#whenever someone says something edgy she just rolls her eyes and goes oh you teenagers are all the same

[bunnielyse-blog1]

Sneak a Peek CHAPTER 5

Sneak a Peek: Sometimes you have to break the rules

*Author’s note* *Waves arms* I’m here! I’m here!

Sorry it’s been so long since I updated!  This is my longest chapter yet (just at 10 pages!) so I hope you don’t mind the wait!

I hope you enjoy!

Xoxo, Bunnie

Chapter 5

The way Adrien had been scoping his fellow classmates was almost comical.  He was sure he looked crazy and paranoid.  

That morning before classes he loitered in the locker room and carefully watched his classmates file in, meet up with their friends, and head to their respective classes. He took careful note of every girl that came in.  He watched not only his classmates, but girls from other classes and grades as well. So far he had counted nearly fifty girls that were all wearing those simple pink ballet flats by Gabriel.  

This wasn’t going to be easy.

Sure, he knew he could analyze their hairstyle, eye color, or body type, but if his own Miraculous transformation altered his appearance, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that hers would be changed in some way too.  He didn’t want to take any chances by eliminating girls he thought may not fit simply because they didn’t look the part.  Furthermore, a new beauty crazy had taken hold of Parisian teenagers, inspired by Ladybug herself.  It wasn’t unusual to find someone sporting a pigtail hairstyle or wearing red and black polka dot leggings.  Some even went so far as to wear blue contact lenses.  

Similarly, a new health craze called Miraculously Fit had swept the city, helping people to stay healthy through sports like martial arts and gymnastics. Adrien found this to be especially vexing.  Now, most teenagers would openly flaunt their “moves”, which were exact copies of moves him and Ladybug had used against villains.

Instead of finding a girl who should have stood out from everyone else, he was finding hundreds of facsimiles.

Even now, as he sat against a courtyard wall with Nino, Alya, and Marinette during their free period, he watched as a couple of younger students practiced their martial arts, all flaunting the latest in Ladybug fashion.  They were loud and distracting as they laughed and posed for selfies, mimicking his Lady.

He contemplated other methods in which to distinguish copycats from the real Ladybug. If he couldn’t rely on looks, physique, or talent then he’d have to take a deeper look into what made Ladybug, Ladybug.

She was kind, funny, quick on her feet, dedicated, fearless, unrelenting, and full of determination.  She never gave up and she always spoke her mind.  Most of all, she was forgiving.  At times, Adrien had found himself angry or disappointed in the people who had been akumatized, but not her.  She put herself on their level and comforted them when they were confused and most needed it.

She was selfless.

She was perfect.

‘Where am I going to find someone like that?’ he thought, perplexed. 

“I know!”

Adrien was shocked out of his thoughts by Alya’s loud squeal.  He looked at his friends, instinctively sculpting his mouth into a smile to try and hide that he hadn’t been paying attention.

“I cannot believe that Jagged Stone is creating his own clothing line!” Alya continued.  Her phone was in her hand and her fingers flew over the screen as she browsed through the online store, shoving her phone into Nino and Marinette’s faces whenever she found a particularly exciting item.

“Oh,” Adrien said thoughtfully. “I remember hearing about this awhile ago.  My father’s company tried to make a contract with Jagged to design the clothing, but Jagged turned him down.”

Marinette looked surprised. “Oh really?  But Gabriel Fashion is one of the biggest companies in Paris!”

Adrien shrugged and flashed a small smile. “I don’t know the details,” he said unenthusiastically. “Jagged probably didn’t want to get caught up with someone as uptight as my father.”

“I don’t blame him!” Nino said loudly, balling his hands into fists. “No offense, dude, but your dad has a huge stick up his a-”

“Anyway!” Alya interrupted.  Nino and Adrien laughed.  “Aren’t you excited, Marinette?”

“Y-yeah!” Marinette mumbled, a bit flustered. “It’s way cool, I just wish I could afford it.”

Alya lifted a hand as if to brush Marinette’s comments out of the air. “What about when you work at the bakery?”

Marinette laughed, “It’s not a big deal.  I’ll just make my own Jagged Stone clothes.  It won’t be that hard; he’s all about edginess, spikes, rips-”

Nino’s eyes widened, “Really, Marinette?  You make it sound like creating clothing from scratch is easy.”

