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#but adrien is like ‘wow marinette has known i am chat the whole time and feels awkward around me has ladybug hated me all along’
ladyofthenoodle · 3 years
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I think if there's a reveal this season it would be interesting for it to be one sided Adrien again, and instead of the Chat Blanc immediately running to Marinette and declaring his love, he's kinda confused what to do for a little bit because of a change in dynamics. just a random thought I guess.
ohhh, that could be interesting! tbh i’ve long suspected we will get at least one more chat blanc or oblivio type reveal that gets reversed, because if i was writing the show, i’d want to milk every possibility out of the secret identity stuff before the permanent reveal.
i suspect we will get to see marinette finding out first because of that, but you’re right that adrien finding out first would look very different now than it did in season 3, so that could be an interesting possibility too!
i am pretty sure the actual reveal won’t be in season 4, unless it’s at the very end of the finale, but a temporary reveal? i fully expect the writers to explore every possibility, and adrien finding out in the midst of all this tension would fit!
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A Failed Betrothal (Part 3)
There were a lack of stuff to read so I posted this instead.
[Masterlist]
(Part 1)(Part 2)
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PART 3
The next day was weird to say the least for everyone but for Marinette, it was another can of worms that she wished she didn’t open. For one thing, Chat Noir’s feelings obsession for Ladybug switched from one black-haired girl to another which unfortunately was Ladybug’s civilian form. Which meant Marinette had to deal with Adrien’s Chat-Noir-level flirting and bad pick-up lines.
Perfect, just perfect.
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Everyone thought that a declaration speech of ‘being soulmates and the only one for him’ in front of the whole class from the ‘love of your life’ would warrant a ‘blushing to death and stammering’ or ‘outright fainting’. Not a facepalm, a groan, “Why me?” and a “I am sorry but NO. I don’t feel the same way about you”. Marinette vaguely wondered if there was some kind of rule for interesting events and confrontations to happen during lunch break while the class waits for Mme Bustier to start the lessons.
Marinette went to sit in her seat next to Chloe in the back row where she and her friends had been exiled to. The class was in stunned silence and questioning about whether or not they had fallen into an alternate universe or dreaming. Nathaniel and Alix tried to hide their snickers. Chloe just started outright laughing, turning very red in the face.
Marinette felt a nudge from Plagg in her bag. Looking down, she saw them holding up her phone to show Lila’s gaping face of horror with a wicked smug grin on their face. She looked through the photos to see everyone’s faces of confusion and shock at her rejection. Eyes wide and jaws dropped on the ground. Different shots of her classmates in the same state. She smirked and showed them to Chloe who calmed down enough, letting out the occasional giggles and took the phone with glee.
“Thank you, Plagg. Here you go.” she whispered, giving them a camembert macaron.(Tom had started experimenting with camembert in his recipes. Plagg is his first taste tester for all of them, making Tom one of Plagg’s favourite people.)
Adrien didn’t take the rejection very well.
“But we are meant to be. You are a designer and I am a model. Our partnership is the one to be envied by many for the ages.”
“And by that logic,” The designer turned to her main model for her MDC website, “Chloe, my love, will you be my one and only? For our love shines so bright ,paralleled only by a thousand suns.” Using the same voice Plagg does when they go on one of their love odes about camembert before losing her straight face and giggling.(Plagg doesn’t know whether to be offended or amused.)
Setting Chloe’s laughter off again. “Mariiiii,...stop….I can’t..*gasps*....I can’t…”
Nathaniel and Alix, finally lost control and joined Chloe in death by laughter. Adrien was flustered, turning red in the face either from anger, embarrassment or both.
“But Chloe isn’t a model.”
Marinette decided to put a stop to this, just on the off chance that Gabriel finally decides to akumatized his own son. She recomposed herself.
“She is the main model for my website and we have a partnership. You, however, work for your father. So does Miss Rossi. Does that sound like the partnership to be envied by many for the ages? Hmmm, Agreste? Anyways, like I said before, I have no interest in dating you.”
“Why not? We are friends and sometimes, friends like each other enough to date each other.” Adrien angrily asked.
“Because-”
“Because, Adrikins,” Chloe cuts in, “friends having to date because one of them is interested in something more makes no sense and is fucked-up. Marinette doesn’t owe you anything. Besides, she already has a long distance boyfriend who lives in America.”
“WHAT!?” Adrien shouted.
“What?!” The class had snapped out of their stupor. Since when had Marinette gotten over Adrien and had a boyfriend?
“What?” Marinette looked at Chloe with wide-eyes. Last she checked she was still single so what the hell was Chloe playing at. For Kwami’s sake, she hadn’t been on a date since the one with Luka which went awkwardly before they agreed that they think of each other as siblings and it will be best to stay that way.
Chloe gave her a look that said ‘I will explain later.’
“Oh yes, they met online a few months ago and now they are all lovey-dovey together. It’s just so ridiculous, so utterly ridiculous how disgustingly in love they are. They have video call dates at least once a week and somehow make it work despite the time differences. He once came all the way to Paris just to see her. He brought her some special flowers that apparently meant-”
Marinette slapped her hand over Chloe’s mouth. “Well, Chloe, Queenie, as much as I love you as my friend, you can stop gushing about my love life now. Because class is about to start.”
She said through gritted teeth as Mme Bustier finished taking her sweet time and walked in. Sadly, Alya wasn’t done with the conversation ,“Wait a minute, since when did Chloe and you become close enough that she is modeling for you? And a boyfriend? Why didn’t you tell me, Girl? I thought we were friends. What about Adrien, he just confessed to you and you had been crushing on him for so long” Many girls gasped, angry that Alya broke the unspoken girl code.
“You have a crush on me?” Adrien looked hopeful. Like a lost kitten that had been stuck in the rain, was let into someone’s home.
“I had a crush on you,” Marinette corrected him, emphasising on the past tense, “and Alya had no business of sharing that information to the entire world despite us not being friends anymore.” She glared at the journalist who at least looked ashamed.
“You wanted to date Kagami so I moved on.”
One of the reasons anyway. I found out that you were my partner who had no concept of boundaries. You are a coward who only wants to maintain the class peace at the price of my mental health, she thought.
“Instead of continuing to pursue you.” She hoped the ever dense and oblivious model would get the hint she gave him. Tikki ,just this once, Grant me that ladybug luck.
“And Mme Bustier, it is time to start the lessons, don’t you think? Instead of focusing on the class drama to gossip about later on.” Marinette glared at the teacher, reminding her to do her job.
“Oh. Right.” Mme Bustier tried to regain her ‘perfect teacher’ image after getting embarrassed at being caught, “Right. Class, turn to page-”
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As soon as the bell rang for the end of school, Marinette dragged Chloe all the way to her room. Alix and Nathaniel followed them because as far as they know, Marinette had no boyfriends and they were as curious to find out what scheme Chloe had cooked up this time. They were as complicated and crazy as Ladybug’s. No offense, Marinette.
“Okay, Queenie, you have to explain why I now have a devoted American boyfriend who I am so in love with.” Marinette crossed her arms with a frown aimed at Chloe. The kwamis got out of their respective hiding places and went to the tray of food set out for them.
The trapdoor to her room opened, revealing the rest of their friend group before Chloe said anything.
“Did we miss anything?” Kagami asked as Longg and Sass joined the other kwamis.
“Juleka said something about an American boyfriend and how he sounds so romantic. Does that have to do anything with the text Alix sent us to come here?” Luka added.
“To recap, Adrien made a love confession to Marinette,” Alix started, biting into some of the delicious pastries the Dupain-Chengs gave them, ”in front of the entire class after an entire day of flirting and bad pick-up lines.”
“Wow, even after having his memories erased of being Chat Noir, he is still after Ladybug.” Luka chuckled, with the others joining in.
Marinette whined, “It was easier when he was Chat Noir. But now as Adrien Agreste, teen heartthrob, it is going to be much more difficult to get into his thick head that I don’t see him that way and it is going to get harder, now that Alya outed my old crush to him.”
“Oof. Sucks to be you.”
“So, our Mari-bug rejected him. He threw a tantrum and sulked, so like Chat Noir, how did we not notice?,” Alix continued, “After demanding reasons why they can’t date, Chloe gave Marinette an American boyfriend who she was in a long-distance relationship with. Speaking of, why did you do that?”
“I have known Adrik- Adrien since we were in diapers and I know how that mangy cat works. He grew up on Disney and had all those fairytales stuffed into his head. If you had told him that you were just not interested in dating at the moment, it won’t work because he will try his hardest to ‘woo’ you, because he still has a chance. He won’t push his luck as much if you were off the market.” Chloe explained.
“I am sure that, judging by the fact that Chat Noir still tries to date Ladybug despite her saying she is in love with someone, Adrien might try to get more proof of this boyfriend to make sure Marinette is just not pretending to have one.” Kagami pointed out.
“Ahh, but luckily I have a back-up plan. I have a friend, Tim Drake. We met at a few galas when we were younger and kept in touch. He also owes me a favor.”
“I hope this Tim Drake is cute.”
“He is and he’s older than you by two years and,” Chloe typed something on her phone, “A fellow caffeine addict so you can bond over that. Here’s a picture of him and his brother.”
On her phone were two extremely attractive and fit young men dressed in expensive suits at what looked like a gala, the older one had a charming polite smile with bright blue eyes, looking somewhat interested at what someone off-screen was saying despite looking like he will fall over any moment. His brother, however, looked like he would rather be anywhere but where he was. He was tanned and had green eyes that promised murder for daring to even breathe in his direction. Marinette noticed that he looked a little familiar but she can’t place why.
“Tim is the one that looks like he hasn’t slept in days and that’s his brother Damian next to him.”
“Wait a minute. That’s Tim Drake and Damian Wayne. The sons of Bruce Wayne, the billionaire co-CEO of Wayne Industries, which Tim Drake is also co-CEO of.” Nathaniel said with wide eyes and looked at Chloe, “You are using your favor to give our Mari here a fake boyfriend.”
“Of course, only the best for our Mari-bug.”
“Chloe, no, he is probably busy as he is with running the company. No need to get him involved in petty teenage drama.” No matter how much she doesn’t want to date Adrien, bothering a busy guy to be her fake boyfriend is not worth it in Marinette’s opinion. Which, of course, gets overruled by the overprotectiveness of her friends.
“I, for one, think this is one of Chloe’s better plans.” Kagami commented, the others agreeing with her. Traitors.
“Hey!” Chloe exclaimed, an offended look on her face, “Anyways, I will call him later.”
“Children, you better go home now before your parents worry.” Sabine’s voice came from below, “Remember we are also going through some drills tonight so try not to be late.” Having a former assassin for a mother is handy when you want to train a team of teenage superheroes.
“Bye, guys. See you later.”
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“Just because you have been trained since birth does not excuse you from the drills. You also need to get used to the black cat.” Lady Mǔ lǎohǔ reprimanded her with her arms crossed. When Ladybug started her new team, she was the first permanent member but as the team got bigger, she stepped back to be back-up and mentor for the team.
“Yes, Maman, I know but I am nearly finished with this commission. I will catch up with you later. Promise.” Marinette stretched, looking up from her latest project. Plagg was napping in the little basket she had made for all the kwamis to sleep in which fit all of them and had some extra space for Nooroo and Dusuu after they had been retrieved.
The reason she had Plagg instead of Tikki who was with Alix was because of the new tactic the Miraculous Team came up with. To keep the balance the Ladybug and Black Cat must be active at the same time but with Adrien gone, someone must wield the ring until a new permanent holder is found and it was not a good idea for both of them to be on the same person at the same time. The team decided to rotate using the earrings and ring between them with Marinette using other miraculouses when the others have them. It also had the added bonus of making it harder for Hawkmoth to find out who has them at any given time.
“See you later, 灵儿 (líng er, means intelligence). I will give you 15 minutes but that’s it. Don’t be late.” Sabine sighed and got out the skylight and went towards the safehouse where the Miraculous team met to get training. (It is one of Sabine’s emergency safehouse to use in times of emergency and it had the required space to train 6 teenagers. Chat Noir never came to training, lazy cat.)
Marinette never made it to the warehouse.
Because a few minutes after her mother left, the skylight opened to let in five figures dressed in dark colours to easily blend into the shadows like they were trained to be. Too bad they weren’t as quiet. Marinette immediately summoned a bo-staff to defend herself.
One of them lunged at her and she retaliated by hitting the end of her staff to their middle, coupled with a couple more blows and landed one that knocked them out. The others threw throwing stars which she dodged by jumping back. Which landed her to be trapped by the two assassins, whom she didn’t notice, had moved. She cursed in every language she knew as she struggled against them. It led to no avail as she was badly out-numbered. There was a prick on her head and her world went black.
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Plagg awoke to a loud commotion. Irritated, they poked their head out to see their new temporary kit knocked out, tied up and hauled away. Recognizing the kidnappers as assassins of the League of Shadows, they scowled. Ra’s Al Ghul was going to pay.
Plagg may not act like it much but the black kwami was patient and smart. Smart enough to leave a note with an explanation somewhere visible with the messy aftermath of a fight before trailing the assassins. Oh, Roarr’s tiger was going to be pissed once she found out what happened. Wherever they were taking Marinette, it would be best to have a kwami of destruction to help her escape. The night made Plagg almost invisible and allowed to move unseen. They caught up easily and hid in their holder’s midnight hair. Now, their patience came into play. It was a matter of waiting for the right moment to pounce.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tag list: @alysrose-starchild, @buginetye, @lookatthestars1, @blackroserelina, @macncheesemonster, @mochinek0, @myazael, @tonicxworld, @thewitchwhowaited, @t1dwarrior-of-earth, @kissa-chan, @iwantasecretidentity, @theymakeupfairies, @user00000003, @woe-is-me0, @kashlyn, @mochegato,@moonlightstar64 , @greatcatblaze, @moongoddesskiana, @tazanna-blythe. @tonicxworld, @toodaloo-kangaroo, @frieddonutsweets, @local-witch-of-mn, @lady-bee-fechin, @iglowinggemma28, @indecisive-mess-named-me, @k-tea-and-coffee, @jayjayspixiepop
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(Part 4)
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yannowhatigiveup · 3 years
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My One And Only - Chapter 9
Previous | Next
So this chapter is longer than chapter 8 and I think from next chapter, they got longer. As we get closer to the chapter I’m currently writing, the frequent updates will unfortunately die. Just letting you know so you won’t be too disappointed! Oh and my Wattpad name is the same, ‘yannowhatigiveup’. If you know any way I can improve my writing please do tell me!
Gabriel Agreste stood in his observatory after recently detransforming. 'She can control her emotions well but when she's angry, it's incredibly strong. This girl could be one of the strongest in Paris, she could be one that senses auras. I must find a way. I will use her to eliminate all of heroes. All I need is time'.
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The bluenette sat in her uncle Jagged's hotel room, tapping a pen against her lips while watching the conversation, well it was more like an argument, between Jagged and his manager Bob Roth. Bob was stating that they should leave the song writing to the professionals while Jagged protested, saying that his niece was overflowing with talent and that she could do it no problem. Penny was on the phone with someone but Marinette didn't eavesdrop in her conversation. She stated at the blank notebook in front of her, eyeing it suspiciously. Then she got an idea and began scribbling down the lyrics she had in mind, not knowing that she had unintentionally gained the attention of everyone in the room. She managed to write the whole song in one sitting which was very impressive even for professional song writers at the time. "Did it" she said putting the pen down. Penny then came over to take the notebook and read what the bluenette had written. 'I hope it's ok'
"Wow Mari, this is great!" Penny said her mouth agape. She passed it to Jagged but Bob had snatched it out of his hands, only to give it back when Fang looked at him hungrily.
"Yeah, this is rock'n roll Nettie!" He praised her while giving his manager a 'I told you so' look.
"Yes this is exactly what we needed, a little change in the album. Thank you for this Marinette. We shall produce the song while you can sing the lyrics-"
"If that's alright will you of course" Jagged said, interrupting his manager.
Marinette nodded hesitantly. "I can give it a shot" she murmured.
Marinette walked home after visiting Jagged and showing Damian the designs she had in plan for his brothers, without showing the design she made for him. She was careful not to shake her purse too much as Tikki was sleeping, it was a busy day for the kwami as Marinette had let her go visit Plagg for some 'Kwami business'. Marinette didn't press for answers though. Soon she entered her parents bakery to find them already there, waiting for her.
"Maman, Papa what is it?" She asked.
"Your father and I are discussing if we should open a second bakery" Sabine answered enthusiastically.
"There's a few spots available in Marseille, we already booked a flight and a hotel to stay at" Tom answered, maybe even more excited than his wife.
"That's great! But isn't Marseille far away? It's closer to Italy than Paris" Marinette answered.
"Well surprisingly, we're already well known there" Tom replied.
"Oh cool! When will you be leaving?"
"On Saturday at 2 am" Her mother replied. "It's late but it was the next available flight. We'll be gone for a week maybe longer depending on all the paper work"
"Well you better start packing then!" Marinette said happy for both her parents. "I'll be going to bed now. Good night!" She hugged both her parents before going upstairs to change and finishing up her designs.
~~~
Adrien sat in front of his computer early before school, looking through all of Kagami's recent posts and he liked the photo that she posted yesterday, the photo was of when they went for ice cream earlier today. Alya and Nino were also in the picture, smiling for the camera but Adrien noticed someone else in the background. 'Marinette...' She was eating her ice cream, unbeknownst to the picture being taken, with the spoon still in her mouth. Adrien felt distracted by the way the sun reflected off her hair. He loved Kagami truly but his new love for Marinette shadowed it. "Plagg" Adrien said. "I think I have a thing for bluenettes".
"So your type is blue-haired girls? What makes you say that?" The kwami replied, not really enjoying the conversation.
"Well I like Ladybug, Kagami and Marinette and they all have one thing in common. They all have blue hair" Adrien sighed. "The last thing I need is another blue-haired girl to come into my life"
"Ughhh this is too cheesy, I much prefer actual cheese" Plagg groaned while looking around for Camembert.
Adrien sighed, smiling while going back to think of the girls he liked. He liked Ladybug for her quick, sly and smart nature. Kagami was incredibly skilled and very easy to relate to. And Marinette had a kind personality as well as unmatchable beauty. He couldn't decide which one he liked most as all the options were as great as the others. Then a notification on his computer distracted him from his thoughts. It was a notification that Jagged Stone had posted something. 'Huh, I wonder what it could be'
~~~
Jason was flicking through the channels on the TV, looking for something interesting to watch when a notification appeared on his phone. 'What's this?' He then realised that it was a trending post from Jagged Stone and went to view it. "HOLY SH-"
"Master Jason, language"Alfred reminded him.
