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rosie-b · 30 days

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Your Lies (Tell the Truth)

Written for day 8 of @adrinetteapril - Soulmate Markers

Every child knew the legend. Many adults were lucky enough to have experienced the reality of soulmate marks for themselves. Even Alya and Nino had figured their bond out! This seemed like an open and shut case.

But as Marinette stopped to look closer at the black ink she didn’t remember putting on her skin, her mind raced as she tried to determine what else it could be, other than a soulmate mark. Because it just couldn’t be, right? She’d been the only one to confess her love. Adrien had rejected her.

(I promise it's not too angsty; there's some crack and fluff as well!)

You can read the fic below or on AO3!

It was here.

Marinette had spent months both dreaming of and fearing this moment; she’d tried both to finally reach and forever avoid it, but the time had finally come— today was the day she’d finally worked up the courage to tell Adrien she loved him.

She’d imagined all the best outcomes, the ones where Adrien smiled and said he loved her too, where they went out to get ice cream and then started dating and got married and had two or three or four kids (and a hamster). She’d spent hours trapped in nightmares of the worst ways it could go, where Adrien laughed at her and had his father ban her from ever working in fashion or talking to his son again and Chloe found out and then Lila, and Alya and her parents, and….

Suffice it to say that she’d imagined a variety of ways this moment could have gone.

But now that it was here, none of those scenarios matched what was happening in the moment. None of them had captured the pain like heartbreak in Adrien’s eyes that followed the shock of her confession. None of them had prepared her for the unsure, gentle way he tried to turn her down.

She didn’t know how to react to it. What do you do when you tell the nicest boy in the world that you love him, and all he can do is say no, he has to say no, and the ground doesn’t even have the decency to swallow you up with your shame?

“I’m sorry, Marinette,” Adrien had finally said, his sad, green eyes hardly daring to meet hers, “I just don’t feel the same way. It wouldn’t be fair of me to date you while I’m still trying to move o— er, I don’t want to hurt you the way I hurt Kagami,” he stuttered out. “You’re an amazing girl, Marinette, and I like you a lot, but I don’t trust myself to be the partner you deserve to have. I don’t want to play with your feelings, or make you feel like a second choice. Besides,” he continued, rubbing the back of his neck, and looking at her tentatively, “Weren’t you and Luka…?”

Marinette tried to answer when Adrien’s voice trailed off, but she found that her throat had closed in on itself. She couldn’t speak through the lump sitting there. She just shook her head, looking up at Adrien bravely while she held back her tears. She’d known this was going to happen! She shouldn’t have bothered trying.

Adrien’s eyes widened as the silence grew longer. “Oh, no, please don’t cry, Marinette! I’m sorry, I didn’t want to hurt you, really, but I did, and I’m so sorry!”

“It’s okay,” she rasped out, hating how feeble, how broken her voice sounded. “You can’t help how you feel. I get it, Adrien. I, I’ll be—” I’ll be fine, she tried to say. But the words wouldn’t come out, and all she could do was be grateful she’d waited until the end of the school day for her confession. This way, she could offer Adrien a pitiful smile and wave and walk away from the scene of her heartbreak. This way, she could suffer in peace until she managed to put the shattered pieces of her heart back together.

It’s okay, she told herself as she waved to her friends (only friends) and barely managed to not run, but walk to her home. You’ll be fine. So he doesn’t like you back. So what? You’ll be fine. You’re a big girl; you’re Ladybug; you’ve got this.

She had trouble believing her own encouragement. And she still felt like something in her had died the moment Adrien’s smile had slipped off his face, the moment she knew he’d be turning her down.

Marinette started walking a bit faster.

__*__*__*__*__

Adrien watched Marinette turn away, feeling useless and helpless and more miserable than he could remember having been ever before.

Why did I have to turn her down? Why couldn’t I have just said yes and gone on a few pleasant dates and then accepted the breakup when she eventually realized what I’m like and dumped me?

Adrien wondered if he could still do something to salvage the situation; if he could run after Marinette and beg her to come back, to not hate him, to give him a new chance.

Before he could do anything, though, Alya grabbed his arm and yanked on it, pulling him closer to her before he could leave. “You better not be serious right now, Agreste! What were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t,” he responded, wincing at the tight grip Alya had on him but knowing that he deserved this pain.

“Yes, you were. That response you gave her sounded practiced. Now, what was your reason for doing it?”

Adrien’s eyes widened. “I, uh, it’s Marinette; I didn’t want to, but I didn’t want to hurt her, either, and— I’m in love with someone else, right now. She's just a friend. That’s all it is, honest!”

Alya frowned. “Okay, then, tell me who the lucky one is. Make me understand this faulty brain of yours. Who could you possibly prefer over Marinette?”

Adrien’s mind went blank as he tried to think of what to say. “Ladybug,” he blurted out, and slapped his free hand over his mouth as his heart tried to beat its way out of his chest.

Not the truth, not the truth, anything but the truth! Why didn’t I just lie?

Alya’s eyes narrowed. “You turned down Marinette for Ladybug?? Oh, no, sunshine, absolutely not. With an excuse like that, you’d better be Chat Noir,” she fumed. Her eyes, blazing red-hot with fury, added the silent warning, or else.

Adrien gulped. “I, no! I’m not Chat Noir! Why would you think that? I mean, no, I didn’t, I’m actually in love with–”

Alya scowled and let go of Adrien’s arm. “Forget it, Agreste. You have the evening to get this figured out. Don’t walk into school tomorrow unless you’re going to do it with a real excuse. I understand having celebrity crushes, but I can’t excuse turning down a real chance with a girl as sweet as Marinette for a woman who’s about a thousand percent unavailable! Get your act together, now.”

She stormed off, grabbing Nino’s hand and tugging him along after her as she went. Nino turned his head over his shoulder to shoot Adrien a glance, but he couldn’t tell if it was a sympathetic one or not. Adrien was pretty sure Nino didn’t know which type it was, either. But he, at least, was still willing to look at Adrien despite the rather large mistake he’d just made, and Adrien was very grateful for that. He wasn’t used to even that much affection.

Maybe that’s why he’d made his big mistake.

__*__*__*__*__

Marinette had never been more grateful for the comforting magic of warm showers. She let the water run hot, stepped into a cloud of warm steam, and let the water run over her face, washing away the last of the salty tears she’d cried into her pillow under Tikki’s watchful, caring gaze. She huddled under the shower head, shivered once as her body adjusted to the new temperature, and took a moment to just breathe and feel a little more alive.

