#adrien crushes on marinette

[mochinek0]

Daminette December 2023: 8-Not Soulmates

Adrien smiled as he looked at the calendar. Tomorrow was the day that soulmates would be revealed to everyone who was between sixteen and eighteen. It had been three years since last time and he was excited for when it was his turn. If anything, he was hoping that Marinette Dupain-Cheng was his soulmate. Marinette was his friend, but she was also kind, creative, smart, and she made tasty pasties. He also thought she was a bit cute. All he wanted to do was protect her from guys that could hurt her.

Adrien turned at the sound of his door opening and saw Natalie.

"Hey, Natalie." he spoke, "Is there a change in my schedule?"

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about tomorrow." she answered, "How are you feeling?"

"Excited." Adrien declared, "I sort of have my eye on one of my friends. I hope it's her."

"Even if she isn't, don't be disappointed. The person with you mark is waiting for you." Natalie stated.

Adrien glanced down at her hand. It was bare or covered with makeup.

"What about your soulmate?" he questioned.

"I had my eye on someone, too." Natalie replied, "We weren't a match. They matched with one of my friends and they had a family. I'm very happy for them."

"How did you-" Adrien began.

"Handle it?" Nat asked, "I was sad and upset, but I saw how they interacted. They were right to be paired up. I know my soulmate is out there and I haven't stopped looking."

Adrien nodded his head as she left the room.

Adrien got out of his car, excitedly. He immediatley spotted Marinette and made his way towards her, ignoring the people calling out his name.

"Hey, Mari!" He shouted, "Excited about today?"

"Yes!" Marinette smiled, "My soulmate is gonna be here next week!"

"Huh?" Adrien spoke outloud.

"Oh, right." she giggled, "My soulmate is my best friend, but he's in the United States. They actually set an alarm for the time I woke up so they could talk to me about my mark. We found out we matched!"

Adrien grasped the strap of his bag. He felt like the ground was going to fall out from under him.

"Oh." he whispered.

"Yeah." Marinette smiled, showing off her soulmate mark on her hand.

Adrien saw a sword and a needle with a piece of string that formed an X .

"He said he immediately thought of me when he saw the needle." Mari continued, "But he wasn't sure."

"Th-That's great." Adrien managed to say.

"Of course, we have to see if it's romantic, but-" She concluded.

Adrien looked at her confused, "What do you men?"

"Can I see your hand?" Marinette asked.

"Huh?" the model spoke, confused, "Uh, sure."

Marinette pressed their palms with soulmate marks together. He watched as his mark glowed a light blue.

"Blue?" he spoke.

"Mine was blue too." Marinette declared, So we could be considered platonic soulmates. We're friends. Blue is for friends. Red is for enemies and Gold is for lover. Even if Damian is only a platonic soulmate; he's still my best friend."

Adrien lowered his hand and nodded his head.

'At least it's not red.'

"Hey." Luka called, walking over, "How are you? How's the search?"

"My best friend is my soulmate." she excitedly told him.

"Damian?" Luka asked.

Adrien looked at the musician in shock.

'Luka knew about him and I didn't? Why?'

Marinette nodded, happily.

"He set a timer for when I wake up and asked." Mari recanted, "He didn't think he would match mine. He was just gonna give me a pep talk before I came here and freaked out."

Luka laughed, "Well, he has helped you out, a lot more than I ever did."

Mari lightly smacked his chest, "Damian just has a lot of older siblings to ask for advice."

Luka noticed the model's confused look and nodded his head towards him.

"May I?" he asked.

Marinette simply nodded.

"I can see you're confused, Adrien." Luka declared, "Marinette went through a difficult patch the last couple of years. Damian has many older siblings while he…..is not so great at socializing. When it came to Mari, he's reach out for help from his family or his friend to get an idea of what was going on, what he could do, or say to help her."

Mari smiled, "He's sweet."

"To you and only you." Luka smiled.

The conversation ended abruptly as the bell rang for school to start.

"We should get going to class." Adrien spoke.

"Yeah." Luka agreed, "Pretty sure teachers are just gonna let us go half way through. Don't know if anyone would pay attention today."

Marinette laughed as they entered the school.

