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hazellvesque · 1 year

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Some Kind of Miracle - Chapter 10

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug

Rating: G

Pairing: Adrien/Marinette

Summary: If Marinette had her way, she would have had nothing to do with Alya’s latest celebrity crush. So how did she get roped into stalking him around Los Angeles? When fashion icon Adrien Agreste quite literally crashes into Marinette’s life, they have no choice but to put up with one another or risk ruining both of their potential careers forever.

An AU based on the iconic Disney Channel Original Movie, Starstruck.

Read on Ao3

Chapter 10 - Gravity

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Every time she passed by the glass sliding doors of the hotel room’s balcony, Marinette caught a glimpse of her reflection and flushed. She hadn’t meant to get so dressed up this morning, but by now it was too late to pick another outfit unless she wanted to up her stress levels by trying to coordinate a different combination of colors and accessories. And it was nearly impossible for her to be even more anxious at this point.

Her sundress was perfect for the weather anyhow. It was a simple garment, a pattern she had used and altered half a dozen times because of how versatile it was. She had adorned the pale mint green fabric with white polka dots that grew in size further down the flared skirt, giving it a poofy, almost princess silhouette illusion. The bottom hem fell just above her knees, the straps thick enough to be both cute and practical. It was one of her proudest pieces.

When she’d first packed it, she hadn’t anticipated that this was the occasion she’d be wearing it out to.

The clock read 8:30am. She still had half an hour. But she’d been awake and bouncing on her heels for ages. Finishing her second cup of tea, she paced around the kitchen of their hotel room, unable to calm herself down and not wanting to wake Alya.

As if summoned by the thought alone, Alya walked with her feet dragging out of their bedroom, already wide awake and dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans. Marinette had been deep asleep when Alya and her mom returned from last night’s event, so Marinette hadn’t had a chance to hear Alya gush on and on about all the juicy details.

“Morning,” Marinette said cheerfully as she put her used cup in the sink. If nothing else, she hoped a calm conversation would keep her nerves down. “How was the party?”

“Fine,” Alya said blankly, shoving a breakfast pastry into her mouth.

Huh. Okay. Not quite the answer she’d been expecting.

“Did you meet anyone notable?” Marinette pried, intentionally leaving it vague and giving Alya an excuse to spill all the details. Of course, she already knew the answer to that question, but mindless excited blabber was one of Alya’s favorite pastimes, and it was Marinette’s full-time job as her best friend to indulge her whenever possible.

“Everyone was fine,” Alya shrugged.

Marinette frowned. “Did you have any fun?”

“Sure.”

“Okay, what’s wrong with you?” Marinette fought the urge to shake some sense into her best friend. From Adrien’s messages last night, she knew that the two of them had met at the very least. She had almost expected Alya to melt into a puddle of goo in her sleep and never revive to have a chance to recount her experience.

Alya chewed slowly and carefully considered her next sentence. “I signed a big scary legal paper, and I didn’t understand half of the words on it, and I don’t know what I’m allowed to tell you. But I...had fun,” she finished lamely.

Marinette bit back a smile. “Did you at least accomplish your mission? Can we stop stalking that model around now?”

The irony of her own words was not lost on her.

“We can stop looking for Adrien,” Alya said, talking through her mouthful of confections. “And even just saying that might have broken my contract so if he sues me you’d better help bail me out.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Marinette laughed, highly satisfied with that answer, “but I’m glad you had a good time.”

Marinette’s eyes drifted towards the clock again. 8:35. She felt half-tempted to pour a third cup of tea just to give her hands something to be occupied with, but the jitters from the existing caffeine and the nerves were already creeping up on her, so she decided against it.

“So…” she began instead, looking Alya up and down. “You’re up early and already dressed, where are you off to? I thought your mom’s next dinner wasn’t for a couple of days.”

“The, uh, the mall,” Alya said far too quickly. “I wanted to go back and buy that dress I saw in that one shop we passed.”

“Right,” Marinette said slowly, a smile spreading across her lips. “Would you want me to come with you?”

Marinette already knew the answer to that too: “Thanks, but I’ll be fine on my own today.”

Adrien hadn’t been able to hold back on slightly bragging about his master plan. He’d assured Marinette that he’d have everything taken care of. Then he’d told her to meet him at the corner a few blocks from the hotel - the same place he had parked the car that first night - at their agreed upon time.

In just a few short conversations, he had built up an odd trust with her. So she left fate in his hands. And evidently, fate had found a way to distract Alya for the day.

“What about your mom?” Marinette asked.

“With how hard she worked last night, she’ll probably sleep until noon. If she asks, I’ll just tell her we were together, so it’s no biggie.”

If Marinette’s parents knew that the girls had broken their rules about staying together, that would be a different story. Luckily, unless someone failed to keep her mouth shut, Tom and Sabine would never find out she was planning on spending her day with someone who had been a complete stranger less than a week ago.

God, this was so unlike her. And that thought thrilled her.

The clock read 8:45am by the time Alya left the hotel in her cab, promising that she was a professional at the whole taxi/rideshare business by now and not to worry about her. Which left Marinette 15 minutes to make the leisurely stroll down the sun-paved street.

The weather was so perfect it was almost insulting - score another point to California. The slight breeze tousled her hair and skirt in just the right ways. Not that she was hoping anyone would notice, of course.

Rounding the last corner, she spotted him first. He’d dressed himself in a white short-sleeved button down shirt and simple dark-wash jeans. He was leaning against his driver’s side door, and if Marinette didn’t know any better, she could have sworn he was messing with his hair in the side view mirror before he saw her reflection approach.

Adrien whirled around to face her, a lopsided smile on his face, and her breath caught in her throat.

“Good morning Marinette. You’re right on time,” he said.

If you could frame sunshine, it would deeply resemble Adrien’s dopey smile first thing in the morning. His eyes crinkled at the corners as he greeted her, the brightness of the morning bringing out that startling, beautiful green even more. All of that, combined with the way his lean six-foot stature looked in clothes that fit him just right, and Marinette was a goner. At the very least, she thought she’d last a few minutes in his presence before completely succumbing to daydream-land. Evidently not.

She stood a little straighter and took a deep breath. “On time for what, exactly?”

“I am a man of my word. I told you that I would be your tour guide if you ever wanted to see the city. I hope you’re ready for a road trip.” He presented his hands towards his car like a gameshow host showing off a prize.

“Hmm, that’s interesting. Because I don’t remember actually taking you up on that offer,” she teased, biting back laughter as she walked closer to the car.

“Well,” he shrugged and ran a hand through his hair again, a bashful grin on his face, “that’s only because you said you couldn’t get away with it with Alya around. And, oh look, now she’s incredibly busy with Nino all day, which means-”

“You’re ridiculous,” Marinette bit her lip. “Do you go through this much trouble for all of your friends?”

“Only the special ones,” he walked around to open the passenger seat door for her. “Now let’s go, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover. If you still want to, of course.”

“I’d love to.” Marinette took a careful step inside, painfully aware of her flowy dress and how she’d have to sit with her ankles together all day.

In the daylight, Marinette noticed all the details of his car’s interior. Her eyes widened, taking in all the things she’d missed that night while she was fighting to stay conscious. It was an electric model, no doubt one of the more expensive ones on the market, and the center console’s massive screen was lit up with the name and artist of the song playing through the speakers. Not to mention, the entire car was spotless and smelled practically new. A massive floral sun hat sat on top of the dashboard.

“To hide your face,” Adrien explained before she had a chance to question his taste in accessories, “just in case.”

Marinette pulled her messy bun further towards the back of her head before fitting the hat over it. The pale straw and floral brim looked a little vintage, like something a posh woman would have worn in the 1950s. Checking her own reflection in the rearview mirror, she pulled a couple of curled wisps of her hair out from under the hat.

While she styled her hair, Adrien rounded the car and positioned himself comfortably in the driver’s seat. He waited until she’d finished checking her reflection before readjusting the mirrors so he could reverse out of the alley.

“It suits you,” Adrien said as he twisted backwards over his shoulder to look where he was going.

“Just be glad I like florals,” she hoped the squeak in her voice wasn’t blatantly obvious. Luckily, if her warm cheeks gave her away, Adrien’s focus was on the road behind them.

What was it about men driving in reverse that was so attractive? The combination of the intense focus and casual posture, maybe? It was somehow a universal constant and a worldwide mystery at the same time. But clearly, that was not the most important question to be asked at the moment.

“So I’m getting a tour of Los Angeles,” Marinette said. A statement rather than a question.

“Well, LA County,” Adrien explained, putting the car in drive and pulling onto the street. “You haven’t really left the city limits yet, have you? We could drive to Hollywood, Malibu, Beverly Hills. Anywhere you want to go, really. I was tempted to drive over to Anaheim and go to Disneyland but we really need a whole day just for that so I figured we’d start small. Anywhere in particular you want to see?”

“To be honest, I don’t know the difference between any of the places you just mentioned. Except Disneyland. There’s one back home, but...” you knew that already, she finished mentally.

“In that case, let’s definitely scratch that off the future itinerary. The castle here is a lot smaller, I’d hate for you to be underwhelmed.”

The destinations didn’t need to be extravagant to excite her. Her nerves were an untamable beast just sitting there in his passenger seat.

It was incredible how quickly her opinion had pulled a complete 180. Had she really been condemning Alya’s fawning just three - or was it four - days ago? Of course, that was before she’d actually met Adrien.

She wouldn’t be happy to admit she’d been wrong, but the smile that refused to wipe from her face would give away her true feelings eventually. She liked spending time with him, plain and simple. And there was a reason his face was plastered across the world. Good looks and a kind personality were a dangerous combination. Especially when the cute, kind boy was giving her an entire day of his attention for reasons still unknown to her.

“You know, it’s funny,” Marinette thought aloud. “I didn’t tell you that Alya was out today, you just miraculously knew.”

“Huh. That is funny,” Adrien played along. “Call it intuition.”

“Not to mention Alya told me she was going to the mall, but you said she was with Nino. I wonder if you had anything to do with that.”

“What do you mean? I’m sure he wanted to show her his mixtape or whatever it is he does to try and impress girls,” he said, and Marinette snickered. “And I totally didn’t ask him to do that so you could have a free day. I would never meddle like that. What do you make me out to be, some kind of troublemaker?”

“You? No, never.”

“Besides, they kind of hit it off at the party last night, at least from what I saw.”

Marinette’s brow furrowed, all jokes aside now. “Are you trying to set them up?”

“It didn’t start out that way, but if they do end up going out, I’ll be happy for them. Nino usually needs me to be his wingman if he ever tries to get out of his shell and actually flirt with someone. He’s not really good with girls.”

“Oh, but you are?” the words slipped from Marinette’s mouth before she had the chance to think about it.

“You tell me,” he kept his eyes on the road, but the smirk on his face made it clear that this was a challenge.

Marinette gulped, pointedly staring out the window. She was never one to back down from a challenge, though. So she answered honestly. “You give off this trustworthy vibe. Warm. Welcoming. Like you wouldn’t hurt a fly. Unless you wanted to.”

“I’m told I can be pretty destructive if the mood strikes. My dad’s assistant seems to think so anyway. But anything can be twisted and manipulated to look bad in the public’s eye. So I try my best to just be a good person.”

“Well, it’s working. The being a good person thing,” she clarified.

He let the silence linger between them for a moment. “So that’s a yes?”

His charm worked on this girl, that’s for sure.

“Yes,” Marinette said slowly.

Adrien relaxed further into the driver's seat, flashing Marinette another grin. The mood of the entire day seemed to shift just then - there would be no more doubting his intentions. That was the most shameless flirting she’d ever witnessed, let alone participated in. In every way but the title, this was a date.

Alya was going to kill her when she found out.

“Have you had breakfast yet?” Adrien asked, noticeably ignoring the mood he’d just created. “Because there’s this cafe in Santa Monica that claims they have the best crêpes the city has to offer, and none of my other friends can offer an authentic opinion to rival mine.”

“Well, obviously, we have to prove them wrong,” Marinette smiled. “Let’s go.”

A handful of upbeat pop songs and twenty minutes later, a blue slice of ocean and sand appeared over the horizon through the front windshield.

The two of them strolled into the cafe together, Marinette clad in her borrowed hat and Adrien inconspicuous in a pair of dark sunglasses. Up above the cash registers, three massive chalkboard menus with handwritten selections were posted on the walls. Glass cases across the counters were filled to the brim with baked goods.

“Alright,” Adrien lowered his voice playfully, “I need to hear your first impressions. Does this place give off the cute small-business feel that they’re going for, or is it blatantly obvious that they’re trying to be exclusive and trendy to appeal to the pretentious crowd?”

Marinette stifled her laughter with her hand, taking a good look at the pastries in the glass. “Everything is just...covered in sugar and icing. And so expensive.”

Her eyes scanned up and down the menu at the words ‘Coconut de Leche’ and ‘Apple Pear Cinnamon’ and ‘Peanut Butter Banana’ all accompanied with gradually rising price points.

“Nathalie would kill me for eating so much sugar,” Adrien agreed, “which is why I’m dead set on ordering the strawberry nutella flavor. Pick out whatever you want, it’ll be my treat.”

Marinette made a hesitant noise in the back of her throat. “You don’t have to-”

“What kind of all-inclusive tour doesn’t have meals provided? Don’t worry about it, I insist.”

The crêpes she’d typically eat at home were prepared simply with butter and sugar. She could stand in the highly decorated dining area for hours just trying to narrow down the options.

“Strawberries and nutella sounds good…” she mused. “I still doubt any of this stuff is worth the price, though. Two orders would cost as much as a week’s worth of breakfast anywhere else.”

And that snide comment is how Adrien ended up ordering a single plate of strawberry nutella crêpes to share and plucking two forks from the silverware counter before taking his seat across from Marinette at the small table. And as weirdly intimate as the idea seemed, it turned out to be a better choice considering how large the portions were.

“Cheers,” Adrien said, balancing a fork full of whipped cream and chocolate hazelnut spread and absolutely zero nutritional value.

Marinette returned the gesture, taking a bite of her only slightly healthier section.

The overwhelming sweetness coated her tongue and she had to fight not to make a face. Adrien, on the other hand, actually sighed in contentment.

“Oh my god,” he muttered with his mouth half-full at the same time Marinette shrugged and said, “They’re alright, I guess.”

Adrien took another bite and, thankfully, took the time to swallow before speaking again. “Don’t get me wrong, they’re not authentic or good for you in the slightest, but you can’t deny they’re good.”

“You’ve got a sweet tooth, don’t you?”

“Guilty,” he said, flashing her that lopsided smile again.

A swarm of butterflies frantically fluttered in her stomach. “My parents would love to have you around,” she sighed.

“Huh?”

Huh?

“W-what?” she sputtered. “No no no, not like that, I just meant like - around in the bakery. Someone who’s super enthusiastic about all the options. You know, my dad could go on about the benefits of using royal icing over buttercream for ages. And one time he went on a 20 minute rant about how important it is to sift flour before measuring-”

“I get you,” Adrien interrupted. “It’s like when my dad goes on tangents about how empire waists have been out of style since last decade and should have been gone long before then.” He took another bite of strawberry, then smiled softly. “I meant what I said before, by the way. I could absolutely send some of your stuff my dad’s way and let you know what he thinks.”

“And why would you do that for me?” Marinette asked, noting the way he not only ignored her embarrassing musings, but also graciously changed the subject.

Adrien tapped the handle of his fork against his chin, pretending to be deep in thought. “Aside from the fact that you’re incredibly talented? You could also thank me with free desserts.”

Marinette liked that idea very, very much.

---

There was no chance on earth that Marinette believed Alya’s boldfaced lie this morning.

Then again, there was no chance Marinette would guess where Alya’s rideshare actually dropped her off, either.

Part of her excuse was that she wasn’t sure what she was allowed to talk about. One thing she didn’t necessarily want to tell anyone about, at least not yet, was how Nino Lahiffe had returned to the desserts table as the party wound down, stealing the last mini cupcake and leaving a note in its place for her to find.

Hang at my recording studio tomorrow? Does 9am work for you?

The message was followed by what had to be the address to said studio, along with a phone number. The rational part of Alya’s brain screamed that this was a horror movie scenario waiting to happen. The part of her brain that really enjoyed Nino’s company last night won out though, which is how Alya found herself entering the address he’d given her into a rideshare app.

(She’d learned well enough already that cabs were far overpriced. And unlike Marinette, she’d planned ahead and gotten a service plan for this trip. A blogger was never caught unprepared to post.)

The run-down old studio was on the top floor of what looked to be a once successful production office that had fallen victim to time and budgeting issues. Still, the room was soundproofed, the light and air conditioning still worked, and Nino looked right at home amongst the old equipment.

He’d insisted she meet him here and continue their conversation from the party. Alya agreed, playing it as nonchalantly as possible, as if it were everyday that her celebrity crush’s best friend invited her to hang out one-on-one. No big deal.

Alya drew her fingertip through the dust on a nearby shelf. The white particles floated through the stagnant air, eventually settling on a box of outdated vinyl records.

“It’s not much,” Nino admitted. He stood behind an ancient looking (circa-2005) turntable, sheepishly fiddling with the brim of the red cap that he never seemed to take off.

“It’s…” Alya wracked her brain for the least insulting word, eventually setting on, “vintage. Classic.”

Nino brushed his hands across the dozens of control knobs. “I learned everything I know from these reliable old friends. Well, with the help of some online tutorials.” He lowered the needle onto the board and a low thumping tune drifted through the surround sound speakers.

“So I guess you bring girls up here often?” Alya raised an eyebrow at him,

Nino sputtered and coughed, waving a hand in the air as if blaming the dust. “No, it’s just, uh...I figured you’d see all the touristy stuff on your own so I wanted to take you somewhere more...unique?”

“Are you lying to me, Nino?”

He gulped. “Maybe.”

Alya stepped forward, careful to avoid any delicate looking buttons as she leaned on the turntable, looking Nino in the eye.

“I’m providing Adrien an alibi,” he admitted. “And if anyone asks where he’s been today, he can say he was with me. The keypad on the door logs the building entries.”

“So where is he really?”

“I’m actually not sure.” He thought to himself, it wasn’t technically a lie, since Alya didn’t ask anything about who Adrien was with.

This whole secret-keeping business was a lot more complicated than it seemed. Lots of technicalities.

“Oh,” Alya said, sounding disappointed.

“But I am sure that I would much rather chill with a cool girl like you than sit in my studio alone,” Nino said.

Alya stood a little straighter, only slightly bothered by how nice the sudden compliment was.

“You think I’m cool?”

“Well, that, and you did say you wanted to listen to my remix of that guitarist’s number last night.”

Now it was Alya’s turn to start stammering. “You remembered that? I mean - you already finished it?”

“Of course. I worked on it all night. Didn’t want to disappoint you after that pretentious speech I had about rhythm and vibes.”

Alya couldn’t help but laugh. With that, Nino pressed the play button on his laptop and his natural instincts took over, warping the tune like it was second nature as Alya listened intently.

---

Twenty minutes later, after a fairly satisfying meal which Marinette admittedly could only enjoy a few bites of lest she give herself a stomachache, Adrien insisted they walk off all of the sugar and carbs by strolling down the beach.

Well, actually, he’d suggested renting bikes, but the pair both agreed they were neither properly dressed nor athletic enough to attempt that.

Conversation flowed naturally, which was a relief to Marinette. She’d assumed the two of them might come all this way and get stuck alone for hours only to realize they didn’t have much in common and their tourist-y day would slow to an awkward halt.

Instead, their complete lack of commonalities was exactly what fueled their ongoing discussion. Marinette couldn’t remember how exactly they’d found themselves on their current topic.

“Nope, I don’t believe it,” Adrien insisted. “No one is unphotogenic. The idea of good angles is entirely made up.”

“Says the boy who grew up in front of cameras,” Marinette pointed out.

Adrien shrugged. “So I have a bit of practice, sure, but I’d be nothing without the skill of photographers and lighting experts. They’re the ones who really make or break a good picture. Anyone who claims they’re a natural in front of the camera always has a team behind the lens making sure that claim can’t be proven wrong.”

“Well that isn’t really fair. It’s easy to look good when there’s a team of people helping you.”

“Sometimes you don’t need a team. Sometimes you just need a good hype man to get you feeling confident, and the rest comes naturally,” Adrien reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. The device was so familiar to Marinette by now that she had to stifle a badly timed joke about him losing it again. With a quick swipe, he opened the camera and gestured to Marinette. “Go stand at the edge of the water, I’ll prove it.”

Marinette nearly stumbled at the suggestion. “Who, me?”

“Yes, you,” Adrien said playfully. “It’s fun to be on the other side of this sometimes.”

Marinette took a few hesitant steps towards the water, her sandaled feet sinking into the sand and making her feel just slightly off balance. Feeling bold, she kicked off her shoes. Behind her, she could hear Adrien’s encouraging voice coaxing her to get closer so that the water lapped up just above her ankles. But her eyes were trained on the horizon. The expanse of sea water stretched on so endlessly it was almost hard to believe it was real and that she’d just flown over it, albeit on the other coast. The reflection of the sunlight on the waves in the distance nearly blinded her.

“Is the sun always so bright here?” she asked as stars danced in her vision.

“I guess so,” Adrien shrugged. “You get used to it after a while. Look this way for me?”

Marinette did as she was told, shyly glancing over her shoulder, glad to turn away from the brightness.

“The camera already loves you, you just have to act like it,” Adrien smiled his brilliant smile at her, which she returned earnestly.

Alya had dragged her into countless selfies in the past, but aside from a few token solo shots during holiday photos with her family, she couldn’t remember the last time someone took a picture just of her.

Meanwhile, Adrien was adjusting his stance, apparently determined to get a specific angle. “Now remember,” he called, “the outfit just accentuates the person wearing it. You own that dress, the dress doesn’t own you.”

“I’d hope so, considering I made it,” Marinette joked back.

Adrien lowered his phone slightly, his smile widening and sending all sorts of tingling feelings down Marinette’s spine. “I had a feeling, since it fits so perfectly. But remember, you’re the main attraction here.”

“Is this what your photographers say to you during photoshoots?”

Adrien snapped one last picture, then shrugged. “I know, it’s kind of ridiculous, but strangely enough it works sometimes. Here, look at this.”

He gestured for Marinette to come take a look. She quickly bent down and retrieved her shoes before falling back into a comfortable stride at his side. She hadn’t even really posed for the photos, and yet somehow, they’d turned out decent. There were a few in-motion shots of her walking towards the water, and a fun one of her shoe slipping off her foot that made her think of a certain glass-slippered princess.