"Oh yeah sorry" he whispered before shouting again. "HOLY MOTHER OF UM SOMETHING!"
Dick and Tim then entered the room, wondering what Jason was talking about. "What?" Dick asked.
Jason then connected his phone to the TV and showed the post he was talking about.
@official_jaggedstone
(Photo of a blue-haired girl with a medium long braid and her back facing the camera, writing on something)
Wonder what MDC is writing up for the bonus track? 🤔🤔🤔🤔
All three of the boys then fanboyed over finally being able to see what their favourite designer, and idol, looked like. Alfred then sighed while exiting the room.
"She's pretty!"
"She looks smart!"
"What's she writing?"
"I'm gonna call Damian, that room looks similar to the room he's staying in"
"Yes do, I want to pester him"
Dick then dialed a number on his phone. After a few rings, the phone finally answered.
"Tt, Yes?" A stern voice came through on the other side.
"HAVE YOU SEEN JAGGED'S RECENT POST!?" Tim shouted into the microphone.
~~~
Damian had already seen Jagged's post, he smiled to himself. He was about to go back to reading his book when his phone rang. He would've picked it up straight away if he hadn't see the name, it was Dick. He let the phone ring for a little while before answering.
"Tt, Yes?" He said in a stern voice.
"HAVE YOU SEEN JAGGED'S RECENT POST!?" Luckily Damian had the phone further away from his ear otherwise Tim would've exploded his eardrums.
"What about it?"
"He posted an image of MDC, the very first one ever on the internet!" Dick answered excitedly. "There aren't any pictures of her anywhere".
Damian smiled to himself knowing that he had seen MDC before his brothers, he had seen her smile. "There aren't?"
"Yeah! Weird right? She doesn't even show up to Jagged's live performances!" It was Jason's turn to speak now.
"Well I'm sure she goes to the performances, she's just never seen" Tim told his brother in a matter-of-fact way.
Damian rolled his eyes. "Tt, bye now" he said, immediately turning his phone off not allowing any of his brothers to protest. He then texted Marinette.
Me: Just got off the phone with my brothers, they were fanboying over you.
Surprisingly Marinette replied straight away.
Angel: They are too? Everyone is fangirling over MDC
Me: Because of Jagged's post, he posted a picture of you. The back of your head specifically
Angel: Oh hah I see it now, I guess that has to be my signature hairstyle as MDC now.
Me: It looks great on you though
Angel: You really think so?
Me: Mhm
Angel: Aw, thanks
~~~
Marinette had blushed when Damian said she looked good in that hairstyle. She really liked him. Then Marinette looked at the time, she was early for once. She decided to make use of this and get ready for school. She had finished getting ready quickly and she was able to walk instead of run to school like she usually did. When she entered, she noticed that there was barely anyone here. 'Perfect! I can work on my designs' that was until a familiar face showed up.
"Hey girl! You're here early wow!" The sound of her best friend made Marinette laugh until her facial expression changed from surprised to smug. Marinette was about to ask but Alya had brought her to the locker room where they were alone. "So girl, spill"
"What?"
"Do you like Chat Noir?"
Marinette giggled but she saw her best friend's face. "Oh you're not joking"
"Nope, now you can tell me so that I can get you both on a date." She blushed profusely. "And I ain't backing down, I've spent too much time on trying to find out who he is. Don't think I haven't noticed how you're jumping at anytime to be with this boy." She said the last statement with a soft voice.
Marinette sighed, grateful of her best friend but hesitant to tell her without Damian's permission as he never seemed like one for social interaction. "I'll ask" she said while taking her phone out.
Me: Shaytan, my best friend found out that I've been sneaking off to go see you.
Shaytan: Césaire?
Me: Yeah
Shaytan: You said she wanted to be a reporter right? Well then I guess this is expected, she did a good job.
Me: So should I tell her your name?
Shaytan: That's up to you
Me: Ok thanks!
Marinette put her phone away and looked at her best friend.
"So?" Alya asked. "Can you tell me?"
Marinette nodded. "So um, his name is D-Damian"
———
Taglist: @little-bluestar, @miracleofadisaster, @frieddonutsweets, @jjmjjktth, @genderfluidmoma, @starlit-dreaming, @icerosecrystal
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thepigeonsopinion · 3 years
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So "Simpleman" happened...
I'm not going to say it was "bad" per say, but it's not in my list of favorite episodes that's for sure. AnYwAy! As always, before I start on saying my opinions and thoughts of the episode I'm going to right a (hopefully) brief summary or synopsis of the episode. So let's get to it!
Warning: Spoilers from the episode "Simpleman"
Summary: The episode starts with Marinette in her room with Manon fiddiling with her "knitting box" that has the miracle box in it. Cue Alya and her twin sisters, Ella and Etta entering and start running around with Manon. We learn that Marinette has volunteered to babysit Manon, Ella, Etta, and Chris (Nino's little brother) while Alya and Nino go on a movie date. Sometime later, Nino enters with Chris and drops him off, while he joins Alya to the movies. The children start running around Marinette's room and Marinette is chasing them. They start fiddling with the knitting box, they find the kwamis and start to play with them as if their stuffed animals. Marinette is finally able to calm them down when she introduces the idea of watching a movie and of course the movie that they are watching is the "Ladybug and Chat Noir" movie. Marinette then gets a call from Adrien asking if she could help fix his costume for a photo shoot. Marinette says yes (of course), but then she realizes she doesn't have anyone to watch the kids. After some contemplation, Marinette decides to bring them to her grandpa's house. Marinette leaves her grandpa with the kids, that are watching a movie on her laptop. This is the part where Roland, Marinette's grandpa get's so confuesd with all the new tech and modern ways that the kids are so familiar with. This causes him to wish everything was simple and easy and then he get's akumatized and turns into Simpleman. Meanwhile, Marinette finishes helping Adrien and he asks what he could do to show his thanks. Marinette (of course) stumbles on her words and is not able to give him a straight answer and before she can he has to continue with the photo shoot. Marinette gets an "abstract" idea where in the end she's going to "break"(?) the costume again, she fixes it again, and she gets thanked again, in which she finally gives him a straight answer on what he could do to thank her. Simpleman the uses his power to simplify things and "simplifies" the whole of Paris. With Marinette, she abondoenes the plan, deeming it too complicated and is about to just straight out tell Adrien that she likes him, until she sees a helicopter falling, and then she transforms behind a pole (I think?) and saves the civilains. Adrien sees this and transforms into Chat Noir and joins Ladybug. It is there where they deem that fighting or finding the akuma is to much of a hassle and instead they should just confront ShadowMoth himself. As Simpleman and the kids are walking around Paris they see Ladybug and Chat Noir and Simpleman initiates a fight with them. Ladybug and Chat Noir try to fight Simpleman, but are failing miserably. Meanwhile, the kids are helping ladybug and Chat Noir by telling them what they should do and giving them advice on what to do to defeat them. Simpleman is then defeated and everything is back to normal. We go back to Marintte trying to go along with her plan, but she actually abandons the plan and instead tries to actually confess to Adrien. Marinette isn't able to confess to Adrien and instead leaves. Marinette goes back to her grandpa's house and she is met with the sight of her grandpa and the kids watching a movie, in which Roland volunteers to explain the story to her. And, the episode ends.
Wow! Another very long and unnecessarily detailed summary or synopsis of the episode. :|
Anyway! Let's get into my thoughts and opinions on the episode!
(Also, as always I am re watching the episode as I type this so I might have some unnecessary details. Anyway! Let's get into it!)
First things first, let's talk about all of the kwami's scared faces (mainly Sass' because he the best kwami) the kwamis look so terrified of children. I felt my heart legit break when I saw Sass' face, I was like "DONT BE SCARED SASS EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALL RIGHT!". Also, why do the kids in this series have to be such a hassle and not to mention their absolutely annoying (except sandboy, he's a good boy :)) like I feel so bad for Marinette in this situation. The kids don't even really get punished or disciplined if they do something wrong, if I were Manon and I did the things she's done in the show I would've gotten my ass whooped! Anyway continuing on, I feel so bad for Marinette because while Alya can tell her boyfriend her secrets, go out on dates with him, and all that jazz, Marinette can't even keep, or have a boyfriend because of the responsibilities she has as Ladybug and as guradian of the miracle box.
Okay, the sympathy I feel for the kwamis and Marinette in this situation is incalculable. I mean, Marinette has to take care of these mischievous and annoying brats kids and the kwamis have to also deal with the kids in a way because the kids can't control their energy or behave for just a minute (unless their distracted). Like first they steal the knitting box and shake it, then they find some kwamis and start playing with them as if their stuffed animals. And I'm not going to lie, during that part where they were playing with the kwamis, Kalki looked like she was so done with her life. Not to mention, the harassment Fluff had to deal with, with Manon and Chris playing tug of war with her ears. Finally when Marinette gets to relax, while the kids watch a movie she get's a call from Adrien and now she's back to panicking. I would like to call this part the calm before the storm :). So Adrien calls her because they need a seamstress to fix Adrien's costume, but let's be honest here, there are so many other options that they could've chosen in this situation instead of calling Marinette. First of all, why didn't the crew not already have a seamstress there at the photo shoot just in case? And why didn't they call like a professional, very known seamstress? I'm not saying that Marinette is a bad seamstress in any way, no, if I'm being honest she's probably as good as a professional, all I'm saying is that they could've chosen so many other options. Not to mention, if I was in Marinette's situation I would've milked the HECK out of that situation. I would've charged them for my time! But that's just me.
Moving along, so Marinette has a whole planning wall to get at least a date with Adrien, that's not really surprising if I'm being honest, but what really surprised me is that she legit willingly pull that whole board down in front of the kids. I'm surprised she didn't really acknowledge the fact or get embarrassed, but I digress. The fact that Marinette brings the kids to the one family member or person that has legit shown hatred to the modern age is very ironic, if I'm being honest, but that's to be expected from this show. Also, what's with the "save Adrien" part what is Marinette saving him from exactly, I mean the only thing that she's "saving" him from is his wardrobe incident, then again though she is a fashion designer so I guess that would seem like a "saving someone situation", so I guess that makes sense? (it really doesn't :0) Ok, I know that Roland is like very traditional and old fashioned, but he should at least have the common sense to SEE that there is no way to put a VHS tape in that laptop. WAIT A SECOND! Wasn't Roland saved by Ladybug and Chat Noir when he was akumatized as Bakerix I mean the whole movie is based legit just based on them, so shouldn't he know the role they play, unless he has short term memory loss or something. So, a literal movie based on real superheroes, that was mainly attract to CHILDREN is more complicated than a World Cup Football game, nice to know.
So, now we're at the scene where Marinette is helping Adrien. I'm going to be honest was that whole part with Marinette floating around in her mind really necessary because at this point of the show I believe that we're already aware that she feels this way ALL THE TIME when she's around AdRiEn, but I digress. Marinette, honey, I know that you're supposed to be the creative one, but doesn't that plan sound a bit complicated to you? I mean, a fishing rod, really?
Continuing on! So, I'm going to just assume or guess that the time he calls her is like right after he accidentally turns off the computer and all I'm asking is what are these kids on? Because it should at least taken them like 5 minutes to get running again (I think? I don't really know) and why the heck is the grown old man crying because he can't control children? May I also add you kinda, sorta agreed to taking care of these demons kids, so at least have some dignity.
Now! Let's talk about Simpleman. Roland, why the heck are you so picky on your akuma name all of a sudden. You weren't like this when you were Bakerix. Also, I love the fact that Shadowmoth was like so done with him at that point, like his face already says it all. Shadowmoth really said that Ladybug and Chat Noir complicate his life for no reason, dude you were the one that started it with Stone Heart. Now, let's talk about Simpleman's design! Why the heck is he legit a purple skinned, french flagged inspired, old man, that kinda looks like a pedophile. Not to mention, why does he still have the flexibility of an old man. I mean, compared to Bakerix this design is kinda iffy to me.
Ok, first of all why did Shadowmoth say "wait" when Simpleman used his power. Wasn't that his plan though for him to use his powers? Second of all, since he was "simplified" wouldn't he just think that it would be a lot easier if he got the miraculous himself? Also, I know that everyone is now supposed to be simple minded, but did that man really press the red button to stop the WHOLE helicopter.
Adrien, I think you can stop smiling now, the crew legit said that they will stop there, you can go take a break and transform into Chat Noir now. Also, if you have to keep smiling for the camera and not move an inch, why the heck did you let plagg fly out? WHAT IS WITH THIS LOGIC? Wait, since Ladybug and Chat Noir are now "Simplified" they can't fight anymore? Ok, carry on then while I watch the rest of this awful and unnecessary fight scene.
So the kids are helping Ladybug and Chat Noir continue this fight? I really can't tell whether or not the kids are doing this to help or they're doing this for entertainment purposes, in all honesty. (Also, I can't tell whether or not this is a metaphor to Gen Z or not, but whatever!) Did Ladybug just say this old man, purple looking ass, pedophile is scary and mean? I swear to everything that is good....
When Ladybug said "Now I just need to say...."
Me: What the heck!? Is this a kids show?!
Also me: Wait a second... :|
Mr. Astruc, I'm going to be honest here was it really necessary to have a scene where Marinette tries to do a simplier plan but fails miserably really necessary? I mean, we've already seen it hundreds of times by now. Another thing, was it really necessary for Adrien to be an angel for this shoot? Like, we get it he's innocent and pure (not really tbh)
And with that we're finally done with the episode! So, all in all the episode wasn't that bad? But it's not my favorite. Mainly because the logic of this episode was all over the place. Not to mention, the many, many scenes of Marinette fussing over Adrien. Just watching those scenes was kinda draining if I'm being honest.
Anyway! Those are my thoughts on the episode. It's like 3:00 in the morning and I am exhausted!
SO! I hope everyone has a great rest of their day. And always remember...
But that's just my opinion (・ε・)
(This has been (another) tiring week and I know for a fact, it's only going to get worse. *smiles through the pain :)*)
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thewritewolf · 3 years
Text
A Model’s Shadow
Summary: Juleka's dream is to be a model, and there is one person in her class that can give her a hand... and maybe she has a little insight that can help him out in return.
I wrote this fic way back in August of 2019 for @adrienagrestezine "Silver Linings". Now that the zine has been published and the left over sale has started, I'm pleased to finally be able to share this fic with all of you!
Enjoy!
Read on Ao3
Adrien walked up the steps of the school with a smile on his face. Not because he was particularly looking forward to learning today, but because this was the first day back to school after he and Ladybug had accidentally revealed their identities to each other.
It hadn’t been anything too exciting that finally did their secrecy in. They both simply happened to duck into the same alleyway as their miraculous gave their last shrill beeps. A few silent moments had passed between them before Marinette shrieked and sprinted away before Adrien could squeeze a word out.
But that was okay! It was a lot to take in and Marinette could be a little… jumpy under pressure. He gave her plenty of space. No matter how often he had wanted to run over to her house as Chat Noir that weekend. But now it was Monday and seeing each other was practically unavoidable.
His ears perked up when he caught her voice, although he couldn’t make out the words. He closed his locker quietly and crept towards the sound. That was definitely her voice, but he couldn’t hear the other speaker. Maybe it was her kwami?
Then they rounded the corner. Bumping into her didn’t bother him at all, that had happened plenty of times before. But her reaction was to spring backwards as if his chest had burned her? It stung to see. She lost her footing and almost went tumbling onto the floor before Adrien caught her by the wrist.
He helped her regain her footing, his hand lingering on hers as he asked, “Are you alright, Mari?”
Her face turned bright red and she pulled away. While she retreated, she pulled the person she had been speaking with around the corner and brandished her in front of herself. She blurted out, “Juleka wants modeling help!”
And then she was gone.
Adrien blinked and turned to face Juleka. No wonder he hadn’t heard her - he wasn’t sure if he had ever heard Juleka raise her voice to be much louder than a whisper. Juleka glanced up at him, blinking in confusion at what just happened. She gave a nervous smile and tiny wave before looking away again.
“So…” Adrien said, rubbing the back of his neck, “...you want to be a model?”
—————
Towards the end of the week, Adrien found himself at a photoshoot for the spring line. More precisely, he found himself waiting in the dressing room while they were working through the other models and getting his set assembled.
At least this time he had company.
Adrien squirmed in his seat. He felt like a bad host for letting the silence stretch between them. Especially since she’d be hovering at the sidelines anyway while he was in front of the camera.
“So… Modeling, huh?”
Juleka blinked in surprise before giving a weak smile. “I know, it’s not what most people expect, from, um… someone like me.”
“It’s not that I don’t think you can do it,” Adrien rushed to add. “I just didn’t think you wanted to be in the spotlight is all.”
“You’re not wrong.” She laughed nervously. “I guess… I guess it’s about proving that I could if I set my mind to it, you know?”
“I can get that and I’ll do my best to help, but…” Adrien frowned. “Are you sure you want to do something that stresses you out this much, just to prove a point?”
“You sound like Rose.” Her smile was bright and genuine. “She worries a lot about me, but even when she thinks I’m making a mistake she has my back.”
His thoughts went back to Marinette. Even when she couldn’t form words around him, he knew she was incredibly loyal to her friends and was always willing to go the extra mile for them. He was brought back to the present by Juleka waving her hand in front of his face.
“Hey. You zoned out for a second. Thinking about someone in particular?” There was a glint of amusement in the one eye he could see, as if she already knew.
“Am I that obvious?” He sighed.
“Just a little. The whole ‘watching her like a love sick kitten’ thing really gave it away.”
“Well, she’s just so…” He trailed off, gesturing wildly with his hand as he struggled to come up with the right words. “Small. And cute. And pink?” He buried his face in his hands as Juleka laughed.
“Trust me, I totally understand. That’s a spot on description of my girlfriend, after all. What else do you like about her?”
“Her kindness. Her creativity. The way her nose scrunches when she concentrates.” He peeked out from between his fingers. “Feel free to stop me at any time. I could go on all day.”
“Don’t worry. It’s cute.” She drummed nervously on her legs as she glanced at the door to the room, as if expecting the photographer to burst in at any moment. She asked distractedly, “Are you going to ask her out?”
Poor Adrien had been taking a sip of water at just the wrong moment and Juleka had to wait until his coughing fit subsided before he could answer. “Well, I- not that I don’t want to but- I’m not sure she really…”
She tilted her head at him. “You don’t know, do you?”
“Know what?”
“Um… let’s just say Marinette won’t turn you down if you ask for a date.”
“What do you-”
Juleka’s phone went off and she pulled it out quickly. “Oh! An update from the Ladyblog. So… the heroes of Paris - pretty cool, huh?”