The school couldn't handle the chaos. There were too many students on their phones, people yelling, fights breaking out because couples were breaking up or accused of cheating. Adrien walked out of the school and entered the car. He could feel Natalie eyeing him in the mirror. He just shook his head and sniffled. He was grateful that she didn't say anything on the way home. Adrien got home and collapsed in his bed. Natalie must have said something to his father because his meals were brought to his room and he wasn't bothered for anything scheduled.

Adrien watched a week later as Marinette ran up to some guy and hugged him.

'Must be her soulmate.'

He watched on as they placed their palms together and their marks glowed gold. He turned away as her soulmate lifted her chin up and kissed her.

'It hurts so much.'

As he walked towards the school, he heard whispers:

'Is that Marinette?'

'That must be her soulmate.'

'Man, I thought she was going to get with Agreste.'

'Yeah.'

'Didn't she like him or something?'

'Pretty sure they had a falling out.'

'They don't really talk anymore.'

'Someone said they say him crying when he didn't match with her.'

'Yeah right. He could have anyone. Why her?'

'They were friends years ago.'

'Well, something must have happened. Haven't seen them together for awhile now.'

'She probably got tired of him saying she was a great friend.'

'True. If I had to hear how much of a friend I was to my crush, I would have moved on, too.'

'That new guy looks like he's already in love with so that works in her favor.'

Adrien pulled out his phone and texted Natalie to bring the car back to the school and meet him toward the back. When the car pulled up, he quickly got in. Before she could say anything, he broke down sobbing. Natalie was shocked but nodded for the driver to take them home.

'She's not my soulmate and it's my fault. I stopped paying attention to her. Luka knew about him. When did she get a new best friend and why from the US? He listened to her. He helped her. I called her a friend and the universe punished me for it.'

TAGLIST: @maribat-calendar-events@animeweebgirl@a-star-with-a-human-name@meme991001@vixen-uchiha@abrx2002@alysrose-starchild@fandom-trapped-03@dood-space@moonlightstar64@saltymiraculer@marveldcedits20@09shell-sea09@icerosecrystal@animegirlweeb@insane-fangirl-of-everything@blueblossombliss@nickristus-dreamer@megawhitleycalderonpaganus@missmadwoman@meira-3919@princessdaisysolosyourfaves@blep-23@fangirlingfanatic@darkhinauniverse@ravenr22@im-a-satanic-ritual@ravennm84@bianca-hooks123@a-slytherinish-gryffindor@starling218

#daminette december 2023 #daminette #adrien agreste #adrienette #adrien crushes on marinette #marinette dupain cheng #damian wayne #damian x marinette #marinette x damian #soulmates #not soulmates #luka couffaine #platonic adrienette #romantic daminette #friends to lovers #mochinek0

[justafewsmallsteps]

Reverse Crush doodles for my AU

#miraculous ladybug #marichat #adrienette #ladynoir #ladrien #reverse crush au #jelly art #justafewsmallsteps #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #chat noir #adrien agreste

[crimson-and-noire]

Crimson and Noire, Chapter 1.

Page 1 < Page 4 > Next [TBA]

---

Art by: DK Saikou (Instagram)

Coordinated by: Scarlett-writes (tumblr)

Story by: 11JJ11 (ao3)

#crimson and noire #kwami swap #lady noire #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug comic #reverse crush au #chapter 1 #plagg #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #stoneheart #ml stoneheart

[theerurishipper]

Since the emo-verse has Gabriel as the butterfly hero, consider: Gabriel sending out akumas to help him defeat Shadybug and Claw Noir. He akumatizes someone (probably Kim again) into Dark Cupid to turn the villains into good guys (because there is no reality in which Gabriel's morality is not questionable if not outright awful), and Shadybug gets hit, so Claw Noir has to kiss her a la Ladybug to get her to turn back to the dark side but they are both wild and feral so it becomes a full makeout session in the middle of the street. Thank you for your time.