One in particular, he had captured just as she turned around to sass him about her dress. Her mouth was open mid-sentence, but her genuine smile as she spoke looked more like one of those fake-candids that you’d see in catalogs.

“I’m impressed,” she admitted. “Though I still don’t know if I’ll ever be really comfortable getting my photo taken.”

“Most people aren’t. I used to do this for Chloe all the time, and then she got a little too comfortable, so I guess I have to take the blame for that.”

Adrien laughed almost to himself, like he had just remembered an inside joke. It was so oddly fond that it sparked another question in Marinette’s mind, one she almost felt embarrassed to ask, but the curiosity would kill her if she didn’t speak up.

“So you and Chloe are pretty close, huh?” she tried to come off casual. Not that she cared if there was something more between them, of course.

At that, Adrien laughed a little louder. “You could say that. Chloe and I have been friends since we were in diapers. My dad and her mom are ‘old college buddies’,” he emphasized the phrase with air quotes, “which I’m convinced is code for they used to date and refuse to admit it.”

“So if things worked out differently, you two could have been siblings,” the thought left her mouth before her brain could tell her to shut up.

Adrien made a strangled noise in the back of his throat, somewhere between disgust and amusement. “I try not to think about it, considering Chloe was practically in love with me when we were kids. I think she’s gotten over it by now, though. Besides, I could not deal with having Audrey Bourgeois as a mother.”

Marinette held in a sigh of relief - then internally chastised herself for feeling relieved - before continuing. “Is she really that bad?”

“Let’s just say I’m better off only having to deal with my dad and Nathalie.”

Marinette bit back her next question. By now, it wasn’t a coincidence that Adrien was skirting around any mention of his mother. Perhaps she wasn’t in the picture anymore, and the last thing Marinette wanted to do was dig up old buried conflicts. But her curiosity lingered regardless.

Adrien was still smiling at his phone. “Marinette, what’s your phone number?”

Well that snapped her out of her train of thought fairly quickly. “I already told you, I don’t-”

“I know,” Adrien reassured her. “No service right now. But in case you ever delete the messenger app I still have a way to send these photos to you.”

Marinette looked him up and down, skeptical.

“And to be honest,” Adrien continued, “I’ve never properly asked for a girl’s number before and I wanted to maybe try and succeed this time? Plus, you already have mine, and once you leave I can’t call up to your hotel room and I’d hate for us to stop talking once you get back home.”

Were her eyes deceiving her, or was he blushing? Her face was likely equally red, but she found her words eventually.

“You’ve really never asked a girl for her number?” she asked, taking Adrien’s phone and entering her number in his contacts. She quickly set the Cinderella photo as her contact image for good measure.

“Well I don’t date much, so no.”

Marinette froze in her tracks.

“Is that what this is?” she asked, her voice shallow.

“Hm?” he smiled, taking his phone back.

“A date,” Marinette said, hoping she didn’t sound as nervous as she felt. And as awkward as it was, her brain felt the need to clarify. It was one thing to shamelessly flirt back and forth and another to confirm it in words. “Are we on a date...right now?”

“Well let’s see,” Adrien counted on his fingertips. “I picked you up at your place-”

“Down the street, technically.”

“I insisted that I treat you to a nice meal-”

“Which was mostly sugar.”

“And we took a nice seaside stroll-”

“Still in progress, final opinions are still to follow.”

Marinette feared she had gone too far with the teasing, but Adrien was beaming at her, which only made her flush brighter red.

“Okay, well, what else do we need to do to qualify this as a proper date?” he asked.

Considering her own history of almost-relationships and failed crushes, Marinette wasn’t even sure herself. Though one specific thing associated with first dates came to mind that raised her body temperature significantly. Did she want to kiss him? Evidently, her traitorous eyes answered for her, glancing down at Adrien’s lips for a moment too long. Thankfully when she caught his eye, he hadn’t seemed to notice.

“I guess we’ll have to find out,” she played it off. “What else did you have in mind for the day, tour guide?”

“Let’s see where the day takes us, shall we?” Adrien reached out and offered his hand. With a shy smile, Marinette wrapped her fingers around him, marveling at how much bigger his hand was than hers.

Gently tugging her along, he led them up towards the crowds of Santa Monica pier.

---

Chloe Bourgeois didn’t think it was much to ask for at least one of Audrey’s assistants to answer the phone. Especially after she’d flown across an entire ocean to meet her mother halfway.

But she’d been calling at least six times a day with no reply.

Adrien and Nino had let her have her space, seeing how upset she was after phone call number fourteen. She spent the morning pacing around the Agreste house, feeling like an unwelcome guest both in the house and in her mother’s mind.

As much as she tried to hide her disappointment with parties and photos and stories about how much fun she was having, deep down, it was exhausting endlessly wishing for an outcome she knew would never happen.

“Chloe?”

Nathalie knocked politely on the doorframe despite the door to the lounge being open, and upon spotting Chloe, she gave one of her signature frowns. It was a look that held many meanings - usually disapproval at something Adrien said or did, often frustration about Gabriel’s approach at running his business. But this frown said even more. Nathalie had worked closely with Audrey and the Bourgeois family almost as long as she had been with the Agrestes. Audrey’s absence was to be expected, but that didn’t mean Nathalie was heartless. She understood completely how Chloe felt.

“Would you like me to order you lunch?”

“No, that’s okay,” Chloe sank further into the pillows of the loveseat, still adamantly holding onto her phone and hoping it would ring.

Nathalie lingered for another moment. “Well if you need anything, you know where to find me.”

She appreciated the offer. But right now, if Chloe couldn’t see her mother, she just wanted to be alone.

---

Five songs later, Nino was running out of ideas. He hadn’t made any plans past the initial remix or two, and Adrien had advised him that conversation would flow naturally.

Easy for him to say.

Alya peered up at him over the top rim of her glasses, her stare intent and just a bit off putting.

“Sorry if this is super boring, if you wanted to get food or something we could-”

“No, it's not that,” she said, “I actually had a question for you, but I didn’t know if it would be weird to ask.”

If it were any weirder than him inviting her to his studio seemingly unprompted, he’d be surprised.

Still, “Can I interview you for my blog?” was not what he expected her to say.

“What’s your blog about?” he asked. If the answer wasn’t amateur DJ-ing he wasn’t sure what help his knowledge would be.

“Well, it’s more of a fansite,” she hesitated, then muttered, “aboutadrienagreste.”

“Sorry, what was that last part?”

Alya sighed. “Okay, so I kind of have a blog about your best friend. Is that weird? It’s weird, isn’t it? I should have deleted it a long time ago and it’s not even really as popular as it used to be ever since I started doing my write-ups instead of posting pictures-”

“Hey, slow down,” he went to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder but stopped halfway through the motion, leaving them at an awkward hover hand standstill. “I don’t think it’s weird, I’m very used to Adrien having fans. Plus, we’ve all got our hobbies that we’re a little embarrassed about,” he gestured around the room.

Alya chewed her lip nervously.

“What are your write-ups about?”

“It’s just something new I’ve been trying. Talking about celebrity culture and stuff. You know, the laws around paparazzi and privacy, how famous people usually have secret social media for family and close friends, the ethics of childhood stardom. Stuff like that.” She didn’t give Nino a moment to react before prattling on. “I’ve only posted a few and they aren’t doing well. People just see my blog as a place to find out about Adrien, so I aim to please, but I want to do more than that. Like giving more genuine, thoughtful posts. But those lose followers, so I’m stuck doing something that’s not really that fun anymore just because it’s been my hobby for so long and I don’t know how to branch out.”

Nino stared. Alya stared back. Silence stretched across the room.

Then, Alya cringed and looked away. “That was a lot, sorry.”

“Don’t be. That’s amazing Alya, how can you think that’s weird? See, if I had a blog about Adrien while also being his best friend, that would be kind of weird,” Nino laughed. “But what you’re doing isn’t just blogging, it's journalism. And I’d love to be interviewed by you. Only problem is, I kind of don’t know how any of this works.”

Of all the things he’d said, that last part was the most surprising to Alya. “You’ve never been interviewed before?”

“Nope,” he laughed. “Maybe I should go blonde and constantly wear sunglasses indoors, that’ll get some attention.”

“I’m serious.”

“I am too. Nobody really knows who I am.”

“I do!” Alya said a bit too loudly. “...and there I go, being weird again.”

Nino paused. “So when I found you at the club and helped you back to your hotel?”

“Oh, I totally pretended not to know your name,” she admitted. By some kind of miracle, Nino didn’t get upset at all. In fact, he was still smiling at her.

“And here I was trying to make a good first impression with a cute girl, turns out she’s already aware of how much of a loser I am.”

Though she blushed at the ‘cute’ comment, she ignored it. Instead, she filed it away in her brain for later: cute boy also thinks I’m cute.

“Not true,” she said. “All I really knew was your name and your face. Which is hard to forget considering you wear the same thing every day.”

“It’s a statement,” he teased, playing with his hat again.

“And in any case, I don’t interview losers,” Alya said, opening the recording app on her phone. “So let’s start with the basics…”

---

Marinette and Adrien found themselves winding through crowds, attractions, and shops on the pier. And they were still holding hands. Which Marinette was trying her best not to spontaneously combust over.

If Adrien had any concern about being recognized by the large groups of people, he didn’t show it. Rather, he walked confidently with his head held high. The less he tried to hide, Marinette realized, the more he blended right in.

There were just as many interesting stores and attractions as there were peddlers and tacky merchandise designed to pressure tourists into dropping every cent. From fidget toys to phone accessories and everything in between. One particular stand, however, caught Marinette’s attention.

An older man went almost entirely unnoticed by the crowd as he tried to sell flowers. As they passed by, the man working the stall gestured insistently, practically shoving the individually wrapped floral stems at pedestrians who pointedly moved past, avoiding eye contact.

“Only five dollars!” the man hawked. “A beautiful rose for a beautiful lady!”

Mariette was fully prepared to try and blend in with the rest of the crowd and move on, but she felt a tug at her elbow. As she whirled around, she found herself face-to-face with Adrien with his head bowed slightly, a playful look in his eye, and a single red rose in his hand presented out to her.

“For you, my lady,” he said playfully, jutting his head at the seller. “The man insists.”

Marinette felt her jaw fall slack, not knowing whether she should thank him or laugh. To be fair, the whole gesture felt just a little over the top. So she settled on asking: “Are you really going to pay for that?”

Adrien laughed with her, straightening back up and wordlessly handing the man a bill from his pocket as they moved on.

“It’s no big deal,” he said, still insistently holding the flower out towards her. “You said you liked florals right? Just the pattern, or real flowers too?”

“I think roses are a little overrated,” she admitted, taking the delicate flower in her hands. “Beautiful, of course, but there are so many other flowers that deserve recognition. Like lilies. Or daisies. Or daffodils. And -” she clamped her mouth shut as Adrien shot her another lopsided smile. “What?”

“I’ve just...never known anyone to have such strong opinions on flower popularity,” Adrien said. “I’m impressed you remember the English words for so many of them. I still forget more uncommon words sometimes, especially considering it’s not everyday you sit around and chat about floral arrangements.”

“Well, thank you,” she felt an odd surge of pride. “I suppose I could have just been speaking French with you this whole time.”

“By all means, speak whatever you’re most comfortable with,” he insisted. “But I like hearing you speak English. Your accent is cute.”

Marinette charged on in her second tongue, pointedly trying to ignore how hot her face was. “I’m still so surprised that you got rid of yours entirely.”

“Not entirely. I let it slip when I’m negotiating sometimes. People find it charming.”

“Oh, I’m sure they do,” she replied, but he wasn’t listening.

He was staring at something straight ahead. A tall something, with neon lights illuminating its metal frame. The blue and purple glow reflected off his mischievous green eyes, while Marinette’s stomach plummeted. There was a lot that Adrien’s charming smile could convince her to do in this moment, but getting on a ferris wheel was where she drew the line. She clutched the rose in her hand hard enough to prick her finger on a thorn, and her sharp intake of breath finally caught Adrien’s attention.

Without hesitation, he reached down and took her hand, surveying the damage. “Damn it,” he muttered. “I should have checked for thorns before I gave it to you. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she shrugged. “It’s not a big deal-”

He lifted her hand to his mouth and pressed a lingering kiss to the back of it, quickly snuffing out any other words her brain was attempting to conjure up.

A sea of hundreds of people rushed by, but in that moment, Adrien was the only thing in crystal-clear focus. And his eyes refused to stray from hers, looking intently as she slowly melted under his gaze.

“I didn’t mean to make you nervous,” he said playfully, his hushed tone only making her lose focus even more.

For a boy who supposedly didn’t date much, Adrien knew exactly what he was doing. And Marinette found herself caught in his web, with no intention of trying to escape.

“We don’t have to go up there if you don’t want to. We can look at the other shops, or go find someplace for dinner, or…” he took a step closer, his eyes shifting down to her lips, “...whatever you’d like to do.”

If she stood on her tiptoes, it would take only the tiniest effort to close the distance between them. The idea was so tempting that she found herself rising to meet his level almost involuntarily.

Out of the corner of her eye, just over Adrien’s shoulder, Marinette saw a girl staring directly at them, the look on her face unmistakable. The phone in her hand, pointed directly at them, spelled even more trouble.

Marinette ducked quickly, hiding her face under the brim of her hat, cursing the girl and her camera and the fact that she was so close to-

“What’s wrong?” Adrien instinctively hid his face, looking anywhere but in the direction Marinette was facing. Was he really so accustomed to this that his first instinct was to hide from anything and everything?

“Cameras,” Marinette mumbled, and Adrien immediately sprang into action. His hand pressed against her lower back, guiding her further up the pier back towards the denser cluster of buildings. She cursed herself for how her heart fluttered in her chest at his touch. This was not the time to be thinking about that.

Marinette’s shorter legs struggled to keep pace with Adrien’s, but he kept her close by, moving his hand from her back to her arm and rushing her along, still careful not to lose her in the crowd. He spoke hushed and urgent. “Did they see anything?”

“I don’t think so,” Marinette replied. “I think I was quick enough. I don’t get how anyone can recognize you when there’s so many people out here.”

“You’d be surprised,” his voice took on a harsh edge. “I really can’t have a single day of peace, huh?”

He pulled on her arm, dragging her close behind as he ducked into an alleyway. Allowing Marinette a moment to catch her breath, he glanced around to check for prying eyes. After a full minute of no interruptions, he allowed the tension to release from his shoulders.

“I think the coast is clear,” Adrien sighed. “I’m so sorry about this, but we’re probably going to have to call it a night. I’ve got to do damage control in case someone got pictures. Here, I can call a private car to get us back to where I parked, then I can take you home. Plus, I can get dinner sent to your room as an apology. Let me make a few calls and I can-”

“Adrien,” Marinette interrupted. “Isn’t this a bit….much?”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate how kind you’ve been. But this is all just so elaborate and extreme. It seems kind of...unreal.”

“Oh, it is,” he laughed humorlessly. His eyes widened with the realization of how that sounded. “Not that I haven’t had a great time. But we could have had just as much fun without…all of this. It’s just what I’ve come to expect out of my life, always doing the most with everything just because I can. Or because I’m encouraged to, really.”

Marinette frowned slightly. “Don’t you get bored of it?”

“Every day,” he answered, a small smile sneaking its way onto his face. “But today I got to share it with someone new.”

“Well, you’ve been incredibly generous,” she said, her voice gaining a new confident edge. “Now it’s my turn. Can I share something with you?”

Reaching into her bag - fumbling through the dark and trying her hardest not to knock her elbows into anything or anyone - she slipped a folded piece of paper from her bag. She’d felt a bit silly carrying it around all day, but a moment like this wasn’t going to present itself again. Today was about taking risks, in more ways than one. So she slipped the paper into Adrien’s hand, only hesitating slightly before letting it go. Her eyes couldn’t decide whether to watch as he opened it or to avoid looking in his direction altogether, so she settled on glancing away toward the street, pretending to be on the lookout for anyone who may have followed them here.

“Is this…?” Adrien’s eyes widened.

“They were just a few ideas I had-” Marinette said quickly. “I mean, you did offer to show your dad some of my sketches, and if this isn’t his style I have a few more examples, but I know you saw this one and liked it so… yeah.”

She held her breath as his eyes scanned over the page from her sketchbook. She’d torn it out this morning and carefully folded it into a perfect square, waiting for the perfect moment. Just the thought of Gabriel Agreste seeing her art made her nauseous, but after the day she’d just spent with Adrien, her confidence had risen to a new extreme. Nothing any man could say would bring her down from the joy she’d already experienced. And if he ended up liking her designs, it’d just be the cherry on top.

“He’s going to love it,” Adrien breathed. “I promise. Thank you for trusting me with this.”

The thought occurred to her suddenly, that she was trusting him with more than just her passion. She was also beginning to trust him with her heart. And to her surprise, she wasn’t afraid of either of those things. She gave him a small smile, hoping she was adequately hiding the way her entire body felt alight.

“I don’t know about you, but I’d call this a pretty successful date, despite the unfortunate ending,” Adrien teased. He refolded Marinette’s sketch and slipped it into his pocket before taking her hand into his. “Here, let’s get you back home.”

- - -

Before they knew it, hours had passed, and Alya and Nino had moved far beyond the basics. The impromptu interview was clunky at first - Alya didn’t want to cross any boundaries, but the greedy fangirl in the back of her mind wanted to know everything. The proper friend at the forefront of her mind, however, wanted to respect Adrien’s privacy, and hew newfound fondness for her favorite celebrity’s reclusive best friend reframed her entire approach to the situation.

In the end, she ended up asking Nino a lot more questions about himself than she was expecting to. So naturally, the interview quickly melted into a conversation between new friends, so much so that Alya had sneakily reached down and stopped recording. She told her blog a lot, but not everything.

Nino wanted to be a music producer when he got older. He had a younger brother. He refused to wear Gabriel brand clothing because of a bet he and Adrien made as children. He was actually fairly fond of Chloe Bourgeois, and Chloe herself actually had a fair share of redeeming qualities if you got to know her, but that's another story for another time - this interview was about Adrien, after all. Wasn’t it?

At this point, Alya wasn’t sure which boy she was more curious about anymore.

The next question was rudely interrupted by Nino’s phone ringing. An old photo of Nino and Adrien, probably around middle-school age, popped up on his lockscreen. Nino answered the call right away, putting the phone on speaker.

“How’s it going, dude?”

“Really well,” Adrien sounded positively elated. “Thanks for the cover up today. I’ll be heading back to the house soon, can we meet up in half an hour?”

Nino hesitated, glancing up at Alya. It struck him suddenly that he wasn’t ready for this rendezvous to be over. And judging from the look on her face, neither did she.

Go, Alya mouthed at him with a reassuring nod.

“Yeah, I’m finishing up at the studio now,” Nino said aloud. “I’ll meet you there.”

“You’re a lifesaver, dude.”

“I know,” Nino ended the call with a small sigh.

Alya tilted her head at him. “You are a good friend, you know that, right?”

Nino said nothing in response, choosing instead to answer with a half-hearted shrug.

“Besides,” Alya continued. “It’s been a long day, and I’ve got to write down this interview to draft up a post soon, so I should get going anyway.”

A subtle, suggestive look passed between them. Over the past twenty-four hours, they’d already learned far more about one another than they had ever planned, and there were already multiple calendar events marked down where they’d surely be running into each other again. They were far past the need of exchanging pleasantries and polite hints - this was an odd, unexpected little bond that would continue to grow if they let it.

Alya quickly pulled up her rideshare app and scheduled her trip back to the hotel before heading towards the door of the studio. Just as Nino opened his mouth to say something - a goodbye or a thank you or a question of continuing their conversation - Alya stopped him with a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“You don’t have to tell me what Adrien was up to, I trust you’re covering for him for a good reason. Feel free to use me as a fake alibi whenever you need to,” she smirked, then walked out the front entrance.

- - -

Even after the mishap on the pier, Adrien insisted on walking Marinette to the door.

“What kind of gentleman would leave his lady to walk home on her own?”

“Oh, I’m a lady now?” Marinette teased as they rounded the corner, the glittering doors of the hotel coming into view. “How formal.”

Adrien laughed. “Hopefully next time we’ll be able to end things on a more positive note. That is, if you’re willing to give me another chance.”

As embarrassing as it was to admit even to herself, she’d been thinking about what next time might entail ever since they got back to the car. Nothing about this trip had been going to plan, and she was starting to relish in the chaos and spontaneity of it all. Being with Adrien introduced her to a new kind of excitement - a rush that consumed every part of her brain until she couldn’t think straight anymore. All she wanted was another unplanned adventure. And maybe, just maybe, to kiss the cute boy who she’d grown so fondly of. And as they slowed to a halt at the front door of the hotel, she thought it may just be worth it to try once more before the night was over. It would be one sure-fire way of assuring him that she definitely wanted to give him another chance.

A car horn blaring at the nearby intersection promptly distracted her from that thought, making her flinch while Adrien looked around nervously. Still on edge, clearly.

“Maybe a nice private dinner somewhere, next time?” Adrien suggested.

Marinette smiled. “I’d like that a lot.”

“Bonne nuit, Marinette,” he whispered, pressing his lips to her cheek softly. “À bientôt.”

Her breath caught in her throat. Any coherent words, English or French, vanished entirely from her vocabulary. With that, he turned away from her and walked off into the night.

Thankfully, this time, she hadn’t lost her key. By the time she trudged her way through the halls of the hotel and back to her room, her mind was racing. And she didn’t have anywhere to put all of the emotions she was feeling, she couldn’t even tell her best friend-

Who was sitting at the kitchen island waiting up for her the moment she opened the door.

“Alya!” Marinette squeaked, then cringed at her own guilty pitch change. “How was the mall?”

“Good,” Alya answered stiffly. “I uh… got the dress I was looking for. Where were you?”

“On a walk,” Marinette answered equally as stiffly. “Thought some fresh air would help with my headache.”

Alya was lying to her. But she was lying to Alya too. And a nagging thought in the back of her mind told her that both of them were equally aware of the other’s deception. And yet, neither of them were brave enough to break the facade, either.

“Do you think my mom will feel up for ordering takeout tonight?” Alya quickly changed the subject. “I’m starving.”

Marinette nodded, trying not to think of strawberries and hazelnuts, of private dinners and kind green eyes.

“Me too.”

