#mlss 2k19

[theyrejustbehindtheveil]

meet-cutes aren't just for the movies, my lady

Now presenting, a (slightly belated) @mlsecretsanta gift for @celestialtitania. Hope you enjoy it!!

[Read on AO3]

...

The first time Adrien ever meets Marinette Dupain-Cheng, he is 17 years old, and tagging along behind his father as the man inspects garments that will become part of the next season’s collection, and produces forceful and prolific critique at each and every item and Adrien is so, so bored.

And so, when he notices a quiet shadow hovering on the outskirts of the discussion, arms full of folded fabric and a look of intense focus as she listens in on the conversations happening in front of her. She’s about his own age and so Adrien slides on over in the hopes that he could at least talk to someone.

“Hello,” is as far as he gets with that plan, because as soon as he opens his mouth she squeaks and scatters all the fabric in her arms all over the floor. The conversation near them stills and eyes turn to the pair as the girl bends to try and pick up everything she’s dropped.

“Marinette!”

“Sorry, sorry!”

Adrien’s father turns away from the mess on the floor. “Let’s move on, and leave your intern here to clean up the mess she made,” he says.

Adrien looks at his father at this. ”I’ll stay and help her, pére,” he says. His father gives him a cursory nod and leaves the room, which empties behind him.

“Hey.” he says, as he bends down to help the girl pick up fabric. “Sorry for startling you earlier.”

“Oh um, uh, not–no problem.”

He chuckles. “My name’s Adrien.”

She pauses in folding fabric. “Mari–Marinette,” she says, ducking her head away from his grin.

A moment of silence stretches between them, only punctuated by the sound of shifting fabric.

“So you’re one of my father’s interns?” He winces at the awkward question almost as soon as it’s blurted out.

“Oh! Um. Mr Agreste is my boss. I mean, he’s not my actual boss, he’s really my boss’s boss. He is still my boss though, technically, because it’s his company. That he is the boss of. I mean of course you know that, he’s your father. Because you’re Adrien, his son.” She’s rambling at him, still folding fabric and stacking it neatly, blushing furiously all the while. It’s adorable.

“So you like fashion?” he asks. She brightens at the question.

“Yeah! I really like fashion and design, it’s what I want to do after I leave lycée. I mean, I don’t know if haute couture is really for me. N–not that I’m not grateful for this internship. Because I am! I’m learning a lot! But like I really love street fashion, and it just feels a lot less…”

“Pretentious?”

She laughs. “Yeah. A little.”

“That makes sense.”

She blinks. “It does?”

“Yeah. I don’t like it much either, to be honest.”

She lifts her head up from where she is gathering up the last pieces of fabric that still remain on the floor. “You know you can do whatever you want after high school, not just what your parents do, right? Mine are bakers and I like helping them out but it’s not what I want to do for the rest of my life. And that’s okay, and they support me in that because they want me to be happy, yknow? You’re allowed to be your own person.”

That makes him pause. “Huh.”

She grins at him. “Yep. Pass me that pile?”

He does, standing, to carefully hand over the stack of folded fabric that he’s slowly been accumulating. “Here,” he says, as he moves to hand it to her, and instead, finds himself sprawled on the floor, fabric once more scattered everywhere, including draped over his head. He lets out a groan, and lifts one hand to move the folds of fabric away from his face so he can see. Marinette starts unabashedly giggling at him from across the room.  “Guess that looked pretty stupid of me?”

“Just a bit,” she says, between giggles, and then, as he makes a move to try and get to his feet, she stands and moves towards him. “Need a hand?” she asks, reaching her hand out to him.

“Please,” he says, taking her outstretched hand, which she grasps firmly and hauls him to his feet with surprising strength. He dusts himself off with a shrug, and she laughs as he tries to brush his hair back into place.

“Here, let me,” she says, reaching for his head. He bends down a little so that she can reach, and she gently brushes fingers through his hair, neatening the errant locks. Her blue eyes are fixed intently on the top of his head, and it almost feels as though time holds its breath along with him as he watches her face as she fixes his hair.

He comes back to himself when she steps back from him, her hands slipping from his hair. He doesn’t move for a moment, still looking at her, and she coughs awkwardly, and then bends to pick up the dropped fabric at her feet. “Help me out here,” she says, and he jolts into movement, rushing over to help her out. Together, they gather and fold the last few dropped pieces of fabric.

The next several minutes are spent carefully collecting the last of the mess, which Adrien spends a good portion of just watching Marinette, her deft fingers that handle all the fabric so carefully and elegantly, and her dark hair, tied back with a few errant strands tucked behind her ear.