Adrien was aware she was changing the topic, but considering it was ultimately still about the same person, he let it slide. “Yeah, very cool. Especially that Ladybug. She’d give Marinette a run for her money.”
“See, I always liked Chat Noir better.”
That caught Adrien’s attention. “Really?”
“Mhm. He’s… actually kind of a role model to me. Have you ever met him? In person?”
“I- No, I don’t think I have.” He smirked. “Is it because you two have a similar taste in colors?”
She glanced down at her mostly-black outfit and smirked. “I appreciate that he’s a cat of fine taste too, but no. He’s a sweet guy, friendly, outgoing… but he’s fine taking a backseat and letting Ladybug take the spotlight.”
“It sounds like you really admire him.” Adrien was proud of how level he was keeping his voice. It would be hard to explain if he started crying now.
“Oh, definitely. Especially his confidence. Whenever I’m scared about putting myself out there, I try my best to be like him.”
Adrien chuckled. “You’ve just summed up the big piece of advice I was going to give you.” At her confused look, he added, “Fake confidence looks exactly like the real deal if you believe.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “Everyone is afraid, but you do it anyway.”
For the next few minutes, he did his best to pass along as many tips that he could. The ones that he would have loved to have gotten when he was starting out. Soon enough they were chatting like old friends. By the time an intern came to get him, Juleka was looking more sure of herself and as ready as she was ever going to be.
——————
“A-adrien, if you could just move a little over… Perfect!” Marinette took another few pictures and checked her phone to look them over.
Adrien relaxed from his pose and walked around to look over Marinette’s shoulder, a spot already crowded by the rest of the girls. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Juleka wearing a similar outfit to his own, hanging back uncertainly. He gave her a reassuring smile and motioned her over.
“Wow, you guys did great!” Mylene beamed at the pictures as Marinette sorted through them. “I bet it’ll be hard to narrow them down to just a few for the website.”
“I’m so proud of you, Jules!” Rose threw her arms around Juleka, humming excitedly.
Alya pulled Marinette into a one armed hug. “Your designs look great, girl! How about we all go celebrate with some ice cream?” She glanced over at him.
“Sure! I’m not supposed to be home for another half hour anyway.”
While the others funneled downstairs, chatting excitedly among themselves, Adrien noticed that Marinette was hanging behind to put away the props and accessories they had used.
It was just the two of them in the room. Adrien took a deep breath and stood beside her, his mind racing with all the first date ideas he’d thought up during all the time they’d known each other. He called on all the fake confidence he could find.
“Hey, bugaboo… Got a moment to Chat?”
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2manyfandoms2count · 3 years
Text
Alix's rom-com night
The June event of the @mlwritersguild was to create bonus content for one of our fics - I decided to seize the opportunity to finally sit down and write one of the bonus scenes of You can count on me (I will be there for you), and to do draw a bit of fanart to go with it (4 panels, including a Marichat piece)! Let me tell you that the Burrow is a pain to draw, but I'm actually quite proud of the result :)
About YCCOM: It's an aged-up, one-sided reveal with "fake" wedding fic, based on Sallteas' art. The fic is 9 chapters and 20k words long. It was written before season 4, so it's no longer canon compliant in terms of who knows who's identities at the beginning.
Synopsis: Ladybug's identity is compromised, and somebody is after her. After a lot of pondering, she and Chat Noir come to the conclusion that her best bet is for her to marry Adrien Agreste. It breaks her heart that she is not marrying Chat Noir, but she knows that she's buying them time to figure out who is behind the anonymous letters she's been receiving, and hopefully to find Hawkmoth. Whatever the situation might be, her wedding day should provide a moment of respite. And maybe it would have, had Chat Noir refrained from coming to visit her just before the ceremony...
About Alix's rom-com night: it's a one shot that's chronologically set before the main fic, but I recommend reading it after reading the latter since it contains spoilers for it. It follows Alix (obviously), and includes Ladybug revealing her identity to Chat Noir and the set up of their "fake wedding" plan.
Hope you enjoy!
---
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Alix opened her door and dropped her keys in the bowl as she kicked off her shoes with a satisfied sigh. Home, sweet home.
Her studio apartment wasn’t very big, but then again, she didn’t need a huge surface when she had a whole extension waiting for her just a transformation phrase away. She’d mentally thanked Marinette more than once for choosing her to wield the Rabbit Miraculous, rather than somebody else, just for the savings she made in rent.
She whistled happily as she made her way to her kitchen area, grabbing a bag of popcorn out of a cupboard and shoving it in her microwave.
She deserved the treat. She’d been running around all week, trying to slide letters to her targets without being spotted, spending hours on end to find the perfect stationary, and then staying up at night to get the wording exactly right, a delicate mix of subtlety and threat to elicit some sort of response from them. It had taken a lot of trial and error, especially for Ladybug. Her friend had always been surprisingly oblivious on many fronts, and it seemed that her honeymoon phase with Chat Noir reinforced her optimistic ability to brush ominous details aside. It had taken three letters for her to start freaking out and to promise Tikki she would talk to her partner about them, whereas Hawkmoth had started the analysis phase upon the first one he’d received.
Alix had only been mildly surprised by the identity of their nemesis when she’d decided it was high time she knew who they were facing; it was all too fitting that the man who leached off Paris’ most intense negative emotions should be the most embittered person she knew, and the one who, in retrospect, had been the cause of many an Akuma (she still shuddered at the what-could-have-been of Chat Noir’s akumatisation).
The microwave dinged, bringing her thoughts back to her timeline. She took the bowl out and called for her Kwami.
“Fluff, clockwise! Burrow!”
A white portal appeared in the middle of her living space and she walked through it, emerging in the ovoid room covered in screens. She made her way to the furthest point, hung her umbrella up on the coathanger she kept in there, and grabbed a folding chair. It was a director’s seat which supposedly had belonged to a rising name in the cinema world before their career had been shot down for obscure reasons, but she didn’t really care about its story; she’d bought it for a very low price at a yard sale, and that was all that mattered to her.
“Right, where are you…” She muttered, scrutinising her surroundings, until she found the screen she was looking for.
She unfolded the chair, zoomed in on the empty (for now) rooftop, propped down in her seat and threw a fistful of popcorn into her mouth, waiting for the show to start.
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Unsurprisingly, Ladybug was the first to arrive on the scene. She paced around, mumbling to herself as she wrung her hands together. Alix felt a pang of guilt as she watched her rehearse how she would break the news to her partner, but reassured herself that the ordeal would soon be over.
Finally, Chat Noir landed beside Ladybug, and she flung herself at him, holding him so tight he had to untangle himself from her arms to breathe.
“Well, well, well, my Lady, I know I couldn’t make it to patrol last night, but I didn’t think you’d miss me this much,” he chuckled, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
Alix rolled her eyes at just how lovestruck he looked as he did so. How could her friends be so sappy, and yet still be at square one in terms of knowing who the other was?
Some might have said that it was romantic, that they loved each other regardless of who they were; but those people did not have to deal with the constant end of the world threat.
“What was so important that you couldn’t just text me?”
Ladybug took a deep breath. Her fingers slid along his arms as she relaxed her embrace, taking his hands in hers at the end of the line. “Somebody knows my identity,” she said quietly, looking down. “And I don’t know who they are.”
“What?!” Chat’s voice detonated in the previously peaceful quiet of the evening, making a couple of pigeons take off in a loud flutter of wings.
“I’m so sorry, I must have been careless when I got home one night, they must have seen me, I bet it was last week when I was tired and I-”
“My Lady, no offence, but I don’t care about the when and why, just... are you okay?” He tilted her chin up, gently turning her head to each side, checking for any signs of injury.
She placed her hand on his, making him stop, and gave him a soft, sad smile. “Yes, Chaton. Just a little rattled; you know you were the first person I wanted to reveal my identity to. Not including Bunnyx, although technically I never told her who I am.”
“And technically, I’m still the only person who knows who you are,” Bunnyx smugly commented between two handfuls of popcorn. “Now come on, I want to see how you react when you reveal your identities to each other.”
“How do you know somebody knows, though? And do you have any idea what their intentions are?”
Ladybug’s expression darkened. “I received some letters. They’re not signed, but they’ve got enough butterflies on them to make me think that even if they’re not from the biggest pest in Paris, then they’re probably from somebody who’s up to no good.”
Chat Noir swore under his breath, then regained his countenance. “So, what do we do now? Do you think we can hunt down the bugger?”
“We definitely will, but…” Ladybug bit her lip, and Alix leaned forward in her seat. This had to be it. “Chaton, I think the time has come for me to tell you who I am.”
“YES! Finally!” Alix cheered, almost spilling her popcorn bowl.
“Are you sure, my Lady?” Alix didn’t have to be on site to tell that Chat Noir’s heart was beating faster than usual; the corners of his mouth twitched as he repressed a smile, as though his excitement could make her change her mind.
“Yes.” She nodded. “I really want you to know.” In case something happens to me, Alix was pretty sure her friend had left unsaid.
“Okay, okay.” Chat Noir took a deep breath, buzzing with anticipation, so much so that he apparently missed the whole subtext of her previous words. “Do you want to do this now? And how do you want to do it? Do you want me to close my eyes? Are you going to write it on a piece of paper for me to read? Are you going to detransform? Should-”
“I was thinking the latter, and yes, now,” Ladybug said timidly. “Up to you if you want to look or not.”
“For some reason, I feel like I shouldn’t.” He took her hands in his and kissed her knuckles without breaking their eye contact, then took another deep breath and closed his eyes, a blissful smile on his lips. “Ready when you are, my Lady.”
“Ok, here goes.” She let out a shaky breath and called off her transformation. The soft pink glow engulfed her and receded, her suit melting away to reveal her true appearance.
“Wow, Marinette, you actually broke out your favourite dress for this? Glad to see all of this isn’t affecting your ability to think straight.” Alix smirked. If her friend had gone home after a long, stressful work day, and found it in her to change and doll herself up to make a good impression on Chat Noir, things couldn’t be that bad. She had to agree that her dress, simple, white, with little red hearts embroidered on it, was perfect for the occasion, though.
“You can open your eyes now, Chaton.” Marinette gave his hands a squeeze.
Chat Noir obliged, blinking slowly as he took in her appearance, her identity, her. Marinette squirmed under his gaze, his expression not giving away any of his thoughts.
“H-Hi,” she stammered when she couldn’t take it anymore. “I, erm, I guess I should introduce myself? We’ve run into each other before, when we were younger, and even if you actually had lunch with my family that one time, I guess it’s been a while… My name is-”
“Marinette. Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” Chat’s smile finally broke free, spread from ear to ear, almost literally illuminating his face. Alix wondered if anything could ever wipe it off. Love and admiration twinkled in his eyes as he picked her up and started spinning her. Marinette wrapped her arms around his neck, giggling giddily, before Chat Noir closed the gap between their lips.
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Bunnyx modestly looked away, allowing them to have their moment. Her eyes landed on a rerun of Plagg putting an end to the dinosaurs’ reign.
“I should have known that it was you, Princess.” Chat panted slightly as he carefully set Marinette back on the roof. “Everything makes so much more sense now, I-”
“Before you finish that thought, I can’t know your identity.” She placed her index finger on his lips. “Yet, of course.”
“What?” Chat froze, and so did Bunnyx, her hand pausing midway between the popcorn bowl and her mouth. “But why?”
“I don’t know what might happen to me, but I don’t want to put you in any danger.” Marinette cupped his cheek. “And I don’t want to lose my memories of you. Of us.”
“Oh for Kwami’s sake.” Alix rolled her eyes. “Boo!” She threw a fistful of popcorn at the screen as her friend continued to list all the reasons Chat couldn’t reveal his identity.
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“My Lady, Marinette, if you’re worried about your safety, maybe we should do something about it. I could move in with you, or in a flat nearby, maybe, stay transformed or wear a mask at all times so you don’t know who I am, we can figure it out… Of course I know you can protect yourself, but I could stand guard while you sleep, or...” Chat raked his hand through his hair as he thought.
“You know I love you, Chaton, and that’s why I can’t let you do that! You can’t live like that, I can’t ask that of you. Not to mention how difficult it would be for me, do you really think I could resist having you so close, and not trying to get a glimpse of who you are?” She joked, trying to diffuse the sudden tension.
“Then we need to get you a bodyguard,” he insisted.
“I thought about it, but… Well, I can’t really afford it, and how could I justify suddenly needing personal security? I’m just a designer, and nothing I’ve ever done has been avant-garde enough that I should be worried about my safety.” She shook her head.
“Damn, I knew I should have targeted Chat Noir,” Alix swore under her breath. “He would’ve had to reveal his identity, and she definitely wouldn’t have been a pushover on her kitty’s protection matter. Come on Adrien, do something.”
She could tell that he was up to something just by looking at him. He’d been silent for a little too long for it to be natural. Cogs turned in his head, making him squint. He let go of her completely and paced around the roof, almost pulling his hair out as he did so. Alix sensed that whatever was on his mind was going to be big. She leaned forwards in anticipation.
Finally, Chat Noir came to a halt in front of Marinette, the fever in his eyes and his dishevelled hair making him look slightly unhinged.
“Buguinette, I think I’ve got a solution,” he whispered.
“You do?” Marinette’s voice was full of hope, although she looked slightly concerned about him.
“You’re probably not going to like it,” he warned her, lifting a finger.
“Beggars can’t be choosers.” She shrugged, taking a step forward.
“Right.” He gave her one last look, an opportunity to stop him before the words tumbled out. She nodded encouragingly. “Okay, here’s the thing. I have it on very good authority that Adrien Agreste is being pressured into getting married by his father.”
“I see Gabriel’s just as delightful as always,” Marinette shook her head.
“Unlike good cheese, he definitely doesn’t get better with time.” Chat smiled bitterly, eyes losing focus a little.
“What’s it got to do with us, though?” Marinette prompted, placing a hand on his arm.
“Oh, Agreste, you absolute genius, I think I know where this is going.” Alix took another handful of popcorn.
“Oh, yes, right.” He cleared his throat. “See, Adrien’s not dating anyone at the moment…” Right, Alix snorted. “And he’s not really planning on starting a relationship with his father breathing down his neck, but, well, he happens to owe me a favour, and I’m sure that he’d be more than happy to put his security detail to good use…”
“So you’re suggesting that I marry Adrien.” Marinette deadpanned.
“Well, er, I actually thought you could just date, but thinking about it… It would be less strange for you to request a bodyguard if your relationship was more serious…” He trailed off.
Alix was impressed by how well he concealed his emotions. His poker face was truly exceptional.
“And you think Adrien would be ready to marry me because of a favour he owes you?” Marinette crossed her arms over her chest, pursing her lips and squinting at him as she tried to pick at his lie.
Alix winced for Chat. Maybe he should have waited a bit before blurting out the (as it turned out) probably only sane option in that situation so he could work out all of the details for himself. Marinette was very good at trying to shake plans to see how solid their foundations were.
“Please. Adrien had a crush on you when you were younger, if anything I could probably smuggle it as another favour, given how perfect the fake scenario would be. Although I guess that since you also liked him… It might just cancel out.” He tapped his lip pensively.
“Adrien had a crush on me?” Marinette frowned. “Oh, you must mean Ladybug. I think Nino mentioned it once.”
“Well, yes, but he also had one on you, Marinette.” Chat stepped forward, mischief twinkling in his eyes as he poked her on the nose.
“Really, now,” she muttered to herself.
“The main reason he didn’t act on it was that he thought you loved somebody else.” Chat smiled ironically.
“Wow, what a pair of idiots.” Marinette chuckled.
“You don’t know the half of it.” He kissed her forehead.
“But you know what?” Marinette didn’t pick up on her partner’s comment. “I’m actually glad we didn’t get together. It probably would have delayed us getting together.” She pressed a peck to his lips. “If we’d gotten together at all in that timeline.” She smirked.
Alix snorted. Out of all the timelines she’d watched unfold in an attempt to keep things in check, there wasn’t a single one where Marinette and Adrien, Ladybug and Chat Noir, didn’t end up together, and not just because of her interventions to help them, and the rest of the planet, stay alive.
Marinette’s face fell at Chat Noir’s lack of response. Alix knew her friend didn’t particularly believe in soulmates, but she understood that she would have liked a sappy Chat Noir special comment on how he’d told her he’d grow onto her anyway, and that she would have soon discovered that the Agreste boy had nothing on him. She assumed that he was too busy restraining himself from saying the wrong thing.
“Actually… What about us, then?” Marinette cleared her throat and looked up at him, eyes glistening slightly in the half light.
“My Lady… If you really think that you being a divorcée will spur me away…” Chat Noir looked down at their entwined hands, locks of blond hair falling in front of his eyes, concealing his giddy smile from her. You sneaky cat, Alix thought.
Marinette followed his gaze, letting out a long sigh as she watched their hands sway lightly. Alix knew her brain was probably trying to find all the flaws in the plan. She crossed her fingers, hoping that it would be enough for her friend to accept. It was perfect, whether they got their act together and figured everything out before the event, or not.
“Fine,” Marinette finally said with resolve, making Alix mentally thank whoever was out there. “I’ll do it on two conditions.”
“Anything, my love.” Chat let out a sigh of relief.
“Firstly, we’re honest with Adrien from the get go. No lying about anything.” Chat nodded along. “Secondly, we get cracking on finding Hawkmoth, and after we do and the divorce is settled, if we even get that far with Adrien because obviously if everything is settled before the wedding we won’t be going through the whole plan…” Chat smiled fondly as she took a deep breath. “After all that, we are getting married.” She gestured between the both of them.
“My Lady, are you proposing to me right meow?” Chat Noir all but purred.
“I guess so.” Marinette shrugged, a smile and a blush spreading on her cheeks.
“Wow, then, I’m definitely putting Adrien in charge of the proposal planning,” he replied with a smirk.
“Chaton!” She stomped her foot, her mildly amused smile cancelling out her frown.
“What?” He teased her.
“Will you? Marry me?” She held his gaze.
“Do you even have to ask?” He chuckled. “You know, my Lady, I’m pretty sure that, in my head, we’ve been married since that speech you gave on the Eiffel Tower during our very first fight. Well, I’ve been married to you; you do whatever you please.”
“You’re such a dork,” Marinette laughed, brushing her nose against his and throwing her arms around his neck.
“And yet you still love me.” He pulled her closer.
“Unfortunately, I do,” she sighed dramatically before pressing a kiss to his lips.
Alix dismissed the screen. She’d seen what she wanted, and it seemed like a good place to stop; a happy, sappy ending. Also, she’d finished all of her popcorn.
Everything was on track, her friends would start their Hawkmoth hunt, and soon everybody in Paris would be able to live without fear of their own negative emotions.
