#if LB was still in the bathroom when Adrien opened the door

[mae-dwrites]

Taking Flight - Chapter 7 - Free Falling Feathers

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“How much-a spaghetti do you see? How about a bowl of-a croissants!” Vincent cried at Adrien. Vincent proceeded to overdramatically lean and twist while taking his shots of Adrien. Adrien would normally be bored but was excited for after the shoot. He and Kagami were scheduled for “an outing” as their parents put it. For them, it was a date.

Adrien couldn’t help but overhear the sounds of pigeons cooing overhead and flying past them. Adrien suppressed a sigh they had been trying different poses and such for about over an hour, now would certainly be an appropriate time to ask for a bathroom break.

“It’s alright if I go use the restroom?” Adrien pointed back.

“Si certo, go. You may have a break as well, I promise you’re father won’t know of your or sitting time,” Vincent replied, with Gorilla grunting in agreement. Adrien smiled and ran to the bathroom, he opened the door and when they were looking ran down to the farther bathrooms to transform. Right as he got into the bathroom his phone, and many others, dinged about Mr. Pigeon.

“When is gonna Xavier gonna get a handle on his cheese,” Plagg rasped in annoyance. Adrien frowned at the small cat, “He’s just passionate. He just needs some direction is all. Now Plagg, Claws Out!”

“You owe me more cheese!” Plagg yelled as he zipped into the ring.

Chat Noir lept out of the bathroom and looked back at the photo shoot to see everyone unbothered, as it was just Mr. Pigeon. He never actually tried to hurt anyone, but Hawkmoth had forced him to get a little more aggressive after they came back from Shanghai this Summer. Though Mr. Pigeon’s goal was his pigeons, not the people. The Miraculi were simply a small price to pay to keep his dear pigeons after all.

“There you are Chaton, finally woke from your sunbathing?” Ladybug teased as Chat Noir joined her.

She had already called her Lucky Charm. Her suit had changed after she became Guardian, little bit by little bit. He didn’t think she noticed the smaller things, when they had first transformed last year her suit had been a simple skin-tight spandex turtle neck suit. But after she threw her Lucky Charm, confronted Hawkmoth at the Eiffel Tower, and made her declaration to protect the people, her first Miracle Cure had swept her.

Her suit after that had changed to the turtle neck to resemble the top of semi-traditional formal Chinese clothing, and she got barely noticeable padding on her elbows and knees. It was very smart and resembled his own padding. Her slick pigtails had turned to be more free and messy, her hair had gone from a dark black to a deep blue hue. She looked like a fierce ocean from that moment on. Her aquatic beauty and strength had caught him, he had become lost in. He had drowned to the bottom of her depthless sea.

She had grown into a deeper and far more dangerous ocean over the year, and her suit now seemed to show that quite well. Her suit was still mostly a tight spandex base but with layers now it seemed. She had very noticeable boots now, inverted up to her knees that still had the protective padding, her forearms had a protective cuff-like armor, as did her outer biceps. Before her suit had been only her signature beetle red and black, but now it was accented with gold resembling some of her Dragonbug suit. Her suit had grown to have these things, and it seemed to draw him to her more.

Chat Noir shook his head a little as he finally responded a few seconds late than usual, “How did you know Bugaboo?”

Ladybug seemed to notice the delayed response but brushed it off, “A girl knows her cat.” She winked at him when he finished before holding her comb up to him, “I think these pigeons need some grooming, what do you think Chat?”

“I think that will have to be your department LB, but lead the way,” He smiled at her just before a pigeon charged into his face. He fell off the building they were standing on.

“Ladybug! Coo, coo! Chat Noir, hand over your Mirculouses! Or else my Pigeons shall do far worse than ruin you pretty little faces!” Mr. Pigeon said as he ascended to them. His pigeons fluttered around him awaiting his next orders.

Chat Noir came back up leaving the pigeon that had assaulted him crushed on the pavement. Mr. Pigeon noticed his pigeon had not come back up, “Melvin! My beautiful baby! You will pay for this Chat Noir!” Mr. Pigeon tried to growl at the cat but it came out more of a pur due to his cooing-like voice.

“Melvin has had beef with me every time you’re akumatized dude. I believe they would warm up to moi if I gave them a cleaning to. What do you think ‘Bug?” Chat Noir said raising his eyebrow. His partner’s eyes lit up and a mischievous look crossed her face, “Yes Noir, I believe a nice cleaning would be just the thing they need.”

Chat Noir couldn’t help but smirk back at his partner as the purple mask popped onto the man’s face. The mostly-red clad lady handed the comb to Chat Noir. Chat Noir could feel she knew exactly what he had in mind, or at least trusted him enough to just go with whatever he had in mind. She had been growing distant in recent months, so it made him feel lighter in the fact she was letting him conduct a plan.

When the purple mask fell away Mr. Pigeon had a pained look on his face, he raised his chin up and had a look that seemed to say he had no choice.

“Coo, coo my pigeons! Scratch these bothersome creatures blind!” Mr. Pigeon cried with a blow of his whistle.

Chat and his partner jumped away from the pigeons, though they were right on their heels. Or spins might be better to say. Ladybug had thrown her yo-yo to wrap around a chimney, Chat Noir had rolled down free-falling.

Ladybug whipped around the chimney, launching herself to Mr. Pigeon. Her leggings forced him down to fall in Chat Noir’s direction. Chat Noir grabbed onto Mr. Pigeon, he tried to grab the whistle which was futile. He wanted to call for Cataclysm but he knew he couldn’t at the risk of touching Mr. Ramier. He turned the comb in his hand like a dagger, he swished it upward, and caught the necklace between the bristles, he flipped himself over Mr. Pigeon carefully to pull the necklace over his head rather than accidentally choking him.

Once he was on the other side of him he used his legs to launch Mr. Pigeon into the air away from him. This in turn launched right into the ground, and his body made a crater-like area around him. He groaned as Ladybug ran to him, “Chat!”

He sat up with a goofy grin to her, “Your jewelry M’lady?”

He could tell she was holding back an eye roll as she crushed the whistle in her hand as he held it up to her on the comb. Mr. Pigeon cried as the purple bubbles went up him. Ladybug took the comb and tossed it up, causing the Miracle Cure to wash over all. Chat Noir was suddenly upright and stretched his back, while he was cured he still had a phantom pain from hitting the pavement, literally.

Ladybug helped Xavier Ramier up as Chat Noir joined them. He was apologizing to Ladybug repeatedly and speaking of wishing he was better.

“Mr. Ramier it is okay! No need to apologize, I’ve almost been Akumatized over my sense of justice in my civilian life. We all have our moments of lost control. You will eventually find a sense of calm in yourself,” Ladybug said holding the man’s hands, it had forced him to silence himself. Her booming voice commanded his attention while simultaneously being gentle and reassuring.

The man straightened his back at her words with a nod. With that, she turned to the cat, “I’ll be late tonight, and I need to go now. Please escort Mr. Ramier.” She did a salute to both of them before zipping out.

“Want me to drop you at home or the park?” Chat Noir asked, as he didn’t have time at the moment to simply chitchat with him. As much as he usually enjoyed doing so he really wanted to get his photo shoot over with. He had six more outfits to get through.

“At home please, I’m particularly exhausted after that one,” Xavier said, his embarrassment was quite clear to the cat. Chat Noir sighed, “Dude I’m not upset. Honestly compared to other Akumas since this Summer you’re always a fresh breeze.”

That didn’t seem to reassure the man. As they arrived he tried again for the sake of trying, “Think about it like this! You’ve gone a month without getting Akumatized!”

Mr. Ramier seemed to spin it around in his head before straightening up, “You’re right! It was on the tenth last month!”

“And it’s the twenty-second! This is even the second time you’ve done so Xavier! Don’t think of this as a loss but another win!” Chat Noir exclaimed trying to keep Xavier’s spirits high. And it seemed to do the trick, with that they said farewells.

Adrien returned back to the photo shoot, they decided to only do one more and then schedule with Natalie to do the rest tomorrow at some point. So that was exciting, he could maybe change into something nicer for Kagami and his date.

After the shoot, he changed and collected his things. Everyone on the crew said their goodbyes and see you laters. Adrien climbed into the limo and buckled up. He really couldn’t wait! When he got home he would shower, and get some nice clothes on; well he has nice clothes, ah appropriate clothes! For his date with Kagami, and they could speak of a number of things.

What? He couldn’t really figure it out, but they always managed to. He could bring up his friends at school, she seemed to enjoy listening to talk about them on occasion. Maybe they could go-

Adrien’s phone cut off his array of thoughts. The ID caller showed it to be his father.

“Hello father!”

“Your evening outing with Kagami has been canceled,” was all the man said.

If Adrien had been a balloon he would have popped, maybe deflate was more appropriate but his sides felt like it. He had been looking forward to this for just over a week, and now only for it to be canceled last minute. It’s not like their dates hadn’t been canceled before, it was usually due to an expected city affecting Akuma. There were one or two where an Akuma happened and he had to leave right before the date.

It just hurt for another one to be canceled.

“Oh, thank you for notifying me, father.”

“Of course Adrien. So instead you’re being granted free time to work on studies or relax in your room.” Gabriel almost sounded like this was an annoyance. Adrien blinked his eyes as if trying the wipe away the thought.

“Thank you, father. I appreciate you allowing me this.”

“Of course, now I need to go. I need to continue designing.”

“Of course father.”

With that, the phone call ended. Adrien sighed and looked out the window. Adrien almost could believe it, but of course. Of course! His date would get canceled, and now he was to be coup up in his room for more hours til dinner and he would go to sleep.

At least that’s what his father would think he would be doing. He at least had patrol to look forward to, that was a few hours out of the house. His day wasn’t a total bust, but hanging out with Kagami is actually fun at times.

-•-

The moment Adrien entered his room Plagg zipped out and phased his way to his precious Camembert.

“Plagg have I been feeding you enough Camembert? Because I’ve noticed that Akuma’s have been leaving me a little more exhausted than usual. And the phantom pains are more…ugh I can’t find the word. They’re more, more prominent?”

Plagg hesitated from consuming his beloved cheese for a millisecond. He shot it down his mouth into his mystical partially non-existent stomach. He rolled another piece back and forth on his cheese block.

“It may be because Ladybug became the Guardian and the Universe is changing its course.” Plagg shoved the other piece in his mouth and turned to Adrien, “You have done nothing wrong, it’s just the Universe is trying to right something or warn us of something. It’s hard to tell, but it’s only supposed to be temporary. At least it usually is.”

Adrien nodded, “So the Universe is like drawing energy from you? Like a backup generator?”

“Sure,” Plagg said before going back to his sweet, stinky cheese.

Adrien could bring this up to Ladybug, as she was the Guardian. It was part of her job as Guardian to be aware of these things, right? Yeah probably. He would give Plagg some more minutes, perhaps if he let him eat more the Universe would have more and he could be back at full strength sooner.

Also, Ladybug was supposed to be late today so if he started patrolling late she wouldn’t notice. He would cover a little extra, Sundays they did quicker patrols. As both of them had school, at least Adrien assumed she went to school. Especially since Ladybug had dropped that textbook last year, but he had decided to ignore it. While it was something just sitting in the back of his mind(more often than he would like to admit), it could have been a family member’s and she was in a rush. Adrien had used Chat Noir to quickly get to places when he was going on foot.

“Okay Plagg let's get going, we don’t want to start too late!”

Plagg groaned in response but slowly floated towards Adrien eating his last piece.

“Claws out!” Chat Noir turned off the lights in his room before heading out of his window. He always left his bathroom window open in case his bedroom window got locked somehow.

He launched himself out his window, the breeze fluffing his hair out. Maybe if he was just Adrien right now his eyes would be watering but he wasn’t. He was Chat Noir. He could be whatever he wanted without repercussions, without the fear of his father, he could say all the jokes he wanted, he could be more informal, he could be wild.

He was free.

Leaping across Paris was like nothing else, it wasn’t called the city of lights for nothing. Some areas were lively and full of love, while most others were quiet and hushed. At the beginning, some people didn’t think much of the Akumas, they partied, and they lived it up. Who cared if a man had magic butterflies, he couldn’t hurt them! They were sorely mistaken, Stormy Weather was one of the few early Akumas that was far more dangerous. She had been what made people take it a bit more seriously.

But really she had done much more, people had disconnected from people in their lives. People had learned who they wanted in their lives, people had to learn how to not let their emotions flow. Some had grown from this and others had fallen. And that hurt sometimes to see as they learned the layout of their city.

Finding homeless and runaways. Ladybug always had more to offer them than he did, but Chat Noir tried to give them what he could. In interviews he brought up these topics; he had looked for articles; he looked for charities, good ones, ones that were really trying to make a difference for the people on the outskirts. It was mainly the hub of the center of Paris that was really taken care of, for the few tourists they still got.

Chat Noir spotted a young girl with his cat sight, he slid down his staff to her. Her hair was messy, she had it best she could in a ponytail. She was leaning against a backpack, she looked like she was trying to sleep but it was obvious she wasn’t.

“Hey kitten, what are you still doing out here?” Chat Noir said sitting on the opposite side of the alley.

“You mean why didn’t I go to the shelter.” She opened her eyes and glared at him, “Also I’ve told you not to call me that.”

“Mak you can’t stay out here.” Chat Noir tried to continue. She was just a kid, barely younger than him. He didn’t blame her for not listening to him, she at least considered when Ladybug had talked to her. But that was only once, earlier this Summer.

“Sure I can! I’m still alive, I can live out here.” She was so damn stubborn.

“Makzenie this isn’t living, you’re just trying to survive.”

Chat Noir sighed before taking his baton back out, he tapped his paw print. To the untrained eye, he was tapping it like usual, but his thumb had been a little down to the left. A neon green line came out and a hoop connected, it wasn’t as simple as Ladybug’s yo-yo but it still did great. Chat Noir reached in, willing his baton to give him the object of his desire. Well, of what he had on his person before transforming.

Makzenie squinted her eyes, while the light wasn’t very bright the shine of it still was. At least that’s the best way her mind could put it. Chat Noir brought out a hairbrush and offered it to her, “I brought you a new one.”

Makzenie looked between him and the hairbrush like he was offering her a gun, “If I looked so bad you could have just said so.”

“Don’t put yourself down like that. How about I braid your hair?” Chat had gone from serious back to goofy. It always threw Makzenie off, he always showed himself as flirty or a jokester and unserious most of the time. It was always weird to anyone when he got serious.

Makzenie considered it for a moment before turning around and leaning on Chat Noir’s legs. Chat Noir took the old ponytail out and began as carefully as he could manage. For the sake of not wanting to cause her pain through the knots or to accidentally injure her with his nails.

Makzenie let herself relax as Chat worked through the knots. She knew that if anyone came he wouldn’t let them do anything to her. She didn’t like to admit but he was her friend, kind of.

“Did you go to the bakery I recommended?” Chat Noir asked casually as if this was a usual thing between friends. Talking like a new store had opened on the corner.

“Yeah, they gave me some food as you said. Their daughter saw me and gave me this coat, she was really nice, I guess.” Makzenie said, she twisted the sleeve of the said sweater. “They said to come back if I needed anything else.”

“Marinette is the sweetest,” Chat said quietly. Makzenie caught it, if Chat Noir wasn’t holding her hair captive she would have jerked her head back when she said, “You know her?”

“Yeah, a few Akumas were targeting her,” Chat Noir said simply.

“No I mean know her. Like you’ve hung out without the leather suit,” Makzenie said.

“I’m not supposed to tell anything that can reveal who I am Makkie,” Chat said as he got to the bottom of the braid.

“I’m taking that as a yes. Also, a girl like her must have tons of friends. I wouldn’t be able to tell if it was you or not is what I’m guessing.” Makzenie said, she pulled on the loose strings of her jeans.

“Stop doing that, you’re gonna leave yourself with holes and you’ll be cold,” Chat said as he started the second braid.

“I can handle a little cold. You on the other hand would probably cry the second fall gets too cold.” Makzenie retorted.

“When did you get such sharp claws kitten?” Chat Noir teased as he got to the middle.

“They just needed some time to grow,” Makzenie said reluctantly.

Chat Noir tossed the braids over her shoulders, “I say go to the Bakery again. Try and become friends with Mari. Her parents won’t mind, I’m sure they’d take you as one of their own if they could.”

Makzenie hears a slightly sadder tone near the end. Her eyes lit up when she noticed the other braid, “I only had one ponytail, where did the other one come from!”

When she turned to the alley cat he was holding a new package of ponytails. His face was smug at the girl. He held it out to her, “Here. I know ponytails go bad, and you don’t really have a lot. So I was able to get you some new ones!”

“Chat you can’t keep giving me things.” Makzenie pushed the package away.

Chat Noir pushed back, “I’m not going to stop until you’re in a safe warm home!”

Makzenie flinched, at his words or his physical action he didn’t know. But regardless it hurt him.

“Makzenie I’m sorry, I shouldn’t push you. You just don’t deserve this, you deserve a warm home. You deserve clean clothes and nice things that aren’t because someone else needed to get them for you!” Chat said, he had gotten louder again but she just looked away this time. Chat’s voice became quite as he said, “You don’t deserve to die out here.”

“I’ve died before out here, heck everyone has.”

“To Akumas, not the elements.” Chat grabbed her hand and put the package of ponytails in her hand, “Go back to their bakery, they’ll help you. I know they will, they’re the kindest people I’ve ever had the pleasure to know! They won’t cast you aside for the wolves, not like your mom did.”

She flinched again at the word mom. Makzenie looked down at the ponytails before looking at the black-clad superhero.

“Fine, I’ll go see them soon.”

“Yes, I promise it will all be just fine! I need to go now, if Ladybug hasn’t joined yet for patrol then she will soon.”

“Alrighty then,” Makzenie said putting the ponytails away.

Chat Noir extended himself from the alley back to his usual route, and this time a bit lighter. The wind blew his hair as he made his way through the city, the occasional sounds of laughter could be heard on street corners, sadly tonight many lights were on tonight. More so than there usually was in this area, so it became harder to see the stars twirling around above.

He passed an open window of a mischievous girl who was still up, but he caught her voice squeal in joy as he passed. He ran threw a flock of pigeons on a lone roof. He sneezed after they scattered into flight.

About an hour had passed, and Chat flung himself into the sky high enough he could just take a moment. A short moment to breathe in the September air, it was sweet and for a second it felt like he could stay there forever. Escape the walls of his childhood, escape the cameras, escape it all.

But he never could, not for a long time he feared, and he fell back down. Before he could bring his baton to extend an arm wrapped around him.

“Hey kitty,” Ladybug said as she spin them around a chimney onto a roof. “Sorry I’ve been late lately, it’s not serious I promise.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing if you can still get to patrol Bugaboo.”

“It’s uh, some external family. They’re visiting and they always seem to be around.” Ladybug groaned in complaint. She was trying not to give too much but wanted him to give a reason to him. Chat Noir appreciated it.

“You don’t have to explain it to me. I understand. I’ve been late to plenty of Akumas due to my personal life, and you don’t get mad. You should expect the same treatment. Besides if family is in town this is the purrfect time for me to get to know your family,” Chat smirked at his partner. Ladybug shoved his face away.

“As if, you would flirt with my auntie on meeting.”

“You wound me bug!” Chat says as he playfully swoops himself downward.

Ladybug lets a small smile form on her face before clearing her throat, “How much have you covered?”

“Almost all of my side, I was gonna overlap into your area if I didn’t see you.”

Ladybug nodded, “I started about twenty minutes ago, and covered this section of yours. So either you could take the other half or we could cover the rest together?”

“More time with you is time well spent,” Chat bowed. “Lead the way my lady.”

They made their way across the rooftops of Paris, flipping and swinging. Each turn in a long practiced game of skill and eloquence. A special breeze that no one in Paris got to feel, it was just theirs and for a little bit they got to forget their responsibilities.

[stupid-for-catnoir]

[toujoursmiraculous]

Thoughts on the New York Special!

I never thought I’d see such an episode but here we are. I think I screamed a dozen times or more, I’m not even sure. But I have a sore, scratchy throat to show for it and I’m okay with that. Most of it was at how many times Adrien kept being not-just-a-friend and both secondhand embarrassment and pity for Marinette’s attempt to see him only as a friend kicked in. But I’ll start from the beginning. No, the voice actors aren’t different, the audio’s been manipulated and is pitched down! **Except Nino. Nino’s voice actor resigned and has been replaced**

Ladynoir friendship + a glimpse of their Astro forms? Heck yes!

Ms. Bustier having a baby was something I had a feeling about but can’t actually believe it’s happening and I’m just so happy for her. Best teacher award should go to her and her student’s reactions just prove that.

“Adrien, you’re our Sock Washington!”

this is his version of Marinette’s

“You’re our everyday Ladybug.”

Sad Adrien and trying-too-hard-to-be-just-friends-Marinette interact and she’ll do what she has to do to get him to go along.

Honestly, I think Marinette trying not to reveal her feelings is better than this, this is just painful to watch her try so hard. Dx

Sad Adrien not being able to fence properly so Kagami who he possibly? likely? is dating, considering she kissed him, asks what’s wrong.

You know, instead of what a good girlfriend/love interest/friend would do and try to sympathize and attempt to make him feel better, she pushes aside his feelings and makes it about her... Oh Kagami, this won’t bode well. Poor Adrien deserves better than being told he and his feelings aren’t as important. He gets plenty of that at home.

Absolutely love the attention Gorilla gets in this, it’s so cute.

LUKA IS THE BEST FRIEND EVER UGH. How many girls have a guy in their life that has feelings for them, yes, but still would do anything that would make her happy, even be with someone else? Who would go to lengths to make sure things work out how she wants them?

Okay, the whole plane scene before everyone fell asleep was intense. I can feel Marinette’s anxiety and desperation so hard, I feel so bad.

I also feel bad that Adrien sounded disappointed by her not sitting by him (and probably doesn’t quite understand why she won’t, either) as well as Ms. Mendeleiev knowing her students think less of her than Ms. Bustier and doesn’t like that.

AND also that both Marinette and Adrien for having to feel guilty for making a trip out of the country. :/ Nobody deserves it more than them.

Wow, that’s a lot of things to feel bad about early on.

Marinette’s luck really sucks on this trip, doesn’t it? Turbulence in the bathroom. Yikes. But of all people to notice her walk by, it has to be Adrien while they watch the beautiful sunset together. Of course it does. It’s like he has some sensor that knows when Marinette is sad or something. x3

Adrien, looking sweetly and IN LOVE at her: “You’ve got something, Marinette...”

“So-something?”

“Yeah, there. In your hair.”

....

Alya: I can’t decide if they’re the cutest people I know, or the most embarrassing.

Nino: I love Adrien, but he’s like a baby chick that just started cracking out of his egg.

I- They’re just so done 😂

Then you see more of Alya/Nino and their Operation New York plan and it’s freaking adorable, but you think Adrien’s done talking but OH NO there’s more

“...Well, what I meant to say was...thanks for managing to convince my father. *gives her a hug*”

Okay, first off

OH MY GOSH I CAN’T EVEN WITH THIS. THIS IS JUST SO SWEET AND CUTE AHHH THIS IS THE FIRST ADRIENETTE HUG EVER! I screamed so loud I just... my heart is so happy. ;~;

Second,

slyly grinning

IS THIS NERVOUS ADRIEN, I SEE? He tried to say it the first time but chickened out. 😉

Also, you cannot convince me that when they both went and sat back in their seats, anxious as the plane was getting attacked, that they would not be holding hands if Marinette had actually ended up sitting by him.

Aeon sees them together for ONE MINUTE. Just one. And she knows.  To all the people that

still

somehow doubt that they’ll be together...what will it take for you to realize that they are?

Sabrina liking that boy makes me so happy, she actually gets some scenes that aren’t related to Chloe!

Alya: And you might make a friend. *elbows Mari*

Marinette: 😑

Hehehe the teasing’s not gonna stop, you set yourself up for this.

I’ve counted people referring to Marinette and Adrien as “friends” of some degree 21 times so far. Let’s see what it gets to at the end.

Class: We just got here but LET’S SNEAK OUT TO GO TO A PARTY....and almost get busted.

The sound effects in this are everything, I adore them. xDDD

The way Adrien smiled at Marinette when they had their backs to the door, and how his smile faded when he realized they weren’t alone. 😂

Jess: Ugh people in my room

Aeon: HAHA THEY’RE SO ADORABLE THIS IS THE BEST. I TOLD YOU THEY’RE MADE FOR EACH OTHER

Marinette: Is it a bird?

Adrien: Is it a plane?

Sabrina’s crush: No, it’s Hot Dog Dan!

Why do you have to get me with that xDD

Okay, but the girl saying “Go Sabrina!” made me happy too ugh. Just the fact that Sabrina came to America and people like her is just the best.

Highpitched!Nino: FINALLY, MY CHICKS WINGS ARE GROWING

Not that the show didn’t make me laugh before but dang, I keep laughing at this humor. It’s like a crack video mixed with the sweetest romance.

“OH! That’s the song we danced to at Chloe’s birthday party, remember?”

“Oh, yes, hahah”

looks at her sweetly, shyly

“Then...will you?”

ADRIEN, MY LOVE, I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT’S GOING THROUGH THAT PRETTY HEAD OF YOURS. So... you remember. And it makes you happy. And you, again, nervously ask her. To dance with you. Again.

You’ve looked at her with the most soft of expressions more times in under an hour than I’ve seen anyone look at someone

ever

. Uggggh the way he’s falling for her is just so sweet.

And I’ve lost count of how many “friends” there have been due to the overwhelming cuteness. I think 25?

The fact that Adrien and Marinette can’t get through an automated door. I’m wondering what’s causing that? The fact both have a Kwami with them? Is Aeon messing with them? I don’t really think the latter is happening so I’m puzzled but it’s hilarious.

“I don’t mind being stuck somewhere with a friend like you” with the most adorable expression on his face ever.

ADRIEN PLEASE, ARE YOU TRYING TO DESTROY ME WITH THIS? 

Jess: And in order to save him...

Aeon: Don’t kidnap him, I LOVE him!

😂 I wanted Jess’s plan to work out so badly though.

Maybe next time.

Miraculous out here teaching American history. 👍 Totally forgot Lafayette was only 19 when he arrived in America and asked to become a general, but he had just turned 20 when he fought his first battle. The white powdered wig always threw me off of everyone’s real ages.

I think this is the closest Marinette and Adrien have transformed out in the open like this.

Ooof @ pissed off and sarcastic Ladybug.

Chat Noir: I was afraid of losing your trust!