Finally, all the mess is folded and stacked into a neat and manageable pile, that Marinette gathers up into her arms. “Thank you,” she says, stepping towards the door, “for staying and helping me tidy.”

“You’re welcome,” he replies, moving eagerly to hold the door open for her. “Least I could do, since it was my fault for startling you into dropping it all.”

She moves out of the door ahead of him, pile of fabric almost obscuring her line of sight. He follows close behind her, and grins at her when she turns to face him. “I’m glad I met you, Marinette,” he says, and his grin grows wider at the sight of the faint blush that rises on her cheeks.

“Me too,” she replies, tentatively returning his grin with a smaller one of her own.

Before he can say anything else, however, his father strides out of the next room. “Adrien. Time to go.”

Marinette jumps in surprise at the sound of his father’s voice, even if she manages to keep ahold of her burden this time around. “I–I gotta–I have– I need to go. I need to put these away now. Goodbye, Adrien, Mr Agreste.” she stammers out, and then bolts away before he can stop her, or call out to her, or do anything that might give him a sure way of finding her again.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The second time Adrien gets to meet Marinette Dupain-Cheng is many years after the first time. He never does get to run into her again while she is still an intern, much to his disappointment, and he loses track of her after that.

After a year away from Paris, Adrien has come back to spend Christmas at home, to see his father and, apparently, to get himself roped into attending a Christmas Eve party by Chloé, even if they’ve barely talked to each other in months.

And so, here he finds himself, walking into a party that is full of some of the best and brightest in the fashion industry. The bright lights and the slightly too small suit he has on makes the atmosphere feel stifling, and the thought of walking back into something that so viscerally reminds him of some of the most hated parts of his childhood is almost enough to make him turn around and go back home. But–

“Adrien!!” he hears a voice call. He turns, and sees Chloé, striding towards him in a bright green gown that glitters under the lights of the room. Despite himself, he can feel some of the tension leave him at the sight of a welcoming face. “You came!”

He grins. “Hello to you too, Chloé, “ he returns, right before she pulls him into a hug. “Ooft.” He’d forgotten how tactile she is, and how tight her hugs were, as though she wants to hold her friends as close as she possibly could.

“I’ve missed you,” she mutters, from where her face is not quite buried in his shoulder.

“Me too. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah. Same here.”

That shocks him, just a little. Chloé, despite how much she’s apparently grown out of the spoiled brat she once was, is still not the sort to apologise, even obliquely. Adrien clears his throat to try and dispel some of the awkwardness he feels. Chloé, brash and self-confident as ever, doesn’t acknowledge it beyond a slightly stiff and awkward shake of her head.

He holds out his arm, “Well then, Chloé, shall we?”

She hooks her elbow through his, then grins. “Cmon, Adrien, you gotta meet my friend Mari. She’s like, my new favourite fashion designer, and she’s amazing . You’re going to love her. She made my dress for tonight, and she’s so cool. Like really Adrien, you gotta meet her, and I know she wants to meet you. I’ve told her so much about you.”

Chloé keeps up a steady stream of chatter as she drags him over to where a small knot of people are clustered around a girl in a dark blue dress. She seems… different, somehow, Adrien muses. Still as brash and self-confident as he remembers, but happier, somehow. Kinder, too.

“Mari!” Chloé calls, as they get close to the group of people she’s been making a beeline for. The woman in the dark blue dress turns, and her polite smile morphs into something wider and more genuinely delighted.

“Chloé!” she calls happily, and extracts herself neatly from the group she’s been talking to, including, Adrien realises, one of his father’s most serious competitors in the fashion industry. The woman walks up to them, her dress glittering under the lights as she moves to enfold Chloé in a hug. “I wondered where you’d run off to so quickly,” she says to Chloé, as she draws back from the hug to kiss both her cheeks, and then finally turns sharp eyes on Adrien, who fidgets under her direct gaze. “Hello.”

“Mari, this is Adrien. He’s the best friend I keep telling you about.” She holds out her hand to shake, and Adrien grasps it firmly. She’s shorter than either him or Chloé, and she has black hair and startlingly blue eyes, and something about her is weirdly familiar, though he can’t quite work out why.

“Adrien, this is Marinette. She and I went to lycée together, but we didn’t become friends until I ran into her again at one of Daddy’s parties a few months ago.” He blinks at her name as she releases his hand from her firm grasp, which vaguely reminds him of, well, something that he can’t quite place.

“Nice to meet you, Marinette.”