(Of course, that was the theory; she’d soon find out that she’d underestimated Adrien’s will to organise the perfect wedding for Marinette, and that, my friends, was no small oversight.)
28 notes · View notes
thecaptainhelm · 4 years
Text
Shut Your Mouth Pt.2
hahaha, daminette part two, wasn’t a one shot, gn gn gn.
Marinette sighed as the shower warmed up, rolling her neck and relishing in the light feeling of accomplishment. Ever since Hawkmoth had been defeated, a mere two days ago, things had been tense. Hawkmoth, now known as Gabriel Agreste, was arrested along with his assistant Nathalie Sancoeur who had since retired as Mayura the year before. It was a stroke of luck to discover that the Guardian had the ability to forcibly renounce a broken Miraculous. Something Gabriel hadn’t known, granting them extra time as he futilely tried to ‘fix’ the brooch. While that happened, she managed to finally convince Chat to at least keep him as a suspect if not out of suspicion, then to actually strike him from their list. It didn’t take long rack up evidence against him, especially after learning from the Bats of Gotham. 
The battle was quiet, in the early hours of the morning, where the city forcibly cut the power to the Agreste mansion, and it only took one Venom for each while they slept defenselessly. It took only a few minutes to find evidence that he was at least working with Hawkmoth, and when they found the miraculous pin and brooch, it was confirmed that he was, indeed, Hawkmoth with Nathalie working as his henchwoman Mayura.
Soon, with what was probably the fastest trial of the century, Gabriel Agreste and Nathalie Sancoeur were declared guilty and sentenced to serve life in prison and an insane asylum respectively. It had only shocked her for a moment that Mayura pleaded guilty and asked to be sent directly to rehab for mental help, by reason of insanity wrought by grief. What did surprise her was that she was the one to take the miraculous and give them to the Agreste couple as an anniversary gift, ultimately setting off a chain of unforeseen consequences.
That was a whole other cake she didn’t want to bake just yet, so she decided to finally just take a moment to breathe for what felt like the first time in five years. 
So it was only normal that her smartwatch chimed on the hook of the shower caddy, a picture of a frowny eagle glaring right at her. She cursed her luck, yeah, no breaks was still her usual routine. It must be real hard for the universe to break out that particular habit.
Then she remembered that she set this particular picture and ringtone for the one person who had never called.
Robin, the vigilante that she might have, kind of, definitely made an enemy of.
Who was also her crush, so that was just. Great.
In her defense, she was a human being, and human beings were capable of amazing feats. It was just that her amazing feats were more amazing bouts of stupidity. Seriously, why did she do it? Just where did her common sense escape to make her think that was even a remotely good idea, because she wanted to go there and never come back.
She had kissed-- no! She made out with Robin, the most notoriously ill-tempered member of Batman’s team. The only reason he didn’t deck her in the face was because, because, well she didn’t know! Was it mercy, a misplaced feeling of pity, perhaps?
No, actually, it was more likely that he was frozen stiff with rage. Marinette couldn’t blame him, heck, she’d be angry too, suddenly getting passionately smooched in the middle of livid rant. 
She had planned on giving him her contact information for the longest time, since they'd come to the understanding that they only wanted to do what was best for everyone, the kind of understanding that only leaders could have. And to maybe get closer to him as much as professionalism allowed. So, it stood to reason that she had to go ahead and ruin that, too. She really couldn’t believe herself sometimes, who randomly kisses someone, hands them their number, and then trots off back to work? Marinette Dupain-Cheng apparently.
In fact, it was about time he called. She had pretty much an entire year to prepare herself for what was sure to be a concise and frigid rejection, maybe even a “Stay for away from, lest I stab everyone in this room and then jump out of a window out of utter disgust”? She might as well get it over with and then move on to be alone for the rest of her life.
She wiped the water out of her eyes and squinted at the text message, before jumping out the shower with a loud curse. She hurriedly dried off and put on her clothes, before heading to the Miracle Box, rereading his message.
Emergency evac, one person, requesting Pegasus’ portal twenty kilometers horizontally above sea level precisely fifteen minutes after this message. Coordinates attached.
The message was sent ten minutes ago. How long was she catastrophizing for?!
Max was partying along with the rest of Paris while she took a breather in her art studio. Even with the full fifteen minutes she wouldn’t be able to find him in time. Shit, would she even be able to transform in time?
She grabbed the glasses from the box and Kaalki appeared in a proud flash. 
“No time, there’s trouble,” she panted. “Ready?”
“Hmph, of course,” Kaalki tossed her head. “Let’s go, shall we?”
“Kaalki, transform me!” She eyed the time, two minutes left. She memorized the coordinates as she searched for a suitable place for him to land, and realized she was going to have to catch him in her storage closet.
One minute left. She opened the door and cleared space in the center of the room.
Thirty-five seconds. She stood on an old chair that she moved into the center of the room.
Twenty seconds, and she called, “Voyage!” and threw the portal up towards the ceiling.
Zero. She braced for impact and caught a body that plummeted through in a free fall.
“Ow,” she closed the portal with a groan, amidst the shattered pieces of what used to be a pretty sturdy chair.
“Don’t complain, it could have been worse.” A deep voice rasped.
Wow, to think she missed him, that asshole.
“Shut up, Robi-- oh my god your arm! Get up, getupgetupgetup!” She hauled him up as gently as possible, annoyance giving way to concern.
Robin was, putting it lightly, a mess. He had lost his mask, his eye was swollen shut and his face was bruised with cuts all over, and he was sticky with blood practically everywhere she looked. It was his arm that she was most concerned about, however. It was set in a splint, but he must have been in a rush because it was set wrong, his thumb facing perpendicular lyaway from his body.
“I am fine,” he sagged into her, weary. “I just need a place to stay for the night.”
“If you weren’t so grievously injured, I’d throw you out for that,” she remarked. “But guess what? It’s your lucky night monsieur, and I’m a trained field medic.” Robin looked at her, maskless, and she had to dart her eyes away from his maskless face.
“Oh, so Ladybug finally started replacing her subpar lineup? About time, either she benched them or Hawkmoth would kill them at some point. They were woefully incompent.” Yep, this was definitely Robin, no doubt about it with that attitude.
She called off the transformation and was somewhat pleased when he reflexively jerked his head away. She pulled him into a princess carry and made her way back to the bathroom, inwardly delighting at his reaction. She would never let him live this down.
“It’s me, Robin. Ladybug. Pegasus couldn’t make it, so you’ll have to do with me instead of a random stand-in.” She raised her brow, not that he could see it.
“Unless that bothers you, Boy Wonder?”
“...I’m not,” he mumbled.
“Hm?”
“I’m not Robin anymore.”
What. What.
“What?”
“I’ve retired, effective as of nine months ago today, Robin’s cape has been hung up for the next generation.”
Relief didn’t come yet. “Oh, so you’ve taken on a new mantle? Or are you finally the next Batman, though it would take some time to fill those shoulders. Literally, I mean that literally, um.” She observed his downcast expression and once again started walking to the bathroom. When had she stopped?
“I’m not taking over anything,” he said sullenly. “I can’t. Not after what I did.”
“Come on, it couldn’t have been so bad,” she opened the door with her heel as she backed them towards the stool by the sink. She set him down carefully, taking full stock of his injuries.
“It was. Batman’s cowl has always represented a strict moral code, one that I’ve always...struggled to adhere to.”
Marinette bit her lip as she kneeled in front of him. He didn’t say anymore, and she couldn’t think of anything to say. She sighed and brought out her med kit from the towel cabinet. She was always like this with him.
With Robin (now not Robin?) she had always drawn a blank. She could read his emotions somewhat well, had a good grasp on his moods, and could have genuinely insightful conversations with him. It was only at crucial moments like this that she struggled. Even with Adrien she had always known what she wanted to say, but Robin was different. Everything about him screamed “one chance only” and that caused her mind to go blank. It was so unbelievably frustrating that she could scream.
Marinette handed the glasses to Kaalki and nodded towards her purse hanging on the door handle. The kwami zoomed towards it and soon disappeared into it with the miraculous.
“Robin,” she called gently. He didn’t move. “I’ll have to cut your shirt off, okay? I need to see where the blood is coming from.”
“It’s not mine.The blood.” He kept his gaze away as she froze.
“Well, we’ll have to reset that arm,” she tried again. “It’s not...it’s not looking good, to say the least.”
He looked towards his mangled right arm and nodded. 
It took some time to undo the splint and she tried not to think about where he had been for him to only have rotted wood and prison rags on hand. She cut his shirt off at the sleeve and down his middle, pulling it off and exposing a painful canvas of mottled bruises, scrapes, and cuts. She handed him her towel and he stuffed it in his mouth without a word. She gently untied the splint.
“Are you ready?” She gazed at him resolutely. He nodded and braced himself as best he could.
“On my count, one, two--” She re-broke his arm a count early on purpose.
“Arrghh! Ffuk!!” He jerked out of her grip.
“Hold still!” He spat out the towel and glared in response.
“Mizq dhiraei allaeaynat 'aw aidbitha!!!” She only understood ‘rip’ and ‘arm’ but she got the gist of his screaming.
“Alright it’s done now, I’m setting it, so stop moving,” She couldn’t help but sigh under his vicious scowl.
“Tsk. Be grateful that I can barely discern your features Ladybug. You’re on my shit list and I don’t feel like kicking your ass today.”
“Wow, thanks for saving me Ladybug, I could have died if it weren’t for you!” Marinette couldn’t help but snark at him.
“...tsk!” Yep, that was as good as she was going to get in his condition.
After years of fighting akuma victims she was able to observe the complex and hidden emotions of her opponents and the civilians that she rescued. And right now, her experience was telling her that Robin had more than his pride ruined. His self-confident, courageous, and taciturn nature seemed to be regressing as he fell back into what was probably a self-defense mechanism. For him to be like this instead of exhausted in his current state told her that he must have been through a lot since she last saw him.
She started to gently clean the blood off and noted the bruises underneath definitely came from an intense melee battle. Most of them were in places that made her cringe just looking at them. At least he doesn’t have any other broken bones, or stab wounds. Lucky him.
Robin put an ice pack to his face in the meanwhile and wouldn’t look in her direction.
It was quiet for a while. “So, what should I call you, then?” And she had to open her big fat mouth, didn’t she? Now it was awkward. It was awkward, and he hated her, and she was never speaking again, ever.
“Damian.” Uh oh.That didn’t sound like a moniker.
“Um, nice code name?” She started disinfecting his cuts and scrapes, trying not to panic.
“I no longer require such aliases.” Ok, process that later, heal Robin now. Process. Later.
“Ro--, Damian, uh, well,” She sighed.  “My offer still stands, you know?”
He made a quiet noise. 
“Last time I saw you, I mean. I had left in a rush,”-- after kissing you senseless-- “but I’m always here to listen if you want to talk about what happened.”
Robin, or Damian now, she still wasn’t used to that, froze. His brows furrowed and he strangely went red in the face, before sighing, slumping against the sink.
“I...the blood’s not mine. It hasn’t been my for a long time, but it might as well be for how long I’ve carried it. I’m not a good person so much as to blame myself completely, but I do recognize some of the fault as mine. I’d gotten help, and I was making progress, but it wasn’t enough. I started falling back into old habits and I hated it. I tried and I failed, and I kept trying and failing for months and I…” He gained a look of despair, the first real emotion she’s seen on him since he dropped in.
“I couldn’t do it anymore. I just kept disappointing everyone and I hated it so much,” he dug his fingers into his matted hair.
“So, I left. I decided to go on a journey to try and repent, and it was working, at least I thought it did. But, then I had stumbled upon a Shadows base and I…” He peered unseeing at the floor.
“It was like I lost all sense of reason. I lay siege to the entire facility and found my way to the next base. It all turned into an endless cycle, all the way until I reached headquarters and inadvertently met up with high ranking members of the Justice League, teaming up to diminish their power. We were successful, but a candidate for the position of the Demon’s Head activated the self-destruct module. Everyone was scrambling to get out and suddenly my mind felt clearer than it had ever been.” He took  a deep breath and Marinette moved closer to offer some comfort. He leaned towards her gratefully.
“The Justice League had already had an escape route, but the Shadows were in disarray for some reason. After I was sure my old comrades were out, I locked all the doors, and dived down to a ceremonial bathing chamber.”
“And that’s where I came in,” she whispered. I think I’m starting to like him more than I should. What is wrong with me?! Who made me this way?! She had some complaints in regards to that.
“You saved my life,” he inclined his head in an informal bow. “Thank you, Ladybug.”
“...Marinette.” She croaked suddenly. She was left reeling from his info dump and her intense, romantic feelings. So, why not go for a confession? 
Damian whipped his head up in disbelief.
“My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Enchanté, Damian.” She smiled at his bewildered state, wiping away a bit of blood under his chin. She opened her mouth to say more, but didn’t get the chance.
Damian leapt up, furious. “You fool! I knew you were a space cadet, but I didn’t think your brain drifted beyond the stars! How utterly moronic!”
“Wait, why are you so mad?!” She panicked. She kind of had a spur of the moment idea to kiss him on his split lip, but that was looking less and less likely to happen.
(Damn it.)
“You told me your name!” he shouted.
“Yes, and you told me your’s?” She retorted. 
“Have you forgotten Hawkmoth?! Your enemy that can read the minds of the emotionally disturbed should he decide to possess them!” He started to hobble out of the bathroom, still half-treated and mostly in pain.
Oh. 
Oh!
“I have to leave, now! If I can stay calm long enough to reach the trains then I’ll be moving too fast for a butterfly to suddenly get me.”
“Uh, Damian?”
“No, it might already be enroute to someone else and might even already be on board,” He winced and stumbled on the tassel rug in the hallway.
“Woah, hang on a second Damian,” she grabbed him before he could fall, but he pulled out of her grip.
“We don’t have time for this, I can guarantee that I would be one of the worst akumas you’ve faced in your hero career, nevermind the insider information I hold within my mind.”
“Yes, but listen to me,” Damian moved towards the small sitting area, not listening to her. 
Again.
“This safehouse should be around one hundred kilometers from the city limits, you’re safe for now, but Hawkmoth’s estimated rate of growth was--”
That’s it!
Marinette grabbed his jaw and slammed it closed. She had had enough.
“This isn’t a safehouse, we’re in my art studio,” she snapped. She could see the rage begin to build to new heights in his eye.
“No, shut your mouth, and listen!” A vein in his forehead started to pulse, but he didn't move to speak.
Good.
“Hawkmoth has been defeated as of last week, and the trial was concluded a couple days ago. Going by what you told me, you've been out the loop for almost a year, so you don’t know that my team and I had closed in on Hawkmoth’s trail some time ago and were able to build a solid case that’ll go through in a court of law,” She carefully let him go.
“So, you’re safe, I’m safe, and Paris is safe too.” She’d already started to calm down in the middle of her explanation, and idly noted that she should probably take an anger management class.
And sign up for therapy. Lots of it, preferably.
Damian nodded slowly as he rubbed his jaw and she couldn’t help her wince.
“Sorry, did I handle you too roughly? Come here,” she started to pull him back towards the bathroom. He resisted.
“No, it’s fine, no damage just from that much force,” he tugged his arm away but she quickly moved behind him and began to push him through the bathroom door.
“Well, I’m not done treating you, so get back in there.” He grabbed the door frame and pushed back, and her calm demeanor left as quick as it came. Was it even truly there to begin with?
“I said,” she picked him up and threw him back on the stool where he grasped for stability.
“Come here.” She leaned in close to his bruised face, and wow, the one eye that she could see was so very, very green. “I’m not done with you, yet.”
“...okay,” he whispered. He kept his head down.
It didn’t take long to finish disinfecting the rest of his wounds, and soon she started applying ointment to the worst of his bruises. She had enough, but she was definitely going to be restocking in order to play his nursemaid for the next week or so. She rose to her feet and started packing away her kit.
“I’ll give you some pain meds for the night, I’ll leave you to take care of the injuries under the rest of your clothes. Come find me in the kitchenette. I’ll make something for us, though it won’t be anything fancy.”
“That is fine.” Marinette frowned at the strange husk in his voice. Did someone try to suffocate him? Why hadn’t she noticed until now?
She kneeled beside him and reached around him for the water bottle she had left in there earlier, but noticed him twitch and start to blush. Did he get a fever too?
She observed his red face and clear, but dilated eyes. Merde, did she embarrass him from earlier? She knew he had a large ego, but it was his own fault for being stubborn.
“Here, get yourself some water from the sink,” she handed the glittery black bottle to him and hurriedly strode out of the bathroom, calling,
“Holler if you need me!” 
Completely aware of the flustered state she left Damian in. Though not for the reason she thinks, at least.
232 notes · View notes
kalaluchi · 3 years
Text
chapter 02: Rebellion
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Alya was going to lose her mind at any second. How did she become best friends with someone so damn stubborn?
“Girl, I’m telling you, there is no way that boy does not have a crush on you. It’s so obvious, please!”
“Alya. One: I think you are crazy. Two: he’s just friendly. Ok?”
It had been a little over a month since Adrien Agreste had joined their class, and yet he seemed to be getting along well with everybody. For Marinette, it had been hate at first sight and then love at second sight.
In her defense, she never intended to fall for him. Not when he was the best friend of her archnemesis-for-who-knows-how-long. Definitely not when he’d put gum on her seat on the first day of class, when he didn’t even know her. So, it made absolute sense for her to snob him back… except.
Except she’d been completely wrong.
It had all been a mix up… and as he’d smiled kindly at her, and she’d stared, really stared, into his eyes for the first time since meeting him… she’d realized she really wouldn’t mind getting lost in them and the way the fading sun turned them the most perfect shade of green.
That was when she’d realized she was in trouble. That was when she’d realized that despite her initial, intense hate for the green-eyed blond-haired boy, she’d fallen quite hard for Adrien Agreste at second glance… even though he was the best friend of her archnemesis-for-who-knows-how-long.
She continued to fall even further when she saw how cute he really was, how kind he was to everyone, how comfortable in his own skin he seemed, how he laughed softly at most anything, and a million other “how's” known only to her heart.
And then they’d started talking.
Of course, she’d always wanted to approach him, but never found the courage to, which was why she resorted to roundabout ways to catch his attention most of the time.
There was that one time she’d learned he loved macarons, so she’d stayed up nearly the whole night just perfecting a batch to bring to school. Then she’d spent the whole day loudly talking about them, waving them around anytime she thought he was looking -- in hopes he’d ask her for one, and they could strike up a convo. But to no avail.
And the time she’d heard that he loved cats, so she’d read about all the different breeds and their origins, even writing notes to remember the important parts. But she’d ended up forgetting to bring the notebook and getting a mind block in school, so that when he asked what her favorite breed of cat was, she’d replied, “Orange.” (She’d wanted to bury herself in a hole for days after that.)