Ladybug: Well I can’t trust you anymore, can I?!

Ooohh that hurts. That really hurts. And that distraction like that really went bad. Good thing Aeon’s not human. x.x I really do feel like them finding out their identities would solve more problems than it’d cause at this point.

I get that the situation was bad, but excuse me, they have no right to demand their Miraculouses. Ladybug’s the

Guardian

.

Knight Owl: “Stop right there, that’s an order.”

LB & CN: WE DON’T ANSWER TO YOU

Lol love the way they ran off and got away without being seen.

Sad and in pain Ladynoir. Wow, this whole scene feels so mature.

And Marinette’s reaction to Chat Noir renouncing Plagg and crying as he ran away hurt so much. I was not expecting all the angst!

Poor Adrien’s traumatized now. He knows he’s lucky she wasn’t human and things worked out, but he also knows that he came this close to Cataclysming Ladybug, and he couldn’t deal with that.

Liiri is so cute I want to see more of her! Very grateful she doesn’t end up in the hands of Gabriel for long.

But really Gabriel, it would’ve been smarter to take it to Paris than give it to a villain in New York where it ends up with a superhero. xD

Depressed Plagg is another level of ouch. Depressed Marinette and Adrien looking at each other like they’re about to cry is yet another.

Marinette about Chat Noir: He made his choice. What were we supposed to do?

Adrien: I wouldn’t have minded being stuck here a little longer with a friend like you.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO why did you have to go there again?

And then she gasps and really looks like she’s going to burst into tears, and then he gets even

sadder. “My father’s right, I should’ve never come to New York.” Alya: “What is wrong with you, Marinette?! Couldn’t you see that he was just waiting for you to tell him to stay?” “He made his choice. What did you expect me to do?” “It doesn’t matter what I expected you to do! Who’s Adrien to you? A friend or more than a friend? There will never be a better time to be clear with yourself, Marinette! Do you want him to leave or do you want him to stay?”

Within minutes, Marinette said the same thing about both Chat Noir and Adrien. o.o

Also hold up. If what Alya’s saying is true, which very well could be considering how he went from looking sad but still smiling, to looking utterly crushed after saying that line to her and her reaction, and the fact he said it before... Along with every single thing he did the whole trip.... Are we missing something, here? At first I thought it’s just Adrien being Adrien but about to actually acknowledge his feelings, just not yet. Seeing just the trailer I thought it was gratitude maybe, but obviously this is much more than that. But is it possible at all that he already has and, considering how she’s told him she doesn’t have feelings for him more than once before, that he’s been hoping to drive her to say otherwise this entire time and find out if she actually really does have feelings for him? 🤔

Because dang that’d explain everything he’s been doing.

I know he’s hurting over what happened with Uncanny Valley and giving up his Miraculous and leaving Ladybug. But it

still

came down to him with Marinette, looking at her like that was his last bit of hope and happiness he wanted to hold onto and was dashed....

NOT OKAY.

Again, Marinette’s luck on this trip SUCKS so much what the heck, you can’t even let her phone have battery??

Her rushing after him in the pouring rain on a bike screaming for him to stay and then falling hard (oof mustn’t have felt good for Plagg and Tikki) to just lie there in the street whispering “Adrien I...love you,” broke me. It really did. It’s so beautiful and so sad and I just want them to be happy oh gosh. 😭

But please get out of the road sweetie, you’re going to get run over.

By the way, I think I’m at 29 times they referred to each other or others referred to them as friends. Not sure though, I lost count and my heart’s a mess.

So Majestia decided to just blow skyscrapers far through the city and into the water that would no doubt kill everyone inside... in New York City...where skyscrapers were literally destroyed in real life killing thousands? I really hope this isn’t supposed to be a kind of reference.

Also the President of the United States being a superheroine that’s in harms way interacting with supervillains that can do horrific things such as forcing her to spill national secrets or use her power from things such as mind control to control the nation, for example, probably isn’t the smartest thing to do. Cool for plot but dang that’s dangerous.

You know, like right now when he’s making her press the nuke button where a million missiles and bombs are getting ready to go.

“I don’t know if I can do this. I can’t imagine being Ladybug without...

him

.”

“I couldn’t bear to see the disappointment in her eyes.”

I’m not crying. This isn’t twisting my heart all up at all. X.x

But yes the action and Astro Chat! He looks so cool flying through the sky like that omg. He’s BAT CHAT

But the way she just ran and hugged him, saying never to do that to her again.

And how he returned that hug and she hugged him tighter and then wiped her tears away.

This is everything. Absolutely everything. I could watch this a thousand times and not be sick of it.

He also after this better know how much he truly means to her.

Hawk Moth: Ladybug, Chat Noir, if you don’t do as I ask, I will launch a nuclear rocket that will undoubtedly start World War III. If you don’t do as I ask, it will be on you.TICK TOCK TICK TOCK

Geez, you think he can’t get any crazier and he just does. How would another World War help him live happily ever after? Unless he could use two wishes to undo it once he got their Miraculous. Hm.

Majestia is like Captain Marvel because she’s the only other superhero I’m familiar with that could launch a rocket to the sun with her hands.

The animation in this is so beautiful. I haven’t said it yet, but some of the scenes are so breathtaking.

I’m sad that Aeon won’t remember they’re Ladybug and Chat Noir, but surely she’ll remember Adrien, Marinette, Ladybug, and Chat Noir right? x.x

And appreciation to Nadja Chamack for letting Parisans know Ladybug and Chat Noir didn’t abandon them, but just had serious issues to attend to elsewhere.

Wow there’s an ice sculpture/statue of sorts in New York of Ladybug and Chat Noir (along with Uncanny Valley and Eagle) now? Sweet!

Okay, I believe it’s 30 times now  that “friend” is used. I may be off, I got really into it the second time watching when I was counting and it’s too late to be serious about it.

Hmm, Marinette can ask herself

the question

on her way back to Paris the following day. I’m assuming about how she feels and if she should still try to let him know her feelings?

Also that Adrien smile, knowing full well Marinette was responsible for that clip for him. Awwww x33

Ohh that ending I’m so looking forward to seeing more of Eagle, Uncanny Valley, and possibly that new superhero team with the new Miraculous.

This special was as if they took the best from S1-S3, then threw in a bunch of amazing new things that I couldn’t have thought would happen, and gave us such an amazing special. Also that it opened up things for the next special and S4! I don’t think I could’ve asked for much better. I’ve missed this show terribly and love that it’s back in a way.

Also terribly sorry for such a long post but I mean the thing was 52 minutes long after all. xD

[coccinelle-et-chaton]

*slips you a twenty*

Hey kid wanna read some lit fanfics? 

I just updated my blog with a link to all my AO3 works

Also...... Chapter 8 of The Wall Between Us is up and it’d be cool if you read it or whatever, a bunch of us are gonna be there, we’re gonna cry and order pizza and suffer for the love square it’s gonna be cool 

Read Chapter 8 on AO3 Start from the beginning here

Or on this post below the cut! 

The Wall Between Us 

Summary: Marinette is left to pick up the pieces after losing her chance with Adrien and having Master Fu give up his memories to protect the Miraculous Box. She struggles to find her ground as the new Guardian, and finds unexpected support in Luka Couffaine. Simultaneously, Adrien is learning how to navigate his emotions and slowly growing into his role as future co-guardian, and in the process realizes important truths about his feelings for Kagami, Marinette, and Ladybug. When Ladybug tells Chat Noir that as the Guardian, she is okay with not only revealing their identities but also entrusting her secret to close friends of hers, things become unequivocally complicated for the superhero duo. Will Marinette and Adrien be able to sort through their feelings and do what’s best for the Miraculous team?

Chapter 8

By the time Gabriel and Natalie had returned from their business trip to Seoul–and really, Adrien wasn’t even sure they had been gone at all due to the fact Akumas were aplenty during their absence– he had already extracted a good volume of information to make a case for his suspicions.

He hadn’t found the evidence he needed to prove that his father was indeed Hawkmoth, but instead he had found years of badly-filed fiscal reports, personnel that had been hired and fired under very mysterious conditions, some sort of project for the mansion that his father paid millions for which Adrien had never seen, and the one that irked him the most: audits from France’s Child Protection Services, fines, and ‘cease and desist’ letters warning Gabriel that he was putting Adrien under too many work hours.

That, he discovered, was the real reason why Adrien had been allowed to go to school in the first place. It wasn’t that Natalie had made him a favor: They enrolled him so that Child Protection Services would get off the brand’s neck for forcing Adrien on a part-time job when he wasn’t even sixteen yet.

All of Adrien’s findings were pretty incriminatory, not to mention infuriating, but none were exactly what he was looking for. And yet, it was one of those things that once you have considered, you cannot help but keep seeing.

“Adrien, would you like to explain to me why you have been missing your extracurricular activities for the past two weeks?” Natalie said with a stern voice one morning, as Adrien meticulously chewed on his oatmeal breakfast.

The fiery urgency to flip a table, which had taken a hold of him lately any time Natalie or his father addressed him, surged like a geyser.

“I just didn’t feel like attending,” he said politely, without looking up.

Natalie was taken aback by his answer. “Excuse me?”

Adrien looked up this time. “I didn’t feel like attending,” he repeated. “You weren’t here, and I just didn’t feel like going.”

“You know if you start doing poorly, your father will have you homeschooled again and–”

“And what? He’s gonna lock me up again? Is that it? Wouldn’t people start asking questions?” he demanded.

Natalie blinked, completely caught off guard by Adrien’s sudden rudeness. “This is no way to be talking to your–”

“My what? My dad’s assistant? You’re not my babysitter, not my teacher, and certainly not my mother. I can do whatever I want.”

Natalie composed herself and marched swiftly out of the dining room.

“Kid, what the hell?” Plagg hissed from inside his shirt. “That’s a dumb way to get caught.”

“I’m sorry,” he muttered back. “I’m just… I’m so angry at them! I can’t stop thinking about all this stuff that I found, and just… the idea of them being–well, you know who. It’s making me see in red.”

He marched to the patio and went into his car, where, to his surprise, he found he’d be sharing a ride with his father.

He felt Plagg jabbing his little paws at him as if to say, “I told you so.”

“F-father. Good morning.”

“Drive, George,” Gabriel instructed. After a silence, he spoke again without looking at Adrien. “You think you’re so smart, don’t you? Disrespecting Natalie like that, blatantly disregarding your responsibilities, and giving the brand bad publicity.”

He threw a newspaper at Adrien’s lap. It was from a few days ago. Apparently his sudden outburst at the crowd of harassers in the skate park had made it into the news.

“I’m beginning to think it was a mistake to give you this much freedom.”

Adrien gulped, shuddering with sudden terror.

“Perhaps it will be better if you go back to being tutored at home. Or even better, I’ll send you to a boarding school where I don’t have to deal with your carelessness anymore.”

Adrien gasped. “Please… please don’t. Don’t send me away.”

“You’re not feeling so brave and boldened now, are you? Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

Adrien didn’t move. He didn’t dare speak, breathe, blink.

The car had stopped already, they were at the steps of the school. His friends were all hanging at the entrance and had spotted him.

“Your lack of words doesn’t surprise me. You’re just a naive, spoiled little boy who can’t begin to understand the sacrifices I make for this family… You’re dismissed.”

Adrien opened the door, not yet getting off the car.

“Are you going to take me off school?”

“No. Take it as a gesture of good will, and a warning. Stay. In. Line.”

“I-if you send me away, people will start wondering what happened,” he said with a small voice. “They’ll ask questions.”

“And what sort of questions would those be, son?”

At Adrien’s silence, Gabriel sighed. “Close the door. Have a good day.”

He got up and stood in front of the car, breathing deeply so as to not give into the urge to cry.

“I can’t wait to be eighteen to get away from you,” he said and smashed the door close as hard as he could, then sprinted into the school building, afraid that Gabriel might order George to stick him back in the car.

Regrettably, all his friends, Marinette included, saw the display unfold.

It was Nino the one who ran after him.

“Hey, dude, everything alright?” Nino said, as he caught up with him in the locker room.

“Hey Nino, good morning!” he chirped with sunny disposition.

The sudden contrast between what he had seen at the school entrance and then, gave Nino whiplash.

“Erm. Yes, good morning. Don’t ignore my question.”

“Nothing happened,” he said shrugging. “Come on, we’ll be late for—”

Nino yanked the strip from his messenger bag and forced him to stop. “Cut the crap, Adrien. I saw. Is everything alright?”

Adrien’s mask of optimism wavered, but he fought hard to keep it in place. “Yes, Nino. Everything’s alright. I promise.”

Nino sighed, not impressed. “Okay, if you say so.”

As they went into the classroom, Adrien saw from the corner of his eye how Nino shook his head discreetly at the girls. He had been right not to tell him. He knew those two would also want to know what happened. He didn’t want to cause hysteria. However, a more pressing thought occupied his mind for the rest of the day.

Given his regrettable display of temper, and though his father said he wouldn’t pull him out of school, Adrien knew not to trust it. One could never anticipate what his father would do just to stay in control. It worried him that he may have crossed a line that would be difficult to come back from. His father might increase his security, might actually pull him out of school. Not ideal, if his hunch was actually right.

He had to tell Ladybug what he knew as fast as possible.

On the lunch break, he excused himself to the bathroom, taking the burner phone with him to send Ladybug a message:

I DECIDED I’M READY TO REVEAL MY IDENTITY. SOMETHING CAME UP. DON’T WORRY, I’M NOT IN DANGER. BUT WOULD IT BE OKAY IF WE MEET AT THE HANG OUT TODAY? PLEASE WRITE ME BACK AS SOON AS YOU GET THIS.

He kept inconspicuously checking the burner phone for the rest of the day, getting no answer from Ladybug whatsoever. It made him restless. What if she was in danger?

No, she couldn’t be. There would have been an Akuma attack or something.

Still, he was worried, and he knew he couldn’t afford to go back home that day without having told Ladybug about his suspicions, so he resolved to drop by the hang-out anyway later that day. Natalie and George would pick him up after fencing, which gave him enough time to swing there and come back.

It only occurred to him that this might not be the greatest idea once he found himself sans transformation, standing at the door of the hide-out.

What if she wasn’t there today? What if she’s shocked by learning who he is?

He shook his head. No. This was an emergency. He had to do it now, so he ringed the bell.

He texted: LB DID YOU GET MY MESSAGE?

Almost immediately, he got a text back: YES :) I AM HERE. WAIT A SEC. WILL OPEN THE DOOR SOON.

His heartbeat so fast he could hear his pulse. He was short of breath and felt as if his knees would buckle under him at any second.

He heard some voices, then someone approaching to open the door.

Adrien felt temped to open it himself just get over the painful anticipation. The seconds extended for an eternity.

And then, all of a sudden, he was greeted with a most confused Alya Cesaire.

“Alya?”

She crumpled her face, perplexed. “Adrien? What are you doing–”

From inside the house, Adrien distinctly heard the voice of none other than Marinette. “Alya? Is that him?”

It took him a fraction of a second to figure out something that had taken him two–almost three now– years to realize. It felt as if time had stopped and then abruptly resumed, pushing him into a turbulent shore of angry waves.

All of a sudden, it was hard to breathe, impossible to buoy to the surface for a gasp of air. His voice caught up in his throat.

He figured it out.

“Alya?” Marinette repeated from inside the house as Alya stood petrified in front of Adrien, realizing exactly who he was.

“Don’t–” he said gasping. “Don’t tell her,” he pleaded and then darted away as fast as he could possibly run, only stopping when the tears completely blurred his vision.

Back at the house, Marinette was trembling from the utter anticipation. She had requested that Alya come with her to meet Chat. She wasn’t sure she could take it by herself and she needed someone for moral support.

The seconds of wait stringed into whole minutes of silence and Marinette forced herself to march to the front of the house, where Alya was still clinging to the frame.

She was… were those tears? Was she crying?

“Alya?” she asked with trepidation. “What happened?”

“Chat— Oh, Marinette!” She gasped. “Chat was here. He was–he wasn’t transformed.”

Dread came over Marinette’s expression. “Where is he?” she insisted urgently, “What happened?”

“He– he’s gone. Mari, you need to talk to him. You–we… we know him.”

She blinked, too shocked to let fear take ahold of her. “What? Who is he?”

Alya shook her head. “I can’t tell you.”

“Why?” Marinette demanded.

“Marinette, I can’t tell you. You’ll never forgive me if I do… Just… You have to go talk to him, Mari.”

Marinette sprinted outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of ‘someone she knew’, but it was the beginning of rush hour and the streets flooded with commuters, anonymizing everyone. She called and called and called him. Left him voice mail after voice mail, message after message:

CHAT NOIR PLEASE PICK UP! I’M WORRIED, PLEASE!

CHAT.

CHAT PLEASE.

ALYA SAYS YOU KNOW HER, SO MAYBE YOU ALSO KNOW ME... I’M SORRY IF YOU’RE DISAPPOINTED IT’S ME. CAN WE PLEASE JUST TALK?

MINOU. PLEASE. TALK TO ME.

CHAT NOIR, I KNOW YOU’RE MAD. PLEASE, JUST… PLEASE PICK UP.

Chat Noir did not pick up the phone and Marinette, well, Marinette had not been this brokenhearted since Adrien had started dating Kagami, and that was saying something.

Adrien didn’t sleep that night. He hadn’t cried this much since he lost his mother, hadn’t felt this much either.

He never was one to give into negative emotions, but when they got the best of him, they pulled him deep into an abyss that was hard to crawl out of. If any butterflies came flying his way, he wouldn’t have known. Plagg kept guard the entire night.

“I can’t do this anymore, Plagg,” he confessed. “I can’t–I can’t be Chat Noir anymore. It hurts too much.”

“Kid don’t say things like that,” said Plagg as Adrien sobbed. “I’m sure there’s a way to fix this.”

“She loves someone else,” he cried. “I can’t… She’ll never love me, Plagg. It doesn’t matter if I wear the mask or not.”

“That’s not true,” Plagg said, fetching the burner phone. “Look at how worried that poor thing is for you.”

Adrien kept crying. “She doesn’t love me the way I love her. I won’t stand in her way.”

The next morning, Adrien had to put on very little effort to act indisposed for school. He hadn’t come down with anything, but he felt sick. At one point during the night, he had been so caught up in his crisis that he ended up emptying his stomach. In the morning he had woken up from the few hours of sleep he managed to clock in with an insulting headache and even worse nausea than before.

He called in sick and remitted to his room for the next couple days.

It was funny. He never remembered feeling safe or at home in his room. It was too big, too cold for him and somehow at the same time, too small, too stuffy. It was as if his dad had tried to fit in the entire world inside it in the hopes that he’d never want to see the real thing himself.

It wasn’t comfort what made him feel like he belonged there. It was the fact that for once, his surroundings completely matched his state of mind. This is how he felt: as empty and grey as the mansion had been since his mother disappeared, as much of a prisoner as his father intended for him to be.

He groaned at the sound of his civilian phone chiming non-stop with messages from Nino asking if his father had done something to him, Marinette offering him any help if he needed it–these were the ones that hurt him the most to read–, and finally, Alya, who was not sending messages so much as entire monologues begging him to answer at least Ladybug.

He turned off both his civilian phone and the one for Ladybug, hoping there would be no Akumas while he was in this state.

With Chat gone, Marinette regressed into the sort of grief that shut her down when she became the Guardian. She didn’t stop showing up to school, mainly at Alya’s pressing insistence, but it was evident to the class that something was going on with her again.

A few of her more curious friends and acquaintances ask her if everything’s alright with Luka, which only added  to her mortification. She hadn’t been herself these past days and she wasn’t exactly sure she’d be able to explain to Luka why she was so brokenhearted without giving her identity away; why Chat’s sudden rejection was way more painful than anything she ever had to go through. So, against her better judgement, she decided to ignore him for a couple days, at least until she was able to sort her head through the situation.

The truth is Chat’s disappearance–not only this one but every time he’s been convinced he’s not cut out to be her partner–hurled her into a spiral of helplessness not just because she couldn’t fathom doing this without him. There was another reason, one she always purposefully ignored.

It’s like she had told Alya: She had feelings for Chat Noir. It had become easier to ignore them with time, and especially when she could just invest all of her romantic attention on Adrien before Luka came around. But the thing with being in love with Adrien is that she was in love with the idea of him. The idea of being together if she could only one day bring herself to tell him. He was an outlet of sorts–more often than Marinette liked to admit out loud– to feelings she could never show, as they were forbidden.

The second reason why Marinette always fell into despair when Chat Noir surrendered or try to surrender his ring, was because she actually loved him. If she was honest, completely, absolutely honest, she loved him. But she could never tell him, it was Master Fu’s orders not to get involved with him, not to reveal their identities. She maneuvered through those restrictions by effectively fooling herself into believing that one day, in the far future when Hawkmoth was defeated and the stakes wouldn’t be so high, she’d tell him and then everything would be okay. She’d tell him the way you admit to a school crush on one of those high school reunions or unlikely encounters as adults.

Chat surrendering his ring always cut that fantasy short.

What is worse, Marinette realized, was that this time she wasn’t using the idea of someone to distract herself from the way she felt. She was using Luka. Luka, who has been nothing but supportive and absolutely selfless. Luka, who loved her, who didn’t deserve to be treated like this.

Marinette cried in part because this was Chat being typical Chat. But also, because she realized she would eventually need to let go of Luka, and she didn’t want to do that, no matter how wrong it was to keep him to herself. Maybe she just needed to try harder, maybe she just needed to shut down the idea of Chat as she had done before.

The problem was that ignoring him was impossible in this circumstance. Ladybug was about to lose her Cat for good.

“Mari,” Alya said softly as she rubbed her friend’s back as Marinette sprawled over her lap. They were in Marinette’s room. “I think he was just shocked. He’ll come around.”

“But what if he doesn’t?” she asked desperately. “I can’t do this without him, Alya. You-you wouldn’t understand. I can’t explain it… I just can’t do it if he’s not there.”

Alya gave her a pained smile.

Oh, this was all so rotten, Alya thought. And Marinette didn’t even know the beginning of it. Alya found herself wondering what would have happened if they had actually revealed their identities before things got complicated off and on the hero costume. It probably would have saved everyone a whole lot deal of pain.

“He will,” she reassured him. “Trust me, he will.”

Alya gave it a few days. But when the end of a week arrived and there was still no sign of Adrien, she decided she probably overestimated him. Nino was mad at him for virtually disappearing, Marinette was growing worried that something had happened to him, not to mention that his disappearance as Chat Noir was truly causing a number on her.

So, she did what she did best: take action.

She asked her teachers for Adrien’s homework worksheets and on she went Friday after school to confront what would be very possibly a mess even bigger than Marinette’s.

She sighed, rang at the gate of the Agrestes’ mansion and waited for the camera to activate.

“Yes?”

“Hello, Miss Sancoeur. I’m Alya, I’m in Adrien’s class. I’m here to give him his work for the week he missed.”

“Deposit it on the bin, please,” Natalie said, as an automated door slid open. to receive the packet of books.

“Actually, I was hoping I could see him? There’s a few things that our Social Studies teacher asked me to explain to him about a specific assignment,” she said, beaming.

“Adrien has come down with a bad case of the flu, I am sure it wouldn’t be safe for you.”

“Don’t worry ma’am. I got all my shots up to date.”

Natalie sighed and after a few minutes of deliberation, the gates opened. She met Alya at the front door and directed her to the floor where Adrien’s room was. “Down the hall, first door to the right,” she instructed. “I have to warn you. Adrien has specifically requested not to receive visitors.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll make an exception,” she said with determination in her eyes. “Thanks!” Alya flashed her a smile and once Natalie had returned to her office, proceeded to barge into Adrien’s room.

The blinds were all drawn, only letting in slivers of light. The air was stuffy, like no one had opened the windows in a good while. It also smelled disgustingly of spoiled cheese.

There were clothes and dishes and all kinds of things lying everywhere. Alya did not remember Adrien ever being this messy.

Both the three displays of his computer and the television were on with different shows each, mixing the occasional strands of yellow light from the windows with the morbid blue of the screens.

A lump, which she supposed was the culprit himself, lay buried in a mountain of blankets and pillows. It seemed he hadn’t noticed her–or in the very least, he didn’t care someone had entered the room.

“That’s it!” Alya announced, dropping her school bag unceremoniously as she huffed and puffed making way through the catastrophe of a room he had, to draw the curtains back and open the windows letting in fresh air and the sounds of the city. She then proceeded to turn off every screen and to yank, almost with unnecessary force, the blankets off of Adrien.

“What?” Adrien groaned.

“That’s it!” Alya said. “Get up. Get up this instant or so help me god, I’m going to toss you directly into your bathtub, clothes still on.”

“Alya?” He seemed confused. “What are you doing here?”

She proceeded to make piles of the different kinds of trash to make it easier to bag them later, and discarded plates and cups as she gagged at the smell.

“Seriously, what is that stench?”

“Camembert,” he explained, not finding it in himself to feel ashamed. “For my Kwami. He doesn’t eat anything else.”

Alya eyed him with disbelief and shook her head. “What are you doing there, just looking? Go take a shower!”

“But–”

“Go. Take. A. Shower. Adrien Agreste.”

A little afraid to continue questioning her, Adrien made his way to the bathroom and emerged a good twenty minutes later still in pajamas. Fresh ones at that, but still.

“You live like a pig,” Alya berated him as she took a seat in the couch in front of the television.

“I’m not– why are you here? Did you just come in to criticize me?” Adrien complained, joining her.

“First of all, no. I came in to make sure you were still alive, seeing as you decided to literally disappear off the face of this earth telling absolutely nobody. Nino is livid, by the way. Will love to see how you explain yourself out of that one. Oh, and there’s been Akumas, not that you’d even get the memo in this bunker, so I had to pitch in as Rena. You’re welcome.”

Adrien looked down.

“Second. I knew. I knew you were going to do this; lock yourself up here and wallow in your self-pity. And I knew somebody needed to come here to make you snap out of it,” she said, giving him a gentle slap on his head.

“Hey!”

“Am I wrong?” Alya demanded. Being met with silence, she nodded. “My point exactly.”

“Third,” she continued. “You think you have it bad? Try being Marinette for a little bit and have your oh-so-trusted partner of years now, suddenly bail on you with no explanation after realizing who she is. How could that possibly look to her, huh?”

“Marinette?” he said softly. “Is… is she alright? I didn’t mean to–”

“Shush. Don’t interrupt, I'll see that you get your chance to apologize to her, don't you worry your pretty face. Fourth. You sir,” she said poking her index finger at his chest. “Need to put on your big-boy pants and deal with your shit like the superhero you are.”

