[Posting it in a separate post because Tumblr still hates us with asks and read more aha]
Tagging you here so you know I answered: @fightyspidey
Aaaah i remember telling you I’d get down to your ask in a while and well, it’s been indeed a whole while haha! But here it is!!! Hope you’ll like it!!
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Chat Noir was frustrating. Adrien was frustrating. She never imagined she would catch herself thinking that one day.
And yet...
“You’ll be safe here,” he said,
sweetly.
“I’m so sorry this akuma has decided to target you, Marinette,” he put her down,
sweetly.
“I’ll come and check up on you afterwards, I promise,” he added while smiling,
sweetly.
Marinette sighed, watching him vault away towards the akuma before calling on her own transformation and running after him.
And she couldn’t really blame him—she had fallen for his sweetness, after all. For Adrien’s sweetness. And it was Chat Noir’s sweetness that, despite what her head always claimed, had made her heart beat a little faster and her cheeks a little redden that faithful evening on the rooftop. If only she had known at the time.
But now, right now, it wasn’t Adrien’s sweetness that she wanted to see in her partner. Well, that wasn't exactly true. She loved it and she wanted it. But she also wanted the banter and the stupid puns and the over-dramatic acting and—
Marinette released her transformation and groaned into her hands. She had headed straight back where Chat Noir had left civilian-her after the akuma, hoping to arrive before him.
Oh, yes, Chat Noir had been as in shape as ever, bouncing and smirking and laughing at the akuma. But Chat Noir didn’t know that Ladybug was Marinette, and Chat Noir didn’t know that Ladybug knew that he was Adrien. It was a mess.
Marinette was a mess. And even more of a blushing and stammering fool with him now, her brain very usefully supplied.
Maybe it was why he was acting so sweet with her, even as Chat Noir now that she knew his identity. Maybe she only had herself to blame, really.
“Hey, I’m back, just as promised,” a voice startled her thoughts.
She was met with Chat Noir’s kind smile. “Was everything alright for you? I hope that I wasn’t too long, I had to take care of the victim after the fight.”
“Oh no, you’re fine—I mean!—it’s fine! Not that you’re not fine, just—ugh, kill me now.”
He chuckled, almost politely, the kind of refrained laugh she now knew to associate with Adrien. Adrien in public. Adrien surrounded by people.
Not Adrien when he had been alone with her and had handed her his umbrella. Not Adrien when he was Chat Noir and—just not Adrien when he was Chat Noir.
He was frustrating.
“Don’t worry, Marinette, I understood what you said. Do you want a ride home? I know that you can walk, but we could be faster!” And he was smiling at her, expectantly. Sweetly, again.
Where was the wink? The borderline cocky smile? The puns and the dramatic tone? The “Oh, what would you say about a ride home with its city’s finest super-hero, Mademoiselle?” followed by a wiggle of his eyebrows?
She must have pulled a face or have taken too long to answer because his smile slowly became shy and uncertain.
“Why do you act like that?”, she blurted out, and oh god Marinette, not like this!
Adrien blinked, clearly not expecting this. “Sorry, like what?”
“Like that. Like...like Adrien.”
He frowned. “Hum, because I am Adrien?”
She sighed. “I know! I mean—all shy and nice and... Not that you’re not nice as Chat Noir, just...”
She was making no sense and was probably being mean, wasn’t she?
“Marinette,” he said, clearly not getting her point, “I don’t understand... I’m just as much Adrien as I’m Chat Noir...” He had his brows furrowed now.
“I know that’s not what I wanted to imply or—”. She groaned. “Look, what I mean is: ever since I found out your identity, you have been acting all shy and kind with me—which isn’t a bad thing! It’s just that...you tend to be, you know, more outgoing. As Chat Noir, at least.”
She looked up to see his face. A small “oh” was pulling at his lips.
“I mean, not that we never had awkward encounters while you were wearing the suit before,” she cringed at the memory, “but...you were also more...inclined to pun or act a little bit more...silly,” she ended with a grimace, not sure she had found the right words.
Adrien stayed silent, absorbing this information. She waited nervously, hoping that she hadn’t been too blunt or that he hadn’t taken it too badly.
