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claws-n-salt · 6 years

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Crackmas || Day 6

Crackmas Day 6 || Akumatized || Marinette gets a little too angry when she's looking at another of Hawkmoth's terrible akuma designs. When she gets akumatized, she sets out to fix some of Hawkmoth's mistakes. Unfortunatly for Chat Noir, his redesign is a bit different than the other's

Rated T || 1,441 Words

Cross posted on Ao3 || FF

Prompts can be found here from @mlcrackmas

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Re-Designer

Marinette grumbled to herself as she clicked through the new pictures Alya had posted on the Ladyblog. The most recent akuma design was, yet again, atrocious. For someone who was able to control water, the akuma’s outfit had been garishly yellow with stripes of bubblegum pink and chartreuse. Marinette could have designed something better in her sleep. In fact, she had come up with a better design the moment she’d heard the akuma’s name and found out their powers.

She was so busy fuming over Hawkmoth’s incapability to consider even the simplest color chart, that she didn’t hear the flapping of wings until Tikki shrieked as a butterfly landed on the pen Marinette was holding. “Re-Designer, I am Hawkmoth. If you agree to…”

“Shut it moth man. I can feel myself getting worse at designing just by hearing your voice.” Marinette felt the akumatization wash over her. “Let’s see what trash color combination you put me in.” She walked over to the mirror and faked a gag. “Really, orange and blue ruffles? I’m personally offended.” Re-Designer pointed her pen, now turned short wand, at her own outfit, changing it to a fitted jacket and a tailored pant that fit impeccably, both in a tasteful dark maroon. One of the lapels of the jacket held a little slot for Re-Designer to put her wand. “Now this is what I call a supervillain’s outfit.” Re-Designer did a little spin for herself in the mirror, ending with a wicked smile at herself. “Now it’s time to fix some mistakes.”

Knowing exactly where to start, Re-Designer made one more minor change to her outfit design. Pressing the small button than was now above the wand slot, a small jetpack formed on Re-Designer’s back before she went up to her balcony and jetted off.

A few minutes later, Re-Designer landed outside the house of the person who had had the worst ever akuma design, Nino Lahiffe, aka The Bubbler. Lucky for her, Nino was currently walking out of the building. “Well, hey there Bubbler.”

Nino spun around from where he’d been locking the door. “Whoa, Marinette, you scared me. Wait, did you just call me Bubbler?” Re-Designer smiled sweetly at the confused boy in front of her. She was so focused on Nino that she didn’t notice Adrien walking down the street towards Nino’s house.

“That I did, Bubbles.” Pulling out her wand from its holder, Re-Designer gently waved it around. “I was just thinking about how terrible your design was when you were The Bubbler so I thought Re-Designer could do a little, well, redesigning.” Re-Designer let a hand fly to her mouth in a signature anime villain cackle as she watched Nino’s eyes widened when it dawned on him that she was akumatized.

Unbeknownst to Re-Designer, Adrien realized she was akumatized the exact same moment Nino did, and immediately dove into the bushes he’d been walking passed. Chat Noir immerged moments later, slowly beginning to make his way around the akumatized girl.

Re-Designer gave her wand a final twirl then pointed it at Nino, directing a bolt of sparkling pink light at him. The glittering wave washed over Nino, leaving him in a dark navy suit with embroidered bubbles in a light blue thread snaking up the side of the suit, from the right hem of his pant leg to the curve of his right shoulder. In his hands was a much sleeker bubble wand in a light blue matching the embroidered bubbles. “Um, Mari, not that I don’t mind the redesign, but um, it wasn’t really necessary.”

Re-Designer beamed at Nino. “Of course it was. Hawkmoth made you a costume that nearly caused permanent blindness to anyone who viewed it. I had to fix that travesty.” Nino’s eyes flashed to a place behind Re-Designer. Right as Chat Noir swiped to grab her, Re-Designer jumped to the side.

Whirling on Chat, Re-Designer pointed the wand at the superhero. “You know Kitty, your suit could use a little redesigning too.” Chat went to grab for Re-Designer’s wand, but pink sparkles washed over him before he could.

Re-Designer smirked. “That’s better.” Chat looked down at his suit which had shrunk down to a pair of black shorts, his belt tail, and the gold bell which was now attached to a choker like collar. As Nino doubled over in fits of laughter, Chat gaped.

Shaking off his shock, Chat sauntered towards a still smirking Re-Designer. “You know Marinette, if you wanted to see me with my shirt off, you could have just asked.”

“Well what would have been the fun in-“ Re-Designer’s words abruptly stopped as Chat plucked the wand from her hand. She hadn’t realized how close Chat had gotten.