After a while, Marinette moved on to the real part of the shower. As she reached out to grab the shampoo bottle, though, she noticed a large black squiggle on her forearm, and her heart stopped. Was it a spider?

No, it wasn’t. But it looked like writing… and Marinette knew she hadn’t gotten a tattoo or written on herself with a pen recently.

There was only one other explanation she could think of…

On the day when all bonded soulmates have confessed their love to each other, the lies they tell will show on the other’s body for twenty-four hours after the last confession.

And yet, her skin must not have gotten the message, because there, in thick black letters on her left wrist, was the sentence “I just don’t feel the same way.”

Suddenly, the warm shower didn’t feel so magical anymore. The afternoon’s messy confrontation had followed her inside the pure white stall, and she didn’t feel safe there anymore. But even though there was a pit in her stomach, she knew that if this was truly Adrien’s soulmark on her, then she still had a chance.

There was more black ink twisting around Marinette’s elbow. Hesitant, broken, and hopeful despite the rejection, she read it out loud.

“It wouldn’t be fair of me to date you…”

Marinette felt like either screaming or crying again. Maybe both. She and Adrien were soulmates, then? But how had his marks shown up on her skin, when she’d heard a rejection, not a confirmation of his love? Had he somehow confessed his love to her before today, and she’d either missed it or misheard it? Had he been disappointed and moved on and now, when she’d finally confessed, he wasn’t even in love with her anymore?

Or worse, were they the kind of soulmates where one person loved the other romantically but the other person held a platonic kind of love, instead? Had his oh-so friendly rejection been enough to trigger their soulbond, like some twisted blessing-turned-curse?

Marinette didn’t know how she’d survive that. She couldn’t handle knowing she’d made a fool out of herself by confessing to an unrequited love; she couldn’t fathom ever falling out of love with Adrien Agreste, either. Was she doomed to a one-sided love forever?

There were three last lines of ink, with the first two being on her right forearm. Marinette turned it over to read them apprehensively.

“She's just a friend." Ouch. "And... I’m in love with someone else, right now,” she mumbled aloud. Huh. She didn’t remember him saying that. It must have come out after she left. Okay, well his loving some other, more perfect girl was understandable, but it still stung.

But wait! If this was something Adrien had said today, and it was on her skin in his writing, it was a soulmark. And if it was a soulmark, then it was a lie, because the only things you can say that will appear on your soulmate’s skin are lies! So, Adrien didn’t love someone else!

“I must be dreaming,” Marinette muttered to herself. “Tikki!” she called as loudly as she dared, stepping out of the shower and wrapping a towel around herself as she did so. “Tikki! Come look at this; help me out!”

Tikki zoomed over at high speed. “Marinette! What is it?”

“Tikki, look, look at the marks! We’re soulmates; Adrien and I are soulmates! How are we soulmates?? He said he doesn’t love me, but he was lying, but he still turned me down! So why are the marks here; how is this possible? Did he confess his love while I was walking away? Or why else do I have soulmarks now? I don’t remember him ever confessing to me in the past!”

Tikki stared at the marks for a moment while her holder panicked, and a slow grin spread across her face.

“Marinette, this is amazing! But I can’t actually tell you why your soulmarks showed up today,” she added with a twinkle in her eye.

Marinette paused. “Wait, but you do know why they’re there, then?”

Tikki nodded, unashamed and still smiling. “Yes, but telling you the reason would be a serious breach of Adrien’s privacy. The only way I can tell you is after you’ve figured it out, yourself.”

Marinette frowned. “Fine. But, hold on, there was one more soulmark I haven’t read yet.”

Tikki’s eyes widened. “Oh? Where is it?”

Marinette twisted her arm around, straining to see the mark. “It’s just past my right elbow. Here! Look, it says, ‘I’m not Cha….’”

Tikki and Marinette both stared at the soulmark for a minute and then slowly turned and stared at each other, instead.

“I’m not Chat Noir,” they said in unison.

Marinette fell backwards, catching herself on the wall just in time. She propped herself as her mind raced, piecing together black skintight suits and white overshirts; sly smirks and kind smiles. They all belonged to the same boy, the quiet one in her class and the boisterous one always proclaiming his undying love.

“Well, that explains it, then,” she said dazedly, as memories of a candlelit picnic lovingly set up on a rooftop surfaced in her mind. They really were soulmates! Now, the soulmarks’ sudden appearance made sense.

Even if the first soulmate confesses years before the last, once they have all confessed, the marks of their bond shall appear as proof of their love for one another.

__*__*__*__*__

The next day, Adrien walked into school feeling more timid than a mouse and about as innocent as a flea during the Black Plague. Or maybe a certain cheese-loving cat.

His plan was to sneak into school, because Nathalie had given him a Look when he’d tentatively suggested that he was possibly not feeling all that well and asked what Father would think if he stayed home earlier that morning. So, he had to go to school, despite Alya’s warning yesterday. He’d sneak past Alya, sit in the back of the class, and only say something during roll call before falling silent for the rest of the day, so that Marinette (and Alya) could forget he existed.

Adrien had had an absolutely miserable night and made no progress on finding a cover for why he’d turned down Marinette, but he was sure that however bad he was feeling, she’d be feeling ten times worse. The least he could do to help was stay out of her hair.

But that turned out to be unnecessary. When he saw Marinette waiting by the top of the stairs at the main entrance, bouncing on her heels and barely suppressing what seemed to be a huge grin, Adrien wondered if he’d somehow teleported to a different universe. Was Marinette… happy? Not that she couldn’t be happy, of course! It was only that he’d expected her to be much less bubbly and much more stutter-y and shy and, well, sad.

It was cool that she’d moved on so easily, he admitted! But for some reason, the thought of it made his chest ache. He should be happy for her, so why was he feeling hurt by her smile?

“Adrien!” Marinette called as soon as she saw him. Every nearby student heard her voice and fell silent or muttered quietly to each other in response to it. Had they all heard about what had happened yesterday? Was everyone in on what was going on now? Was this part of an elaborate plan by Marinette to get revenge?

Was that why she was happy? Because she knew soon, she could get back at Adrien for breaking her heart?

That just couldn’t be it, though. Adrien might be stupid sometimes, but he knew Marinette well enough to know she’d never do something so cruel to him, or anyone else, for that matter.