“Same here. Chloé talks about you a lot. She said you were overseas for this year?”

Yes. I spent this year on exchange at a university in England.”

“And how was that?”

“Good. The language took some getting used to, but I liked it.”

“What were you studying?”

“Physics. I’m working on my Masters at the moment.”

“Oh that’s awesome. I studied design, but I stayed in Paris to study and then work.”

“Yeah, Chloé mentioned you were a designer. She said you made her dress. It’s gorgeous, you’re really talented.”

Marinette’s face lights up at the compliment. “Thank you! I wanted to make her something that wasn’t her favourite yellow, just for the challenge of it. And I wanted to stick to a more traditional silhouette, because Chloé has the personality to pull off something that dramatic, you know? And...”

She continues to talk excitedly about Chloé’s dress, gesturing passionately with her hands as Adrien listens to her chatter, and Chloé nods along gracefully. And then, Marinette,  while Chloé is in the middle of telling a story about some misadventure the pair of them had gotten up to while trying to get the right fabric to make this dress, starts giggling, and Adrien finally places that frustrating deja vu that Marinette has been prompting in him since Chloé had introduced them.

“You’re Marinette!” he interrupts. Chloé’s story rambles to a clumsy stop as she and Mari– Marinette turn to stare at him with matching bemused expressions.

“Yes? That’s my name?”

“No! You’re Marinette! You interned at my father’s company in highschool and I frightened you into dropping all that fabric once!”

Marinette giggles, and Adrien is struck with the sudden realisation that he’d quite like to hear that laugh every day for the rest of his life. “I can’t believe it took you so long to make the connection!”

“You look different,” he mumbles, “and, besides, Chloé called you Mari.” He gestures to Chloé, who rolls her eyes and mutters something about the trials of having such oblivious friends.

“Less of a clutz than you remember?”

“A bit. It’s a good different, though! Really! And I tripped too, remember?” A slight pause. “I’m sorry I didn’t remember you right away, really.”

Marinette laughs. “I forgive you. Make it up to me by sticking around for the rest of the night and impressing all these fancy fashion people with your good looks and charm.”

“Of course, my lady,” he says. Chloé huffs from beside them, and he glances over to her in time to catch her rolling her eyes.

“I’m going to go find Sabrina,” she says. “She just texted me to tell me she just got here.”

“Okay.”

“See you around, Chloé,” Marinette grins. “Come find me later so we can make fun of all the stuck up industry execs.”

“You know it, Mari,” she says, and walks off into the crowd in a swirl of fabric.

“Cmon, I really do need to talk to people tonight.”

“Of course.”

“You don’t have to come with me if you don’t want to.”

“No! I want to, I promise.”

“Awesome.” Marinette’s grin is blinding, and when she hooks her arm through his, Adrien feels his heart miss a beat. “Let’s do this then.”

…

Adrien spends the rest of the night at Marinette’s side as she makes her way around the room, making polite conversation and impressing almost all the people she talks to. Adrien is a tiny bit in awe of how easily she manages to negotiate conversations with everyone. She looks to be in her element right at this very moment, and she shines .

After a few hours of this though, they are both over talking to people and Marinette leads them over to an emptier patch of the room. She leans back against the wall as they watch Chloé whirl around the centre of the room, tipping her head back in a laugh.

“She’s happier than she used to be,” Adrien observes.

“Yeah. She is,” a soft smile graces Marinette’s face, for just a moment. “I’m really proud of her.”

“Me too. I’m glad for her.” Adrien looks over to Marinette. “Do you want to head outside?”

“Yes please,” she answers.

“Come on, then,” he says, taking her arm to walk with her to a set of doors that lead out onto a balcony. The night air is cool, and Marinette’s dress shimmers gently under the street lights. As she leans on the railing of the balcony to look out at the city, he feels a sharp drop of cold on his nose, and tears his eyes away from her to look up at the sky. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Marinette do the same, her eyes closed and her face upturned to catch the snowfall.

It’s snowing, and he stares up at the sky in awe before a gentle hand on his arm drags his eyes away and back down to Marinette, who has snow caught in her dark hair and in her eyelashes. A long moment stretches between them as he stares at her, enthralled by her face and the tiny freckles sprinkled across her nose and cheeks, and the way her lips curve up into a shy smile. It’s broken by the distant tolling of a clock striking midnight, and an enthusiastic buzzing that emanates from Marinette’s dress. She steps back as she reaches into a previously hidden pocket at her hip and pulls out her phone, which is lighting up with a succession of messages. Adrien misses her closeness almost immediately, as the sharp dampness of the still falling snow makes itself known to him.

