so any possibility of sneaking away was out of the question.

This was boring, not to mention Adrien may have slept a little less than usual thanks to Saturday movie nights, but that was something he couldn't let anyone else know.

"No, no! The boy has eaten too much spaghetti!"

Adrien looked back at the photographer. Oh, he had yawned in between a photo. He apologized but the truth was he was really bored and his brain was not going to cooperate in understand all the pasta metaphors. Around him there were a few people talking and he spotted Marinette with Alya and Manon around the merry go round.

"We need some more energy! Romance!"

Adrien was quite sure that was not necessary for this shoot.

But the photographer was looking around and pointing at Marinette.

"You! You there," he approached her "hm, good contrast, yes, you can pose with Mr. Adrien,"

Marinette jumped, looking at the photographer and then at Adrien and back to the photographer.

"M-me? No way, I'm not that photogenic and- "

"Oh it would be a great idea!" Alya nudged her "you could get to find out about the other side of modeling business,"

"But- "she looked at Manon.

"Hey girl, I got you covered," Alya lifted Manon up to the unicorn on the merry go around "besides it'll be for only a few minutes, I think miss Unicorn and I will be just fine."

Manon laughed, no doubt at Alya's magical story. Well, at least she wasn't turning it into super hero stuff.

"Ok, fine" she turned "but just for a few minutes, alright?"

She turned and made her way to the fountain, only to stop at the loud scream that came from behind, as the merry go round was suddenly wrapped in an icy prison.

Marinette looked up to see indeed an akuma, a girl with a purple dress and umbrella that was sending gusts of winds at people nearby.

"Aurore?"

It had to be her, the other girl that lost the contest. But how devastated must she feel to be akumatized over it?

Marinette would have to think about it later as she ran to a place to hide and transform. She knew Adrien would catch up to her but first she had to make sure Alya and Manon were safe.

Ladybug was glad Alya was with the little girl but that didn't take away the pang of guilt from leaving her alone.

"I'll get you out of there!" she exclaimed and tossed her yo-yo to wrap around the big icicle. Maybe the wire would create enough friction to cut it out?

She pulled hard, only for the wire to slip and throw the yo-yo right on her head.

Ouch, that thing was painful. Ok then, plan B. Purify the akuma and cast miraculous cure to melt the ice.

"Don't worry" she approached the ice wall and crouched to Manon's height "everything's going to be ok."

"Where is Marinette?"

"She hasn't forgotten about you Manon" Ladybug gave her a warm smile.

"How do you know my name?"

Ladybug's cheek twitched. She had to admit it was sometimes difficult to keep the identities separate for the sake of civilians.

"Ah Marinette told me!" she said "she's coming right back, ok?"

That ought to explain it for now. She gave Alya a smile and turned around. She had an akuma to fight.

Adrien on the other side of the park had managed to transform, after bribing Plagg out with cheese, and was facing at the akuma.

"Hey Ice Queen," he called out to her as he slid off the fence "what's with all the terrorizing? Why don't you pick on someone your own temperature?"

"My name is not Ice Queen! It's Stormy Weather!"

Huh, ok he was a little far off the name.

"Listen, I'm feeline more generous than usual today," he smirked "so cool down and we call it quits, ok?"

Next thing he knew he was being blasted away by a gust of wind, landing three blocks away from the park.

"I thought cats landed on their feet" he heard Ladybug approaching him, taking the hand she offered up to him.

"I had it covered" he dusted off his suit "she just couldn't appreciate my sense of humor."

"What a shame she mist the opportunity."

Chat grinned.

"See, you do get me,"

"Just not your timing" she shrugged just as the akuma appeared right in front of them, casting her power to throw lightning above them.

"Watch out!" Ladybug tackled Chat out of the way just as one fell on the street.

"That was way too dangerous" Chat turned to the akuma "you just won yourself a cat fight!"

He ran towards her, only for the street's asphalt turning to ice as his feet slipped. Stormy Weather threw another gust of wind, sending him flying back again.

"Chat!" Ladybug used a lamp post as anchor as she grabbed onto Chat's tail, both fighting against the gust of wind until it was done, leaving them face planted on the sidewalk.