And too many other instances, way more than she could count on her fingers.
Alya had quickly caught on to what her best friend was up to, and was highly against the plan. “Girl, just woman up and go talk to him yourself!” she’d said. “Adrien Agreste is literally the nicest boy I’ve met, and he won’t judge you or anything if you randomly talk to him! And anyway, if he does do that, then he’s not crush-worthy, okay?”
Marinette had seen the sense in her best friend’s statement, but knowing you have to do something and being able to actually do it are two different things. Because Marinette was Marinette Dupain-Cheng, not Alya Césaire, and as much as she’d wanted to talk to him, she just couldn’t bring herself to because she’d been scared, too scared of what he might say.
To her surprise, though, he’d actually reached out to her one day. And the conversation hadn’t stopped, like she’d feared it would. It had gone on for hours which turned into days, and it had felt good, felt right. And for a second, she could almost, almost believe that he could like her, too, despite their awkward beginning. But then she’d stumble over her words, and the fantasy would fade. Because how could he possibly fall for her when he was the most amazing person she’d ever met and she was just Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and there were so many other, better, more interesting people in her school -- in all of Paris for that matter-- that he could fall for? So there was absolutely no way he could like her back, could see her as anything more than a friend.
Right?
Marinette shook her head, clearing it of thoughts. Of course she was right. What could Alya possibly know anyway?
Alya gave Marinette the deadest stare she could muster. “Friendly,” she echoed monotonously. “You know what? I am officially appointing myself as your fairy godmother. And as your fairy godmother it is my duty to prove that Adrien Agreste has a crush on you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”
Marinette sighed at her best friend’s antics. “Well, I won’t stop you, but I do still stand by my original statement.”
Alya pursed her lips. “Okay, how ‘bout this: if it turns out I am right, which I am, and Adrien Agreste does have a crush on you, you owe me an entire box of macarons.”
Marinette shrugged. “Fine with me. You do know this is a win-win for me right? If you’re right, it’s a win that my crush likes me back. If I’m right, it’s a win because I don’t have to bake a dozen macarons.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. But I just want you to be happyyyy~!” Alya singsonged. “So, leave it to me. I gotchu.”
Marinette laughed and rolled her eyes playfully at the wink her best friend gave her. “Okay, then. Work your magic, please.”
“Alya Césaire, Fairy Godmother, at your service!”
.
.
.
The first time Alya had to work her fairy godmother magic, she had to admit it wasn’t the best attempt. But she was still determined to give it her all, and prove her point, no matter what. Her pride as a credible writer depended on it.
(Or so she liked to defend to herself.)
Hence her half-brilliant idea to dress Marinette up for school one day.
There was nothing wrong with her best friend’s style, of course. It was just that it was so… Marinette. Soft and cute, but always hiding her full potential. She just needed a little shaking up, a change in routine, just once.
So there was Marinette, with her hair styled, and dressed in all the clothes she’d been hiding at the back of her closet that Alya had always insisted would suit her. (And they did. Splendidly.)
Alya liked to refer to her plan as half-brilliant -- brilliant because Adrien reacted the exact way she’d hoped, but not brilliant because Marinette reacted the exact way Alya had hoped she wouldn’t.
The moment Marinette walked in the door, Alya noticed Adrien’s head whip around so fast she was afraid he’d gotten whiplash. He grinned shyly as Marinette passed by.
“Morning, Marinette. I haven’t seen you wear that before,” he chuckled lightly, though a faint blush spread across his cheeks. “It really suits you, though. You look very pretty.”
Marinette blinked at that, a little offended at the wording. “Uh. Thanks, I guess?”
Adrien cleared his throat as Marinette started up the stairs to her seat. “Uh, no, I meant, prettier than usual, of course. You’re already naturally pretty, you see.”
Of course, Marinette chose that exact moment to turn beet red and walk into the edge of her desk. “You too,” she wheezed out, doubled over and clutching her stomach.
“I-- sorry? A-are you okay?” Adrien asked, bewildered.
“I said, thank you. And, yes, I’m fine.” Marinette forced a grin as she slid into her seat.
“Well,” Alya said as soon as Adrien sat back down, “what did I tell you? He thinks you’re pretty. He just needed a little push to come out and say it. Boy def has a crush on you.”
“Alya,” Marinette chided, though she was trying to hide how happy the compliment had made her, “what did we say about jumping to conclusions, especially when there’s no diamond solid proof?”
“Don’t,” Alya replied with a sigh.
.
.
.
The second time around, Alya was surprised she didn’t even have to do any work to find something to pick on -- Marinette practically handed her the proof on a silver platter.
It was not unusual for Marinette to come to school late, or with eyebags under her eyes, as Alya knew her best friend had a habit of staying up late the night before and oversleeping. (Seriously, though, with the amount of times this had happened in the past, did the girl have a secret double life or something? It’s not like the school gave enough assignments to lose that much sleep over. Alya was always telling Marinette she really needed to sleep earlier...)
But this time, something seemed different.
Maybe it was the way Marinette was typing furiously on her phone under the table, trying hard not to smile.
Or the way Adrien, with similar eyebags, was doing the same thing.
It could just be a coincidence, though. Alya had to remind herself to take it slow, not jump to conclusions. But still, her best-friend-senses were telling her something was up.
She was just about to bring it up when Marinette turned to her excitedly. “Look at this picture Adrien sent me of his cat. Isn’t he cute? That fluffy black fur and those green eyes, Alya, loooook!”
Alya raised an eyebrow and smiled knowingly. “Wow, you guys chat now? That’s new.”
Marinette bit her lip. “Yeah, but it’s just your usual sending-memes and random-small-talk-about-your-life and i'm-drowning-in-acads-you-too? 4am kind of talks. It’s not the soft here’s-what-i-like-about-you 4am kind of talks, sadly,” she sighed, tapping her phone on her thigh.
“Wait. 4am?”
Marinette smiled sheepishly, and Alya knew her hunch had been correct. “Yeah. I don’t intend for it, obviously, but the past week it’s been like, we start talking, and next thing I know it’s 4am and I’m absolutely doomed because I haven’t started the assignment for Mme. Bustier’s class due at 8:30am.”
Alya laughed. “Okay, Marinette, there is something wrong with that last part, I’ll admit. But nevertheless, I’m so proud of you for holding a convo with the boy of your dreams for that long. And to think that he stays up the same? Damn. I really didn’t peg Adrien as the type to pull all-nighters. I guess there’s only one conclusion…” She trailed off dramatically, grinning at her best friend.
Marinette rolled her eyes. “I know what you’re gonna say, and I’m gonna reply-- it doesn’t mean anything. It’s just two people, talking, getting to know each other.”
“He stayed up. Till 4am. To talk to you.”
“Well… yeah.”
“The past week. An entire week.”
“... yeah.”
“Just for you.”
“You don’t know that. Maybe he was cramming homework,” Marinette argued.
“Girl,” Alya rebutted, “this is Adrien Agreste we’re talking about. When does he ever cram?”
Marinette shrugged. “This past week?”
“Girl, you’re hopeless. You’re lucky I love you. Go back to chatting your dream boy. But please start sleeping earlier.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
.
.
.
The third time was such a dead giveaway Alya felt like she’d been smacked in the head with a huge bag of “HELLO I HAVE A CRUSH ON YOU,” and she could not for the life of her understand why her best friend could not see the truth shaking its butt in their faces.
It happened one morning, when Marinette walked into the classroom wearing the cutest cardigan Alya had ever seen.
“Girl!” she exclaimed once the blue-haired girl was seated. “I love what you’re wearing, it looks so good on you! How come I’ve never seen it before?” The brunette flipped her hair over her shoulder and huffed. “As your best friend, I’m offended you never told me this heavenly piece of clothing existed. I’d have made you wear it every single day if only I knew.”
Marinette bit back a smile. “I know, it’s kinda super cute, right? It’s super comfy, too. Adrien made it for me,” she added shyly.
Alya waggled her eyebrows. “Mm, you mean he had it made for you, right? Must be nice to come from an ultra-known ultra-rich family or something.”
“No, I mean, like, he made it for me… as in he made it himself…”
“Wait, what. One: why. Two: how do you know he made it himself? I mean, girl, no offense to your boy of course. But that’s some high effort shiz to do for someone who is just ‘a friend’” Alya pointed out, using air quotes.
Marinette rolled her eyes playfully. “Okay, one: I know he made it himself because he sent Nino videos of his progress as he was making it, which Nino eventually forwarded to me once I’d gotten the gift--”
(“Nino, that little brat, how dare he not tell me something as important as this,” Alya growled, glaring daggers across the room at her boyfriend.)
“--and two: are you really still doing that? I don't like how you used air quotes because I have absolutely no idea what you mean by them.” Marinette crossed her arms, in denial. “I mean, obviously, yes, Adrien and I are friends and we are doing things friends do, yes that is normal even though he is literally the cutest human being I have ever met but it’s obvious he’ll never feel the same way, so--”
“Marinette, there are heart patterns on the pockets,” Alya deadpanned.
“There are?!” Marinette excitedly began pulling up the cardigan to check. Then she seemed to remember her stand on the matter, and wiped the smile off her face, smoothing out imaginary wrinkles in her clothes. “And if there were, it does not matter, because it obviously does not mean anything. It’s just a cardigan, I think you’re overthinking things,” she said nonchalantly, though her voice was an octave higher than normal.
Alya laughed aloud. “Just a cardigan, Marinette?! He crocheted you a whole freaking cardigan for your birthday! You love cardigans, it’s the most Marinette gift one could give you. Plus,” she continued, holding up a finger when it looked like Marinette was about to protest, “do you know how many days it would’ve taken to make that? And there’s the fact that you guys literally just started talking this month. Come on, you have to admit that means he likes you! Or maybe is just a little interested? Huh, how about it?” Alya nudged her friend, trying to knock some common sense into her.
For a second, it seemed to work. Marinette bit back a smile, took a deep breath, and-- “Maybe he’s just super super super friendly?”
Alya blinked once, twice. “Yeah, ok, I give up. Keep your macarons.”
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bunnyinthestars · 3 years
Text
Adrien is definitely gonna take Emilie’s place in a coma (A Theory)
Yeah so I mean the title of this is exactly what I’m pretty sure is gonna happen. This is because there has been a huge load of foreshadowing and some other subtler reasons I will be going over in this post. Of course, there’s always a chance it won’t happen, but if it didn’t I think I’d be pretty surprised considering just the amount of evidence thats going into this.
(Also sorry ahead of time for the structure of this, I tried to structure this based on my specific reasons for this theory but I kind of went off on tangents in some places and in others I use ideas that I assume come with the theory and don’t necessarily fit into any specific reason (like Emilie coming back to life and what would happen there, why Adrien and not Nathalie, and loosely how theyd get Adrien out of the coma), although I mosty stick to the structure I still want to add this disclaimer just so you’re aware that I wrote this in one go at midnight (also wait right now its 12:10am it is now ten minutes into my birthday??? ok ignoring that))
I dont know man. Just consider what I have to say. Or dont. I will be listing my reasons starting now.
1. Imagery of Adrien being in comatose state/ in a coffin-like thing.
This is surprisingly common??? Off the top of my head I can think of Style Queen and Riposte (I believe) which involve this. In Style Queen, Audrey in the form of her akumatized self had essentially kidnapped Adrien and put him in this gold/glass coffin thing that disintegrated the longer it remained untouched. The other one is Riposte, where Ladybug hides Adrien in that big sarcophogus in the Louvre (he didn’t stay in it but still the imagery is there.)
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I also just remembered in Chameleon when Lila took Adrien’s form he was asleep/in a comatose state in that locker and Plagg was like “aw man am I gonna have to kiss him.....” but then Adrien wakes up because Lila stole someone else’s form
EDIT: another instance of Adrien/Chat Noir being shoved into a sarcophagus (besides Riposte) is in Pharaoh in season 1
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So yes there is definitely a good number of foreshadowing for this. I might take this further and say if Adrien were to go comatose and be in the coffin Emilie was in then Felix might replace him for some amount of time?? Like impersonate him amd stuff?? Just because there’s lots of stuff in the show with impersonation I feel like it could work aNYWAY BACK TO THE EVIDENCE I KNOW ITS A TANGENT
2. Possible evidence foreshadowing Emilie *inadvertantly* killing (not killing but making comatose you get it) Adrien
This one is not as strong as the first but its worth considering. I was googling the word “mayura” just out of curiosity a while back and basically its a peacock in Hindu stories (like peacocks are a kinda revered animal) and I just initially found a couple websites that said that the mayura has been depicted eating a snake as a symbol of the cycle of time (you dont have to read this part in parenthesis, its just kind of a tangent: the cycle of time as known in Hinduism is another aspect of Hinduism directly referenced in the show: the horse/space miraculous kwami Kaalki’s name is a reference to the prophecied tenth avatar/reincarnation of the god Vishnu, and he is referenced in the Kalachakra tantra which is basically a Hindu book about the cycle of time. Keep in mind I got all this from wikipedia and other internet websites, I do not practice Hinduism and I dont directly know anybody who does, so if any of this is wrong pls lmk because there is surprisingly not a lot of information on the internet about it from what I could tell)
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So anyways yes peacock (mayura) eating snake representing the cycle of time. Both Luka and Adrien are represented in the show as the snake, but ultimately I think the snake here represents Adrien just because it makes more sense (Snake Noir, future Alix’s tattoo depicts a snake to be Adrien and is meant to represent Adrinette, Adrien just has some shifty stuff going on with the snake in general etc) and thus, if Gabriel manages to actually get the ladybug and black cat miraculouses and make the wish to bring Emilie to life, then this “mayura” analogy (assuming Emilie as the mayura in this scenario) would make sense if her life brought upon Adrien losing his.
The reason I dont think it would refer to Nathalie even though her official name is Mayura is for pretty much two sub-reasons. The first is that I think she is going to die before this wish happens. I know, its a kids show, whatever, but consider it. The Agreste/Graham de Vanily family has a trend of having opposite names [I am so sorry I literally first heard this from a tumblr user but I cannot remember who I just remember they had made a string of theories on why Emilie Agreste will not be who she seems to be so credit to them I did not discover that] for example the name Gabriel means hero/angel, Felix means happy/fortunate, Adrien means dark, etc, and Nathalie Sancoeur means “birthday (of Christ)” and “heartless” respectively. We already know she is not heartless but rather full of heart because she has fallen in love with Gabriel. So then,,,,,,,,,, the opposite of birth is death. She’s already shown to be pretty sick too despite the peacock miraculous having been “fixed” (as of the New York special being the most recent piece of content). I’m sorry guys I do not make the rules
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stop why his face look like that though
The second part of why I think this is a little stupid but. The original art released by Jeremy Zag for Mayura does not look like Nathalie. Plus this art was only released under the name of “the Peacock” (originally Le Paon in French) so it might not actually be the Mayura we know as of now. Now, theoretically, it could be that they had made this art before they knew they wanted Nathalie to be Mayura or just as art depicting what Emilie would have been like as the peacock miraculous holder, and it could literally just be Nathalie. When you compare the images, though, the original Mayura art looks far more like Emilie and a lot less like Nathalie. Yes I am aware this is stupid just know this is only a minor point
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I dont know man those faces do not look the same to me and the original Mayura definitely had Emilie’s eye shape and face shape in mind. They might’ve changed it after making the concept art but my point still stands
Ok next reasoning
Again not a very strong point but sometimes dialogue just implies things in Miraculous and I can think of a very specific quote that would fit this happening, and there are probably more that I just dont know to look for since I dont have this whole show memorized
So the quote is from Startrain after Gabriel loses control of the akuma then learns about the Startrain having been akumatized with Adrien on board, and he says “hoping that my enemies will save my son..... how ironic.” When I first heard this quote I really, really felt like it was foreshadowing something just based on his tone and the way this new idea was being introduced of him having to be on the same side as Ladynug and Chat Noir for once, even if it was just temporary. This quote absolutely is indicative to me of a future event in which he’ll have to work with his “enemies” to save his son. A situation in which Adrien is in comatose would perfectly align with this. At least for how I would predict the show would make it, Gabriel would have to turn away from Emilie (who represents the past for him, and this action would therefore represent moving on) and join forces with Ladybug/Marinette, his “enemy”, to save Adrien.
Onto the last reason!
Emilie is probably definitely coming back. Which means someone’s going into a coma in her place.
I mean come on it would be so anticlimactic if they just caught Gabe before he fulfilled his wish. Plus with the way they are outlining Emilie to be this perfect golden being is definitely because its going to far contrast with how she will actually turn out. This doesnt really support the Adrien thing in particular but honestly it would also be anticlimactic of the coma was for anyone else. If it was Nathalie, then yeah itd suck for Adrien I guess but like???? Doesn’t really connect the plots as much. Whereas if its Adrien, that brings Marinette into it, that gives her a powerful as heck conflict. Im guessing they would also somehow resolve his coma with “the power of love” mentioned in the theme song, just because of the foreshadowing with like waking someone up with a true love’s kiss (think Plagg in Chameleon, I guess the rose in Style Queen, maybe Alya’s story to Manom in Stormy Weather if we’re strecthing it....)
TL;DR: Adrien is probably gonna go comatose (like Emilie did) at some point because its been pretty foreshadowed (think Style Queen, Riposte, and even Chameleon), because of the legend surrounding the Hindu “mayura” peacock eating a snake representing time (wow that was not a sentence ok then), because Gabriel has previously foreshadowed having to work with his enemies to save his son, and also just because it would be super awesome and allow each character involved to have a pretty fulfilling conflict and arc.
(all images from the miraculous ladybug wiki excluding the piece of art depicting the mayura which is from murugan.org)
I hope however took the time to read this post enjoyed this theory, sometimes I have really random yet detailed theories regarding this show and I wanted to share this one because if I’m right then this will be proof I had predicted it, also you guys could possibly elaborate on it. I’m all for friendly discussions folks fr
If this doesn’t end up happening the theory is still awesome and they should have done it, and if it does my ego will probably expand and hopefully they will make it as awesome as it seems like it would be. Sorry if the structure of this post is not great, but thank you for reading. I appreciate you, have a wonderful week :)
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cakejots · 3 years
Text
Unstained, Chapter 2
After certain events that happened in the day, Chat Noir revealed to Ladybug that he knows who she is under the mask. Her reactions astounded him. After certain events that happened in the night, Ladybug unveiled to Chat Noir why she can’t do what he asked of her. His reactions astonished her.
Rating: T, Words: 6938. Chapters: 4/4
Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4
Read on AO3
“So, are you going to take my Miraculous away?”
“I suppose.”