“Sorry, give me a minute, my friends are all messaging the group chat now that it’s actually become Christmas Day,” she says as her fingers fly across the screen of her phone. She leans on her forearms against the railing as she texts, her phone held out over the open air. Adrien finds himself enthralled by the mischievous grin on her face, and the way her face lights up at the onscreen antics of her friends. Chloé was right, she’s amazing. He would would keep coming to every fashion industry event if it means he would get to see her, and talk to her, and make her smile.

oh

oh wow

He opens his mouth to say– something, to make her laugh or to ask her if they could go back inside – but, still reeling from the realisation of how much he likes her and the warm feeling spreading through his chest, what comes out of his mouth is a whispered “You’re beautiful.”

whoops

Marinette whirls around, thankfully without dropping her phone off the balcony, and stares at him with her mouth hanging open and a blush spreading over her cheeks. “Wh-what?!”

He takes a deep breath and shifts slightly towards her .“You’re beautiful, Marinette.” Another deep breath, to gather his courage. “Can I kiss you?” he blurts out, breathless and nervous, and hopeful.

Marinette stands in front of him for a long moment, and he can feel that little sliver of hope start to wilt in his chest before she pulls in a deep breath of her own and steps towards him, so close that he can feel her exhale gently on his skin as she fits her hands to his face. “Yes please,” she whispers reverently, before rising up and fitting her lips to his.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

THE NEXT DAY: ADRIEN'S PHONE

Chlo: Hey nerd I gave Mari your number. She thinks you’re cute. If you break her heart i will show you the knife skills her parents taught me

...

Unknown Number: Hi Adrien I hope you don’t mind but I got your number off Chloé. I had a really great time last night, thank you.

Unknown Number: also I wanted to ask if you wanted to go on a date sometime.

[3 seconds later]

ADRIEN: YES PLEASE

[hellomomo]

“Let’s go look at shoes. There are no good jeans here. Which is sad,” Marinette headed towards the shoe section, marching with far too much purpose, “Like it’s so hard to find a comfy pair that isn’t too long or too short or that doesn’t sag around your butt you know? There’s nothing worse than jeans that are bulky and loose around your butt because your butt will just look flat. Adrien, I do way too many squats for people to think I have a flat butt, okay?”

“I... don’t know the appropriate response to that.” Cataclysm-ing her on the spot would be nice, Marinette thought. "

They're out on the most perfect date and Marinette is getting more and more nervous about giving Adrien his Christmas present and she's trying her hardest not to blow this gift-giving thing this time.

my Miraculous Ladybug Secret Santa gift for @alpha-ultimate-trash some good old fashioned Adrienette fluff~

I hope you enjoy it and happy holidays!!

special thanks to @sadrien for beta reading for me and @mlsecretsanta for hosting the exchange!!

[driftingwriter]

Water Under the Bridge

Hi @avelyst I’m your secret santa! I really hope you like this piece! @mlsecretsanta

A little piece somewhat inspired by Water under the Bridge by Adele. It has season 3 spoilers!!! You’ve been warned. 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21817684

Marinette couldn’t say when it had happened, just that she woke up one day knowing. She sat up in bed gasping, dreams of green eyes and black leather just out of reach and she scrubbed her face. 

“Are you okay,” Tikki asked. 

Marinette let out a startled laugh. “I’m in love with Chat Noir.”

Tikki sighed. “Oh, I thought it was something important.”

“This is important!”

“Not if it was already obvious!”

Marinette groaned into her pillow. She was in love with Chat Noir and it was obvious. Great. Then there was the other problem, which was that she was also in love with Adrien. She chose to ignore her problems as she rose from bed and went about her day. 

She ignored her problems all day and she liked to think she did a pretty good job at ignoring them. That is, until Chat Noir showed up on her balcony later that evening. 

“What are you doing here,” she asked, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at him. 

He seemed stunned and looked around. “I come here every night. Am I…are you talking to me?”

She huffed and turned around. A blush was starting to creep onto her face and she didn’t want him to see. 

“Are you okay, Marinette?” A hand gently landed on her shoulder. There was bit of concern in his voice, but mostly it was bewilderment.

She jumped away. “I’m completely fine! You’re fine! No, you’re not okay!”

Chat’s hands were raised in surrender as his wide eyes watched her. “I’m…not?”

Marinette groaned as she leaned forward and buried her face into he’s chest. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, but it was muffled and came out sounding more like, “Fime Morry.”