#MLB #Miraculous Ladybug #Adrien Agreste #Marinette Dupain Cheng #Ladybug #Chat Noir #Shadybug #Claw Noir #Toxinelle #Griffe Noire #Ladynoir #Shadyclaw #My meta #Miraculous World #ML Paris Special #I am an unapologetic and unashamed emo-verse reverse crush truther

[beatrice1979a]

Sunburn

Reverse Marinette's first heartbreak

credits: @adorkastock for this pose

@bgony for alt chloe design.

Yes that's reverse Adrien many months before his haircut.

@generalluxun for Chloe's sunny character concept. Marvelous just Marvelous! Chloe can kill with kindness. Check their reverse fics Note that Alt!Chloe is definitely NOT into Adrien or any man. But I needed a Chloe. Update: read this post here for more about this Chloe. Let's pretend for a moment the Supreme forced her to date Paris' beloved teen celebrity for the Greater Good. What's even scarier is that this brainwashed Chloe would probably comply gladly.

**

Sunburn

(English is not my first language. So grin and bear it)

They say never meet your heroes or, in this case, your beloved idol. Marinette learned this the hard way.

She was beside herself when she learned that, despite the rumors of having (yet again) a new Supreme-sanctioned girlfriend, the self-proclaimed teen heartthrob Sunshine Boy Adrien was having an informal meet and greet at Le Grand Paris. Just two blocks away from her own home. There was no point asking for permission. Her parents would never allow it. But this chance was too good to let it lapse. 

It was dark and everyone was asleep. She grabbed a few magazines and one of the many pictures scattered all over her punk themed bedroom and, silently escaped her room by climbing down the side wall of her three storey home. She ran into the night and camped, hours before dawn, by the expected location, right near the entrance of the fanciest hotel in Paris. It was chilly and slightly humid as the sun climbed the sky but Marinette didn't pay any mind even as the noisy swarm of fans started gathering all around the area forcing her to push and fight to keep her privileged spot in the queue.

There he was, Adrien Agreste in the flesh, even more handsome than portrayed in the heavily retouched press photos or the official telescreen channels. Her heart skipped a beat and she charged forward to beg for an autograph.

And then she saw her.

His arm around her with such unbearable familiarity. Her golden messy hair precariously arranged in two braided ponytails. Unmistakably her. Blinding her with that sunny personality and that oh-so-hideous saccharine smile plastered on that ridiculously pretty doll-like face: Chloe. Chloe Bourgeois. The snobbiest prissy miss perfect, top-of-the-class loved-by-all daughter of the mayor of Paris. Chloe Bourgeois. Her bully. Her tormentor. The only person who single-handedly made her life a total misery every single day since kindergarten. Even today on this otherwise auspicious day.

She felt something snap and, for a moment, she couldn't move. As she missed her chance, she got shoved and pushed by the hoards of screeching fans hopelessly drawn to the golden pair like moths to a flame. A flame Marinette could no longer see with tears clouding her sight and threatening to ruin her heavy makeup and the magazines she clutched for dear life onto her chest.

Then another spark blew from her heart, and fire swallowed her whole, uncontrolled, until it scorched her feelings and escaped her lips in a shaken broken whisper: I hate you.

I hate you. She repeated and ran as fast as she could until she crashed back in her bed. She ignored the angry protests of her parents and, possessed by an irrational anger, she dragged all the posters, the pictures, the Supreme endorsed propaganda and threw them into the open fire of the large oven at the back of the bakery. She just stood there hypnotized, staring and staring as that pretty boy face writhed in the flames.

When everything was reduced to ashes, she pulled her phone and called that guy who'd been pestering her for the last few months, begging her for a date. And she agreed. Because she also wanted to shine. She wanted to be loved and held tightly, and worshipped even if for just a moment, even if that moment was going to be with that obnoxious, arrogant, stuck-up class president, Le Chien Kim.

But maybe just then she would finally stop feeling like such a loser for having that ridiculous crush for someone who didn't even know she existed.

And with those thoughts she promised to never succumb to the whims of her heart ever again.

But Marinette was right at least for one thing: Adrien Agreste had never even seen her before in his life. Not until a few weeks later when he decided to finally surprise his mother with her favorite artisan macarons and his feet dragged him to the door of the most popular bakery of the 21th arrondissement.