#miraculous ladybug #ml fic #adrienette #some kind of miracle #my writing #me? taking two and half years to update my fic? it's more likely than you think #here's almost 10k in fluff as an apology for me being The Worst

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p-artsypants · 3 years

Text

The Ghost of Smokey Joe (4)

You’ve Got Me VooDoo’d

Adrien Agreste was acting bizarre. Stilted body language, plastic smile, and he seemed to have forgotten how close they were. Before she can get the truth out of him, Marinette finds herself as the sole heir to the Gabriel brand and the mansion, following the murder-suicide of both Adrien and Gabriel Agreste. The mystery continues as Tikki explains that Adrien was Chat Noir...but if Adrien is six feet under, why is Chat Noir still running around?

Ao3 | FF.net

“Have either of you talked to Adrien lately?”

Nino scoffed from his place on the couch. “You mean Mr. Roboto? Yeah, he’s been a blast. What did you do, Marinette?”

“Me?! I didn’t do anything!”

“Well he wasn’t this weird until your failed date night.”

“I know that! And I also know that I did nothing wrong!” She scolded.

“Mari’s right,” said Alya. “Sunshine’s transformation is probably a side effect of his dear old dad.”

“What did Gabriel do?” Asked Marinette.

“Don’t you remember? He’s a great designer, and apparently a cool boss, but he’s a super shitty dad.”

“Yeah. But ever since Adrien turned 18, he’s mellowed out. Somewhat.”

“So? He probably cranked it back up. When was the last time you saw Adrien outside of the mansion?”

Marinette blinked. “God, like two weeks ago, before ‘my failed date night’.”

“Exactly. If you ask me, Sunshine is depressed. Or forbidden from showing emotion.”

Marinette clutched at her chest, the very notion sending a throb to her heart.

“I’m going to talk to him tomorrow. I’ll sneak up on him, so Nathalie doesn’t know. Maybe without her talking to him beforehand, he’ll feel more relaxed.”

“That’s a good plan! And if he has a camera in his room?”

“Um…I’ll write a note! Not an email, in case his dad is monitoring it, but an actual, physical note.” It was as good enough of a plan as it could be, though she had neglected to mention to them the tiny detail of Adrien’s document.

‘Your name is Adrien Agreste’ it said.

Why would he be reading such a thing? Did he have amnesia and Gabriel was trying to keep it quiet? Extremely early onset Alzheimer’s? That’s the only thing that made sense.

Still, Marinette opted to not mention this. It was her clue to the mystery. Maybe later.

Just like some magic potion

You fill me with emotion

You control my very soul

You've Got Me Voodoo'd

“You could at least respond with ‘k’.”

The reply was immediate. “K.”

“Oh, so now you’re talking to me?”

“K.”

“Did I do something?”

“K”

“That doesn’t even make any sense!”

“K”

“You’re really pissing me off, Agreste.”

“K”

Marinette put her phone down for her own health. After a morning in the office, and not getting a response from Adrien, she was beyond frustrated.

If he had a problem with her, fine, but they had work to do! He still had a job at the company, outside of being a model, and some of her work relied on him.

It was coming in, slowly, poorly, and mostly wrong. Besides modeling, he was an assistant in sizing, making sure that their clothes were made to be close to the market standard, and flattering for as many possible body types. They did do custom orders, of course, but for the average consumer, it was important that they ordered what they wanted, and received what they expected.

But Adrien’s measurements were wildly wrong. Women’s extra large shirts didn’t gain inches in the bust, waist, and arms respectively, but the whole outfit scaled evenly.

Meaning that if an average small was 16 inches long, instead of gaining one or two inches, it reached down to the knees. Shoulder seams fell halfway down the bicep, and sleeves continued a few inches over their hands.

The models in testing looked like children wearing their parents' clothes.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng, I have to ask you about this collection and the…interesting sizing you’ve decided to take.” One of the sales reps asked, right outside her office.

“It’s wrong,” Marinette clarified. “It should have been caught before prototypes were made, but there’s been a hiccup in the production.” She stood, and put on her purse. There was no way to solve this problem without talking to Adrien. And goddamnit, she was going to make him talk!

“See to it that it’s corrected immediately. With Gabriel’s nearly complete absence, this collection is way behind. Aubrey Bourgeois already has her fall collection out!”

“Yes, I know. I’m heading over to the manor now to get some concrete answers. Hopefully by tomorrow, we’ll get our sizing corrected.”

“I hope you do.”

Marinette hurried down the hall, coworkers giving her concerned glances.

It was pretty obvious, even to those who weren’t immediately in the office:

The company was a sinking ship, and Marinette was the only one who had a bucket.

You knew the goddess Venus

Would start this love between us

You inspired me with desire

You've Got Me Voodoo'd

Marinette let herself into the manor, though it wasn’t her day to work there. Thankfully, it seemed like Nathalie was too busy to notice her arrival.

Up at Adrien’s bedroom door, she was about to knock. Then she noticed his door was cracked open.

Surely spying on him slightly wouldn’t be wrong?

She pushed the door open a little more for her to peek through.

On the other side of the room, staring out the window, stood Adrien. And that’s all he did. He just stood looking out the window. The lights in the room were off, backlighting his silhouette. She watched him for a moment, waiting. Nothing.

Then she knocked. “Adrien? Are you decent?”

“Yes, I am.” He spoke formally.

She opened the door fully, and he turned to look at her with the most plastic smile she had ever seen.

He didn’t have his dimples.

“Hello Marinette, it’s nice to see you. I didn’t know you were working here today.”

“Nice to see you too. I haven’t had the chance to talk to you properly the last few days, you’ve been so busy.”

“I have been, I apologize.”

“It’s not your fault. I know how your father is.” She took a seat on the couch, and pulled out her salad from her bag. “Sorry, I’d wait to eat with you, but I’m so hungry.”

“You may eat. I understand.” Though he just stared at her, still smiling, and still standing.

“Are you going to sit?”

“I can.” He sat next to her, leaving a cushion of space in-between. Normally, he would practically be in her lap.

“You don’t need to be so formal, you know. We’re alone.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

She frowned slightly. “You don’t need to apologize. Just like...relax.”

Adrien looked at her, before exhaling loudly and sinking into the couch more. “Is this relaxed enough?”

She shrugged.

“What did you want to talk about?”

“I just wanted to see how you were doing.”

“Doing?”

“Yeah, you’ve been acting super weird lately.”

He tilted his head slightly. “Weird? How so?”

“I don’t know, stiff? Formal? Just kind of...stand off-ish. And forgetful. There've been some pretty obvious mistakes in sizing for this collection, and you approved them. You haven’t been in the office the last few days, so I was worried.”

He considered this. “I’m sorry if my absence caused you any inconveniences. I wasn’t aware I needed to be at the office.”

She blinked a few times, incredulously. This was absolutely bizarre. “You don’t need to be there, you just usually hang around after shoots or fittings and keep me company.”

“Oh, because we are friends, right? My good friend Marinette.”

“Yes!” She slammed her Tupperware down. “This is what I’m talking about! It’s like you don’t know who I am!”

He frowned, the expression running lines in his face. “I’m sorry, Marinette. I’m having a hard time right now, and I’m kind of exhausted. I’m…kind of confused.”

She took a calming breath. “Okay. I get it. You’re stressed. Let’s talk this out though, okay?”

He twisted up his mouth in thought. “Okay, what would you like to talk about?”

“What’s got you stressed? Is your dad breathing down your neck? Are deadlines too much to handle with modeling too? Do you need a vacation?”

He stared at her, blankly. “I’m not sure. I would have to think about it.”

“Well, you know you can talk to me about anything. I care a lot about you, Adrien.”

“Oh…that’s nice.” He smiled and patted her hand.

It sounded incredibly patronizing. And it hurt.

“What is up with you? You’ve been acting so strange! You’re not the boy I know!”

You knew you had the power

And even picked the hour

When the full moon was up above

I was hypnotized when I looked into your eyes

My heart was filled with love

The unbelievable plastic smile shifted then, relaxing ever so slowly, until it was gone, and it almost seemed like it was never there.

“You should go.” Adrien said, hollowly.

“What?”

“You should leave now. I don’t think you should be here. Does Nathalie know you are here?”

Marinette swallowed. “No, she doesn’t. I mean—I didn’t think you’d mind. You usually like it when I come to hang out…” she looked to the floor, “at least you used to.”

“Please give me thorough warning the next time you need to speak with me.”

She snapped the lid back on her lunch, the second time she had done so. She only had a few bites, just like last time.

And food just didn’t taste as good without him around.

“Fine. You know what? I won’t bother you again. Next time, I’ll send an email, like I do with all my other co-workers.” She slid her lunch into her bag, and stood. “The sizing for this collection needs some serious work, and I’ve been the one to have to fix it, on top of all my other responsibilities. Please do better next time, Mr. Agreste.” She shouldered her bag, and walked out.

Once the door slammed behind her, she let the tears gather in her eyes, but didn’t let them fall.

So it was over then. Her friendship with Adrien, her best friend, was over. And she wasn’t getting an explanation.

“Marinette,” Tikki said, sadly. “It can’t be your fault. You didn’t do anything.”

“I know. And that’s the worst part. Because that means I can’t fix it.”

She left the Agreste mansion that day, not knowing the next time she walked through those doors, life would be completely different.

Just like the siren Circe

You've got me at your mercy

Always to be brave and bold

Mama, You've Got Me Voodoo'd

It was late. Too late for anyone to be calling, and yet, here her phone was ringing. Marinette fumbled for it. Grabbing it and blinding herself with the screen.

It was 3am, and Adrien was calling her.

She loved a late night confession as much as the next girl, but she had a presentation in the morning. What was he thinking?

She hoped it was an apology. Maybe he was finally going to break down and tell her everything that was going wrong.

Or maybe he was going to confess he didn’t actually know how clothing measurements worked and he’d been guessing the whole time.

“Hello?” She grumbled.

“Marinette.” His voice was so stern, so cold, it gave her goosebumps. “Did I wake you?” He asked, softer.

“Yeah.”

“Sorry, but it’s important.”

“Okay. What’s up?”

“I’m sorry.” He breathed. “You were right. I’m not the boy you knew.”

More awake now, she sat up in bed. This had obviously been driving him wild for a while. “We all change, Adrien. It’s okay. If you’re going through something, I’m here for you. Just be honest with me.”

“That’s not—“ he sighed, a growl at the end. “Look, just…I don’t have much time. I don’t know what he—what I was going to tell you that night, but it probably wasn’t good.”

Another voice was on his end of the line. “What are you doing?! Who are you talking to?!”

“Shit. Just look in the basement!”

“What?!”

“How dare you!”

“Let go of me!”

And the line went dead.

What. The. Hell.

She called him back, now completely wide awake.

“Hey there, it’s Adrien, I’m not available to answer right now…”

All the chapter titles are songs from my spooky halloween playlist that inspired this fic (and their lyrics will be in the chapters)! You can find that playlist here. The playlist will be updated as the fic goes on.

I hope to post the last chapter on Halloween!

#ml #miraculous ladybug #fanfiction #adrienette #ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #chat noir #the ghost of Smokey Joe

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peterxwade24 · 4 years

Text

BWYD Chapter 12

Caline Bustier, Alya Cesaire and Lila Rossi Meet Bruce Wayne

Marinette bolted awake, not for the first time since they had relocated to Paris, from a nightmare she couldn’t remember the details of. Houdini, previously settled on her legs, stared at her with his blood red eyes as he slunk off through the bathroom to Damian’s room. Oberon, settled in his dog bed beside her bed, simply looked up at her before huffing and settling back down into his dog bed. She threaded her fingers through her hair and sighed. She slid out of her bed, the black and yellow striped shirt (she snatched from her Ubaba before they left) she wore clung to her legs while the red, green and yellow striped shorts she wore were tied around her waist. She slid her feet into blue slippers before she walked through the apartment to the kitchen to begin that night’s round of stress baking.

---

Tim walked into the kitchen at five in the morning fully prepared to begin his morning ritual but pulled up short when he saw the freshly brewed pot of coffee and a coffee mug sat on the counter. He took a deep breath, inhaling the tell-tale scent of coffee and freshly baked goods. He looked around the kitchen, seeing a pan of scones beside a pan of sesame balls cooling on the counter across from the fridge. He let out a sigh and walked to the coffee pot, he’d have to talk to his sister about her nightly baking.

Marinette walked into the kitchen, her hair pulled back in a low ponytail dressed in a red racerback tank top and black capri leggings with her hands and feet wrapped in tape, her face flushed. She looked up at her brother with a smile before going to the sink to unwrap and wash her hands. She stepped away from the sink, drying her hands on a nearby hand towel, and walked to the fridge. “Good morning Tim-tam.”

“Marinette.” Tim’s voice came out gruff and sleep filled, the only time it would sound gruff. “What have we told you about your nightly baking?”

Marinette pulled a bowl of jellied pork soup and the ingredients to make the dumpling skins out of the fridge and placed them on the island. She smiled at her brother before sliding him a knife and the bowl of jellied pork soup. “You love it and it’s not like it’s hurting anyone. Besides, the others will be up soon and I’d like to have xiaolongbao ready for them. Damian requested them back in Gotham and I was never up earlier than him.”

The two siblings worked dutifully, side by side, as they prepared the xiaolongbao. Tim arranged them in several steamer baskets as Marinette tended to a large pot of water.

“Remember, only ten to a steamer and any left over can be placed in a freezer safe bag and frozen until they’re steamed.” Marinette’s eyes shined grey in the overhead kitchen lights, to Tim’s amazement. She looked up at her older brother, and took the steamer baskets from him to place over the pot of boiling water. She walked over to him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Twelve minutes then they’re done. I’m going to shower.”

---

Marinette woke, her scream dying in her throat as she looked around her room before settling on the black clad figure at the end of her bed. Her eyes widened and she scrambled to uncover herself. “Ubaba!” She launched herself at the black clad figure and giggled when he caught her.

“Hello there Mon Chou.” His voice carried a tone of amusement as well as love. “How’ve you been Mon Chou?”

Marinette smiled up at her father and nervously played with the hem of her shirt. “I’ve been fine Ubaba. How’ve the others been?”

Bruce smiled, and ruffled her already messy hair. “Jason and Duke really miss you and Damian, Dick has been keeping up his sparring and wants to know if you have as well. Cassandra and Barbara are raising hell in your absence.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Do you want to talk about what’s been going on at school?”

---

Marinette sat on Bruce’s lap, her thin fingers working on patching a hole on one of her brothers’ shirts, while Bruce’s deft fingers coaxed Marinette’s hair into a pair of reverse braids. The sounds of Megamind playing through the living room.

“When did Father arrive?” Damian’s sleepy voice sounded from the doorway, causing Marinette and Bruce to look up and over at him. “Forget I asked. Are you watching Megamind?” Damian vaulted over the back of the couch and settled against Bruce’s side, his emerald eyes glued to the screen.

Colin, followed by the dogs and cats, joined them next. Colin sat beside Damian, his head resting on Damian’s shoulder.

Tim, followed by Steph, walked into the room and smiled. “Good morning B.”

Bruce smiled at his third oldest son. “Tim. Stephanie. “ He tied off Marinette’s braids with a pink ribbon on the right and a blue ribbon on the left. “Go get dressed. Then we’ll go to school.”

---

Marinette, wearing a Daddy’s Little Monster shirt over ripped black skinny jeans with a pair of pink Converse laced with blue laces adorning her feet, walked into the building. Damian, dressed in his typical white shirt under a suit jacket paired with jeans and black trainers, walked on her left side while Colin, dressed in a red shirt over jeans with white sneakers, walked on her right side. Behind them walked Bruce, dressed in a black three piece suit with black dress shoes, who was texting one of the other children. They walked into the building and the three kids led the way to their classroom.

The family walked into the room, and while the three children longed to slink away to their desk, they stood in front of their father.

Bruce surveyed the room, catching sight of a young girl wearing an orange suit jacket over a black romper who was sinking down in her seat, and let a half smirk grow on his face.

The teacher, Mrs. Bustier, smiled at Bruce. “I’m sorry sir but Parent Day isn’t for another week. You’ll have to come back then.”

Bruce nodded politely at the woman. “Although I will be here for Parent Day, this is not a social visit. One Lila Rossi has threatened my children, and I am here in person to ensure she receives the cease and desist orders, the restraining order, and the paperwork saying we’ll see her in court.” His half smirk only grew as his children looked up at him. “I am Bruce Wayne, these are my three youngest children, Damian Wayne and Colin Wilkes, who are fifteen, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng-Wayne, who is thirteen. I will not have any of you threatening them or hounding them with questions. You will receive your comeuppance Ms. Cesaire.”

@dast218 @toodaloo-kangaroo @amayakans @crazylittlemunchkin @marinettepotterandplagg

#maribat #mlb x dc #ml x dc #ml crossover #mlb crossover #bruce wayne's youngest daughter

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quickspinner · 4 years

Text

Something Just Like This 15 - Satisfied

Part 1 | Part 14 | Part 16

He’d forgotten what it was like to wake up with a hangover and a mouthful of someone else’s hair. Luka groaned softly and rolled onto his back, clawing Marinette’s hair away from his face, and then grinned at the ceiling despite his pounding head. His arm was wedged under Marinette, so he made no further attempt to move, just lay there enjoying the dark and quiet.

There was a vrrrrmmm, vrrrmmm sound and he glanced over to see Marinette’s phone vibrating. He sighed and rolled toward her again, stroking her face lightly with the back of his hand. “Marinette,” he called softly, and then squeezed her shoulder and shook it lightly.

Marinette made a noise somewhere between a growl and a groan.

“I know,” Luka said, dropping a kiss on her shoulder. “But your phone’s ringing.”

“Stupid phone,” she grumbled, reaching for it. As she answered Luka gently extracted his arm from underneath her, flexing it to get the feeling back.

“I’m still at Luka’s,” he heard Marinette say, and then she winced. “Not so loud, Alya, my head’s killing me. No, it wasn’t like that, nothing happened. We both just had a little too much to drink and I was too tired to go home so I crashed here.” She rolled her eyes, and then squeezed them shut. “Yes, on Luka. He’s very comfy.” She opened one eye to grin at him. Luka blushed, ruffling his hair, and then got out of bed, figuring he shouldn’t be listening.

He used the bathroom, washed his face with cold water to clear some of the bleariness out of his eyes, and brushed his teeth to get rid of the stale taste in his mouth. Then he went to his small kitchen, mentally taking stock as he moved. As hangovers go, this one wasn’t awful. The room had a tendency to spin every now and then but the headache was the worst part. He got some painkillers and two glasses of water. He brought one set back to Marinette, who was still on the phone. She took the pills and swallowed them quickly and drained the water glass, still arguing with Alya over something. Luka sat down on the bed beside her and just looked at her for a moment, looked at her smudged makeup and bed head and his wrinkled shirt hanging off her shoulders. He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her into him. She sighed and laid her head down on his shoulder. “Alyyyyaaa,” she whined, bringing her free hand up to rub her temple.

Luka wrapped his hand around her phone, and Marinette let him slide it from her fingers. He brought it up to his own ear. “Alya,” he said, aware his voice was still husky and deep from sleep, and a little rough from performing. Alya stopped talking, presumably in surprise. “Marinette has to go now. She’ll call you back later.”

“Damn, Couffaine,” Alya muttered.

“Bye Alya,” Luka smirked, and hung up. He set Marinette’s phone back on his nightstand as she giggled.

“You just got me in so much trouble,” Marinette laughed. “Did you have to use your sex voice?”

“You don’t know what my sex voice sounds like,” he chuckled, lifting her hand to place a lingering kiss on the inside of her wrist.

“If it’s hotter than your hangover voice, I’m in trouble,” Marinette muttered, and Luka felt a thrill that he didn’t dare dwell on too much as he slid his lips a little lower to lay another kiss. “Alya’s going to grill me for details now.”

“Well,” he said slowly, enjoying the way she shivered at the sound of his voice. “You could always tell her how you tried to lick my tonsils two days ago.”

“Luka!” Marinette shrieked, making both of them wince as she jerked her hand away.

“No?” Luka chuckled, despite the pain in his head. “I’d better give you something else to talk about then.” He moved to kiss her but she turned her face away.

“Luka, I’m gross, at least let me go brush my teeth,” she complained.

“I don’t care,” he said, dropping his mouth to her neck to plant several soft open kisses on sensitive places. Marinette hummed and squirmed but still pushed against him, so he let her slide out of his arms with a sigh.

“I’ll be right back,” she promised, kissing his cheek.

“There should be some extra toothbrushes and whatever in the drawer under the sink, take whatever you need,” he told her, and then shifted to lay back on the bed so he wouldn’t watch her walk away. He flopped onto his stomach and closed his eyes, noting that his headache was receding, though he still felt a little light-headed.

He must have dozed off, because he started awake at the slide of Marinette’s hand up his back. Luka realized his shirt had ridden up and she was pushing it higher. He chuckled. “Found it, huh?”

“I want to see,” Marinette poked him in the ribs and he flinched.

“All right, all right,” he mumbled, and pushed himself up to a sitting position, pulling the shirt up and over his head to give her a clear view of his back. He glanced back at her over his shoulder, which proved to be a mistake as the expression on her face was sure to haunt his dreams for weeks. “See something you like?” he teased, though his face heated.

“Several things,” she agreed, and then her cool fingers touched below the middle of his back, where the black and grey coils of the cobra began. She traced lightly up his spine where the snake’s body rose up to the hood spread between his shoulder blades. “He looks like he’s laughing,” she giggled. “Usually snakes in tattoos look so mean.”

“I think the artist thought I was crazy when I said I wanted something different,” Luka admitted, “But he did a good job.” The snake’s mouth was slightly parted, just enough to show the forked tongue and the hint of fangs, and the artist had managed to capture the expression of indulgent amusement Luka had described. It was exactly the expression Sass used to give him, though the image on his back had an aura of power that the Sass was a bit too cute to pull off...unless you knew him as Luka did. The little kwami might look like a child’s toy but he was also an ancient being in command of immense power. All in all, Luka had been satisfied with the tribute to his old friend.

“It’s not really finished,” Luka said when Marinette didn’t speak. “I want to add to it sometime when I can afford to.”

“I can see that,” Marinette replied thoughtfully, tracing an arc on one side of his back. “Something to frame it in.”

Like flowers, Luka thought before he could stop himself, but then he turned around and laid back on his back on the bed, beckoning Marinette with one hand. She came and stretched out beside him, cuddled up to his side and rested her head on his shoulder. He slipped his arm under and around her and she adjusted to move even closer.

“Sorry for drinking so much last night,” Marinette sighed. “I didn’t mean to stay here.”

“It’s fine. We were just having fun and we went a little overboard. I’d rather have you here and know you’re safe.” He squeezed her lightly. “The snuggles are a nice bonus.”