“And fifth,” she said, the fire in her eyes lightly subduing. “There’s homework,” she said pointing at her bag. “I brought it for you.”

Adrien became small in his seat as he took in Alya’s numbered series of complaints. Meanwhile, Plagg came out of hiding, knowing Alya already knew of his and Ladybug's identity.

“I like the way this one talks,” he said, munching a piece of cheese. “Finally, someone with some goddamn common sense!”

“You’re… Plagg?” Alya said.

“Have we met?” Plagg retorted. “Ah yes, Marinette’s friend on the door the other day. Of course. Either way, you have to know. I would’ve kicked him off the bed myself but well, I’m the size of a tennis ball.”

“I’m sorry, okay?” Adrien said quietly, gaining the attention of the pair. “I know… I know I keep messing things up. Which is precisely why I’m not going to be Chat Noir anymore.”

“What?” Alya said, widening her eyes.

Adrien brought his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on top of them. “I just make everything worse,” he explained. “I keep messing up. And I… I know she used to have a crush on me, as Adrien. I don’t want to get in the way of her and Luka…”

“Adrien,” Alya said softly. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but for such a smart guy, you’re pretty darn stupid sometimes.”

Adrien couldn’t help the sudden chuckle that escaped his lips.

“Why on earth do you think that would be a good idea? Have we not met the same Marinette, or, Ladybug in this case? For a reason that’s entirely beyond me, the girl crumbles if you’re not the one to help her up. It’s like… like she wouldn’t believe anything unless it comes from you. You should have seen the certified dumpster fire the last Akuma was. We were all over the place without you.”

Tears fell down his cheeks, and in that moment, Alya knew to knock down her tough-love strategy down a notch. Yes, this was Chat Noir. But it was also Adrien, and while Chat may react to confrontation, Adrien would do anything but.

She clicked her teeth. “Oh, Sunshine. Don’t cry,” she said as she pulled Adrien into a hug.

“I don’t think I can do it, Alya… I’ll make everything worse.”

“You keep saying that, Adrien. But why?”

“I–I think I know who Hawkmoth is,” he admitted in the quietest possible murmur, followed by a sob.

“What…? Adrien, look at me. What do you mean you know who Hawkmoth is?” she said, eyes wide with concentration.

“I figured it out,” he said, hiccupping as he tried to stop crying. “That’s why I went to the hide-out that day. I wasn’t ready to reveal my identity, but I had been stupid with my dad and I thought he might pull me out of school so I knew I had to tell her what I knew before my dad could lock me up or send me away. The first time she took me to the hide-out, I was browsing through some of the documents… Then I found this, this scanned page about the Peacock Miraculous from one of the grimoires and I knew I recognized it from somewhere.” He looked up with an ominous look. “My dad,” he explained. “He has this safe that I once broke into out of curiosity. And he had the missing grimoire in the set and also the brooch. I snuck in his office to investigate and they weren’t in the safe anymore. Then, I found all these documents… he’s been spending money in weird ways, making orders to companies that don’t exist… If he’s Hawkmoth and Natalie is Mayura… that’s–that’s why I had to tell Ladybug. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if she found out who I was and thought that I was part of it all. Alya I’m so scared… I don’t know what to do.”

“Oh, Adrien,” she said softly. “And why didn’t you stick around to tell her that?”

“Because I’ve been in love with her since I met her, okay? I panicked,” he said, now a bit more exasperated. “You– I don’t think you and Nino know what it’s like, it all came so easy to you. But for me… It was so hard to get over her as Ladybug, then realizing that I was really in love with Marinette, and now–”

“Wait, you’re in love with Marinette?” Alya interrupted, jaw on the floor.

“Did Nino not tell you?”

“No! We don’t gossip about what you guys tell us!… I mean, unless it's really important, but that's besides the point! Holy shit, this is so complicated,” she said with a long sigh, plopping her back against the couch. She groaned as she processed the information. “Why are you two like this?” she exclaimed, rubbing her face in frustration. “Okay, but about your whole theory,” she said, once she recovered. “I think that doesn’t prove much, Adrien. I wouldn’t worry if I were you.”

Adrien shook his head. “I know what I saw, Alya. He had the Peacock Miraculous.”

“But that could mean anything. It could be a replica; I’ve read a lot of studies tracking the history of each jewel. People have tried replicating them to scam others.”

“It’s Natalie, Alya,” Adrien said with less patience. “Natalie is Mayura,” he said. “I just know it…” He sighed. “I don’t know how to tell Marinette. I don’t want to make things complicated for her.”

Alya thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers. “I got it. What you have right now is a lead, at best. We need to come up with a plan to prove your theories. And Marinette doesn’t need to know how you found it. I didn’t tell her that it was you at the door that day, so really, you could just tell her there’s reason to believe that Gabriel might be Hawkmoth. You tell her your sources is someone close to the Agrestes.”

“What if she asks who the specific source is?”

“We’ll get to that bridge when we cross it.”

“Half-baked plans don’t work on Ladybug,” he said, crossing his arms.

“Perhaps. But she won’t press if she knows your identity is at stake. And for what it’s worth, Adrien, I really do think you should just come clean. About your identity, I mean. It would make everything easier for both of you. I know it must be super scary but... At least promise me you’ll think about it, okay?”

-- “Well, you look like shit,” Juleka commented a bit amused as Luka joined for breakfast before school. He hadn’t been sleeping well and it showed. He simply gave Juleka a ‘I’m not in the mood to fuck around’ smile and begrudgingly served himself a bowl of cereal.

“What is it?” Juleka insisted.

“I really don’t wanna talk about it, Jules.”

“It’s Marinette, isn’t it?” she asked, sounding more like she already had an answer.

Luka sighed and said nothing.

“She’s still not answering your messages?”

Luka shook his head. “I don’t know what I did wrong.”

“Nothing, probably.”

Luka looked up at his sister, who shrugged at him. “Alya says there’s something going on with her family or something, and she’s really having a hard time with it. It’s probably only that.”

Luka appreciated the fact Juleka tried to cheer him up, but he already knew Marinette wasn’t answering because of family trouble. It had been no secret that Chat Noir had been absent in the last few Akumas. Coincidentally, Juleka had mentioned Adrien had been missing school the last few days, so he knew something must have happened between them. Maybe a fight, it was anyone’s guess. The only thing he knew is that he couldn’t bear it. He couldn’t stand that he couldn’t do anything about it, that Marinette wouldn’t actually tell him why she was hiding–to be honest, he also was unsure he even wanted to know. The prospect of her crying to him for a guy who has broken her heart not once, but twice now, did not appeal to him in the slightest bit.

Adrien Agreste was so stupid! He was an idiot! And yet, Luka couldn’t help but wonder if Marinette would ever cry for him like that, even if the last thing he’d ever want to do was to hurt Marinette the same way Adrien had. If she’d ever trust him as blindly as she trusted Chat Noir or love him just the same.

He sighed, trying to push the thought away. Lately, he had run out of strategies to keep his jealousy at bay and so, defeated, he simply tried to ignore his feelings as best as he could, not knowing what else to do. Giving into the feeling made him think horrible things about Adrien, which he was sure weren’t true. Confronting them brought up a proposition that made him break a cold sweat, which although extremely painful, had begun to make a case for itself. It was something he didn’t want to do, but that he suspected would be the best for both of them in the end:

Break up with Marinette.

[lnc2]

Second Intention (1/3)

Summary: Lila knows. Tikki panics. Chaos ensues.

A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY TWIN @purrincess-chat !!!!! Here is a little kagadrinette dragon slaying for you.

AO3

“I know your secret, Ladybug.”

Lila’s sneer wasn’t nearly as terrifying as her words.  It took everything in Marinette not to react as she met the girl’s hazel gaze through the bathroom mirror.

“I’m sorry?”

Lila rolled her eyes.  “Don’t act so innocent.  We both know you’re not.”

Tikki shifted anxiously at her side, but Marinette took her time as she finished washing her hands.

Don’t flinch. Don’t flinch. Don’t flinch.

“Another story, Lila?” She said, grabbing a paper towel before finally turning around.

“Don’t even try.”

“I don’t have to try anything,” She said.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Lila’s lips were curled into a disdainful smile.

“Alya may not be able to connect the dots, but I’m not an idiot.  You’re not a good liar, Marinette.”

Lila’s eyes flickered to her ears and for a moment Marinette thought she might make a grab for them.  There really would be no helping it then even if getting a hit in on her nemesis would feel good in the moment.

But Marinette didn’t need to give the girl any confirmation.  Not when she wasn’t even sure how Lila knew what she thought she knew.

“I bet Hawkmoth will be interested in my little theory.” She said instead, leaning back and resting one hand on her hip.  “Or maybe I should run it by the public first?”

The smile she shot her was sugary sweet, full of loathing.  “I guess we’ll have to see.”

She tossed one of her tails over her shoulder and left the bathroom. Marinette’s shoulders stayed tense, her body frozen, as the implications of their conversation set in.

Lila knows. Lila knows. Lila knows.

There was a familiar tightness in her chest, a tingling in her hands, that warned her what was coming next.  She felt her knees tremble and her eyes unfocus as the dingy beige tiles melded in with the dingy beige stalls and everything, everything felt at once too tight and too big.

She couldn’t breathe.  She was going to throw up.  She was going to –

Marinette went down like cataclysm.

Tikki cried out as her charge collapsed on top of her, head slamming against the floor.

“Marinette!” She cried, frantically flying around the unconscious girl.  “Marinette!”

Lunge. Parry.

Feint.

Riposte.

Parry. Counter-Attack.

Point.

“Yield,” Adrien panted, sword falling to his side.  “I yield.”

His opponent dropped her fighting stance.  “It’s not yielding if I beat you.”

He laughed, pulling up his mask with a sweaty grin. “Touche.”

Kagami mimicked him, shaking her hair out and wiping the sweat off her forehead.

“You’re distracted.”

Adrien shrugged, guilty, and fought off a yawn.  “I haven’t been sleeping very well lately.”

“Work?”

“Something like that.”

The truth was he’d been out late with Ladybug again.  After their latest run in with Hawkmoth, one in which he’d not only been cataclysmed but they’d almost lost the Bee miraculous, they both were feeling a little on edge.

Mayura’s appearance certainly didn’t help ease any of their concerns.  With the peacock miraculous in play their enemy was as strong as ever and mistakes could be… costly.

He’d never admit as much to his lady, but his chest still ached from where Miraculer had hit him.  Plagg said they were lucky it was just an ache.

Adrien didn’t ask for clarifications.

Instead, for the last few weeks, he and his lady had focused on more hand-to-hand training.  If Hawkmoth was stepping up then they needed to as well. The additional time spent with his lady was an added incentive.  His loss of sleep… not so much.

“Let’s cut today short, then.” Kagami said.  “No need to exhaust yourself.”

He smirked.  “Are you worried about me, Tsurugi?”

She blushed - it was light and faint and sweet.  Her words, on the other hand, were as sharp as her blade.

“Not at all, Agreste. You’re just not a challenge like this.”

“Sure,” He said, still smiling.  “I’ll see you at practice Thursday then, yeah?”

“I expect you to be at your best.”

Adrien headed towards the locker room, thoughts of a cool shower and warm bed.  He had some reading to catch up on for Lit, but he could do that during the lunch break tomorrow. Despite his father’s thoughts otherwise, the world wouldn’t end if Adrien skipped one night of homework.

He was nearly to the doors when he heard them.

“– just went down!”

“She’s a strong kid, bug.  She’ll be okay.”

“Where is Chat Noir?” She wailed.

“He’s with that other one.” His kwami said.

“You bring him here now, Plagg.  You bring him to me right now.” The second voice grew higher with each word.  “That child, that wretched witch. If you don’t cataclysm her I will.”

Adrien burst through the locker room doors to find Plagg and a small, red and black sprite circling him frantically.

A kwami.

Ladybug’s kwami.

But then where was…?

The thought barely had time to form before the kwami was on him, tugging at his hair, pushing at his back.

“Chat Noir, we have to go!  She’s not responding. She’s all alone.  That awful, awful girl.”

Adrien didn’t have time to register her words before she shot off, phasing through the doors and leaving him and Plagg to give chase.

Panic set in the moment she disappeared.  There weren’t many things that made Plagg stray from his side and he played fast and loose with the rules on his best days.  From everything his partner had told him the same could not be said for the little ladybug. Which meant something must be terribly wrong.

Dread, tight and hollow, constricted his chest.

Ladybug was hurt.  Ladybug was alone. Ladybug was…

Here?

Adrien skid around the corner of the hallway just in time to see the red kwami disappear through the doors of the girl’s bathroom.  He didn’t have time to consider the consequences however and burst through the bathroom doors with Plagg.

“Ladybug, I’m–”

His words caught in his throat as he saw his fencing partner kneeling on the ground.

“... Kagami?” He asked, heart suspended, confused.

The girl in question turned her head, lips set in a thin line.  It took him a moment more to take in the whole picture. Only then did he realize she wasn’t the one who was hurt.

Perfect pink ballet flats tied up with a bow.  Pale capris dirty from the floor and a blazer bunched halfway up her back.  An all-too familiar set of pigtails cradled in Kagami’s lap with a red kwami buzzing agitated overhead.

“Marinette.” He croaked.

Some distant part of him was paralyzed with shock and wonder and a myriad of other completely inappropriate feelings for the moment.  But mostly he was terrified by the image of his partner, lifeless and pale on the floor.

He rushed forward, not so much pushing Kagami out of the way as pushing into their shared space.  His hands hovered over her head, her shoulders, her arms, useless in their panic.

“She’s breathing okay,” Kagami said, recognizing his glassy eyes for what they were.  “I think she passed out.”

Plagg drifted closer, hovering just above Adrien’s shoulder.

“Tikki what happened?”

Ladybug’s kwami - Tikki - landed on her charge’s neck, nuzzling into her jaw only to fly up again and circle nervously over head.  Repeating the process.

“That horrible horrible girl.” She hissed.  “She knows about Marinette.”

Adrien froze, his hands clenching.

“Who knows, Tikki?”

“That liar.”

“Lila?” He asked.  Kagami stiffened beside him. “Lila knows about Marinette?”

Marinette shifted in their laps, groaning.

“Marinette!” Tikki cried.  “Marinette please wake up.”

Adrien hesitated before taking her hand in his.  “Come on LB. You’re okay.”

The girl in question opened her eyes, slowly.  Blinked up in confusion as they met an unfamiliar hazel, expression stoic.

“Kagami?” The words barely left her mouth before her eyes flitted over to Adrien, then Tikki, then Plagg.  “Adrien... Tikki?”

She last word ended on a shriek, as she struggled to sit up only for Kagami to press her back down.

Her kwami hovered, anxious and apologetic.

“I’m sorry, Marinette.  I didn’t know what else to do.”

Marinette’s eyes darted from Kagami to Adrien to Plagg, head throbbing, mind racing.  Too much. This was too much.

“I–” She swallowed. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

Kagami pursed her lips. “Please don’t.”

Adrien was already up, grabbing paper towels and wetting them.

He handed them over with shaky hands.  “Are you okay?

“I think it was a panic attack.” She said, taking the offered towels and placing them on her forehead.  Better to look at nothing than piece through the disaster unfolding before her. “I was… overwhelmed.”

Hell, she was overwhelmed now.

Lila knew she was Ladybug.  And judging from Tikki’s conspicuous presence she wasn’t the only one.

Oh god.

Beneath her, Kagami shifted.

“I’m happy you’re not seriously hurt,” She said, cool as the tile beneath her. “But when either of you have a moment– would someone care to explain  those?”

Adrien’s panicked eyes met hers.

She groaned.

Maybe it was better when she was unconscious.

[purrincess-chat]

Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s Spite Playlist: Original CH18

Your trash princess is feeling generous on this night. I wrote this in four days, so appreciate it!

Previous     First     Next

Chapter 18

Marinette knew the moment she stepped off that runway that her life would change forever, but she could never have anticipated by what magnitude.

From the moment the show ended, she and her friends hit the ground running. The press went wild with her line, and by the next morning, every phone in her house was ringing with calls from reporters, magazines, other celebrities looking for commissions, relatives and family friends sending their congrats. All of it made her a little dizzy, and the attention didn’t stop there.

Everyone at school followed her everywhere, showering her with praise and asking if she would design for them. She never got a moment alone even in the bathroom, and even her friends were a bit shaken by the sudden influx of attention. Part of her wondered if this had been the right move after all when she exited the school that afternoon to find the front steps teeming with her fans, but an overbearing man stood on the curb next to a familiar silver limo who upon seeing her, parted the crowd easily and lifted her over his head.

“Crazy day?” Adrien quirked a brow after Gorilla shoved her into the car and shut the door, and she flinched as people pressed themselves against the windows.

“Uh…” She winced, flicking her gaze to the fans cheering for her on the sidewalk as they pulled away, and Adrien chuckled in amusement. “How do you put up with this?”

“Comes with the territory. You get used to it.” He shrugged, helping her buckle her seatbelt. “It should die down after a while. You’re just new.”

“I hope so,” she said with wide eyes, settling into her seat. “How did people react at your school?”

“Well…” Adrien pursed his lips.

-  -  -

“Adrien! Marinette’s line was so sick!”

“How is she doing?”

“You’re so lucky to be dating her.”

“We should all hang out again sometime. Could you ask her when she’s available?”

“Uh,” Adrien drawled, averting his gaze as he walked. “I’m sure she would love to see you all again.”

“We should invite her to the class beach party this summer! She always loved going.”

“I’m sure she’d appreciate that,” Adrien replied with a smile.

“Can you tell her we miss her?”

“I will.” He nodded as the bell rang, and everyone dispersed.

Lila looked on from the second floor with a pensive frown, Alya by her side. That brat was stealing her thunder, and she wasn’t even around! She needed to come up with something to bring everyone’s attention back quick.

“It’s pretty awesome that Marinette started her own brand,” Alya remarked as they walked, and Lila blinked out of her trance.

“Oh, yeah totally!” Lila smiled sweetly. “I mean, it’s cool that she’s going to be getting so much money and fame, but if it were me, I would be using all of this attention for good. There are so many countries out there that need help, and I think it would be better if she focused her efforts there instead of on herself, don’t you think?”

“Slow your role, Miss Charitable, her show was just last night. Give her time,” Alya chuckled, and Lila pursed her lips.

“I’m a little surprised that you’re so supportive, Alya. I mean, after the way she turned her back on you, and how horribly she treated me…” Lila lowered her gaze. “You aren’t thinking of leaving me for her, are you?”

“No way!” Alya stepped in front of her and placed her hands on her shoulders. “Marinette and I have a messy past, and I’m not denying that, but I know that this was always her dream, so I’m happy that she’s finally achieving it. I’m just trying to be the bigger person and move on, but you’re still my bff, no worries.”

“Aww, Alya, you’re so sweet. Marinette doesn’t deserve you.” Lila pulled her in for a hug. “If only you were the famous one instead of her then maybe the world would be a better place. I know that you would definitely help the poor children suffering from disease in the hospital like I’m doing.”

“If you ever need any help with that, I’ll be happy to, ya know,” Alya said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as they walked.

“Oh, I absolutely would, but they’re so particular about who can visit since exposing them to outside germs is so risky for their health,” Lila said, and Chloe rolled her eyes from where she walked behind them a few feet back.

She slowed her pace to meet Adrien, a sly grin on her lips.

“Lila thinks Marinette should help the children’s hospital,” she murmured, and Adrien flicked his gaze ahead with a smirk.

“Then maybe she will.”

-  -  -

“I think that’s a good place to start,” Marinette said, tapping her chin as the limo slowed to a stop in front of city hall. “What’s this?”

“You didn’t expect to do all this work for free, did you?” Adrien quirked a brow as Gorilla moved around to open the door. “Come on. You’ll see.”

Inside the mayor’s office were her parents, Audrey, and Mayor Bourgeois all chatting idly, and their heads all turned to face her as she entered with Adrien.

“Marinette, darling, come in and sit,” Audrey greeted, motioning to the chair between her parents.

“What’s going on?” She asked, slowly sinking into her seat as she glanced around suspiciously.

“Oh, she really has no idea. How cute,” Audrey laughed, pressing a hand to her chest.

“We’re here to talk about your future, Marinette,” Mayor Bourgeois said, folding his hands together neatly on his desk.

“We’ve been working with the Bourgeois’ to set up an account for you, sweetie,” Tom explained, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You’re still young, so your mother and I will be helping you manage your finances until you’re old enough to do it on your own.”

“Finances?” Marinette’s eyebrows knitted together.

“Lots of people are investing in your brand, sweetie. They want in,” Audrey said, cutting to the chase. “My phone has been ringing all day with people asking to put money into your brand, so I took the liberty as your primary investor to hire you a manager to help you sort through all of your offers, but seeing as you and I have already partnered, I wanted to hand you your very first check myself.”

Marinette straightened as Mayor Bourgeois ripped a check from his book for his wife who moved around to hand it to her. She eyed Audrey for a moment before flicking her gaze down to the slip of paper, her parents and Adrien leaning in to get a better look.

“Oh my-” Sabine gasped.

“Whoa!” Tom ran a hand through his hair, and a smirk curled on Adrien’s lips. “That’s a lot of croissants.”

“Are you sure the decimal is in the right place?” Marinette looked up, and Audrey and Andre exchanged amused looks.

“Oh, don’t be silly. That’s mere cents compared to what you have coming.” Audrey waved it away. “I’ve made more than that in magazine sales this past hour alone.”

“Is it really alright for me to accept this?” Marinette curled her shoulders.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Audrey placed a hand on her hip. “You earned it.”

“Audrey is right, sweetie, you worked for this,” Sabine said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, and Marinette glanced back down at the check with pursed lips.

“Thank you, Audrey,” she said softly. “For everything.”

“Thank you for revitalizing my passion for this industry. I was in a bit of a dry patch, but you’ve just brought a rainstorm,” Audrey said, pinching her cheek. “Now, onto the subject of your future, I haven’t been shy about how talented I find you, and I think you have a place in this industry, Marinette. The world of fashion needs your eye. I’ve already offered to train you once, and I believe you should reconsider your answer.”

“I-I don’t know…” Marinette cast a nervous glance down at her purse, but Audrey was undeterred.

“Of course, you’re barely out of college, but you have so much raw talent that needs to be harnessed,” she continued, pacing the floor as she spoke. “I can help you hone your skills, not only in designing but in navigating the industry, investing, networking, you have so much to learn, my dear.”

“Audrey,” Marinette started, blinking as she gathered her thoughts. “I do want to work with you, and I did before too, but-”

“Yes, yes, Paris is your home, I know this.” Audrey rolled her eyes, pacing back over to Marinette and placing her hands on her shoulders. “You’re still young, and I know that your life here is important to you, so I’m not asking you to leave it all behind yet.” She let out a sigh. “I will work with you here, in Paris, until you turn 18 and finish school. Then you and I can go to New York and enroll you in university, and I will help you establish yourself independently.”

Marinette searched her expression, flicking her gaze briefly down to her purse where Tikki hid then back up to Audrey with a gulp.

“We’ll be working here in Paris?” She reiterated.

“Yes, you don’t have to leave all of your little school friends,” Audrey said with another eye roll, and Marinette pressed her lips together.

“Okay,” she said with a nod. “Then I would be honored to train with you, Audrey.”

“Excellent!” Audrey clapped her hands together, straightening up. “I will have your manager meet with my assistant to work out our schedules. Ah, this is going to be wonderful. Absolutely wonderful, I can already see the headlines!”

“We’re so proud of you, honey,” Tom said, placing a hand on her back and kissing her temple.

“What are you going to spend your first paycheck on?” Mayor Bourgeois asked, a knowing smile on his lips, and Marinette glanced back down at the check with pursed lips.

“I’m going to spend it on the children’s hospital.”

***

“Bien Jouè!” Ladybug and Chat Noir fist bumped after another purified akuma.

“Nice work today, kitty,” Ladybug said, and Chat Noir flashed her a cheesy grin.

“Same to you, LB,” he replied, readying his staff. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a lady in waiting.”

“Send her my condolences,” Ladybug smirked, giggling as Chat stuck his tongue out before vaulting off. “Okay, time to race.”

She tossed her yoyo and shot off, landing back on her balcony and letting her transformation drop. She checked her phone timer briefly before glancing out across the rooftops as that mess of blond hair came into view. Right on time.

“Chat Noir!” She called, waving him down, and he skidded to a stop a few roofs over before hopping over to meet her.

“Is something the matter, little lady?” He asked, perching on the railing.

“No- ah, I mean, I wanted to ask you for a favor.” She clasped her hands together in front of her. “I tried asking Ladybug, but she is going to be busy. Tomorrow I’m planning on visiting the children’s hospital, and I was hoping that I could get someone special for the kids. I think they would be thrilled if one of Paris’ superheroes could make it, so do you have time to come?”

“To the hospital? Tomorrow?” He searched her pleading expression with pursed lips. “Uh, yeah, I think I can make that.”

“Awesome! Thank you, Chat Noir!” She beamed, and he smiled at her fondly.

“Anything for you,” he said then seeming to catch himself, held up his ring with a wince. “Uh, gotta jet, but I’ll be there tomorrow.”

“10 o’clock!” She called as he hopped off again before crawling inside to call Adrien. His phone rang several times, and she wondered momentarily if it would go to voicemail before he finally picked up.

“Hey!” He said, sounding slightly out of breath.

“Hey, did I catch you at a bad time? You sound winded,” she remarked.

“No, no, sorry! I was, uh, just playing a little basketball,” he insisted. “What’s up?”

“Guess who agreed to come to the hospital with us tomorrow?” She bounced excitedly.

“Jagged Stone?”

“Out of the country. Think local.”

“Andre the ice cream man?”

“Most of the kids have dietary restrictions.”

“Ladybug?”

“Closer,” she giggled. “It’s Chat Noir!”

“That’s awesome, Marinette! The kids are going to be so happy,” he said, masking his unease.

“I’m really excited now,” she said, climbing down the stairs. “By the way, whose car are we taking, yours or mine?”

“Uh, yours is fine. We need to break it in,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Okay. I’ll let you get back to your basketball. See you tomorrow?” She picked up a banana from the fruit bowl and began to peel it.

“Yeah…definitely,” he said with a wince.

“Love you!”

“I love you too,” he said before hanging up and falling back onto his bed with a sigh.

“How are you going to be in two places at once, genius? You can’t go as Adrien and Chat Noir,” Plagg said pointedly, stuffing a whole wedge of Camembert down his throat.