He bit his lip, and she saw his expression slowly morphing into a sad one. And it was one thing to see Adrien pulling this face—it had already broken her heart more than once. But seeing it on Chat Noir, who was almost always cheerful, her support, her partner...it was something else. It was heart-wrecking. She suddenly felt awful for being the one to have put it here.
“It...it’s just that...It’s just that I’m not really used to someone knowing my identity, I think. And we’re friends but...I guess, because we know each other when I’m not Chat Noir, I would feel a little bit awkward or...I don’t know, you also said that you didn’t really like my jokes so maybe I was afraid that you would think I’m weird...” He sighed, before meeting her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m a mess, aren’t I?”
Marinette couldn’t take it anymore. She threw her arms around him and gripped him tightly. She heard him yelp in surprise but didn’t pay it any mind.
“If you’re a mess,” she said in his ear, “then we’re both idiot messes. I know..I know we’re not as close as you and Nino are,” and she knew it was a lie but she couldn’t exactly say that to him, “but you can...you can make as many jokes with me as you want, understand?”
She felt him nod just as he wrapped his arms awkwardly around her. “You can act dumb with me and I’ll be stupid with you. I’m stupid, you know? I’m the silliest person you’ll ever meet!”, she assured; she felt him chuckled, and it almost sounded like a sob. Was he crying? She was sure that she was starting to, by now.
“A-and you can pretend your ego is as big as a whale who just swallowed a pachyderm, if you want—”
His teary laugh cut her ramblings. “Hey, that’s not nice for either of the whale or the pachyderm.”
She chuckled but went on as if she hadn’t been interrupted. “—even if I know it’s not true, but you can pretend it is and you can be dramatic. I want to be dramatic with you, too. I mean, you know I can be theatrical, right?”
“Right,” he laughed. Probably remembering this awful episode that she tried so hard to forget at Musée Grévin, but who was after all a part of their story now. Maybe she shouldn’t have made an allusion to it. But in this instant, she didn’t regret it.
“Good.”
They slowly untangled themselves and looked into each other’s eyes. His were still slightly teary and it was making her even more emotional to see it. Hers must not have been much better.
“Thank you,” he said after a while. “For talking to me about it. And for what you said. You’re amazing, you know that?”
She was sure that she was blushing furiously now, but she didn’t really care. She smiled widely at him and mustered the bit of courage she had left. “Of course! And...you’re amazing too, you know?”
He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck, clearly embarrassed at the praise. “Hum, thanks. Weeeeell,” he clapped his hands together in front of him, “how about I get you home by the highest ranked transport in all of Paris, young and fair Lady?”, he said still a bit awkwardly, but she appreciated the effort.
“Why why, thank you, oh mighty hero,” and oh god she sounded just as awkward, “I would love if you did!”
“Then hold on tight, and enjoy the ride!” And with that, he lifted her up and vaulted in the direction of her house.
Maybe getting such closure with him would lead to her accidentally spilling her own identity; maybe he would simply recognise her as their friendship would blossom and slowly venture into banter territory. But Marinette couldn’t really find it in herself to mind.
(spoiler: Marinette’s identity didn’t even last two days after that—her reactions to his teasing were too familiar, from what Adrien said).
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Can you please write a blurb where Peter adopts a dog and instead of trying to hide it from Tony he shows it and Tony immediately adores it?
St*rkers, don’t interact
Peter had only gone to the shelter to donate some food after he heard about their food shortage. It was the least he could do and he did love animals, particularly dogs. But, it’s also Peter and just “going to shelter to donate food” turned into “Can I see the dogs?” which lead to “Oh, I love this one”.
It was a golden brown lab-retriever mix with one eye. His coat’s a little dirty but he walked over to the cage door the second he saw Peter, tail wagging so fast it’s butt was nearly shaking. Peter bent down and, with permission, pet the dog and that was it.
The realization hit him that he can legally adopt a dog now with him being new to adulthood. So, now he’s walking back to the tower with a new dog on a leash, a bag full of dog toys and treats and food because of course he stopped at the nearest PetCo to get what he needed, and all the paperwork proclaiming the lab-retriever mix as his own.