“Mm,” she agreed, nuzzling into his neck.

“Do you have anywhere you have to be today?” Luka asked.

“Eventually. Not anytime soon.”

“I was thinking we could go grab breakfast once we’re ready to get up. If you want to.”

“Sure, once I can move without feeling like my head’s going to split open.”

Luka took a deep breath and sighed it out slowly, considering what he wanted to say next.

Marinette day up to look in his face. “What?”

“Nothing, I just—hang on, I think I’d rather have this conversation sitting up.” Luka levered himself up and shifted so that he was facing Marinette, a little distance between them. She sat up as well, moving slowly and frowning slightly.

“I think—I hate to ruin the moment, I just, I need some clarity,” he sighed. “Yesterday was—“ Luka shook his head. “It was wonderful. It was fun and easy and—I had a really good time. I know neither of us planned on you staying here, but waking up with you was nice too. I’d really like to go out with you again. I’d like a lot more than that, to be honest, but for now—I just need to know if we’re still on the same page here.”

Marinette hesitated, and Luka’s heart sank into his stomach. He reached over to pick up his glass from the nightstand and took a sip of his water so he could swallow the sudden lump in his throat.

“Luka, it’s…it’s not that I don’t want to, but...” She sighed. “I want to be honest with you about this. I know we talked a little bit about my work schedule but I want you to really understand—it’s a really bad time for me to be starting a new relationship. I’ve got a huge transition ahead of me and it includes a travel schedule that’s frankly insane, and that’s hard enough on an established relationship, let alone a new one.”

“Of course,” Luka said, preparing his brave face. “I get that.”

“I mean there’s FaceTime and of course I’d call as much as I could, and you’d be top on my priority list whenever I had free time, but it still wouldn’t be much—“ Luka nodded, wishing she would just get it over with.

“Could you…” Marinette hesitated. “Could you be satisfied with a relationship like that, Luka? If...if I wanted to try? Because...because you’re right, about everything, and I had so much fun yesterday and it was so easy and—I really want to see where this goes. But I don’t...I know I promised not to rush you, but honestly I don’t want to mess around dating a whole bunch of people. I’m not going to have time for that anyway. I’d rather put what little I have to give into this. Can you be okay with that? With just me, even if I can’t give as much of me as I’d like to?”

That caught his full attention. “Yes,” he breathed, setting the glass down quickly and taking her hands. “Yes, Marinette, If you’re willing to try, I am too. I—“ he bit his lip, and looked away, and back to her. “Marinette, if there’s even the slightest chance that you could feel for me what I feel for you, then I’ll do whatever it takes. Just tell me what you want and I’m there. I don’t need anybody else, I just want you.”

Marinette’s eyes grew round, and her lower lip trembled. “F-feel?” she whispered. “N-not...not felt? Or…”

Luka pressed her hands to his chest and covered them with one of his, and slipped the other hand behind her neck, thumb caressing her cheek. “Feel. Absolutely. I don’t know what it is about you Marinette—I don’t really even believe in soulmates or destiny or whatever, but something about you just—I don’t know, I’m sorry, I’m so bad at this, at knowing how much to say and what’s too much, but I felt it when we first met and I felt it again when you opened that door for the first time the other day, like some piece of me that doesn’t answer to logic just knows that I will never meet anyone else like you.” He hesitated, searching her eyes. “Too much? Am I scaring you off?”

“No,” Marinette breathed, voice shaky and more air than sound, eyes fixed on him. “Keep going.”

Luka took a deep breath and did, though his hand shook even as he continued to caress her. “Marinette, I’ve always known you were special, and every moment I spend with you just proves it more and more. I don’t care if it’s hard, I don’t mind if we can’t see each other as much as we’d like to at first. I’m a patient guy, I’ll be happy with whatever time you can give me. I can wait for you to chase your dreams and I can be here for you when you need a place to rest, as long as I know you’ll come back. Can that—can I be enough for you?”

Marinette’s eyes overflowed and he caught a tear on his thumb. “You’re more than enough. You’re too good, Luka,” Marinette sniffled. “I don’t know if I can ever deserve you after everything I put you through, but I promise I’ll do my best to make this work.”

This. There’s a this. They’re an us. The last time he felt this disconnected from reality, he was high as hell on heavy-duty painkillers after having his appendix out.

He needed her to say it, Luka realized, like the words were some magic spell that would put his soul back into his body. He needed her to make it real.

“So we’re going to do this?” he asked roughly. “We’re going to try being together?”

“Well, you said you would and I said I would so I’d say that means we are together,” Marinette whispered, blushing with a teary smile.

“We’re together,” he repeated, a broad grin breaking out over his face. He leaned forward and Marinette lunged to meet him.

Their first kiss as an official couple tasted like salt and kept getting interrupted because neither of them could stop smiling.

#quickspins #something just like this #lukanette #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #i am lukanette trash i admit it #miraculousladybug #miraculous ladybug #mlfics

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janaikam · 4 years

Text

Hello, all. I’m back with a one-shot when I should probably be writing my Lila Takedown fic. I have just recently fallen in love with @firebird525 version of Ox!Adrien. Like he’s seriously so hot

I got permission from her to write a little fic based on her amazing drawings. If you would like to look at his beauty, here ya go! OxAdrien1. OxAdrien2.

I wanted to play around with an alternate universe body swap, so here it goes. I hope you enjoy!

AO3. FFnet.

“Chat! Nooooo!” A spotted hand reaches out to him only to be stopped by a bright flash of blinding white light.

Adrien jumps up in his bed, a cold sweat forming on his forehead. Faintly, Adrien hears his alarm going off, but he ignores it trying to shake off the nightmare he had.

That felt so real. Maybe it was a memory from when I got hit by an akuma. Adrien shakes his head.

With a groan, Adrien gets up from his bed and heads towards his bathroom. Turning on the faucet, Adrien splashes cold water over his face and washes the sleep out of his eyes. He grabs the towel hanging right next to the sink and dries his face. Sighing, Adrien looks at himself in the mirror immediately noticing something off.

There right under his nose sat a nose ring that Adrien didn’t remember getting. Thinking back to the previous night, he tries to remember if he did anything that could’ve caused him to blackout. I remember going to Nino’s, but then an akuma interrupted us. Adrien frowns as his mind draws a blank on what happened afterward.

“Hey, Plagg,” Adrien calls out for his kwami. If anyone knows how he got a random nose ring, it would be Plagg.

To his surprise, a grayish-blue kwami with two light blue horns floated into his bathroom. “Who’s Plagg, master?” Frowning, even more, Adrien attempts to remember who this kwami is and why he is calling him master.

“Stompp!” Adrien exclaims remembering the kwamis name from the time when Ladybug introduced the two of them. “What are you doing here? Where’s Plagg?”

It’s Stompp’s turn to frown at Adrien looking just as confused as he feels. “I’m your kwami. I transform you into Taureau Noir. Master, how do you know Plagg?” He questions.

At the mention of Taureau Noir, a rush of memories flood Adrien’s mind. Flashes of him as an ox themed superhero fighting alongside Ladybug remind him of his alter ego. The memories start to overwhelm Adrien and he stumbles, quickly grabbing the counter to steady him. “Right, right, you’re my kwami.”

“Master, how do you know Plagg?” The kwami nervously repeats, afraid to upset his master.

Adrien opens his mouth to respond only to struggle to answer the question. Scowling, Adrien tries to remember how he knows Plagg.

Plagg, Plagg, how do I know a Plagg? Maybe he was a cat? Yes, a cat!

“He’s a cat, I think. Black. I must’ve used to have him as a child,” Adrien states. “Why do you care about a cat?” Adrien asks it with a colder tone than he meant, and by the nervous sputtering from his kwami, Stompp noticed it too. “Sorry, I didn’t-but why do you want to know about a cat?” Adrien repeats in a softer tone.

“I...I was..uh...just curious...be..because you umm seemed to think uhh...that Plagg was here,” Adrien considers the response and accepts it.

Instead of responding, Adrien nods and moves to go get ready. Stompp breathes a sigh of relief. “That was close.”

—

“Good morning, Adrien,” Nathalie greets him in the dining room. She is looking at her tablet, typing away at something as she approaches him. Adrien looks up from the bowl of cereal he was eating.

“The only thing on your schedule today is Chinese lessons at 5. Please be back here by then,” Adrien looks up at her confused.

“There’s nothing else?” Adrien questions. He at least expected fencing or some photoshoot to take up his afternoon along with Chinese lessons.

Nathalie looked up from her tablet in surprise, which turned into horror as she examined his face. She quickly disguised her scream with a cough. “No, after you had a….conversation with your father last week, he decided to lessen your workload.”

Adrien tries to remember the conversation Nathalie is referring to. All he remembers is vague yelling at his father-something he normally wouldn’t do for fear Gabriel wouldn’t let Adrien go to school anymore.

“Oh, right,” Adrien responds staring at his plate. That’s weird. I think I’d remember an argument with Father better than some vague memories. Especially, if it let me be free of all my other activities. “Thank you, Nathalie.”

Nathalie exits the dining hall, but not without taking another look at Adrien’s face. “Gabriel’s gonna flip,” she grumbles under her breath.

“Stompp, do you know why Nathalie looked at me like that?” Adrien asked his kwami, who was in his bag munching on some kale chips.

“You don’t normally wear the nose ring in public, master,” Stompp informs. The kwami tilts his little head. “Why did you wear it today?”

“Why not? I can do whatever I want,” Adrien snaps, surprising both himself and Stompp. The poor kwami shrinks down back into Adrien’s bag, munching quietly. Adrien didn’t know why he snapped. All he knew was that he didn’t want to admit that he forgot what he normally does. With that, Adrien quickly finished his cereal and walked out front to get in the car.

Unfortunately for Adrien, the car wasn’t outside like it normally was at this time. Shrugging, Adrien decides to wait for Gorilla. I hope everything’s okay. Gorilla isn’t normally late like this.

While waiting for Gorilla, Adrien thinks back on all the strange events he’s had this morning. First, it was a weird dream, then the strange thought of Plagg the cat, and now the nose ring. It was all very weird to him.

“Yo, Adrien!” A male voice yells bringing him out of his thoughts. Glancing across the gate, Adrien spots Nino waving his hands. Adrien walks up to the gate to meet him and as he does the gates open.

When Adrien gets a good look at Nino, he’s surprised by the boy’s wardrobe choice. Instead of his usual eye t-shirt, Nino is wearing a plain black shirt with a blue and red plaid flannel tied around his waist. On his red hat is a picture of Taureau Noir.

“What’s up, dude?” Nino raises his hand for a high five, then notices the new piece of jewelry adorning his friend’s face. “Woah, dude, when’d you get the nose ring?”

“Oh, this? It’s fake. I guess I wanted to give my father a little scare. I guess you could call it a little act of rebullion,” Adrien scratches the back of his head, hoping Nino would accept his answer.

“Oh nice,” Nino shrugs and starts walking. At first, Adrien didn’t move thrown off because Nino didn’t react to his pun, then realizing Nino started walking Adrien quickly ran to catch up. Looking back at the mansion, Adrien expected Nathalie or Gorilla to come after him but neither of them did.

“Wait, Nino, I’m supposed to wait for my driver,” Adrien says apologetically, once he reaches Nino.

Nino pauses, staring at Adrien. “Dude, what are you talking about? You haven’t had your driver drop you off at school in three years.”

Adrien blinks, not expecting that response. Did I really forget two years of my life? Maybe there's still an akuma on the loose.

“Oh, yeah, I know,” Adrien fakes a laugh. “I thought Nathalie mentioned something about Gorilla taking me to school this morning.”

“Gorilla?” Nino questions. “Do you mean Simon?”

Adrien fakes another laugh. “Yeah.”

An awkward minute of silence passes as the two walk. “So, did you hear what Sexy Noir did yesterday?” Nino scowls, breaking the silence.

“No, what did he do?” Adrien scrunches his eyebrows trying to think of what he could’ve done yesterday to cause this reaction from Nino, but sadly, coming up with nothing.

“He let Alya give him an interview and was practically flirting with her the whole time,” Nino grumbles. “I mean, it’s already enough that every girl adores him. Why does he have to go and flirt with the one girl I actually like?”

Adrien shrugs not paying too much attention, trying to remember the interview with Alya. It’s not like him to go flirting with girls who aren’t Ladybug. “Maybe he saw you struggling to ask her out and decided to give you a little push. I mean Alya isn’t going to be single forever.”

Another frown finds its way to Adrien’s face as he reasons Taureau Noir’s actions. For some reason, it sounded like something that Adrien would do, yet it’s something he wouldn’t think of doing.

“Woah, dude, I know in your weird rich boy brain that might make sense, but for some hero who doesn’t know me, I doubt it,” Nino sighs. “Let’s stop talking about my problems. How was your night after you left?”

Continuing to walk, Adrien and Nino chat about random things going on in their lives. The walk was very enjoyable, but as they got close to the school someone just had to ruin it.

He forgot they passed Lila’s house on their walk to school each morning. Most mornings Lila tended to arrive at school late claiming one of her many fake diseases kept her from arriving on time. Usually, their teachers believed her, but most of the class had learned-after a very tense ‘conversation’ with Adrien- that she was a manipulative liar. The details of said ‘conversation’ Adrien can’t quite remember, but he does remember how it ruined all of Lila’s credibility. All things considered, Adrien was surprised when she joined them on their walk.

“Good morning, Adrien, Nino,” Lila greets, a sickly sweet smile on her face. Instead of giving a polite smile like he normally would, Adrien scowls, giving Lila a nasty glare.

“What do you want?” He responds coldly, not particularly caring how she reacts. Woah, where did that come from? Am I normally this cold?

“What makes you think I want something?” Lila fakes a pout. “I was only just coming to tell you that I’ve changed for the better,” Adrien scoffs, frustrating Lila. “I’m serious! I’m not going to be in class today because I’m helping out at the animal shelter.”

“Ah, I see. Have fun convincing the dogs you aren’t an evil snake,” Adrien waves, leaving Lila behind stomping her foot in anger.

“Dude, I don’t like a liar as much as the next guy, but why are you so mean to Lila?” Nino questions, glancing at Adrien.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean for a dude who puts up with Chloé, you can’t seem to even be friendly with Lila.”

Adrien shrugs. “She threatened Marinette. Why should I be friends with someone who does such horrible things?”

When did that happen? I wouldn’t put it past Lila, but why do I know it happened.

“Woah, really!?” Nino exclaims shocked by the revelation. “That explains so much! She threatened your little crush, so you crushed her,” Nino frowns a bit. “Though, I’m not sure Marinette really appreciates it.”

“Wait, what crush?” Adrien looks at Nino confused. “I don’t have a crush on Marinette.”

“Sure,” Nino drawls. “And I don’t have a crush on Alya. Dude, every time you look at her you get these goo goo eyes. You are so whipped and you two aren’t even dating.”

Adrien’s face turns bright red at Nino’s teasing. “It’s not like she’d give me the time of day anyways.” Remembering all the times she’s stuttered around him, Adrien frowns.

“Well, you could change that’d you just apologized for that gum incident,” Nino reminds him. I didn’t apologize for that? Weird I thought I did.

“You don’t think it’s too late?” Adrien asks hopefully.

“Nah, I’m sure apologizing will definitely get you some points in Marinette’s book,” Nino grins. “Who knows, maybe it’ll help me get closer to Alya.”

—

Adrien curses Hawkmoth and his horrible timing. He had been planning on talking to Marinette during lunch, but an akuma decided lunch was the perfect time to go on a rampage. The victim appeared to be an art student from the school.

The akuma was a girl with bright purple hair in a messy bun with paint brushes sticking out in different directions. The loose strands were longer and acted as tentacles moving the akuma around. She was wearing a dress that resembled an art smock with paint stains all over it. On her wrist, she had a charm bracelet with different colored paintballs and a paintbrush.

At least it wasn’t during class this time.

As students started running out of the building, Adrien ran into the janitor’s closet.

“Stompp, Horns up!” Adrien yells calling for his transformation.

In a flash of dark blue, Adrien transforms into Taureau Noir. His transformation reveals him in a dark blue suit with black padding covering his chest and thighs. On his feet, he is wearing dark brown boots with fur on the top that resembles hooves. His shoulders have silver pads and a fur hood sits behind them. A dark brown belt and whip, his weapon, sit around his waist and two horns adorn his head, giving off Ox vibes.

This feels a bit different.

Shrugging off the weird feeling, Taureau Noir climbs through the window in the closet. Even if no one saw me go in, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Standing on the roof of the school, Taureau watches as the akuma stands in the middle of the courtyard, slinging gigantic blobs of paint at fleeing students. The students who were unlucky to get caught in the blobs were stuck unable to move.

“WHERE IS MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG!?!?!” the akuma roars.

Taureau spots Marinette trying to sneak up the stairs at the same time the akuma does.

“THERE YOU ARE YOU LITTLE BRAT!” The akuma throws a paint blob towards her. Taureau immediately acts, diving to save the bluenette.

For a split second, their eyes meet and Taureau notices a slight blush grace Marinette’s features. Not looking back towards the even angrier akuma, he jumps from roof to roof until they reach Le Grand Paris.

“You’ll be safe here, miss,” Taureau gently lowers Marinette onto the roof.

“T-thank you, Hot-Tau,” Marinette’s and Taureau’s faces both turn bright red. “I-I didn’t mean to say that. It’s some stupid nickname my friend, Alya, made up. I mean you’re a hero you shouldn’t be subjected to random girls calling you hot. Not that you aren’t. And I’m rambling, sorry,” Marinette buries her face in her hands.

“Ah, it’s umm it’s no problem! Thank you for the compliment,” Taureau turns in the direction of the akuma. “Stay here until Ladybug and I have defeated the akuma.” With that, Taureau leaves a flustered Marinette and heads off to go do his duty.

—

“Nice of you to join me, Bugaboo,” Taureau greets the spotted heroine. He’s standing on the edge of a roof prepared to quickly dive to save a civilian who fell in the akuma’s path.

“Sorry, Tau, I got a bit preoccupied,” Tau takes a glance at Ladybug’s face, noting the slight flush on her cheeks. “What seems to be their issue?”

“I’m not sure. She’s just been slinging paint, looking for a girl from Francois DuPont. Don’t worry I’ve made sure the girl is safe,” Tau doesn’t notice how Ladybug’s cheeks turn red at his comment.

“Any idea where the akuma might be hiding?” Ladybug watches the akuma as she goes on her rampage through Paris.

“I’d guess it’s in that charm bracelet on her wrist,” He points it out to Ladybug. She nods getting a good look at the charm bracelet.

“LUCKY CHARM!!” Taureau looks at Ladybug in surprise, shocked she would use her lucky charm this early in the fight. “What am I supposed to do with a pair of gloves?”

“You didn’t want to try interacting with the akuma before calling on your lucky charm?” He questions, watching as she looks for a way to stop the akuma.

“What? You don’t trust your fighting skills?” Ladybug teases.

“Pshh-no. I just mean wha-“

”I GOT IT!” Tau is interrupted by Ladybug figuring out how her lucky charm works. “Let’s go defeat this akuma!” Ladybug jumps off the roof and Tau follows suit, not really knowing what to do, but trusting his Lady.

—

“MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!!” Ladybug yells while throwing the red gloves with black spots in the air. The magical ladybugs clean the paint the akuma was throwing, releasing those who got trapped in the paint.

Surprisingly, the ladybugs start swirling around Taureau Noir. “Woah!”

Ladybug, who was right next to him, takes a step watching as the ladybugs cover his entire body. A bright flash of white light blinds Taureau, causing him to stumble and fall. He tries to close his eyes to block out the light, but it doesn’t do much as the light still pierces through his eyelids.

As the light clears, Adrien feels someone poking at his side. “Chat! Chat! Are you okay?” Groaning, Adrien opens his eyes to see Ladybug looking at him concerned. “Oh thank goodness! You’re okay!” Ladybug wraps her arms around him, squeezing the air from his lungs.

“Wow, m’lady, what did I do to deserve this lovely reaction?” Chat asks once Ladybug releases him. She scrunches her nose at the nickname.

“You got hit by that akuma. You were acting really strange. It was almost like you were a different person,” Ladybug recalls the strange Chat and how he was so different from how Chat normally was. Chat frowns remembering the odd day he had been having. “He was kind of rude-“

A beeping from Ladybug’s earrings cut her off. “Oh, I should get going,” Ladybug helps Chat off the ground. “You can get home or wherever you need to be?”

“Don’t worry Bugaboo. This Chat is feline just purrfect,” Ladybug groans at the nickname and swings away.

—

Adrien lies awake in bed, staring at his ceiling. Plagg is curled up next to him, snoring quietly.

Adrien was having trouble falling asleep due to the early weird day he was having. When he got back to his room, he immediately looked up the akuma battle from earlier. Unfortunately, there hadn’t been any videos, but Alya had set up a public forum on the Ladyblog for people to document what they experienced. Most had said the people that got hit by the akuma's blast seemed meaner than they normally were. While that was on par with how Ladybug describe Chat, he couldn’t find any evidence that anyone blasted traveled to some parallel universe. Adrien suspected that people were being smart and not saying how they probably traveled to another universe.

However, the strange experience refuses to leave Adrien’s mind. Adrien tries to chalk it up to the fact that he’s glad he didn’t turn out like the alternate him and wants to avoid becoming like that. But Adrien really knows what’s keeping him up: his crush on Marinette.

It wasn’t until he was in the other universe that he realized he has a massive crush on Marinette. He had noticed that he had feelings for her, but he thought he was just projecting his feelings for Ladybug onto his everyday Ladybug. After his little adventure today, he realized that those feelings he had were separate from Ladybug.

Marinette probably wouldn’t go for some guy like me. Adrien sighs. Yet another unrequited love.

#Ox!Adrien #miraculous Ladybug #adrien agreste #ox miraculous #marinette #ladybug #alternate universe #kwami switch #tikki #nino #lila #alya

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symwinter · 4 years

Text

The Chat’s Out of the Bag

Some sorrow that turns to fluff. Chat Blanc spoilers below. I also wrote this at like six in the morning.