“I’m not,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Chat Noir is going to be the more desirable guest, so Adrien is just going to have to call in sick before the event.”

“Sick with what?”

“A stomach bug?” Marinette gasped the next day over the phone.

“Yeah, I woke up in the middle of the night and haven’t been able to keep anything down,” he fibbed. “I’m really sorry, beautiful. I feel like I’m letting you down.”

“No, it’s fine. We’ll manage. You just get lots of rest and focus on feeling better, okay?” She said gently. “I’ll tell you all about it later.”

“Love you,” he said weakly.

“Love you too. Now, go lie down.”

“Already there,” he moaned before hanging up and pulling the blanket over his pillows. “Come on, Plagg! Transform me.”

Chat Noir was waiting when Marinette arrived with her friends, and she smiled at him as she climbed out of the car.

“Thank you for coming!” She said, shaking his hand.

“Of course.” He bowed politely and kissed her hand.

“Ah, Marinette, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Dr. Han, head director of the hospital,” a cheerful woman greeted her. “Thank you so much for your generous donations. You’re really going to change lives here.”

“I’m happy to help,” she said with a smile. “Is it alright if we visit with the kids for a while?”

“I think they’d enjoy that very much.”

Dr. Han led the way, and their group broke off into different wards, Eliott and Lisette, Macy and Martin, and Marinette and Chat Noir. The hospital staff had gathered the kids in the large play room, and their faces lit up when they entered with Chat Noir.

“Everyone, this is Marinette. She and her friends were the ones who donated to help us get new equipment and gift baskets for all of you,” Dr. Han explained, and Marinette offered a shy wave.

“Hello,” she said. “Did you all enjoy your gifts?”

“Yeah!” They replied, one girl snuggling a Ladybug doll tighter.

“Well, what fun are toys if you have no one to play with, right? So I brought someone with me to play with you all today.” She gestured to Chat Noir who gave a friendly wave.

“Are you the real Chat Noir?” One girl asked, and a smirk curled on his lips.

“Could a fake Chat Noir do this?” He extended his staff along the length of the room, creating a secure bar overhead before climbing up to hang upside down much to the delight of the kids.

To no one’s surprise, Chat was a big hit with the kids, but Marinette found their favor as well when they started a game of Ladybug and Chat Noir.

“The real Ladybug couldn’t make it today, so will you play the part, m’lady?” Chat asked, holding out a hand in offering, and Marinette pursed her lips.

“I think someone else should play Ladybug,” she said, moving around to the girl in the wheelchair with a Ladybug doll. “How would you like to be Ladybug?”

“But I can’t be Ladybug because of my chair,” she said, glancing down, and Marinette smiled.

“Then I’ll be Queen Bee and help you. Even the real Ladybug needs help sometimes, so I think you’ll be perfect,” she said, and the girl’s face lit up.

“I call Bunny!”

“Can I be Malin?”

“I wanna be Emerald Shell!”

“I want to be the akuma!”

“Okay, what is your evil superpower?” Chat asked the boy.

“Making everyone eat broccoli!” He exclaimed, and everyone gasped in horror.

“A true villain.” Chat nodded, placing a hand on his chest.

“Okay, Ladybug, are you ready to fight crime with Chat Noir and all of your super friends?” Marinette asked, moving around to push the chair.

“Yeah!”

The kids had a blast as Marinette wheeled their Ladybug around to save each of them from having to eat their broccoli, and Chat couldn’t take his eyes off her. The way she helped each child feel useful and special, bringing glowing smiles to each of their faces, and the light emanating from her own face made his heart skip. Every time he thought he couldn’t love her more, she did something to prove him wrong.

“Okay, Ladybug, I think it’s time to call your lucky charm,” Marinette said once they’d rescued all the kids by giving them smiley face stickers of immunity. “Can you do it?”

“Lucky Charm!” The girl called, throwing her hands up, and Marinette retrieved an apple from the snack cart.

“Alright, what’s your plan?” Marinette asked, holding it up.

She tapped her chin for a moment before pulling Chat down to her level and whispering in his ear.

“You got it, LB.” He winked. “Bunny, Malin, I seem to have forgotten the name of my power. Can you say it for me?”

“Cataclysm!” They shouted, and Chat moved through the motions, gently brushing the toy broccoli with his fingers.

“Well, Broccolator, Chat Noir has just destroyed all the broccoli. There’s only fruit left now,” Marinette declared.

“No!” The young boy collapsed to his knees.

“Quick, Ladybug, we have to capture his akuma!” Marinette said, wheeling her over. “What’s the phrase?”

“Time to de-evilized!” She said, and Marinette placed a white butterfly sticker on his shirt before passing the apple to the little girl to hold up. “Miraculous Ladybug!”

“Another victim saved by Ladybug, Chat Noir, and their brave super friends Malin, Emerald Shell, Queen Bee, and Bunny!” Marinette announced, and all of the kids and staff cheered.

“Alright, super team, we have one more important order of business left,” Chat said, carrying their Emerald Shell over. “Put your fists in like this and…”

“Pound it!”

“Good job,” he chuckled as they all crowded in for a hug.

“Alright, kids, now Marinette is going to read you all a story while you have your snacks,” one nurse announced as several others moved chairs around.

“How many of you remember Sandboy?” Marinette asked as they settled in, holding up a book and hands shot up. “Oh good because I may need your help telling this one.”

Marinette was really good with kids, engaging them all in the story and letting everyone feel included. How did Chat ever get so lucky to interest a girl like her? Most days he couldn’t believe that she had fallen in love with Adrien.

“And then they heard a voice from above…” Marinette said ominously. “What did it say?”

“The Sandboy just checked in, now nightmares can begin!” The kids recited.

“Then Chat Noir got dusted with his magic sand, bringing his worst nightmare to life! Nevertheless, he stepped in front of Ladybug, twirling his staff and saying…”

“Get behind me, m’lady. I’ll protect you!” Chat said, mimicking the stance in the picture, prompting a laugh from the kids.

“’You’ve still got your powers?’ Ladybug asked.”

“Losing mine isn’t what I’m afraid of,” Chat recited.

“’Then what?’ Suddenly, a menacing voice sounded above them. ‘Chat Noir! Bad kitty, I’ll never love you!’”

Marinette shot him a playful grin, and he shrugged guiltily.

“…And finally Ladybug captured the akuma and used her lucky charm to set everything back to normal. Pound it!” Marinette finished several minutes later. “So, did you all have fun today meeting a real superhero?”

“Yeah!” The kids cheered, and their little Ladybug looked up at her.

“You’re a superhero too, Marinette,” she said.

“Yeah, you’re our superhero cause you helped us get new machines and more medicine,” another boy echoed. “You’re our Ladybug.”

The kids all voiced agreements, turning Marinette’s cheeks pink.

“As Ladybug’s certified best friend, I have to agree,” Chat concurred, and Marinette hugged the book to her chest.

“Let me tell you all a secret: We can all be heroes just like Ladybug and Chat Noir so long as we always have one thing: hope," she said. "Hope is our superpower, and so long as we always have that then Hawkmoth can never win. It's his one weakness, and anyone can have it. Isn't that right, Chat Noir?"

"Yeah..." He nodded, eyes softening on her.

He'd seen Marinette glow before when she was encouraging her friends or at the fashion show, but in that moment, she was more radiant than ever. The whole room was brighter and warmer because she was in it, and every child wore a smile as they departed. This was Marinette's superpower, the ability to give hope to others so that their lights could shine too, and Chat Noir had never been so smitten. For a moment, he forgot that they were doing all of this to get back at Lila, and he felt like in a way Marinette had too. She really was an everyday hero.

Chat caught a glimpse of her phone screen as they walked up the hall, and he noticed her typing a message to Adrien with pictures taken throughout the day. Pictures she was sending to him who was supposed to be at home sick.

“Texting your boyfriend?” He asked, unable to resist and trying, and failing, to hide his smirk.

“Yeah. He’s sick today, so he couldn’t come, but I wanted him to see what we did,” she said, smiling down at the screen as the message sent.

“I’m sure he appreciates it, and I’m sure he would have been here if he could. You should go visit him. He probably misses you,” Chat said, clasping his hands behind his back and pursing his lips innocently.

“I’ll see how he’s feeling,” she said before smiling up at him. “Thank you for coming today, Chat Noir.”

“Of course. Anytime,” he said, stopping short and taking her hand. “I mean it. If you ever need anything, just ask.”

Instinctively, he leaned down to kiss her, but, catching himself, tilted his head to peck both of her cheeks. “I should get going. Thanks for all of your good work, Miraculous Marinette.”

“See you around, Chat Noir.” She smiled, pulling him in for a hug, and he desperately hoped she couldn’t tell how fast his heart was beating or how it accelerated the moment she touched him.

“Don’t forget to go see your boyfriend. He loves you so much and really wants to see you and kiss you,” Chat said. “Probably! I mean, I’m just guessing. A girl like you, what guy wouldn’t want to kiss you really badly. Anyway, wow, look at the time. Gotta go, see you later, bye!”

Marinette chuckled as he raced off, shaking her head. That cat was so eccentric sometimes.

Chat landed back in his bathroom, letting his transformation drop and stumbling over to the sink. He mussed up his hair, slapping his cheeks a few times to redden them before rushing back to his bed.

He smiled down at all of the photos and loving messages she’d sent him before tapping the phone icon in the corner.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” She answered on the third ring, the seatbelt strap a telltale sign that she was in the car.

“A lot better,” he said. “Turns out it was a kidney stone, not a virus, so you can come visit me if you want.”

“Are you sure you’re up to it?” She asked worriedly, and he smiled.

“I’m always up to seeing you, gorgeous.” He winked, and she touched a hand to her lips with a giggle.

“Well, if you have enough energy to flirt, you must be feeling better. I’ll be there soon,” she promised.

“Can’t wait. I miss you.” He pouted. “Come make me feel better with your kisses.”

“I will.”

When she arrived, Adrien smiled up at her, reaching a hand out for her to take. She sat on the edge of the bed with an amused grin, brushing his hair away from his eyes.

“How are you feeling?” She asked as he leaned his cheek into her palm.

“Better now that you’re here,” he said, kissing her hand. “How was the hospital?”

“We had an amazing time. Those kids are so strong and full of hope…We played a game with them, and this little girl-” She was cut off as Adrien leaned up to kiss her. “Don’t you want to hear how everything went?”

“Later,” he said, laying back against his pillow. “Right now I need my Marinette to save me. I have no energy to move anything except my lips, and only a kiss from the most kindhearted and beautiful princess in the world can heal me.”

“And I thought Chat Noir was dramatic,” she teased.

“Hurry,” he coughed. “I’m not going to make it.”

Marinette smiled down at her dork before leaning in to touch her lips to his, and he wrapped his arms around her, lips parting eagerly as she hugged herself to him. Her poor sick boy was awfully cuddly, but she didn’t mind because she had missed him too. Her stories could wait because right now all that mattered were his lips and hers.

***

“Did you hear about Marinette-”

“Oh, you mean about the children’s hospital?”

“Crazy, right? She’s so generous.”

Lila’s annoyance flared hotter with each step she took at school. It had been a week since Marinette’s stupid fashion show, and people were still buzzing about her. To make matters worse, she’d donated every dime to the stupid children’s hospital for new equipment and to help in their research. Over two million euros by herself, and not to mention, her friends all pitched in to donate another two million as if the hospital really needs that much. It appeared that Lila wasn’t going to stop hearing about her for a while.

“Yo, Lila!” Nino waved her down from across the courtyard, and she flicked her gaze over to him only to feel her blood curdle when she spotted Adrien. He offered her a cheeky grin as she approached. “Adrien was just telling me about the children’s hospital. The new equipment is really helping a lot of kids. Isn’t it awesome?”

“Wow, yeah. That’s so thoughtful of you, Adrien,” Lila said, plastering on a fake smile.

“It was all Marinette’s idea actually. She’s always trying to help people. I’m so unworthy,” Adrien said, placing a hand over his heart as several classmates ‘awwed’ at him, and Lila did her best to suppress an eyeroll. “We’re going to be working on a few projects this summer if you want to join, Lila. I know how much you like charity work.”

“Oh, I love it, but I’m actually going on a summer trip to Achu to work on my global campaign to end pollution, so I’m afraid I’ll have to pass,” she said, and Adrien sucked his teeth.

“Too bad, but good luck with your campaign!” Adrien patted her shoulder as the bell rang, and as their classmates dispersed, she shot him a pointed glare to which he simply smiled and walked away.

As it turned out, lying and saying you were going to be out of the country all summer made for a very boring two months spent indoors, and all the while, her mortal enemy was out living it up at beach parties. Even stuck in her own house she couldn’t get away from Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Every time she opened her social media accounts, there she was posing with her friends at the beach or doing an interview with Nadja about whatever ridiculous charity she was doing at the moment.

To say she hated her was an understatement at best; however, seeing as she was forced off of her electronics, it did give her a lot of time for her other hobbies, and more than anything it gave her time to think and plan how she was going to win everyone back at the start of the new school year. They were all moving up to lycée now, and if she remembered correctly, Adrien was moving to the same school as Marinette which only made it easier. Now there was no one left at school to stop her from running everything, so Marinette could enjoy her fame if she wanted. Lila had everything she needed.

“Alright, my bella, I’m off,” her mother called, peeking her head into Lila’s room. “Got any exciting plans?”

“Yeah, totally, I’m going to a movie with some friends,” Lila said with a smile as her mother leaned down to kiss her temple.

“Well, have fun. I should be back later tonight. I’ve got a day full of meetings ahead of me,” her mother said with a sigh. “That girl that used to go to your school is coming to pitch an idea for us today. The famous designer girl, now what was her name?”

“You’re having a meeting with Marinette?” Lila shot up.

“Marinette! Yes, that’s it.” She snapped her fingers in realization. “She wants to pitch a campaign to help Europe go green. Isn’t that wonderful? Most of us are already on board, so this meeting is just a formality to discuss specifics.”

Lila’s blood ran cold as her mother dug her keys from her purse.

“Anywho, I left you a couple meals in the fridge in case I get back late. Have a great day, my love!”

Lila’s hands clenched into fists, her breaths coming in short and ragged, and the moment the apartment door closed, she buried her face in her pillow with a scream.

Poor little girl trapped in a web of her own lies. I can help you get revenge.

“Oh, get lost, Hawkmoth! I can’t get akumatized because I’m supposed to be out of the country!” Lila shouted, ripping out her earrings and tossing them across the room with a growl before collapsing onto her bed.

Stupid Marinette! Lila never thought when she challenged her that any of this would happen. She would have to think up some really good lies to get herself out of this one come September.

***

“How do I look?” Marinette twirled around. “Too frumpy? Is this too serious? Not serious enough? Should I have a briefcase? I think I need a briefcase. Danielle, how quickly can I get a briefcase?”

“You look fine,” Adrien assured her, placing his hands on her shoulders to steady her. “Incredibly cute as always.”

“Okay, but cute isn’t going to cut it for a room of global ambassadors. I need to be smart and professional and-and-”

“You are both of those things,” Adrien said, squishing her cheeks in his hands. “Stop worrying.”

“But what if I knock over the projector, or what if I accidentally delete the presentation when I go to open it? Or what if I spill the chief ambassador’s coffee in his lap and give him second degree burns and get banned from ever setting foot in France again- no, what if they ban me from the Earth? I’ll have to go live on the moon. Adrien, I can’t live on the moon!” Marinette took frantic breaths, and Adrien got her a cup of water from the cooler nearby.

“Yeah, so none of that is going to happen. I’ve seen you rehearse this speech a thousand times, so why don’t you let me handle the power point,” Adrien soothed, pressing the cup to her lips and gently removing the remote from her hand. “The ambassadors are just interested in your idea. Their job is to make the world a better place, and that’s all you’re trying to do. No one is grading you on how well you present, so just get in there and get the idea out and answer any questions. You can do this.”

“My pits are sweating,” she sighed, grabbing several tissues from a box on a desk and dabbing under her arms. “Plus, it’s not even my idea.”

“Well, you were inspired by someone else on the general idea, but you were the one who came up with the specific details. You planned exactly how to go about it, reached out to the ambassadors, put together the whole thing, so I would say that it is your idea,” he fanned her with a pamphlet as she held her arms out. “Lila may have been the spark that lit this flame, but you’re the one who keeps tending to it so it can warm the most people. You’ve taken all of her lies and used them to help people, Marinette. Everything you do is for the good of others, and you should be proud of that.”

“The good of everyone except Lila,” Marinette corrected, and Adrien pursed his lips.

“Maybe not. Maybe this will be the wakeup call that she needs to get her to stop lying,” he suggested with a shrug as the door to the meeting room opened, and the secretary stepped out.

“They’re ready for you, Marinette,” she said with a smile, and Marinette let out a breath, rolling her neck and wiping her palms on her blazer.

“Ready?” Adrien quirked a brow, and she nodded.

“Yeah. Ready.”

Inside the room sat several men and women in suits sitting at a round table, and all heads turned to her as she entered. Several of them smiled encouragingly at her as Adrien plugged in the thumb drive and pulled up her presentation.

“Um, good afternoon,” she said, unsure of what to do with her hands and ultimately settling for clasping them together in front of her. “Thank you for meeting with me today.”

“Thank you for reaching out to us, Marinette. It’s nice to see youth taking initiative and working to better their community,” one woman said with a friendly smile that Marinette returned before squaring her shoulders.

“I want to present you all with a plan to help the European Union do its part in diminishing our footprint on the environment.”

***

Marinette sat stiffly in her town car, watching buildings pass as Danielle flipped through her schedule. It was the first time she would be arriving at school with a chauffeur just like everyone else, and even though it was incredibly normal for her classmates, she was still having a hard time adjusting. Riding with her friends was one thing, but now that she had her own, she couldn't help feeling it was a little excessive, and she found herself missing the subway. Of course, things were different now and taking the subway was no longer an option for her unless she wanted to get mobbed by fans. A lot had changed over the summer.

"You're spending time with your friends after school today, but don't forget your branding appointment with Mme. Bourgeois at 7," Danielle said without looking up from her tablet.

"I won't. Thank you, Danielle," Marinette said with a smile.

Despite feeling incredibly awkward about her new found wealth, she had to admit that having someone to manage her schedule was nice. She had so many appointments and meetings to keep up with now for all of her charities that it would be impossible to keep up with on her own. Danielle made sure that she was where she was supposed to be on time, and she also ensured that Marinette wasn't taking on too much and that she still had ample amounts of free time to spend with her friends or doing what she loved which made juggling her civilian life with her hero life easier. She had to be more careful since everyone was watching her now, but at least she was still awarded plenty of freedom. Or as much freedom as she could have without getting chased down by fans. She wasn't sure how Adrien put up with it.

"Have a good day, Marinette," Danielle said as the car slowed to a stop on the curb, and Marinette offered a small wave.

"Thank you, Danielle. You too!" She smiled as she climbed out and taking in her new school.

She thought her college was enormous, but lycée was even bigger. She felt like an ant standing on the curb, but she took comfort in knowing that her friends waited just beyond the doors.

Several teachers stood around in the halls helping students find their way, and Marinette glanced down at the schedule on her phone with pursed lips as she walked. If she remembered, Macy and Eliott were still in her class, so at least she wouldn’t be alone. Plus, they could see Martin and Lisette at lunch time.

“Oh my gosh, is that Marinette Dupain-Cheng?” A faux-nasally voice gasped, and she turned to see a familiar mop of blond hair leaning against the doorway to the stairwell. “I love your work! Can I have an autograph?”

Marinette examined the grey uniform, a smile curling on her lips before she leapt into his arms with a giggle, touching her lips to his. He chuckled against her lips, holding her close with a contented sigh.

“You didn’t tell me you were coming here!” She breathed when they pulled away.

“I wanted to surprise you.” He grinned, setting her feet on the floor.

“You left behind Nino…Kagami, Kim, Ivan, Max…” Marinette’s eyebrows furrowed, but Adrien simply shrugged.

“It’s not like I can’t see them. Besides, I have friends here too,” he said, touching his forehead to hers. “Plus it gets me away from you-know-who.”

“What about Chloe?” Marinette asked, and Adrien pursed his lips.

“She didn’t want to transfer to private school. Something about not being caught dead in such dreadful uniforms,” he said with an eyeroll. “Plus someone has to stay behind to keep an eye on things to fuel our plans.”

Marinette relaxed a little, her smile widening, though it wavered when she looked back down at his uniform.

“Okay, but why do you look so good though? That’s not fair!” She huffed, and Adrien threw his head back with a laugh before striking a pose.

“I can make anything look good,” he bragged, flexing his muscles, and Marinette stretched up on her toes to kiss him again.

As it turned out, having her boyfriend at school with her was going to prove trickier than she thought. If it weren’t for Macy, they would have been late to their first class.

“Um, you two do realize the bell rang, right?” She called, peeking behind the stairwell where they stood tangled in each other’s embrace with locked lips.

“Oh, yeah, we were just-” Marinette tried as they frantically detangled themselves, but Macy simply quirked a brow. “Thanks…”

“Come on, you two. We’re going to have to put you guys on a leash, I swear,” she chuckled as they scurried after her with ruffled hair and rosy cheeks.

“Can you blame me? She’s just so cute,” Adrien said, shooting Marinette a wink, and Macy rolled her eyes.

“You two are worse than Eliott and Lisette,” she groaned.

In the months following the fashion show, Macy had been seeing a therapist to help with her body image struggles, and it made Marinette happy to know that she was working to get better. She smiled a lot more freely now, and she’d taken seeing her face all over magazines in stride. Marinette was just glad to see her becoming more confident as a result of her brand.

“Anywho, Martin and I have loads to tell you about our trip to Germany to oversee your Go Green initiative. In just two months, they’ve reduced the amount of one-use plastics by 13% all thanks to you,” she reported jovially as they entered the classroom, and Eliott flagged them down.

“Well, well, look what the cat dragged in.” He grinned up at Macy, who shoved his shoulder.

“I found them making out under the staircase,” she said, and Eliott shook his head at them.

“I told you it would happen. As soon as Adrien said he was coming to our school, I knew we were going to have to chaperone them,” he tsked.

“You told them?” Marinette quirked a brow at him, and he simply offered her a guilty smile.

“It was well worth it to see your face when you saw me,” he said, kissing her hand, and she rolled her eyes as they took their seats next to one another. “Plus, I missed being in the same class as you, so this will be fun.”

“Just make sure you two pay attention,” Macy teased, and Marinette bit back a smile as the teacher entered and started the day.

Having Adrien at her school again was nice, and she realized as she stole glances at him in class that she really had missed seeing him every day. Of course, things were much different between them now than they were the last time they were in school together. He was her boyfriend. She was famous. Chloe was her friend. Alya was not. So much had changed in her life since she left, and so much more changed over the next two years.

She met more ambassadors and world leaders, started up several more charities both locally and internationally, recorded singles with Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale, designed several more outfits for various celebrities, had lunch with the President of France to discuss pollution, but her crowning achievement that she’d been working toward ever since they started this scheme was the day she met with Prince Ali to bring her Go Green initiative global. His invitation to spend New Year’s at his palace was just a bonus.

When news reached Lila about Marinette and Prince Ali, her blood ran cold. For years she’d tricked people into believing she’d started a campaign with Prince Ali to end pollution, but now there Marinette stood on television starting her very campaign for all the world to see.

She pulled up Marinette’s website, scanning over all of her noteworthy achievements. Songs written for her, tweets from famous Hollywood directors, rescuing the prime minister from choking on a macaron, movie roles, charities, interviews…every lie Lila had ever told staring her back in the face only this time they wore Marinette’s name, and for once in her life, Lila didn’t have a lie to get out of this one.

A few blocks over, Alya scrolled through various videos online coming across an interview with Marinette and Jagged Stone with kittens. Her eyebrows creased, and she kept scrolling until she came across a newsfeed from earlier that day about Marinette’s work to fight pollution with Prince Ali and clicked it.

“Out of all of my close friends, Marinette is the most selfless and hardworking individuals I know, and her campaign is going to change the world!”

“Her campaign?” Alya pressed her lips together.

I’m such good friends with Prince Ali. He invites me to his palace all the time!

She lies with every breath.

Her stomach jumped up to her throat, hands shaking as she clicked on the other interview.

“Aw, I have always wanted a cat. They are so rock n roll!” Jagged gushed, nuzzling a kitten. “What do you think? Should I get Fang a furry sibling?”

“Definitely!”

I saved Jagged Stone’s kitten before he had to get rid of it because he found out he was allergic.

She’s a liar.

Ladybug consults me before giving out every Miraculous because we’re such good friends.

Your identities are your most important asset. No one must know who you really are.

“This just in, Ladybug and Chat Noir have finally defeated Hawkmoth with the help of their superhero friends Malin, Emerald Shell, Bunny, and Queen Bee. The team of superheroes faced off against Hawkmoth-”

A tear slid down Alya’s cheek, and she tossed her phone aside, sliding down on her pillow. Her hands shook, her lungs felt heavy as if she couldn’t breathe, and in the center of her chest stood a gaping hole where her heart should be, chewed away from years of lies and deceit.

Marinette wasn’t her enemy. She never had been. All along she’d tried to warn Alya about Lila, and even now she’d gone to such great lengths to throw them all a lifeline. To save them from a ship they didn’t know was sinking.

It could have been her by Ladybug’s side. It could have been her helping Marinette. Modeling in her show, visiting sick kids, changing the world…being a hero. She wasn’t sure she knew what that meant anymore, but if anyone deserved the title of hero, it was Marinette.

She wasn’t sure when she moved; she didn’t even recall putting on her shoes, but she found herself stalking up the street to Lila’s apartment, tears burning hot on her cheeks. Lila’s grave expression when she opened the door was the final nail in her coffin.

“You lied,” Alya said, and Lila leaned against the doorframe.

“Yeah.”

“About everything!” Alya shouted, and Lila averted her gaze. “Marinette was right about you, and I let you tear us apart.”

“Don’t mention her-”

“I’ve been picking up your slack for years! Three years almost I’ve been going out of my way for you because I believed you were out there making a difference, and not once have you ever done anything for me except lie and use me!” Her hands balled into angry fists. “You’re nothing but a coward, Lila. A liar and a coward!”

“Say what you want, but I’m not the one who turned my back on my best friend!” Lila shot back. “How much did Marinette do for you for you to abandon her so quickly?”

Alya’s temper flared, and she turned and stormed off. Upon returning home, she slammed the door to her bedroom and dug her phone out from under the blankets then rummaged through her closet for her tripod. She set them up on her desk just like she used to, taking a few deep breaths before hitting record. She sat in front of it for several moments, composing her thoughts, before finally speaking.