He walked up to her, shyly raising one hand in a wave. “Hello, Marinette,” he said. “You look happy! Um, are you feeling better? I’m so sorry about yesterday, I don’t know what I was thinking! I was so rude and I hurt you and I understand if you never forgive me but—”

“It’s okay,” Marinette said, flippantly waving one hand in a dismissive gesture.Then she stepped forward, her eyes glinting determinedly as she spoke to him in a very serious, confident manner. “I don’t love you. I’m in love with someone else right now. And one more thing: I’m not Ladybug,” she added, by now having stepped close enough that she whispered the last part into his ear while standing on her tip-toes.

Adrien’s heart plummeted all the way to the second circle of hell.

“What?” he gasped out, feeling unreasonably hurt, crushed, even, by the words Marinette had dropped on him like a heavy building he couldn’t crawl out from under. Was he this unloveable, that she’d moved on so easily?

Then again, if he was going to be alone forever, maybe he deserved it after what he’d done to her.

“I don’t love you,” Marinette repeated, smirking, and he flinched. Then her gaze softened, and a smile took the place of her cruel smirk. “Give me your arm,” she told him.

Adrien stared at her. “Why?” he asked in a cracking voice, feeling fearful and a little bit trapped. “What are you going to do with it?”

Marinette giggled. “I need to show you something, before it’s too late,” she said. “It’s probably under your shirt.”

“Under my—?” Adrien hadn’t finished his sentence before someone was pushing him forward, right into Marinette’s arms, and she reached down for his shirt sleeve and folded it up past his elbow.

“Look here,” she said authoritatively, presenting him with his own forearm.

What? Adrien thought, and he slowly processed what the sudden appearance of Marinette’s hurtful words on his arm in black ink meant.

“I don’t love you,” Marinette repeated, and the words appeared on his arm as she spoke them. “And I’m not Ladybug,” she whispered again, giving him just enough time to see the new words appear before she folded his sleeve down again to cover them.

“I— you— Marinette,” Adrien gasped out, feeling stunned and relieved and more than a little awestruck by this wonderful person that he already loved, who still returned his affection somehow, and who— “Oh, my goodness,” he breathed. “Marinette, we’re soulmates!”

Marinette grinned and nodded, doing her little wiggle-dance she always did when she was happy.

“Yes!” she agreed, cheering.

“Yes!” Adrien cheered right back, and picked her up and spun her around. “I love you! No, wait, I want to see your marks, too. I don’t love you,” he tried, and black ink peeked out of Marinette’s shirt and sprawled onto her wrist. “I don’t love you,” he repeated, and more ink appeared at her neck.

He knew what it meant, and Marinette knew, too, and that knowledge was temporarily theirs to play with. So they smiled at each other and stood marveling over the beautiful lies stamped on their skin.

“I don’t love you, either,” Marinette said with a giggle, and Adrien held his hand up in awe as more ink appeared there.

“I don’t love you,” he said one more time, loud and happy, and an ominous thud came from behind him.

“Adrien Agreste!” Alya boomed. “I told you not to come to school if you couldn’t do it without hurting Marinette!”

Marinette smirked. “It’s okay, Alya,” she said, holding up her left wrist, bare except for Adrien’s words. “I don’t love him.”

Adrien searched and searched for the words until Marinette pointed them out on his forehead.

Alya stared at the two of them, relieved and yet still visibly taught with nerves. “Well, I wasn’t expecting that,” she remarked, putting one hand on her hip. “Nino and I never did this. We just lied about favorite colors and future dreams. Like normal people. But, this is cute, too, once you get past how weird it is, I guess. You figured it out, then?” she asked, looking at Adrien.

He nodded, feeling one last guilty twinge that was wiped away by the black writing he could still see from the corner of his eye. “I’m sorry it took me this long. Wait,” she didn’t mean ‘did you find out each other’s identities,’ did she? “Wait, which part were you asking about?”

Alya smirked. “Well, the whole school knew you were in love with Marinette before you did, apparently. How does it feel to be the last to know?”

Marinette slipped her hand into his as Nino’s stifled laughs sounded from somewhere nearby. How long had he been watching them for?

“Be nice, Alya,” Marinette chided playfully. “It just took a while to get through his thick skull. I swear, his mind is a bag full of cats sometimes!”

Adrien stared down at Marinette with pink cheeks, feeling happily surprised by her pun.

“I love you so much,” he said seriously, and she giggled and leaned against his side.

“I love you, too,” she responded, and Alya nodded, smiling.

“Now that’s the way it’s done,” she said in a satisfied tone. “Agreste, you’re on my good side again. So, if you’ll let me do the honors, you may kiss the bride!”

Marinette shrieked as Alya grinned evilly and Nino laughed and cheered Adrien on.

So, he pulled Marinette into a quick, soft kiss. It wasn’t their first, he knew, but he was glad he’d finally be able to remember this one, so he dedicated the gentle brush of Marinette’s lips to his memory and grinned in what he knew was a dopey manner as he pulled away.

Then Marinette was yanking him back down for another kiss, and he could only imagine that this was the definition of bliss. Who cared about being on time to class? He had the best soulmate in the world, and he was content to just stay in her arms.

#soulmates #adrinetteapril2024 #ml fanfic #adrinette #ml au #rosie-b writing #miraculous ladybug

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miraculouslycool · 10 months

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My Review of Miraculous Awakening: The Movie:

Spoiler alert: yeah I'm more disappointed than pleased. Zag really should consider making something original with his own deviations of the original show instead of contaminating what was already good on its own.

More under the cut, because spoilers:

The Things I did like:

The animation and visuals were stunning. The transformation sequences, Marinette's dreams being visualised, Ladynoir's duet were all very beautiful to look at. I liked how the powers and power-ups glowed, even the background and setting was tastefully done. This movie is very cinematic to look at and watch. The character models were definitely better looking than the prototypes they showed us in 2021.

(Sadly it seems like all the 100M budget went into this alone)

The Ladynoir was so cute y'all. I'm sorry, I know there are several people who would disagree but I liked their dynamic, their bickering and all was funny, and their duet and dance took my breath away. Was it as earth-shattering and groundbreaking as the show's Ladynoir dynamic? Absolutely not. It definitely felt like I was watching two different characters who had to learn to not dislike each other (compared to how they got along so well and clicked since the day they met in Origins), and I did like that they made Marinette acknowledge her feelings for Chat as well as Adrien, but if I compartmentalise it from the show, I think it's fine enough. I'm not really conflicted about it if I look at it that way.