Alya hugged her friend with pride.  “Are you kidding, Nino?  Everything Marinette wears is something she made!  Right, girl?”

Marinette giggled and rubbed her arm in embarrased pride. “Yeah, totally.  All my parent’s money goes into the bakery, so instead of buying clothes, I just make them.”

Adrien raised his eyebrows in surprise.  He knew Marinette designed fashion and had made a few pieces in the past, but he thought it was just a hobby.  He had no idea that she was an actual, experienced, seamstress.

Without warning, he realized he felt some disappointment.  He knew that his Lady had been wearing Gabriel ballet flats; the butterfly insignia had been unmistakable through the pool of whipped cream. If Marinette wore clothing only she made, then it just further proved that his initial belief that she was Ladybug was wrong.

‘I don’t get it,’ he thought.

He had never looked at Marinette in the same way he looked at Ladybug, so why did he feel disappointment course through him?  Was he disappointed that Marinette couldn’t be her?  Was it just because he had been close to finding out her identity? Was it because she had potentially been by his side all along?  

Or was it something more; was he wrong about his feelings?  In the last few weeks since he mistakenly assumed she was Ladybug, Marinette had crept into his thoughts.  Even though he had crumpled up that theory and thrown it in the proverbial trash, thoughts of his raven-haired friend ensnared his brain.  She had certainly entered his thoughts, but had she snuck into his heart?

“What about your shoes?” he asked suddenly.

Marinette’s head swiveled quickly to look at him. “W-what?” she asked timidly.

He saw his father’s logo on her shoes. “Aren’t your shoes Gabriel brand?  They have the butterfly.”

“O-oh!” Marinette said with a nervous laugh.  “Y-yeah!  I really love your dad. Father! I love your father! I mean! I love Gabriel. The brand!”

“What she means is,” Alya interrupted. “Those shoes are her pride and joy.  That’s why she wears them all the time.”

‘In other words, she didn’t make those…’

“R-right!” Marinette shouted.  She took a deep breath, as if recognizing that her voice had gone up a decibel. “I really look up to Gabriel as a fashion designer and so my parents got me these shoes for my birthday when I entered collège.”

“Y’know,” Alya said thoughtfully, looking at Marinette’s shoes.  “Yours do look different than the ones I’ve seen.  Were they special edition or something?”

Adrien followed her gaze and noticed that tiny rhinestones adorned the toe and heel of each shoe.  He squinted in thought, trying to remember if his Lady’s had the same details, but the whipped cream must have covered such delicate designs.

He realized he still had his eyes trained on her shoes and hurriedly looked up, directly into Marinette’s curious blue ones.  He was mildly embarrassed to see that she had caught him staring.

“Yeah,” he added to cover his discomfort. “I don’t recall seeing any designs with these stones.”

Marinette quickly shook her head and smiled. “No, I put these on myself!”

“Really?” Nino asked in surprise, his mouth full of cheeseburger. “All of those? That had to have taken forever!”

“No, not really!” Marinette smiled. “Even though they’re Gabriel brand, I felt like I still needed to make them my own, you know?  So my mom and I glued them on with fabric glue.”

Alya and Nino continued to eat their lunch and talk about the Jagged Stone clothing line. They each suggested that Marinette should create something for them, to which she eagerly agreed.

“Can you put some rhinestones on mine too?” Alya asked excitedly.  She was already flipping through her phone for some edgy fashion inspiration.

Adrien couldn’t help but notice how Marinette’s face lit up and felt the unmistakable tingling of his heartstrings; a sensation that he only ever felt around Ladybug.  

Maybe his feelings had begun to change.

“Sure!” she said enthusiastically. “But I’ll have to find a new type of glue to use.” She ran her fingers along the stones on her shoes. “Some of mine have fallen off, so I want to make sure yours stay on.”

Alya squealed again, hugging her friend. “Girl, I am so excited!  You’re the best!”

Adrien smiled at his friends, his eyes hovering on Marinette a little longer than usual.  Nino was a welcome distraction from his malstrom of thoughts - now even more confused than before - as they discussed Jagged Stone’s clothing and plans for the weekend.