“Hey, um, it’s me. A lot of you have probably forgotten, but my name is Alya, and I used to run a blog a few years ago called the Ladyblog, and I would give all of the latest news on Ladybug and Chat Noir and superheroes, and one day, without warning I shut it down, and I’ve never really explained why, but I think I’m finally ready to tell my story.” She paused for a few beats, pursing her lips. “I had this friend, and she was my best friend. She was scatterbrained and clumsy, and she could never quite confess her feelings to the boy she liked no matter how many times we tried. She was kind, and she was always helping people, but one day, someone new came along who had this fantastical life, and suddenly my best friend became suspicious of her and never wanted to be around when this person was there which was so out of character for her because she barely knew her, and she was always nice to everyone.

This person told such amazing stories, but my friend never believed any of them. Several times, she tried to prove that they were made up, but she never quite could, and so we all turned our backs on her, a person we knew and trusted and loved, for someone who was, in actuality, a stranger. Well, this friend decided to leave our school because of the way we brushed her off, and this person led us all to believe that our friend was the one bullying her, and we all couldn’t believe that our friend who was so kind would ever do such a thing…We shouldn’t have believed her, and I think many of us were unsure for a long time.

My friend and I split up, and I became friends with this new person, and I believed for a long time that she was so great and that she was out helping people. She told me things and said that she knew people, and that she had done so many amazing things, and I believed her. Every time, I believed her, and I let her alter what I believed about my friends and about myself.

Since Hawkmoth is defeated now, and I’ll never get the opportunity again, I am, or rather I was Rena Rouge for a time, but when I broke ties with my friend and started hanging out with this new person, Ladybug stopped trusting me, which didn’t make sense to me because this person was supposedly Ladybug’s best friend, so why would my friendship with her make me unworthy of being a hero? But I again I let her warp what I knew to be true. She convinced me that she’d had a falling out with Ladybug and that I was just a casualty. She convinced me to delete my blog and to resent Ladybug for years. It’s no wonder Ladybug stopped trusting me because I was no longer trustworthy, and I see that now, um…” She paused, to wipe her cheek.

“This person stripped everything that I was from me. She used me and isolated me from people I truly cared about, and I feel like I owe so many apologies. To all of you who followed my blog, to Ladybug for letting her down, to my boyfriend for brushing aside his suspicions, to the people who tried to warn me about her, and especially to Marinette Dupain-Cheng, my friend, for turning my back on you. I’m sorry…” She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth as her throat closed up. “I’m really sorry. I know it probably doesn’t mean anything anymore, and I know that you have moved on in life, and I am so happy for you. But I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me one day, and I hope that no one ever has to be used by this person again, so, Lila Rossi, let this be a wake up call to you to tell the truth because using someone the way you used me is so vile and disgusting, and I hope that you feel as horrible right now as I have felt for the past three years.”

Alya leaned her head back with a sigh, biting her lip.

“I’m sorry to everyone I’ve disappointed over the last few years. If any of you out there ever find a Marinette in your life, hold onto them because they will always lift you up, and if ever you encounter a Lila…run.” She shook her head. “This is Alya Cesaire. Stay connected, bugheads.”

[miraculous-ladybec]

Strong Girl Bong-Soon AU

In which Marinette, as Ladybug, is hired to protect Adrien with her superpowers.

Being the son of a world famous fashion designer was tough enough, but becomes dangerous when cryptic letters arrive at the Agreste mansion threatening Adrien’s life if his father doesn’t comply with their wishes.

Even though he hates to, Gabe figures hiring the local superheroine was his best bet at keeping his only family left alive. Plus maybe an opportunity to learn her identity for Hawkmoth purposes.

Adrien already has a huge crush on Ladybug so he’s more than okay with having a personal bodyguard for once

Marinette agrees, of course, because she “must protect all parisians”, at least that’s what she tells Tikki. We all know she wants more time with Adrien, and keeping him safe is top priority.

Adrien is allowed to be at school without protection because he’s in public and under the surveillance of his teachers and school security, so he has time to talk to Nino about how excited he is to see Ladybug all the time now (at least, more than he sees her as Chat)

Marinette figures this is a good way to learn more about her crush, even though she’ll have to be careful not to reveal too much about herself

She tells her parents she’s gotten an after-school job babysitting for one of her teachers for the next few weeks, in hopes that the authorities will find the people who are threatening Adrien by then

She goes after school to the Agreste Manor where the place is practically on lockdown mode. Adrien isn’t allowed to do photo shoots for the time being, and he’s definitely not allowed out of his father, Nathalie, or Ladybug’s sight.

She and Adrien are left alone in his room since Gabriel is always working, and he doesn’t handle stress very well (clearly)

At first, both parties are super awkward and giggly with each other. Mari is a little more confident behind her mask, but still blushes fervently if Adrien even looks at her for too long.

They find they can pass the time by playing through all of the games Adrien has in his arcade of a bedroom. Some of them multiplayer, some of them not. When they play single player games, they make a combination of their names for the playable character to be called. They trade off control while munching on snacks and making strategies in game.

Once Marinette calms down around him, she learns that Adrien has a lot of dorky interests that she finds rather endearing. She browses his collection of Shojo Manga and they even watch some anime together.

Of course, Adrien has to be careful not to make too many jokes or be flirty with his Bug. He can’t have her figuring out that he’s Chat Noir, and she’d be furious if she learned she was hired to protect someone who truly could protect himself.

The days go by and no more suspicious notes are left by the manor, so Adrien is cleared to go back to photoshoots, so long as Ladybug goes with him to keep watch. Luckily during this time, there haven’t been many Akuma attacks

Marinette doesnt complain about being toted along on photoshoots because she could watch Adrien all day, and she’s also super interested in seeing all of the designs being modeled.

The photographer instantly notices how “Senior Adrien is looking exceptionally happy these days” to which Adrien blushes, knowing full well that he shouldn’t be enjoying having a full time private bodyguard so much, given the circumstances

But honestly, he’s just happy that for the first time since his mother passed, he can come home and know he’ll have someone to talk to and spend time with who will smile genuinely around him and listen to his problems

Marinette notices Adrien looking happier in class and can’t help but hope she’s the reason why

That day after school, Marinette rushes to the manor to find Adrien asleep on his bed when she gets there. She sits on the edge of his bed with a manga to read, while she watches over him, but he reaches out in his slumber and pulls her over to him.

Blushinette

Mari let’s him spoon her while he naps and she finds herself drifting off being smothered by the smell of his sheets and cologne around her

ALARMS

There’s a break in at the manor, the power has been shut down internally.

Both teens wake up at once, not having enough time to process the position they had both been in, before Mari is in protect mode.

She curses under her breath about not having night vision like Chat, but Adrien supplies his cell phone flashlight

Full emergency shutdown goes into effect and all of the manor doors lock automatically with the backup generator, locking Ladybug and Adrien in his room, and hopefully anyone else out.

Ladybug decides it’d be safer for Adrien, and everyone else, to try to evacuate the manor and let the authorities swarm in to catch the intruders.

She uses her lucky charm to bust open Adrien’s bathroom window, and carries him bridal style to the safest place she can think of on the spot, her family’s bakery where he can hide in the back.

(Mari quickly detransforms and recharges Tikki)

She goes back to get Gabriel and Nathalie to find the perpetrator tearing apart Adrien’s room

“Looking for something?” Sassinette

She apprehends the intruder rather easily, since she’s used to fighting superpowered Akuma victims, and goes into full interrogation mode

She manages to learn that it’s an underground mafia trying to scam Gabriel out of money, by threatening at first, but that this mission was to actually capture and try to ransom Adrien off.

And she’d played right into their hands

In the case that she left with him, several men were waiting outside to follow her to wherever she hid Adrien, and they found him right where she left him

Of course her parents tried to protect the boy, but backed down when faced with real weapons

She hands the scumbag over to the authorities, now in full rage mode. If there’s anything Marinette hates more than liars, it’s people who put her friends and family in danger.

She steals the guys phone and manages to track it back to the headquarters of the mob, finding that they’d prepared for her to possibly come, but not expecting the level of ferocity to come out of such a usually peaceful heroine

Ladybug hands their asses to them for touching Adrien and even THINKING about harming her parents, and leaves them all bloodied on the floor when she calls the cops to come get them

Adrien is beaten up slightly from fighting back against them to the best of his abilities. He’s strong for a young teen, especially with his fencing training, but he’s no match for multiple full grown men with guns.

Ladybug takes him to the hospital to be checked over, he took a knife to the gut at one point in his struggle and she can’t help but feel like it’s all her fault, letting maybe a little too much Marinette show through while she kneels next to his hospital bed crying. Assuming he’s asleep, she detransforms to let Tikki rest after all the fighting.

He’s not asleep

She quickly passes out in the chair next to his bed

Of course Adrien is really injured, but it’s not nearly as bad as she perceived it to be. It’s not a deep cut, and it didn’t puncture any organs. He bled out a little and needed stitches, but it’s definitely not life threatening.

He suddenly finds it so easy to connect the dots between his lady and his princess now that he knows the two are the same.

Plagg makes an appearance finally to say “I told you so” as Adrien realizes he’s had feelings for his classmate and friend all along, pushing them down to maintain his love for Ladybug. But now that he knows they’re the same, he’s never letting her go again, so long as she wants him too.

He eventually doses off and has sweet dreams where Ladybug and Marinette are interchangeable in the most romantic of settings

Mari wakes up around 4 am and transforms back, heading home, unaware that Adrien discovered her secret.

The news the next morning show that Ladybug uncovered a major terrorist group that was behind all of the mob violence and the threatening of local celebrities and politicians

Mari feels awful and decides to fake sick to stay in bed, she manages to turn into ladybug around 3 pm to go to the hospital to see Adrien.

He’d actually been sent home that morning, so she swings by the manor where Mr. Agreste thanks her for her help and let’s her know she can go since it’s all been taken care of. She sees Adrien and that he’s doing fine and feels much better learning he’ll be able to return to school the next day provided that he doesn’t develop any symptoms around his injury.

Mari goes home, unable to sleep, she stays up making a new shirt for Adrien since “his old one must have a hole in it now”

This new shirt is a very soft sky blue material with a chest pocket with his initials embroidered on the inside. She stitches her signature on the internal hemline of the shirt after adding some final tweaks to make sure the striping across the chest is the same as his old shirt was.

She finally passes out with three hours left before class

Marinette wakes up late again and runs to school with her present for Adrien in hand

Just as predicted, he’s in his seat when she gets there. His eyes are glued to her from the moment she trips through the door.

He even tries to bolt from his chair to catch her, but the pain in his abdomen keeps him from getting up completely.

Mari waits until everyone has asked Adrien how he’s doing at lunch before approaching him with her gift.

She stutters way less than usual given that she’s spent the better part of two weeks getting to know him more

He opens the gift and starts tearing up at how thoughtful this girl is and “when did she have the time to do this?”

Unable to control himself, Adrien pulls a very stunned Marinette into a hug and whispers “How did I get so lucky as to have an angel like you in my life?”

Later at patrol, Chat decides he’s going to reveal himself to LB

They’re sitting on a roof together when he tells her how much he admired what she did to take down that mob group by herself and that he wishes he could have helped

She jokes about how he really should have been there to help, but she managed on her own

He gets serious, then tells her how much he appreciates what she does

LB brushes it off since it’s “Chat flattery”

But he looks her dead in the eyes, holds her hands and finally

FINALLY

Detransforms

“Do you get it now? Everything you did for me is more than I could have asked. You risked so much for me and singlehandedly saved my life.”

She’s stunned

“I love you, Marinette.”

She’s MORE stunned

“I-I love you too, Adrien.”

“BUT IF YOU EVER PUT YOURSELF IN HARMS WAY AGAIN WITHOUT TELLING ME YOU’RE CHAT NOIR FIRST—“

[thewritewolf]

Inseparable Chapter 17: Oblivio

A full chapter of an akuma fight - and our heroes finding new ways to innovate.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

@ladynoirjuly2019

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3

Adrien emerged from the bathroom, hustled around the corner and waited for the girls’ bathroom door to open. Then he acted as if he were passing by and just happened to notice Ladybug.

“LB! You certainly got here fast. Come to visit my stunning statue?”

There was a flicker of a smile on her face before her eyes were drawn to the boys’ bathroom. “Save your flirting for just a second, chaton. I, uh, I think I saw a civilian go in there and I want to make sure he is okay.”

While the prospect of her being worried about him melted his heart, panic caused him to rush forward and grab her wrist. “No time! The faster we get to the akuma, the less chance it has to hurt people.”

“But it wouldn’t take that long-”

“He’ll be safe here anyway, right? He’s going to be in more danger if we just hang out here.” He tried to pull her away but she remained stubbornly rooted to the spot.

“Are you…” she narrowed her eyes at him and his heart skipped a beat. “...jealous?”

Adrien almost laughed out loud at the irony, but managed to suppress the instinct. That wouldn’t help his case at all. “No, but if we stop and check for everyone, then the akuma could get out of control.” He tugged at her wrist and was relieved when she finally started moving after him.

“Fine, fine.” He fell in step behind her as she took the lead. “Any clues on what we’re facing?”

“Nope! All I know is that we will be more than a match for them.” He could just barely see her smirk from his vantage point.

They burst into the room with the akuma statues, only to find that they weren’t the only ones there. Floating above the display was an akuma villain kept aloft by a pair of bat wings. The wings, along with the rest of her, looked like it was made of partially melted wax. Solidified droplets hung from her fingertips, the edges of her long black robes, and the tip of her elongated nose. She clutched a gnarled, runny staff that she pointed towards the figures below her.

She cackled. “Splendid! Once Hawkmoth has your miraculous, the Witch of Wax will be free to terrorize those who would dare vandalize her beautiful works of art!” She scowled at the statues below her. “Awaken, my pretties! Avenge your defiled siblings!”

Several of the statues began to come to life, moving stiffly at first before their actions became more fluid. Before Adrien could react, Ladybug’s yoyo had already reached out to snare her wax counterpart and split it into pieces.

“Oh! Good idea, bugaboo.” He extended his baton to follow suit.

“NO! How dare you, you miscreants! You’ll pay dearly for that.” Before they could attack any more of the inanimate statues, the living ones were upon them.

Adrien swung his baton at the incoming Rogercop, who blocked it with his armored arms. While he rolled away from Rogercop’s counter attack, he noticed that the slight damage he’d inflicted on the statue had already begun to repair itself. He backed up closer to Ladybug, who was in the middle of an equally matched duel with Riposte. His eyes narrowed and he readied his staff. Knowing who was under the mask was making him even more protective of her than usual.

“M’lady? Do you have any plans?” He asked while leaping in to drive back the fencing akuma. Between the two of them, Riposte was reduced to wax chunks.

“Working on it, Chat. Keep them off me for a second.” She withdrew from the fight and Adrien planted himself between the small but growing horde and his lady. To his horror, Riposte was beginning to reform. “Lucky Charm!”

There was a flash of red behind him, but before he could look back at her, he saw an androgenous glowing humanoid figure march through the horde. It had a blaster covering one hand and leveled it at Adrien. He remembered - ha - Oblivio's powers and did his best to evade the rays.

Just as he was getting his bearings again, there was a powerful tug on his tail, sending him flying backwards. He whirled around, only to see a gorilla with purple eyes where he had just been standing. Behind him, Ladybug was pulling him to his feet.

“Come on, we need to fall back for now!”

Reluctantly, he leapt to his feet and followed Ladybug as she lead them through twisting corridors. The akumas must still have been getting used to mobility since it didn’t take them long to escape.

“I think we’ll be safe here for a minute.”

Adrien looked back at Ladybug. She was inspecting the lucky charm in her hand, which had taken the form of… a tennis racket. His ears drooped. How were they supposed to pull a victory out of this situation was just a tennis racket? He took a deep breath. If there was anyone that could manage it, then it would be her. He was more certain of that now than ever. No one was a match for Marinette, after all.

“Any ideas, LB?”

She tapped at her chin, eyes narrowing in thought. Eventually she turned her attention to him, but even then he could see the gears turning in her head.

“Bear with me on this one, chaton. Do you remember that lucky charm I summoned after we got our powers swapped back?”

“The yin yang symbol? The one with our colors? Yeah, I suppose so.” He crossed his arms and tilted his head. “Why?”

“Well, seeing Oblivio reminded me of something… That akuma was two people in one body, right?”

He furrowed his brow for a moment. “Do you think that has something to do with our powers?”

“Kinda? Maybe our powers aren’t just balanced together - maybe they are meant to be together. It could explain why parts of them have been drifting back and forth between us.”

“That’s great and all, but how does that help us now?”

“Can you do something for me?”

“Anything,” he said without hesitation.

She blinked at his immediate response. “R-right. Can you… use cataclysm, but draw on my powers to do it?”

“I… can try. But I don’t know how I’d even attempt it.”

“Good point…” She frowned and leaned against the wall.

An idea struck him suddenly and he reached into his pocket. She watched him curiously as he pulled out the lucky charm she (as Ladybug) had made for him. He shrugged when she raised an eyebrow at him.

“Well, maybe it’ll help to have some extra luck.” He sat down on the floor and crossed his legs. “Lets see if I can put Master Fu’s training to good use.”

Ladybug’s earrings beeped, a reminder that they were running out of time. It was difficult to pull off in those stressful circumstances, but Adrien persevered. The outside world was tuned out and he focused solely on the charm around his wrist. That was when he heard Ladybug’s voice - not through his ears, but directly to his mind.

Kitty… please. I believe in you.

The moment he heard her, his heart swelled and he could feel something else stirring inside him - something foreign, but familiar. In that moment, he instinctively called out for his cataclysm. Normally, the power pooled in his hand, but instead it felt like when he had summoned the Lucky Charm - flowing through his hand and just beyond it. When he opened his eyes, it turned out that he wasn’t far off the mark.

Floating over his outstretched hand was a swirling ball of energy so black that it looked like a two dimensional object. His eyes widened as he moved his hand, the orb hovering close behind. He looked at Ladybug, who seemed similarly shocked.

“How did you know…?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t. This isn’t exactly what I was expecting either but…” She hefted her tennis racket and gently took the ball from him, keeping it balanced on the net. Despite the crackling of power between them, the lucky charm wasn’t destroyed and held the orb. “...I think we can work with this. Come on!”

Just like that and they were rushing back into the fight. By the time they’d made it back to where all the akuma statues had been, they found that over half of them had been animated already. Even with several of the wax akumas having presumably already been sent out to look for them, that still left Dark Blade, Bubbler, Simon Says, and the Mime standing guard. All of which began advancing towards them with their respective weapons at the ready. And whatever the Mime was pretending to have.

Ladybug took a confident step forward, bounced the orb into the air and slammed it towards them with her racket. Dark Blade attempted to parry it with his sword, only for the destruction to quickly spread from blade to warrior - soon, he was turned from a wax statue to an ash one, and crumbled. These pieces remained motionless, unlike the orb which was now coming right back at them.

Adrien grinned as he batted at the orb with his claws, sending it back towards the akumas. “Purrfect serve, m’lady.”

“Stay focused, Chat.” The Bubbler attempted to capture the orb with one of his bubbles, but it failed to even slow it. One solid connection with his forehead later and the Bubbler would bubble no more.

The rest of the akumas began to understand the situation they were in and attempted to dodge rather than fight - thankfully, Ladybug realized this and the next thing hit was a statue that the witch was working on, causing her to howl in fury. Adrien caught the orb in his hand.

“It’ll be harder to catch them now…” Ladybug scowled as she watched the remaining akuma approach them, much more cautiously this time.

“How good is your tennis game?”

“What? Fine, I guess?”

“Awesome,” Adrien said as he dashed past the akuma, who scattered when he brandished the orb. Once on the other side of the room, he threw the orb high and smacked it with the palm of his hand, sending it flying through the air.

Ladybug was surprised for a moment before a wicked grin settled on her face. The akumas dodged it easily, but when Ladybug caught it, the Mime got hit hard in the back, falling forward as he turned to ash. With this web of destruction, the akumas weren’t able to keep up. The Witch of Wax hurried between inanimate statues, only to scramble away when the orb would connect before her magic did. The entire room was emptied of statues in record time.

Her skin became runnier as she trembled with rage. “MY BEAUTIFUL WORKS OF ART! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS YOU-”

Ladybug never had much patience for villain monologues and before the witch could do anything, she was caught in Ladybug’s yoyo string and thrown to the ground. Orb in hand, Adrien stepped forward and bumped it up against the staff, expending both the orb’s power and cracking the staff. Out of it floating a black and purple butterfly.

A quick cleanse and Cure later, and all was back to normal in the museum.

“Pound it!” They had only barely touched fists when their miraculous began blaring.

“Sounds like it's time to go. See you next time, Chat Noir!”

There was a loving smile on Adrien’s face as he waved at her retreating back.

See you soon, Marinette, he thought to himself. The beeping of his own miraculous brought him out of the moment and scurrying for cover.

[aalissy]

Working Together

This chapter took me agessss to write but it’s here now and I’m proud of it. I have been listening to the Diggy Diggy Hole cover by Wind Rose allll day today (Cause I’m a Yognaut and proud of it lol) so now it’s stuck in my head. Have you guys been listening to any good music? Lemme know <3

AO3

“You want me to what?” Adrien’s eyes practically bugged out of his head as he stared at the superheroine. Ladybug was perched outside his window with a worried expression overtaking her usually delicate features.

“I’m sorry, Adrien,” her bright blue eyes filled with regret, “It’s just that I know Lila has a soft spot for you and I’m really hoping we can use that to our advantage. If I didn’t think that it was the easiest way I wouldn’t ask you to do this,” Ladybug shook her head softly before blinking at him innocently, “So what do you think? Will you work with me?”

“I-I,” he stuttered before shaking himself out of his stupor, “Only if I get to be the Chat Noir to your Ladybug.”

Ladybug giggled, a light pink filling her cheeks which caused him to smirk proudly, “I’d much prefer if you were the Adrien to my Ladybug actually.”

“R-really?”

“Yeah,” she said breathlessly before straightening up, “With me, you, and Chat fighting Lila we should be unstoppable!”

Adrien mentally slapped a hand to his forehead. Of course I forgot about Chat Noir! So how are you getting yourself out of this one Agreste? Shooting a nervous glance around his room he blurted out, “I’ll be right back!” before darting towards the bathroom.

“Ok?” Ladybug’s voice called after him.

Sighing as he leaned against the bathroom door, Plagg zipped out of his pocket snickering at the desperate boy, “And just how exactly are you planning on fighting Lila with both yourself and Chat Noir. I may be wrong here but I don’t think humans can spilt into two different people.”

“Shut up Plagg. You’re not helping,” Adrien muttered, raking a hand through his blonde locks.

“Good luck figuring this one out lover boy,” the kwami cackled with pure glee.

Adrien’s lips pursed before brightening as he snapped his fingers together, “I got it! I’ll just call Ladybug as Chat and tell her I can’t make it tonight. Important superhero business to do and all,” he flexed proudly.

“Yeah that’s believable,” Plagg rolled his eyes.

“And why wouldn’t she believe me?” the model said defensively before shrugging, “Besides, Ladybug’s done the same thing. Remember when she left me and Marinette to take on the Evillustrator by ourselves.”

Plagg’s mouth dropped open in shock before he shook his head, “Do you have any idea how oblivious you are?”

“What do you mean?” Adrien’s head tilted in confusion.

“Nothing, nothing, let’s just tell Ladybug,” the tiny cat said before murmuring a quiet, “Let’s just hope she’s not as oblivious.”

Ignoring the sarcastic comment Plagg had muttered, Adrien called on his transformation, “Plagg, claws out!” With the surge of energy flooding through his bones, he quickly pulled out his baton. Chat then quickly called the superheroine who answered with a relieved look.

“Chat, Lila’s been overtaken with another akuma! Can you meet me and Adrien outside his house in five?”

“I’m sorry My Lady but I can’t tonight. Something came up,” he tried to seem disappointed though he was eager to return to the bug just outside his bathroom door.

“What? With what? This is important, Chat!” Ladybug said angrily.

“Sorry LB but it’s a secret mission,” Chat winked playfully, “You know what those are like.”

Her eyebrows rose slightly as a peculiar expression took over her features, “I... yeah I guess I know what you mean,” she said before her features sharpened into one of determination, “I have to go. Lila won’t stop herself after all.”

A sappy smile overtook his face as he heard her words, waving goodbye over the tiny screen, “Goodbye, Buggaboo,” Chat gave a quick air kiss before hanging up.

Calling off his detransformation revealed a still snickering Plagg who snuggled his way back into Adrien’s shirt pocket, “Yeah I don’t see how this could go wrong at all.”

“We’ll be fine,” Adrien gave a determined nod. Waiting a few seconds longer in the large bathroom, so as to not seem suspicious, the model hurried over to Ladybug. She turned to look at him as he came out, stopping her observing scan of the city. She blinked a few times as she gave him the same peculiar look she had bestowed upon Chat just moments before. Before Adrien could decipher that particular look, however, it was gone, replaced with the look of resolve he adored on her.

“We need to go,” her head jerked over to the city, “Turns out Chat won’t be joining us. Something about a secret mission. So it’ll be just you and me this time,” Ladybug smiled.

“Oh, well I’m still certain we can take on Lila together,” Adrien raised his fist in confidence. Giving him a quick nod, she quickly scooped him up into her warm arms. A light blush flooding his cheeks they began their journey across the city and Adrien quickly tightened his arms around the superheroine.

“Details!” Ladybug shouted to him over the rush of wind that flooded his ears, “Lila is Volpina again, so if you see something that seems unbelievable it probably is. We know she’s after you because of her obsession with you. What I need you to do is keep her distracted so I can break the akuma in her necklace. Think you can do that for me?”

“You can count on me, Ladybug!” Adrien shouted back at her as he gave her a quick thumbs-up.

“Great!” she beamed at him before setting him down on a park, “Now we just need to find that girl.”

He gave a hum, looking around to see if he could spot the familiar fox, “Knowing Lila she’ll probably come to us. I figure me walking around is probably our best bet at finding her.”

Ladybug nodded, “You’re right. That fox will probably come sniff you out soon enough. So I’ll be following you from a safe distance.”

“Told you we got this Ladybug!”

The heroine chuckled, “Let’s not be too confident yet. That fox is sneaky after all.”

“Sorry,” Adrien sheepishly smiled, “Guess I’m just excited to be working with a superhero.”

Ladybug’s cheeks flushed a bright pink, “Just be careful, ok Adrien.”