"Ok, I'll knock the wind out of her sails," Chat cracked his knuckles, ready to leap against Stormy Weather again, only to be reeled back by Ladybug.

"Woah, wait up" she pulled at his tail "we can't go head first, that didn't work out."

"Right" he frowned "have a backup idea?"

"Follow my lead" she smiled and jumped to start running on one side of the building, Chat quickly catching up to her plan. If they went at her at the same time, then Stormy Weather was not going to know who to defend from first.

The gust of wind that sent them flying and almost crushed by the wrecked cars told them otherwise.

"Hang on!" Ladybug pulled Chat close to her and started to spin her yo-yo real fast above them, just as a bus landed right on top of them.

Either yo-yo's string spun so hard or magic alone but Chat was relieved to see it had done a hole on the metal of the bus, even if it landed on top of his head.

"Ouch!" he rubbed his head "that hurt!"

"I'm sorry" she couldn't help but to giggle a little "I know firsthand how hard this thing is."

"Sure you do" he frowned "so, front attacks didn't work, neither divided ones."

Ladybug pushed the bus window to open it, taking Chat's baton as he lifted her up and allowed her to vault him out.

"What about an ambush?"

"That could be, but we would need to know where she's gone,"

"Say, why do you think she got akumatized?" Chat asked once they were back on the streets, running across the wreckage.

"I'm guessing from the weather contest results?"

"Right, I forgot about those," he shrugged just as the broken screen next to them lit up, showing Stormy Weather broadcasting a snow storm over Paris.

"Summer vacation is officially over!"

"Already?" Chat huffed "but I'd look so good in a swimsuit."

Ladybug laughed "glad to see that's your priority."

"Are you kidding? I'd love to go to the beach" he smiled "but tan lines, you know."

"Bummer, but!" Ladybug smiled just as snow kept falling around them "now we know where to find her."

"What is your plan of action bug?" he asked as they continued running.

"For now? Find the akumatized object and destroy it" she huffed.

They reached the tv network building, the place eerie and quiet as soon as they barged in. There were some fallen chairs and messed papers around, as well as cut out cardboard figures of the weather girl contestants.

"Hey, wait" Chat pointed at one "that girl with the parasol- "

"It's her!"

"Isn't she Aurore from the classroom next door?"

"Yeah, oh she wanted to win so bad, no wonder she got akumatized."

"Let's go save her then" Chat pointed at the door, both nodding as they barged in to what was the main studio, but the place was empty except for a camera recording a laptop.

Stormy Weather cackled from the door as she blasted another lightning towards the reflectors above them, both dodging them by mere seconds. She kept cackling as the power went out, leaving them in complete darkness.

"Frosty the snow girl is getting away!"

"That one is a little of a stretch-ah!" Ladybug squeaked as clattering echoed around them.

Chat looked around to see her on the ground, most likely from having tripped on debris from the reflector. Oh it was good to have night vision in times like this.

"Do I hear a damsel in distress?"

"Oh I'd quote Hercules at you but now it's not the time" she huffed as Chat grabbed her hand to pull her up "lead the way mighty knight."

"Leave it to me!" Chat exclaimed as he ran without letting go of her hand, both running up the maintenance stairs after Stormy Weather.

"Duck!" he crouched and pulled her just as a fire extinguisher flew above their heads "hey those things are delicate!"

They reached the rooftop just as the blizzard caught strength, both trapped in what had to be the eye of a tornado.

"And here I thought Sunday's were the hottest days of the week," Chat smiled, ignoring Ladybug's stare.

"Lucky charm!" she exclaimed instead, her hands catching a…

"A bath towel?"

"I have to say, your items are the most unorthodox things I have ever seen" Chat grinned "so we're about to be obliterated but at least we'll be dry."

Ladybug rolled her eyes.

"Hold your whiskers," she wrapped it around her arm and looked around. There was always a reason behind the lucky items, she knew that –and she was not going to go back to the time a single button had fallen on her hand thank you very much- so there had to be something around to help out in this situation.

"Hail!" Stormy Weather called out as baseball sized balls of ice started to fall on them. Chat pulled her towards him and used the same trick she had done with the bus, using his baton as a makeup shield from the projectiles.