He rested one hand on her back and drew comforting circles with his thumb. The other hand came up to rest on the back of her neck. “What’s going on?”

His touch was only gasoline to the fire, though, and she wasn’t sure she could come up with an answer when his hands were on her like that. “I-I…long day.”

He hummed. “Anything I can do to help?”

She leaned back the slightest bit to peer up at him. He stared down at her, eyes soft and that kind smile on his face. She loved him so much her heart hurt. “You being here is enough." 

His mouth gaped and a blush settled on his face as well. Then he was smiling again, a different one than before. “Then I promise to always be here.”

Well. There went any hopes of ever moving on from him. She buried her face back into his chest. “Okay.”

He chuckled. “Okay.”

He didn’t know how she felt and she didn’t know how he would react if he ever found out, but for now, it was enough. 

But then a month had passed and every day Marinette thought it was impossible to love him more, but, somehow, her feelings grew everyday. And she was starting to think…she groaned into her pillows. 

She didn’t want to even allow the thought into her head, didn’t want to get her hopes up. But she was starting to think…that maybe Chat loved her back…as Marinette. 

It was simple things really, but they added up. Like when he cracked a joke that made her double over in laughter and when she finally stopped she looked up to see him watching her, that same smile on his face, eyes on her like he wanted to never forget that moment. 

Or when she was explaining a new design to him, and she would pause to catch her breath and he would lean over and gently brush her hair behind her ear and then his voice was so soft, a whisper, the wind, but there was so much behind that touch.

Or every night, before he left, he would lean in close and brush his lips against her cheek before pulling away the slightest bit, hands on her waist and then lean his forehead against hers. “Goodnight, Marinette,” he would say, voice as soft as a promise, and then he was gone. Marinette’s legs had gone to jelly many times after that. 

She was blushing now, just thinking of it all, and it was driving her crazy. She wanted to grab him by the bell and yank him down and kiss him. She wanted to hold him in her arms while she whispered to him she loved him. She wanted to love him freely, as he deserved. 

But she couldn’t. She couldn’t tell him or do it or anything because she was the guardian and she had responsibilities and, the truest answer of all, she was scared. 

A knock sounded and she looked up to see Chat waving down at her, a goofy smile on his face. How could anyone be scared of loving him? No, that wasn’t what she was scared of. She was scared of losing him, scared of Chat Blanc repeating itself, scared of everything that could go wrong. And she couldn’t explain it to Chat because that would be her revealing herself. 

She wanted to reveal herself to him. But she couldn’t. Her heart wasn’t the deciding factor in this. She had to be responsible. 

He was leaning against her balcony when she walked out. He turned and grinned at her. “Took you long enough.” His words were teasing. 

She bumped his shoulder as she rested next to him. “Sorry I’m not a fangirl that chases after you at the first glimpse of you.”

He leaned closer, a smirk on his face. “Are you sure you’re not?”

Marinette rolled her eyes, but a blush was creeping onto her face. How was it that he always made her blush? “I’m positive.”

“Maybe I like that about you.”

She turned to him, eyes wide and found him already facing her. She forced out a laugh. “Okay, Chat.”

“What?”

She crossed her arms. “You can’t just say stuff like that!”

His grin grew and he leaned even closer to her. “And why not?”

“Because I-because I,” she sputtered as her face continued to redden. She punched his arm. 

“Ow, Marinette,” he grabbed his arm, but he laughed. “Why did you do that?”

“You know why! Stop making fun of me!”

He reached toward her and tipped her head back, his touch fire to her skin. He shook his head, that stupid grin still on his face. “I’m not making fun of you, Marinette. Not right now.”

She pushed him away. “Why are you being so smooth right now? And stop smiling like that!”

He laughed again. “You think I’m being smooth?”

“Chat Noir, I-,” she stopped and buried her face in her hands. “I can’t say it, but you obviously know, and I can’t say why I can’t say it, but you already know so this is basically me saying it, okay?”

He rested a hand on her shoulder. “Marinette, what are you saying?”

And what did he keep saying her name like that? It was making her overheated. She looked up at him and allowed him to look into her eyes. “Chat Noir, I…” She didn’t finish, but the teasing glint left his eyes and she knew he understood. “Yeah. That.”

“Oh,” he mouthed. The great superhero of Paris was at a loss for words at last, it seemed. There really was a first for everything. 

“You knew?”

He nodded slowly. “It’s different knowing than knowing, you know?” Somehow, she did. But he didn’t say more and she figured that maybe he didn’t feel the same. 