“As long as you’re here, I’ll be fine Ladybug,” a soft grin overtook his features as he looked up at her.

“Mhm,” she squeaked with a bright beam.

Adrien turned around reluctantly, wishing longingly that he could still look at the superheroine. With a heaved sigh, Adrien began his trek to discover Andre’s ice cream shop. Taking out his phone he quickly searched social media to see if he could find any recent clues as to the man’s whereabouts. Trailing his hand along the cold metal of the Ponts des Arts bridge he finally spotted the ice cream man handing out the delicious treats. With a small smirk on his face, Adrien headed towards Andre before a figure jumped in front of him, effectively cutting off his path.

Volpina looked up at him with a bright smile, “Adrien, hi! Are you getting Andre’s ice cream? Oh, I know why don’t we go together?!” she gasps and grasped onto his arm, “Did you know that there’s a legend that says those who share his ice cream together stay with each other forever?”

“Oh, wow, no I didn’t know that Lila!” Adrien winced subtly, as he faked enthusiasm. Please, will you just let go of my arm, Lila! Where are you Ladybug? Adrien moaned silently to himself.

With a quick flick of her wrist, Volpina pulled out her flute, playing a quiet melody, “And afterward we can go look around the giant museum I just made,” she gestured to the building before latching onto Adrien once again, “I finally got my Miraculous back from Rena Rouge, you know. Such a hassle.”

“I’m sure it was,” Adrien nodded along with her as though he believed her lies.

“Oh Andre!” she waved at the man, “My boyfriend and I would like two ice creams please!” As they neared the man a quick blur of red tied itself around Volpina’s ankle. She tripped, her face smashing into the ground before she whipped around with a fierce glare.

“Hey Volpina,” Ladybug stood with a proud smirk, “We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”

“Ladybug,” the fox sneered before reaching for her flute.

Noticing how distracted the girl was, Adrien quickly latched onto the necklace and tore it off the unsuspecting girl’s neck, “Ladybug catch!”

“NO!” Volpina screeched, pushing Adrien down just as he threw the necklace.

“ADRIEN!” Ladybug panicked, before easily breaking the necklace to reveal the akuma. Purifying the creature with a nimble swing of her yo-yo she rushed over to the boy. “Are you alright?” she lifted him up, placing his head on her lap.

“Yeah, I’m just fine M’l... Ladybug,” he quickly stopped himself from using the nickname his superhero counterpart uses, “Your magic fixed me right up.”

She stroked his forehead lightly, causing him to lean into her head, “I told you to be careful. That wasn’t careful.”

“We still saved the day, didn’t we?” Adrien chuckled.

Before Ladybug could make a retort back, two ice cream cones were handed to the two of them, “For saving Paris,” Andre said with a twinkle in his eyes.

“Suppose I should save Paris more often if I get more ice cream like this,” Adrien smiled before he saw her gaping at his treat, a dark flush overtaking her cheeks. Looking down at his ice cream, Adrien blushed as he realized the scoops still matched her bluebell eyes, dark blue hair, and polka-dotted suit. He gave her a sheepish grin before looking at her own mint and peach flavored ice cream. The pink flush filling his own cheeks this time he glanced away as Ladybug stood up, clearing her throat. Maybe we are destined to be, Adrien thought to himself dreamily.

“Are you alright, Lila?” Ladybug offered the girl a hand up.

I had completely forgotten about Lila, Adrien winced as he stood up to follow the heroine.

“I’m fine,” the girl brushed herself off, not taking Ladybug’s hand as she stood up by herself.

The superheroines lips pursed as she dropped her hand, her eyes rolling at Lila’s actions. Turning back around to Adrien, she cradled the boy into her arms. Ladybug then shot Lila a smug look, “Are you sure? Because you do seem to be akumatized a lot.”

“I’m sure,” she growled, her fists tightening in anger.

“Well, if you’re sure,” Ladybug smirked before wrapping her yo-yo around a building, “I’m certain we’ll be seeing each other again.”

Adrien closed his eyes as he leaned into the superheroine. He relaxed into her grip as they began flying through the air. Too soon, he was back at his house, staring at Ladybug with affectionate eyes, “Am I allowed to be confident now that we’ve defeated the akuma?”

She laughed, “Yes of course you are. After all, I couldn’t have saved the day without you,” she shot him a quick wink.

“We make a great team,” he grinned dreamily at her.

“Pound it?” Ladybug held out her fist for him before he connected the two.

Her gloved hand met his ungloved one for the first time since their partnership began, “Pound it!”

“Enjoy your ice cream Adrien,” she gave him a quick peck on the cheek before she was off, taking his heart along with her.

[lycorogue]

So I FINALLY watched Oblivio... and I have thoughts....

First of all.... just... EEEEEEEEEEEE! I mean, I know that the whole episode was basically voided out by the end because of the Miraculous Ladybugs, but still.... EEEEEEEE

Also... this ended up getting pretty long, and I don’t like flooding people’s dashes with long posts if I can help it. The TL;DR version is that I love the caliber of writing used in this episode, and I hope the writers keep up with this standard. Yes, people may be salty because it’s a tease, and the events basically null out at the end, and the reason for Oblivio to be akumatized is kind of lame, especially considering it’s DJWifi, but all-in-all, this was by far one of my favorite episodes of the series.

For all of my thoughts and reasons why I loved this episode, check below the break.

Marinette is so badass in this episode, and I love how much it showcases her strategic mind. Adrien was determined to kill me before the episode was through. Plagg is a bit of a self-centered coward, but he’s also further proving why he’s my favorite. Tikki has some of the most agency showcased all series. DJWifi is terrifyingly adorable. The comradery of the class is so heart-warming. Finally, amnesia episodes are fun “what if” scenarios if done well, and I think this one was.

“Looks like you and I were at the same costume party.” “We must shop at the same jewelry store!” Adrien, sweety, honey, darling, you are just too precious! XD

Marinette again calling Tikki a “bug mouse” and Adrien again calling Plagg a “genie” was beautiful! <3 I love the call-back! I also love how Marinette again cowered with a very “WTF” mindset, while Adrien once more cupped Plagg in his hands; perfectly calm and excited to see the kwamis. <3 <3 <3

So, I get it that the “phone -> turtle” drawing was supposed to mean “Call Fu”, but did anyone else get that it was also a nod to who Oblivio was? Alya being the phone and Nino also being the turtle.

I LOOOOVE the unity of DJWifi, even if it was a joint-akuma. It just shows how in sync they are. Plus, even their banter was equally true regardless of who said it, such as “You remember your BFF, Oblivio, don’t you?” I mean, I know they don’t realize how true that statement is, because they don’t know who LB and CN are, but... still... perfect.

“I’m not convinced this monster is really our best friend.”  XD Adrien... Adrien stop. Please stop. Holy crap, stop! XDDDD

The fact that Adrien, without any memories, is still an instinctive protector... I <3 this kid so much!

Adrien bowing when he “meets” Marinette, and her return curtsy was just too cute. I love these dorks! And I love how we get to see how they would actually be around each other if they just got out of their own way. I mean, that blush when their hands touch as they both try to lock the bathroom stall? Precious. The way Adrien was BEAMING as he complimented Marinette as being “someone who always has the right idea at the right time.” Adorable. How Adrien moved to help Marinette out of the air duct just as she leaps out, and she topples him, and they both jump back in mild embarrassment after snuggling on the floor for a second or two? Magical!

Plagg justifying everything he does around the Camembert! XD He likes to make sure he’s my favorite character, doesn’t he?

Marinette, sweety, how is it NOW is when you come up with the idea of breathing on Adrien’s phone to figure out how to unlock it? Where was that ingenuity back during Copycat? XDDD

Can we talk about the fact that Adrien has his bodyguard listed in his phone as simply “G.” ???? XDDDD Holy crap, you guys! Also... going back to the episode Copycat, we know Adrien had Gabriel listed as “Father” (technically, it was “Pere”)... sooooo, did Adrien downgrade his father? Did he become so disconnected that he changed the listing to “Gabriel Agreste”? Also.... no one else has their last name listed, so why is he using his FATHER’S last name in the listing? To be fair, Marinette doesn’t have her parents listed as “Mom” and “Dad/Papa” either. So maybe they learned to put their parents’ names into their phone in case someone else has to call them during an emergency? I know that’s why my own mother is listed by her name with ICE after it (In Case of Emergency).

While it was strongly implied with episodes like Anansi, I love that this episode confirmed that Adrien and Marinette did indeed exchange phone numbers since Copycat. <3

The call-back to the ML anime PV being a canonical feature-length film about the duo was fantastic, and the fact that Marinette recognized the costumes and was able to piece together instantly that it’s her and Adrien was brilliant! 

The fact that Marinette having a glamour shot of Adrien as her phone backdrop, and Adrien having dozens of pictures of Ladybug in his phone gallery had them believe they’re dating is hilarious! Like, seriously, kiddos! Also.... why didn’t they find it weird that Adrien ONLY had pictures of Ladybug and NOT Marinette? A bit odd if they’re dating, no? (Alternatively, you could argue the same about Marinette not having CN photos, but you could write that off as her not wanting to accidentally reveal that her boyfriend is a superhero...)

“Then we must have told each other everything. I couldn’t hide my identity from the girl I love.” Adrien, you are going to kill me. You are attempting to murder me. Why? WHYYYYYYYY!?!??!?! Also, it’s adorable that you already figured out again that you love her. I mean... <3 <3 <3 Also also.... coming on a BIT strong there, Romeo! You JUST figured out “you’re dating” and you drop the L-word on poor Marinette? If she could remember that moment she would also die.

Just.... just Adrien’s beaming pride that he gets to be around Marinette this whole episode, and all of his soft looks. The kid may lay it on a bit thick, but holy crow, if she didn’t realize her love for him like Adrien did for her, HOW COULD SHE NOT FALL FOR HIM AGAIN DURING THIS EPISODE!? Like, geeeeeeez!

I love how Marinette had her normal “Ladybug Vision” shots to figure out the phone decoy, but the items just didn’t light up in the traditional red and black spots since she was out of costume. Instead, they were gray with pink dots, to match her coat! Beautiful! Brilliant! This further confirms that this is just Marinette being brilliant instead of a side-effect of the super powers. (Yes, she used the “LB Vision” when her powers were nullified in Sandboy, but still... further and definitive proof)

Also... the jackass picture drawn on the post-it note! Savage!

GUYS! ADRIEN HAD “LB Vision” TOO! He had “Adrien Vision”! AND IT WAS AMAZING!!!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Okay... Adrien’s cardboard box Chat Noir costume!? How friggen precious was that!? And the fact that he EVEN MADE A FRIGGEN TAIL AND BELL!? How extra can this boy be!? If/when I have a child, I hope to god they’re just like Adrien! <3 You precious, over-the-top, nerd of a child! 

Speaking of his cardboard costume.... HOW QUICKLY DID HE THROW THAT COSTUME TOGETHER!? LIKE, WHAT!?!?!?! Granted, no one actually adheres to proper 5-minute countdown timing in this show, considering LB zipped away from the building nearly SEVEN minutes after accidentally triggering her Lucky Charm, and she HAD to have taken at least a minute to run up to the roof in the first place, but still.... HOW THE HELL DID HE COVER HIMSELF IN TAPE, CUT OUT CAT EARS, DRAW ON THE FRIGGEN POCKETS AND CENTER ZIPPER TO DECORATE THE DAMN THING, MAKE A FRIGGEN TAIL AND PAPER-BALL BELL, PUT THE COSTUME ON, AND MAKE IT TO THE ROOF IN TIME TO SAVE LB? That was like... 15 seconds of screen time!

Backtracking to the “Marinette Vision” solution to avoid Oblivio until they figured out how to transform again, how brilliant was Marinette to give Tikki the mug? First of all, she could create that coffee trail, secondly, since Tikki was holding something she’d have to remain tangible while opening the door to the floor below. This, in particular, seemed quite a brilliant move, since Tikki accidentally phased through the elevator doors before. It is quite possible that either (a) Tikki doesn’t remember how to remain solid when pushing against something, (b) Marinette doesn’t realize Tikki can control it, or (c) a happy combination of both. Regardless of WHY Marinette did it, the fact that she trusted that Tikki holding an object would HAVE to keep her tangible, and therefore could press the lever to open the door, was so clever! A+

“Thanks, but I don’t feel like a superhero at all.” “You’ve already proven that you are one, with or without costume.” Adrien, you precious, darling child! <3

THERE ARE FRIGGEN EMERGENCY USERS GUIDES!? LIKE, WHAT!? Okay, that was a bit Deus ex Machina, but it works...

Marinette’s freak-out over the accidental activation of her Lucky Charm was fantastic!

MARINETTE, YOU IDIOT, YOU MISSED HIS LIPS AGAIN! WHAT IS IT WITH YOU KISSING HIS LEFT CHEEK INSTEAD!?!?!?! (Also, how great would it have been if that somehow jogged his memory by reminding him of Mari kissing him at the end of Mayura?)

I LOVE THAT SHE’S HAVING FUN BEING A SUPERHERO THIS TIME! She was so timid and unsure of herself in Origins, it’s fantastic to see this confident girl (thanks in part to Adrien) trying out her powers for “the first time” and having fun with them! 

Plagg being utterly confused as to what’s happening to him as Adrien calls out “Plagg, Claws Out!” is amazing and beautiful and makes me love Plagg even more! Poor dear! <3

Adrien still calling Marinette “M’lady” simply because he was trying to cover up accidentally calling her by her actual name. So great!

“Okay, I’ve got no idea what the Hakuna Matata is, but I trust you.” Adrien! Stooooooop! I’m dying!!!!!!

Guys! Guys! Guys! People can be merged together to create an akumatized villain!!!! I know I touched upon this above when I mentioned how in sync DJWifi were, but this is amazing! I wouldn’t have thought as much, especially since Alya’s twin sisters, arguing over ONE item, were EACH turned into a Sapotis, and they couldn’t have been more unified. Alya’s twin sisters basically have Hive Mind. So the fact that they were EACH a copy of the akumatized supervillain sharing the same akumatized object, and yet DJWifi MERGED.... like... I could write a whole post just talking about THAT!

THE KISSSSSSSSS! THE FRIGGEN LADYNOIR KISS! AND THERE WAS NO “BREAKING A SPELL” ELEMENT, AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. AND THEIR HANDS SLOWLY TIGHTENING AS THEY KISSED; NOT WANTING TO LET GO OF THE OTHER. AND THE KISS WAS LIKE 15 SECONDS LONG! IT WAS BEAUTIFUL AND PERFECT AND WONDERFUL AND THE FACT THAT ALYA IMMORTALIZED IT MADE THIS WHOLE EPISODE WORTH WHILE, AND EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

Alya: “Uh, Ladybug? Cat Noir?” CN (unblinking that DJWifi are alone with them on the roof): “Guys! You haven’t seen a supervillain named Oblivio, have you?” Nino: “You’ve defeated it already, dude.” Alya: “Actually, he was... us.” LB & CN (in unison and completely accepting of that fact): “Oh. Okay. Pound it? Pound it!” These dorks!

THE LOOK ON LADYNOIR’S FACES WHEN THEY SAW ALYA’S PICTURE!!!!!! <3 <3 <3

Alya: “Remember when we visited Montparnasse Tower?” Oh.... you mean the tower YOU GUYS ARE STILL VISITING!? Nooooo.... >_> They don’t remember it at all. Thanks, Oblivio.... -_-

Okay, can we talk about the reason DJWifi became Oblivio? Because... WHAT!? First of all, they are on a field trip and decided to sneak off to a walk-in closet to.... play a game on one of their tablets? Seriously? And they were caught just before they kissed.... I mean, I know it’s a children’s show, and we saw a flashback still of them playing the game, but are we SUUUUUURE they weren’t about to play “Seven Minutes in Heaven” in there????? Secondly, Nino says “You guys make fun of us for playing that game, saying it wasn’t our age and all.” But then a bunch of kids in their class confess to either playing it or wanting to start playing it. Including Mylene, who tells them “everyone loves that game.” Sooooooo.... two things here: (1) were they REALLY being made fun of for playing that game like Nino claimed, and (2) why was Gentle Giant Ivan part of the flashback shot of classmates laughing at the discovered couple? He doesn’t seem to be the one to tease and bully, plus his girlfriend likes the game. Since it’s established as a great game for couples because you have to find “the right partner” (and Rose backs this idea up by saying she plays with Juleka), it’s a decent guess that Ivan plays with Mylene. So.... what is going on with Nino’s recollection of what happened???? Third, it doesn’t seem like them to sneak off from the class simply to play a game... again, I’m thinking more was going on there (get on that, other fanfic writers). Finally, they got jointly akumatized because they were embarrassed that their classmates found out they play a “kid’s game”? Really? REALLY!? Nino and Alya were each akumatized for much more devastating reasons originally. Do they really care THAT MUCH!? I call foul on this akumatization, as much as I love the rest of the episode.

Adrien finally showcases more of his EQUAL FOOTING with Marinette (ya know, as a partner; not a sidekick), by leading her to the bathroom in the first place, coming up with them trying to signal for help from an empty office suite, coming up with the plan of creating the diversion so they could sneak out using the emergency stairs, helping LB figure out that her Lucky Charms are just HINTS at how to stop the akuma, and making sure his identity is hidden via his cardboard box costume so Ladybug wasn’t fighting alone. Basically, if he stopped using his time to either try to woo ML or protect her like a shield, he could prove himself as more than just a “sidekick-like” superhero. He could truly be more of a partner. He has potential he hasn’t tapped into, or potential Marinette hasn’t allowed him to utilize due to CN “screwing around” a lot of the time. Heck, even in the footage of them getting hit, he clearly joked about them being a couple again.

Marinette: “I can’t believe it! I. Actually. Kissed. Cat. Noir! How could this have happened?” Tikki: “Who knows? Maybe you still have some things to learn about him.” Tikki, you sly bitch! XD You know full well that CN and Adrien are the same guy! I love you, even when you infuriate me. XDDDD

Adrien moping for all of 3seconds about LB “finally falling in love” with him, only for him to forget the experience, and her forgetting her feelings. Plagg’s mocking about how unlucky he is (because I love snarky Plagg). And finally, Adrien, the silver-lining sunshine boy that he is, noting that he now has hope. If she could fall for him once, she could possibly do so again. These kids are going to kill me.

I love this episode sooooooooo much! We got to see so much potential in this episode. We got hints of so many new factors to this universe. And there is a sort of souvenir of the episode, so it isn’t ENTIRELY for nothing. (I can’t wait for some sort of call-back to that kiss!) For me, a fanfic writer, this episode is GREAT for fodder. I can use it as a reference point of how these two morons would act if they just got over their nerves and acted as a true couple. <3

9/10!

[saijspellhart]

ML Fluff Month

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Read it on AO3

This is a collaborative project between @aknazer, @ao3bronte, @yamina20-blog, @saoirse7ilysi, and myself.

3: Summer Love (Marinette/Chat Noir)

Notes: Dedicated to @perditaalottachocolate-blog, because her lovely drawing of LB painting Chat’s claws helped inspire this oneshot.

0000

It was a late afternoon, mid-summer day and Marinette could safely say that Chat was an unexpected surprise when she climbed out on her balcony to water the plants.

The sweltering temperatures that week had made it uncomfortable even in shorts and a tank top, which is what she was wearing today. But there was Chat Noir, clad head to toe in his usual black leather catsuit, draped over her lounge chair, and looking like a sad roasted fish that someone left out.

His skin looked flushed, breathing slightly labored, and his usually fluffy blonde hair stuck to the edges of his face, matted with sweat. She wasn't sure how long he'd been up on her balcony, or what had driven him out to brave the sweltering heat just to visit her. Nor could she figure out why he hadn't simply dropped into her air conditioned room, just as he would normally do any other time he snuck by to visit—as he put it—his "favorite civilian."

"When did you get here?" She stepped next to him, her body blocking out the sunlight while she held the watering can.

"Ten minutes ago?" He wheezed out. "I don't remember, I felt dizzy upon landing and had to lay down for a moment." His tongue lolled out of his mouth dramatically as he continued to pant like a dog. "Too hot, I don't have the motivation to get up."

She felt a mix of pity and exasperation toward his predicament. "If you're dizzy in this heat, then you're probably dehydrated and should come inside for a drink."

"It's too late for me, Princess," he moaned pathetically from the lounger. "You'd have to carry me."

Had she been Ladybug she might've picked him up and tossed him like a rag doll into her bedroom. But he didn't know she was Ladybug, and without the spots she didn't have the supernatural strength. Maybe if they'd been fourteen, and Chat had still been the skinny little beanpole, should could have picked him up; but Chat wasn't fourteen now and he definitely wasn't a beanpole anymore.

He was more like a professional gymnast, and at a towering 5'11" she could safely say his growth spurts had been kind to him. At least, he towered over her. Turned out her mom's genes had a significant influence on her growth spurts, and she was doomed to a meager 5'2" for the foreseeable future.

"Not a chance, kitty. You'll have to crawl your ass into the bedroom under your own power."

Chat made a pathetic moan and puddled even more into the lounger. "I guess I'll just die then."

Marinette rolled her eyes and tipped the watering can over his head.

The unholy noise Chat Noir released carried over the rooftops, and he scampered off her lounger so fast he was nothing but a void blur. She caught sight of him again near the railing of her balcony crouched beneath a hanging planter of red Zinnias. Eyes wide as saucers, horrified, he stared out at her through drenched locks of blonde hair. Looking so miserable that even his faux cat ears drooped.

"Oops," Marinette giggled, looking impish rather than apologetic, "I spilled the water. Guess I gotta fetch some more." His eyes followed her all the way to the trap door. She paused and held it open, shooting him an expectant look.

Like the indignant feline he was Chat slunk across the balcony to the waiting trap door, shot her and icy glare, then slithered through the opening. Marinette couldn't help but roll her eyes in amusement, and quickly followed him inside.

She found him standing awkwardly in the center of her room—little rivulets of water dripping off his hair, running down his suit, and puddling on the floor—and realized he was attempting not to touch anything because he was soaking wet. Her heart swelled at his thoughtfulness, as he could have just as easily rolled around on her bed out of spite and gotten her blankets all wet.

Sensing that something was amiss with him, she stowed the watering can away in the bathroom for later, and grabbed a towel on her way back. When she tossed the towel, It was clear something was indeed wrong. Normally Chat would have snatched something like that our of the air; rather than remain motionless in the middle of the room while the towel fluttered over his head and settled on his wet hair.

"Chat?"

He remained motionless under the towel.

Marinette padded across the room where she stopped before him and lifted the towel only to join him beneath it. "Kitty, what's wrong?"

"I'm all wet."

Marinette cupped the sides of his face, brushing wet hair away. "And nothing else?"

Chat's chartreuse eyes flickered to meet hers, held for a second, then flickered down again. "Can I hang with you this evening?"

She felt her heart knot itself. "Of course you can," she whispered and gave him a reassuring smile. Reaching to scratch behind one of his real ears she added, "Dry off and we can play some video games, or paint some nails."

"Can we paint some nails?" he asked, looking up, and she caught a hopeful gleam in his eyes.

Marinette ruffled the towel around his faux cat ears and giggled. "Yeah, just let me water the plants before I forget."

...

Marinette returned from the watering the plants on her balcony to find Chat toweling his hair off. He was silent, staring thoughtfully at the small collection of magazine clippings she still had pinned to the wall by her computer. They were various pictures of Adrien modeling Gabriel brand clothing, but nothing compared to the embarrassing amount she'd had when she was fourteen.

Chat used to tease her about her crush on Adrien, but over the years he wore himself out and no longer mentioned it.

"All set!" Marinette chirped over—at his shoulder. "I'm gonna grab a drink from downstairs, want me to grab you a bottle of water?"

"Yes please." He turned away from the magazine clippings, and tossed the towel over the back of the chair. "I'm still dying of heat stroke."

"You poor kitten," she teased, poking the bell at his neck before tracing a teasing finger down the front of his suit. She swallowed and had to repress a shudder when her fingers connected with his abs and she pulled her hand away. "...trapped in all this hot leather."

Chat made an exhausted face at the mention of leather, "you wouldn't mind if I stripped off the top of the suit, would you?"

"You can do that?" She was curious now. While they both knew the suit could come unzipped, she wasn't sure how far it could come off.

He nodded.

"If it'll help you cool off," Marinette stepped away, heading for the trap door that lead to the rest of her home. "I don't mind at all."

...

She was so wrong. Never in a million years had she thought she'd need to eat those words around Chat Noir. Chat-freaking-Noir! He was her partner, she wasn't supposed to be ogling him like he was a piece of prime rib, and she was a poor starved hyena.

Years of playing shirtless Sephiroth on Final Fantasy Dissidia failed to prepare her for the masculine display of art seated cross-legged on her chaise longe.

The whole top of his catsuit was stripped down and tied at his waist, and only the cat ears, mask, and gloves remained intact. The catsuit never left much to the imagination, but there was something to be said about seeing those muscles in the flesh... literally. Chugging that bottle of water she fetched for Chat was starting to sound like a preferable option than giving it to him.

It took more effort than she'd like to admit to force herself to stop staring at him and cross the distance between the trap door and the chaise. He didn't appear to notice anything amiss, smiling up at her as if he hadn't been moping oddly ten minutes prior. When she hesitated to take a seat, he patted the cushion in front of him. Chat was more preoccupied with the box of nail polish in his lap, picking through the colors and mouthing out the labels to himself.

"So..." she took a seat across from him, "have you decided what color I'm gonna paint your pecks?"

Chat froze, his hand pausing in the motion of picking up another bottle.

"Nails!" she amended. "What color for your nails—claws, your claws!"

He resumed, moving to pick up a different color. "I was thinking bruised..."

Marinette suppressed a choking noise.

"-orchid," he finished smirking devilishly at her. "Or purrhaps blush red?"

She didn't have to meet his eyes to know he was staring at the fierce crimson color that burned her cheeks. "I don't even have a blush red."

"Oops, my bad." Using both hands he selected two bottles of polish. "How about crimson with onyx polka spots?" This time when he glanced up he meet her eyes, his narrowed cat pupils pinned her with a look that she couldn't quite read. "Just like Ladybug," he purred in a lower timbre.

Marinette could've sworn then and there that he knew, and was pulling some bullshittery. Her heart was pounding so fiercely it could have been the beat for Through the Fire and Flames.

"Still got a thing for Ladybug, Chaton?" She forced her eyes away from his face, fumbled over his naked torso for a moment before fixing them on his gloved hands. She handed him the bottle of water she'd been holding onto since she sat down.