The things I'm conflicted about:

Marinette's arc was....generic. It reminded me of several coming-of-age arcs where the protagonist had to learn to face their fears and believe in themselves, yada yada yada. But it felt like the soul of the Marinette we all know was gone from movie!Marinette. What made Marinette Ladybug in the first place was that quiet but powerful moment in Origins where she transformed to save Chat Noir and Alya even though she was terrified. Marinette was shy and reserved in the beginning of Origins, but it seemed like that was all Zag ever comprehended. What makes Marinette a hero is that she didn't "just face her fears", it's that her love for the world is bigger than that fear. She's scared of disappointing and failing the world than failing herself. That little nuance was deeply missed in the movie. Oh and her mega-intelligent genius brain too. What happened to the girl who can build a box that bites that hand that tries to steal from her? Where are her zany, over complicated plans?

However the reason why I didn't put her completely in the dislike tier is because this girl is genuinely the only one in the movie carrying the combat on her back. She's the one saving people, she's the one actually using her powers, she's the one at least acting like a hero.

Marinette's singing voice was not suitable at all. Lou is technically a very good singer but she's unable to bring the life Christina Vee does to her voice. Idk why they needed a singing voice actor for Marinette, Christina Vee has a beautiful voice already. Three guesses as to why she wasn't used. (/s)

The musical numbers were, like I said earlier, nice and lovely to look at. But after them making Marinette sing for the third time about believing in herself and having no way out of "facing her destiny" it starts to get grating. In all that time, they could have used it to flesh out Adrien's character much more, or even work on the rules for the miraculous. I did like Hawkmoth's number, Chat's song about falling for Ladybug and Ladynoir's duet, but that's it.

The thing Germy Zag and his money hungry company fails to understand is that Miraculous Ladybug, or any version of it will fail as a musical is because the show is too plot and action-driven. There is always something that has to be shown visually or explained verbally, and unless they're willing to show that in song, instead of filling it up with pretty sequences, ML as a musical is never going to work.

Things I dislike:

The "Chosen One" trope is 100% the worst part of this movie. (The use of Careless Whisper is a close second)

The miraculouses in the show were jewels that were meant to be given to people who proved they good at heart, and had potential to be heroic. The earrings and the ring flying away to magically bond with their owners was just plain lazy writing. What makes Ladybug (well, to a certain extent, she is the Guardian now) and Chat heroes is that they can choose to give up their powers at any point, they can choose to give up, but they get up and fight anyway because they want to become good people, not because they were destined to.

Why was the butterfly miraculous described as "evil"? It was common sense to show it as a jewel that can be misused by bad people, not something that was essentially made to be misused. Why were the Ladybug and the Cat shown as rivals, and not two halves of a whole that complement each other?

And most importantly, WHERE THE FUCK IS THE LUCKY CHARM???

And on that note, what, may I ask, did Adrien to earn the ring? How did he meet Plagg? How was he convinced to put on the suit? Movie!Adrien is a complete disappointment, and he didn't even have any nice redeeming moments like Marinette did for me to tolerate his portrayal. One of the important (if not THE most important aspects) of Adrien is his kindness. What kind, selfless things do we see Adrien do? What brave things do we see him do, other than taking shots at the villains?

Chat Noir in the show was much more reckless and direct than Ladybug but we also always see him saving civilians, putting Ladybug first, putting the fight first even when he is not doing good emotionally (which is always). It just felt like a fan's surface-level understanding of who Chat Noir is: a few snarky lines put together and a huge ego.

And don't even get me started on how shallow the Love Square was portrayed. Or in other words, the two sides of it that Zag thinks is the most marketable. I really really hate how rushed Adrienette was, compared to Ladynoir. This is insane, because I never thought I'd have any opinion like that about any canon portrayal of the Love Square, but it's true. Why did Marinette fall for Adrien? Because he awkwardly helped her up? Why did Adrien find Marinette's quirks weird when he's never ever done that in the show? Like where's the depth that Origins put into this ship?? And every single episode after??

I do think this could've been fixable though, if they didn't reduce Adrienette to a montage (like him telling her about his mom) and added at least 1 Marichat and Ladrien interaction each. That's what the other two sides are meant for!! For both of them to see a different side of their partner when their partner is seeing them differently!

In other words, this movie is showcasing the "true selves" syndrome several parts of the fandom were accusing the show of. Zag simply did not understand the ins and outs of what makes the Love Square so compelling and I really think if this was fixed, the movie wouldn't be as disappointing as it is.

Gabriel's arc was pathetic. I know, on one end, it's like, yay, Adrien's gets a grieving, neglectful but well-meaning parent!! He gets to avoid the abuse he goes through in the show!! But I think it also takes away the angst that comes from Adrien essentially being a hero fighting against his father's abuse daily, which is also a core component of the show (who knows how season 6 will deal with that) and it also was a huge asset to Adrien's character - how he turned out good, kind and heroic despite all that.

And Gabriel by himself just isn't as compelling if he wasn't a ruthless villain, in my subjective opinion. Maybe the moment of forgiveness between son and father would have been more touching if we got a few scenes between Gabriel and Adrien. (Can you believe they only interact TWICE in a 90 minute movie??) Maybe Gabriel shutting Adrien out but out of genuine overprotectiveness, maybe Adrien trying to bond with his father but Gabriel misunderstanding it and killing the entire vibe. Just something to show us that Gabriel really does love his son, if that is what the movie wants us to believe.

The ending being a sequel hook was so stupid lmfao. Gabriel wants to stop being a villain for his son's sake but will entrust the peacock miraculous and his refrigerated wife to his assistant? Instead of idk, properly cremating the poor woman? He doesn't want to be a villain but he won't let go of his obsession with his wife?

It makes sense psychologically, I just hate it because I know that in 2 years Germy is gonna waste another 100 million dollars to make another pointless sequel.

Overall I'd give it a 3/10. It's a shame because all of this stunning animation could have been used in the actual show, or the bickering dynamic they wanted for Ladynoir could have been done with different original characters.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous awakening #ml awakening salt #ml movie salt #i wont simply tag this as ml s*lt because i dont want it to end up in the show tags #rae speaks

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theerurishipper · 5 months

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Hi~ Hope you have a lovely day. I want to get your opinions on my rant lol and ask.

Marinette is such a disappointment of a lead female character in a western magical girl cartoon. She isn't a good leader and all her team consist of yes men and women and sidekick Chat Noir where her real partner Alya is standing over to the side. I liked her in the first two season and maybe some in s3 but the s4 and onward just got to me ngl. It's her world and we're all just living in it. Miraculous is so weird when it comes to team dynamics because I get she's guardian but I really wished it were someone else and not her because she chooses people she already get along great with. It fun for team dynamics to add be different and broader.