“I will just hold onto this until Ladybug gets here.” Chat glared at Nino who was now sitting on his stairs, unable to hold himself up from laughing so hard. “How do I change my suit back Mari?”

“That was crafty kitty. You won’t be able to change your suit back until Ladybug uses the cure and that won’t be happening anytime soon so…” Re-Designer causally flicked one of her earrings. Re-Designer giggled when Chat gasped in realization.

“Be right back, stay here.” Chat ran into Nino’s house, both Re-Designer and Nino looking after him in confusion. A moment later, darkness rippled over Re-Designer, leaving an unakumatized Marinette in its wake.

Looking around in confusion, Marinette noticed a still suited up Nino on his stairs. “Wow Nino, that’s a really nice suit.”

“Um, thanks. You made it.” Brows drawing together, Marinette looked at her friend in confusion.

“I what? What do you…” Marinette trailed off when Chat stepped out of the house in his new and improved suit. She didn’t know whether to stare or laugh. Staring was what she went with. Slack jawed, Marinette watched Chat Noir waltz over to her in what looked to be more of a stripper outfit than a superhero suit. Had she done that?

“Sorry Nino but the princess and I need to go deal with something.” Marinette didn’t know if Nino had said anything in response because Chat Noir pressed her close and extended his baton, lifting them both into the air. Was Marinette internally screaming because she was currently pressed up against her very attractive partner’s bare chest? Yes.

When they’d made it a little ways from Nino’s house, Chat Noir set Marinette down and handed her the akuma, which he’d trapped in a glass jar she hadn’t even noticed. She’d been a bit distracted. “I think you can take care of this.” Chat raised a brow at her in expectation.

Marinette groaned as she took a few steps back from her nearly naked partner. “Not only did I turn you into a stripper while akumatized, but I also told you who I was?” Chat nodded, grinning mischievously.

Chat was glad Marinette had forgotten his next words when the akumatization broke, because it was prefect for his next move. “You know My Lady, you could have just asked if you wanted to see me out of the suit.” Before Marinette could protest, Chat Noir released his transformation.

Marinette should have been more surprised to see Adrien Agreste standing in front of her, now fully clothed. “Honestly, I thought Chat’s abs looked familiar.”

“Oh, you mean these abs?” Adrien slipped his shirt over his head. He gestured towards his sculpted stomach. “You know, the ones you were so desperate to see that you got yourself akumatized.”

Marinette only let herself admire Adrien’s physique for a moment before she snapped her eyes back to his face. “Excuse me, I got akumatized because of how trash Hawkmoth’s designing skills are when it comes to akuma outfits.” Smirking, Marinette nodded towards Adrien’s shirtless form. “This was just a happy accident.”

“Oh really?” Adrien began to saunter up to Marinette. “A happy accident?”

“Of course. In fact, maybe I should thank Hawkmoth for his appalling taste if this is the outcome.” Marinette tilted her head up towards Adrien as he stopped in front of her.

“Hmm, maybe you should.” Their lips met for a moment before laughter bubbled up from Marinette.

“Sorry, but I just had a thought. What if Hawkmoth was a fashion designer or something. It would be so ironic if he was in the fashion industry, yet created such distasteful outfits.”

Adrien joined Marinette in her laughter. “That would be hilarious!”

The two heroes laughed at the outlandish idea of Hawkmoth being a fashion designer. Across town, Gabriel Agreste overdramatically monologed about next summer’s fashion line inspired by The Bubbler’s outfit while sitting alone in his dark room of butterflies.

#miraculous ladybug #ml crackmas #mlcrackmas2017 #identity reveal #akumatized marinette #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #chat noir #Nino lahiffe #adrien agreste #ml ladybug #Myranda writes fics

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pyrewriter · 4 years

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Stories and Surrender (Part 1)

Adrien had just severed the last tithe that connected him to everything he has ever known, now he had nothing but what he stuffed in his bags and whatever was in his bank account. Considering what his previous occupation was and the fact he was the son of a famous designer he was probably better off than most runaways. That didn't mean it was going to be easy, from now on he has to lie about who he is and hope that no one sees through his charade.

Adrien groaned as he remembered that all of this was on top of being Chat Noir one of Paris' saviors, then he remembered he had a loose end to tie up. This time however he would be ready for whatever Wild Willy threw at him. Adrien ran to find somewhere to put his belongings and safely transform but he didn't trust an alley to be safe not with search parties roaming that is. Looking around, he spotted an underground station "There, I can use the luggage storage" he thought making his way to the entrance and down the stairs.