"Can't I just be a fan?" Chat accepted the bottle, popped it open and chugged about half before setting it aside.

She snorted, grabbed his hand and shook the red bottle of polish. "Mhmm~ secretly you're one of those fans."

Chat regarded her with a playfully perplexed expression, then bent his head a sneered, "are you implying I have a waifu pillow?"

"No one said that," she dodged, and adjusted his hand to a better angle.

"Hmmm." He gave her a tight-lipped smile, and watched her begin applying the red polish to his claws.

"Bet it's a step up from your dolls though."

Chat opened his mouth to protest but shut it and huffed out his nose, his faux cat ears actually folded back for emphasis. When Marinette started giggling he narrowed his eyes and looked her over thoughtfully.

He started off with subtle roll of a shoulder, it was enough to cause her giggles to taper off awkwardly. When she switched to paint his other hand, he made a show to stretch and flex his newly released arm.

"You're such a show pony," Marinette muttered, realizing he was playing up the amount of muscle flexing that was necessary, which was probably none at all. And yet she felt her cheeks heating up, and her focus on his claws tightening significantly.

"The best in show," he breathed proudly.

She finished applying the first layer of red polish and dropped his hand. "You conceited cat."

"Two seconds ago you called me a pony." Chat stood up from the chaise to stretch while the nail polish dried.

"You've been demoted for vanity," Marinette snipped, standing up to restore blood flow to her legs.

"What a shame," chat shot her an appropriately disappointed pout, "now you can't ride me."

It was possible Marinette had had a comeback prepared; but as her words spilled out a series of embarrassed and indignant sputtering, it was clear the time for a comeback had passed her by. Finally regaining control, she jabbed a finger back to the chaise, "sit your ass down so I can paint the dots!"

"They aren't dry yet," he said, holding his claws away protectively.

"I don't care," she growled out. "Sit."

Chat did as he was told, blowing on his nails a bit more before giving them over to her.

Marinette sat back down in front of him, keeping her glower fixed on his right hand, and began applying small black polka spots to the layer of red. For awhile they sat in silence. Chat watched as she remained deadly focused on the task.

She couldn't find anything to say to him, and she really didn't want to hear him speak again. He was a stupid cat, that made stupid flirts, and she told herself it shouldn't fluster her, and yet it clearly did.

When something cold touched her wrist, she about leapt in fright. Her eyes fixed on Chat's tail and realized it was the metal-capped tip that had brushed her skin. She'd been so focused on her task, and Chat's embarrassing words, that his tail had moved to rest between them and she hadn't even noticed.

Marinette spared a glance a Chat, and saw his eyes were closed, elbow propped against his knee, and chin propped on the palm of that free hand.

So she continued to apply the polka spots, and tried to ignore his invasive tail.

And yet, ten minutes later, while she was painting the spots on his other hand, she wasn't at all surprised that Chat's tail had migrated to completely coil itself around her wrist. In the past year of their friendship, this strangely intimate gesture had become an increasingly more common occurrence. She opted not to say anything, because every time she did, Chat would get flustered and swear it wasn't him.

On the second to last claw, she adjusted her grip on his hand and felt his tail gently tighten around her wrist.

Marinette blinked, and stole a glance at Chat who appeared to have dozed off against the palm of his other hand. She spared another look at his tail, then trailed her fingers experimentally down his wrist.

This elicited a hum from him, and the grip of his tail tightened in unison.

She dared to continue, applying just a bit more pressure and was surprised when a rumble started up from his chest. It was his gorgeous purr that he usually saved for more vulnerable moments, like when she stroked his hair.

The electrifying urge to press her hand against his bare chest and feel those vibrations skin to skin prickled her like needles.

Before she could stop herself, she'd set the bottle of polish aside and reached out.

His skin was hot against her palm, reminding her of the scorching summer heat up on the balcony. The short gold chest hairs tickled as she splayed her fingers over his heart. His purring felt incredible, rumbling through her fingertips, into her palm and up her arm. It would have been a calming sensation if her body hadn't gotten treacherously caught up in excitement. Instead her heart resumed the suffocating beat from earlier, so much that she could feel the pulse in her ears.

She followed the vibrations over his collarbone to the dip at the base of his throat, the source of the rumbling. It was pleasantly electrifying, a thrum that had her unconsciously leaning closer, her fingers inching farther. Chat's skin was soft, almost delicate like a woman's. He swallowed when her thumb caressed his Adam's apple and suddenly the alluring purr ceased.

A spell lifted.

She glanced away from his neck, and he was staring at her. Piercing chartreuse pinned her with curiosity and... raw desire? Chat lifted his head from his hand never breaking eye contact.

Her curiosity and daring crumbled away like sand under an ocean wave, and Marinette felt herself retreating along with it.

Only to feel Chat's tail tighten around her wrist, and coax her back with subtle tugging. The apology sitting ready on her tongue died with the look in his eyes, and the silent word on his lips.

Chat reached a gloved hand out, and she shuddered when his fingertips ghosted over her cheek. His touch was careful, hesitant; it traced the line of her jaw before threading the hair just behind her ear.

The scent of fresh polish stung her nose, but it never registered.

One last reminder that she was still breathing when Chat tilted his head and leaned in.

[Edited]Tune in tomorrow for the next installment. I’ll be handing you over to Yamina20 who will be heating things up with the Can’t Transform prompt.

[noblechaton]

Downpour

i’m not even really sure what this is besides ladrien trash lol. i guess i was just drabbling and it spun out of control so now i dunno what i wrote so uh, i’m just gonna toss it into the void lmao

AO3

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

“I knew it was supposed to rain-” Adrien quickly popped open his umbrella and hung it over Ladybug’s head. “But I didn’t think it was gonna get this bad. Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay, you don’t control the weather. As far as I know, anyway.” Ladybug chuckled, admiring the way rain dripped against her hand. “Besides, I...kinda like it.”

“It is pretty nice.” Adrien wrapped an arm around her waist. “I’ve always liked the way the river looks when it rains. It’s really...comforting.”

“Yeah.” Ladybug warmly smiled, glancing briefly out at the Seine and then up at him.

Her arm hooked around his and held him tight, more enamored by the way his face seemed to glow despite the dark, night sky and the darker storm clouds hanging above them.

Adrien kept his eyes on her, too, his heart started to feel lighter in his chest the longer he matched her loving gaze.

“I’m still glad we came out tonight. Even with the rain.”

“Me too.”

For a silent moment, the two considered staying where they were for the rest of the night. Warmly sharing each other’s company, and body heat, while cold rain dripped and splashed around them.

Such affectionate thoughts, however, were brought to an end with a loud crack of thunder.

“Er.” Adrien shook his head some. “We should...probably start heading back, soon. I don’t think either of us can really afford to catch a cold.”

“I don’t know.” A dim reflection of a lightning strike shined in Ladybug’s eyes. “It’d be fun, just taking care of each other for a few days.”

“You don’t have to get sick for me to do that.” Adrien warmly snickered. “Just gotta ask.”

“Okay.” Ladybug cuddled up to his side. “How about we make some chicken noodle soup when we get back, then? Y’know, just in case we do get sick.”

“Sounds good to me.” Adrien slipped his arm from her body and took her hand in his. “So long as you’re ready for the best chicken noodle soup you’ll ever have.”

“We’ll see about that.” Ladybug tightly held on to him while they started their walk back to his house.

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

“Jeez.” Adrien quickly shut the door behind him. “I didn’t think it’d get worse.”

“Guess I’m spending the night, huh?” Ladybug gave a wide smile.

“Guess you are.” Adrien happily agreed with a hug and tried to lay on the charm. “It’s always an honor to have you in my bed.”

“Phrasing, Agreste.” Ladybug snickered. “Unless we’re saving that soup for later.”

“Yeah, no, we, um, we’re still...” Adrien resigned to the crimson red on his face. “We’ll get that going once we get warm.”

“There you go.” Ladybug snuggled up close.

They stood at the entryway for a few minutes, simply holding one another and smiling through their embrace, gradually rubbing and squeezing on each other as a means to try and raise the temperature. Try as they might, however, the rainwater didn’t seem like it wanted to dry off.

“Um, actually,” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, knowing in advance just how bad what he was going to say was going to sound. “You should...probably get out of that suit.”

“My, Adrien, how bold of you.” Ladybug teased. “Was this your plan all along?”

“No, I didn’t mean it like,” Adrien stammered. “You’re just...wet. Not in that way, I don’t think, I mean, I’m wet, too, but-”

“I know what you meant.” Ladybug shushed his flustered nerves with a light giggle. “I just wanted to see you blush a little more.”

“Of course you did.” Adrien took a soft, relieved breath. “So, um, do you want any clothes to change into?”

“It’s probably better than walking around in wet underwear. From the rain, they’d be wet from the rain, since my suit got soaked and they might be wet, but...” Ladybug intentionally trailed her thought off.

“Phrasing,” Adrien couldn’t help but smirk. “Bugaboo.”

“Let’s just...get to your room before it gets any worse, yeah?”

“Yeah.” He nodded.

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

“So,” Adrien rummaged through his closet. “Anything in particular you wanna wear? I’ve got all sorts of stuff in here. Haven’t cleaned it out in ages.”

“Got any really big shirts?” Ladybug leaned around him to better look at her options. “Like, an extra extra large t-shirt or something.”

“Hm…” Adrien tossed a few garments out until he seemed to stumble across something that fit her description. “How about this?”

He swiftly pulled a pink tinted shirt off the rack and held it up for her to see, though his eyes went a bit wide once he realized what was printed on the front of the shirt.

“I heart LB.” Ladybug read it aloud with a grin, snickering at the way the heart was colored red with black polka dots. “Isn’t that a tourist shirt?”

“Yeah, I, um…I just really liked the design.” He blushed. “And this was the last one they had in stock, so.”

“I bet it looks cute on you.” She cupped the side of his face and took the hanger from him.

“Not as cute as it’ll look on you.” Adrien smiled. “Er, um, right, pants. You’ll need pants.”

“Any sweatpants in there?” Ladybug asked after he ducked back into the closet.

“Uh…” Adrien thumbed through a few different racks. “I think they might be in the wash.”

“A closet that big,” Ladybug scoffed. “And you don’t have any sweatpants?”

“Hey, it’s been really hot out.” Adrien double checked a few hangers. “They probably got put somewhere else. Or in storage.”

“Alright, well” Ladybug held her chin. “What else do you got?”

“Hm, a bunch of the same pair of jeans, some really beat up basketball shorts-”

“Why do you have so many of the same jeans, anyway?”

“They’re part of an outfit. The outfit. Speaking of, you should see how many of the same shirt I have in here.”

“I can only imagine.”

“Anyway, uh, looks like the only other things are-” He stuck his head out with a notable tinge of red on his cheeks. “Some...boxers.”

“Oh.”

“Freshly washed,” Adrien held up two pairs with a nervous smile, one black with a dark green trim and the other white with a brighter green trim. “If that helps.”

“Uh.” Ladybug had a slight blush of her own at the mere sight of his underwear. “The, um, the black pair seems a little more poofy, so I’ll take those.”

“Alright.” Adrien handed them over and shut the closet door. “You should be all set.”

“Wait.” Ladybug somewhat anxiously bit at the corner of her lower lip. “I know this is gonna sound silly, but...do you have any masks?”

“Actually,” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck and scrunched his face some. “There’s this costume party thing coming up, and...”

“And?”

“And...maybe I’m going in a Ladybug costume.”

“Again?” Ladybug giggled. “Haven’t you gone as me for most of these types of parties now? I know you’ve been doing it for the last like, five years, at least.”

“It’s a good look.” Adrien smirked.

“That’s fair.” Ladybug agreed. “You do look really good in red.”

“Exactly.” Adrien stepped towards the bathroom door with some replacement clothes of his own. “Just, gimme a sec to go grab the mask and change, I’ll be right back with the mask.”

“Take your time.” Ladybug smiled, snickering at him waving before he disappeared into his bedroom.

With a soft, loving sigh, she turned around and laid out the clothing they’d picked out on the counter. It wasn’t quite an outfit, or at least, not a very good one, but it was so very Adrien that she wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d worn such a combination in his spare time. The slightly worn nature of the shirt told her that much.

“Alright. Tikki,” She exhaled. “Spots off.”

A warm, pink glow illuminated the room for just an instant.

“Aw, don’t give me that look.” Marinette plead innocence to her Kwami. “It was...storming, like, really badly.”

“I understand,” Tikki gave her a caring, yet mildly concerned look. “But you’re making a habit out of this, Marinette.”

“I know.” Marinette’s head dipped down. “I just…”

Her sentence wasn’t allowed time to finish, as the sounds of footsteps rapidly approaching interrupted her thought.

“Hide!” She whispered and watched the Kwami zip around the shower wall in the nick of time.

There was a moment before he came back that she thought about greeting him like this, with no suit, mask, or any clothes at all, really. Sure, revealing herself to him in her underwear probably wasn’t the best way it could go, but the temptation was there. What better way to reveal your secret identity, right?

Whatever deliberations she had, though, faded away with the sound of the door creaking a little further open.

“I think you’re really gonna like this mask, it’s...” Adrien fell silent after taking little more than a step back into the room, awestruck at the sight of her back.

“Oh, er-” He realized he was staring by the time his eyes reached the straps around her shoulders and quickly covered his eyes. “Sorry, I’m sorry! I didn’t see anything! I should have knocked!”

“It,” Ladybug let out a contemplative breath and dipped her head forward, throwing away the brief thought of letting him see her as she was. “It’s okay, just...give me a minute.”

“Yeah, yeah, um,” Adrien blindly tried to hand her the mask. “Here. It should, uh, fit you pretty well. One size fits all and all that.”

“Thank you.” Ladybug cooed, wrapping the string around her head and adjusting the mask. “You can open your eyes, by the way.”

“Are you sure, you’re down to your underwear. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before, but,” Adrien took a breath to keep whatever composure he still had. “Just. Okay.”

Slowly, he pried his fingers away from his face and was greeted by the exact sight he’d expected. Knowing what was coming, what was standing in front of him, however, didn’t stop him from blushing wildly.

“Wow.” Adrien picked his jaw up off the floor and shook his head, tying his best not to stare at her undergarments. 

“Back at you.” Ladybug smirked, seeing that he was wearing little more than a fluffy white bathrobe. “I always did love that thing.”

“Yeah,” Adrien smiled back. “That might be why I grabbed it.”

“Anyway, I, uh,” He inched forward and dipped his head to hers. “I guess I should give you the room and go get that soup started, huh?”

“Yeah,” Ladybug gently grabbed at his robe and briefly slipped into a kiss, the scent and taste of rain strong on her lips. “I guess you should.”

“Don’t take too long.” Adrien teased.

“Mhm.” Ladybug warmly sighed through her nose. “I’ll be right out.”

[simplejjs]

Part 1 of my new reveal story:  Unmasking The Love

Okay, I finished typing up the first part.  Here it is, and I hope you like it.  As I said before, it is different from my first reveal story; for example, this one actually has a name!!  Although it is kinda a cheesy name.  I think Plagg made it up.

Enjoy!

Unmasking the Love Part 1       by JJ Sprinkle

After Lila scrambled away, Ladybug sank to her knees.  She held her head in her hands, taking a moment to process everything that had happened.  Cat Noir watched her behavior, puzzled.  It was the first he had ever seen her this way.  Suddenly, Ladybug raised her head and searched around them, panicky.  Jumping up, she cried, “Where’s Adrien?”

“What?” Cat Noir asked, surprised.

“Adrien.  Where is he?  What did she do with him?”  Her wide eyes were frightened and she paced the tower floor, looking behind struts and down to lower levels.

“Bugaboo, he’s not here.  It was all an illusion,” Cat Noir reminded her.  

“No, no!” Ladybug turned to him, real fear lacing her words.  “Remember?  He wasn’t in his room.  She *did* take him.  She *did*.  We have to find him!”

Cat Noir placed his hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her down.  “Ladybug, don't worry, I'm sure he’s fine.  Everything was an illusion, including Lila taking him.  Calm down.”

Ladybug’s eyebrows drew into a frown as she knocked Cat Noir’s hands way.  “You *don’t* know that!  He wasn’t there!” She was now yelling at him.

“I’m sure he’s home,” Cat Noir tried again.

“Fine, I’m checking.” Ladybug pulled her arm back, ready to throw her yoyo.

“MiLady, let me go.  I’ll check,” Cat Noir argued with Ladybug, calculating the logistics of Ladybug checking on himself.  Again he put a hand on her arm.

“No, I’ll go.” Ladybug was determined.  She ignored his hand and jumped off the tower.

“That stubbornness!  It’s so… so… irresistible!” Cat Noir muttered to himself with a private grin.  Then, he jumped off the tower too, and vaulted home faster than he ever had before.  He had barely leaped through his bathroom window when Ladybug arrived.  

“Adrien?  Are you there?” she called, then slid open the bathroom door.  “Can I come in?”

Cat Noir hastened to turn on the shower, and Ladybug slammed the door shut again.  He could hear her voice through the door, “This is Ladybug.  Is everything okay?”

“Uh, yeah, yeah… I had to grab a shower after all this excitement,” he called through the door, then listened carefully.

“Uh, oh, yeah, sure,” she giggled nervously, “I’m sorry.  I’ll be off then, huh?”  Cat Noir could hear the relief in Ladybug’s voice.

“Thank you.” Cat Noir called.  

In the bedroom, Ladybug dropped her head against the bathroom door, feeling the fear drain out of her. She wished she could slide the door open, to see for herself that Adrien was truly okay.

In the bathroom, Cat Noir dropped his head against the door, relieved that he had successfully deceived Ladybug, but bewildered at what was going on in her mind.

After a moment, he heard her voice less loudly saying, “Goodbye!”

Cat Noir raced back to the bathroom window.  He saw Ladybug zipping over the rooflines of Paris.  Hopping up onto the windowsill, he vaulted out after her, chasing her down.

He finally caught up with her about ten blocks away.  “Ladybug!” he called.  She paused, looked over her shoulder, and waited for him.  “Did you find him?  Is everything okay?” he asked.

With a small smile that was still tense at the edges, Ladybug answered, “Yeah, he’s fine.  Just like you said.”  She laughed a shaky laugh.  “He was taking a shower!” she added.

“That’s funny,’ Cat Noir replied, trying to match her mood.

Ladybug bit her lip, and nodded.  After a moment, she said, “Uh huh.”

“Bugaboo,” Cat Noir said, “ are you *sure* you’re okay?”

“Uh huh.  I’m fine.”  Ladybug answered, patently falsely.  Tears started to glisten in her eyes, and her fake smile became wobbly.

Immediately Cat Noir pulled her into his arms, comforting her.  She did not even stiffen, as he half expected, but seemed to fall into his hug.  Burying her head against his shoulder, Ladybug took deep, steadying breaths.  Cat Noir rubbed her back lightly, and questioned her, “What’s wrong, LB?”

He could hear the tears in her voice when she  answered, “That’s the closest I’ve ever come to losing someone I really care about.”  Cat Noir went still as death, and his whole world suddenly focused down onto Ladybug’s voice.  She continued, oblivious to the effect her words were having, “We help people in danger all the time, but this time I mean, I know it was an illusion, but I didn’t know then, you know?” she rambled on.  “And if it’s someone you really care about, someone you - Well, it’s different.”

Cat Noir was processing her words, trying to believe the unbelievable.  A split part of his thoughts was agreeing with Ladybug’s statement, remembering the danger his father had been in when Simon Says attacked.  He hadn’t handled that very well, either.

Cat Noir had to test what he couldn’t believe his Ladybug was saying.  “This Adrien Agreste, you mean him?”

Ladybug sniffled against his shoulder, then pulled back, wiping her eyes.  “Sorry,” she murmured, rubbing her tears off of Cat Noir’s suit.  She gave him a watery smile, “Yeah, him.”

“You know him?”

Ladybug paused for a moment, then admitted, “We go to school together.”  She sniffled again, then squared her shoulders.  “Okay, let’s not talk about it anymore.  I was just stupid; it was just an illusion.”

“So I guess you two are boyfriend and girlfriend?” Cat Noir ignored her, probing for more information.

“Hah!  Hardly!” Ladybug tried to laugh.  “Look, I shouldn’t have said anything.  It was just stupid.”

“No, no, it wasn’t stupid,” Cat Noir was desperate to continue the conversation.  “I’m sure he appreciates how much you care for him,” he tried again, trying frantically to fit her words into his school life.

This time Ladybug did laugh.  “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t,” she replied.

“But he knows you?” Cat Noir pressed.

Ladybug finally looked at him queerly, and replied hesitantly, “Yes, he does.”  She was trying to figure out why Cat Noir was so interested in her friendship with Adrien.  “Do *you* know him?”

Cat Noir shook his head, “A little.  I know his father,” he prevaricated.

“Oh,” Ladybug’s expression became dour.

“So you like him?” Cat Noir asked again.

“Look, Cat, yes, I like him.  He doesn’t like me.  Please stop asking questions.  We shouldn’t even be talking about this anyway.”

Cat Noir nodded his head like he was agreeing, but his mind was a million miles away.  He was rapidly running through a catalogue of every girl he knew from school, or might know, or might have seen once.  “But you actually *know* him, or you just go to school with him?”

Ladybug’s frown was pouty.  “Cat Noir,” she warned.

“Please,” Cat Noir pleaded, desperate for this one piece of information, “Just answer, and I won’t ask anything else.”

“Why?” she demanded.

Cat Noir stared at her.  He felt like his life hung on the rightness of the words he chose.  Here was the girl he loved, almost declaring her love for him, crying over him, and he didn’t even know who she was.  When he finally answered, it was to slip back into the cavalier attitude of Cat Noir, joking and flirting to hide his deeper emotions.  “Well you know, LB, I need to know just how serious of a rival this guy is for your affections.”

His flirting did the trick.  With a lighthearted laugh, the normal banter between Ladybug and him was re-set, and Ladybug answered, “He knows me, Cat Noir.  So you don’t have to bother flirting anymore.  And one of these days, I’m going to tell him how I feel.”  She smirked at him.

Cat Noir returned her smile, although had Ladybug really looked, she could have seen the lingering bewilderment in his eyes.  

“If he rejects you,” Cat Noir finally joked back, “you can always come crawling back to me, MiLady.”

Ladybug punched his shoulder, “Okay, Kitty, thanks.”  She grinned at him, then added affectionately, “And Cat, thanks for letting me cry on your shoulder.”

“It’s what I’m here for!” he declared with a smile.

Within minutes, the two had turned in opposite direction to head home.  But whereas Ladybug returned directly home, flipping into her bedroom from the roof garden, Cat Noir only got halfway home before he had to stop and replay the whole conversation in his mind.  It was while he was paused deep in thought that he retransformed, and found himself stranded on a rooftop.

“Oh no,” he grumbled, while Plagg flew out of his ring, lighted on his knee, and said, “Phew!  I need some cheese!”

“Plagg,” said Adrien, “you really *do* need cheese.  We’re stuck on a rooftop.”

“What?” Plagg shrieked.  He flitted around the edge of the building, skipping from one grey shingle to the next.  Then, he turned to Adrien and whined, “Please tell me you have some cheese in one of your pockets.”

Shaking his head, Adrien smiled apologetically while turning the lining of his pockets inside out.

“What are you going to do?” Plagg demanded.

Adrien looked around, then scooted carefully down to the edge of the roof. Scanning the street below, he spied a cafe with sandwiches in the window.  “Look, could you hunt yourself up some cheese?  That cafe,” he pointed, “has cheese sandwiches in their display case.”

Looking over Adrien’s shoulder, Plagg turned back to him and said, “You’ve got to be kidding!”

Adrien shrugged, and repeated, “I don’t have any cheese, and there’s no way off this roof.”

With a heavy sigh, as if Adrien were asking him to move heaven and earth, Plagg said, “Fine,” and flitted off.

Adrien kept one eye on Plagg while his thoughts meandered.  There were plenty of girls in his class with brown hair, although that did not necessarily signify because he knew that his own hair changed somewhat whenever he transformed.  And his eyes did too, to look like cat eyes.  But they stayed green.  So were Ladybug’s eyes in real life her brilliant blue, or was that an aspect of her transformation as well?

Adrien ran his hands through his hair, frustrated, when suddenly he heard a loud crash, a yell, and a woman’s shriek.

“Okay, I’m good,” Plagg suddenly appeared, licking his paws with a tiny pink tongue.

“We can go home now?” Adrien asked.

“Sure… but I get some *real* cheese when we get home.  That stuff down there tasted like plastic!”

Shaking his head with a smile, Adrien called, “Plagg, claws out!”  Plagg swirled into the ring, and Adrien felt power surge through his body.  The world around him became bright and unfocused for a moment, and when it cleared Adrien was encased in his black suit, with strength coursing through him.  Pulling out his baton, Cat Noir wasted no time vaulting home.

Cat Noir re-entered through his bathroom window into a thick, warm mist.  “Dang!” he muttered, and turned off the shower he had left running the whole time.  He de-transformed, and Plagg swirled back out.

“Ugh!  It’s so wet!” Plagg immediately complained.  “I don’t like wet!”

“C’mon,” Adrien beckoned affectionately, “let’s get you some cheese.”  In his room, Adrien had installed a small refrigerator, and when he opened it he offered, “You can have camembert, or there’s still brie left.  Looks like we have gruyere too, or stilton? Which do you want?”

“The stilton and the camembert,” Plagg requested, licking his lips in anticipation.  Adrien laughed, and handed Plagg his order.  Then, he threw himself into his desk chair, grabbed a piece of paper, and started writing.

Mumbling with a full mouth, Plagg asked, “Whacha doing?”

“I’m making a list.  Of all the girls I know at school.”

“Why?”

“Didn’t you hear?” Adrien looked back at Plagg.

“What, that Ladybug goes to school with you?  So what?”  He popped a crumble of stilton into his mouth.

“So, I like Ladybug and Ladybug likes me, but the *other* me, *this* me.”  Adrien pointed to himself.

“Yeah?  So what?”  Plagg yawned.

“Plagg!  Surely you know-” Adrien broke off at Plagg’s laughter.  His amazed frustration turned to annoyance, and he glowered at his kwami.

Plagg merely continued to laugh at Adrien, and then said, “I’m just kidding.  I know, I know.  You want to figure out who your true love really is, so then you can date, and get married, and live happily ever after.  I know all about it,” Plagg joked, adding, “Remember, I was here when you wrote that sappy love poem!  Yeck!”