"I got it!" Ladybug exclaimed "see that sign over there?"

"Yeah,"

"You know what to do," she smirked.

Chat grinned and summoned his Cataclysm, calling out for Stormy Weather's attention.

"Hey Goldilocks!" he smirked "is that all you've got?"

That seemed to work as Stormy Weather started to throw lightning at him, Chat dodging and running with ease to avoid them, his right hand pulsating with the destructive energy of the Cataclysm. He was never going to get tired of the adrenaline rush that ran through him on these moments, especially when he glided over the side, allowing his hand to slid on the metal beams that held the sign together, the corrosion doing its job on bending it over.

It was all over from there. Chat watched mesmerized how Ladybug wrapped her yo-yo around Stormy Weather's ankle and created a make shift pole and vault mechanism that allowed her to catch the akuma off guard and sent her parasol flying right to his hand.

And to think he had had to help her with physics a few weeks ago.

Chat threw her the parasol, smiling as Ladybug did their usual routine of setting free the akuma, purifying it and calling for the Miraculous Cure all over Paris, restoring the city to the sunny day it was.

"Pound it!" they fist bumped with a smile.

"Oh man, have to go back or I'm going to get in trouble" Chat frowned, but Ladybug placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it.

"Hey, I'll see you soon, ok?" she winked at him and went to help Aurore on her feet and get her away from the rooftop.

Chat smiled and vaulted his way back to the park, detransforming just a few blocks away to enter as Adrien. He made up something about hiding from the attack which, by this point, was the default excuse he had to his sudden escapades, but hey, they weren't a lie.

Marinette ran to the park as soon as she turned back, only to be tackled by Manon who ran straight up to her legs. She couldn't help but to lift the girl up in her arms. She really had been worried for her.

"I know what your secret is," she sang in her arms, causing Marinette to panic.

"Huh? Secret, what secret?"

"Ladybug is your best friend!"

Oh, ok so it wasn't so bad. Marinette hugged the girl again and tried not to show the relief of her identity still a secret from Alya, but still owed her big one for taking care of Manon while she was well, saving the city.

"Ah! Hold it right there!" they heard the photographer behind them "that! That is what this needs! Innocence, laughter!"

What in the world, were Marinette's thoughts as she was pulled towards the fountain and asked if Manon of all people could be part of the photoshoot.

"Woah wait, wait" she frowned "she's a child and I'm just her babysitter, not her guardian to say yes or no."

"Ah but it'd be a good addition to the moment!"

Marinette wanted to frown. She put Manon down and retrieved her phone to text Nadja about it. At least the no was already on the table.

She was surprised to see Nadja was totally ok with it.

"Ok…?" she looked at Manon "do you want to- "

Manon had already run off to Adrien's side to introduce herself, leaving the boy with no chance to respond.

"That was…odd," Alya stifled her laughter "at least sunshine boy doesn't look so bored anymore."

"Pff," Marinette held back her giggle "I guess so."

Oh she was so going to save some of those photos later.

[thewritewolf]

Fictober Day 22 - I Know You Love To Play Games

Back to my old favorite - Marichat! With sleepover games!

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3

Marinette angrily put aside her latest design, frustrated with the lack of progress she’d made over the last few hours. Hoping for some way to vent, she turned to the black clad hero lounging on her chaise. “So, Chat Noir. I know you love to play games…”

Chat Noir sat up and eyed her suspiciously. “Yes…”

“Would you like to play one?”

“This isn’t going to be like the time you said that and tried to have me chase lasers and string, is it?” He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her.

“Oh come on! That was hilarious and you got into it after a little while.” When his stare refused to let up, she sighed and added, “Don’t worry, I wasn’t planning anything like that. I was just figuring since it’s late we could do a sleepover game?”

Stroking his chin and grinning at her, he asked, “I dunno, princess. I’m purr-tty sure that I can beat you in a pillow fight.”

She rolled her eyes. Boys. “You know there are more games than pillow fights? And pillow fights are kinda rare anyway, alley cat.”

“Well, what were you thinking of then?” He began twirling his tail, trying his best (and failing) to sound uninterested and cool.