Turning, Marinette walked to the railing and leaned against it. “I’m sorry. I hope this doesn’t ruin our friendship. This won’t be awkward for me, so you don’t have to feel bad for me.”

“Why would I feel bad for you?” 

She turned to him, eyebrows furrowed. “Because you don’t feel the same.”

“What makes you think that?” He said it like it was a ridiculous question that he never expected he would have to ask.

“Stop teasing me, Chat. You didn’t say it back, so you obviously don’t feel the same.”

Chat Noir walked over to her and cradled her face in his hands. He was so close she had to lean her head back to look into his eyes. “Marinette, the most beautiful, sweetest, smartest, bravest, funniest, most incredible girl…you…you just told me, well, not really told me explicitly, but you just told me you felt that way and it’s all I’ve wanted and it’s perfect. I just thought…I thought that if your feelings were clear to me, then how could mine not be? How could you not understand just how I feel for you? But, in case it hasn’t been clear Marinette, let me say this: I feel exactly the same way about you.”

The breath left her and one of his hands wrapped around her waist, holding her in place. He seemed to know exactly what she needed when she needed it. “Oh,” she mouthed. 

He smiled and his thumb brushed her cheekbone. “Yeah.”

It was everything she had ever wanted and it was everything he had ever wanted. But she had responsibilities. She wanted nothing more than to throw her arms around him and pull him in and kiss him until neither of them could breath. But she made herself pull away.

He arms dropped to his side and he watched her. 

“But you’re a superhero. And I’m a civilian. And this can’t…we can’t…I want to, Chat. So incredibly badly, you have no idea…”

There was a fire in his eyes that heated her up and she realized that he did have an idea because he wanted to just as badly. This was so hard. She held up her hand. “Friends?”

He took a step forward. He took her hand, but he didn’t shake it, instead pulling her closer until they were chest to chest, their hands trapped in between their bodies. “Friends.”

But as they stared at each other, though neither of them knew what would come, they both knew there was no more hiding their feelings for one another.

[mlsecretsanta]

Our beta reader page is up! If you’re a writer, please feel free to contact one of these users to beta your piece. Thank you so much to everyone who has signed up, and if you’re interested in becoming a beta reader yourself, you can fill out our form HERE!

Beta Readers

[theyrejustbehindtheveil]

Now presenting my @mlsecretsanta gift for @phantompierce-okamoto. Merry Chrysler :)

Ao3

///////////////

“Look, all I’m saying is, if you put Ladybug and Chat Noir together, then all the black cancels out and you get Christmas colours.”

“For the last fucking time, Als, we are not tinsel bombing the heros of Paris.”

Chloé crosses her arms and lean forward “Yeah. Ladybug deserves better, Cesaire, and you know it.”

Nino frowns. “How would you even make that happen?”

“Ambush?” Alya says, slightly too eagerly in Marinette’s opinion.

“How about we don’t”

“But Mariiiii” Alya whines.

“Alya, you know she wouldn’t like it.”

“Yeah but Chat Noir would probably be down. Cats love chasing sparkly stuff.”

“Chat Noir would absolutely be down.” Adrien interjects.

“What makes you so sure, Adrien? Huh? What if he’s allergic to tinsel, same as he is with feathers.”

“He is not!”

“How do you even know that, Dupain-Cheng?”

“Um. The Ladyblog?”

...

“Okay but what if it was a tinsel akuma.”

“Alya!”

“Yeah but, Alya, how would you even make that happen?”

“Do not doubt my skills, Nino, for I am Ladyblogger and journalist extraordinaire!”

“And that gives you the power to influence akumas?”

“No but I’m very persuasive. And I know Chloé!”

“Hey!”

Marinette really honestly thought that would be the end of it. Just the stress of the end of the year sending them all a little loopy and ridiculous. And yet, once Chloé and Alya get an idea properly lodged in their heads, it’s nearly impossible to talk them out of it. And so, Marinette, and therefore by extension Ladybug, finds herself at the beginning of December, in the midst of the end of term assignments and homework and the upswing in customers at the bakery, also having to evade her friends and their plans, and the armloads of tinsel that were Chloé’s main contribution to this exercise.

“Guys, I really don’t think she’s coming.”

“C'mon Mari, don’t be so worried. This is totally gonna work. She always comes by this time on a Monday”

“How do you even know that, Alya?”

“My skills are many and varied and also Ladybug is bright red and we’re near my house. I can see her out my bedroom window.”

Ah. Whoops.