Once his only possessions were secure now he just needed to find a place to transform but Adrien didn't want to waste time so the bathrooms would have to do. Looking over his shoulder as he entered and checking every stall he deemed the room clear "Plagg, Claws-".

Plagg stopped him asking "WAIT wait don't you wanna know about your new threads?".

Adrien raised an eyebrow "What do you mean 'new threads' Plagg?"

Doing a little spin he explained "Hehe well my boy as you know every suit is different for each wielder correct" Adrien nodded motioning for him to go-on. Continuing he said "Well they change to fit the current wielders needs and hide their Identities".

Still confused Adrien asked "Ok so what does all that mean exactly?".

Plagg only smiled stating "Transform and see, I think you'll like the new look".

"Oook then Plagg, Claws Out" the transformation to Chat Noir did feel different but he was curious as to what Plagg meant by "New threads". He left the stall and looked in the mirror thinking it would be easier to see the changes in a reflection. His costume was completely redesigned only ears were unchanged and his tail was almost the same as it was but the rest of his new look was new.

The mask that once covered his eyes was gone and was replaced with one that hid his mouth, dull white wisps seemed to float and churn in the black of the mask. As he reached to inspect his new mask the wisps shifted and molded themselves into question marks seeming to emulate the expression he was making. Chat decided to test this by making multiple faces from a smile to a frown and the white wisps moved to form a shape that projected his expression.

Shifting his gaze downward slightly he realized that his prior observation was not totally correct as the costume did still have some skin tight elements. He had a slightly loose fitting short sleeve two tone jacket with spare pockets and an extra high collar, green highlights the same color as his eyes accented it nicely. Underneath was a skin tight under shirt that extended down his biceps to about his elbow before changing to wraps. His gloves were still present but his signature bell seemed to be missing.

Looking down at the rest of himself he discovered he had a loosely wrapped belt with green stitching that still doubled as his tail. A small jingle caught his attention, lifting his coat he found where his bell had gone it was now dangling from his belt. He wore slightly baggy pants that tapered to skin tight as they reached his knees and transitioned into his shoes. His shoes had a split toe and looked more like a ninja shoe than anything else. Out of sheer curiosity he lifted his foot to take a look and found another green accent that matched the symbol on his ring.

Chat continued to look at himself in the mirror until a random citizen opened the door to the bathroom, the sound of the door shook Chat from his trance snapping him back to reality. They stared at each other for a moment before Chat gave the citizen a nod and left the bathroom to start his search for Wild Willy. Once Chat was back on the surface he reached for his staff ,which was thankfully in its usual spot, and launched himself onto the roof of the nearest building.

His new outfit however gave him an odd compulsion to try out a new technique for traversing the rooftops of Paris. Ordinarily he would run and use his staff to propel himself if he needed to bridge a gap but now he wanted to test his limits. The transformation had always enhanced physical abilities ,that much was obvious, but he had pulled off feats of agility he previously thought impossible while not transformed as well.

Getting a running start he took a leap of faith aiming for the roof across the street from him, to his joy he made the jump easy. He continued to do this as he made his way across Paris finding his new method to feel more natural and fluid. When this Wild Willy business was over and he got a new life started he would seriously have to consider taking up free running but that would have to wait.

Willy had left his alley and was wandering the streets gardening stares from most with others outright running away at the sight of him. Willy had tried to talk to a few passersby but they all neatly fainted and some had pissed themselves in fear of what they thought he was going to do. After a while he tipped his hat forward hiding his face in shame and regret at what he had become. Only the cling of his spurs and the murmurs of the terrified citizens accompanied him as he aimlessly walked the streets hoping to meet once more with Chat Noir.

Meanwhile Chat was getting used to his new outfit and keeping an eye out for a certain cowboy but so far he had no luck. After an hour or so of running he found himself near the school he decided to check in to see how his former classmates and friends were doing. He didn't want to be blatant with his interest however as it was after school and Chat Noir just dropping by would be strange. He prepared himself to take a dive, making it look like a misjudged jump but he planned to land on his feet and tumble. With a purposeful over shoot he plummeted into the courtyard smashing a bench and kicking up dust in the process.

His former classmates were gathered in the courtyard all seeming to be talking about something as a group. Upon his sudden entrance however they all gasped and screamed not knowing who or what just fell from the sky. When the dust settled he could see they were all staring at him in confusion he tried to get up but struggled to pull himself from the rubble. After a few failed attempts he let out a sigh looking to the class "Little help?". Juleka was the only one to step forward offering him her hand which he took, as she pulled he gave one last effort to free himself and he was suddenly standing.