Chat immediately stiffened his relaxed posture and whipped his head to look at her, moon-eyed. “You—”
“But, if that’s supposed to happen, I wouldn’t be here talking to you as Ladybug, would I?” Ladybug finally faced him with a small smile hanging on her lips.
Seeing her smile, Chat felt even more perplexed than he already was. “What do you mean?”
“I know who you are, Adrien.”
Adrien didn’t think his day would get any crazier, but it just did. “C-come again?”
“Adrien, that’s you under that mask. Marinette, that’s me under this mask. And I’m not going to take away your Miraculous, silly,” Ladybug, Marinette, teased. She seemed to be genuinely enjoying his reactions to all these.
“Sorry, but this is a lot to take in, I need a moment.” Adrien pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes to internalise this new information that Ladybu—Marinette just dropped on him.
“Take all the time you need, Minou. We have time. But—”
“But we need to move if there’s an Akuma attack,” he recited.
“You know me so well, but patrols rarely have those, so you’re good.” Her attention was now back to the glittery sky above.
Silence, until…
“My lady? M-Marinette? Argh, I don’t even know which to use now! This is all so new to me,” he whined and pulled his hair while making distressed faces.
“You can use whichever you want Chaton, we are still the same person under the masks,” she giggled.
“I’ve got a few questions if you don’t mind?” He asked with hope in his eyes.
“Of course not, go ahead.”
He started to fidget. “How did you find out?”
“Well, it wasn’t like I actively sought out your identity or anything. It just happened, to the point I simply couldn’t ignore it any longer,” she stated.
Chat was looking at her curiously. But he was listening attentively and signalling for her to go on, and she did.
“Wow this is such a long list, where do I even begin?” She mused.
“Start from your earliest memories of it?” He suggested.
“That’s a good idea. Remember when there was a design competition for bowler hats and your father—”
Chat gagged.
“—got to decide which is the winning piece you’ll wear for your next photoshoot?” Ladybug raised an eyebrow.
Chat’s eyes widened with realisation and nodded. “It was the first time we fought Mr Pigeon.”
“Yeah. And Chat Noir was sneezing non-stop due to the allergies he had against feathers. Guess who I found that had the same allergies after we defeated the Akuma?”
Chat blushed.
“But it wasn’t enough of an evidence to give away that you’re Chat Noir. After all, plenty of people are allergic to feathers.” He nodded. “Next, was when as Chat Noir, you worked with Marinette to take down Evillustrator.”
“Oh! So that’s your secret mission. How did I expose myself? I’m pretty different in and out of the mask.”
“Indeed you are. Thing is, no one knew Marinette and Chat Noir worked together that night. Yet, Adrien-you approached Marinette-me and asked what I thought about Chat Noir.”
“Please tell me there’s no more of my reckless behaviour that could possibly scream Adrien Agreste is Chat Noir,” he grimaced.
“You’ll be surprised,” she winked. And he groaned.
“Those two might have been coincidences, but not this next one. Does ‘Tom Style: Booyah!’ remind you of anything?”
“Wow I really need to stop being so careless, who would have thought!” Chat was hiding his face behind his hands.
Ladybug started listing more. “There’s also that time where Jagged Stone tried being a baker on a reality show, and basically flashed my room full of Adrien’s photos on national TV. And you were acting all smug about it the next day, very Chat-like might I add. And our train ride to London, Chat Noir—”
“Okay, okay, I get it. I leave tons of clues, sheesh.”
It was quiet again and Ladybug went back to admiring the many glimmers that hung above. Ladybug sensed a change in the mood surrounding them and hoped that he wouldn’t ask what she thinks he’d ask.
“So, how long have you known?”
And there it was. “You know how long, Adrien,” as if pleading him to drop the questioning.
“Yeah, but do you know since when?”
“S-since the first year we got our Miraculouses,” she confirmed, hugging her knees.
“Is there a reason why you didn’t tell me in the first instance possible?” He asked gently.
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Adrien. I do, I really do, but Master Fu said… he said our identities must remain a secret.” Ladybug tried to reason with him.
“I know you do, and I have no doubt about that. And Master Fu did say that, didn’t he? But you still knew about Rena Rouge and Carapace.”
“They were needed for our battles, and you knew about Queen Bee.” But her determination was wearing thin, and she knew she wasn’t making any sense.
“And so did you.”
Ladybug kept quiet and was looking at everything else but Chat.
“Marinette, if identities were so important, Master Fu would have made sure you didn’t know about Rena Rouge’s and Carapace’s, you know that.” Adrien's voice was really soft, the softest it has been the whole day. “Queen Bee was an unfortunate case that the whole of Paris knows.”
She still wasn’t looking at him.
“Marinette, is there something you’re hiding?” Chat shifted towards her.
And yet, she didn’t utter a single word.
“My lady?” He had begun to hold her as he witnessed her eyes welling up.
She wiped her tears with the back of her hands, but they continued falling.
He looked at her earnestly before he went ahead to wipe her tears with his thumb, mindful of his claws. Chat then placed a hand at the back of her head, and pulled her into his embrace, rubbing circles on her back. He figured that if she didn’t want to talk about it, the least he could do was calm her down.
“I-I’m guessing that you figured out my identity this afternoon? When y-you were almost akumatised?” She started.
Ladybug felt a nod at her shoulder, and she continued.
She heaved a deep sigh and wrapped her arms around him. “In… in another timeline, we knew each other’s identities in the first year we got our Miraculouses. And we were in love.”
Chat went rigid with his ministrations.
“I… I don’t really know the details, but it… it was our love that destroyed the world.”
He felt a vicious chill spread through his core. Chat pulled back to look at Ladybug, eyes conveying desperation that this where it stopped, that it couldn’t possibly get any worse than this.
Ladybug held his gaze for a while before looking up. “This moon above us, it’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
Chat didn’t know where this was going, but he looked up nonetheless. The moon was indeed very pretty, gleaming brightly against the clear blue-black sky that made sure all focus was on it.
“In that timeline, this very same moon was split into half," she paused. "By you. Akumatised you.”
Chat whipped his head back down to her, gaze wavering as a feeling of disorientation blanketed him.
Ladybug fiercely pulled him back into her embrace, instantly regretting the way she had delivered the news to him. “Do you see it now?” She wept. “The reason why I was so hesitant to reveal myself to you?" She gripped on him firmly, afraid that he'd run away.
Chat’s vision had turned blurry, and he squeezed her. “Then why did you reveal yourself now? If you knew this was going to happen.”
“I… I figure the reveal was going to happen sooner or later, and y-you were akumatised because of something entirely different. And honestly, I am so exhausted about everything.”
They basked in the silence together, sniffling and trying to stop their tears from flowing.
“So what are we going to do now?” Chat whispered.
“I really don’t know, I’m just glad that you didn’t get akumatised and I didn’t have to fight you.” She hugged him tighter than what he thought was possible.
Chat slowly pried himself away from her to look at her. With his hand at the back of her head, he pulled it forward and kissed her forehead. She froze.
“Adrien, what are you doing?”
“I love you.” Ladybug opened her mouth but he cut her to it. “You’re always thinking about others even while going through hell all by yourself. You’ve been through so much. I’m so sorry for not being there for you, and I thank you for sharing this with me, Marinette. I love you, so, so much. For being so brave, for being all that you are.”
Her tears flowed down her face like a river escaping a dam, comparable to the speed of her thoughts running through her mind. All the ‘could haves’ she might have experienced with Adrien if it wasn’t for her fears. And the possible devastation that may happen if she went ahead with what her alternate self did.
“Adrien, I don’t know if you know this, but I love you too, romantically. Ever since the first day we’ve met. But...”
To say that didn’t break his heart would have been the joke of the century, but…
“I understand Marinette,” he smiled weakly, “but please stop pushing me away. Even if not romantically, I want to be there for you every step of the way.”
“I’m doing fine Adrien...” She looked away.
Adrien felt disheartened. But he didn’t want to give up, not yet, never. He cupped her face to look at him.
“Marinette, you’ve been waiting all this time, haven’t you?” Marinette didn’t think Adrien’s voice could go even softer than before, but it did. “Since 3 years ago, for someone to save you from this helplessness, for someone to share this burden with you. Let me be that person for you.”
Marinette sometimes could perfectly explain what she saw in Chat. His desire to lighten up other people’s day, his unyielding trust in her, among many many others. But other times, she wasn’t able to, because it was indefinable. It’s just the way he was able to take her to places where no one else could. Maybe, it's time she finally let go of all the burdens she has had and shared them with someone, with her kitty.
“I’ll always be here, my lady.”
She raised her arms to hold his face in her hands—
“I am so sorry.”
—and pressed her lips onto his.
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chrwrites · 4 years
Text
Take Me As You Please - Chapter 2
read on ao3
Ch 1
When Marinette got home, she was welcomed by the smell of basil and her mum’s warm smile “How was your day, dear?”
It was heavy, I feel like shit and I just want to go to sleep.
“It was alright” was all she said while she took a plate of fresh trofie with pesto and sat at the dining table.
Her parents talked about their day as Marinette forced herself to eat at least half the portion she was given, she wasn’t going to starve herself because her two-year crush found someone better than her, was she? She took another forkful of green covered pasta as she realized that that colour was the same as the eyes that looked at her just as a friend. Oh, didn’t her mind come up with weird connections.
She twirled the fork in her hand before she heard her dad’s voice call her name, and looked up from her plate to find a worried look on her parents’ face. She knew what was coming, she had been awfully silent for the whole meal and of course they had noticed despite her trying to hide it.
 “Are you alright?” her dad asked.
Of course I am! It’s not like Adrien has started dating my friend and I have to force myself to be happy for them and it sucks that I missed every opportunity I had to confess to him in the first place and I hate myself for this.
“Yeah! I’m just tired, today’s been a long day,” think Marinette, you’re the master of making up excuses “I spent the afternoon working on some new designs and Luka asked me if I could design something for his friend's band. I thought about what I could do so much that I got tired, that's all!” this time making up something wasn’t even difficult since it was kind of the truth. Marinette flashed a smile at them, thinking about it, she hadn’t texted Luka yet. She took her phone from her pocket and typed a quick message under the table.
Hey, I'm home!
“Oh, that’s great! What are you going to do?” Tom asked, eager to know what his daughter had in mind this time.
“I don’t know yet, I still have to talk about the whole concept with the band, in fact I should talk to Luka about it. I’m going to my room!” she got up from her chair, but as she was about to take her half full plate and put it away, her mum gently put a hand on hers to stop her “You don’t have to clean up tonight, I’ll take care of it. Go get some rest, dear” she said showing a reassuring smile.
“Thank you, mama” Marinette gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and walked out of the room.
She let out a sigh of relief as soon as she collapsed on the chaise longue in the corner of her room.
“Mariette, how are you feeling?” Tikki’s small voice talked to her ear hesitantly.
“Awful” was all she managed to say before tears started streaming from her eyes and the small Kwami floated around her face trying to stop her tears from falling, whispering words of comfort.
“It’s gonna be alright Marinette, you’re not alone” the red creature said sweetly when Marinette’s sobs got lighter.
“I-I know, if… if I can save Paris… someone not... liking me back is… nothing… right?” she blurted out. At least she could count on the little creature floating across her face for any of her problems, she could fully be herself with Tikki without being afraid to give in too much information since they knew everything. The Kwami also helped her avoid to be swallowed by dark thoughts and the risk that getting akumatized implied, Marinette couldn’t be other than grateful for them.
“You need time for yourself dear, just this. And if you really want to compare this experience to what you’ve gone through as Ladybug you can, but don’t use it to belittle what you’re feeling right now, or to not feel it at all. Unfortunately, you have to go through this before you can get over it” Tikki said in a soft voice and put a small hand on her face, the delicate touch refreshing Marinette’s irritated skin. How long had she been crying? “I know it’s gonna be hard, but it will get better. I promise” the small creature concluded and floated around the room to get a tissue for her holder. Marinette thanked them and wiped the tears from her face, giving her Kwami a small smile as they gave her a tiny kiss on her cheek. She laid on her back in the chaise longue, taking deep and steady breaths to make sure she had completely calmed down before standing up.
Her heart still hurt when she got up, but there was a tiny hint of hope in her to make that weight somewhat easier to carry. She decided to take a shower before changing into her pyjamas and when she got to bed, she checked her phone. There were messages from the groupchat she had with her friends, a text from Alya, and Luka’s answer to her text.
She skimmed through the messages in the groupchat and found a few memes that made her chuckle. Tikki, who was lying on her shoulder, gave her a curious look.
In her message, Alya asked if it was alright if she could come over in the afternoon, Marinette typed in an affirmative answer and then checked Luka’s chat.
so you did remember to text me uh?
i was starting to get worried ahah
Yeah, sorry about that
I got distracted
it’s fine mari, you don’t owe me any explanation
i’m glad you got home safe
are you feeling any better?
Marinette stared at her screen for a moment, she didn’t know why she was surprised at the fact that Luka cared about her when he always made it clear, he was the most genuine guy she’s ever known apart from A– never mind, if she thought about him she would've started crying again.
Yeah, thank you for asking
I don't feel like thinking about it tho
She was typing something to divert the attention from her, something like how are YOU feeling? She really wanted to focus on him, they were always talking about her and how she felt. Luka so selflessly put himself aside for her and never talked about things that bothered him, but Marinette felt like he needed to let out his thoughts too, and she knew he did it through music but she wanted to be there for him just like he was there for her. Her phone vibrated in her hands as a new message appeared in the chat.
i might have something that won’t make you think about it ;)
There was an mp3 file titled “sleep alone” attached to the message, was that a new song? What would it be about? The title didn’t really convince her, it made her imagine it was a song about being lonely and it really wasn’t what she needed, but she trusted Luka enough to know he would never do anything that could’ve made her feel worse. It must have been the quiet tune she heard him play when she got on the Liberty that same afternoon. Eager to listen to his new creation, she grabbed her earphones from her nightstand, put an earbud on and passed the other one to her Kwami in order to let them listen too.
When she pressed play, the sound of Lukas’s acoustic guitar filled her head. It wasn’t the mellow song he was playing on the deck that afternoon. This one was energetic yet sweet, and she could hear Luka's voice humming along the upbeat melody. The happy, comforting sound made Marinette feel lighter. The melody ran quicker before ending with a slower, gentler tune as she was smiling in awe at her phone screen. Her heart felt full and less lonely, she wondered how Luka could be so good at comforting people just with his guitar, or through his light touches.
“Wow, that was very good!” the carefree feeling of the song caught Tikki as well who was now flying around Marinette’s face happily singing the melody, Marinette watched the red spot dance around her delighted and couldn’t help but agree.
LUKA I LOVE THIS IT’S BEAUTIFUL
YOU’RE SO TALENTED
THANK YOU THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED
I FEEL WAY BETTER NOW
But why did you name it sleep alone?
I was expecting something completely different given the title tbh
Of course she had to ask, it wouldn’t be like her not wanting to know all the details behind the songs he wrote. Sometimes he would tell her, sometimes he would be cryptic and she wouldn’t be able to grasp the concept behind his art. Marinette knew Luka was very reserved about the meaning behind the songs, probably the only people to know the real meaning behind them were Juleka and Rose because they were directly involved in the whole song writing process. Marinette remembered Luka saying something about him having song writing sessions with someone else, but she never questioned it further since she didn’t want to sound invasive.
you’ll know it if i get to convince the band to play it next week
i’m happy it helped you feel better
now get some sleep mari, it’s late and you need to rest
goodnight xx.
Ugh, fine
I’ll help you convince them if I have to
Goodnight Luka, thank you for being there for me
Marinette put her phone on the nightstand, wished Tikki goodnight and closed her eyes. She drifted to sleep as Luka’s song was playing in her head like a lullaby, making her feel safe and peaceful. She couldn’t imagine that her friend, in his bedroom, was still staring at his phone screen.
That’s exactly what I needed.
Knowing that he made Marinette happy, Luka felt fulfilled, and he tried to ignore the pit forming in his stomach. That’s exactly what I needed. He knew she didn’t mean this the way he wished she meant it, but he couldn’t help but think that he could give her what she needed. That’s exactly what I needed. The words didn’t leave his mind. That’s exactly what I needed. He wanted to be everything she needed. He wanted to hold her, comfort her, hold her hand, take her out… Hell, he’d even serenade her. That’s exactly what I needed.
But to her, Luka was just a friend, a very close friend indeed, but still a friend. Thank you for being there for me. He could only dream about keeping her closer the way more than friends did and holding her in his sleep. Maybe he had to stop thinking about her in that way and not write songs about her anymore, but every time he looked at Marinette, the melody of her heart played in his head louder and louder. He wished he could listen to it forever. That’s exactly what he needed.
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jalytown · 4 years
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Okay so these days I literally have two braincells: one for pjo and one for mlb (with half sometimes for atla)
but then one day the two braincells collided and I haven’t stopped thinking about a percy jackson miraculous AU since HNGGG
I’m sure I’m not the first to have thought about this but I have a Need and this is 100% self indulgent I am so sorry
I’m still figuring out some parts about it but this is what I got so far:
Pretty expected and self explanatory but yeah Annabeth is Ladybug and Percy is Chat Noir
I guess they protect New York now tho??? But yeah i mean they go to the same school and all that of course
Just like in the show, Chat Noir loves Ladybug and Annabeth loves Percy but they are idiots and dance around each other
But also I swear at the very least Annabeth figures it out eventually because she has a little more braincells than the two idiots
Annabeth’s crush isn’t like Marinette’s though where she fumbles and is a Mess, it’s more like she’s extra mean to Percy for some reason and he doesn’t understand why
Yes I’m basically saying Tsundere Annabeth but it’s lowkey canon in the pjo books anyway so it’s absolutely perfect
Also Percy being as oblivious as Adrien is so correct I’m absolutely d e c e a s e d
Chat Noir is essentially the same, maybe a lot more sarcastic than flirty because it’s Percy but yeah he’s got it pretty bad for Ladybug but what’s new
You can’t tell me the Percabeth dynamic doesn’t have LadyNoir energy you CANT
As for civilian life I kinda mixed them up?
Annabeth has the overbearing family that have way too high expectations of her
Her dad is a well known historian and has to keep up a certain image in the academe so he expects flawless grades, proper behavior, etc.
Her stepmom is just downright nasty i guess???