The rest of the day was a whirlwind to Adrien, thanks to his muddled thoughts of Marinette and Ladybug. He couldn’t get his friend out of his mind.  As if a seed had been planted and was taking root, he began connecting what he knew about Marinette and what he knew about his Lady. The puzzle pieces were fitting together to form a bigger picture of who his Lady might really be and his imagination was running wild.  

He imagined himself as Chat Noir fighting alongside Ladybug.  

Then he was Chat Noir flying high across the city with Marinette in his arms.  

Him and Marinette sunbathing on a beach in the south.

Sipping coffee together.

Cuddling next to a fire.

Saving their city.

Smiling.

Laughing.

“It has to be her, Plagg.” Adrien said quietly as he watched the sun begin to set.

Plagg twitched his whiskers, “Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t.”

Adrien rolled his eyes, but smirked at his friend in semi-annoyance.  “Don’t you know how to say anything else?”

“Can’t you do anything else besides roll your eyes?” Plagg shot back with a smug flick of his tail.

Adrien grimaced inwardly when he realized he was about to roll his eyes.  “Touché.”

“Well, Lover Boy,” Plagg teased as he floated over to Adrien and leaned against the window pane.  “Do you want to go clear your mind, or what?”

“You read my mind,” he smiled. “Plagg, claws out!”

Soon they were flying through the air and Chat’s smile grew into a huge, toothy grin as the wind pleasantly whipped his hair off his forehead.

He ran across rooftops and vaulted from building to building.  He enjoyed hearing gasps from the Parisians as he passed and waved when they held up their phones for a quick picture.

The sun was nearly set as he settled onto a sloping rooftop near Marinette’s balcony.

He hadn’t planned on visiting her when he first set out, but the words, ‘What if…’ buzzed around his consciousness like an annoying fly.

What if…

He was right?

What if…

He talked to her as Chat Noir?            Would she act differently?                        Would she give herself away?

What if…

There was was an Akuma attack tonight?            He could watch her as she heard the news.                        He would see her Kwami.                                    He would see her transformation.

‘What if…’

Those thoughts were still fluttering around his subconscious as he debated whether or not to make the jump to her balcony.

His mind was made up for him, however, when he heard Alya’s familiar shrill float up from the open balcony door.  Chat vaulted onto one of the patisserie’s many chimneys - careful to land silently - so as to listen to their conversation with ease.

“Girl!” Alya gasped. “He asked you what?  How long have you even been talking to him?”

Chat’s ears perked up even further. ‘Him? Him who?’

Marinette giggled and Chat recognized that she sounded a little uncomfortable. “Since the music festival.”

There was a long whistle - ‘Probably from Alya,’ he thought - followed by a short silence.

“How’d he even get your number?” Alya asked.

“I think Juleka gave it to him.”

Silence again.

“Oh stop, Alya!” Marinette sounded annoyed, a tone Chat had rarely heard from her, except when she spoke with Chloe.

“What?” Alya asked defensively.

“I just think you’re getting a little too protective.”

“Bu-”

“I mean, thank you for caring and making sure I’m okay-”

“Girl-”

“But you don’t have to be my caretaker either.”

Marinette had said everything in a rush and let out a long sigh after she finished. Chat assumed she had been holding that in for a while.  It must have taken a lot of courage for her to say that to her friend.  He smiled slightly at the thought.

Alya sighed and Chat could imagine she was her rubbing her eyes. “Marinette, I know you don’t need me to fight your battles.  But do you even really know this guy?  I mean, he’s like what, three years older than us?  Isn’t that a little weird?”

“Two years,” Marinette corrected.

‘Two years?’ Chat thought, his jealousy growing.  That practically made this guy an adult.  What’s an adult doing chatting up a teenager?

“It’s not weird,” Marinette added. “He’s still in school.  And he’s a nice guy!  It’s not like he’s some weirdo off the street.”

“Okay, okay, fine!” Alya acquiesced.  “I mean, if he’s Juleka’s brother, he can’t be that bad.”

“Thank you!” Marinette said happily.

‘Luka?’ Chat thought back to that day on Juleka’s boat and the music festival.  Since the festival, him and Luka had met up occasionally to play keyboard and guitar.  Luka was a talented musician and Adrien found that it was easy to keep up with him as they improvised songs.  