Letting go of her and cracking his back "Thank you" he said

Juleka fixed her hair replying "No problem, it's the least I can do"

"You guys seemed pretty deep in conversation, what was it about if you don't me asking" he said still stretching and cracking.

"We were organizing a search for a friend of ours" Alya was the one who spoke up this time and of course she had her phone out recording everything since the crash.

"Oh nngh really for who, where'd he go" he asked feigning ignorance while he dusted off.

"A boy named Adrien Agreste ran away and he could be injured...hey maybe you-" he knew what Alya was about to say and he hated what he was about to tell her.

"I'm sorry to hear that but I don't have time to help" he cut her off with a dismissive tone turning around grabbing his staff and launching onto the roof.

"Wha-WHAT!" while the others were shocked and confused Alya was furious about what Chat Noir had just done and said to her. After a few minutes of fuming and incoherent angry rambling she finally spoke clearly again "Slight change of plans Juleka, Nino, your with me, the rest of you stick to the plan".

"What are you guys gonna do?" Kim asked sounding concerned.

"We're going to tail the no-good street cat and see what's so important that he can't help look for Adrien" she stated with anger in her voice

In one collective voice the class let out a single "RIGHT!" and all walked out of the school splitting up to cover more ground. Juleka, Nino, and Alya however ran in the direction they last saw Chat Noir heading, spotting him after only a few minutes. They did have to ask around for directions but it didn't take long at all but when they did find him and were about to confront him he seemed a little preoccupied.

"You're a hard man to find, Willy!" Chat yelled standing on his staff which was currently bridging the gap between two buildings.

"Hehe I could say the same for you, Chat Noir" Willy yelled back looking exhausted and tired after almost an entire day of walking with no food or rest.

"So how are we going to settle this?" Chat asked crossing his arms Willy drew his gun but Chat was surprised when he threw it to him. Catching it he quickly pointed its barrel at the cowboy, finger on the trigger.

"I figured I'd let you decide how this ends" Willy said raising his arms in a gesture that seemed to show he accepted whatever happened next.

Still pointing the gun "WHY?" Chat asked with authority in his voice.

Willy shook his head "I never signed up for what I did and frankly...I don't wanna do this anymore". Chat relaxed, lowering the gun he dropped to street level and threw the gun back to Willy who fumbled to catch it. He looked at it then to Chat confusion plastered on his face.

"You're not getting out of this that easy" Chat said walking over to him "-but I'm not going to fight you either".

"But-" Willy tried to protest

Chat cut him off "Where'd you sleep last night?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

Willy sighed "An Alley next to a construction site, but what does it matter aren't you just gonna de-evilize me once Ladybug shows up aren't you?" they were face to face now.

"Ladybug isn't in Paris right now so no and it matters because if your powers haven't been taken from you and you don't work for Papillon you can't go home" Chat stated. He started walking "Now follow me".

Willy rushed to catch up "Where're we goin an-and what do ya mean Ladybugs not in Paris" he asked even more confused now.

"The police station, you're going to turn yourself in because villain or not you don't deserve to sleep in an alley and besides I can tell you haven't eaten" both their stomachs growled. It had been almost a whole day since either of them had a decent meal let alone a hot one and the mention of food made that fact very apparent. "And it's exactly how it sounds LB has been gone for about a month now".

"Well it sounds like you're in a pretty similar boat" Willy joked.

Chat chuckled "Yeah, hey I know this great bakery that's on the way, let's get something to eat before we turn you in". Alya had been recording the grand majority of the whole interaction ,of course, and was more confused than furious now.

"So what now, are we gonna follow them?" Nino asked

"No, they won't be going anywhere worth the chase" she wanted to follow them to the station but that could wait until later for now she needed to focus on the search for Adrien. Motioning for them to follow Alya told them "Come on, let's get back to the search for Adrien with any luck we'll find him before Marinette gets back from her family reunion".

"Kinda hope we have bad luck in that case" Nino muttered under his breath so neither of the girls could hear. He was the only other person who ,at least partly, knew what was going on with Adrien but he couldn't tell that to anyone, not even his girlfriend. Nino followed behind Alya and Juleka who were looking in every alley and asking anyone who would listen if they had seen their Adrien. No one had of course, no one except that unfortunate couple who had seen him climb over the wall.

"Um ar-are you looking for that Agreste boy?" asked a voice from behind them, it belonged to a woman who looked rather timid.

"W-we know it's not much but we saw him jump the wall of his house, at least I think it was him" the man spoke this time.

