#there even is a new miraculous ladybug sticker there since you guys liked my first ones👀

[gabriel-agreste-has-no-rights]

Rating: G

Summary: Kagami and Adrien skate together, and the special guest arrives.

Word Count: 2644 | Chapter 2/3

XXX

“Woah, it’s pretty dark in here.  Are you sure Phillipe said it was okay to come?”  Adrien asked as the doors creaked open.

It was black as pitch inside.  If Nino hadn’t shown her the process photos of their decorations, she might have believed the rink was deserted.

“I’ve never lied to you,” Kagami replied.  Her ice skates clinked where they hung over her shoulder.  “Come on, let’s get that ridiculous wig off.”

“What? Is blue not my color?”  He grinned.  It was insufferably cute, even if Kagami now knew the affection she felt for him wasn’t romantic.

She pulled the wig off and tossed it aside.  That was the signal she and Nino had agreed upon.

Suddenly the rink bust into light.  Lasers of red and green glinted off the giant disco ball Wayhem had managed to hang at the top of the dome.  Normal fluorescent bulbs flashed to life as well, illuminating the crowd that had gathered in the stands around the rink.

“Happy birthday, Adrien!”  All of his friends shouted in echoing cacophony.

Kagami’s focus stayed trained on Adrien as realization dawned over him.  His wide eyes took in everyone grinning at him—Nino in the back by his DJ equipment, Alya waving from closer by, Wayhem charging up to be the first to greet him.

“You… you guys threw me a birthday party?”

“It is your birthday, isn’t it?”  Kagami laughed before taking his skates.  “I’ll hold on to these for now.  Go say hello to everyone.”

Before she knew it, Adrien’s arms were flinging around her.

“Thank you, Kagami.  I know how much work this must have taken to put together.”

She relaxed in his embrace, hugging him back.

“You know you’re precious to us.  If you want to thank anyone, it’s Nino who’s the mastermind.”

“I’m not surprised.  He’s brilliant.”  Adrien pulled back, only to give her a quick bisous.  “I know you were involved too.  Please, let me thank you.”

“O-of course, Adrien.”

They shared one last smile before Wayhem practically tackled him.  

“Adrien!  It’s so good to see you, man!”

Kagami backed away as the crowd advanced.  Even after all this time, large groups were difficult for her to navigate.  It was more than worth it to see Adrien so happy, though.

After hugs and bisous were exchanged all around, Nino kicked on the stereo.

“Alright, homies!  Who’s ready to get out there and break the ice?”

He played Friday I’m in Love—one of Adrien’s favorite songs—as everyone who wanted to laced up their skates and filed onto the rink.

“Please, you won’t catch me down in that cesspit.”  Chloé tossed her ponytail.  

“Aww, but it would be fun, Chloé!”  Her red-haired friend—Sabrina, if Kagami recalled correctly—smiled up at her pleadingly.  She already had a pair of turquoise skates on.  “If you fall, I’ll catch you!”

“Quiet!” Chloé pressed a hand to her mouth.  “Do you want everyone to know I can’t skate?”

“Considering you just announced it, I doubt you will keep it a secret.”  Kagami’s eyes narrowed.  Nino might trust Chloé now, but it was difficult to forgive someone who had abused Adrien’s friendship for so long.

“I bet you’re a professional figure skater, aren’t you,” Chloé muttered.

“No.  Skating is just a hobby.  But I could help teach you, if you would like.”

Kagami might not trust Chloé, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be civil.  Besides, she’d been wrong about a few of Adrien’s friends before.

Chloé blinked a few times.  “You would—?  I mean, thanks, but no.  I need to make sure the media doesn’t catch us here, anyway.  It’s the most important job, you know.”

“Of course.  Perhaps another time then.”  She dipped her head.

“That would be… nice.”

That settled, Kagami sat a little ways off to put on her skates.

“Kagami!”  Adrien plopped down in the chair beside her, looking brighter than ever.  “Did you see the cake Marinette made?  Alya says it’s got passionfruit icing!”

“I didn’t,” she replied honestly.  “Knowing Marinette, I trust it’s amazing.”

“She’s so thoughtful.”  He smiled while accepting his skates back from her.  “Do you know when she’s coming?  I want to thank her, but I haven’t seen her yet.”

Kagami’s brow furrowed.  “Alya didn’t tell you?  Marinette isn’t coming.”

“She’s… she’s not?”  Adrien’s head hung.  “Do you know why?  Did I do something to upset her?”

“I’m sure it’s not that.”  Unless it was because she’d learned of Adrien’s crush on Ladybug.  Marinette was always touchy when it came to competing for Adrien’s affections, even if she’d eventually put aside her rivalry with Kagami.