Ladybug stared a Chat Blanc as the destructive energy expanded. She looked at her him, this sad, lonely kitty, and felt tears prickle in her eyes. She barely stoops to think as she pulled him into a hug. Even like this he was still her kitty. “I’m so sorry Chat. That I wasn’t here when you needed me.” She felt the energy disperse before the hug was returned. “Why did you break my heart Marinette?” He asked quietly. She was thankful she had Bunnix show her what happened. “Your dad threatened to pull you out of school if I didn’t break up with you.” She murmured. “Since he wanted me akumatized.” “You’re not my Marinette are you.” He murmured. She looked up at him. “I’ll always be your Marinette. For as long as you’ll have me.” “The akuma is in my bell.” Ladybug plucked the bell off and held it in her palm. She leaned up and brushed her lips against his. “I’ll make things right Adrien. I promise.” She called a lucky charm before cracking the bell and catching the akuma. She didn’t stay to watch Paris be reforged by her charm.

Ladybug stared at the wrapped beret before grabbing it and swinging out. She detransformed and told her friends she’d give it to him tomorrow since she wasn’t allowed inside. Her heart felt heavy and she needed the rest.

—————————————

Marinette braced herself as she walked over to the model, no Lila to be seen. In fact no one but Adrien was in the class. Despite the rest, she still felt like she was going to cry. “H-Hi Adrien.” “Hey Mari- are you okay? You look like you’re going to cry.” Marinette looked up before blinking away the forming tears. “I just had a bad dream.” Of course the only time she could talk to him was when she was upset. “But I made this for you.” She pulled the wrapped hat out. “I wanted to give it to you yesterday, but Mlle. Sancœur wouldn’t let me in.” She hastily added, rocking on her feet.

She patiently waited as he opened the present. “Is this-“ “Mhm. I made it to go with the scarf your father made.” “Marinette-“ The two were interrupted by the arrival of their classmates. “We’ll talk later.” He murmured. “And Marinette, I hope you feel better soon.” She dabbed at her eyes with her palms and nodded, giving what she hoped was a reassuring smile. Watching his expression, it didn’t seem to be the case. Her phone buzzed as she sat next to Alya.

ROSE: Did you give him the beret? MARINETTE: Yeah. ALYA: Details girl. MARINETTE: There’s no details to give. You came in before he could say anything else. JULEKA: Sorry about that. MARINETTE: It’s no big deal. He said we’d talk later.

—————————————

That later didn’t come soon enough, as she been feeling the stares of her girl squad on her all morning. “I managed to convince Nathalie to let me have lunch with a friend today instead of going home.” He explained before intertwining his fingers with hers. She could feel the blush creep up her neck. “It’s both good and bad. I can’t see what the scarf and beret look like together until later, but I get to hang out with you.”

“Yeah. We haven’t that done- I mean done that in a while.” She replied, stepping into the warmth that was the bakery. “Hi maman, hi papa. I brought Adrien over for lunch. We’ll be upstairs.” She said, walking to the stairwell. Adrien gave a wave to her parents with his free hand.

“Are you sure you’re okay Marinette?” Adrien inquired, watching her move through the upstairs kitchen. “Mhm. Just shaken up from that bad dream.” “Must’ve been some dream then. Do you want to talk about it.” “I can’t. Not without saying-“ “That you’re Ladybug?” She tensed before looking over at Adrien. “Me Ladybug? That’s impossible Adrien, I’m-“ the words died in her throat seeing his expression. It was the same as Chat Blanc’s. She didn’t realize that she had started crying until her vision blurred. She clung to the back of Adrien’s shirt, sobbing quietly. “Do you feel better?” She nodded her head. “I ruined your shirt.” “That doesn’t matter.” She looked up at Adrien, then what he was looking at. The akuma flew off within seconds. “Thank you for the hat Marinette. And I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to figure out this, but I love you Marinette.” “Because I’m ladybug?” “No. Because you’re Marinette. I wasn’t even a hundred percent sure you were Ladybug. My theory board was pretty empty.” Marinette gave a shaky laugh. “I know you’re Chat. But it’s not as clean as a guess.” “Tell me.” So she did while she warmed up last night’s dinner, her voice cracking throughout. “I failed you.” “You didn’t fail me Marinette.” He replied, having finished lunch. “But thank you for telling me. I suppose it was only natural for father to be Le Papillon. He obviously has the drive.”

—————————————

Adrien looked over at Marinette. He saw Tikki and Plagg fly out. Right, they hadn’t been out the whole time. Tikki nuzzled against Marinette’s cheek. It was to be expected. What wasn’t was seeing Plagg gently biff her other cheek. “How could you say I haven’t failed you? I broke you’re heart.” “In another time. Where things were different. But that’s not this timeline. I only wish you had just told me father threatened you.” He murmured. “Promise me you will.” He held his pinkie out. He sighed with relief as hers hooked around his. A silent promise. “I’ll ask Nino if he can sit next to Alya for the afternoon. I think we both need reassurance this is real.” Marinette gave a small nod. “When did you figure out you liked me?” “The heroes day picnic is when it clicked, but I’d say maybe when Nathanael was akumatized when it began. You made quite the impression on this kitten.” Marinette gave another small laugh. He blinked. “That means I’ve been jealous of Luka this whole time.” Marinette laughed again, this time louder. “I’m just glad he finally figured it out.” Plagg murmured against her cheek. “I’ve been telling him for weeks.” Tikki giggled before giving a ‘hello’ wave to Adrien.

“You’re truly one of a kind Adrien.” She replied. “Now let’s head back.” The model nodded before putting his dishes in the sink. As soon as Marinette slipped her backpack on to her shoulders he resumed holding her hand. “Are you left handed?” He inquired “Right, but I can write with my left hand. Why?” “Because I don’t want to stop holding her hand. It’s a small form of comfort, but it’s the only thing I can think to do to reassure you in class.” “Thank you Adrien. For being here for me.” The two slipped out of the bakery, shoulder to shoulder. “As petty as it sounds, I’m really excited to see Lila’s face when she realizes we’re...” “We’re what?” “I don’t actually know what we are.” “Well I’d like to call you my girlfriend, if that’s okay with you.” He said sheepishly. His ears were hot. “Yeah. I’d like that too.”

Outside of some initial shock, and anger if you’re Lila, the afternoon was pretty uneventful. He’d give a reassuring squeeze if she seemed down, and his heart would flutter as she smiled in thanks, that ‘Adrien only’ smile he only got to see every so often, with the rosy cheeks and shy glance towards him before looking away. Kagami took it well after asking why Marinette was sitting in on their fencing class. In fact she was the only person unsurprised they were dating.

“So, we’ll meet on the rooftops later tonight and steal father’s brooch.” “Mhm. He keeps it under his cravat.” Her brows knitted, how adorable, as she pouted. “That doesn’t deal with Mayura though.” “Nathalie most likely. If Mayura is helping Le Papillon and Nathalie knows my father and Le Papillon are the same person, she has to have the broken brooch.” “I’m so sorry Adrien.” “It’s not your fault Marinette. I’ll just live with you when this is over.” He said simply. “Call me selfish, but I just don’t want to let you go.” “I don’t want to either.” She replied softly. “Stay safe until patrol okay?” “Always.” He paused. “Could I... kiss you?” “Yes.” His heart leapt from his chest as their lips met.

He waited until he saw her wave at him on her balcony before stepping to the limousine, apologizing to Gorilla for the wait, but found it near impossible to look at his father or Nathalie upon returning home, not with the knowledge of who they were. As the sun fell and the model became the hero and saw Marinette look at him with so much love in just a single expression, all felt right in the world, even though it was far from it.

#symwinter’s trash writing #adrienette #fuck Gabriel Agreste #worst dad of the year #chat blanc spoilers #kinda

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ravenclawshavemorefun · 5 years

Text

Monstre Aux Yeux Verts 《a miraculous ladybug fanfiction》 chapter 4

Adrian trudges to his locker feeling defeated, but still determined. Everyone around him is whispering back and forth excitedly. Adrian payed them no mind until he heard Marinette's name. "What are you guys talking about?" Adrian asks the two girls nearby.

"Marinette." One of them answered immediately, as if gossiping is what she lives for. "She just left with an older boy. His name is Luka and he's in a band. My older sister is in his class and she says he's really quiet and mysterious but everyone seems to like him. Luka has been walking her home from school all week so i bet they're dating." The girl didn't even seem to breathe as she whispered this.

"They aren't dating." Adrian told her definitively.

"How do you know?" The other girl asks.

"Because i- i'm- Marinette's friend." Adrian finishes lamely.

"Oh really?!" The first girl prances with the excitement of fresh gossip. "What does she say?"

What did he get himself into? "Well... nothing really. Luka's just been... helping her with... stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" The second girl asks.

"Well studying and... band...stuff... i gotta go." Adrian walks away as fast as he can. He sees Nino and Alya and changes course. "Hey, guys, what's going on? Everyone is talking about Marinette and Luka."

"Haters." Alya scoffs. "Luka offered to help Marinette with putting together her presentation for Jagged Stone."

"Oh. Right, their meeting is tomorrow." Adrian got an idea. "We should see if she needs a few more hands. We could bring snacks... hang out..."

"It HAS been a long time since we all hung out..." Alya thought out loud, "i could ask her if we can come by... but you have to tell me something first."

Adrian has a mini panic attack and he hopes Alya doesn't see right through him. "What?" He asks.

"What is with you lately?"

"What do you mean?" Adrian asks confused.

"You've been acting strange lately, quiet, spacey, you've been finding any reason to not go home..." Adrian feels relieved she didn't know about his spying on Marinette and sighs. Alya mistakes his sigh for something else, "is that it? Is something going on at home?"

Adrian isn't sure what to say, and yet again, Nino swoops in to save the day. "Alya, maybe he doesn't want to talk about it."

"Okay, but you can if you want, we're your friends and we're here for you. No matter what."

Adrian remembers when the only friend he had was Chloe and is touched by the fierce friendship he now has with Alya and Nino, "thanks, Alya." Adrian puts an arm around each of his friends' shoulders, "you guys are the best friends anyone could ever ask for."

Marinette and Luka are at her parent's kitchen table pouring over her designs. "I think it would be most professional to put them all in a portfolio so he can flip through them all and see how much work you put into the job. I hope he's not taking advantage of your age and is paying you decently."

Marinette smiled, "That's a great idea, and don't worry, my parents went over the contract. He's paying me well enough, but i don't do it for the money."

Luka smiled back at her, admiration in his eyes, "i know you don't, i just hate the thought of someone treating you unfairly."

Marinette blushes and her phone rings suddenly, she answers, "hey, Alya. What's up?"

"Hey, Marinette. Is it okay if the guys and i come over? I can't really go into detail, but something is going on with Adrian and he just doesn't want to go home."

"Oh my gosh! Is everything okay?" Luka looked at her with concern.

"I don't know," Alya says quietly, "he won't talk about it. I think it would be nice if we can just all hang out and get his mind off whatever is going on."

"Of course! I'm sure my parents won't mind under the circumstances."

"Great! We'll be there in a little bit, he and Nino are just in the store getting some snacks to bring over."

"Okay, see you in a little bit." Marinette ended the call and Luka waits for her to explain with a worried look on his face. "It was Alya, she said something is going on with Adrian and he doesn't want to go home."

"Oh. Do you want me to leave?" Luka asks gathering his things.

"No, you should stay. I think it's important for us to show him he has all of us here for him." Marinette is worried and hopes he's okay.

"That's a great idea, Mari. See? You're a great friend!"

Marinette blushes, "i should let my parents know what's going on, I'll be right back." Marinette hurries down to the bakery where her parents are cleaning up before the lunch rush. "Mom, dad, is it okay if a few of my friends come by for the afternoon?"

"What do you mean by 'a few'?" Her father asks sweeping the floor with broad strokes.

"Alya, Nino, and Adrian."

"I don't know, dear, that's a lot of people, and we can't really supervise with the lunch rush coming..." her mother checks the ovens and goes to the sink to do the dishes.

"I know, mom, but the thing is Adrian is having some problems at home and we thought we could show him he has friends he can go to and maybe get his mind off whatever is bothering him. And you guys trust me right?"

Marinette's parents give eachother a long look, communicating without speaking, "of course, honey, that's very thoughtful of you." Her mom says hand over her heart.

"I have cookies you can all munch on. Oh! You can try the new macaroon recipe I've been working on!"

"You guys are the best!" Marinette leaves her parents discussing what treats they could prepare.

Marinette rejoins Luka in the kitchen. He is flipping through a binder. "I hope you don't mind, i put your designs in this binder i had. I figured with all your friends coming over you'd feel better knowing this was all ready for tomorrow."

"Wow! That looks great, Luka! Thank you so much!" Marinette flipped though the pages, "this looks like a professional portfolio!"

"I just put them in a binder, the credit is all yours." Luka says modestly. "Are you sure you want me to stay? I don't want to intrude on your time with your friends."

"They're OUR friends, silly. We'd all love for you to stay... if you want to, that is." She adds suddenly realizing he may have things he'd rather do than hang out with kids his little sister's age.

Luka takes Marinette's hand. "I've had the best time hanging out with you, Mari. There's nothing I'd rather do then spend more time with you." He says as if reading her mind.

Marinette looks at him eyes wide and blushing, "really?" She is at a loss of words.

Luka chuckles, "of course! I've really fallen for you." Now it was his turn to blush.

Marinette isn't sure what to say. She had always liked Adrian, and liking another boy felt like cheating on him. "But that's ridiculous!" She thinks to herself, they aren't dating and Adrian was very clear today that they were just friends. Adrian would never see her as more than that, but here's this amazing, dreamy, and thoughtful boy in front of her confessing his affection for her. Although she would always care for Adrian, she didn't think he would want her to wait for something that would most likely never happen between them. He would want her to be happy, wouldn't he? "He's not dead!" She thinks to herself, "just the relationship you thought you'd have with him is." Should she mourn for a relationship that never happened? She feels conflicted, to say the least. "I think you're really great too, Luka." She blushs, "that was really lame." She accidentally says out loud.

Luka laughs, "i didn't think it was lame." Luka gently pulls her closer, placing the hand he was holding over his own heart and wrapping his other arm around her waist. Marinette's eyes are open wide, at first she was thinking too much, now she couldn't think at all. Her mind was blissfully blank just taking in the moment: the feel of his shirt beneath her fingers, the strong but also gentle support of his arm around her waist, the thump her heart made trying to brake through her ribs and the subtle thump of his matching her heart's rhythm. Although she knew her heart was racing, it felt like there was a lifetime between beats. Time had stopped. The embrace was like a really great song; it ended far too soon and left her wanting more.

The door from the bakery opened suddenly and they jumped apart. If time had stopped before, now it seemed to be going in fast forward. Alya pauses in the doorway "hey, guys!" She says cheerily, she pretended she didn't see anything. "Your parents sent us up with all these sweets!" She puts the platter of cookies and macaroons of several different flavors on the table. Nino and Adrian follow her into the kitchen.

Marinette tries very hard to not look guilty and takes one of the cookies. "Hey, guys!"

"Oh! Are these the designs for Jagged Stone? Mind if we take a look?"

"Go ahead." Marinette takes a bite of her cookie and watches the 3 of them look through the binder.

"This one's my favorite." Luka says pointing to the last page, "there's something about it that just seems... timeless." He winks at Marinette, did he feel time stop too?

She couldn't stop the blush from rising on her cheeks. "Thanks!" Uncomfortably, she realizes all 4 of them have their eyes on her and she decides to change the subject. "Who wants to be beaten first in the new video game we just got?"

They all make their way into the living room. Alya turns on some music and Nino takes up the first controller. Marinette sits on the couch and picks up the remote in front of her to set up the game. Leaning back she discovers Luka and Adrian are seated on either side of her. Well, this was going to be a relaxing afternoon!

The afternoon actually passes fairly quickly. Everyone seems to have a lot of fun. It was hours of playing video games, discussing music and eating treats Marinette's parents brought up. Her father had some wild new recipes and most of them were really good, however the wasabi flavored macaroon had everyone fighting over a gallon of milk. Mr. Dupain said it was his best prank yet... well, between fits of laughter. Adrian seemed to forget about whatever was going on at home. Mostly, he did sometimes get very quiet. Whenever that happened Marinette would let go of Luka's hand and challenge Adrian to another match. She was pretty proud that she was always able to snap him out of it.

"I can't believe your old man is letting you stay out this long." Nino says checking his phone. Alya gives him the evil eye and shakes her head.

Adrian takes out his phone and checks it. He's surprised to not see any missed calls or messages. "You're right... that's weird." Adrian admits.

Alya jumps up while Adrian is wondering how he wasn't being dragged home. "Well, Nino and i better go. We're taking our siblings to the park when they get out of school." Alya drags Nino to the door. "Thanks for having us over, Marinette! We had a great time!"

"Bye, guys!" Nino shouts just before the door slams shut.

"Ooookaaaay... that was a little weird." Adrian laughs.

Marinette and Luka laugh too. "You know Alya... always with the dramatic exits." Marinette giggles. Adrian decides that her giggle is his favorite sound he's ever heard.

The door opens and Marinette's mom walks in, "it's too bad Alya and Nino had to leave, we were going to ask you all if you wanted to stay for supper."

"I'd love to, thank you!" Luka says at the same time Adrian says, "that sounds amazing!"

Mrs. Dupain-Chang smiles, "please call your parents to be sure it's okay."

They agree and Adrian walks to the kitchen to make his call.

"Poor Adrian!" Marinette whispers.

"What do you mean? He seems fine to me." Luka whispers back confused.

"His father usually has him on a really tight leash, they must have had a really big fight for him to pretty much ignore his son!"

"Maybe you should just ask him." Luka suggests.

"What would I even say?" Marinette asks.

"Sometimes it's easier for a guy to talk to a close female friend about this kind of stuff because girls always know what to say."

"I'm not sure I'm like a typical girl..." Marinette says uncertainly.

Luka laughs, "well, you're right about that... you're exceptional. You'll know what to say. Trust me." Luka put his hand on hers. "Trust yourself. You can do it. I'll wait in the kitchen for a little bit after i make my call. Take your time."

Adrian walks back into the livingroom and stops suddenly looking at the two of them. Luka gave Marinette one last pat before standing and walking to the kitchen to make his call. Adrian sat at the end of the couch and quietly played with his phone.

"Hey... Adrian. Is uh everything okay... with you?" Marinette starts nervously.

"What do you mean?" Adrian asks confused, and then he realizes he let Alya believe something was wrong and she must've told Marinette.

Marinette scoots closer to him on the couch, "i just want you to know you're welcome here any time and if you ever want to talk I'm there for you." She took his hand.

Adrien wasn't sure what to say. "I've just realized I'm in love with you so I've been doing everything i can to keep you and Luka from being alone together because I'm terrified you'll fall in love with him instead!" Yeah that doesn't sound stalkerish at all! He definitely can't say that! Maybe he can just shut it down gently? "Th-thank you, Marinette. I really appreciate that." He realizes she's still waiting for him to confide in her. Nothing's going on, why didn't he just tell Alya the truth? This is too close to lying. Then he gets an idea; while nothing out of the ordinary is going on by his definition, his home life is still pretty depressing compared to what his friends are used to. "Well, you see, since my mom... disappeared... my dad... i don't know, he just seems to hate me. The only time he spends with me is during meals, and sometimes not even that." That felt pretty good to get off his chest, with that little bit of digging he found more he wanted to share. "Sometimes it feels like I'm just supposed to be this perfect son and when I'm not out making him look good he thinks i should just be locked up in my room. Remember when Sandboy made everyone live their worst nightmare? Mine was being locked up and the cage just kept getting smaller and smaller. That's what my life feels like every day! The pressure is just too much sometimes and i just want a normal life." Adrian turns away, embarrassed that he got so emotional.

"Oh, Adrian, I'm so sorry! I had no idea you were dealing with so much!" She put her other hand on his knee.

"It's not your fault, besides, I'm just complaining. There's a lot of people worse off than i am."

"Well that's true," Adrian looks in her eyes, that's not what he was expecting to hear, "there may be people who have it worse off, but that doesn't make your pain any less. You should tell your dad how you feel-" Adrian scoffs and Marinette smiles before she continues, "even if he doesn't listen, at least you aren't bottling all that up."

"You're right, maybe I'll try that." Adrian hesitates for only a second then pulls her into a hug, "thank you, Marinette."

The embrace is warm and comforting like curling up in a thick fuzzy blanket on a cold night. Adrian wants so badly to kiss her, but he doesn't have the time, Luka walks back into the room and clears his throat. Marinette gives Adrian one last pat on the back and breaks away, "i better help my parents with supper." She goes to the kitchen.

"So... you good?" Luka asks.

"Yeah." Adrian says carefully, "you?"

"Yep." Luka sits in the chair beside the couch. There's an awkward silence. Adrian isn't sure what to think about Luka, he can't hate the guy for falling for Marinette, after all, he did the same thing. But they are rivals and he was ready to do anything to win Marinette's heart.

#lukanette #adrianette #love triangle #miraculous fanfic

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synkiller82 · 5 years

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Collapse Into Me Chapter 9 - Sophisticated

Gabriel stood at the top of the grand staircase in the foyer, awaiting his son’s return and thinking over his actions since his wife's 'disappearance.' His neglect of Adrien was for his own good, right? He wasn't a heartless person, he just had to focus on his goals in order to make is family, his world, whole again. Who was he kidding? He knew he had been hurting his son more by pushing him away. He was the owner of the miraculous of emotion, after all. However, he had noticed Adrien's attitude and demeanor changes over the past month. Nathalie informed him that Marinette had a lot to do with it, and he had her put together a file on the Dupain-Chengs. While he was impressed by Marinette, he still had to protect his family.

The door opened and Gabriel’s attention snapped to the young man walking in. He watched as Adrien’s face morphed from surprise to panic, then quickly sliding into a blank expression mirroring his own. “Adrien, you are late.”

“I’m sorry, Father. The storm came on suddenly and Viktor had to wait—” Adrien stopped talking when his father put a hand up.

“I am well aware of why you are late and where you have been this evening.” Gabriel retorted. "I would you to invite Ms. Dupain-Cheng to dinner tomorrow.”

“Yes, Father.” He watched as his father nodded, then turned and disappeared toward his office. Adrien quietly made his way to his room, confused about what had just occurred.

Plagg zipped out of Adrien’s shirt and toward his cheese cabinet. “Hey, Kit,” he called after grabbing a couple of wedges of his beloved Camembert. “You okay?”

Adrien flopped onto his bed with a sigh. "I'm not quite sure what happened back there. I was certain I was about to get grounded or he was going to cut Marinette out of my life. Instead, he invites her to dinner?"

“Don’t know, but you need to give Baker Girl a head’s up before tomorrow morning.”

Nodding, he took out his phone, and pulled up the messaging app. He was surprised to Marinette was still active.

A: Hey Marinette. Thanks again for today. I really needed it.

It took about thirty seconds of dot dancing before her response came through.

M: No problem, Adrien. Any time.