Minutes pass. Nino starts fidgeting, not used to staying still for so long. Marinette wishes she’d thought to bring her sketchpad or something as she fixates on the hatching of the brickwork across from her and the way the shadows fall across Alya’s hair.

“Alya, babe, I don’t think she’s coming.” Alya’s grip tightens on the bundle of tinsel in her hands

“Shhh Nino. She’s coming, I know it.”

Marinette wishes she could sneak away and draw them away, but her only escape route is blocked by Alya and Nino who are now… staring each other down. Marinette looks away. She recognises that intense staredown as one of the things that has a tendency to lead to the two of them making out against lockers. And walls. And on one memorable occasion, a rooftop.

Behind her, the plaster between the bricks has partially eroded away. She looks up. A few meters up, there’s a wrought iron balconette. And then further over, a ledge that trails around the corner of the building. Maybe, if she used the wooden crates stacked nearby to give her a boost…

…

“ Wait, where’d Marinette go?”

//////////////

Ladybug grins as she fistbumps Chat Noir. The akuma they just dealt with was an easy one, and they’re wrapping up almost as soon as they’d really gotten underway. The only complication in the fight had been also having to avoid Alya and Chloé stalking her and Chat with armfuls of tinsel. Luckily they’d been talking about it in the group chat, otherwise she’d have been caught out like Chat was.

He’s still got bits of tinsel in his hair.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spots Alya sneaking closer, a truly terrifying grin on her face. At the same time, a sharp beeping starts up from her earrings.

“Aw hell. Chat?”

“Mrrp?”

“I gotta bug out. You good to go?” Alya’s getting closer, and Ladybug shifts her weight, ready to swing out.

He draws out his baton. “Yeah! See you next akuma.”

“Bye Chat!” She calls as she swings out, and giggles at the cry of frustration she can hear from Alya in her wake.

...

On the bright side, Alya does show her the photos she got of Chat being tinsel-bombed. Her favourite is the selfie Alya managed to get of Chat, Chloé, and her all draped in sparkly tinsel.

“Send me that one?”

“Sure girl. But no sharing. I want to wait until I have one of Ladybug too, so I can post them together, and i don’t want to spoil the surprise.”

“No spoilers, I promise.”

////////////////

Once again, Marinette finds herself trying desperately to dissuade her friends not to tinsel-bomb the superheroes of Paris, in what appears to be a losing battle for her dignity.

“All I’m saying is, you’re running out of time and she seems to have evaded you pretty easily so far.”

Alya goes from lying on the floor to bolt upright so fast that Marinette can hear her spine make an audible crack . “But Mari! We can’t just give up !”

Adrien looks up from the tangle of limbs he has wound himself into. “What if we asked her nicely?”

Nino twists to look at the tangle of boy behind him. “Adrien, buddy, she’ll never go for it”

“Okay so what if we asked Chat Noir to ask her nicely. I know - I mean, I reckon he would totally go for it.”

“But Adrien! The surprise! The mystery! She cant be ready for it! It has to be a surprise!”

Chloé chuckles from where she’s dangling upside down off the side of Marinette’s bed. “Chill, Cesaire. We got Chat, we can so get Ladybug too.”

Alya hops up to go get the whiteboard that Marinette has leaning against the wall by her desk so that she can drag it over to where everyone can see it.

“Okay so what we gotta do is this…

It is two days before Christmas, and Marinette is busier than a whole beehive trying to get everything done. Thankfully she’s finally started the school holidays, and has a bit more time in the day, but still. Between making and wrapping presents and helping her parents finish all the Christmas orders, she barely has time to keep up with Alya’s tinsel-bombing plans and shenanigans.

Ladybug’s had some pretty close calls, although thankfully no tinsel-themed akuma, much to Alya’s profuse disappointment. On one memorable occasion, she had to hide behind a parked car, detransform, and pop out on the other side ready to help Nino and Chloé look for the suddenly and mysteriously missing Ladybug.

///////////////

As of right now, she’s had a phone that’s been going off all day, indubitably Alya fretting about it being so close to Christmas without the photos that she wants, and trying to corral everyone into another strategy meeting. Marinette isn’t sure though, since she quite frankly doesn’t have the time to check her phone.

The sun is lying low on the horizon when she hears the akuma alert go off on her phone, a jaunty little jingle Alya programmed into all their phones one day while bored. Minutes later, Ladybug makes an appearance on the scene of the akuma, only to find Chat Noir grinning as he plays keep away with an akuma that looks like a really small and misshapen Christmas tree. He waves at her as soon as she lands.