“She didn’t explain why she couldn’t come.  But she did say that you mean the world to her, and that she will make it up to you.”

“She really said that?”  His hand hovered over his heart, his face hopeful.

Kagami wondered why Nino thought it so important to bring Ladybug to the party.  Adrien looked just as thrilled at the idea of seeing Marinette.

“Yes.  Now until then, let’s make the most of tonight.”  

“Right.  Thank you.”

He swapped out his orange sneakers for white ice skates, and she caught a glimpse of the dragon sticker she’d stuck on his left blade back when they were dating.  It left a bittersweet taste in her mouth, but more sweet than bitter.  He was a dear friend.  He’d shown that nothing would change that.

“Dance with me?”  He asked while pulling her towards the rink.

“On the ice?”

“Why not?  I know you’re skilled enough.”

She had no doubt of that.  Adrien had always been a little less steady in his skates than her, though.

“Alright.”  She smiled.  “If you think you can keep up with me.”

“You know I never back down from a challenge!”

Nino was playing Don’t Think Twice as they glided out onto the ice.  She had to weave between other skaters—the arena had never been this crowded when she and Adrien escaped here before.  Phillipe must have been thrilled to admit so many patrons.

“Woah!”  Adrien skidded back when a young man with tall blond hair came barreling through.

“Sorry!”  Luka called, skating quickly behind him.  “This is XY’s first time on the ice.”

“Lu!  Look, I think I’m getting the hang of it!”

Kagami hid a laugh behind her hand as XY wiped out, “starfishing” (as Nino would have called it) across the ice.

“Nice moves,” Juleka deadpanned before gliding on with Rose.

“You have some interesting friends,” Kagami noted as she and Adrien started moving again.

“I’m not sure if XY counts as a friend, exactly.”  He rubbed the back of his neck.  “He’s more like… an acquaintance, or a weird family member you have to invite to reunions.”

Kagami raised an eyebrow.  “You have a lot of family members like that?”  She had some odd relatives, but they tended to be excluded from family gatherings.

“Er… well, Nino says his family does.  I think all of my family is weird, but a different kind of weird, if you know what I mean.”

Kagami nodded, remembering the few times she’d met Adrien’s cousin Felix.  Not to mention the austere Gabriel himself.

Once they got to a clearer area, Adrien took both of her hands and began skating backwards.

“You’ve gotten better,” she noted.  “I still think you should let me take the male part, though.  I’m more used to skating backwards than you.”

“Fair enough.”  He effortlessly switched positions with her.  

At times like this, she remembered why she’d dated Adrien in the first place.  Not only was he sweet, respectful, and talented, but they were so alike.  They could glide in near-perfect sync from hours of easy practice.  He’d been the first one to take her routine hobbies and add a spark to them, make them truly fun.

Thankfully, those were all things that hadn’t changed.  It had hurt when he’d first admitted that he was still in love with someone else, that he didn’t feel it was fair to treat her as a second choice.  But she respected that now.  He’d made his decision, and she’d learned much more about herself since then, too.

Such as the fact that she might not desire romantic affections at all.

“New song,” Adrien said when Don’t Think Twice stopped playing and Wannabe by the Spice Girls began.  “This one’s not in three-four time.  You’ll have to give me something harder than a box step waltz.”

“Okay, I’ll stop going easy on you!”  

She let go of one of his hands, spinning him out and back in.  He almost skidded on the second spin, but she caught him and turned it into a dip.

“Looks like someone was getting cocky.”  She smirked.

“Nah.  I just knew you would catch me.”  He winked.

She laughed, pulling him back upright and beginning a simpler dance that Alya had taught her.  Something called a foxtrot, if she remembered correctly.

“Shouldn’t you be saving that kind of flirting for your girlfriend?”  

It was satisfying to watch the blush spread across his cheeks.  “My—?  I don’t have a girlfriend.  But if I’m making you uncomfortable, I’m sorry, I really should have—”

“Relax, Adrien.  I was only teasing.”  She squeezed his hand.  They continued gliding hand in hand, not pulling off any fancy tricks this time.

“Still.  I should be more considerate of your feelings.”

“I’ve assured you, you have nothing to worry about.”  She hoped her honest smile showed that.

“But—”

“I’m asexual, Adrien.”

He went silent.  Kagami tried to keep her strides even.  She’d realized this about herself for a while now—since shortly after they broke up—but she’d yet to voice it even to her closest friend.  What if he didn’t believe her?  Or worse, what if he believed she’d led him on in their relationship?  She hadn’t realized that the strong friendship she’d felt for him wasn’t romantic or sexual attraction at the time.