“How about Never Have I Ever?”

His ears twitched and a smirk found its way onto his face. “I’ve never heard of it, so I’d say I’m off to a good start.”

Her chair swiveled towards him and he obligingly sat up, facing her with his body. “Okay, kitty. So we hold up one hand,” suiting actions to words, she held up her left hand and wiggled her fingers, “and the person whose turn it is says something they’ve never done. If the others have done whatever they just said, then they put a finger down. Once you’re out of fingers,” she clenched her hand into a fist, “you lose. Got it?” He nodded. “Okay, since you’re the guest you can start.” She opened her hand again and he mirrored the motion.

“Um…” Chat shuffled in place, grasping for an idea. His eyes fell on a platter now holding only crumbs and his ears perked up. “Oh! Never have I ever made a cake from scratch.” He seemed awfully proud when she rolled her eyes and lowered a finger.

“That was a bit obvious, don’t you think? I live in a bakery, after all.”

Chat shrugged, his grin growing wider. “I think you’re just being a sore loser.”

Glaring at him, she said, “Never have I ever appeared on a civilian’s balcony and begged to be fed.”

“Hey, I didn’t-”

Dropping her voice as low as it would go, she did a terrible impression of Chat’s voice, “Oh please, purr-ncess! This poor kitty is starving! Do you have any food to spare?”

“Fine, fine.” Tail flicking in irritation, he slowly lowered a finger. The smirk returned. “Never have I ever worn earrings!”

“Ugh, really?” She lowered another finger. At this rate, they weren’t going to last very long. “This is supposed to be a game where you learn about each other, not state the obvious!”

“Oh? Trying to figure out my identity, princess? Curiosity finally overwhelming you - who is that gorgeously handsome man, my knight in shining leather?”

Ignoring him, she used her free hand to tap at her chin. She glanced at her laptop, turned off for the moment. “Never have I ever binged an entire series in a single night.” She looked back at him, watched his face slowly drift from gloating to put-upon. Silently, he lowered a finger. “See,” she added with false enthusiasm, “I’m learning about you!”

“Ha ha,” he deadpanned. “Never have I ever been on a dinner date.” The smug expression returned only to break into confusion when her fingers stayed resolutely where they were.

“What?” She said defensively. “I’m just…waiting for the right person, you know?” Shrugging, she added,” Besides, it’s not like I get asked out a lot.” She seemed surprised when he snorted. “I’m not drowning in admirers over here, Chat.”

“I find that hard to believe, but I’ll accept the dinner date response at least. You win… for now.” He gestured to her. “Your turn.”

“Never have I ever dyed my roots.”

“Cold, princess. I’ll have you know I’m all natural.” She quirked an eyebrow as she met his stare and he made a dismissive gesture. “Ignore the eyes, that’s just the miraculous magic.”

“Back to you then, kitty.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh… Never have I ever stolen something.” Her stomach dropped and she groaned as she lowered a finger. Chat’s eyes widened. “What?! I just wanted this to go on longer! What’d you steal? Was it from me?” He leaned forward conspiratory. “Is Johnny Law still after you? I promise I won’t turn you in.”

Pushing him away while blushing she explained, “I stole a phone because I left an embarrassing message on it. And I gave it back after I was done, with him none the wiser. So no - no one is after me.”

“Uh-huh. Well I’ve got my eye on you anyway, sticky fingers.” He made a tsk noise. “My own princess… a thief. Oh the drama!” He threw an arm over his face dramatically.

She rolled her eyes and stared off into space as she struggled to come up with another question. Yawning, she watched Chat’s tail flick back and forth. “I dunno. Never have I ever had a tail.”

Frowning he lowered a finger. With his voice a couple octaves higher, he did a terrible impression of her, “That was a bit obvious, don’t you think?”

“Oh hush. It’s getting late and I’m tired.”

“This game was your idea and we aren’t even done with the first round!”

“Chat, there probably won’t be more rounds after this. I’m going to have to kick you out soon so I can get some sleep.”

“Well, I know what will get you awake.” His smirk had returned and Marinette stared at him suspiciously in the silence. “Never have I ever… hung up twenty pictures of the same model in my bedroom.”