Come let the truth be shared No one ever dared To break these endless lies Secretly, she cries

And I'll hide from the world Behind a broken frame And I'll run forever I can't face the shame

#adrinetteapril2024 #day 12: reverse crush #adrinette april #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #tales of shadybug and claw noir #B's art #reverse marinette #reverse adrien #shadyverse #mlb paris special #reverse chloe #design from bgony #shadyclaw #miraculous ladybug #shadyclaw playlist #Youtube

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Do I think Movie!Marinette would have fallen in love with Show! Adrien?

Yes, very easily. If Movie!Adrien being nice and helping her up after she fell had her crushing. The umbrella scene would have MELTED HER.

But do I think Show! Marinette would have fallen for movie Adrien?

Yes, but it would be so much more of a slow burn. I actually think Show!Marinette would have fallen for movie! chat noir before falling for Movie!Adrien.

The reason? Marinette fell in love with Adrien AFTER the umbrella scene, in which Adrien showed himself to her. She got to see the real him. Show!Marinette would not think twice about movie!Adrien aside from him being a friend of Nino. She wouldn’t hate him or anything, but show!Marinette is locked up tighter emotionally. It’s that scene in the movie when chat noir exposes his feelings in that duet. That would be show!Marinette’s/Ladybug’s umbrella scene

#miraculous ladybug #ml movie #granted I should point out that Marinette started out crushing on adrien not falling for him #in the movie #but I’m addressing the elephant. #lovesquare #it’s the truth

[miabrown007]

Felonies and Other Love Languages (Heist AU)

art by @art-the-f-up

It could be so simple. Just take off her mask and kiss him.

I have Shay's permission to post his art. as you do not, you should not.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous #adrien agreste #ladynoir #marinette dupain cheng #ml fanart #ml fanfic #fanart #heist au #faoll #felonies and other love languages #miaraculous writing #reverse crush #love square #faoll art

[xhanisai]

Broke: Reverse lovesquare! Reverse lovesquare! Adrien now only sees Ladybug as a friend and is in love with Marinette! Marinette now only sees Adrien as a friend and is in love with Chat Noir!

Woke: Adrien is simultaneously in love with both Marinette and Ladybug whilst Marinette is simultaneously in love with Adrien and Chat Noir! It is now a love line!

#ml spoilers #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug and chat noir #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #chat noir #ladybug #adrinette #adrienette #marichat #ladrien #ladynoir #falling out of love is so stupid #they’re hot messes for all sides of their lover #stop with the whole true selves bull shit #and that they should fall out of love fuckery #you can have as many crushes as you want at the same time fuck you all #and you can’t just fall out of love so easily either #I pined after the same guy for five years!

[justaz]

kagami who drops in and woos adrien agreste but has everyone turn their back on her for breaking up their beautiful adrienette (even tho they weren’t even dating and adrien showed little signs of being interested in marinette)

marinette who went out with chat noir once and pictures of the two of them circulated and almost the entirety of paris hating her guts for breaking up their beautiful ladynoir (even tho they weren’t even dating and ladybug showed little signs of being interested in chat noir)

marinette and kagami bonding over being demonized for liking a boy and the fact that misogyny won that day.

anyways. my point is. marigami. thank you. goodnight.

#i don’t even actually ship them #but the thought of them being hated on for pulling paris’ most eligible bachelors #and then bonding over said experience #becoming really REALLY close friends #special friends even #who kiss #because who needs boys? #marigami #screaming along to sabrina carpenter’s all because i liked a boy #marinette dupain cheng #kagami tsurugi #adrien agreste #chat noir #marichat #adrigami #truthfully. in my mind. it went more like kagami developing a crush on marinette but marinette just letting her love life wither #she’s an independent woman #running her own business #men ain’t shit #while kagami is like #😍 uh huh uh uhuh what else 🥰 #mlb #miraculous ladybug #poor ​adrien is standing off to the side riddled with guilt #LMAOOO #i was listening to all because i liked a boy while thinking of them and this happened 🤭

[walloruss]

Eyes on the ball Adrien 😏 

Saw some leaks and there goes my imagination again 🙈

#miraculous ladybug #adrien agreste #pining #marinette dupain cheng #adrienette #adrien x marinette #crush #reverse love square #fanart #fan comic #mlb #mlbs5 #tales of ladybug and cat noir #miraculous fanworks #cute dork #poor adrien #mlb spoilers