Alya practically pounced at the couple "Really, was he ok? did he look like he was running from something?".

"No-I mean ugh we don't know, all we saw was someone that looked like the Agreste boy climbing over the wall with bags, he saw us and gestured for us to not say anything. After that we ran and that was the last time we saw him but he didn't look hurt or scared or anything" the woman explained.

Alya let out a sigh of relief "Ok so he's not running from anything that's good thank you, both of you" the couple nodded and walked away holding each other. The three of them continued their search while the rest of the class scoured the rest Paris in an effort that only one of them knew was a lost cause. Even if everyone knew the facts however it would be unlikely that they would stop trying to find him.

Chat and Willy walked in relative silence as they made their way down to the bakery, as they got closer Chat checked his pockets. After a quick pat down he pulled out a twenty.

"You just have that on you?" Willy asked sarcastically.

Chat deadpanned "Yeah, my wallets in my other pants so I always carry some money in my suite"

"I see, and while we're on the topic of suits what's with your new get-up?"

Chat tugged his jacket "Well since I can't exactly show my face I needed something to hide...what happened" Chat wanted to keep what happened to him secret. "-and I was getting kinda tired of the old suite anyway so here we are," he explained.

Willy shrugged "That makes the most sense I guess, how you holdin up after 'what happened' by the way?".

"Still hurts" Chat stated plainly, after a few minutes of walking they had reached the bakery. "Stay right here I'll be back with some macaroons and croissants" he went inside leaving Willy outside while he got them something to eat. Chat placed his order "Three croissants and a half dozen macarons please, whatever you have on hand is fine".

While he waited for Chat Willy stood outside trying to ignore the stares and whispers around him, looking over at the park he saw the statue of Ladybug and Chat Noir that stood in the park. "Not the best pose they could choose is it" he thought aloud.

"No not really but I didn't design it so c'est la vie" Chat had come out of the shop without Willy noticing.

"Ah-jeez you bout scared the piss outta me" Willy jumped not realizing Chat was next to him.

"You want a macaroon or a croissant?" Chat asked digging into the bag of pastries.

"Croissant please" Willy replied holding out his hand.

"There you go, let's go find somewhere to enjoy this stuff" Chat stated.

"Aren't we supposed to be turning me into the cops?"

"I ain't got nowhere else to be or go but if you're so eager I suppose we could go straight there" Chat said with a sarcastic mocking tone.

"Hehe guess our situations ain't that different after all" Willy mumbled under his breath before, in a clearer voice "Nah let's go enjoy our treats". Together Willy and Chat went to find a bench down by the waterfront to enjoy the only food that either of them have had for most of the day. When they found a spot that looked secluded enough Chat removed his new mask and chowed down on one of the other croissants.

"Mmmm I love that bakery, they make the best croissants in all of Paris" Chat said before taking another bite. Willy was sitting to his left watching him as he ate staring at the scar left by the shot.

"Man I really did a number on ya didn't I" Willy said in a solemn regret filled voice.

Not wanting to try and talk with his mouth full Chat replied with "Nhnn" he swallowed "Yeah, still kicking though". He sighed reclining further back before asking "So what made you get Akumatized anyway, if you remember?".

Willy took a deep breath before replying "My brother...my little brother" Chat brought himself to a sitting up position looking at the cowboy sitting next to him.

"I'm all ears man"

"I only moved to Paris a few months ago from Mexico, we lived in a town that divided territories of two rival cartels". He pulled out his gun "This used to belong to my little brother heheh he loved playing cowboy 'someday I'll be sheriff and keep the bad guys away' he'd say. I got my hands on a fake passport and cash but there was only enough for one person so I took it planning to get him over here legitimately". Tears were dripping from his face and his voice was getting strained.

"Hey-hey breath man breath..." Chat was tearing up himself but kept it together enough to comfort Willy.

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#Bare Your Teeth #Chapter 3 #Part 1 #miraculous fanfic

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crypticcravings · 7 years

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Memories Remain, Chapter 5

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Also on Ao3

Another day, another four emails from Nathalie about Gabriel HQ meetings.

Adrien was positive he'd made his stance clear, but that never stopped Nathalie from keeping him in the loop. Adrien set aside the catalogue she'd mailed him and skimmed her emails with little interest. Nothing new. Things were running fine. That’s all that mattered.

Adrien shut down his work email without checking the rest of the meeting minutes or bank statements that were cluttering his inbox. He wasn't about to deal with all of that.

This was supposed to be a good day for him. He was determined to keep it that way, and a good day did not involve looking over his father's assets.

Instead, he fed Plagg another round of cheese before approaching his closet.