“CHAT!” She whisper-shouted, scandalized, making her displeasure known by smacking him on the arm while he cackled. The first time he’d seen the pictures he’d been dumbfounded, but he’d steadily gotten used to them over the months he’d been visiting. Rarely he’d tease her about them, being surprisingly thoughtful about ignoring their presence. Clearly, today was not one of those times.

In the heat of the moment, she huffed and scrambled for anything embarrassing she could throw back in his face. She struck upon a fitting memory and asked, “Never have I ever almost sneezed myself off a roof because of a bird allergy!” She smirked and waited for his finger to go down. When it didn’t she glared and reached over to put it down herself. She met with no resistance.

“Marinette…” Something in his voice made her look back at his face, which had lost all sense of tiredness or silliness. Instead, he was watching her intently, as if seeing something he hadn’t before. He stood up and started circling her.“What did you just say?”

Going back over her last dare, she struggled to find what had caused this shift in attitude. It had seemed like just another clear shot. The memory of Chat Noir nearly falling off a roof was very vivid in her mind. He’d just appeared out of nowhere, lounging on the roof, before sneezing and rolling to the edge. After he’d explained his allergy they went right into business-

Wait.

Right into the business of… fighting akuma. He had saod that as Chat Noir, to Ladybug. She had been Ladybug. Not Marinette. She had just said something only Ladybug could have known. And from Chat’s reaction, he had realized that too.

“Now Chat…” She held up her hands as a shield. “Let’s not jump to conclusions.”

“You’re Ladybug!” He was pointing wildly at her, eyes lit up with excitement. He wore a dopey grin as he made his accusation.

“Oh come on, that’s pushing it. There’s a perfectly valid explanation.”

“Really?” His smugness returned as he sat back down in front of her, chin on his hands and peering at her intently. “Tell me then.”

Her eyes widened and she scratched at the back of her head. “Well, I, uh…” SHe caught sight of one of her Adrien posters. Which is simply another way of saying she looked at almost any patch of wall in her room. Inspiration struck. “If you must know, then I simply confused you with Adrien Agreste. One day we were in school and he nearly sneezed himself off the edge because of his allergy.”

He pointed a finger at her, grinning. “Liar! I never did that as Adrien!”

There was a silence in the room. Chat (Adrien) was paling at his own stupidity. Marinette (Ladybug) sagged against her chair, her soul having left her body in a mix between mortification, relief, and absolute joy.

Nervously laughing, Chat broke the silence. “I guess the, uh, cat’s outta the bag, my lady?”

That did it for her. The puns. The two halves came crashing together into one beautiful mess of a boy. “Of course you would react by punning, you mangy cat!”

“Well, start as I mean to go on, right?” He slinked out of his chair to sit on the floor in front of Marinette, resting his arms on her lap and looking warming up at her. “Do you… well, would you like to…?”

“Are you… asking me on a date?” The thought was almost too much for her to believe, but the fact that it was Chat Noir that was asking gave her the confidence to respond in real words instead of gibberish.

“Only if you are going to say yes.” He chewed his lips, shifting worriedly. The only consolation to her inner strife is that he seemed to be suffering right along with her. “I mean, I understand if you don’t. In fact forget I-”

He didn’t get much further than that before she pulled up him by the collar and kissed him. Hopefully, even Mr. Oblivious himself could take that hint.

[amuletrebel]

Bring May Flowers (Ch. 23)