[mochinek0]

Love Ballads-3

'It's almost been a week since I've seen Marinette and I can't get her out of my head. Why? Sure, her appearance has change a bit since College, but it's not like seeing her was a surprise. Marinette has always been best frineds with Alya, but I don't really remember her dating anyone, besides Luka. It's great that she wears her hair down now; she always looked better that way. Her hair was almost down to her waist. She's curvier and the way she dresses changed too. That's probably why seeing her was so different. Did she always have those freckles?'

But that wasn't what was bothering the young model. It was her voice.

'Why is it that every time I close my eyes, all I can see is her? All I can see are her bright bluebell eyes staring at me, begging me to answer her. Every time it's the same question: 'Why don't you love me?'

That's all she ever repeated to him. How could a simple sentence haunt his every thought, every dream? Adrien sighed again. The model was broken out of his thoughts by a knock on the door.

"Adrien, your father would like me to remind you that you have a previous engagement in two hours time. Be ready to leave in one hour." announced Natalie.

"Yes, Natalie. Thank you." he answered, deviating his thoughts. Adrien quickly showered and got ready, leaving him once more to his rampant thoughts about his old friend.

'Why does it hurt to hear those words escape her pink lips? Why does it feel like Marinette was waiting for me to answer her? Why do I suddenly feel this way?'

"You are to be presentable at all times. You must remember that there are people who will take what you say out of context. You represent more then yourself, Adrien; you represent the Gabriel brand." announced Gabriel, setting his rules in place.

"Yes, Father. I understand." Adrien stated, waiting to be dismissed.

Gabriel left shortly after and Adrien was ushered into the car to Nino's new place.

It wasn't until he arrived at Guy's Night that things were suddenly becoming clearer in his mind. He was slowly getting a crush on his old friend, Marinette. Her singing voice had been a siren call and his doom.

'I can't feel this way about Marinette! I need to stop. '

He took a sip of his drink and glanced at the other side of the room. There stood the reason why: Nathaniel. He was dating Marinette and he was forcibly stuck with Lila.

'Why couldn't I have figured this out before? Why couldn't I have noticed her in College? Why did we lose touch? If I had just ran into her five months ago, maybe I'd be happy. Maybe I'd be her boyfriend.'

As the night wore on, he found himself thinking of the petite designer more and more. Adrien started lying to himself: I don't like her. Yeah, we just lost touch and I really just want to talk with her. We have so much to catch up on! I just want to get to know her better. I want to know what classes she's taking and how she's doing with it all. I just want to-

Adrien covered his face with his pillow, once he was home. No matter how much he tried to convince himself he only wanted to get to know her again, he knew they were lies.

TAGLIST: @meme991001 @stainedglassm @psychicdelusionwerewolf @vixen-uchiha @missmadwoman @abrx2002 @ledalasombra @animegirlweeb @animeweebgirl @a-star-with-a-human-name @alysrose-starchild @fandom-trapped-03 @dood-space @moonlightstar64 @saltymiraculer @marveldcedits20 @09shell-sea09 @icerosecrystal @insane-fangirl-of-everything @blueblossombliss @nickristus-dreamer @megawhitleycalderonpaganus @tigresslily @legodetectivemalsblog

#adrien agreste #new crush #adrien crushes on marinette #questions #no answers #marinette dupain cheng #natalie sancoeur #gabriel agreste #nathaniel kurtzberg #lust #attraction #mochinek0

[fandomofone]

Most recent work: The Best Worst Day Ever

Full summary:

Riding high after Hawkmoth’s latest defeat, Adrien’s promising day begins to unravel when he arrives at school and discovers that Chat Noir is apparently a laughingstock following yesterday’s fight against Malediktator- and he has no memory of it. Feeling somewhat hurt and embarrassed, Adrien questions Plagg and is shocked to learn that the source of all his woes may be… his Lady? As if that’s not bad enough, Marinette unwittingly gets roped into his miserable day, and a misunderstanding between them leaves Adrien anxious about the future of their friendship. Can this day possibly get any worse?