“Like Max?” He replied after a moment.

The response threw her for such a loop that she almost stumbled.  “Like—who?”

“Max Kanté.  From my class?  I can introduce you if you’d like; I saw him when we came in.  If you’re aro too, you might want to talk to Alix, she’s—”

A pink blur blew past them.

“—right there, actually.”  He laughed.  “You might want to catch her off of the rink, though.  She’s even more competitive than you.  It’ll be hard to get her to slow down.”

Something swelled in Kagami’s chest.  She’d felt fairly secure in her identity, but still very much alone.  Distant strangers on the internet could only provide so much comfort.  But if Adrien knew not one, but two people like her…

“Thank you,” she said, her voice thick with emotion.  “That would mean so much to me.”

“No problem!  And I really hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable while we were dating.  Relationships are pretty new to me; I never even thought to ask.”

He was worried about making her uncomfortable?  He really was twice the gentleman she’d assumed.

“No need to worry.  I didn’t know I was ace at the time.  If I was uncomfortable, I would have told you.”  It had been a long road in realizing, and an even longer road in accepting her asexuality.  But there was no point in trying to deny who she was.  Seeing Adrien take it in stride was more of a relief than he could know.  “Thank you for your thoughtfulness.”

“Of course!  You’re my friend, Kagami.  I would never want to hurt a friend.”

Tears threatened to prick her eyes when he flashed her his brightest smile.  Before she could look like a complete fool, though, Nino skated up behind Adrien and tapped his shoulder.

“Hey, bro!  Hey, lady bro!  You mind if I borrow Adrien for a bit?  I want to show off my sick skate moves!”

Kagami laughed.  She could always count on Nino to keep things light.  

“Nino?”  Adrien looked shocked.  “Since when do you skate?”

“Since Kagami taught me!  Thanks again for that, by the way.”  He tipped his cap at her. 

“Why don’t we all skate together for a while?  It’ll be more fun that way,” Adrien suggested.

“Whatever my best bro wants.  XY took over the music, so I’m free for the next few songs.”

Adrien took both of their hands, and they glided in sync.  It was a bit more difficult with Nino, since he was still a beginner, but it was no less fun.  They even managed to dance a bit to the upbeat music.  

“This party is everything I could ask for,” Adrien said in the quiet between two songs.  “I can’t thank you guys enough.”

“We’re just happy to see you happy, dude.”  Nino clapped his shoulder.  “I don’t think this party has everything yet, though.”

Adrien’s brow scrunched.  “What do you mean?”

That was when Kagami noticed a figure in red skating towards them.  The crowd parted before her slow but steady strides.  

“I believe he means her.”  Kagami pointed to the red skater.

It was worth everything to see Adrien’s eyes widen, his cheeks turn pink, an expression of utter elation wash over him.  His grip on Kagami’s hand loosened as he clasped his hands in front of his chest.

“No way.  No way!  You got Ladybug to come to my party?”  He looked between Kagami and Nino, as if trying to figure out who to thank for it.

“It was all Nino.”  Kagami dipped her head.

“It was nothing.”  Nino rubbed the back of his neck.  “Alya did all the heavy lifting.  Her Ladyblog connections, ya know?”

Adrien looked like he was about ready to throw his arms around both of them, but that was when Ladybug reached their group.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” she said, sounding shyer than Kagami remembered her.  A frozen tiara glimmered in her dark hair, reflecting the laser lights that flashed across the rink.  “I heard it was someone’s birthday?”

“Me!”  Adrien practically shouted.  “I mean—uh, thank you so much for coming to my party, Ladybug.  I’m honored.”

He bowed so deeply, his skates nearly slid out from under him.  Ladybug hid a giggle behind her hand.

“You’re so cute—I mean—it’s super cute—COOL of you to invite me.”  She flashed finger guns at him.  

Kagami’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully.  Was Ladybug always so awkward in social situations?  

“It was super cool of you to come!”  Adrien held her shoulders to steady himself as he gave the traditional bisous.  Ladybug’s face was bright red afterwards.

“Should we give them some space?”  Nino whispered to Kagami behind his hand.

“It would defeat the purpose if we didn’t, wouldn’t it?”

“You’re leaving?”  Adrien asked when he tore his eyes away from Ladybug long enough to notice.  “You don’t have to!”

“No worries, dude!  We’ve got to check on Chloé and make sure we’re still not on your babysitter’s radar.  We’ll catch up with you later!”

Nino dragged Kagami away, nearly sending them both to the ice until she steadied them.