AO3 Link / FF.net Link

Prompt: Actual Cat Chat Noir

Marinette kept her arms around Chat’s neck as he swiftly moved through the air. She knew the view of Ladybug. But seeing it as Marinette, a girl who didn’t have a magical yoyo to catch onto the nearest object to stop her fall. There was an added thrill to it. There also came the added trust. She trusted Adrien not to drop her. And she trusted him to keep her close. They flew through the skies until Chat gently landed on pavement, carefully letting Marinette down onto her feet. The blunette smiled at her boyfriend—she’d be lying if she said just thinking that word didn’t make her giddy—and turned to look at where he brought her. She gasped at the gorgeousness of it. The place he decided to bring her was an elegantly arranged garden. Stone walkways from all four sides led to the giant white gazebo. The designs on it were intricate and Victorian-styled. Patches of flowers encircled the area in perfect symmetry in terms of shaping. The patches even encircled the nearby hill, except for the clear-cut path to actually get to the top. And atop that hill was a gorgeous cherry blossom tree. Chat led her to the gazebo, where a small bouquet of Anemone and a picnic basket sat on the table. “Kitty…” Marinette softly spoke, gazing in wonder, “You planned all of this…?” “Indeed I did, Milady,” Chat answered with a sweeping bow. He extended a gloved hand out to her, his peridot eyes hopeful. “Will the Princess allow this lowly knight to spoil her a little today?” Marinette blushed, cupping her cheek with one hand and placing her other hand in his. “I-I see you’re k-keeping that up.” “Well, royalty deserves to be called thusly,” he flirted, laying a kiss on her knuckles. Marinette turned redder and turned her gaze away. “N-now you’re just sh-showing off.” “That depends. Is it impressing you?” He leaned in closer to her and a shiver went up her spine, but not the bad kind. He chuckled softly and pulled back. “Let’s get that cute face cooled down with something to drink.” The pigtailed girl could only nod dumbly as Chat escorted her to the gazebo, pulling out her chair and pushing her in. She smiled gently at him and posed like a true Victorian democrat, pretending to fan herself with one of those gigantic feather fans. The hero snickered and sat across from her. He laid his elbows on the table and settled his chin on his folded hands. Marinette almost choked on air when she saw the same lovestruck expression in his eyes that she had given him, as Adrien, not even a full month ago. She knew in her heart that what she felt for Adrien was real. So to notice that exact same look she gave him, on his face and directed at her, made her heart want to leap out of her chest with glee. Adrien Agreste, the boy she secretly loved for a solid year, returned her feelings. Not just because she was Ladybug, but because he thought she was amazing. The blunette cleared her throat, willing the blush that was rising up her neck to settle. “So, uh, what’s f-for lunch?” “Glad you asked, Princess!” Chat exclaimed with a happy grin. He reached over and opened the basket. She observed what he pulled out one by one. She noticed the bottles of high quality pink lemonade.  Delicately wrapped in saran wrap were two delectable-looking sandwiches. A bag of bread rolls and homemade potato wedges came afterwards. And for dessert was two slices and strawberry shortcake. All Marinette could say was, “Wow…”

“Only the best for you, ma chérie,” Chat commented with a smile. “Th-this looks really high quality.”

The model in disguise chuckled and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “I asked the chefs back home to make all this. I just really wanted to give you the best afternoon. And it all starts with the food, right?” “Wrong,” Marinette simply said with a blank face. Chat recoiled slightly at her answer. But then she smiled and laid her hand on his. “It starts with the company. And I can see no one better to spend today with.” Now it was Chat’s turn to blush and choke up a little bit. He laid his hand down, sandwiching her delicate hand between his. “Thank you, Marinette,” the blonde softly said, gazing her gently. Marinette knew that expression well. It was the same one he wore when she fell for him on that rainy day. “Now, let’s eat!” the pigtailed girl enthusiastically said. “I don’t want your hard work at ordering this food go to waste.” Chat laughed heartily and handed her half of the food. They clinked their bottles together and took a swig of lemonade. Marinette moaned in delight at the taste. Who knew lemonade could be so exquisite? If the lemonade was anything to go off of, she was in heaven when she tasted the sandwich. Did Adrien eat like this every day? Because wow! The delicate balance of ingredients, a balance of salty, sweet, crunchy, and smooth, left her wanting more. The two fed each other pieces of their cake, despite having the exact same thing. She turned beet red when Chat leaned over and kissed the corner of her mouth, claiming there was frosting stuck there. Marinette pouted and he just chuckled. After lunch, Chat led his princess up the hill. They sat together underneath the tree, his head in her lap. She gently combed her fingers through his hair and the ears atop his head twitched in delight. His chest rumbled as a purr emitted from the pit of his stomach. Marinette giggled and patted his chest, smiling happily down at him. He gently reached up and plucked a cherry blossom out of her hair. “I love you, Bugaboo,” Chat whispered. “I love you too, Kitty,” Marinette whispered back. The blunette slowly leaned down and pressed a kiss to his lips. Chat happily returned it, placing a gloved hand on the back of her neck to keep her in place. Suddenly, a soft meow echoed through the area, causing Marinette to break to kiss and gasp when she looked up. Sitting in the grass, emerald gaze never leaving the designer, was a black cat. When Chat sat up to observe the cat, the feline immediately bound forward and hopped into Marinette’s lap. Marinette gasped but then giggled, picking up the cat and playing with its front paws while it mewed happily. “Aw, aren’t you a cutie pie. Did you see a big kitty getting affection and want some too~?” Adrien’s eyes twitched slightly as he watched Marinette give a cat (that definitely wasn’t him) attention. She giggled, her bluebell eyes focused on that stupidly cute cat. He glared at it with a fire in his eyes. Marinette was so preoccupied with the cat that she didn’t notice the feline turn its head toward the hero who was glaring holes into it. Back off! Adrien scowled. She’s mine! Got that? Mine! He motioned to his eyes with two fingers and pointed them at the cat. You are so dead. But Adrien could only gape like a fish when the cat gave him what appeared to be a smirk as it nuzzled into Marinette’s stomach, making her giggle. The blonde was just about to snap. Luckily, he was saved from humiliating himself by throwing down with a cat when a piercing scream rang through the town. I never thought I’d see that day when I’d be saved by those screams.