But she gets the whole “designer” thing of Mari but this time yeah architect (wow im so big brain)
Percy has the whole loving warm family with Sally and (stepdad) Paul
They own a bookstore/cafe hybrid where his mom bakes the treats AND sells her books (wow sally really out here being legendary huh)
And to parallel Adrien he can be a beloved, famous athlete (aka swimmer because duh) I guess??? I mean 5 million people already have crushes on him in the books so really what’s the difference HAHA
As for the besties Grover is definitely Percy’s “Nino” i mean cMO N and idk but I’m feeling Piper as Alya
It’s also totally not because Grover would be fantastic as Carapace (because PROTECTOR) and Piper is a perfect Rena Rouge WHAT DO U MEAN SHHH
Ooooo and as for the drama and a n g s t?
Annabeth has run away a couple of times and it was then she met Luke and Thalia who kept her safe and helped her eventually go back home each time
But then one day something happens with Thalia (surprise surprise)
Annabeth and Luke are heartbroken of course but something inside of Luke just snaps
...i think y’all already know where I’m going with this HAHAHA
So yeah Luke becomes Hawkmoth and all that and honestly him manipulating literal children is already canon anyway SO
I’m super obsessed with this okay i might actually even write smth MAYBE IDK
And since there are a lot of Miraculous and all that it’s kinda perfect for the Seven and Nico and Reyna but I have to sort them all out first so uh YEAH
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ladyanput · 4 years
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Seeing Green Ch. 2
Oh wow! Thanks for 115 followers, guys!
I'm going to put in a minor warning for you guys, of stalking and a bit of voyeurism. Nothing graphic, it's only mentioned is all.
[[MORE]]
"Am I being stupid with this?" Marinette stared at herself in the mirror, fretting over the grey knit dress she wore, nervously tugging it down lower on her stocking covered legs. Her gaze flickered down to Tikki casually sitting on the vanity table, nibbling on a cookie. "I mean, I just met him this morning, Tikki, and I'm going on a date with him tonight. What if he thinks I'm easy? That I'm some French floozy?"
"Marinette, this doesn't have to be a romantic date." Tikki flew up, slowly circling her Holder, before hovering before her face. She offered a kind smile. "This can be a date for you to get to know each other. And you can't get to know each other unless you spend time together, right?"
"You're right, I'm just overthinking things again." Marinette let out a small giggle, then took a seat at the vanity. She had chosen to let her hair loose, the dark waves reaching far past her shoulders, as she had decided to grow it out forever ago. She smiled at her reflection, then began painting her lips a soft pink colour, as Tikki returned to her cookie, munching happily. "He's not expecting anything, I'm sure. I.. I won't go further than a kiss. If he tries anything, I'll just drop him altogether."
"You're taking Eva's advice on dating again." Tikki giggled, watching Marinette pick up her signature purse, the kwami quickly flying inside. Marinette merely smiled in response, heading towards the elevators. As soon as she pressed the button, she heard a door open. She turned to see Alix stepping into the hall, frowning.
"You going on your date?" Alix sounded stiff, awkward when she spoke. Marinette merely blinked, and Alix's face reddened, and she crossed her arms. "Listen, just.. Don't let him get up to any funny business. I'm not.. I haven't been the greatest friend, I've been a real shitty one, but I still worry. I.. I know she's lying now. I should have before, but I was stupid."
"Alix, what.." Marinette shut her mouth as soon as she saw tears welling up in Alix's eyes, but she stubbornly refused to shed.
"I should have fucking known. I kinda did, but I didn't want to get in the middle of the shitshow, so I tried to stay neutral. But today, we left you behind in Gotham, a place that's really dangerous. And I'm sitting with Lila and Alya, listening about how you're mooching off this hot intern to make Adrien jealous, maybe get a threesome, and I'm just sitting there thinking 'aren't they worried about her? This is Gotham, the Joker and people are here. This isn't Paris, people get kidnapped and die here, and they stay dead, there's no Cure!'
"And I try and bring this up, and Alya has the fucking nerve to say that you deserve whatever you get, because you're a worse bully, have been ever since Chloe transferred to a different school. It.. It was a wake up call for me, Mari, and I realized how much I screwed up and that I was so horrible to you. We all have been. And I'm sorry, I really am.. And.. Please, be safe. I want you to come back safe."
"Alix..." Marinette stepped forward and hugged Alix tightly, surprising the girl. She felt tears in her eyes, and let them fall as she hugged Alix tightly. Something in her that had long since been locked away, came forth. "I am so happy to hear that. I... I've missed you. I miss all of you."
Marinette pulled away after a few minutes, wiped away the tears, and smiled brilliantly, a real smile.
 "And don't worry, I can take care of myself. If he tries anything, I'll make sure he'll never walk right again." The fierce grin she gave caused Alix to burst into laughter. 
"Not if I get to him first. He does anything funny, they'll never find the body!"
Both girls shared grins, once destroyed bridges finally beginning to mend.
When Marinette got down to the lobby, she felt a little better. It wasn't by much, but that bit certainly helped lift her mood. She smiled at the sight of Damian standing in the lobby. He was a really handsome guy. Tall, broad shoulders, dark messy hair, he even had muscle, muscle that could be well seen with the black turtleneck he wore. 
In her unashamed ogling, she hadn't noticed that he was talking with someone. Or that that someone was Miss Bourbon, who did not seem impressed with whatever Damian was telling her.
Mari rushed over before the TA could scare her date away.
"Hello Miss Bourbon, I take it you're giving Damian a lecture." She spoke up, grinning when she saw pink dust the older woman's cheeks. 
"Not a lecture. Just a warning that you're my student, and if anything happens to you, I'll bring the wrath of Hades down upon him." Eva grinned, and giggled with Mari, before turning back to Damian. "But in all seriousness, I want her back by nine o'clock sharp. We're going to Gotham City Park tomorrow for a picnic, and we don't want the students abandoning Marinette again."
"Completely understood." Damian gave her a small smile, then held out his arm for Marinette to take. Even Eva had to admit, Damian was an attractive man, not that she'd touch him. A twenty three year old should never go after a seventeen year old. Ever. "I will just be taking Marinette out for dinner, then I'll bring her straight back."
"Well, good.. I understand the whole… Young love thing, just don't go overboard, okay?" Eva found herself smiling at Damian, then gave Mari a wink. "An old lady like myself knows exactly how that type of thing can go badly."
"Bon soir, Evangeline. I'll bring you a piece of cheesecake, if they have any where we're eating at." Marinette assured her, before she was guided out of the building. They were greeted with the sight of a driver opening the door of a very expensive looking car for them. "Damian.. You… You have a personal driver?"
"It's not too much, is it? I just thought it would be easier to talk to you, if I didn't have any distractions." Damian gave an almost embarrassed smile, helping Marinette into the car, then sliding in after her. As their thighs pressed together, Marinette could feel the heat radiating off of him, and her heart began slowly picking up speed. "You know, your English is pretty good for someone from France."
"O-oh, thanks. Miss Evangeline is from Canada, she came to France to strengthen her French. So she helped me with English, while I helped her with French. A fair trade." Mari felt her cheeks go scarlet, trying to ignore the heat of him, of his charming smile. It should be illegal to look so good. "She.. She really cares, you know? Miss Bustier, she wants you to ignore what anyone does bad to you, she wants you to be an example to the bullies, to cause little fuss, just smile and be the bigger person."
"So, what you're telling me,is that you are being gaslighted by your teacher, you are being bullied by everyone in your class, and only a person from a different country believes you?" Damian's brows rose, and Marinette glanced down at her folded hands, then clenched them tightly to keep them from trembling. "Do you want me to kidnap you, so that you'll never have to deal with them again?"
"What? No, no, it's fine! I just have to deal with them until graduation. Besides, some of them are coming around." Marinette shook her head, Alix flashing in her mind, but she ignored it and smiled up at Damian once again. "Let's not talk about it, okay? I want to get to know you better. I like you Damian, but I don't really know anything about you. I don't even know your last name."
They shared a smile, and began to talk as they drove along the streets of Gotham. Marinette explaining how her parents were bakers, of her aspirations in fashion, meanwhile Damian went on about his father and brothers, though he was very careful not to mention his last name. He liked how Marinette looked at him. At him because he was Damian, not because he was Damian Wayne. He wasn't lying to her, but he wanted to keep that look, at least for tonight. 
"I mean, life has been hectic, ever since the akuma attacks started a few years ago.." Marinette began, as the car slowed to a stop. Damian's brows drew together as he thought over her words. 
"Akuma attacks? What's an akuma?"
"Master Damian, we have arrived." The driver spoke out, cutting off Marinette's attempts to respond. The two exchanged a glance before they climbed out of the car, standing before a small diner. Damian took Marinette's dainty hand into his massive one, and guided her inside.
When they stepped inside, Marinette decided it felt warm and comfy there. It was a quaint diner, a few people scattered here and there, enjoying warm meals. It was a relief, so see this, instead of some upscale restaurant where it would be so fancy, her head would spin. The smells of spices and something faintly citrusy filled the air, as a perky waitress guided the couple to a booth, then left them alone with their menus and ice water.
"Now.. Want to explain what an akuma is?" Damian glanced up, meeting Marinette's gaze. He noted out her hands tensed, gripping her menu tighter.
"You really don't know what an akuma is? But they've been terrorizing Paris for years, how can no one know about them?" Her voice became soft, hollow as she spoke, those blue eyes of hers seeming to close off their expressive nature. "How is that possible? Is that why.. Why the Justice League wouldn't come and help? Because they didn't think it was actually happening?"
"Marinette? Angel, are you alright?" Damian touched her hand, drawing Marinette from her odd trance she went under. She seemed a bit shaken, but forced a smile and returned to reading the menu. Damian took that as a sight to refrain from pushing the subject. So he gave her hand a gentle squeeze, and went back to look at his menu as well. Maybe chicken alfredo would be nice.
Chat Noir scowled as he watched the diner from across the street, perched on a building. He didn't like the guy Marinette was out with. He just didn't seem right. It's not because Adrien was jealous, not at all. Marinette was just a friend. Or would be a friend, if she'd stop trying to expose Lila. He didn't want to have to deal with Lila being akumatized. Again. For the tenth time.
He snarled when he watched Marinette blush, watched her and the intern guy laughed. He didn't miss the body language they had towards each other. Chat Noir tried to assure himself that it was only physical attraction. That when Mari saw passed the guy's shiny exterior, she'd see he's only after a quick fling with a cute girl from France.
A very cute girl. When he had seen Marinette step into the lobby, dressed up for a date, a part of him wanted to go over and take her on that date. Maybe convince her to wear her pigtails again, cut her hair again. He wanted her back to the way she was, before Lila, before that stupid miss Evangeline and her encouraging Marinette to stick up to herself, to rock the boat.
You never rock the fucking boat. Ever. 
Chat Noir sat there for hours, scowling. He shouldn't be this hung up on a friend. He had His Lady afterall. His courageous, gorgeous Ladybug. She was waiting back for him in Paris. He had a new idea for trying to get a date with her. He was Chaos, she was Balance. They were meant to be, she just needed to realize it.
He was brought out of his daydreams of kissing Ladybug, stripping her out of her costume, but watching Marinette and Damian leaving the diner. He hated how cuddly they were. His claws dug into the stone of the ridge he was sitting on. 
He followed the fancy car back to the hotel, watching as Damien walked Mari up to the doors of the hotel. His jaw clenched when Marinette kissed Damian on the cheek, leaving the guy looking dumbstruck as she practically flounced into the hotel, like she was floating on air.
Fury curled in Chat's gut and he launched himself onto the roof that was opposite of Marinette's room. He had to warn his princess, he couldn't let her get hurt, not by some sleazy rich guy she barely knew.
And he sat there, watching her enter her room, opening her purse, and his heart stopped. The flying red kwami had bolted from the purse and flying around Marinette, the two obviously in quite giddy conversation.
And it clicked.
Marinette… Was Ladybug. His Princess was his Lady. And everything in the past made so much more sense. He grinned, realizing now why he was so protective of Marinette. Soulmates knew each other outside of the masks, so that's why he knew her, but didn't realize it.
So Chat sat there, grinning, as Marinette stripped off her knit dress, taking in her beauty. She had grown such beautiful curves over the past few years, she had such pretty skin. When she unhooked her bra, he purred, already lost in a daydream of him being in that room with her, carefully caressing her and making her his. And he could practically taste the salt on her skin, as she whispered his name. His green eyes stayed transfixed on her, as she stripped before his eyes.
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salthaven · 5 years
Text
Make a Change P6
Part Six
    Marinette is beaming as she walks home, and she’s all too happy to tell Tikki about her day (even though Tikki was right there with her the whole time).
    “And then it caught on fire! And Claude was just laughing like a mad scientist, it was amazing!”
    Tikki giggles with Marinette. “I’m glad that you had such a wonderful first day, Marinette.”
    “Me too. I was worried that it’d be difficult to switch schools, but I’ve already met some really great people, and they seem to like me, too!”
    “They do!” Tikki reassures, then lets out a small peep before diving into the bluenette’s purse. Confused, Marinette looks up.
    Her day gets a little bit worse, because her old best friend, Alya, is waiting outside of the bakery.
    Alya spots her a second after Tikki is hidden away, and Marinette can see the guilty frown on her face. She wonders, briefly, what happened in the one day Marinette’s been gone.
    She doesn’t have to wait to find out.
    “Mari!” Alya shouts, racing to reach Marinette. But when she reaches the designer, she hesitates, arms extended but not pulling Marinette into a hug. Instead, she retracts her arms, pulling them to her chest.
    So something did happen. Marinette feels wary, and takes a small step back.
    Alya notices, and the guilt in her expression worsens.
    “Mari, I just wanted to say I am so sorry. I should’ve listened to you about Lila, she’s an awful liar who needs to be taken down and-”
    “What did she do?” Marinette interrupts with a sigh, and that seems to confuse Alya.
    “You- you’re not upset?”
    “Why would I be? I knew she’d keep lying. But what did she do?”
    “She claimed that she was Rena Rouge.”
    Marinette feels disappointment and bitterness run through her veins. Because of course that’s why Alya finally believes that Lila is a liar. Because of course Marinette’s constant comments and truths weren’t enough. Because of course it only mattered when it involved Alya’s secret identity.
    Really, she should have known.
    (The joke really is on them, Marinette decides, because Rena Rouge is permanently retired as of the past weekend. So neither is the Fox heroine.)
    Realizing that she should be reacting, Marinette rolls her eyes. “Wow, she really went all out, didn’t she? But Alya?”
    “Yeah, girl?” Alya asks, eyes filled with confusion. She doesn’t understand Marinette right now, it’s obvious.
    (Marinette wonders how much Alya ever understood her. She doesn’t want to know the answer, she feels like she’ll be even more disappointed.)
    “Where’s your proof?”
    “What?!”
    “I mean, sure, I wouldn’t believe that Lila is Rena Rouge, because Lila is nothing like a hero should be, but how did you figure it out?”
    “Because, uh, Rena and Carapace are in love!”
    “And how do you know that?” Marinette raises an eyebrow. “It’s not like they ever announced it.”
    “They told me! I just didn’t post it!”
    “Oh, so you won’t post something heroes willingly tell you, but the kiss between Ladybug and Chat Noir from when they had no memories is something that should definitely go on your blog?”
    (Yes, she’s still upset about it. Chat hadn’t dropped the idea for weeks.)
    Alya has the sense to wince at Marinette’s words, but then she glares at Marinette. “Why are you so upset over this? Shouldn’t you be happy? I know she’s a liar, girl, and we can call her out for all of her lies now! Nino knows, too, so he’s on our side. I’m sure, together, we can get Adrien to believe us, and then they all will.”
    “Oh, Adrien knows.” Marinette shrugs, but she sees how shock runs through Alya.
    “What?! What do you mean he knows already?”
    “He knew from the beginning. Because remember when you, the reporter, asked me for proof? Remember how I admitted the fact that I followed Adrien, and saw Lila claiming she was a hero, and then Ladybug herself came out of the trees to call Lila a liar. Do you remember how you and Nino immediately jumped on my case for stalking him, but not paying a single thought to the main point of the story, which was my proof?”
    Alya nods, cringing as she recalls the day. “Yeah. I’m so sorry, girl, I-”
    “Didn’t even pay attention to the fact that Adrien was there? Because he was, and if you had asked him, he wouldn’t have lied to you. He may have tried to convince you that it didn’t matter, that lies don’t hurt anyone, but he would’ve told you the truth in private. But you didn’t care about the truth, did you? You just cared about what sounded best.”
    “Hey!” Alya shouts, enraged. “That was uncool! What’s gotten into you, girl? I would’ve thought you’d be jumping over the moon! I mean, come on! We know she’s a liar, and there’s no way Adrien would ever date a liar.”
    Marinette sees red, and has to take a deep breath before responding. She is not getting Akumatized over something so petty. “Alya, I’m done.”
    “What?”
    “I’m done, Alya. I’m done caring about Lila. I’m done caring about the fact that you never believed me about Lila, but only believe it because of your obsession with the heroes. I’m done caring about the class, because they stopped caring about me. I was alone, and hurt, and all of you blamed me for my feelings. You pinned it on jealousy, Alya. And you’re still pinning this on jealousy. But you can believe whatever you want, because I’m not there. I’m not there, and I have no reason to care what you guys think about me anymore. I have no reason to worry about what Lila does, or who Adrien dates. I’m out.” The words hurt to say, but Marinette forces them out. Because it’s the truth, no matter how much she used to believe otherwise. 
    Alya reels back from Marinette’s words. “You- you don’t care?”
    “What good would it do? I’d just be disappointed.”
    “But what about the class? We’re all your friends, we care about you!”
    “No, you don’t. You guys were all too willing to believe lies about me, to hate me, over things that I’d never do. Stealing? Cheating on exams? Pushing a girl down the stairs? Really, the fact that they believed it all is proof that they didn’t truly care about me or know me.”
    “But- but what about me? I believed you, girl!”
    “For once. That’s the first time you were on my side since Lila came. You do realize that, right?”
    Alya sputters, then smirks. “And what about Adrien? You’re head over heels for him, I doubt changing schools would change that!”
    Marinette sighs, then admits, “I’m moving on.”
    “What? How?!” Alya gapes, as if Marinette had just slapped her.
    Marinette shrugs, glancing at the school. She sees Adrien and Kagami walking to a waiting car, fencing must be over.
    She threw out his schedule Friday night, so she has no clue what he’s doing. It feels...good. Relieving.
    “I don’t want to date someone who tells me to hide my feelings. I don’t want to love a guy who thinks keeping the bully’s feelings first, and the victim’s second, is the right thing to do. I don’t want a guy who won’t protect me like I’d protect him.” 
Marinette continues staring at the car. Adrien looks up. Marinette can’t read the expression on his face. 
She looks away. “So I’m moving on from him.”
Alya deflates, eyes saddening. “So you’re...you’re just leaving us all? That’s it? No second chances, no forgiveness?”