Well, there is still patrol duty with Ladybug to look forward to...

His fingers caught hold of a very feminine, very dainty wrist, and he yanked forcefully, trying to keep the girl that was attached to the wrist from hitting the ground too. Apparently, it was too much for her smaller body mass to handle, and she ended up overbalancing and careening straight back into his chest again with a strangled “Oooof!” The impact knocked an involuntary grunt from him, but she was so light he’d hardly felt it. His hands came up and wrapped around her upper arms to steady her as he got the first good look at her startled face. Marinette.

UPDATE 4/9/2024: This story now features some gorgeous artwork by my friend @kuromori4 ❤️❤️

#miraculous ladybug #adrien agreste #miraculous #chat noir #cat noir #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #mlb #miraculous fanfic #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #fluff #humor #light angst #mutual crush #secret identity confusion #adrienette #ladynoir

[crimson-and-noire]

Crimson and Noire, Chapter 1.

Page 1 < Page 2 > Page 3

---

Art by: DK Saikou (Instagram)

Coordinated by: Scarlett-writes (tumblr)

Story by: 11JJ11 (ao3)

#crimson and noire #kwami swap #lady noire #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug comic #reverse crush au #misterbug #mister bug #tikki #marinette dupain cheng #plagg #adrien agreste #crimson and noire au #chapter 1 #stoneheart

[i-like-anything-water]

Talking about Chlonette and money: Not gonna lie, kinda love the though of Chloé being really bad at using words to express herself and just "apologizing" to Marinette by helping her career while pretending "No, its because I am in love with you or anything like that, shut up! Promoting you makes ME richer!" (Spoilers: She is in love with her and she will use that money to promote her more... Also nobody mentioned her being in love with Marinette up until she said that so--)

This reminds me of the other ask where Chloe makes Marinette her head designer to spite her mother and show her she couldn't boss Chloe around anymore.

Chloe is definitely the type to spoil people with good intentions. Things made people happy, right? And money bought things therefore she can make people happy. I hc Chloe as being good with words if it's used to gain information or for tricking people (influence from politics and high society) but when it comes to being all mushy and sweet and affectionate, she gets nervously. So she turns to buying things instead. And it's not even random the first thing I see on the store type of gift, but she'll go to any store she knows contains the things the person she's getting for would want to have.

When she's dating Marinette for the first month, she's shocked when her sweet girlfriend tells her softly that she shouldn't be spending too much on her. Was her gifts not good enough? Was the fabric she ordered the wrong shade? Was her gift giving skills not exceptional at all? But Marinette explained that she isn't used to getting a lot of things (especially expensive ones) from other people. Chloe is confused, but promises to keep the gift giving at a... minimum. Minimum for Chloe Bourgeois of course.

So instead of just getting what she thinks Marinette wants, she tries to...make some. It still involved money (materials and tutors) but it also contained more effort and sweat so it probably cancels out? She's not good with math, she really shouldn't have made Sabrina do all her homework during middle school.

As for your idea, Chloe goes to concerning levels of denial to show her feelings with money.

"Chloe, why did I just receive a call from my assistant that we're having a new shipment of fabric today?"

"Oh, is it the wrong type? It doesn't matter much, you can just tell me your instructions directly. You are, after all, the co-owner."

"Co-owner- what the fuck, Chloe?!"

"Oh shit, Mari. I think I'm losing you, signals gone bad - buzz buzz - oh no, gotta go!"

"That's not even how losing signal sounds- Chloe!"

Chloe looks at an amused Sabrina. She crosses her arms defensively, her face a bright scarlet.

"I totally got this."

"You're hopeless."