“Do you really think Chloé is shirking her responsibilities?”  She asked.

“Nah, she seemed pretty serious about that.  I just needed an excuse to leave them alone.  Adrien would be too nice to leave us otherwise.”

“Oh.”  Kagami leaned back against the railing, watching Adrien take Ladybug’s hand.  They seemed well suited for each other.  Kagami had heard Adrien wax poetic about Ladybug enough to tell his affections were genuine, and Ladybug could protect Adrien from anyone who wanted to hurt him.  

Unless she was the one who ended up hurting him, in which case Kagami would have to test her sabre skills against the superhero.  

That shouldn’t be necessary. Kagami hoped they would find happiness together for at least one evening.

#what an ice surprise #ml #miraculous ladybug #kagami #nino #adrien agreste #fic tag #tali writes

[whenimgoodandready]

Adrienette, Lukanette, Adrienette, Lukanette, Adrienette, Lukanette, Adrienette, Lukanette, Adrienette, Lukanette, Adrienette, Lukanette, Adrienette, Lukanette, ADRIENETTE! LUKANETTE! ADRIENETTE! LUKANETTE! IDK!? STOP BADGARING ME FANDOM!!! Even Marinette is indecisive about it! She’s just a dumb teenager who doesn’t know what she wants!..........does she?

*Desperada-Marinette and the girl squad were hangin’ out at Julekas house boat listening to Kitty Section rehearse and Marinette and Luka get cozy with each other. It also looks to be that the squad is starting to jump onboard with the Lukanette ship. Well, Adrienette isn’t goin’ anywhere so how much longer are they gonna support something that hasn’t even set sail yet!? Adrien and Kagami show up (having ditched fencing practice) and Marinette quickly leaves Lukas side to not give Adrien the impression she likes Luka. Oh, Marinette, what are we gonna do with you? She even says they’re “just friends” too🤨.

Jagged Stone arrives and he tries to get Juleka and Lukas mother back into the band cuz they had “history”. Oh! Thing is, he fired his guitarist, Vivica, and now he’s looking for a new one. Hmmmm, a new guitarist? Like, someone who knows rock n’ roll? And who’s young and talented? Marinette knows a guy like that! IIIIIIt’s Lu-Adrien!? Whomp! Whomp! Whomp! 🤦‍♀️. Marinette WTF!? Adrien is a classical pianist! I highly doubt he’s strummed a guitar! She knows damn well Luka is a better fit and yet she’s still trying to give Adrien hints she wants him! Okay, Marinette, I know how much you want Adrien, but you can’t just ignore talent when you see it from Luka.

Just then, Vivica shows up in her akumatized form calling herself Desperada! OOOOOH! So she’s that mysterious villainess I saw in “Gamer 2.0”! Well, thanks for the closure! (I’m talking to you person in charge of episode scheduling 😑). Desperada, I like that name, reminds me of a Rihanna song. Thing is, it’s more like a Western name and she didn’t really look “Western”. I mean, she kinda did with the whole musical skeleton make-up look, which is pretty cool, but nothing really “Wild Wild West” to me. It was more like something outta “The Book of Life” or “Coco” with that sugar skull thing. I’m a little fan of westerns where there’s a female outlaw that’s why. Her powers were using any instrument like a gun to capture people in her guitar case with a pic of them appearing on it as a sticker. Let’s just say if she wasn’t a musician, she’d make a bada** sniper!

Anyways, Desperada captures everyone except the love triangle kids and Ladybug is given the lucky charm to bring in extra help from Master Fu again using the snake miraculous! The snake miraculous!? OOOOOH! We saw who that was! (“Party Crasher”), some people in the fandom were right about it too! And now, ladies and gentlemen, the holder of the snake miraculous, (drum roll) Luk(trumpets begin to sound)-ADRIEN!? AGAIN!? (trumpets die out). WTF!? WHY!? Okay, I get it, he did save Luka when Desperada almost got him and as we know, Marinette/Ladybug doesn’t know Adriens Cat Noir, but still! Adrien agrees to it thinking he’ll win over Ladybug in a new superhero form since this time, she knows who he is and becomes “Aspik”...........(turns to the trumpeteers) you guys can sound I guess, (trumpets sound, but not enthusiastically). Okay, thank you.