The whole she's just 14 the fandom spouts only goes so far how many messes do you do until you realise you need to own up to them even at that age when you should know better on your conduct ?

I get it hard to communicate but onwards I always thought the bigger of the two in the conflict was her because of her secrecy and her controlling tendencies. I disliked it so much in the ephemeral episode and her betraying her partner disgusted me. Sorry to those who like or defend her character this much but I can't stan or like a character that does this much crap to a friend let alone a love interest and then gloss over or minimize it and not be called out for it. Like, are people standards that low they think she's a good leader or a good proper representation on feminism when this show reeks of misogyny and misandry. She's the ultimatum voice for Astruc.

A communication issue with her Chat was fine a long time ago but now in s5 she crossed it hell nah how do people still support a ship with her knowing she followed Hawkmoth command for Adrien. I literally can't anymore with this show. Every guy she likes gotta be so 100 percent in effort and like in the Shadybug special him always comforting her makes me so jaded whenever she cries what about a change in dynamics had we ever seen her comfort him in turn how are people invested in this ship? Like that time in the bench and she just thought of ways to woo or give presents instead of just comforting him is so sad to watch.

She really followed in Master Fu steps. The bar is in hell and she crossed it in the finale. There is no excuse no handwaving it away and i know in my heart they gonna minimize it for Adrien own good. Everything is for his own good huh? What good is it rooting for a ship that just reeks of pity points. Like, she was never my favorite but who knew 8 years ago she'd pull a stunt like this and people bending over and doing mental gymnastics to rationalise this insanity. She really is a good foil to Gabriel ironically to bad she has no sway in this family drama we call the Agreste.

I know she has good intentions and it's not wrong for her to wish to save her prince but like thats all that is intention. Her actions are also important and the effects she's done is so bad that if she weren't the Main character and we haven't spent the chunk of the majority in her pov alone she'd be disliked.

I feel like compared to other respective series Winx Club s1-3 Bloom, Danny Phantom, Ben 10, Totally Spies they have it much more harder and so many more all show the consequences of your actions and how you do them right and they're her age. I feel like whenever someone bring up consequences it's like people in this particular fandom think we do it to punish Marinette but no I just never ever saw it properly done in this show because she's very coddled in the narrative. I don't see other MC as coddled as her before in a show where when they MESS UP it's actually integral and important.

Rant over.

You encapsulated all my thoughts perfectly, anon. I've said so many times before that I loved Marinette from Season 1-3 and even during Season 4 as it aired. What made me fall out of love with her character post Season 4 was the utter lack of acknowledgement of her actions and the insistence in portraying her as in the right at all times. Like you said, it's not just your intentions that matter. Your actions and the effects that they have on the people around you also matter. The writers don't seem to understand this, and it hits Marinette's character worst of all. She had so much potential to be such a great character, which is why I feel so sad seeing just how badly the writing failed her. Marinette deserved better.

Thank you for your ask!

#MLB #ML Salt #ML Writing Salt #ML Writers Salt #Marinette Salt #Meta #Asks

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asukiess · 2 years

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What I personally love about the kiss is that it manifested through Marichat in an organic way, but it’s obviously more than a division of the square:

It’s Ladybug kissing her chaton – the one she kissed after dreaming a whole fantasy world of their deepest desires, knowing fully well of that fact, and agreeing that it was true. The one she put a brave façade on for at the end of Jubilation, telling him that Monarch must have manipulated the dream. She did that for their sake. Previous to Jubilation, Chat was wracked with guilt over his cataclysm being used against his will – and in Jubilation, in a flash of emotions, he was ready to misuse it, which he would have ultimately been disgusted over. A case of being blinded by love (obviously, there’s more nuance to the scene) – he tried ripping her alarm clock Lucky Charm from her grasp, which could have led to a defeat if she lost it.

The mirror to Chat’s cataclysm scenes is Marinette almost being akumatized – showing us in no uncertain terms that it’s still not the right time for these two to be together. She is so terrified of being “blinded by love” again that it’s interfering with her love for Adrien. And yet, she was hurt by a culmination of things that came to a head when Chat said it wasn’t right of him to do that. As always, Adrichat is a complete gentleman and was trying to do the right thing.

Marinette has been trying to tell her Alya and Tikki for episodes now that how she feels is real and true, and they haven’t taken her seriously (rightfully, if you think of it from their POV). Monarch controls her life as a superhero and is practically winning at every turn. She has barely had any personal agency in this season except for gathering the courage to kiss his cheeks and nose, which would have felt fantastic in her shoes. Finally, she’s getting what she wants.

It’s Adrien kissing Marinette – the close friend who understands him like no one else. She’s been so avoidant this season, more so than her clumsy, stuttering usual self, and he doesn’t know how to break that wall between them. On top of this, his whole family is falling ill and his fathering is dangling affection like a carrot on a stick – but what’s tragic is that Adrien is so used to that by now. He can switch between père and papa on a dime to fit his mood. His image is being sold and copies of copies of him are everywhere he looks. He is free but lonelier than ever. He’s just as sequestered in his room as in previous seasons.

So she initiates the kissing, tenderly on his cheeks and nose. Tells him she’s a super, super, super fan – but not like the ones who chase him and demand from him things he can’t give. She tells him she would love even the guy under the mask – but that’s Adrien, who she just admitted to moving on from. But they could kiss now, couldn’t they? He wants to hold her like Luka did, to spend time with her, to kiss her and have her know he loves her completely. So he takes that step to kiss her lips. He could explain everything later, as Adrien…

Except, he can’t! We all know this. Also, does she really mean that, or is he taking advantage of her? She’s just a fan, and he’s using this opportunity to kiss Marinette, one of his best friends, because he isn’t able to as Adrien. Marinette deserves better, to be treated fairly and with someone who can be with her all the time and has the right to know them fully – not with the barrier of secret identities.

They both know they should not be doing this. Marinette isn’t thinking far enough ahead about her feelings for Chat being misused when she’s Ladybug. Something could happen to them if Marinette and Chat had been successful this episode, and it would have interfered majorly in her relationship with him as Ladybug. It would throw everything out of balance. Chat has this (in my opinion, really unexpected and noble) set of standards – he can’t be in a relationship with her like that, it’s taking advantage of her. But they kiss anyway because they love each other so goddamn much and I live for forbidden kissing.

To top it all off, it was a well written, tension-building, compassionate, tender, slow burn kiss that I will be thinking about forever.