A: Funny you should say that. After today’s adventure, Father would like to meet with you.

A: I know it’s last minute, but he wanted me to ask if you would join us for dinner tomorrow.

A: Would that be okay? If not, I can ask Father if another day would be available.

M: Wow. I can’t believe he wants to meet me!

M: I will ask Maman and Papa tomorrow and let you know when we meet up to walk to school.

M: I’m sure they’ll say yes though.

M: What should I wear?

Adrien chuckled at her quick-fire texts.

A: Clothes would be preferred. 😼

M: ADRIEN! 😲 You know what I mean!

A: Wear one of your designs.

A: But no matter what you wear, I’m sure he’s going to like you.

M: I’ll have to take your word for that.

M: So, are you okay? Really?

Adrien smiled fondly at his phone. He could just feel the care and concern radiating from the device in his hands.

A: How could I not be when I have great friends like you watching over me?

M: 🙄 Why do I even try?

The words ‘because you love me’ appeared on Adrien’s screen. Before he pressed the send key, he decided to rephrase his response.

A: Because you care about all your friends.

M: Some more than others

A: Ouch! Where do I fall on that scale?

M: Lower by the minute 😛

A: That hurts, Marinette. 😿

M: Don’t be like that. You know you’re at the top, right below Alya.

A: I can handle that.

A: Anyway, it’s getting late. Get some sleep and I’ll see you tomorrow. 😺

M: Night Adrien. See you in the morning. 😊

A: Good Night, Marinette.

Adrien placed his phone on the charger and changed before crawling into bed. He wasn't sure what tomorrow would bring, but as long as he had Marinette to lean on, he was sure it would be okay.

---

Marinette was at the kitchen table nibbling on a slice of brioche covered in marmalade when Adrien entered the apartment. “Good morning, Adrien.”

“Good morning, Marinette. You are up early!” Adrien teased as he swiped a piece of bread and jam off her plate.

“Hey!” She exclaimed as she tried to get her breakfast back. “Get your own!”

Adrien grinned smugly as he bit into his prize, chuckling as he watched Marinette pout. She really was cute when she pouted, or did anything for that matter.

Marinette finished her breakfast in a huff and took her plates to the sink and rinsed them before returning. “Ready, Bread Thief?”

“Always, Princess.” Adrien retorted as he opened the door for her.

“Princess?” Marinette stopped and looked quizzically at him.

Adrien panicked. He hadn’t thought about what he said. “Like Aladdin?” He said, trying to cover for himself.

Marinette laughed, “Oh, that makes sense.” She dismissed the sudden thoughts of her partner as she linked her arm in his as they made their way downstairs. “Just don’t make a habit of calling me that.”

Adrien opened the side door. “No problem, Marinette.”

“My parents said it was okay for me to go to dinner tonight.” Marinette relayed quietly as they neared the school. “What time do I need to be there?”

Adrien couldn’t figure out if he was excited or terrified to hear she was coming to dinner. “Viktor will pick you up at 6:45, dinner is at 7. Are there any food allergies I need to tell the chef about?”

“Not that I know of.” Marinette squeezed his arm and walked over to her locker, returning shortly before he was done at his. “I’m looking forward to tonight!”

Adrien nodded, wishing he could feel the same way.

---

Marinette caught Chloé as the school let out for lunch. “Chloé, can I ask you a favor?”

“Is it about Adrichou? Don’t think I haven’t noticed you two walking around together.”

“Yes. He and I talked about his home life yesterday and, well—”

Chloé cut her off. "What? He did?" She looked Marinette up and down. "Well, respect, Dupain-Cheng. So, what does that have to do with me?"

"I'm sure you aren't the only one who's noticed us walking to school, and I'm afraid he'll withdraw if anyone says anything to him—"

Chloé cut her off again. Chloé, trying to look disinterested, turned to her side and examined her nails. "Got it. You leave the class to me. I won't like it, but you focus Adrichou. As much as I hate to admit it, he really needs someone like you. I'm surprised he hasn't just asked you out yet or whatever."

“He doesn’t see me in that way, Chloé, and I’m fine with that.” Marinette replied with a sad edge to her voice. She changed the subject before she could dwell on her words, while Chloé rolled her eyes. “I was also hoping you had some time to come by my house after school to help me with picking an outfit. Adrien’s father invited me to—"

Chloé held up her hand, cutting Marinette off for a third time. Seriously, what is her deal? "Say no more. I'll be there at 3 pm sharp. I'm sure we can find something in your drab wardrobe." Chloé flipped her hair over her shoulder and turned around to go find Sabrina.

Marinette sighed as she watched after her, whispering to Tikki, "I guess she's improved, right? " Before Tikki could respond, Marinette shook her head as she went to meet the others for lunch.

Adrien watched as the two girls parted. It made him smile to his two friends getting along after years of tension and resentment between the two. Chloé wasn’t perfect, but becoming Queen Bee had been a blessing for her, and she was taking her new mantle seriously.

Marinette sat down next to Adrien, who immediately pulled her into a quick side hug. Marinette smiled up at him before turning her attention to her lunch and the conversation around them. She didn’t miss the fact that Adrien’s arm never left the back of her chair for the rest of the period.

---

Chloé was flipping through Marinette's closet, occasionally scoffing at items she saw, while Marinette paced around the room. After a few minutes, she groaned and slide onto her chaise. "I just don't think I have anything sophisticated enough to wear to dinner with M. Agreste.”

Chloé rolled her eyes while she kept searching. "Quit being such a drama queen and come help me look!" Marinette reluctantly got up and started searching deeper in her closet while Chloé moved on. As she looked around Marinette's work station, something caught her eye. "Hey, what's this?" Chloé asked as she walked around the dressing screen where a mannequin was.

Marinette looked in the direction of Chloé's voice. "That? It's a design I sketched a few years ago. Apparently, Maman told her family about it when she went to visit them, and they sent the fabric last month. Aunt Xia knows someone who was able to create the pattern I wanted." Chloé raised an eyebrow." Well, I suppose it looks decent." Marinette shrugged and went back to searching through her closet. Chloé snorted," Well? What are you waiting for? We don't have all day! Go try it on!"

Startled, Marinette squeaked and hurried behind the screen. Sighing, she took her time and care with her latest design, putting it on slowly before reappearing in the dress: a white, floor-length qipao detailed with red plum blossoms, blue lilacs, and gold thread accenting throughout. The edges and ties at the top were black.

Chloé was floored by the design. It was absolutely stunning, but she didn't know if she was willing to tell Marinette that. Sure, Ladybug expected her to be kind, even to her enemies, and she has made a lot of improvements over the time since she was first Queen Bee, right? But, taking the high road was hard, so she settled for an indifferent response. "I suppose that'll do." Yeah, that wasn't mean, right? "Now sit. It's time for your makeover." Chloé said with a glint in her eye. Oh how she loved giving people makeovers! Even if it was for this baker girl, she was still going to enjoy this. Marinette, however, looked a little worried. "What are you going to do?" Chloé smiled. "I'm going to turn you from a diamond in the rough into a polished jewel."

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iwroteinapastlife · 6 years

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For the last day of @auyeahaugust I decided to finally start writing my Teacher AU. This has been in the making for years and I’m excited to finally start it! Enjoy~

“Now get some sleep, Adrien. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” he replied. “See you tomorrow.”

With a heavy sigh, Adrien hung up the phone call with his old friend and collapsed into the soft cushions of his sofa, silence settling back in its rightful place in the big, empty apartment. The refrigerator was too expensive to hum, the building’s air vents were probably the quietest in existence, and the cars on the street fifty floors down couldn’t be heard through the top-of-the-line soundproofed walls and windows. Even his mischievous black cat was asleep in the corner. Complete and utter silence.

He turned on the news and set the volume to low before getting up to keep packing.

“—retiring even though he’s only 36 years old and still as popular as ever. Gabriel Agreste has refused to make any public statements on the matter, but his recent hiring of a new model leads us to believe that this change is in fact permanent.”

“Better believe it,” he mumbled as he walked into the kitchen. The white, sleek cabinets were as pristine and empty as the day he’d moved in. He opened each one in turn to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything and found the box of crackers he’d set aside earlier. His immediate instinct was to set them back aside—no snacks after 10pm, fruit if you absolutely must—but with a wicked smile, he remembered that he was free to eat however he wanted now, and that meant Wheat Thins at 11:43pm were A-OK.

He stuffed three in his mouth with delight and continued combing through the kitchen. All clear except for the banana and granola bars sitting on the counter for tomorrow’s breakfast.

In his bedroom, the big walk-in closet was completely empty and all that was left in his dresser drawers were the boxers, socks, jeans and t-shirt he planned on wearing tomorrow. He got them out and laid them on his desk in a neat pile right next to his open laptop. He mindlessly glanced at the screen and paused as the little red notification bubble from Discord caught his eye.

Ladybug: NO.

Ladybug: NOOOOO.

Ladybug: NO NO NO NO NO.

Ladybug: You cannot honestly believe that Live Free was a better album than Jagged on the Move! Jotm was ICONIC.

He laughed at the woman’s usual overdramatics as he typed a response. At least amidst all the chaos and headlines in his life, his online friend’s argumentative nature never changed.

Chat Noir: Iconic? Yes. Absolutely amazing? Yes. Crucial to his career? *Definitely.* But the best album he’s ever made?

Chat Noir: Nope.

Marinette scoffed at her computer screen in horror. She could not believe what she was reading. Jagged on the Move was the classic Jagged Stone album—the album that had not one, not two, but seven hits on it! She dropped the fabric and needle she was working with and furiously typed out a rant to show her friend the error of his ways.

“Uh oh,” Kagami remarked from the couch. “What was the pun this time? Was it another cat one? Or eggs? Did it at least have to do with the conversation this time?”

“No no not that,” Marinette mumbled, glaring at the computer as if she could glare at the man himself. “It’s about Jagged Stone.”

“Ah,” her roommate nodded. She looked back down at her book in disinterest.

Marinette hit enter, sending out the three-paragraph in-depth analysis comparing the musical qualities of the two albums before sitting back again and resuming her work. A few minutes of peace passed in their cozy apartment, the only sounds that of the soft jazz music playing from Kagami’s laptop, the turning of book pages, and the occasional rustle of fabric. Then, after placing some final stitches, the designer turned the mannequin to face her roommate.

“What do you think?”

Golden brown eyes lifted from the book in her hands to assess the dress. “I like all the tattered fabrics,” she began. “The bright, varied colors speak to the chaotic and whimsical nature of the fairies.” She squinted, scrutinizing the details, and though Marinette knew she was great at communicating constructive criticism, she couldn’t help the nervous wave that rolled through her. “Can you make the skirt longer?”

“Yeah…” she answered slowly, looking at her work. “I can throw some extra fabric down there and tie it into the design. Why though?”

“Lydia is playing Puck, right?”

“Probably.”

“I remember Kim saying the other day that she’s recently hit a growth spurt.” She rolled her eyes. “He was gloating that her long legs will make the track team perform better than the fencing team this year or something like that. Anyway, the star of the show might be showing off a lot more leg than you want her to at that length.”

Marinette nodded as she jotted down the note. “Thank you.” With a smirk, she added, “Kim’s delusional if he thinks he’s got an edge on you.”

“That he is.”

Kagami raised her phone camera and shot a picture of Marinette sitting next to the dress, completely oblivious as always, and sent it to the group chat.

Inigo Montoya: [Photo]

Nino paused with his toothbrush hanging from his mouth to open the message on his phone. He immediately smiled and sent back a heart-eyes emoji. A moment later, the bedroom door shut and he could hear Alya collapse on the bed with a heavy sigh. He peeked his head out from the bathroom to see her face down in the blankets, feet still touching the ground as she hadn’t even managed to make it that far.

“I swear,” her muffled voice grumbled, “the older they get the harder it is to put them to bed.” He chuckled and resumed brushing his teeth as he approached.

“Check it out,” he tried to say around the toothpaste in his mouth. It came out more like sheh-kih-how, but she understood nonetheless. He dropped his phone on the bed next to her and she turned to glare at it, then perked up when she saw the photo.

“Oh damn! That’s going to go great with the playlist you’ve been putting together!”

“Mmhmm.”

She sighed, hopping up with renewed spirit to go brush her teeth too. “Man, Marinette just gets better with time. She’s like fine wine.”

Nino followed his wife back into the bathroom and hugged her from behind as she got out her own toothbrush. “Could say the same about you,” he said in garbled toothpaste-speak. He watched those beautiful hazel eyes in the mirror as she laughed affectionately.

“But really though,” she continued, “those are professional-level costumes.” She stuck her toothbrush in her mouth and pulled her own phone out of her pocket.

Lois Lane: OMG

Lois Lane: GURL

Lois Lane: P L E A S E

Lois Lane: SUBMIT THAT

Lois Lane: TO A COMPETITION

Lois Lane: OR SOMETHING

“My fucking god, tell Alya to shut up.”

Luka stirred to movement in the bed as his girlfriend leaned over him to grab his buzzing cell phone from the bedside table.

“How do you know it’s Alya?” he mumbled tiredly. “Oof.” His breathing was suddenly restricted as Lila lay across his middle.

“It’s Alya.” He grabbed her by the waist and shifted so that she wasn’t pressing uncomfortably into his abdomen as she opened up the messages. “Oh!”

“Hmm?” he hummed, still half-asleep and running his palm over her back mindlessly.

“Marinette finished the Puck dress,” she replied, holding up the phone. He winced as bright light suddenly flooded his vision. Blinking away the spots on his eyes, he eventually saw a dress made up of a wide array of colors that while chaotic, blended beautifully. It was perfect.

“That’s awesome.”

“After that, she only has Titania left, right?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Damn, the acting may suck, but those kids are sure as hell going to look good—ow!” He pinched her. “Oh come on, that was a compliment for Marinette.”

“And an insult to the kids acting—and Mylène’s directing.” She made a disgusted sigh and he didn’t have to see her to know she was rolling her eyes. She didn’t argue though; she knew he was right. He smiled and went back to softly smoothing his hand over her skin, this time kneading his fingers along her spine.

She sighed. “You gotta start putting this thing on Do Not Disturb though.”

“Sorry, I forget that you’re such a light sleeper.” Her only response was to hum and sink into his touch, laying down even though she was still across him. “It would be easier to remember if you slept here more often,” he continued. She hummed again. “You’d save a lot of gas money that way too by just carpooling to work with me.” Another hum. “And I could make you dinner every night.”

With a heavy sigh, Lila pushed herself up to hover over him. Her kiss was as intoxicating as always, complete with smooth, plush lips and that tongue that always seemed in perfect tandem with his own. Even the very first one had floored him, and it seemed her kisses only got better with time.

A moment later, it was gone and she was rolling back onto her side of the bed. “Your closet isn’t big enough for all my clothes,” she stated simply. He huffed a small laugh.

“Fair enough.” The phone buzzed again and he realized she must have been too distracted to actually put it on Do Not Disturb. The bright screen lit up his vision once again as he picked it up.

Bill and Ted: Most excellent [thumbs_up]

“Okay okay,” Nathaniel muttered to no one in particular as his cell phone buzzed across the room again. He finally set aside his drawing tablet and grabbed his empty water glass to go refill it while he was up, snatching his phone from the desk on his way out of the room.

“Oh no man why you gotta do me like this please I’m too young to die!!”

Nathaniel ignored Enzo’s frantic yelling from the living room as he made his way to the kitchen. His son’s outbursts and the video game explosions that accompanied them had long since become normal background noise in his ears.

Oh, it’s already tomorrow, he noted in the back of his mind as his screen popped to life. He supposed that made sense, since it had been 10pm when Marc had sent him the script for the week. He could probably crank out a few more pages tonight before bed and then get the rest done in the morning before Enzo’s dentist appointment.

When he finally opened the group chat, there were 27 notifications waiting for him, 23 of which were from a string of one-liners from Alya. He scrolled back to see what had started it all.

A subsequent grin spread across his cheeks.

Ninja Turtle: It’s perfect.

Ninja Turtle: Marinette, I don’t know how you consistently manage to compliment my scene designs so well but seriously DAMN

Edna Mode: [heart]

“Alright,” Kagami announced, shutting her book. “I’m going to bed.”

Marinette looked up from all the praise on the group chat with a smile. “Goodnight.”

“Don’t stay up too much longer,” she warned. The music stopped as Kagami shut down her laptop. “Remember we’re meeting Alya and the kids tomorrow for brunch.”

“Right right. 11?”

“10.”

“Bleh,” she replied with a sour face. “Early.”

“Only for night owls like you.” The woman stood with grace, hefting up the computer and giant hardcover book in her arms. “Better start getting used to it again; only a couple weeks left.”

She groaned. “Don’t remind me.”

Kagami laughed. “I bet you thought lamenting the end of winter break was over after lycée.”

“I can’t believe I signed up to go to school for the rest of my life.”

As if on cue, a new notification sounded from Marinette’s computer.

“Isn’t that your school email?” Kagami asked, recognizing the sound. She approached to watch over her roommate and coworker’s shoulder as she pulled up the message.

“Yep. Looks like it’s for all of us.”

Nathaniel heard the email notification chime right as he sat back down at his desk. He told himself he’d check it in the morning. He wasn’t ready to be a teacher again quite yet.

Luka’s head was just settling back into the pillow again when a new notification sounded, from Lila’s phone this time. She vaguely grunted in annoyance, but otherwise ignored it. He decided to do the same, rolling onto his side and draping an arm over her waist to pull her close.

Somewhere in the very back of his mind, Nino acknowledged the twin buzzes from their phones, but consciousness was drifting far too quickly for him to check it now.

Adrien closed the tab confirming his flight information and opened the very first message to be received on his brand new teacher email.

From: Chloé Bourgeois

To: All Faculty Members

Happy new year everyone,

I hope you’ve all been enjoying winter break and are ready to return for a new term in a couple weeks.

As you all know, this past term was our last year with previous Math and Science Department Head, Max Kanté. I’m sure you’ll all be delighted to hear that he has since settled into his new position at Cambridge and says that while he misses all of us here at Lycée Françoise Dupont, the university is treating him well.

Acting as the new head of the Math and Science Department from now on will be math professor Sabrina Raincomprix. In addition, to fill the gap, we have been working on hiring a new professor to take Max’s place teaching physics. I am happy to inform you that a decision has been made.

I’m sure many of you have heard of Adrien Agreste’s recent retirement. Though he is known for modeling the fashion designs of his father, Gabriel Agreste, Adrien’s true goal has always been to be a teacher. With a Master’s degree in physics, a Bachelor’s in mathematics, and the recent attainment his teaching license, he makes the perfect candidate to fill the gap in our current faculty. I trust you will all give him a warm welcome this Spring as the newest addition to our team.

Enjoy what is left of your break, and I will see you all again in two weeks.

Warm Regards,

Principal Bourgeois

Chloé shut her laptop and stood with a tired yawn. She should have been asleep hours ago—she risked getting bags under her eyes staying up like this. But she knew the second word got out about Adrien teaching, it would be all over the news and she wanted to make sure her faculty heard it from her first.

She reached up and pulled out her hair tie as she walked to the bedroom, flicking off all the lights in the apartment on the way. What little hair had been pulled back fell down around her head with ease, returning to her classy bob. She sighed and ran her fingers through it as she pulled out her phone to set the alarm.

7 am. She would be a bit behind on sleep, but her morning coffee would make up for it. She made a mental note to grab an extra caramel macchiato as well. Knowing Adrien, he would likely be tired and craving something tooth-rotting when he got off the plane after staying up all night packing instead of sleeping.

She smiled and finally crawled into the silk sheets on her memory foam mattress. As much as she wasn’t looking forward to getting up in the morning, she was excited to see her friend again.

And with that thought in mind, she slept soundly.

#ml au yeah august #mlauyeahaugust #teacher au #miraculous ladybug #adrinette #djwifi #liluka #chlonath #online chat au #lfd

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quantumchickpea · 6 years

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A Bundle of Hope (infertility adrienette One Shot fanfiction) You can find it on AO3 and fanfiction.net :)

Note: So, I really wanted to write a one shot of Adrien and Marinette if they had trouble having kids. And I remembered that Reborn dolls existed. So, I decided to write this. :) Thank you for reading. :)

Marinette bit her nails, as she paced the vast bathroom in a long black t-shirt. She glanced over at the bathroom sink at the test that was sitting on the edge. Tears burned her blue bell eyes, as she worried.

"Bugaboo?" Adrien called through the bathroom door and lightly knocked on the frosted glass door. "Can I come in? I can see you pacing and it's making me nervous."

Marinette stopped and watched his silhouette through the door. Her phone timer went off and she ran to the test on the sink. The feeling of defeat filled her heart and she gripped the test, as she fell to the tile. Adrien sighed and slumped against the door, seeing his wife fall to her knees.

"It's okay, love bug. We can try again." Adrien tried to smile and show it through his voice. "Just open the door, baby. Please."

"No. I- We've tried everything Adrien." Marinette sobbed and looked at the test with her knees drawn to her chest. "We've done every treatment, timed every moment, spent thousands on new treatments…"

"Let me in, please." Adrien turned the knob slightly in his hand.

"Why won't anything work? Why can't we have a child? I want one and so do you… Tons of people get to have kids… Our friends all have kids. Alya and Nino… Mylene and Ivan… Nathaniel and Chloe…. Everyone, Adrien…" She sobbed louder and gripped her hair in her hands.

"I know, love. Can you please open the door?" Adrien sighed.

Plagg suddenly zipped into the room and unlocked the door for him. "Go ahead, kid." He whispered at his holder.

"Plagg…" Marinette whined in disapproval.

"You can't be alone, Marinette." Tikki tried to calm her holder. "We won't let you do this alone. You're a team."

Adrien opened the door to find his wife in pieces on the floor with the test clenched in her fist. "Bugaboo… We can try other things. We can go see a different doctor. Anyone you want. Anywhere you want."

Marinette shook her head. "It doesn't matter. No matter what we do… it won't matter. I should just give up. We'll never have a child."

"You don't know that." Adrien got down on his knees in front of her and pulled her to his chest. He held her and she broke down and sobbed harder into his shirt.

"We've been trying to four years, Adrien. four years. We've done IVF… we've done medications… we've tried keeping track of my periods, which aren't regular by any means… we've tried different positions… we've tried herbal supplements… We've tried so many things, but the egg never sticks. And when it does.. We've lost them. We've lost so many babies, Adrien. I can't handle it anymore. I can't handle losing more children." Marinette gripped his shirt and peered up into his green eyes. "Hugo was my limit, kitty."