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[project-ml]

Project: Tarot 2017 - Unusual

Unusual

Project: Tarot 2017 Masterpost (tbp)

Author: @chatbug-jk

Summary: The miraculous cure isn’t perfect and everyone suffers after effects of being akumatised, and on Halloween, the heroes suffer the effects of their own miraculous.

Tags: Halloween, cat and bug appearance changes, akuma abilities, classroom antics

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I walked into class on Monday about a week after my birthday and fell into my seat. Nino came into the classroom after me and I noticed that he had a little 

storm of bubbles following him, and he looked really annoyed. He sat down next to me and put his head on the table. I reached over, curious and popped one of the bubbles floating above his head, and he yelped in pain.

“Dude!” Nino complained. “Those are connected to me, I can feel that!”

I started to say something, but Nino cut me off. “I barely got out of the house because my mom was freaking out. I need some normal now” He put his head back down on the desk.

“Got it.” I said, understanding. After I’d started being Chat Noir I’d been seeking normal a lot. We sat together in silence for a couple of minutes until Mme Bustier walked into the classroom and gave Nino a sympathetic look before starting class.

Over the next few months more people became plagued by the aftereffects of being akumatized. There didn’t seem to be any pattern to the order it happened in. Ivan started to grow slightly when Kim mocked him about a week after Nino’s bubbles appeared, and Nathaniel's drawings started to move on his paper a couple days after that.The only problematic ability in the class was how Alix would sometimes split or talk over herself when she got excited, which could end up being really loud and annoying in class.

Ladybug and I talked about it after patrol one evening. We decided that there wasn’t anything we could do about it since the Miraculous Cure didn’t work, except for how none of the abilities seemed to be anything too excessive, and no-one was actually becoming ill. The only problem that we thought might appear would be that people would no longer be able to hide that they had been akumatized. We vowed to make sure that the status quo wasn’t completely destroyed. While there were some people whose abilities could be a benefit, like Alya who could sometimes subconsciously post something on the Ladyblog without even looking at her phone, some people with odder abilities, like controlling pigeons, could be considered weird and insane, and that was something we wanted to avoid because it wasn’t their fault.

I woke up excited. My class was having a party to celebrate the American holiday ‘Halloween’. The basic idea revolved around getting candy and wearing costumes, and Father allowed my request to go as Kuro, and I’m so excited to see what all of my classmates came up with!

I jumped up off my bed and tripped over something and onto my face. I looked behind me to see what I’d tripped over and saw an honest to goodness fur tail attached to me. I ran into the bathroom and saw that the scleras of my eyes were green, and I had little blond ears on my head.

“Plagg!” I yelled and he came up next to me, snickering into his paws.