#I had to write about it to settle my feelings #ml spoilers #marichat #ml exaltation #miraculous ladybug #sorry if this is cringe but I love these fictional characters what can I say!!!!!!1 #ml analysis #ml season 5 #ml season 5 spoilers #ml elation

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miraculouslbcnreactions · 1 month

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Do you think Marinette really loves Adrien or does she loves the idea of him in her head?

Idk but I'm agree with Alya in Elation that you can't really love someone you don't know and Marinette arguably know Adrien only on surface level, either from the magazines or stalking him. We never got a scene where they talk together to get to know each other and then BAM! They just get together.

I also feels like Adrien's love for Marinette also more a rebound than anything. The writers can say anything they want, that Adrien fell in love with Marinette in Pupeteer2. But you don't develop feelings for someone you barely know, especially when in that said episode Adrien still think Marinette hate him. It's just weird. But again, idk, maybe it just me because I don't catch feelings to someone I barely talk to. That's just creepy AF no offense.

It's really hard to say because canon is all over the place when it comes to how close Adrien and Marinette are. Season three and four make them feel like little more than acquaintances, but if you think back to seasons one and two, they legitimately were friends.

Adrien turned to Marinette for dating advice (Frozer). Marinette and Adrien gamed for hours to prepare for a tournament (Gamer). Marinette and Adrien went to a party with their friends and danced together (Despair Bear). Marinette, Adrien, and their friends worked together to make a movie (Horrificator). I could go on, but the general gist is that it feels disingenuous to say that they barely interact. They interact a lot! It's just limited to the first two seasons.

I scanned through the episode list while writing this and seasons one and two have them interact in a meaningful way in about half of the episodes while seasons three and four got distracted by the new love interests, Lila, and the awful broken Ladynoir dynamic, dramatically cutting back on the Adrinette content to the show's detriment.

The other issue is that Marinette's crush is written more and more like a celebrity crush as the seasons go on, making it feel less and less genuine. So it's understandable to feel like she doesn't really love Adrien given how the show presents her, but if you tone down the crush to a non-comedic level, it does feel earned to me and I am also the kind of person that needs to know someone before developing feelings. Celebrity crushes and instant love are things I rarely enjoy in media probably at least in part because I'm ace.

I actually didn't get truly invested in the love square until Origins showed us why they first developed feelings. There's a reason I treat that episode as the golden standard for characterization. It's some of the best writing Miraculous has ever done. The writers crammed an impressive amount of content into 40 minutes and elevated the silly teen crushes into something with real substance. I will forever be sad that the rest of the show falls so short of that episode.

Moving on!

The Puppeteer 2 thing feels like a bad joke and it might be? It's hard to tell given how weird this show can get with its humor. Either way, it would have made a lot more sense and been much cuter if Adrien fell for Marinette when she unknowingly confessed her crush to him Glaciator 2 instead of falling for her after she accidentally forces a kiss on him during a prank gone wrong.

As for the rebound element... yeah, I don't disagree. Everything about the reverse crush was just weird because Ladybug falling for Chat Noir felt way more honest and earned than Adrien falling for Marinette given the way seasons five plays. I mean, the episode right before the reverse saw Ladynoir get married and have children, but Adrien is the one whose feelings are true and Marinette is the one having a rebound? Sure, writers. Sure.

If the reverse had happened right off of the season four finale, though? Then that actually could have worked. In those episodes, Marinette supported Adrien while their friends were oblivious to his true feelings, Adrien finally saw just how much pressure Ladybug was under, and Chat Noir supported Ladybug unconditionally in her darkest hour. I'm personally not a fan of the crushes switching mid-show, but I'd be lying if I said that wasn't a solid setup to lead into it. Adrienette and Ladynoir had never felt closer.

I think it's fair to say that this is why Miraculous is such a complex show for a lot of fans. It has truly spectacular setups, but the payoff always seems to fall flat on its face.

#ml writing salt #ml writing critical #adrien deserves better #marinette deserves better

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miraculouswolf99 · 6 months

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This Is Halloween

Lila Salt and Chloe Salt. I do not know if France celebrates Halloween or not, but this idea was too good to pass up. It is a little late for Halloween, but I still wanted to post it.

"Why do you love Halloween so much, dude," Nino could not help but ask Adrien as they walked to school.

"I grew up on Disney, Nino," Adrien reminds his best friend. "They have some of the best Halloween movies outside the horror genre. Not to mention the best Halloween songs."

"You are never gonna stop loving Disney, are you, dude," Nino chuckled.

"Nope," Adrien smirked as he popped the 'P.' "And you can not blame me regarding their Halloween movies. Hocus Pocus, Halloweentown, Twitches, Under Wraps, Nightmare Before Christmas, Haunted Mansion, Girl VS Monster. Nothing says Halloween, to me, like a good Disney Halloween movie!"

"You are probably the only person I have ever met who likes Halloween for the movies rather than for the candy," Nino laughed.

"Can you even imagine my dad letting me go out and get free candy," Adrien raised an eyebrow.

"That is... a very good point that I really should have seen coming," Nino said.

Adrien had taken full advantage of the fact that it was Halloween. His father could take a lot of things away from him, but it would most definitely NOT be Halloween. So, he had chosen a character from one of his favorite anime, Naruto. With his blond hair, he could not imagine being any other character. So, he was wearing the classic Naruto orange and blue jacket with a white collar, a white swirl with a tassel on the left side, and a red Uzumaki crest on the back. He also wore orange pants with a shuriken holster on his right knee, blue sandals, and a blue forehead protector.

Nino had chosen a different character. He had chosen Cyborg from the 2003 Teen Titans cartoon. Mostly because, in Nino's own words, Teen Titans Go is a crime against the Teen Titans. He, with the help of Alya and Marinette, used makeup to make the robotic half of his face. In contrast, Marinette used her fashion design skills to make more realistic-looking robotic arms and boots that did not keep him from being able to use his hands/fingers. He had already revealed his costume was approved by his little brother, which said something since Chris was a very tough critic.

Soon, the two of them walked into the school. Everyone around them was in costume, including the teachers. They made their way up to their classroom.

"Girl, how much makeup did you use," they heard Alya say as soon as they came in.

"Don't even get me started," Marinette giggled. "I will probably be in the shower all night to get this stuff off."

Looking over at the two girls, they definitely could see what the two were talking about. Marinette had decided to take advantage of her blue hair by becoming Lapis Lazuli from Steven Universe. Her entire face, as well as other visible parts of her skin, was covered with blue makeup to really make her look like the character. She used long blue gloves and blue tights to make her arms and legs also look blue along with a blue dress exactly like the one Lapis wore on the show before her look changed in the final season.