So um, the snake miraculous is a bracelet of a snake swallowing itself, a Kwami snake like being named Sass (remember him from “Sandboy”!? He’s kinda like the leader of the Kwamies), a harp weapon and its power is “Second Chance” where they can go back a few minutes in time by turning the snake head on their bracelet back and it’s not a one hit power! It can go on as many times until the snake head gets to the end! It’s almost like Bunnyxs power except hers is more serious and can go back (and fourth) many times and it’s more fragile. Huh, I always thought the snake miraculouses power would be hypnotism, but I’m thinking too much “Jungle Book” here (what do snakes have to do with time travel!?). That’s cool! So it’s just Ladybug and Aspik vs. Desperada. It. went. TERRIBLE! Ladybug kept getting captured again and again and again and again and again AND AGAIN! And do you know why!? Cuz Aspik over here was too busy trying to woo Ladybug and not focusing on defeating the bad guy! That’s why!

ENOUGH! Adrien quits cuz he’s had it with being a f**king failure as it’s been 25,913 times! 25,913 TIMES!? 25,913 TIMES!? 25,913 TIMES!? 25,913 TIMES!? DAMN ADRIEN! YOU SUCK! Ladybug finally sees she’s wrong again! So Adrien suggests Luka take the miraculous instead. HALLELUJAH! Ladies and gentlemen, the real holder of the snake miraculous, Viperion, a.k.a. Luka Couffaine! (trumpets sound and end with a big finish!). Now this guy, this guy! Does a hell of a better job than “Aspik” did and it only took him a few tries! Humph!

I apologize for my wild outbursts there, I’m a very passionate writer and I speak what others are afraid to say. I’m like a voice for the people. I’m sure that’s what all of you were probably thinking way in the back of your heads there about the plot that occurred in the episode. I’ve settled down now and I’ll explain more. Ahem, first off, the girl squad are now leaning towards the Lukanette ship cuz they’re probably sick and tired of all the Adrienette nonsense and want something new. More importantly, they think this ship better since Marinette is more comfortable with Luka and how he’s more liberated than the sheltered Adrien. Fair point. The character Vivica/Desperada was based off a fan who won a contest at comic con and was originally supposed to be a veterinarian until they changed it to a guitarist (she looked so cute!). I heard about that, they also said she was supposed to be a fan of Cat Noir and was upset that he wasn’t getting as much recognition as Ladybug. It would’ve been nice cuz according to my Love Chart (which I legit have), nobody and I mean NOBODY likes Cat Noir, so cut him some slack and give him at least one fangirl! C’mon! Adrien failed at being the snake miraculous holder, but it’s not because he sucked (25,913 TIMES!? That’s like 3 months!), but it’s cuz there was no black cat hero to assist Ladybug! It was just Ladybug and Aspik and no Cat Noir! I thought they would’ve realized by now that they can’t defeat the villain unless it’s both of ‘em (plus a third or fourth party if necessary) to stop ‘em! Sure Ladybug defeated Style Queen by herself, but at least she had a “black cat” like someone there to help! It has to be Ladybug and Cat Noir! Good luck/Bad luck, Yin/Yang! That’s the idea! The reason why they didn’t see that was cuz they were both blinded by love! Marinette/Ladybug mostly picked Adrien to be the snake miraculous holder cuz she thought, “OMG! I’m gonna be fighting crime with my crush!” and Adrien/Cat Noir said yes cuz he thought, “Maybe she’ll love me this time if she knows who I am!” :P. Even Plagg thought it was a bad idea cuz he knew they needed Cat Noir and they weren’t even focused on Desperada and just trying to court each other! You’d think Marinette/Ladybug would’ve listened to her own words about Adrien being a distraction in her life (“Chameleon”). Speaking of courting, during one of Aspiks failed Second Chances, he confessed to Ladybug that he was Cat Noir (cuz she knows he’s Adrien as Aspik) and we only see a brief look of shock on her face before she’s captured again. Wonder what was quickly goin’ through her head at that point? Flashbacks of all her moments with him as himself and Cat and how she acted like both herselves in front of ‘em realizing how stupid she’s been? Lol! The shocks gonna be more wilder when it happens though and I’ll be there to see it. Ladybug really should’ve picked Luka first cuz at least he was bold enough to step in and distract Desperada to save Ladybug like he did as Viperion. Poor Adrien though, now he’s gonna think his Lady is too incompetent to be a hero. Well, not a “snake” hero at least, but a different animal hero if only she knew. The problem is Marinette is indecisive. She doesn’t know what she wants which is why she can’t choose between Adrien and Luka. Tikki and Kagami can see that and the latter even points out how Marinette needs to make up her mind already! Actually, according to the Season 3 canon episode order, this is actually the start of the mid episodes which means things won’t get more complicated ‘til the end. Especially when the last few episodes are more focused on the love issues. Currently, we’re dealing with plot right now, but we’ll eventually get there.

#miraculous ladybug #desperada #miraculous ladybug desperada