    “I’ve given second chances. And thirds. And fourths. I can’t keep doing this to myself, I can’t keep setting myself up for inevitable failure. So I’m giving up, I’m quitting, I’m walking away from whatever this class has become. Because it’s not good for me to care anymore. Because my new school has people who actually care about me as a person and not a means to an end, or whatever you all saw me as.”
    Alya sniffs, and Marinette can see tears. Her heart lurches, but she doesn’t move to comfort her now ex-best friend. She can’t keep doing this.
    “I- I see. I’m sorry we made you feel that way…” Alya looks away, hugging herself. “Does this mean I’ll never see you again?”
    Marinette knows she should say yes, that she wants Alya out of her life. But despite everything, she still latches onto the memories of the past, of when she believed the class cared about her and was on her side.
    “I’m sure we’ll see each other sometimes,” She says instead, trying to be consoling. “We may not be...friends, anymore, but we aren’t enemies.”
    Alya flinches, then nods, swiping at her eyes. “Of course. Gotcha. I, um, I gotta go. Babysitting.” Then she runs off. 
    Marinette doesn’t call her out for the lie. It doesn’t matter, anyways.
~~~~~
At last, I have returned! Here’s some salt, thanks for coming!
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thewritewolf · 4 years
Text
Clever Like a Fox
Summary: A few years down the line and while the face of the enemy has changed, the ones who fight for what's right haven't. Heroes once thought retired return to the fold, leading to Rena Rouge sharing a patrol with Snake Noir. It might be a quiet night, but Alya always has something to say - in the mask, or out of it.
Hello and welcome to my first of four entries for Adrien AUGreste! This will be the final part of my six-month adventure with daily prompts, starting with Marinette March. I had originally intended to do the full month, but at this point I'm too exhausted to do a long-form fic like that again.
Now, the week's prompt was Snake Noir, and the daily prompts I used were Oblivious, Civilian, and Unify.
@adrienaugust
Enjoy!
Read on Ao3
Years passed for Ladybug and Chat Noir. Circumstances changed, as they often do - Hawkmoth was gone and another villain emerged from the woodwork to make sure the two of them didn’t get too much of a vacation. Of course, with the fall of Hawkmoth, that opened up opportunities that had been closed for far too long.
When the villain made themselves known a second time, they weren’t just facing Ladybug and Chat Noir. Carapace and Rena Rouge had joined them - this time, on a much more permanent basis. After all, Marinette had argued that the kwami had been locked up for too long. They needed to see the world, be with people, if they were going to be effective.
Which was part of the reason it wasn’t Chat Noir and Rena Rouge on patrol for tonight, but rather Snake Noir and Rena Rouge. Neither was the other’s ideal partner for patrol, but Ladybug could only be in one place at a time and she was busy tonight working on her piece for the summer fashion show, her big debut in the industry.
And Adrien intended to be there… as supportive as a friend could be.
“So… what’s on your mind, big cat?”
Snake Noir looked over at Rena Rouge, her back against a section of wall facing him, laying along the edge of the building that he was dangling his legs over. She was watching him curiously.
“Nothing much, I guess,” he said with a sigh.
The silence stretched on, awkward and uncomfortable. It was at this moment that he realized that of their little group of friends, he spent the least time with Alya. With the two of them, it had always felt more like they were the friends of friends rather than being close themselves.
“Nino been up to anything recently?” He retreated to safe, common ground.
“He’s your best bud as well as my fiance,” Rena said with a raised eyebrow. “Something tells me you’ve got just as good a scoop on him as I do.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Snake Noir picked up a small rock that was on the roof and turned it over in his hands before dropping it into the empty street below.
Another stretch of silence passed between them, ended only when Rena sighed loudly and stood up.
“Okay, big cat, how about you help me out with the Ladyblog?”
“What?” He looked up at her, a confused look on his face. “Do you want to drop your transformation and have me give an interview?”
“No, don’t be crazy,” Rena said, waving with her hand as if she could physically brush away the idea. “It is too late in the day for an interview to not look fake. But!” She grinned and raised a finger. “If the Ladyblogger just so happened to spot two patrolling heroes during her nighttime jog, I’m sure they would love to give their favorite journalist a selfie.”
“Oh would they now?” Snake Noir smirked despite himself. “Sounds awfully generous of them. Especially Rena Rouge since she’d have to be in two places at once.”
Rena Rouge made a disapproving noise. “Poor, poor Chat. Your mind is closed to the possibilities.”
Snake Noir raised an eyebrow at her. “That so?”
“Yes. What you don’t realize is that I don’t need to be in two places at once. I just need to look like I am.” She grinned and pulled out her flute, giving it a twirl.
Snake Noir frowned. “I don’t know… Ladybug doesn’t like us abusing our powers like that.”
“It's not like we have a timer to worry about.” Rena rolled her eyes. “Besides this helps throw people off my scent. Otherwise, having no foxy hero pics taken by me on the blog looks supes suspicious.”
“Hm… alright, I guess,” Snake Noir conceded and stood up. “Where do you want to have this spontaneous photo op take place?”
“That’s the tricky question.” Rena Rouge hummed in thought and tapped at her chin. “Somewhere that looks like I could have been just passing through, with enough light for the photo, and empty enough that there won��t be anyone around to poke holes in my story.”
It would take ten minutes of combing through the city before she found her perfect spot, but Snake Noir didn’t mind. Years of modeling had given him a good eye for ideal photoshoot locations and eventually it was him that found the ideal place for their little deception.
Rena pulled her phone out from one of her suit’s magic pockets and set it up against a wall. The soft notes of her flute hung in the air before feeling almost like they condensed and pulled together until they formed a perfect likeness of her civilian identity. Specifically, an Alya that was all dressed up for a jog. Maybe a little too much, but no doubt she was trying to sell the story as best she could.
The illusionary Ladyblogger went from having a blank expression and standing passively to excitement lighting up her eyes, a wide grin splitting her face. She became slightly crouched as if she was caught in the middle of an excited bouncing in place.
“Okay big cat,” Rena the real said, “put those modeling instincts to good use and give me something that’ll make the Ladyblog sizzle.”
“Sizzle, huh?” Snake Noir let himself smile just enough that he knew the small fangs granted to him by his transformation would peek through. He gave the camera a hungry look, the one that his photographers had been asking for more and more these days.
Once the phone had taken a few pictures, Rena lunged forward and eagerly looked through them. The fake Alya turned to smoke and vanished. Her eyebrows rose high up her forehead.
“Oh wow. That’s gonna get the comments section talking, big cat.” She looked up at him and grinned knowingly. “I’m starting to get why M has been such a big fan of your more recent photoshoots.”
His cheeks turned red. “I’m sure she just appreciates them for the fashion.”
“Yeah, sure, if you say so. Not a whole lot of, ah, fashion on display when it comes to your underwear line though.” Her grin turned downright lecherous. “A lot of something else though.”
Snake Noir made a strangled sort of sound as his mind baked from the heat of his blush. Ladybug had photos of that shoot up in her room?
“Come on,” Rena said with a chuckle. “Let’s get back to patrol.”
A few minutes later and they were up somewhere high again, about as secluded as they were before. Really, at this point, they couldn’t even call them patrols. Even when he was with Ladybug (his heart did a backflip as he remembered her and the recent revelation), patrols tended to be just wandering the city or talking the night away.
“Looks like you need to get your mind off things.” Rena Rouge crossed her arms, a teasing look in her eyes. “At least until you get home.” She rested her chin on he palm and stared down at him.
“That sounds like a good idea,” Snake Noir muttered. A little more loudly, he asked, “What did you want to talk about?”
“Well, that brush with the Ladyblogger got me thinking - how would you use your powers in day to day life? Assuming you could manage it discreetly?”
“Uh… hm…” Snake Noir rubbed the back of his neck as he thought about it. Destruction was a bit dangerous to use in his day to day life.
“Let me give you some more examples while you run that through your head.” She held up her hand a raised a finger with each point. “Photo ops, like you saw. Recreating stuff. Enhanced stories and hot gossip. Party favors.”
“Well, I’m not sure how much I could use cataclysm for normal stuff, but I bet I could get a lot of mileage out of Second Chance.”
“Ooo, lots of opportunities there. Although it only goes back, what? Five minutes?”
“Yeah. But! There is plenty of stuff that would be under five minutes that I could use it for. Especially if it is just casual use.”
“Go on,” Rena said as he paused.
“Well… cooking for starters.”
“I thought you said it only lasts five minutes?”
“Which is about how long it takes for me to mess up a given recipe.”
Rena laughed in surprise and shook her head. “You two are a perfect match, I swear.”
He cleared his throat nervously. “A-anyway. I’d also practice jokes - see which ones land, which ones don’t.”
“Make yourself seem funnier than you are, hm?”
“I’m already funny, but there is always room for improvement.”
“Fair enough.” Rena had a thoughtful expression on her face as she tapped her chin. “You know, there is one more thing you could practice now that I’m thinking about it.”
“And what’s that?”
“How exactly you’re going to ask Ladybug out on a date.”
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Turning down the akuma pt. 3
@mikantsume @starwindmaden @gimme-more-caffeine @unmaskedagain
Here you go...
Marinette thought the whispers and looks couldn't get any worse.
Oh, how she was wrong.
The day after the interview the amount of those increased dramatically, with even bigger fear and even more guilt in her classmates' eyes.
But now it wasn't only her class.
Oh no, it was the whole school. Every student, every teacher, hell, whole Paris. Each one of them looked at her and stared in fear at her cold eyes sending them look of boredom and aggravation.
And Marinette didn't like the attention to say the least. She hated it with her whole heart, but knew she couldn't do anything to stop it.
On one side, her interview was a big succes. People recognizing her and some brave ones even asking for her autograph and thanking her for giving them something to hold onto. It gave Parisians a feeling of hope and insurance, knowing they all are able to stop the process of the akumazination and it's not only Ladybug and Chat Noit, who can stop Hawkmoth.
But on the other side, it also worsened the situation. Her class' acquaintances got looks of hatred, disgust and disappointment from everyone around them, some even openly blaming them and/or calling them out and it didn't help, that they already felt shitty and blamed themselves they well damn should.
Nathaniel had problems with painting; drawing in general. The one time he let himself paint whatever his soul wanted (his words, not mine), he made a painting of Marinette back to evillustrator times, huh? with icy eyes, but still with a hint of a disappointment in them, piercing right throught him, glaring at him, getting all the bad emotions he kept in himself out, to the point he fell on his knees, crying. Later, he burned the painting and swore to himself to never let the emotions 'draw' for him. He was terrified of his own mind. And it was just after the almost akumazination.
But he wasn't the only one.
When Rose came home that day, instead of texting Prince Ali or singing, doing anything productive in general, she threw herself onto her bed, face in pillow, screaming, crying, saying Marinette's name over and over again. She was so ashamed in herself. She was so naive, so blind, she chose a new classmate over her friend. How could she ever doubt Marinette? She was the most honest and fair-minded person Rose had ever got the luck to meet.
Max didn't want to play any video game. Even Ultra Mecha Strike III. Especially Ultra Mecha Strike III. Every time he took his controller, an image of Marinette dancing that little, ridiculous dance of hers each time she won a game, her bluebell eyes shining at everyone with happiness, sharing her energy and kindness with them. Oh, how he wished to see those sky-blue eyes again. But wanted them to be a sky with sun shining and not a sky just before the storm. He felt like giving up.
Ivan didn't eat as much as he usually do. He was more aggressive and unpredictable. Everyone was afraid to be closer than few feet near him.
Nino didn't say 'dude', 'dudette' or 'bro' anymore. Nothing. Nada. He wasn't that chill and friendly version, everyone knew anymore, now he was... Sad. Depressed.
Juleka was now showing even less emotions. She was emotionless. Luka was worried, but knew he couldn't do anything, so he just watched her from his room, guitar in his hands, mindlessly letting his hands play sad tunes and melodies.
Even Chloe changed. I know, shocker. She blamed herself a little too. She knew Lila was liar, she could do something about it. Now she was even meaner and once when ms. Bustier was calling the roll, Chloe bursted out and threatened to call the mayor. The stress was just too much. I mean, her mother, her father, her lack of friends, therefore she couldn't really talk to anyone about her feelings, and now Marinette. It was all too much. Just stop, she wanted it all to stop.
Rose wasn't quirky anymore, her smile wasn't as bright as it used to be.
Mylene also didn't smile. Now she didn't talk with anyone. Even Ivan.
Sabrina was ashamed in her. Her father was a cop, for god's sake, she should've done someyhing! She was also mad at herself for accusing Marinette for using her just like Chloe, even though she knew the young designer was trying to help her.
Kim almost got thrown out from swimming team and wasn't so energetic. He wasn't as competitive as usual. To hell with it, he didn't even want to compete with anyone.
Alix, well, on the outside she hasn't changed that much, but she was blaming herself too. She wished she could punched Lila so hard, the chick would hit the Moon and hopefully die due the lack of oxygen. I wish i could do it too, Alix.
Every single one of them felt the consequences of their mistake and each one of them took the blame in their own way. Sure, they were sad, angry and blamed themselves.
But Alya?
Oh, Alya was devastated. She was so stupid, so blind, so so naive. How could she do this to her best friend? When she came from school, after this 'Marinette's almost akumazination' incident, she went to her room, not saying a word to anyone. Actually, since Marinette'd gone to the back of the class, after sending them an emotionless look, Alya hasn't said a word to anyone. She just sat expresionless at her desk, now all alone, and stared blankly at the wall.
But after she came home? Oh, it was a whole different story.
She cried. She screamed. For hours. She was saying her best friend's name over and over again. She was saying sorry, begging Marinette to forgive her. At some point she even broke her phone.
And all this time she had an image of Marinette's cold eyes piercing right through hers. Staring right at her, showing her how sad Marinette was at Alya. It wasn't even an image of angry Marinette. Oh no, Alya knew Marinette wasn't angry at them, she accepted that her friends and best friend left her for someone more interesting than her, someone who could offer them more than Marinette possibly could. And that's what made Alya devastated.
But the worst thing about Marinette's eyes was that, they were full of disappointment in her former friends. Especially in her. And she knew why. She abandoned her best friend for some random chick, who claimed she knew Ladybug and some other famous celebrities, even though Alya knew the chances for Liela to actually know these people were lower than Kim's IQ... Let's be honest, he's not that smart. He wanted to race with black panther, that's kinda stupid.
Alya didn't eat that much, if at all. She hasn't been on Ladyblog, since she had deleted interview with Liela. She didn't talk that much. She wasn't her old self. She was heartbroken, to say the least.
And as for Liela, I'm happy to say that she got expelled from school and came back to Italy. So luckily/unfortunately for her , she got away before hate got to her and the whole Paris knew what a filthy liar she is.
And as to Adrien... I don't even know if he was there. But if he was, he probably tried to stop them from this whole drama before Mari came to classroom, knowing damn well what kind of psycho Li(e)la is. So when he saw Marinette being akumatized, he just stared at her, he didn't try to stop it nor did he run out to transform into our friendly Chat Noir.
He was shocked to watch THE Marinette Dupain-Cheng getting akumatized. His sweet, kind friend that he secretly had a little tiny crush on but was too blind to see it himself.
But what scared him the most was her eyes. They were so cold, so emotionless, so elusive, so sweetness and kindness deprived Matinette was known for. Those weren't Marinette's eyes, those were Marinette's shadow eyes; her little dark side he wished to never see.
And as he watched the illuminating, purple aureole around her eyes, he felt like someone sucked out his happiness and live. Wow, now that sounds dramatic. It was just so heartbreaking to watch a girl, who never gives up, finally come to the point where she's done pretending she's fine. He finally saw, that under her bright smile are a whole lot things, responsibilities, problems she has to deal with every day and worries she tries to hide for sake of everyone around her, and Li(e)la thing was just a final straw to make bluenette break down.
And he was so relieved, when she said no, he released a breath he had no idea, he was holding. And when the akuma left the room and Marinette sat down at the back at the class, he shook his head at his ex-friends, shot them a glance full of disappointment and a hint of 'i told you so' and sat at the back of the class too, but in the other desk; he knew Marinette needed some peace and time for herself.
But if he wasn't there when this scene had place, i am sure he refused to talk to his classmates, even Nino, saying that they shouldn't have done that, maybe even telling them he'd known Liela was a liar before this shit has happened. And then again, sat at the back of the class in the other desk.
Either way, he saw the interview and was pissed even more. How did they dare to call my best friend a bully!? (I am so sorry for this 'friend' thing). Even Plagg got a little scared at the sight of his furrowed eyebrows, lips shut in a tight line and eyes with raging anger in them.
So later, he decided to see how she was doing and maybe talk a little- i mean, see if she's in danger of getting akumatized again since it's one of his Chat Noir's duties.
And that's how he and Marinette ended up on her balcony, leaning against its railing, both with a cup of hot cocoa in their hands.
"So..." Chat awkwardly asked. He hasn't really thought it through, he just transformed and came to Marinette's house, tapped on the window and asked to meet at the balcony. She did it and also brought two cups of delicious cocoa.
'Get a grip, Adrien!' The superhero thought. 'You save people's lives, yet here you are not able to talk to your best friend!'
He cleared his throat. "How have you been? Since, you know, this almost akumazination thing's happened?" Oh, god, Adrien, you're so awkward.
Marinette giggled a little "I'm doing fine, thank you." She sent him a warm smile and he felt his insides melt.
"Are you sure? After this 'almost akumazination' you seemed pretty exhausted." It was true, after she woke up from trance, she was so tired she almost fell on the floor if she didn't catch herself in time and then she plopped down on her seat looking like she was about to collapse.
She looked at him suspiciously "How can you know? You weren't there."
Shit. "Uhm, you see, I've watched the video! And the interview! Yeah." Chat tried to get himself out of the trap he made himself.
Marinette eyed him again, but decided not to pry. "I'm fine, Chat, really. Ladybug was already here and i told her the same. I really am fine."
The superhero still felt like she wasn't telling him everything, but he decided to let her be and say it when she'll be ready. Instead they fell into a silence. And just as he was about to bid his goodbye, she spoke up again, not lifting her eyes from her Chat Noir cup:
"It just really hurts."
"What?"
"It hurts to know they chose her in the end." she still didn't spare him a glance. "It hurts to know they chose someone, who wasn't there as long as i was, someone they barely knew." At this point she had tears in her eyes, and they were slowly coming up on her rosy cheeks. She finally looked up at him, tears finally cascading down down her face. Her icy eyes finally thawing a little, to show Chat Noir that his everyday Ladybug was still there, just hiding. "It hurts to know they chose her, when i was there always ready to help them."
He hugged her and that was pretty much how they spent the rest of the night.
"It just hurts so fucking much."
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