#chloenette #chlonette #chloe bourgeois #marinette dupain cheng #sabrina raincomprix #buying your rival turned crush a company of her own cause you're not gay #chloe: we both own it...like a married couple #adrien looking at sabrina: you should have called I didn't realize she was this down bad #asks #rozunderpressure

[clarkgriffon]

one gifset per episode → gabriel agreste

#miraculousladybugedit #miraculous ladybug #mledit #ml #mlseries #creations #marinette dupain cheng #adrienette #adrien agreste #marino is the vibe as always #i want the adrien who has a crush on marinette in s5 to be fully aware she did this

[miabrown007]

Adrien Agreste: rich, lonely, freshly aware of the fact that he's expected to take over not a fashion, but a drug empire. Marinette Dupain-Cheng: broke, angry, freshly aware of the fact that bringing down drug empires is a blast. But where would she be without her team, Alya and Nino, and her very good friend, Luka? Not to mention the team’s newest addition, the kind, the funny, the ultra charming Chat Noir. If Marinette likes him, that’s alright, though. It isn’t like she’s dating Adrien Agreste for real. It’s all just part of her ten-step plan to make the Agrestes meet their demise.

with illustration from @art-the-f-up in the chapter!

many many thanks to @ladyofthenoodle and @khanofallorcs for beta-reading! <3

Chapter 1 - Eyes Wide Shut (3,835 words, 1/32 chapters)

Adrien Agreste is at a standstill, perched up way above ground, and he hates every second of it.

Like a marionette waiting for its next command, his arms dangle by his elbows, prim and proper. He has no idea for how long he has to exist like this—because letting him know about decisions affecting his own life feels like a revolutionary concept no one has ever considered—but he knows he is getting tired. If only he knew how to cut his strings; but it's impossible when he barely sees them.

Even if he could, the question remains, what would he do after?

"Raise this arm a little higher, dear." Violet nudges him.

Adrien complies. The more seamlessly he follows the instructions, the sooner he's done with any task. He knows. It doesn't make him hate the process less, though.

He doesn't even know exactly why they are taking his measurements for this particular outfit. The black lounge suit had been an item for the 'dystopian fashion collection', a failure so spectacular in its Gallup poll that the project had been shut down before the first concepts were presented to the wider staff.

But Adrien has gotten over the need to ask questions. He endures the tape-measure’s dance around him silently, and doesn't mention that it's probably overkill to be wearing the black face mask that goes with the suit. Truth be told, it's quite cute with the white whiskers. It's something Adrien can imagine taking a liking to—were it not for the inherent design flaw of making breathing impossible.

All things considered, the collection's downfall isn't such a wonder. It'd have been hard to find any sane person willingly submitting themselves to wearing these masks, bar something devastatingly convincing, like a global pandemic, occurring. Paired with the inbuilt ‘bonus’ of preventing recognition by even your closest friends, Adrien is of the opinion the design never stood a chance.

Of course, haute couture has never been about functionality. Designer items sell by the brand name. This is why the lack of recognition surrounding the purple butterfly used to puzzle Adrien. After all—according to everyone he’s ever talked to—his father is a great and successful businessman. So, he figured, there's a lot he couldn’t know about running a financially successful business, and thus the origins of the Agreste wealth.

Money had never been more than a mere concept to him. His family had always had it. And with money had come the business trips his father had taken twice a month, as well as the myriad of staff around the mansion Adrien had grown up in. It had been just their way of living—cold rooms, deep frowns, and deeper curtsies—and so he’d never stopped to consider: where has all the money been coming from?

In hindsight, it should have been evident.

And Adrien could have seen it— Adrien should have seen it. His only excuse for this blind spot is his very nature: being his father’s son, born more than raised. But even that thin line of defence crumbles under the significance of the issue.

He had tried telling himself that he’d always been trained to drop the questions and follow orders. To look the other way when business papers get signed. To leave banalities be, like the way his mother vanished one day when he was eleven. To turn up the music when the arguments get too loud and pots of cranberry sauce splashed on the tiles. He had tried to convince himself that when he’d started to study the company’s records—instead of studying architecture, like he’d wanted to—they’d all looked oh-so-very-orderly, so really, he couldn’t have known. He had tried, but…

In the end, the argument of ‘how was he supposed to know the family business he’s been preparing to take over is not a fashion empire, but a drug cartel?’ falls flat on its face.

Eyes wide shut don’t turn the lights any less red.

[read the whole chapter on AO3]

#miraculous #miraculous ladybug #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #enemies au #heist au #faoll #felonies and other love languages #marichat #this is a reverse crush ladrien enemies AU we deserve that marichat before things go to shit #miaraculous writing #ml fanfiction