“Hawkmoth is really running out of ideas if this is the best he can do,” Chat says cheerily to her as she takes in the scene.

“Yeah, at least we’re not gonna get killed by a Christmas tree,” she returns. “ You’re doing great Chat, but let’s get this wrapped up, I have like three places I’m supposed to be right now.

Her partner laughs, but then has to duck out of the way of the akuma intent on getting whatever the token Chat has back. She thinks it might be some kind of bauble, but she can't quite see.

The next few minutes mostly have Chat trying to get clear enough of the akuma that he can break the token.

“Just one more minute, my lady, I’m almost clear,” he shouts, incredibly loudly, before immediately throwing the token full force at the ground. It shatters, and she springs into action, yoyo snapping out at the little butterfly that escapes. Moments later she turns, expecting to see her partner ready for their usual fistbump, but instead her vision is filled with a mess of sparkly, colourful -

oh no

Her friends laughter fills her ears as she vanishes under armfuls of tinsel. Marinette takes a moment to mourn the last shreds of her dignity before letting a small smile escape onto her lips.

Merry Christmas indeed.

THE END

////////////////////

EPILOGUE

On Christmas morning, the Ladyblog posts a photoset that goes viral within the hour. It shows two side by side photos, one of Chat Noir and the other of Ladybug, both sporting nearly identical expressions of shock and both covered in tinsel. The third is a selfie, showing both heroes, still draped in tinsel, posing with three teenagers in santa hats. The internet identifies the girl who runs the Ladyblog and the daughter of the mayor of Paris, but they have trouble working out who the boy with the headphones is.

The caption reads: “MERRY CHRISTMAS LADYBUG AND CHAT NOIR FANS!!!!

BONUS VIDEO COMING TO THE LADYVLOG IN THE NEW YEAR!!!!”

Suffice to say, the comment section goes nuts, and the site crashes several times that day, to Alya’s deep satisfaction. A very merry Christmas is had by her.

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Backup Gifters

With the creation period underway, some people have asked about being backup gifters! The number of backup gifters we need will change as the creation period goes on, but at the moment we may be looking for up to thirty 

We thank you for your interest in participating and are so grateful for your help! If you are interested in participating as a backup gifter, please fill out the form here:

Backup Gifter Form

After completing the form, you will be provided with a link to a google sheet that we will use to add information about those in need of gifts. 

Please let us know if you have any questions about the process or if you encounter any issues!

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Check-In and Ratings  Information

A lot of folks requested an extension for the check-in form, so we will be extending the due date to December 6th at 11:59pm EST. If you do not check-in by this time, you will be dropped from the exchange. The form is really short, it should only take a couple of minutes!

Check In Form

A number of people did not have the Preferred Ratings of their giftee sent to them when we sent assignments out. We sincerely apologize for the misstep, but we’ve recently sent out emails with the proper preferences to help better guide your gift. If any serious concerns about your gift arise from this information, please contact us as soon as possible.

Remember, your gift does not have to be completed by December 16th, so long as it will be ready for posting anytime between December 16th and December 31st.

Happy creating!

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I filled out the check in sheet, but I dont know if it submitted, is there a way to find out if it was submitted?

Please come off anon and tell us the tumblr url and/or the email you signed up with and we can check for you!

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if i’m making an art piece, do i have to include a detailed background or can i just be creative with color blocks or something similar? i’m afraid my art skill isn’t quite at that level for complete backgrounds yet 😅

That’s absolutely fine! Backgrounds are not required for your piece. And if you have any questions moving forward, feel free to ask! You can always DM a mod or email us with a wip to see if it’s up to standards!

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do fic gift have to be traditional fics or can we do mix media fics? (like fics with images and stuff embedded)

You can absolutely do mix media fics if you’d like! Please just make sure that you’re hitting the writer guidelines! 

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have you emailed the check-ins out yet? i'm not trying to rush!! just curious

We haven’t emailed out the check-ins yet! As of right now, the only way to access the check-in is from the link posted on our tumblr. So if you haven’t gotten an email, that doesn’t mean we don’t have record of you participating, we just need a bit more time.

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Check-In Announcement

We’re well into the creation period which means it’s time for a check-in! This is to make sure you are aware of who will be receiving your gift and are on track to complete and post it between December 16th and December 31st.

You need to check-in by 11:59 PM EST on December 2nd or you will be dropped from the exchange!

This is a link to the form: https://forms.gle/bTZ9uSiq5GL48MEM6 We will also be sending out emails shortly!

Please send an ask or email if you have any questions or concerns!

-MLSS Mod Team