What was he doing talking to Marinette?

“Hey!” Marinette said suddenly. “I thought you were all for me chasing after Luka?”

Her friend scoffed. “I’m all for you chasing after someone else!”

Chat’s eyes narrowed in thought. ‘Someone else?’

Marinette’s accompanying sigh was full of frustration and unhappiness. “That’ll never happen.”

“Adrien’s blind, Marinette.”

Chat shot up at full attention.  He had to physically slap a hand to his mouth to muffle the yelp that escaped his lips.

“You’ll have to make the first move on him, girl,” she continued.

Marinette squealed in embarrassment. “I can’t!” she whined.

Alya was speaking in between her laughter, but it sounded like another language to Chat’s shocked mind.  Until Marinette began speaking again and his heart felt like it was on a rollercoaster.

“No, Alya,” she said soberly. “I can’t. I’m trying to move on.”

“I don’t believe you!” Alya said sarcastically. “As long as I’ve known you, you’ve been in love with that boy.”

‘In love…?’ Chat’s heart was beating out of his chest.  Marinette loves him?  Was that why she was always so ditsy and flustered around him?  It wasn’t because he was a celebrity?  It was because she had a crush on him?  

He had been wrong about her this entire time and he felt terrible.  He was so used to being gawked at and asked for autographs and selfies from equally flustered and ditsy fans, that he had immediately placed her in the “crazed fan” category.

But she had never asked for his autograph.

All of their selfies were with their friends and not for fansites.

He felt a large weight rest in his gut as the guilt settled in.  He had always put her at arm’s length all because he had jumped to conclusions and had the wrong impression of her.  He had never given her a chance to get to know her outside of class or social gatherings.  He lamented his distance from her as realization hit him that she truly cared about him as a friend.  She was always kind to him, even giving him her unique lucky bracelet.  She was always encouraging in his pursuits, like the music video.  She was funny and quick witted and he admired how often she would jump in to defend a classmate against Chloe.

He just wished she was comfortable around him, crush or no crush.  He had begun to appreciate her true personality, but was quickly disappointed when she shied away from him.

He just wanted her to treat him like she treated Alya.

To talk to him and joke with him.

In his recent memory, the only time Marinette talked to him without fumbling over her words was when he visited her as Chat Noir.  He considered for a minute that maybe he should continue to visit her in his disguise, but he quickly shook the thought out of his head.

‘No,’ he thought. ‘If I want to get the real Marinette, I need to be the real Adrien.’

Sitting on the rooftop, the warm breeze tickling the hair at the nape of his neck, Chat finally accepted his feelings for Marinette.  They didn’t measure up to his feelings toward Ladybug, but he couldn’t ignore the warm feeling in his heart either.  He didn’t necessarily reciprocate her feelings of love, but he couldn’t deny the crush he was forming for her.

A small smile began to grow on his lips as he made up his mind to get to know the real Marinette.  He was determined to make her comfortable around him, enough so that her Adrien-induced stutter would stop and they could speak freely.  He found that he wanted to know more about her.

He hadn’t noticed that the girl’s voices had faded and was jolted back to reality when he heard the bakery’s front door open and close.  He carefully crawled along the roof so he could peek down to the street below.  Alya and Marinette were standing just beyond the entrance to her home, saying their goodbyes.

“Marinette, I know Adrien’s a sensitive topic and I’m sorry I brought it up.”  Alya hugged her friend and Marinette nodded in understanding.  “I think a date with Luka sounds great.  How about we all go.  Like a double date!”

Marinette clapped her hands together and jumped a little. “That’s a great idea! Are you sure?  I mean, would Nino mind?”

Alya waved her off. “Not at all!  It’ll be fun. Granted, he’ll probably be just as confused as me that you’re getting over Adrien-”

‘Getting… over?’

“But he likes Luka, musician to musician.  So it’ll be fun!”

Marinette smiled and hugged her friend again.  “Thanks so much!  You’re the best!”

The two friends separated and Chat heard Alya call out, “Keep me posted!” before she disappeared around the corner and Marinette made her way back inside.