He had just a few hours left before he went to meet Ladybug. He needed to get dressed. Adrien pushed his pair of thick rimmed glasses up his nose, forgoing contacts for the day. Typically, he didn't worry about his appearance, especially when meeting Ladybug. There was no point brushing his hair and wearing his best shirt when he'd just transform and be covered from head to toe in a magical leather cat suit. Besides, ever since he'd quit modeling, he hadn’t been as concerned with how well his shoes matched his belt.

This was different.

He was about to meet Ladybug.

Honest to god, real life Ladybug.

And on his life, he was not going to meet her in his coffee stained work shirt and a pair of loose fitting jeans. He was going to call back to the 18 year old Adrien Agreste who sold cologne on billboards wearing only the highest quality designer clothing.

He was going to have to go into his closet.

"It's been a while since I've seen you wear something that comes off a hanger," Plagg said as Adrien opened the double door walk in. "Getting all dressed up to see your love bug?" The kwami made a kissy face.

"She's not my love bug," Adrien quipped.

He flipped through the hangers, shifting through the pairs of designer jeans and pressed slacks. He laid out no less than five outfits, shuffled shirts around, considered his socks, then began pacing, much to Plagg's chagrin. The tiny pest flitted around complaining loudly the entire time.

Finally, Adrien settled on something to wear.

He donned a pair of tight fitting navy slacks, a soft, dark blue t-shirt, and a grey sports jacket. Not too dressed up, but not too casual either. He shoved his feet into a pair of Doc Martins and pushed up the sleeves of his sports jacket. Of course, his father hadn't raised a slob. Adrien folded a handkerchief and placed it neatly into his breast pocket.

After spending a half hour ensuring his hair was absolutely perfect, it was just about time. He wound a large, heavy knit scarf around his neck and shoved his keys, phone, and wallet.

"Are you ready?" Adrien ran his fingers through his hair and shut the curtains.

"Are you asking me or yourself," Plagg asked.

He rolled his eyes. "Plagg, transform me."

Once he was officially Cat Noir, he snuck out the back window of his apartment. It was finally time.

Marinette was ready. At least, she kept telling herself she was.

She was glad, at least, that Cat Noir suggested meeting today instead. It gave her time to style her hair--curse her heavy Chinese locks that couldn't hold a curl to save her life--and do her makeup. She had been too nervous yesterday to take care of any of that. She'd gotten dressed in a daze, and had spent more time tearing her hair out with nervousness than she had considering what would happen when she actually had to drop the mask and face the actual boy she'd had feelings for for her entire young adult life.

But this morning, she'd woken up with a strange sense of clarity. She wasn't nervous any more. She wasn't worried. Everything was just…serene. Because she was meeting Cat Noir today.

So she put on a brightly colored outfit to contrast the dreary February weather. A navy blue skirt with pink butterflies, a pink, long sleeved shirt, a pair of yellow tights with polka dotted heels and a red knitted scarf. Once her hair was pulled back into twin buns, she checked her appearance in the mirror one last time before turning to Tikki.

"Are you ready for this," She asked her kwami, who was sitting on Marinette's chaise lounge.

"I'm ready if you are," the tiny red bug said.

"I'm definitely ready."

"You seem way more confident today."

Marinette smiled and looped her purse over her shoulder. "I feel better. I mean, no matter what happens, Cat Noir is my friend. He still wants to meet me, so that's a good thing, right? Whoever he is under the mask, we're still going to be friends."

"Do you think he's someone you know already?"

"I mean, a while ago I wondered if maybe he was someone in my class. After Chloe repeatedly got everyone in school akumatized, and he was always on the scene so quickly, I had to wonder. I doubt it, though."

"Well, I guess you're about to find out."

Marinette grinned the type of sappy grin of a school girl in love. "I guess you're right."

She put on her coat and a pair of earmuffs, then let Tikki fly into her purse. She stopped into the bakery downstairs for some macarons, because bringing cookies along almost always led to a good first impression--as long as she didn’t drop them all.

Once she was out of the bakery, she slipped the cookies into her purse and let Tikki out of her hiding place.

"Ok, Tikki, the coast is clear."

"Just say the word, Marinette."

It was finally time.

Thank goodness the school was empty. Marinette had to double check the principal's office, but thankfully Principal Damocles never outgrew his habit of taking Saturdays as a personal day. As long as there were no students on campus for activities--and Marinette hadn't noticed any--the coast was totally clear.

Now all that was left was to wait.