“You didn’t think the side effects were just for the akuma victims did you? You have my power, used with a miraculous. That’s how they got their side effects, and that’s how you got yours.”

“What?!”

I woke up to Tikki poking me through my blanket. “One minute.” I groaned and Tikki nudged me again.

“You have to get up early today Marinette, you have to get your costume ready!” She said, and tugged off my blanket, making bright light shine into my face. “It happened!” She squealed and flitted off across the room, coming back to hold my hand mirror up to my face. I saw antennae and the hint of a shell on my back and fell into my cat plush.

“What’s wrong with me?” I complained, and Tikki shook her head.

“There’s nothing wrong with you.” She said, “It’s normal for people who use miraculous magic to develop side effects, that’s what’s changing the akuma victims. It was just a matter of time until you developed yours, you should be happy!”

“But what about the party? Adrien’s gonna see me and think that I’m a weirdo and then,”

Tikki cut me off. “It’s a halloween party, the whole point is that you’re in costume, right? If you modify your costume I can promise that no-one will even think about it.”

I nodded and jumped off my bed to run over to my sewing desk so that I could modify my dress. Luckily I’d designed it in a crimson red, so my antennae and wings would match it without much difficulty.

I got to school a couple minutes after the bell and opened the door to see that all my classmates had been turned back into their akumatized forms. I stumbled backwards, slamming the door closed and fell onto the person that had been about to enter the room behind me.

“Akuma!” I yelled and the person I fell on got up to look through the door.

“They’re just all in costume,” He said laughing “You were right to be careful, but falling backwards might have been a bit much.”, leaning down to help me up. Adrien. I fell on Adrien. And he was wearing a cat costume.

“I’m so sorry!” I squeaked and he shook his head, making his ears move in a way that seemed a little bit too lifelike for them to be just costume pieces. I looked to his eyes and saw that his scleras were green like Chat’s too, and his tail was moving slightly behind him when he leaned down to offer me a hand up. I took a deep breath. If this wasn’t a weird dream and it is all still here in the morning I’ll call Chat and clear it up.

“It’s fine, I should have been watching out.” He pulled me up and we walked into class.

Alya waved to me from her seat where she was playing with Nino’s bubbles. “Everyone decided that since they were stuck with abilities that we were all going to go as our akumasonas. Cool right?”

“That’s great!” I said and sat down next to her. “It’s amazing that you guys managed to “ replicate the costumes, spandex is always really hard to work with.”

“We did it through the Ladyblog, I did an article with the idea and a fashion house picked it up. Are you not up to date, I posted about it last week.” Alya said.

“I’m not completely up to date.” I said, trying to recover. “You post a lot!”

“I guess I do, I’ll take that as a complement.” Alya said. “By the way, what are you? I saw your dress a couple days ago but the antennae and shell are new.”

“I’m still a witch.” I said, twitching. I’d forgotten that Alya had already seen my costume. “I just thought that I’d add a few special touches so that it doesn’t look like every other witch dress out there.”

“That’s my girl,” Alya said. “Always going the extra mile.”

We kept talking for a few minutes until we heard someone playing music out of their phone behind us. Alix had decided to start playing Just Wanna Be With You, of course using the Sharpay version, moving fast enough to double herself. They both jumped up on the table and acted out the parts, making the whole class laugh, especially when at the end she said eww and fell off the table into Kim’s arms.

The next day when I woke up my antennae and wings were still there.

“Tikki, can we transform? I need to talk to Chat about this before I go to school.” I asked, and Tikki nodded. I transformed and left through my hatch to call Chat at our spot on the Eiffel Tower.

He came about 10 minutes later, and my jaw dropped when I saw the real ears and tail he was sporting,  along with how his eyes were now slit like a cat’s.

“ADRIEN?” I yelled and scrambled backwards, almost falling off the tower. Chat reached his hand towards me to help me up, and then rubbed the back of his neck, something I’ve seen him do a thousand times in class.

“Yup. I guess my costume wasn’t as good as I thought it was. I’m sorry that you had to find out this way.” He said, and I pulled him into a hug before he could finish his sentence.

“I’m so glad it’s you.” I said. “Though I  didn’t think we’d find out because of a dumb American holiday.”