Chat sat in mild shock.  It seemed too ironic that the moment he realized his feelings for her, the moment he decided to gain the courage to possibly date her, she was over him and dating someone else.

First Ladybug turns him down on the roof and now Marinette decides he’s not worth chasing after.

He couldn’t win.

‘What does Luka have that I don’t have?’ he thought in frustration.  But his own argument was quickly snuffed when he remembered that he could only blame himself.  She had been smitten with him for over two years, but his disregard for her feelings had pushed her away.

Feeling dejected and full of self-loathing, along with a large dose of Luka-aimed jealousy, Chat stood to his full height and vaulted into the night and away from bakery’s aroma.

To be continued…

*Endnote*

Ah!! I hope you liked it!!!

I was going to continue this chapter, but I think it just makes more sense to continue into a new chapter.

Adrinette & MariChat was SO CLOSE!!!!!!  (I ship MariChat hard, btw) >.>

Anyway, I really mixed up my writing style in this chapter, but I hope you guys liked it. I felt like Adrien’s thoughts were so all over the place and jumping from one thing to another that I began writing his thoughts in an unstructured/structured/poetic form.  Sort of like how I think all of our thoughts are stream of consciousness; one thought comes from another thought that comes from another thought and so on.

What do you think?

Next up:

Possibly the last chapter!  Plagg continues to not-so-helpfully help Adrien find Ladybug’s true identity. Amidst the confusion of teenage love and moonlighting as one of Paris’s superheros, Adrien is brought back to reality when someone from his past resurfaces

Bunnie’s Reviewer, Follower, and Subscription Shoutouts:

Fanfiction: LycoRogue, marauderluverz, Tiger Priestess, Demi clayton (guest), Weebo23, StarryNight101, Edelisle, DANIELA123, jon4576, archer71, KassandraConK, digifreak15, xXtomboysRuleXx, LustLets, WhiteTigerMisty, ReiGriffins, littledoe1369, Narakat57, onetkdgirl, darkroxas92, Zlotowlosa, Joe12321, BeccaArenas, Jake Day-Rea, Coed-Mor Draig, & TinyFox2

Ao3: Hilzabub, Draxynnic, WhimsiKitty, & Msmiley4

Thank you to all who left Kudos and Favorites!  All of you give me life!!!

Please, don’t forget to review! I’d love to hear what you think; the good, bad, and ugly!  

°˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

Xoxo, Bunnie

P.S. I’m on Fanfiction, Ao3, & Tumblr! (same username: BunniElyse)

[allbrows04]

I forced my Hindu/Desi mom to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender- A Saga

I think this is one of the funniest things that have ever happened to me and I have to record this experience somewhere bc I got a real kick out of it

first of all, I need to explain how I got her to watch in the first place:

so I was sitting in my room, and planning a Zuko animatic and doodling him in my sketchbook (I wanted to make an animation based on The Love Club by Lorde) and I realized that, unfortunately, I was going to have to draw Book one Zuko as well. So I’m sitting there, with my ipad propped up on the wall, with a HUGE image of this bald kid covering the entire screen for everyone to see. Right then my mom walked in the room and just,,,, she just froze. I swear she spent an entire minute looking from me to the screen. The first thing she manages when she regains the ability to speak was “what is t h a t?”

me: um- I was drawing him

my mom: you were DRAWING that?

then she just walks out in stunned silence. Whenever she passed by my in the house the next few days, she would just scrunch up the side of her face in mockery of his scar and I absolutely lost it every time. Eventually I mentioned that he happened to be from a really good show but obviously she didn’t want to watch anything that involved a boy who in her opinion, looked like an alien. I now present to you this meme I made at the time when I was telling my friend about the situation:

So eventually, I catch her when she’s SUPER bored and finally convince her to watch the first episode with me. Needless to say, we both cackled like madwomen when Zuko first came onscreen.

a few days later, we ended up staying pretty late watching. When we were about to go to sleep, she turns to me and goes: “so that boy Shikunzli(she pronounces it “shy-koon-zlee”) ... he’s a ... fire bender, right?

me: who?

my mom: you know who! Shikunzli! *scrunches up her face* that one

me: the angry bald one?

my mom: yes the weird one

So after five minutes of me absolutely losing my shit at like one am because my mom called my comfort character “Shikunzli“ I tell her that no, that is in fact not his name, and i try and get her to guess what he was actually called. I can’t really remember her guesses, but some honorable mentions are “Zuzu” and “Li”

so that’s how book one basically went.