"I know." Adrien whispered and held the back of her head. "Let's just go outside and take a walk. Maybe stop at a cafe. How does that sound?" Adrien smiled at her.

She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Hang on." Adrien stood up and walked out into their bedroom.

He picked out a pastel pink t-shirt dress and a rose gold long necklace with a metal rectangle pendant that held the date they had revealed to one another that they were Ladybug and Chat Noir. Adrien went to the closet and picked out a pair of rose gold strappy sandals and walked back to the bathroom. He smiled down at her and helped her up. "C'mon, beautiful."

Adrien took the test from her hand and threw it into the small metal wastebasket. "Lift your arms."

Marinette did as she was told. He gripped the hem of her shirt and pulled it up and over her head, leaving her in a pink bra and panty set. Stretch marks decorated her hips and lower stomach, along the sides of her breasts. Adrien touched her chin and brought her lips to his. "You're so beautiful."

Marinette let another tear fall from her eyes. He slipped the dress over her head and down her body. He turned her to the mirror and slipped the necklace over her head. Tikki grabbed the makeup that sat next to the sink. She handed him her foundation and he put some on the back of his hand. Adrien grabbed a blender sponge and turned her away from the mirror to face him.

"You don't have to do this, Adrien. I'll be fine." Marinette blushed and he shook his head to protest.

"I want to." Adrien smiled and began to dab foundation onto her cheeks and all around her face.

Once, he blended it, he added concealer beneath her eyes,that Tikki had passed him. Adrien smiled and took a makeup brush from Plagg. He picked out neutral peach tones and added shades to her eyelids. Adrien angled her face and began to put winged black liner along her lash line. He brushed mascara along her eyelashes. He added bronzer to certain areas and highlighted her cheeks, nose, cupids bow, t-zone, and chin. He smiled and brushed a neutral pink lipstick to her pouted lips and smiled at her. "Now, your hair."

"Adrien…" Marinette complained at her husband.

"Don't complain. You deserve the world, Marinette." Adrien took a brush and began to pull her hair back into a perfect bun. He secured it on the back of her head and stuck a rose gold ladybug hairpin into it. He picked up a peach toned flower and bobby pinned it to the side near the ladybug. "Done."

Marinette looked at her reflection, after she slipped the sandals onto her feet. She looked into the mirror at Adrien's smiling face.

"You're beautiful without makeup. But I wanted to try and cheer you up." Adrien smiled at her.

Marinette moved a stray hair from her eyes and let a smile fall to her lips. She turned to face Adrien and she pulled him into a hug. "Thank you, minou."

"You're welcome, m'lady." Adrien sighed and held her close. "Are you ready to go on that walk around town?"

Marinette nodded and hooked her arm around his bent elbow. "Let's go."

Adrien smiled and lead her out of their house and onto the street. It was sunny and the streets were alive with artists and street performers.

Marinette smiled at each one, while Adrien dropped euros into their collection containers. 'Artists are very important. They're talent should be shared among everyone in the world.' Adrien had always said that to her. He admired them and took them all into consideration. He loved every one of them.

Something caught Marinette's eye in the window of a shop. She stopped and peered at babies in carriages. They looked so life like that she had to stand perfectly still without blinking to make sure they weren't breathing.

Adrien leaned in with his hands in his pockets and tilted his head in question. "Would you like to go inside, Marinette?"

"Yes, please." Marinette blushed and Adrien took her hand.

He opened the door with his empty one and a small bell chimed.

"Bonjour!" The shop owner smiled at them.

"Bonjour." Adrien and Marinette smiled in return.

Marinette walked over to look at all of the babies in strollers, cribs, and bassinets. "What are these?" Her eyes filled with wonder at how detailed they were from their toes to their soft hair.

"These are what we call, Reborns. We make them for parents that have lost babies, have fertility problems, or for people that just admire them." The woman softly spoke with a heart warming smile.

Marinette touched the soft dark hair that was on one of the dolls. It's eyes were closed and his lips were pouted and a soft pink. She touched his soft hand and admired the detail of his tiny fingernails. "They're beautiful. They look so real…"

"That little one is named Hugo. He was born a few days ago, really. We just put him out to the public today." She smiled and held her hands in front of her white apron. "He's beautiful isn't he? Looks a bit like both of you, really."

Marinette peered up at Adrien and he smiled at her. "Would you like him?"

Marinette looked over at the woman that owned the shop.

"We call it adoptions around here and he's about three hundred euros to adopt." The woman smiled at them.

Marinette worried her bottom lip.

"Would you like to hold him?" The shop owner walked over to her and picked the baby up from the crib.

She set the baby into Marinette's arms and tears fell down Marinette's cheeks. Adrien smiled warmly at her. "It even feels like a real baby. Hold him." She passed the baby to Adrien and he carefully took him from her.

"That's amazing!" Adrien looked at the woman with shocked emerald eyes. He passed him back to his wife and Marinette brushed her fingers through his soft hair.

"We've been trying for a baby for four years. Nothing has worked out for us." Adrien gave in and Marinette hummed a lullaby and smiled at the baby.

"Well, I'd say she's quite smitten with Hugo." The woman smiled over at Marinette.

Adrien warmly smiled imagining his wife with Hugo, if Hugo had survived. "Do you take cards?"

"I do. Right this way." She smiled and gestured for him to go to the register.

Before long, they had footprints, a signed birth certificate, and a stroller with a black cat printed green blanket.

Marinette smiled and pushed the stroller with them, while she moved the blanket slightly. "Thank you so much Adrien."

"Anything for my lovebug." Adrien kissed the top of her head, as they walked along the shops with their new bundle of hope.

#miraculous ladybug #my fanfiction #infertility #dealing with loss #dealing with a loss of hope #fanfiction #one shot #adrienette #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #aged up #married

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epiclilkitty-blog · 6 years

Text

Ladybug’s Romeo

"O Romeo, Romeo. Wherefore Art Thou, Romeo?" Ladybug sighed dreamily as she leaned against the railing of the roof upon which she was currently standing. It was mid-evening and the sun was sinking behind the horizon, turning the sky a fiery orange with hot pink and lavender hues. But it wasn't the beauty of the sky that held her attention. That paled in comparison to what she was currently staring at. No, what held the spotted heroine's attention was the giant billboard across from the building she stood on. On the billboard, Adrien Agreste was posing against a red brick wall. He wore low slung, hip-hugging jeans that almost seemed painted on, a form-fitting white shirt that clung to his muscles, and a black leather jacket that did nothing to hide the muscles underneath. He had one leg bent at the knee, the foot pressed against the wall behind him, and his head was bowed forward so that his perfect blonde hair fell slightly over his eyes as he grinned up at the camera. She just about swooned then and there. In fact, she was so enthralled by the sight of her crush towering over the Parisian rooftops, she failed to notice the soft thud of feet landing on the roof behind her as she continued her speech.

"Deny thy father and refuse thy name; or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love and I'll no longer be a Capulet." She breathed the words out on an exalted sigh. When Ladybug had left her house an hour ago, it had mostly been to clear her head. They were currently studying Shakespeare in her 12th Grade English Literature Class and coincidentally she was to recite this particular scene with Adrien Agreste tomorrow. She wanted it to be perfect but she had never been the greatest at Shakespeare. That, coupled with the fact that she was a blubbering mess around Adrien, made it a daunting task.

"Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?” A soft voice intoned behind her. Ladybug was so caught up in the moment, however, she simply responded without thought.

“'Tis but thy name that is my enemy: thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What’s a Montague? It is nor hand nor foot, nor arm nor face, nor any other part belonging to a man. O be some other name!" She ended on a cry, before dropping her voice to a much softer tone. “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet. So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called, retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title. Romeo, doff thy name, and for that name, which is no part of thee take all myself.”

Slowly, Ladybug returned to her senses as behind her, someone began to clap. The girl spun around, eyes wide with shock to find her partner, Chat Noir, grinning at her broadly. He very closely resembled the cat that ate the canary. The girl flushed a deep red, bluebell eyes widening as the leather-clad boy prowled closer to give her an appraising look. “Ch-Chat N-Noir! H-how long have you been standing there?” She squeaked, taking a step back as the blonde haired boy invaded her space.

“Long enough, My Lady. Tell me something… were you just reciting Shakespeare to a billboard?” The tomcat chuckled, eyes twinkling with obvious delight. If possible, Ladybug’s face seemed to burn hotter than before as she shook her head frantically. Damn this cat and damn his cursed timing, she thought to herself.

“N-no! No, of course, I wasn’t. I- I just happened to be speaking in that general direction,” she claimed, jerking her chin up defiantly. A bad idea, as it only brought Chat’s gaze down to her mouth. His lips quirked and he arched a brow, leaning closer.

“I don’t know, My Lady. It looked to me like you were reciting sweet nothings to a billboard of Adrien Agreste,” he purred, glancing with amusement towards the giant image of his civilian form. A strangled noise escaped the girl, drawing his focus back on her. By this point, her shin was almost as red as her suit.

“I- I wouldn’t call them sweet nothings, Chat. Romeo and Juliet is a terrible play,” she said, resolutely avoiding his green eyes. Her words were enough to derail the boy from his teasing, however, and he gave her a surprised look.

“You don’t like Shakespeare? But he’s like the world’s greatest playwright!” Ladybug gave an indifferent shrug as the blush faded from her cheeks and she turned to give him a dubious look.

“That’s arguable, but no, I have nothing against Shakespeare himself. I simply hate Romeo and Juliet,” she said by way of explanation. Chat arched a brow and made a gesture for her to continue. She sighed but did as he asked. “It’s just… the story starts out so sweet and beautiful. I mean, yeah it’s weird these twelve-year-olds are confessing their undying love for each other but I guess that’s just how it was back then. But then, he just goes and kills off the two main characters! Who even does that, Chat!?” Ladybug wailed, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

“Apparently Shakespeare,” Chat said, biting back a laugh as the spandex covered girl shot him a withering look.

“You’re not nearly as funny as you seem to think you are,” she retorted dryly.

“Me-ouch, m’Ladybug’s got claws,” Chat fired back playfully before asking on a more serious note, “So if you hate Shakespeare so much, why are you sitting here reciting it to a billboard?”

“I told you, I wasn’t reciting it to the billboard. And I have to recite this scene in class tomorrow with the guy I like. It’s a little nerve-wracking,” Ladybug admitted with a shrug. Chat Noir felt something tighten within him at her words. Ladybug… Ladybug liked someone else?

“O-oh. Well, I’m sure you’ll do great! So, uh, tell me about him. This guy you like…” Chat said, moving to lean against the roof railing beside her. Ladybug hesitated, glancing at her partner.

“I don’t know Chat… we aren’t really supposed to discuss our Civilian lives,” she pointed out, shuffling her feet nervously. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t tempted. Chat was her closest friend aside from Alya and might offer a new perspective on the whole Adrien debacle. At the same time, Tikki was pretty adamant they not discuss too many details pertaining to their personal lives less they slip up.

“Does this guy know you like him?” Chat asked.

“Well, no but-”

“Then it shouldn’t matter! Besides, I’m not going to blab to anyone. This is all completely confidential,” he promised, placing one hand over his heart and raising the other. “Cat’s honor, My Lady.”

The girl studied him for a long moment, expression unreadable. Talking about her crush might help her in the long run. Chat might be able to offer insight that another girl wasn’t able to. After all, he was technically a guy too, right? “Ok well…” She hesitated, not sure where to begin.

“What do you like about him?” Chat prompted gently. The girl smiled dreamily, a fact that didn’t escape Chat Noir’s notice.

“He… he’s so kind and generous. He’s rich, but he doesn’t act like a snob. He’s the most honest, loyal, and selfless person I’ve ever met,” she explained softly.

“When did you two meet?”

“Back in Middle School. He was homeschooled up until then. His dad is a really famous fashion designer,” she said, twirling a lock of hair around one finger.

“And you’re certain he doesn’t like you back? I mean, I find it hard to imagine anyone not noticing someone as amazing as you, LB. Maybe he likes you and is just too afraid to-” He was interrupted by Ladybug’s sharp, disbelieving laugh. Turning his head, he watched as she shook her head, shoulders shaking with self-deprecating laughter.

“I’m not the same girl outside the mask, Chat. As Ladybug, I’m confident and powerful and brave. When I’m around Adrien, I can barely even talk straight.I constantly stumble over my words around him and it’s a miracle if I don’t trip over him at least once a day,” she moaned, not noticing the way Chat Noir had stiffened beside her. Green eyes wide, he stared at the girl beside him.

“My Lady, you wouldn’t happen to mean Adrien Agreste… the model would you?” He asked uncertainly. The blush on the girl’s face was answer enough and Chat felt a pulse of joy at her reaction. Ladybug liked him. Ladybug liked him. This was the greatest news ever and-

“But like I said, he doesn’t like me back,” Ladybug was saying dejectedly.

“Don’t say that!” Chat burst out, startling both himself and his partner at the conviction in his words. “Er… what I mean to say is he would be crazy not to want you. You just have to grab the cat by the tail; go for it, LB. Ask him out,” Chat said excitedly. The girl snorted and shook her head.

“Yeah, like that would ever happen.”

“Look, you said you have to do this scene with him tomorrow right? Why don’t I help you practice and after you recite it to him tomorrow, you can confess.” Chat Noir suggested animatedly. Ladybug wasn’t entirely certain what his motive for helping her was, but suddenly she, too, felt excited at the prospect and for the next two hours, the two worked together to make certain her speech was flawless. When they parted ways, Ladybug felt eons lighter than she had been when leaving the house earlier.

The next day in class, Marinette arrived to class slightly earlier than usual and took her place beside Alya. Before her best friend could so much as utter a greeting, the blonde boy in the seat before them twisted around to flash her a smile that could have rivaled the sun in its brightness. “Hey, Marinette! Are you ready for our presentation?” He asked warmly.

“I um… a-as ready as I’ll ever be,” She squeaked, relieved when she only stuttered a little bit. His grin widened.

“You sound nervous,” he noted, a look of concern sliding across his face. Marinette blushed and smiled nervously.

“M-maybe a little,” she admitted.

“Don’t be. You’ll be totally clawsome, my Lady,” he assured her with a wink. Marinette froze, ignoring Alya’s quiet squealing and Nino teasing his friend about the pun. She stared into Adrien’s unwavering green gaze and slowly, a smile stretched across her face.

“I have a feline you’re right, Minou,” she said softly.

#Miraculous Ladybug #adrien agreste #marinette dupen-chang #Ladybug #chat noir #Ladynoir #Adrienette #romeo and juliet #Fluff #Reveal

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ladyserendipitous · 6 years

Text

Luka

So there’s a new character that’s going to be introduced this season, but what if he isn’t new?

Juleka loves playing the guitar. She’s damn good at it, but it’s hard to get people to consider her a serious musician because she’s a girl and has no interest in being a high pitched singer.

One day she comes across yet another local group looking for a lead guitarist while their current one is taking care of ‘legal issues’. Doesn’t sound shady at all!

Hoping she has a better shot, she hides her hair in a beanie, gets herself a pair of baggy jeans, and button down shirt with a t-shirt underneath and auditions.

‘Dude, you’re awesome. What’s your name?’ Well shit she didn’t really think this all the way through. She can’t say Juleka! But if she gets rid of the J and the E and moves the L to the front, that sounds like a name. Thus Luka is born.

Luka now has a gig the following weekend and is panicked. Because Juleka only had the one outfit. She needs a whole wardrobe for her new persona. She needs fashion advice, stat!

Enter one Marinette Dupain-Cheng who promises to keep Juleka’s secret as she start sketching out design ideas. Not that Juleka has time to wait for amazing Dupain-Cheng designed outfits so they head out together to go thrift store shopping.

Juleka is still dressed as Luka, and the two of them are seen by more than one kid from their school.

The next day Marinette is asked by someone from another class who she was with yesterday. Marinette stumbles her way to saying Luka. Adrien is there, so is Alya.

Alya can’t get details about the mystery guy. It’s driving her nuts. She can’t let her ship sink!

Marinette does make a comment in front of several classmates about wanting to see a band play that weekend. Alya is sticking to her like glue and insistet she’s going and invites Nino and Adrien too because maybe music is the key to getting the ship back.

Rose gets invited too, but Juleka has ‘other obligations but thank you Marinette’

The night of the gig many things unfold. Alya gets a look at the mysterious Luka and feels like there’s no fighting this. Hot muscian Marinette can actually talk to? Adrien ‘just a friend’ Agreste doesn’t stand a chance.

Rose though is instantly smitten by this cool rocker. He’s just so... so... yeaaaaah!

And then he winks at her and Rose is a goner!

Marinette is the smuggest bug ever and is even able to whisper to Adrien how cute she thinks Rose and Luka are!

Alya is confused.

End of the night Rose, with a lot of pressure from Marinette ask Luka for his number.

Luka glares daggers at Marinette, but then softens in expression at Rose, becausd it’s ROSE!

Later that night when Rose puts the number into her phone she gets a most delighted surprise

When Luka’s band mates former guitarist return they say they already have the guitarist they want because Luka doesn’t make waves and has a cute girlfriend besides.

Marinette never tells anyone about Luka and Juleka

It takes nearly five years before Luka is outed.

#my own work #ml spoliers #julerose #luka #marinette dupain cheng

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sadrien · 7 years

Text

goodbyes & hellos

on ao3

im so so so late but hey this is for first day of prompt week for @thinkoutsidethelovesquare!!!! day one: wrong number

this was a lot of fun tbh and ive been dying to write this ship. alyas texts are italicized, adriens are underlined on ao3, just bold here bc tumblrs a butt. shoutout to @reyxa for the title <3

enjoy!

Alya narrows her eyes at the new message that lights up her phone. It’s an unknown number that she doesn’t recognize — not that she’s given her number to anyone recently — and it’s also seven in the morning . Anyone how knows her at all should know that she doesn’t wake up before at least nine on the weekends. (And that has nothing to do with the fact that she doesn’t sleep during the week and tends to go to bed after two in the morning.)

She groans as another message shows up on the screen. She squints and lets the messages flow in, figuring she can tell the person they’ve got the wrong number after they’ve finished whatever they have to say. Or she can decide that it’s unimportant and ignore it and go back to sleep.

She likes her second plan the best.

unknown number: Hi!

unknown number: Just wanted to let you know the start time for today has been moved from 10 to 9:15

unknown number: My father has a meeting at 1300 so he wants to get it all done as soon as possible

unknown number: And I know you mentioned wanting to have him on set yesterday

unknown number: I hope it’s not too much of an inconvenience! Your agent should be calling you soon, but I thought I’d give you a heads up

Alya squints at the screen. She doesn’t want to care but she’s curious. And curiousity killed the cat and all that but she’s used to letting her nosiness get the best of her.

unknown number: agents???

unknown number: 1st of all srry u have the wrong number

unknown number: 2nd of all were u talking to a movie star or smth???????

unknown number: book writer??

unknown number: what kinda person needs an agent

unknown number: Oh I’m sorry! I must’ve gotten the wrong number from someone

unknown number: I’m really sorry if I was bothering you

Alya rolls her eyes.

unknown number: u woke me up but its chill cause now im curious

unknown number: Curious? About what?

unknown number: way 2 keep avoiding the question

unknown number: ???

unknown number: u said the person u meant to text has an agent

unknown number: how fancy r they

unknown number: Oh! She’s a model!

Alya’s eyes widen. The most famous person she knows is that thirteen year old that was in her school who has ten thousand subscribers on YouTube because she makes lyric videos. The second is a boy who has a few thousand instagram followers because he has nice abs and lots of white boy clothing and muscle shirts.

unknown number: u kno a model????????

unknown number: Uhh

unknown number: I’m not sure how much personal information I should be giving to a stranger

Alya sighs. So close.

unknown number: its fine dude (dude? u good w that? lmk if u arent) i getchu

unknown number: u can just stop responding if u dont wanna talk

She locks her phone and slides it back under her pillow. She stares at the ceiling for a few more minutes, wondering if she’ll be able to fall back asleep. As much as she’d like to take the train back to dreamville, she can’t. Because now she’s awake and now she’s wondering. And once she stops wondering, she doesn’t stop.

She’ll probably stop thinking about this random wrong number in a few days and in a few months, she’ll forget about them entirely but…

Ugh.

Sleep definitely isn’t an option anymore.

Leaving her phone in her bed, she pads to the kitchen, twisting her hair up into a messy bun as she does so. No one is up yet — of course they aren’t, it’s seven on a Saturday and everyone is taking advantage of every precious minute of sleep they can get — so she has the run of the house to herself.

So she makes herself some coffee and a bowl of cereal and turns to television on. Her initial plan is to just leave it on whatever channel that’s playing when she first turns it on, and luckily the twins were the last ones to use it. Saturday morning cartoons. Score.

Alya stirs sugar in her coffee as Cyber Chase plays in the background. It’s not much more than background noise, it’s the middle of an episode and she doesn’t really know what’s happening, but she does snort at a few of the bad jokes.

“You’re up early,” her mom says before dropping a kiss on the top of Alya’s head.

Alya hums. “Got a few text messages and they woke me up.” She notes how her mom purposefully avoids eye contact as she opens a cabinet. Alya rolls her eyes and eats a spoonful of cereal.

“School friends?” her mom asks carefully.

“Yes,” Alya lies. Better than her mom asking more questions. The biggest one being why were you talking to a complete stranger?

“Are you going to see them before we leave?”

Alya glues her eyes to the TV. “If they’re around.”

Her mom makes an unimpressed sound and Alya resists the urge to roll her eyes. She texted a few of her friends the other week, but the conversation was awkward and stilted. They all had the same sort of idea about cutting ties.

Alya sighs and puts down her spoon, twisting around in her seat to face her mom. “I promise I’m talking to them.”

Her mom gives her that look— the one where her lips purse and a crease between her eyebrows that’s becoming more and more permanent; the one that says she wants to push for more details, but won’t unless they’re volunteered first. Which Alya is not doing, thank you very much. “If you say so, honey,” her mom says, turning her attention to the breakfast she’s making.

Alya stares down into her cereal bowl.

Time to evacuate to her bedroom.

She finishes her cereal as quickly as she can without choking and dumps her bowl and spoon in the sink as she passes it, taking her coffee with her to her room. New plan: curl up in bed with her laptop and hope her mom just leaves her alone until they move.