Alya, on the other hand, chose a much more simple look. She was dressed up as Valerie Gray from Danny Phantom. She was wearing a yellow camisole and orange skirt with yellow socks and white tennis shoes. She also wore an orange headband, golden earrings, an orange necklace, and two bracelets on each wrist, one golden and the other orange.

"Lookin' good, Red Huntress," Nino flirted with his girlfriend as he put his arm around her shoulders.

"Did you seriously just expose my identity," Alya faked offense at Nino 'exposing' Valerie's anti-hero identity of Red Huntress.

"Hey, if I can't hide, then neither can you," Nino countered, using the fact that Cyborg can not hide who he is to his advantage.

"I can hide," Adrien declared as he put his hands together in a 'ninja' pose. "I am from the Hidden Leaf Village, so hiding is what I do best!"

"You really love getting into character, don't you," Marinette giggled.

"I can't help it when it is something as fun as this," Adrien grinned brightly. "I love Halloween!"

"Something that has been made clear pretty much since the end of September," Nino chuckled.

"I am mostly just surprised that your dad actually allowed you out of the house while wearing that," Alya giggled.

"My dad can control me any other day of the year, but I draw the limit at Halloween," Adrien declared.

"If only you had this confidence when dealing with your father every other day of the year," Lyon said as he and Vallia walked into the classroom.

The Greek twins had also embraced the holiday.

Lyon had chosen an anime character just like Adrien. Only, he was dressed as Gray Fullbuster from Fairy Tail. He was dressed in Gray's look from the first couple of episodes. Which was a long white coat with dark blue outlines and a high collar, dark green pants, and black boots that almost reached his knees.

Vallia, on the other hand, took a more elegant approach to Halloween. She had grown up with the Rainbow Magic fairy books by Daisy Meadows. So, she chose to dress up as India the Moonstone Fairy. She let down her hair and placed a single pink rose in her hair. She also wore a strapless white dress that reached down to just above her knees. All over her dress were spots of pink and blue with another pink rose being on the top right part of her dress. She was also wearing pink ballet flats since she could not find shoes that matched the ones the fairy was wearing on the book cover. She carried a fake wand while also wearing fake fairy wings.

"You take your whole 'Ice Prince' thing to a new level, Lyon," Alya commented.

"I am icy and I know it," Lyon smirked. "Just be glad I went with the version of Gray that actually has clothes on."

"I am sure there would be a lot of people that wouldn't mind you being that version of him," Nino chuckled. "Present company included."

"I would be jealous, but it's not like I can deny it," Alya laughed.

Lyon blushed, not used to people saying stuff like that to him. Sure, he knew when people had crushes on him, especially gold-digger girls who wanted access to his and Vallia's family fortune, but not in the way their friends were currently acting. Course, he knew it was all in good fun and teasing.

"You guys are going to ruin my brother's 'Ice Prince' persona if you keep this up," Vallia tells them.

"That blush ruins it enough without us saying else," Adrien smirked.

"I hate all of you," Lyon glared at them.

"Love you too, Lyon," Marinette giggled.

The rest of the class soon came into the classroom. All of them were in costume as well.

The girls were some of the first to arrive. Juleka, to the surprise of no one, was dressed up as Wednesday Addams from the Jenna Ortega show. Complete with a fake hand on her shoulder to represent Thing. Rose, also to the surprise of no one, came dressed as Princess Peach from Mario. She even wore extensions to make her hair longer to match the character. Alix was dressed up as Lavagirl from the classic Shark Boy and Lavagirl movie. Like Marinette, she took advantage of her hair. Mylene had channeled her dad and chose to dress up like a mime. She even chose to wear a black and white wig to go with her costume. Sabrina, who had been becoming more independent, embraced her own inner anime nerd by dressing up as Misty from Pokemon. She even wore Pokeball-shaped earrings.

The boys arrived close to the girls. Ivan decided to embrace his "title" as a "gentle giant" by dressing up as another "gentle giant" from TV, DJ from Total Drama. He even had a bunny stuffed animal with him to represent the bunny DJ adopted in the first season. Max wanted to throw it back in the face of all those who call him a nerd by dressing up as Steve Urkel. He was ready to start saying "Did I do that?" Nathaniel, who was also an anime nerd, had dressed up as Kirishima from My Hero Academia. However, he chose to dress in the school uniform since he did not want to wear Kirishima's shirtless hero costume. Kim, who was not afraid to show off what he had, came in dressed as Sin Cara from the WWE. Vallia was already drooling over seeing his bare chest.

Lila and Chloe were the last to enter the classroom. Of course, Chloe was dressed up as Queen Bee. They expected nothing less from the brat. Lila, much to Adrien's disgust, was dressed as Ladybug. She was clearly still trying to keep up the lie that she was the hero's best friend.

"I'm gonna go throw up, be right back," Lyon remarked before he and Vallia went to their seats behind Juleka and Rose.

"He might blush, but he is STILL the Ice Prince," Alya remarked.

"There is no doubt about that," Nino agreed with his girlfriend.

The class had pretty much had an unspoken agreement when it came to Lila. They did not really believe that Lila was lying about everything to them like Marinette said she was, but they also did not believe Lila whenever she would say anything bad about Marinette. So, they had all come to a silent agreement to simply keep Lila and Marinette away from each other and no longer try to get Marinette to be friends with Lila.

"Oh, Marinette, what an... interesting costume," Lila tried and failed to not sound jealous of Marinette's costume.

"I wanted to use my hair to my advantage," Marinette tried to keep things casual. "Plus, Alya and I have seen this show when we are babysitting together. So, I thought it was a great idea."

"Are you not worried about taking a character from a children's show," Lila tried to sneak in an underhanded comment.

"Who cares," Marinette shrugged. "There are people of all ages that enjoy shows that are usually meant for kids. Besides, Halloween is about fun no matter who you are dressed up as."

"I know that I always want to have as much fun as possible on Halloween," Adrien stated. "And I will use all my ninja powers to make sure no one can stop me!"

"Someone enjoys getting into character," Alix snickered.

"Can you all keep it down," Juleka said in her best Wednesday voice. "I am trying to ignore the bright sun in the sky. It burns my eyes."

"There are so many reasons why I enjoy having this girl as a friend," Lyon chuckled, enjoying Juleka going full-goth.

"Friends are as pointless as daytime is," Juleka stated.

"Is it wrong that even when I know it is Juleka, she still creeps me out," Nathaniel asked.

"I am pretty sure Juleka would be insulted if you were not creeped out by her right now," Rose stated.