Here’s how my mom referred to the characters throughout the show bc she can’t be bothered to remember names:

Katara: “the sister”

Sokka: “the brother”

Aang: “Avatar” but in the desi accent so it’s pronounced “Uhvathar” like how it’s supposed to be

Toph: “Thothulu” which translates roughly to “baby voice” I’m actually not sure if its an actual word or just something we made up. With my family it’s hard to tell

Zuko: “Shikunzli“ because I still don’t think she remembers his actual name

some memorable quotes from when we were watching the show(most of this wasn’t said in English so unfortunately a lot of snarky humor has been lost in translation):

--

my mom when King Bumi was introduced: *excited gasp while pointing at the TV screen* LIKE BHOOMI!!! BECAUSE ITS EARTH!!!

--

so “Appa” also means “father” in telugu so whenever he comes on screen we call my actual appa into the room and go “look!!!! its you!!!!”  he was very confused

--

Sokka, during the North Pole arc: Yue has an ARRANGED MARRIAGE??😨😱

my mom, who is literally married to my dad through an arranged marriage: oH nO hOw hOrRibLe

my mom, later on: oh so she’s going to run away from her arranged marriage. Like a wimp.

--

- she straight up started laughing in the middle of the episode where we learn where Zuko got his scar

- like I know he’s ugly but,,, have you no emotion?

--

iroh: Zuko, I have always loved you like a son

me, tearing up bc I’m a sucker for found family:

my mom: 😑😐

--

*during the blind bandit*

me: ok so this is my favorite one in the show

my mom: oh really? Why is that?

me: idk

--

Toph’s father: She’s just a little baby girl!

my mom, nodding: that’s exactly how i feel about you

my mom sitting there while Toph’s parents are portrayed as overbearing and restrictive: 👁👄👁

- but seriously I just like toph bc shes adorable and badass and I want to adopt her as my little sister even though she could beat the shit out of me

--

Iroh: You must not give in to despair. hope is something you give yourself-

my mom: *nodding sagely* in life, you-

me: do we have to do this right now

--

- both of us witnessed our boy Shikunzli yelling at the sky

- my mom called him dramatic and then we proceeded to sit there in absolute shock

- I literally started wheezing it was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen

- we still make fun of that scene of his to this day

--

*Zuko passes out after making a good decision*

my mom: woah is he ok???

me: oh you thought he was dramatic before??? Just you wait

my mom: *offended gasp* don’t say that! He’s sick!

*several Zuko cutscenes later*

my mom: isnt this stupid guy‘s fever OVER YET???

--

*after Zuko wakes up in the morning and starts being nice to Iroh*

my mom: see why can’t you be more like that?

me, remembering how he’s going to betray everyone in a couple of episodes: you’ll see why

--

me, watching Toph beating the living shit out of some guards: she’s beating them with her tiny little hands 🥺

my mom: tiny little round hands 🥺💗

--

- my mom hated the ember island episode so much that she got up and started putting up our wallpaper while it was playing

- I don’t blame her I bet no adult can sit through an entire episode of melodramatic teenage angsting

--

my mom while watching Iroh give his nephew the silent treatment: ouch 😬

--

my mom seeing sparky sparky boom boom man: ITS S H I V A N

me: I know

my mom: why are they?? Taking our things???

--

My mom at some point during Zuko’s redemption arc: oh he’s just like a typical Hindi movie protagonist

--

- I started tearing up during the scene where he apologizes to Iroh while she just sits there and goes “pshhh i expected that”

--

- while Azula was cutting her hair during her mental breakdown she runs a hand through her diy quarantine haircut and goes “yeah that’s exactly what i did to my hair”

--

*during the very last scene*

my mom: *obnoxious fake kissing noises* close your eyes

me: aren’t I a little too old for that?

my mom:

*Katara and Aang continue smooching as I look away*

my mom: aren’t they done yet?

my mom:

my mom: why- why is it so intense?