She wasn't sure which direction Cat Noir would be coming from. Would he walk through the front doors? Unlikely, since they were locked for the weekend. Which meant he was probably going to drop into the courtyard from the roof. So Ladybug picked a nice spot on the overhang above the library to sit and wait.

She looked down on the basketball court and wondered what life would have been like if she and Cat Noir actually had gone to college here together. Would they have had classes together? Would they have recognized each other? Marinette liked to think she wasn't so dense she wouldn't see her partner right in front of her. Then again, she could be totally wrong. It was completely possible that she did know him in her everyday life.

She would find out soon enough.

She wasn't waiting long before the cat dropped in. Always the show off, he flipped over the rooftop of the side corridor, caught himself on the second floor railing, then landed at the center of the basketball court below.

"You can't do anything normally, can you?" Ladybug stood on the overhang and tossed out her yoyo. It wrapped around a railing, and she swung herself down to the courtyard to stand before Cat Noir. "You're always doing something to show off."

"What can I say," the stupid tom cat smirked, "I needed one last chance to show you just how purrfect I am before my true identity sweeps you off your feet."

"Somehow I doubt that," Ladybug lied. She knew he was right. Just the thought of seeing him without his mask had her heart nearly pounding out of her chest.

"I guess we're about to see, aren't we?"

Cat Noir stood to his full height, a solid nine inches taller than she was. She was a little bit salty she hadn't actually opted for the small heel in her boots when she'd redesigned her suit last year. At least then he only would have had eight and a half inches on her.

Maybe it was the strange silence between them, but Ladybug noticed that Cat seemed almost nervous. It was a rare occurrence to see him like this, but she understood how he was feeling. If she hadn't used all of her nerves up yesterday, she'd probably be on edge too.

"I guess it's time, then," Ladybug suggested.

"Wait." Cat Noir held up a hand. "Can I have, like, one minute?"

"What, are you a scaredy cat?"

"No! Yes? Look, this is…it's a big deal, alright?"

Ladybug looked down at her hands clasped in front of her. "I know. It is. You're right."

"It's just--I've been wanting to know you for, like, ten years now. And now it's about to happen. And this is just a big deal, you know?" He covered his mouth with his hand.

"I've wanted to know, too," she murmured. "I mean, it's not like I never wanted to know."

"I know," he said. "It wasn't safe. But I'm glad it's happening now."

"Me, too."

Cat Noir took another deep breath before finally meeting her eyes. "Okay. Are you ready?"

"Are you asking me or yourself?"

He scowled. "My kwami asked me the same thing this morning."

Ladybug giggled. "Well, I'm ready when you are. How do you want to do this?"

"How about this," he put a hand on her shoulder, "You turn that way," he turned her to face the basketball hoop by the library. "And I'll face the other way. Then when we've detransformed, we can turn back around and see each other."

"So complicated," she teased.

Adrien turned to face the opposite basketball hoop. "Okay. I'm ready."

"Me, too."

Unable to help himself, and in need of some grounding, Cat Noir grabbed Ladybug's hand. She squeezed his in return. He gulped. "On three?"

He felt rather than saw her nod. "One," she counted.

"Two."

He squeezed her hand, and together they said, "three."

Each of them called off their transformation, and two bright lights shone in the college courtyard, one a brilliant pink, and the other electric green.

The lights faded, and suddenly Adrien was holding Ladybug's hand.

Barely a few seconds had passed, and Marinette was touching Cat Noir's skin with her skin.

In a few more seconds, they would be looking at each other's faces, unobstructed.

And suddenly it was all too much.

All of the anxiety Marinette hadn't felt the entire day slammed into her at once.

A fine sheen of sweat appeared across Adrien's brow.

Both of them considered running.

But neither of them moved. They stayed rooted in one spot, too terrified of seeing, and too afraid to leave.

It was a good fear, though, Marinette rationalized. It was excitement, anticipation, and the unknown. It wasn't a bad fear.

So she took another breath to steady herself. She should really start doing those deep breathing exercises her father pushed her to do so that she wasn't always gasping like a fish every time she got nervous. But that wasn't relevant right then.

"Should we turn around?" His voice sounded higher with nerves.

"Yeah, that would make sense, wouldn't it, kid?" The response definitely did not come from Marinette. Instead, she turned her head slightly to the right to see a floating, black, cat-like creature that must be Cat Noir's kwami.

"Plagg, if you don’t…"

"Oh, stop it with your empty threats, and just turn around already!"

"He's right, you know," Marinette said, "we should just do it. Like ripping off a bandaid. Get it over with. Not that there's anything to get over, but just…get it done."

"Yeah. Cool. Cool cool cool cool cool cool. Let's do this."