In the split decision to adopt this dog that Peter just fell in love with, he didn’t actually think anything through. Like, for example, is anyone gonna be upset he’s bringing home a dog? Sure, the tower has become his home since graduating high school and being home from ESU for the summer but it’s not actually HIS house. It’s basically Tony’s.
So, as Peter walks, he thinks about how he could try and hide his new dog but quickly realizes that’s a bad idea and he doesn’t want to. And the dog doesn’t deserve to be hidden away. Which, leads Peter to just saying “fuck it” and introducing Tony to his dog the second he gets to the tower (which he’s much fond of anyway since he’s basically vibrating with excitement, rambling off this ideas to his dog).
Peter walks in, Happy being the first to see him and he wants to say something. Happy wants to question why this brown-haired spiderling is walking into the tower with the widest smile on his face, three reusable bags in hand, and a dog on a leash but Peter beats him to talking first.
“Hey, Happy.” Peter beams, waving very awkwardly with the hand holding the leash. “Where’s Tony?”
Happy chuckles before he nods to the right. “Kitchen outside the conference room. They just got done with a meeting.”
“Cool, thanks.” Peter chimes, not wasting any time in making his way to that area of the tower, leaving Happy smiling to himself and going to back to his own work.
In his excitement, Peter doesn’t even go to his room to drop off the bags. Instead, he goes right to the kitchen outside of the conference room and he spots Tony immediately. Tony only glances up from pouring himself a coffee, just catching a glimpse of Peter coming into view.
“Hey, kid.” Tony says, eyes back on his coffee and then all at once, it hits him. His head jerks back up, doing a double-take, seeing the dog and Peter carrying multiple bags.
“Look, I got a dog!” Peter yells with so much enthusiasm, it’s radiating through the entire room. “His name is Willie.”
Tony’s brows are furrowed but there’s a smile decorating his face. “Why Willie?”
“Like, One-Eyed Willie from the Goonies.” The smile doesn’t even falter as Peter closes the distance between him and Tony, Willie happily sniffing Tony the second he gets close enough. “I know I should have asked,” Peter starts to ramble, words almost running into each other. “But he was really cute and he doesn’t have an eye so people probably won’t want him but I think he’s perfect.”
Tony squats down and lets Willie sniff his hand before Tony starts petting behind the dog’s ears, his smile widening. “You do have food in the bag, yes?”
“Yeah, of course.” Peter holds up all three bags. “I have food, bowls, toys, treats.”
“Well, get him some food, he might be hungry. You can keep his bowls in the kitchen near the living room, if it bothers anyone, just move it to your room.” Tony starts talking, still petting Willie and barely even looking at Peter.
“So, you don’t care?!” Peter asks, relief and joy in his voice.
“I think he’s a good addition.” Tony’s smile widens, but not at Peter, at Willie. And maybe Willie isn’t just Peter’s. Something tells Peter, the new dog is going to be spending equal amounts of time with the both of them and he wouldn’t be surprised if suddenly Willie has his own armor “in case of emergencies”.
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Hey, so I know everyone is struggling right now but my family is in desperate need of help.
I live with my uncle, grandmother, and sister (@fightyspidey) and only two of us are working now. My uncle is disabled and can't while my grandmother found out today that she isn't allowed to work because she's over 60 with several health problems. My sister and I will be losing our jobs at least temporarily soon (probably by next week for me) and we need to find a way to pay our bills and medical costs.
My uncle's disability check will pay for half of our rent and my next paycheck with cover the other half, but we still need to pay for food and our grandmother's diabetes medication as well as food and flea medicine for our cats. (My sister and I both have a service animal for our depression and anxiety and they're very important to us for obvious reasons)
[Photo Description: A black cat, Chaya, is sleeping curled up in a long basket with a tabby cat, Squeakers, sitting next to her looking behind the photographer.]
If there's any way you can help, you can donate to my PayPal or support us by buying one of my books!
We just need to make it through shutdown and then we will get our jobs back, but I'm told that could be several months from now.
If you can't help us out, please share as much as you can.
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