Leaning back in his chair, Adrien repeated in a dreamy voice, “The love poem.”  He sighed, “She wrote one back, too.”  It took his brain a moment to connect the dots, then Adrien sat up straight and said, “The love poem! That’s how she knew!”  He wracked his brain, trying to remember how she might have gotten his poem in the first place.  It was months ago, but he remembered writing it in class, then… then crumpling it up… but what he had done with it?  He threw it away, but where?

Another thought occurred to him, and he exclaimed, “She must have watched me throw it away!  That’s how she got my poem!”  He sat astounded, wondering that Ladybug could watch him so closely that she would know what he threw away, but that he was so oblivious he didn’t even notice.  Shaking his head, disgusted with himself, Adrien turned back to his list.

“Now what are you doing?” Plagg whizzed around his head.

Adrien swatted him away unconsciously, “I’m still making my list.”

Reading over his shoulder, Plagg asked, amused, “Mme Bustier?!”

Adrien blushed, and defended himself, “Well, *I* don’t know!  I’m listing all the females I go to school with!  I don’t know!” he said again.

Plagg pointed out, “You didn’t include your physics teacher.”

Adrien frowned back, “As unlikely as Mme Bustier may be, Mme Mendeleiev is totally unbelievable.”  Turning back to the list, he studied it, and then threw his pencil down.  “She could be any of these girls!  If her hair and her eyes change, it could be anyone!”  Putting his head in his hands, he asked rhetorically, “How will I ever know?”

“Just flirt with all of them tomorrow and see which one flirts back,” Plagg suggested, shoving some camembert into his mouth.

Adrien looked up, grateful to have at least some kind of plan.  “That’s a good idea, Plagg.  That’s what I’ll do!”  Folding his list neatly in half, Adrien slipped it into his book bag.

“You’re bringing that to school?” Plagg asked, amazed.

“So I can cross off names as I eliminate them,” Adrien explained.

“Has anyone ever called you a dork before?” Plagg asked sarcastically.

Shooting Plagg a dirty look, Adrien ignored his question and got ready for bed.  He could hardly wait for morning to come.

To Be Continued...   (by JJ Sprinkle)

Up Next: https://simplejjs.tumblr.com/post/167519652385/unmasking-the-love-part-2 

[kabrac]

A Small Accident/Fluff Month-Goodnight Kisses

Okay so I wrote this along a long period of time, (like 3 months??) but I really like how it turned out, so have this. (Also kinda for fluff month I guess?)

Warnings: Language and horrible akuma I came up with.

—–———————

“Shit,” Marinette cursed, frantically trying to get out of the shower.

Of course there would be a fucking akuma attack while she was in the shower, and of course it would happen on the worst day of her life.

She had confessed her feelings to Adrien, and he had rejected her, saying he was in love with Ladybug. So basically she was competing with a better version of herself.

She groaned drying her hair, she wasn’t even upset about it. She was more angry than anything, how could she beat herself? If they started dating and it got serious, she would have to tell him anyway. Maybe she could just skip the dating part and tell him she was Ladybug?

Wrapping a towel around her body, she yelled for Tikki, there was no time to get dressed, and she would come straight home anyway, it’s not like she was going to detransform in an allyway.

Tikki came to her side, transforming the shy girl, into the confident, amazing Ladybug. The girl jumped out of her room, quickly finding Chat Noir on a near by rooftop.

“Hey Kitty,” she spoke in a monotone voice, clearly upset, and her hair was still wet from her attempted shower.

“Something wrong M'lady?” He asked, a concerned tone laced through his flirty voice.

“Not having the best day,” She made a face like she had tasted something sour, quickly waving it off, “Let’s just get to the akuma.”

“I am Solver, I will solve every problem that is thrown at me, no one should have someone get in the way of my dreams!” The light-pink haired teen laughed evilly, sending problems at people.

~~~

One akuma fight later, Ladybug had found the item that was akumatized, a book that she used to write down problems, tore it, and purified the akuma. All was well when she said ‘miraculous ladybug’ and she could go home now, thank god.

But that was too easy wasn’t it?

Chat grabbed her by the hand, stopping her from leaving. She groaned in response, having a ready mental list for reasons why she had to leave asap.

“My Lady, please, we’ve known each other for over two years now, and I just think it’s finally time we-”

“Look, I’m not having the best day here, and I really need to go, like now,” she said, in a pleading tone.

“But, LB, please, don’t you think we have to right to,” her miraculous beeped, he didn’t even pause, he’s completely serious, shit, “know? What if something happens in your civilian form and you can’t contact me? What if something happens to your kwami?” He began to list a whole page of reasons why they should know, while Ladybug just shook her head.

And, though she hadn’t registered it, her miraculous was about to run out, and when she became aware of that, she started panicking. She could see the bakery. She could see it, she could make it in time if she left now, so she turned back to Chat, to give him some form of excuse.

“Now is really not the time, I have something going on right now I need to take-” Her transformation released, the towel that was wrapped around her blowing slightly upward in the process, but it didn’t matter it was long on her anyways.

She groaned again, preparing her hand to hold the towel in place. She should’ve been more careful, how could she let something like this happen?! The first time Chat knows who she is, and she’s dressed like this?!

“Now you see what I was talking about,” she growled, angry. This whole day seemed to be filled with that emotion. Anger. It was her least favorite. Ironic.

“S-sorry Marinette, I couldn’t hold out any longer,” Tikki apologized to her holder.

“Don’t worry Tikki it’s not your fault, I should’ve been watching my time better, and someone should’ve let me go back home quicker,” she glared at her partner.

“M-Marinette? I-I’m so sorry, why didn’t you tell me you were… indecent,” he gestured to the cloth draped over her body, blushing and stammering in the process.

“Well, what did you want me to say?! ‘Oh I just got out of the shower to transform, and the only form of clothing I have is a towel’?!” She scolded, pinching her nose, “Just take me home please, we’ll talk about it there, I have all sorts of foods, surely I’ll have something to fit your kwami’s needs, and we should probably get some first aid help too,” she mumbled the last part, they both got pretty beat up, Marinette had scratches on her face, and a small gash on her shoulder that went down below her neckline, and another gash on her neck.

He simply nodded his head, scooping her up. He was still dazed from her reveal, and upset with himself for earlier. He had turned down Marinette for her, well Ladybug, who was her. He shook his head, shaking the thought, and put her down in her room.

“What kind of food does your kwami need?” She asked, nonchalantly, like the whole reveal hadn’t even matter to her.

“Camembert.”

“Tikki, do you know where the cheese is down stairs?” She asked, turning towards the small animal.

Tikki nodded, “But what about your parents?”

“They’re gone for the week on some business trip or something, and you know where the cookies are?” She nodded again, flying down the stairs to go get them as Marinette walked into her bathroom, “We’ll talk about it later okay? Can you help me with some of my scratches while we do? I’ll treat yours after of course.”

“Sure,” he said, barely loud enough for her to hear as she turned the shower water back on, and locked the door. He breathed a sigh, his transformation releasing as Plagg was thrown out of his ring.

When Tikki came back, she carried two cookies, and two small wheels of Camembert cheese, setting them down on Marinette’s desk, by her computer, beckoning Plagg to come eat.

He went over to her, starting to munch on the cheese in silence, “So you’re Chat Noir,” Tikki looked over him with critical eyes, “Are you going to let Marinette know who you are?”

“I don’t know,” he spoke quietly, so the aforementioned girl wouldn’t hear him, “I feel really bad about earlier, I mean,” he paused, “I turned her down so I could have a chance with her, or, I guess, Ladybug.” The room fell to silence once more, Tikki looking at him, feeling sorry for the boy.

She could tell he loved Marinette, even before he knew, he was too blinded by his love for Ladybug to realize it though. The small Kwami sighed, young love, every holder she’d ever had the pleasure of being the Kwami of had it. Young love was so sweet and blissful. It almost seemed like a dream.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden stop in water drops hitting the shower floor, and Tikki rushed to get Marinette some more decent clothing than what she planned to wear when she initially got out.

The spotted creature grabbed a thick strapped tank top that Marinette owned featuring Harley Quinn, and some black shorts to go with the same-colored shirt.

When she got into the bathroom Marinette thanked her companion, and rushed to get changed, she had a sports bra, knowing she would have to take off her shirt when they cleaned each other’s wounds, because of the damned cut that went down to her upper breast. She blushed at the thought, it was embarrassing, though, less than an hour ago, he had seen her in nothing but a towel, so it would be better than that at least.

She sighed, putting on the clothes in a hurry, and she hesitated before the doorknob, “Hey, I’m gonna come out, if you don’t want me to see who you are, Tikki can get you a mask I’ve been working on.

She heard a muffled thank you, and the swish of her hurried kwami to get him the mask, she finally opened the door, holding a first aid kit to help their cuts and bruises.

She sat it down, quickly pulling out the antiseptic, and bandages. She glanced over him, he had some blood seeping through his shirt. She sighed, for what felt like the millionth time today, “Take your shirt off,” a small blush covered her porcelain face as she looked anywhere but at him.

 "W-What?“ He asked, not sure if he heard her correctly.

 "Take your shirt off,” she said it more clearly this time, “You have blood seeping through it, and I can’t get to the cut with fabric over it.”

He blushed, obeying as she looked at the wound, trying so very hard not to think about the place it was.

 She pulled a large cotton ball from the first aid box, soaking it in alcohol, “This is gonna sting, but it’s the worst of your cuts, so it’s better to treat it first,” he nodded as she hesitated to put the cotton ball to his skin, eventually she did, and he hissed in pain.

 "Sorry,“ her face looked like it pained her slightly to see him in pain. She removed the cotton ball, wiping up the access rubbing alcohol with another cotton ball, and wrapping a bandage around his torso to keep it from bleeding any longer. She moved on to assess the other cuts he had, one on his bicep, and another on his cheek, that was partially covered by her make-shift mask.

 She decided to not address that now, it would come later, and if he wanted to take care of it it on his own time, that was fine. She loaded up another cotton ball, and pressed it to the small, but deep, cut in his bicep, he flinched slightly, and she let out a small, "Hold still,” as he did.

 "Now, the last one is,“ she paused for a moment, unsure of how he would react, "It’s under the mask I gave you, on your cheek. If you want to treat it on your own, that’s fine, but if you want me to do it,” she took in a sharp breath before continuing, “you’ll have to take off the mask.”

 His face drained of color, he didn’t have a first aid kit, she’d have to do it for him. He’d have to take off the mask. Seeing his fearful expression, she quickly interjected, “You can treat mine before we get to it, if you want some time to think about it, it’s a small gash, it should be fine.”

 He silently sighed in relief, and nodded, going to pick up the items, he had treated wounds before, it was a simple process. What was not so simple though, the gash on her shoulder, and once she realized what he was thinking, after she saw him staring at the cut for a while, was… she was going to have to take off her shirt.

She sighed, blushing, it was embarrassing, this boy, who she doesn’t know the real name of, was going to see her topless. Tikki wouldn’t be able to help her with it, she couldn’t do it herself, and she certainly couldn’t just leave it be to heal. So she told Chat to look away as she took it off, and when he turned back, he turned a deep shade of red.

She tried her best to act as if it didn’t phase her, but it was impossible, she was also a very deep red.

“Just get it over with already,” she breathed, looking anywhere but his face, “I can’t treat it myself, and Tikki can’t do it either, and I can’t leave it, so just do it quickly,” he nodded, trying to suppress the heat that came to his face.

Once it was over with, they both sighed in relief, and she turned to put on her tank top again. She muttered a, “Thanks,” and moved her hair so he could get the cut on her neck, it wasn’t as bad, so it would be quicker, and less painful.

They sat in silence for a while, not wanting to speak through the awkward moment, until she broke the silence, “Sorry if I seem,” she hesitated, embarrassed at her words, “a bit, moody.”

“What do you mean?” He asked, she knew he meant what caused her to act this way, and she was quick to answer, Tikki didn’t understand her point of view very well.

“I know I mentioned it earlier,” she shifted her position, “I didn’t really have the best day.”

“What happened?” he bit his lip, already knowing the answer.

“I confessed to my crush at school today, and he rejected me,” she had the slightest look of anger on her face, “I’m not sad about it or anything, just… mad, I guess,” she huffed, rolling her eyes at her own foolishness from that day.

“Are… are you mad at him?” He asked, a look of fear covered his tan face.

“No, of course not!” She quickly replied, “It just, he said he had a crush on another girl– Ladybug– how am I supposed to compete with myself? Especially when it’s Ladybug, she’s a better me, a more confident and brave version of myself.”

“I don’t know princess,” he used her civilian pet-name, making her blush slightly, “I think you’re just as great as Ladybug,” he said, hoping to cheer her up.

“You’re not jealous?” She looked absolutely shocked.

“Do you want me to be?” He smirked, making her scowl at him.

“It’s not that! It’s just, well, you’ve been regularly flirting with me for over two years, you can see where my shock comes from,” she explained as if it were obvious.

He simply shrugged in response, finishing off her last cut with a small bandaid, “So the one on my cheek,” he started.

“Can you do it yourself, or do you want me to do it?” She asked, biting her lip, anticipation filling her veins.

“Can you do it?” He asked.

“I can,” she paused, “but do you want me to?”

He nodded his head, hair bouncing ever so slightly, “But the mask,” he reached to touch said item.

“Are you sure you want me to know who you are?” She seemed more unsure of herself, unreasonable in this situation. She had already revealed her identity, “If not, then I can probably cram the cotton ball under the mask.”

She heard the small hum of their Kwamis talking in the background as he answered, “Okay.”

She let out a breath of relief, “Okay, I’ll get to work then.”

   She cleaned the cut, slightly lifting the mask to clean the end of it, he hissed in pain, alcohol did do its job, to clean the wound, but it hurt like hell. She muttered an apology, her face scrunched up in slight worry.

   “There,” she placed a bandaid over the cut, finishing it off.

   There was silence for a while, no banter, only the sound of their breathing could be heard. It was a highly awkward silence.

   “I’m sorry,” he spat out, breaking the silence, Marinette jumped in surprise.

   “What… what for?” She questioned.

   “For, everything, I guess,” he breathed, he was scared that she hated him, “It’s my fault that I know your identity, and I just wanted to apologize.”

   “Don’t sweat it, kitty,” she had a smirk on her face, “I just wish it were under different circumstances,” she laughed nervously.

   “Me too,” he muttered, embarrassed that he had rejected her earlier, only because he had a crush on her alter ego.

   Marinette looked at her clock, “It’s, um, getting late, you should probably head home.”

   “Okay,” he bit his lip, he wanted to stay and tell her how sorry he was, and how he just felt so stupid, and kiss her. He wanted to kiss her so badly, that it almost physically hurt. How would he deal with seeing her tomorrow, not that he knew her secret, how would it affect their relationship?

   “Hey, Marinette?”

   “Yes–” She was cut off by a kiss, and a hand placed on her cheek. A blush could be seen on her face, and she reached to hold his forearm, as if to keep his hand on her face.

   And then it hit her– she wanted this. She wanted Chat, she wanted to be with him, and she was too stupidly hooked on her feelings for Adrien to see it. Was she really that stupid? How could she be so obviously in love, but not know it?

   The kiss ended all too soon, with him pulling away from a dazed Marinette. She looked in surprise as he jumped away, blinking multiple times to regain her composure.

“I-I’ll see you tomorrow,” she stammered, still slightly confused.

“Y-Yeah,” with that, he disappeared into the night.

“Tikki… did that just happen?” She asked unsure if she was dreaming, or maybe she was half asleep?

The kwami giggle in response, “I think it did Marinette.”

Words: 2868

[youcancallmecirce]

Can you do number 7 with ladynoir. Angsty like it's snowing and ladybug can't take it. Reveal of you can ^_^ thank you

Number 7 is “almost lost you”.  This is also my entry for LadyNoir July Day 20: Stay (a little longer)  Enjoy!!

Chat Noir clutched his partner to his chest,panicking at the sight of her blue lips and alarmingly pale skin.  “Come on LB, stay with me!”

Her eyelashes fluttered, and shesnuggled tighter against his chest.  “Warm.  Want to sleep.”

Chat’s eyes widened inalarm.  He was no doctor, but he knew itwas bad when someone was freezing, but started feeling warm.  “Oh, no. You can’t sleep, Ladybug!  I needyou to stay awake!  Stay with me, just alittle longer!”

“Can’t.  Want to sleep.”

Shit.  Shit shit shit!  What could he do?  Take her back to his house?  Or maybe, to Marinette’s?  He knew she would help, and could betrusted.  He looked around frantically, tryingto get his bearings, and stood with her over his shoulder, his staff extended.  

“Chat Noir!  Chat Noir, wait!”

He turned, and saw Alya and Ninoracing up to him, their faces drawn with worry, and their teeth chattering inthe cold.  

“Take her—to my house,” shepanted, hands braced on her bent knees.  “It’sclose.”

He regarded heruncertainly.  He loved Alya, but he wasn’tsure he could trust the Ladyblogger to keep her journalist’s nose out of thingsshe didn’t need to know.

“Dude, I know your identities areimportant and all, but her lips are blue.  She took a direct hit, right?”  Chat grimaced, and nodded.

“Come on, you have to get herwarm, and that akuma isn’t going to stay unconscious long.  Please let us help.”

Chat hesitated a moment longer, weighingthe earnest expressions on his friends’ faces, and shifted her in his arms sothat he was cradling her, bridal style.  “Alright.  Yes, thank you.  Where are we going?”

“Just here, come on!”

Chat Noir followed the pairaround the corner, and up the stairs into an apartment building only halfway upthe block.  Alya hadn’t been kidding; it was close.

“Almost there, my lady.  Hang on.”  

A quiet moan was her onlyresponse.

Alya led the way up to herapartment, and threw open the door for him to precede her.  “Go into the bathroom, second door on theleft, and get the hot water going in the shower.  It’ll warm up the room while you get herundressed.  Don’t put her into the water!”

His heart pounding, he strodepast the wide-eyed faces of Alya’s family and into the bathroom without pause;someone closed the door behind him.  He droppedher legs to free a hand, and turned on the hot water.  It was so, so tempting to hold her under the rapidlywarming stream of water, but he knew even without Alya’s warning not to dothat.  Still holding her, he dismissed histransformation, and began rubbing at her arms.  

“Plagg, can you communicate withher kwami?  Get her to drop thetransformation?  I need to get her out ofthe wet things, and—”

There was a flash of pink light,and suddenly it was a pajama-clad Marinette groaning in his arms, withunnaturally pale skin and blue lips. Something tiny and red fell from her earrings, and Plagg flew to catch thelittle red Kwami.

Adrien felt his heartstutter.  “Oh, God.”

“Don’t just stand there, kid!”  Plagg shoved tiny paws against his cheek, thered kwami floating just behind him.  “Sheneeds you!”

Adrien shook himself, and with tremblinghands, he stripped the flannel pants from her legs and tossed them with a wetplop into the sink.  At her top, hehesitated, recognizing that she was definitely not wearing a bra beneath it.

Her kwami tugged weakly at hishand.  “Adrien, this is no time to beworrying about modesty!  Please, hurry!”

“Pretend she’s just one of your father’s models—this isn’t anything youhaven’t seen before!  Get on with it!”

Adrien nodded and fumbled with the buttons a bit before giving up andsimply tugging the two sides apart, sending the little buttons flying.  Then he peeled the shirt from her body, whiletrying to keep his eyes focused on anything but her nakedness.  When the shirt had joined her pants in thesink, began trying to work off his own clothing without releasing her, knowingthat his body heat would help to warm her up. He was shoving his sodden jeans down one handed when there was a knockat the bathroom door.  

“Chat Noir?  There are big fluffytowels in the linen closet next to the sink. Once you get rid of her wet clothes, wrap her up!  My mom is heating up some soup, to warm youguys from the inside, too.”

He nodded gratefully, though she couldn’t see it.  “Thank you!” He called through the door, kicking the wet denim from his feet.  “I can’t tell you how much—”

“Hey, don’t worry about it.  Withall you do for Paris, it is literallythe least we could do, to offer help when you need it.”

He braced her against the wall and pulled off his tshirt, then dumped itinto the sink with her things.  Then he pulledher back to his chest so that they were clammy skin to clammy skin, and moved to the closet Alya had mentioned.  He opened it to find a whole stack of thebig, oversized bath sheets similar to the ones in his own bathroom.  “Perfect,” he breathed, tugging one from thetop of the stack.  He wrapped it aroundtheir shoulders, pressing her close to his body to share his warmth.  Later, he would relish the memoryof her bare body pressed flush against his own, but for now, he was too preoccupied with worry to be anything more than dimly aware of anything else.

She groaned, shivering again, and he looked down to see that she wore apained expression.  He grimaced at herdiscomfort, but also felt relieved—it meant she was warming up.  He held the towel around them with one hand,and used the other to vigorously rub her back beneath it.  “I’m so sorry, my lady.  I know that it’s uncomfortable now, but we’llget you warmed up and then you’ll be all right.”

She groaned again, and he pressed a kiss to her still cold brow.

“I almost lost you,” he whispered.  “Next time, my lady, just let me take the hit.”

She lifted her head from his shoulder, and did her best to glare athim.  “No,” she said simply, and droppedher head back down to rest against him.  “Remindme to freak out about our identities later,” she mumbled through her chatteringteeth, as her arms snaked around his waist.

He grinned.  “There she is,” hesaid happily, squeezing her.

[seasonofthegeek]

Ladrien Day 30: All is Fair in Love and War

I decided for the last day of Ladrien June, I would do a full Love Square rotation. :)

Marichat

“You seem down.”

Chat Noir glanced over at Marinette, clawed hands hanging loosely over the balcony railing. “I suppose I am a bit.”

“Need to talk about it?”

“It’s just more of the same really. Loving someone who doesn’t see me as more than a friend and partner. I guess something about today is making it feel a little more...potent than usual.”

Marinette frowned. “Isn’t being a friend better than nothing?”

“When it feels like this, I’m not so sure, Princess.”

Ladynoir

“You did great tonight, Kitty,” Ladybug cooed, tapping his bell.

“Thanks,” he said quietly.

“You seem down.”

Chat Noir looked up at her, eyes assessing. “I suppose I am a bit.”

“Need to talk about it?”

“This is weird.”

Ladybug frowned, brows knitting together under mask. “What’s weird?”

“You ever get the feeling you’ve done this all before?”

“Fighting akumas?”

Chat Noir shook his head. “Our conversations. Sometimes when we talk, it feels like we’re saying the same things we’ve said before, but I don’t think we have.”

“Maybe we knew each other in another life,” she said lightly.

“Or maybe we know each other in this one.”

Ladybug swallowed thickly. “Maybe.”

Ladrien

“Adrien? Are you here?” Ladybug dropped down into his room. He usually only left the window open as an invitation, but he was normally waiting on the couch or at his desk. She walked further into the room and caught the sound of running water. Good grief, that boy took a lot of showers. 

The water cut off and Ladybug made herself move to the couch, tempting as it was to stand by the door and wait on him. She got comfortable and heard the door open. “I hope you don’t mind I..” she trailed off as Adrien stepped into the room, hair dripping and only a towel slung low around his waist.

"My Lady!” he squeaked with wide eyes and then slapped a hand over his mouth. He tore his gaze away from her to see the open window behind Ladybug. There was the sound of snickering from his kwami still in the bathroom.

“Wha...what did you call me?” Ladybug stood and took a step back.

“Wait! Don’t go. I can explain!” Adrien threw a hand out beseechingly but his towel chose that moment to begin to slip. He looked down to grab it and when he glanced back up, Ladybug was gone.

Adrinette

Adrien trudged into the classroom, dropping his bag dejectedly on the floor.

“Dude.”

“Yeah,” Adrien sighed, giving Nino a pale version of their handshake. “What’s this?” He picked up a folded sheet of paper with his name written in looping script. 

“Was there when I got here,” Nino shrugged.

Adrien frowned and opened the note.

I’m sorry I freaked out on you yesterday, Chaton. That wasn’t okay. Please let me make it up to you at lunch. Meet me on the third park bench across from the bakery. -LB

Adrien’s head shot up and he looked around the classroom. As soon as his eyes met Marinette’s, her cheeks flamed red and she looked down at her desk. Adrien felt his heart skip. “Princess?” he whispered. Marinette looked back at him with wide blue eyes, inhaling sharply.

“Adrien, please turn around to we can begin,” the teacher said sternly.

Adrien gazed at Marinette a moment longer before turning to their teacher. “May I please be excused to the restroom?”

“I suppose,” she sighed, gesturing towards the door.

Marinette felt her insides go cold as Adrien went through the door without a backwards glance. He knew. He knew now and he was running. This is why he was never supposed to find out. This is why--

Marichat

Alya gave her a sharp nudge. “Girl! Look who is here!” She pulled out her phone as Chat Noir strolled into the classroom.

“So sorry to interrupt, but Ladybug and I need the help of one of your students. Can we borrow Marinette Dupain-Cheng?” He took a few steps up and held out his hand to her. “What do you say, Princess?”

“Princess?!” Alya screamed with a smile, swinging the cell phone in Marinette’s direction.

“I’m not sure...” the teacher began.

“I’ll go,” Marinette said quickly, taking Chat Noir’s offered hand. “It’s my duty as a civilian to help the heroes of Paris after all.”

He escorted her out the door and up to the roof access.

“Drop your transformation,” she demanded as soon as the door closed behind them.

Adrinette

“We’re ridiculous,” Marinette laughed as the green light washed up Adrien’s body. “This whole time...”

“We’ve been circling each other,” he nodded happily. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re drawn to me, my Lady.”

She shoved his shoulder lightly. “You really scared me when you just walked out like that!”

“Well, how do you think I felt when you flew out of my room like a scaredy bug?”

“Sorry,” she blushed. “I freaked out a little bit.”

“I guess none of our secrets are really secrets now, huh?”

“Yeah,” she frowned. “I guess it changes the way you feel.”

“What?”

“I just mean, as Chat, you were always talking to me about how much you love Ladybug but obviously that’s not still going to be the case because I’m Ladybug and--”

Adrien closed the distance between them, pressing his lips to hers and winding his arms around her middle. Marinette melted into the kiss, her hands tangling themselves in his hair. 

Marinette blinked dazedly when he pulled away. “That’s not fair,” she mumbled.

“What’s not fair?”

“That you’re such a good kisser. You can’t be good at everything. It’s not fair.”

“All is fair in love and war, my Lady...my Marinette.”

“Yours?”

Adrien blushed. “If...if that’s okay.”

She beamed at him then, taking the lead and kissing him silly.

And that concludes Ladrien June. Get ready for Ladynoir July starting tomorrow!

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