They squeezed each other's hand one last time. Marinette squeezed her eyes shut. She had no way of knowing, but behind her Adrien did the same. In sync, they released their hands and spun around towards each other.

"Oh would you open your eyes," Plagg complained.

"Give them some space, you pest," a small, high voice chided.

Marinette giggled. Leave it to her kwami to take control and try to deescalate the situation.

Feeling at ease after hearing her kwami's voice, Marinette felt brave. She squinted one of her eyes open, reminding herself that it was the same old Cat Noir, just without a mask. A glint of blonde caught her eye, giving her the courage to open her eyes fully.

Her breath caught in her throat. "Hey, I know you!"

The boy in front of her winced, and his eyes didn't open. "Yeah, I, um, thought you might…"

Of course she recognized him, Adrien thought, he was a model for most of his life. Why hadn't he thought to warn her about that?

"You're from the coffee shop!"

Huh?

"From the…coffee shop?" Adrien's muscles relaxed a bit.

"Yeah, you're my barista!"

"That's how you recognize me?" His voice was full of disbelief. "From the coffee shop?"

"Open your eyes, you silly cat!"

So he did. Slowly, and cautiously, but he opened his eyes.

What he saw nearly knocked him off his feet. He'd been right.

"You're the baker's daughter," he said, his voice filled with awe. "And I was right!"

Ladybug had a look of confusion on her face. "You were right?"

"I was right!" Adrien threw his arms around her waist and picked her up. He swung a very shocked Ladybug around in a circle, laughing all the while. "I was right!"

Marinette's hands went to Cat Noir's shoulders as she braced herself against the motion. "What do you mean, you were right?"

He finally stopped spinning, but he didn't put her down. "I was right! I've known since I was fourteen that if I ever met you in real life, I would recognize you, and I was right!" He finally placed her gently on the ground, hands resting gently at her waist. "That night you came into the coffee shop to work on your project, I knew you looked familiar. Everything about you was familiar, and I just, I had this feeling. And every time I saw you I kept feeling it, and here you are!"

Marinette's cheeks hurt from smiling so much, but she wasn't about to stop any time soon. "I guess you were right, then! And what do you mean, you thought I might recognize you? Conceited much?"

He groaned and bowed his head. "I'm not being conceited, I'm just used to being recognized. I, aha, I used to be a model."

"A model?" She deadpanned.

He took one hand off of her waist, just to rub the back of his neck. "Yeah…"

"Wait a minute," she said, taking a step back, "hold on, you were a model, weren't you? I recognize you now! I knew you looked familiar, but it's hard to tell when you wear those glasses, and your hair is so much shorter now! I used to see you in magazines all the time!"

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Maybe I shouldn't have pointed it out…"

She laughed. "No, no! It’s fine! Everything's fine."

"Are you sure you won't go all fan girl on me," he teased.

"Dude," she said, putting a hand on her hip, "I'm literally Ladybug. Not to brag, but I'm pretty used to the celebrity life by now." She flipped a strand of hair over her shoulder and struck a pose, earning her a hearty laugh from her partner.

"Well that's good to know." A glint of mischief flashed in his eyes, and Marinette marveled at the familiarity of the look, even without the mask. He bowed at the waist, taking her hand. "It's nice to formally meet you, my lady. Adrien Agreste, at your service."

Marinette tried to quell the butterflies in her stomach, but to no avail. "Pleasure to meet you, good sir. Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

Adrien righted himself. "I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry. Would you care to join me for lunch, my lady?"

"That sounds lovely, chaton." She looped her arm in his. "And lucky for you, I used to go to this school. I know the back way out so that no one sees us sneaking out."

"You never cease to amaze with your impurressive tricks, Bug."

She began to lead him to the back of the school "What can I say, I've always told you I'm a genius."

"And so humble." He assessed her outfit. "And what are you, a fashion student? You're wearing, like, a hundred colors!"

"As a matter of fact, I am. Working towards a masters in design."

"Don't get me wrong, I love it. It reminds me of summer."

"Who dressed you today, Cat," she shot back, "you have on a big scarf like that, but no jacket? What happened to you, Monsieur Agreste?"

"It's almost 10C out. It's not even that cold!"

They bantered back and forth like that the entire way out, leaving their kwami to trail behind them, forgotten in the excitement.

They had a feeling that would become the norm from then on.

#memories remain #adrinette #adrienette #ladynoir #ladybug #chat noir #marinette #marinette dupain cheng #marinette dupain-cheng #adrien #adrien agreste #marichat #ladrien #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #cryptic fic

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