Alya’s almost forgotten about her phone by the time she flops onto her bed. It vibrates almost as soon as she opens her laptop. She frowns as she pulls it out from under her pillow.

unknown number: Dude is fine for me

unknown number: He/him pronouns please

unknown number: Thanks for asking I really appreciate it, actually

unknown number: People don’t always ask

Plan trashed. This is a better plan.

unknown number: she/her for me

unknown number: and no prob man

unknown number: i wasnt gonna assume ur gender

unknown number: ok that mightve sounded bad but i didnt mean it in a bad way like the ‘lol dont assume my gender’ way jerks do sometime i meant it in like a genuine

unknown number: if u have smth u wanna say u should say it because i am very tired and i can go on for a while

Whoops.

Alya can’t say she’s known for her stellar first impressions but she usually doesn’t ramble her way into an awkward corner. She mindlessly flips through apps as she waits for a response.

unknown number: Don’t worry about it! I didn’t take it the wrong way or anything

Alya smiles to herself as she responds. He keeps leaving her openings which is nice. Based off his initial reaction, she thought he’d shut this down as fast as possible.

She realizes this is probably a little weird. But it’s the most exciting thing to happen to her since school let out so…

unknown number: so whats up stranger??

unknown number: b4 u ask im just sitting in my room doing nothing but text u so thats my morning

unknown number: I actually have work soon, so that’s fun

Alya raises her eyebrows. She forgot age was something else she didn’t know yet.

unknown number: oo work that sounds fun

unknown number: what do u do???

unknown number: I work for my dad, it isn’t anything special

unknown number: But it gives me something to do with my time so I don’t mind that much

unknown number: If I randomly stop responding without warning, that’s why

unknown number: good 2 kno

unknown number: can i ask what u do 4 ur dad or is that 2 personal

unknown number: I uh… I just do whatever he needs me to do

unknown number: I don’t get paid or anything but

unknown number: ay it still works as a resume builder

unknown number: Yeah exactly!

unknown number: thats cool that ur dad can get u a job!! my mom and dad could never w their jobs so i just suffer

unknown number: not that thats any different from what i would do anyway as a teenager

Alright, perfect. She’s brought up the age question in a really clunky and awkward way. Better than nothing.

unknown number: Oh how old are you?

unknown number: I’m 15

Alya lets out a sigh of relief.

unknown number: ayy same!

unknown number: just ur fav teenage superhero blogger

unknown number: doing nothing with her life

unknown number: You like superheroes?

unknown number: yeah!! i love comic books. you??

unknown number: I don’t have time to read many but yeah! I’ve always loved Spiderman

unknown number: wonder woman is my g i r l

unknown number: superheroes are just so cool

She waits a few minutes before she decides that he must have gone off to work. Bonding over superheroes, that’s good. A shared interest. She scrolls through their conversation, rereading some of the earlier messages before she creates a contact for him. She makes the name ‘stranger’ and leaves it at that.

It’s not like they’re meeting up or anything. Even if he is an ax murderer, can’t kill her if she never sends him her location.

Alya spends the next couple of hours avoiding her mom as much as possible. She takes her sisters to the park and then goes to the library after she brings them home.

She doesn’t want to talk about it.

She’s clicking through a webcomic that she missed a few weeks worth of updates when her phone buzzes. She glances down, expecting it to be a text from her mom asking if she has any plans or to do chores or something, but is pleasantly surprised to see a message from her stranger.

stranger: Sorry about that, work ran long

stranger: Admittedly, I don’t know very much about Wonder Woman, but she looks very awesome

unknown number: !!!!

unknown number: when ive got more time remind me to tell u all abou t her

unknown number: and to rec some comic books even if u dont have time

stranger: Is she your favorite?

Alya sits back in her chair. This conversation is going to be a long one.

Alya finds herself randomly texting her stranger for the next few days. He doesn’t always respond quickly, but he responds eventually, no matter how weird her original message.

That’s more than she can say for most of her friends.

She texts him as she’s sitting on the counter in her kitchen, stirring a pot.

unknown number: hey stranger whats up

stranger: Just reading, you?

unknown number: making box mac n cheese

stranger: Sounds fun

unknown number: yeah im gonna eat it straight from the pot

The three dots bounce on the screen as the stranger takes his time with the next message. Alya snorts and turns off the stove, straining the pasta and moving to the fridge to find butter and cheese. He’s found his words by the time she’s letting the butter melt in the pot.

stranger: Straight from the pot? Why?

unknown number: because i live life on the edge

unknown number: and also because im too lazy to clean the dish later

stranger: You know what? That’s fair

Sometimes, Alya thinks that she probably shouldn’t think about someone who she doesn’t even know the name of as often as she does, let alone text him as much as she does. But sometimes she’ll see something, and she’ll immediately think of him. Or she’ll just be randomly upset and feel the strong urge to pick up the phone and see if he’s available to vent to.

She knows it’s kind of weird, but she can’t help herself.

One night, at around two in the morning, she finds herself messaging him.

unknown number: hey did i ever mention i was moving

She’s almost asleep, slightly more okay than she was before she sent the text, when he responds.

stranger: You haven’t but we also don’t talk about where we live

Alya stares at the screen for a long moment, the bright light in the darkness making everything on the screen blur into nothing. She just feels kind of numb.

unknown number: yeah

unknown number: like 8 hours away from where i live now

stranger: Wow that’s a big move

unknown number: yeah

stranger: I’m guessing you don’t want to go?

unknown number: not really

unknown number: did u know ur my only friend right now

stranger: I am?

unknown number: me and my other friends sort of cut ties

stranger: The internet exists

stranger: Phones exist

stranger: FaceTime and Skype both kind of suck, but they exist

unknown number: yeah i guess

unknown number: i guess its just too hard for any of us to try

stranger: I have no idea how far apart we live

stranger: We’re doing just fine

unknown number: yeah

unknown number: yeah ur right

One of Alya’s small comforts that comes to mind whenever she thinks about moving is the fact that she’ll have her phone on her and a portable charger. Her stranger will be with her every step of the way.

He’d managed to get her to talk to some of her friends. She doesn’t really think it’ll last once she’s in Paris, but the attempt is nice. And it gives her other people to talk to for the rest of the summer.

It’s too early in the morning when they leave for the last time for her to get really emotional about moving. All she has the energy to do is to take a picture of her old apartment, caption it ‘one last goodbye to marseille’, and save it before sending it to her friends over Snapchat. Before she falls asleep against the car window, she texts it to her stranger.

She wakes up to a new text among the goodbyes from her friends.

stranger: Have a nice car ride! I’ll let you know when I get back from work <3

Alya hides her smile from her sisters and screenshots the text for later.

She texts him from the floor of her new bedroom while her dad starts moving boxes. They’ve been in the process of moving for a while now, shipping most of their things to Paris beforehand. Now all that remains is the actual unpacking.

Alya doesn’t have the energy for that. She just lays on the floor and stares at the ceiling for a while. Then she picks up her phone and sends him a text.

It’s been about an hour since they last talked. She’d talked to him for a good majority of the car ride, only stopping when he was busy and ending the conversation when they arrived so she could get her things out of the car and help her sisters with theirs. She’d sent him a picture of her empty bedroom and said ‘let the unpacking begin :P’. He’d responded with a ‘Good luck!!’ and ‘I’ll let you get to work!’

Alya’s thumb hovers over the send button for a few seconds. She’s never really pushed him for any sort of personal information before.

New city, new Alya. Or something.

unknown number: hey just wondering

unknown number: what do u have me in ur phone as??

unknown number: i have u in here as stranger

stranger: Your contact name?

stranger: Uh awkward but you don’t?

stranger: You’re the only one I just have the number for, so I know who you are that way

Alya reads his texts a few times before she responds. She doesn’t know what she expects in return, but she figures she has nothing to lose.

unknown number: im alya

unknown number: in case u were wondering

stranger: Hi Alya

stranger: I’m Adrien

#adrien agreste #alya cesaire #alyadrien #outsidethelovesquare #miraculous ladybug #my fics #oof its done

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cocoarosalia · 7 years

Text

Rocking the cradle Chapter 12: Contemplation

Normally she’d be excited for things like this. Elly was having a sleepover at Alya’s house, she could finally go out on patrol, get some good air in her lungs, she should be looking forward to it.

But Mari could not bring herself to push out what happened yesterday from her mind. She was utterly dumbstruck when she found her daughter weeping into Adrien’s shirt. And when she found out what actually happened? If Elly hadn’t pleaded for her to stay close by she would’ve found the woman and strung her up by her neck with her yoyo.

Hell if she finds her tonight she still might, she’s not above using fear to get her point across.

When she finally met up with chat at the Louvre there was an odd tension surrounding him

“Lovely night for an outing don’t you think chaton?” she said, leaning over his shoulder to look down at the civilians walking by

“Not nearly as lovely as you my lady” He replied leaning back to gaze into her eyes

Something was off, that much she could tell in an instant “Alright chat, what’s got your fur all fluffed”

He was surprised by her sharp eye “What makes you say something is wrong? I’m just my usual completely composed self as is usual.”

He let out what he thought was a convincingly passive laugh but she was no fool. There was clearly something knawing at him and she would love nothing more than to talk it out but she was having too many of her own problems to really judge.

She pulled him to his feet and smiled warmly “I know there’s something eating you but there’s no point in pressing you for details. Instead, how about we take our time tonight, ok?”

He flashed his usual cheshire grin back “sounds like a plan my lady”

So true indeed the plan was to just leisurely take their time around the city but there was apparently a problem with that.

For the 3rd time that night Ladybug found herself perched on the railing across from Alya’s house.

She looked up at chat “Sorry about this Chaton, for whatever reason my body keeps bringing me back here. God only knows why.”

He peered down at her and waved a hand dismissively “No worries bugaboo, I actually know the family here so it’s good to know they’re safe for the night.”

They heard a commotion coming from inside. They readied their weapons, prepared to fight the impossible.

But what they saw looking in neither could win against.

Sophie had won yet another game against her brother and dared him to give Elly a kiss on the cheek. Too prideful for his own good he mustered up the courage to follow through. Eloise was shocked at first, she wasn’t used to this kind of wholehearted affection. Sammy had hoped she’d just shut up and take it so that they could keep playing in peace.

Oh if only he were so fortunate

Elly was now viciously determined to return the favor as she chased her bestest guy friend around the house. He tried hiding everywhere he could think of to escape her annoyingly confusing affection but she was like a pest, always where you don’t want her to be.

A video text popped up on both eavesdroppers’ phones, detailing the whole event.

“Those two seem pretty cute together don’t you think kitty?” Ladybug giggled

The look of disgust on Chat’s face was hysterical “She’s way too good for him. Her father would be furious”

“No question about that” She leapt up to the ledge beside him “Come on Alley cat, we have a lot more of the city to get to”

Chat wasn’t sure why seeing his sunshine chase Sammy around the house worked. Logically it should’ve put him in an even worse mood than before. And yet, his body felt a lot lighter, he felt himself focusing a little more. Somehow, in some way, seeing Elly chase around that little punk worked. He and his lady took a pause by the school to catch their breath and get a snack from one of the convenience stores. He was in such a good mood that he might even work up the nerve to talk about what was bothering him in the first place.

“G-GET AWAY FROM ME!”

But apparently that would have to wait for now.

Chat raced toward the screaming voice from the rooftops. He would’ve called for ladybug but she was still in the store and there was no time to wait. Whoever was in trouble sounded desperate and out of time.

He stalked up to the alley from above to get a better look, his electric green eyes glowing. He could see three men surrounding something apparently small, couldn’t tell what it was. Sliding silently down some pipes he inched closer to find out what the assholes were terrorizing.

His rage boiled over from his discovery

“Hey don’t be like that little girl we’re only looking for a little bit of fun. It’s not like you were going anywhere important.”

“Please let me go! I have to get back home. My mama and papa are waiting for me.”

This girl didn’t look much older than Eloise. With bruises all over her skin she coward against the brick wall. One of them crouched down and got in close

“Look here squirt, that’s the third time you’ve that piss poor line. Now my buddies and I really aren’t that scary. Haven’t you ever heard that american phrase ‘Don’t judge a book by it’s cover’? Well that applies to you too!” He snaked his hand over her thigh “So why don’t we just curl up with a good book-”

Concrete met face which met Chat’s size 9 steel tipped black leather clad boot

“It’s that fucking Chat Noir freak!!” one of the thugs announced. Another attempted to rush him with a steel pipe that broke off. He ducked, grabbed the criminals arm and flipped him right onto his back. Even with a third one sneaking up to land a blow to his head Chat smoothly leaned left, grabbed his sleeve and hurtled him into a group of trash cans.

His breath was hardly labored as all three lumbered up to take another shot at him

‘Come with it fuckers. I won’t let anyone else go through pain ever again.”

*Back with lil ol Ladybug*

“Chatooon! I got our snacks!” Ladybug called out “I even found these neat catnip ones, figured i’d teach you a few tricks!” all she received was nothing but the sound of running cars.

“Where’d he go? I thought I told him to stay”

The sound of painful grunts and thrown bodies coming from close by suddenly caught her attention. She groaned and ran to check it out.

“That better not be him” She grumbled “See, This is why we need the treats”

The scene was straight out of a horror flick

The young girl was fine but the guys that were harassing her...less so. The shorter, fat one was crumpled into in a heaving bloodied mess, his face quite acquainted with the brick wall. Another, pinned violently to the ground by Chat’s staff going through his shirt.

The last molester only prays that he were in their positions

“Fuck man let me go!” It was surprising that the man could even talk considering chat’s gloved hand was firmly surrounding his throat. By now the hero’s breath was shallow from exertion but it was like he had no off switch. This man had to pay for what he did and chat was so close. He could almost feel his claws touch.

‘Just a little tighter’ The voice in his head cooed ‘Or maybe just use a cataclysm, that would end it so quickly.’

A flash of red and black wrapped around his waist as Chat was yanked backwards by his lady’s yoyo. The man fell to the cold ground, swallowing desperately for air.

“Chat what the hell!?” Ladybug scolded “Did you even try to restrain yourself? These are civilians you maniac.”

He pulled hard against the restraints and clenched his fist “Civilians are human ladybug, these are worthless pests that tried to hurt someone who they thought was weak and defenseless”

A sigh passed through her lips “Be that as it may how do you think it’ll look when she sees you grinding these dudes into the pavement”

He froze in place. That hadn’t occurred to him during the fight. He cautiously looked over at her. There was no trace of fear in her eyes. But what was lurking behind those eyes hit him harder than any akuma.

Pity

As if all at once he was rushed with guilt. Even if these guys were the scum of the earth, bringing them to the brink of death would solve nothing. Why even bother?

“What’s wrong ya pussy?” A wheezing voice taunted “You really need some freak bitch like her to tell you what to do? You must be into some really freaky shit huh?”

Chat lurched forward only to be pulled back again “You keep talking jackass and I’m gonna forget just how much energy it takes to hold him back” Ladybug advised coldly

Adrien’s head was ringing too loud with too many thoughts. He had to escape. If he doesn’t...who knows who else he might harm.

Ladybug stumbled back when she felt the string snap. Without even a single clue on where he was going chat leapt up to the roof and sped off to wherever.

“Shit that’s not good” she sighed. Ladybug looked around the disaster and noticed all that chat left behind “Fuck that’s no better”

She was gonna get him back for all this but for the time being she had to play clean up crew (not that different from home actually)

The wind made his ears tingle as he leaned against the eiffel tower

Why did he go and beat those guys to a bloody mess? What about those assholes made it so easy for him to consider actual murder? It didn’t make any sense. He could’ve just scared them off and that would be the end of it.

His chest felt so tight. He knew perfectly well why. He just hoped that he wouldn’t have to admit it to himself.

‘She looked just like her’ he buried his head in his knees ‘Alone and afraid. Like she’s been through this pain before.’

Even as he looked over the glittering lights all he only saw the darkness in between them. How ironic. He’d always felt comfort in the shadows. It was somewhere to hide when the light began to overtake him. But now? Now it was like they were creeping in on him. Waiting for that perfect moment where he’d sink just low enough for them to drag him beyond any savior’s reach

Until a voice rang out to him

“I knew I’d find you sulking out here” Ladybug said expectantly.

Chat refused to even face her right now “I ran away to be alone you know”

“I do know but I don’t care. I’m not asking you to pour your heart out to me.” She knew he was feeling alone right now. So, even if he didn’t speak she didn’t mind just being another body beside him, filling the space.

They sat for a while in silence with nothing but 6 inches of space between them. He thought she’d read the air and leave. He truly did not want to have this conversation. He didn’t wanna face those dark thoughts all by himself.

*bzzt*

The buzzing of ladybug’s phone jolted him out of his funk. She quickly apologized and opened the message.

He could see her face contort into different expression. Confusion, laughter and even disgust at one point.

Chat felt so ignored ‘Uh, Hello?’ he fussed silently ‘I’m having a real inner turmoil over here! Questioning my legitimacy as a hero? ANYTHING!?’

Ladybug was straight up enthralled with whatever she was watching

‘I’m having an existential crisis...and she’s chuckling it up over a text...the fuck’

He craned his neck far to get a peek at this apparently quality content. She quickly caught onto his snooping and pressed her phone against her chest. He figured that would be the end of it and sighed in disappointment

‘Well at least maybe now she can-’

“Chat”

His tail straightened fully to attention “Y-yes my lady!”

Ladybug suddenly scooted up real close to him. His hairs stood on end in anticipation

“You wanted to know why you fought those dudes right? What you were doing it for?”

He nodded mechanically

She played the video displayed on her phone “If I had to guess. You did it for kids like her”

It was a video of Elly all dressed up for bed. She wore the cutest ‘I only wake up for breakfast” pajamas and clutched a stuffed black cat that he’d bought her.

“Alright Elly, how was your first sleepover?” Alya said

Eloise took a deep breath

“I had a super duper fun time! I got to listen to Uncle Nino’s music and dance with Sophie. We played lots of really fun games and I even got to talk about my favorite superhero Ladybug!”

“Is Ladybug your only favorite hero?”

Her face looked like it she had committed the greatest crime known to man

“Oh no, not at all!” Elly thrust the stuffed doll into the camera “I also really, really, REALLY love Chat Noir too! I think he’s really funny like my daddy!”

Chat’s face was turning redder than Ladybug’s suit he was so embarrassed by all the sweet compliments.

“Speaking of him, Wanna say goodnight honeybun?”

You could see Elly’s honey-gold pigtails bounce around wildly as she nodded her head

“So, I know that you’re probably out doing really cool adulty stuff but just make sure you go to bed at some point. Especially you mama! You look like an old lady when you wake up in the morning”

He snorted to suppress his laughter but didn’t notice Ladybug’s look of utter disgust that her daughter would oust her like that

“Anyway, I’m excited to see you tomorrow! Nighty night mama and papa, I love you!”

The screen went black as the video ended. She could see in the dim reflection Chat’s face turned up in a bashful smile. He leaned on her shoulder, his tail lazily yet happily swaying back and forth.

She was first to speak “Being a hero is a lot like being a parent. You work late hours because you spend all day enjoying your kid. Sometimes you have to handle massive temper tantrums and often there’s not a word of thanks for any of it.”

She stood up and look over all the peaceful people walking by

“But, If I know that there are kids like her out there who get to be as happy and safe as she is right now. Then I think that’s thanks enough, don’t you think mon minou?”

The tightness in his heart felt unbearable but it wasn’t from shame or guilt anymore. It was from pride.

This is what he was meant to be. A knight serving valiantly by his Lady’s side. Forever protecting the smiles of those who can’t.

He reached out for her hand…

But was immediately repelled by his own staff in his face

“Nice try you stray! But I still haven’t forgiven you for ditching me when you threw your kitty hissyfit!”

He could barely speak because she was pressing it so hard into his cheek

“B-but bugaboo I was so conflicted in my emotions! I had to leave to protect you and those around me”

“Emotions my ass. Who had to be the one to yank your staff out of guy’s shirt, comfort a group of sniveling assholes that you weren’t going to kill them, and then ON TOP OF THAT, escort that little girl all the way home? Her parents insisted that I take all these sweets”

She took notice that his ears twitched at the sound of sweets ‘God he has a sweet tooth’

“I truly am sorry my lady, I’ll never do it again. What can I do to make it up to you?” He professed “andpotentiallygetoneofthosepastries” He finished much quicker.

“Hmm I wonder” she hummed passively. She took chat’s weapon from his face and crouched down to his face

“You know you’ve been a very bad kitty tonight, don’t you?” Her voice felt like it was drenched in seduction. His mind flashed back to the night he and his had that flirty chat session. He swallowed hard and nodded slowly.

“Very good. Now then, I think it’s time for you to learn a few tricks, don’t you?”

‘I have no idea where she’s going with this…but I’m gonna be the best pet she’s ever had’

She held out his staff, holding his gaze the whole time “Our first trick for the night, mon minou?”

He held his breath in anticipation…

“Fetch” She tossed his staff right down the tower

“…….what?”

“You have three minutes to retrieve the stick and bring it back to me, In your teeth of course. Succeed and you can have a treat. Fail?... I string you up by your tail till morning, secret identity be damned.”

Only unintelligible sounds came from his lips

“Aaaand start!” She exclaimed cheerily

Adrien had to skip morning classes the next day from how bad his body ached

“Mothy! You’re home!” Hawkmoth was starting to grow real annoyed with his newest akuma. He’d never had someone actually want to be akumatized before, so he took the risk and accepted her deal.

Had he known part of the deal would be her laying up on his couch all hours of the day, smoking on her 5th pack of cigarettes and constantly being just a general nuisance, he would’ve left her at that decaying apartment building they met up at.

“Have you captured the miraculous?” he responded coldly

Noemie let out an exasperated sigh. She peeled herself off the chic modern couch and swung her arms around his neck, pressing her mature body onto his “oh mothy, you worry far too much. These things take time, like our solid relationship”

“The only thing solid is that door that you will soon be on the other side of. Get my miraculous or leave my sight. I took you in on the chance that you might be worth my time. I would highly suggest that you don’t make me regret it.”

Noemie got off him and returned his icy stare with her

own “Pop quiz Hawky dear”

He raised his eyebrow in annoyed curiosity “What do all living things crave more than anything in the world?”

She didn’t give him the chance to answer “The answer is light. Take someone’s light and they kneel faster than a dollar store hooker”

The sound of heels striking tile rang loud in the open air “Next question, can I still obtain those miraculous however I see fit?”

“Hand them to me with the slightest imperfection and I snap your neck”

“Ooo talk dirtier to me daddy” she retorted

He turned and strode out the door, slamming it behind him “Hmph, can’t take a joke, can he?”

Getting comfortable again on the couch she switched on her phone to an image of Adrien, Marinette and little Eloise walking happily toward the bakery.

“Won’t be long now Elly. Hope you’ve been a good girl for mommy.

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