"Probably the only person on the planet that takes pride in creeping people out," Vallia giggled.

"I say again, so many reasons why I like her being my friend," Lyon repeated himself.

Lila's eyes visibly twitched, which would be seen by anyone who was paying attention. It was obvious that she did not like how her attempt to get under Marinette's skin had failed so quickly. Not to mention how she also lost the attention on her just as quickly.

"Well, my costume is pretty self-explanatory," Lila said. "Of course, I had to dress up as my best friend."

"Ladybug appreciates anyone that dresses like her for Halloween," Marinette tried not to call Lila out on that lie. "I know that the girl I babysit, Manon, also wanted to dress as Ladybug."

"Well, my costume was designed and made by one of the biggest fashion designers back in Italy," Lila bragged.

Lyon yawned as she talked. He and Vallia had never been the type to hide how they felt about Lila. They never believed anything she said and often made it clear how they got bored of her constant talking. Lyon had even said to her face that he would rather rip his ears off than willingly listen to her non-stop talking.

"I wish I actually had ice magic so that I could freeze her mouth shut," Lyon commented to his sister.

"Maybe if I wave my wand at her enough, a moonstone will eventually come out of nowhere and knock her out," Vallia responded.

"I would pay literally anything for that to happen," Lyon said.

"Death comes for everyone, but maybe sooner for those that deserve it more," Juleka says.

She could obviously hear them from her seat in front of them. While most of the class was trying to be neutral in the 'Lila and Marinette Drama' there were those who did know the truth. Juleka, Nathaniel, and Kim were all aware that Lila was a liar. Juleka figured it out after it was revealed that Jagged was her and Luka's father, so she had "insider" information about Jagged never having had a kitten not writing a song about anyone other than Ladybug and Penny. Nathaniel was shown that she was a liar when Marc told him that Lila tried to say that she could introduce him to Stan Lee, even though he was dead. All Kim needed was to sit down with Marinette and listen to why she believed that Lila was a liar, which Marinette told him was because there was no way that Ladybug would befriend someone who would instantly boast about it on the Ladyblog, and he believed her since he had grown up with Marinette.

"You are really enjoying your costume, aren't you," Vallia giggled.

"Enjoyment is for those that try to make up for the fact that they live sad and lonely lives," Juleka stated.

"Are we sure that she is not possessed by Wednesday Addams rather than just dressing like her," Lyon joked.

"I will never tell," Juleka said.

"At this point, I would be seriously surprised if her birthday was not Halloween, Friday the 13th, or Dia De Los Muertos," Vallia says.

Rose looked like she wanted to tell Vallia the day of Juleka's actual birthday, but she chose not to just because she liked the joke.

"I would have asked her to make your costume as well, Marinette," Lila continued talking in her fake sweet tone. "But I know you don't like me."

"Her acting is not even that good," Adrien mumbled to himself, even though Nino could hear him.

"I would have said 'no' anyway," Marinette said. "After all, since I want to be a fashion designer, it is better to get as much practice as possible as a teenager. And Halloween is the perfect excuse to practice my craft."

"And my girl's got skills," Alya gave Marinette a side hug. "She even made me these bracelets for my costume since I couldn't find any in any store I tried."

"Besides, as much as you wanted to be Ladybug, being something so... predictable has never been my style," Marinette could not but throw in her own underhanded comment. "After all, even just from those in the bakery this morning and who I saw on my way to school, so many people were dressed as Ladybug. That has never been my style."

"It's true," Kim said. "Ever since we were kids, Marinette has always had the most unique and fun costumes on Halloween. However, nothing less can be expected from someone that lives in a bakery than for them to love a holiday all about sweets."

"I remember all of her costumes," Nino says. "And they have always been awesome. During that entire werewolf and vampire craze a few years ago, Marinette went against that and dressed like a fairy princess. The complete opposite of what everyone else was going for."

"That sounds adorable," Adrien said, unknowingly making Marinette blush.

Miss.Bustier soon came into the classroom, making everyone go to their seats. Much to the surprise of everyone, she was also in a costume. They all could not help but giggle and chuckle at how Miss.Bustier was dressed up as Miss.Frizzle from The Magic School Bus. She even had a fake lizard to represent Liz.

"Good morning, class," she says. "While I am sure all of you are excited about Halloween, it is still a school day."

"Can I just say that you actually look really nice as Miss.Frizzle, Miss.Bustier," Adrien commented after he was called on.

"Thank you, Adrien," Bustier smiled at him. "I used to teach elementary and would show episodes of the show to my class. So, I thought it would be nice to experience some nostalgia from those days."

"Memories are some of the best reasons to wear costumes like that," Marinette smiled at her.

Bustier smiled at them some more before she went to start her lesson.

"Alright, class, today we are going to..." Bustier started.

A slight wave of energy washed over all of Paris. It was barely noticeable, only noticed by those who have been involved with magic in the past. Which was technically all of them since they have either been akumatized or wielded a miraculous or both.

"Take chances, make mistakes, get messy," Bustier suddenly blurted out, shocking the entire class. "I'm sorry, class. I have no idea where that came from."

"I hope any mistakes made are deadly ones," Juleka in her Wednesday tone again.

"Okay, something feels wrong," Nino groaned almost in pain as he put his hand on his head.

"I'm glad that someone else feels that way," Lyon agreed with Nino.

"Is anyone else suddenly really hot, or is it just me," Alix started using her hand as a fan to try and cool herself down.

"If anything, I'm cold," Lyon shivered a little.

"Uh... Juleka," Rose looked nervous while speaking in the higher-toned 'Peach' voice. "Is that hand supposed to be... moving?"

"WHAT!" the class all yelled at the same time, looking at Juleka immediately.

Sure enough, the "fake" hand on her shoulder was moving. It suddenly jumped off Juleka's shoulder and was "standing" in front of her on her and Rose's desk. Everyone instantly jumped and moved away from the hand.

"You guys are going to hurt Thing's feelings," Juleka said.

"Juleka, the voice was fun before, but you are starting to really freak me out," Nathaniel stated.

"I don't... I don't think I can stop," Juleka actually sounded worried even in her lower Wednesday voice.

"Guys... I think she is being serious," Rose said.

Everyone got even more worried. Something was most definitely wrong. Juleka may be quiet, but she did not have a low voice like the one she was currently speaking in. And then just to add more freakiness to the situation, the previous fake bunny that Ivan had been holding also jumped out of his arms and onto his desk.

"I, officially, am freaked out," Kim stated.

"Did you guys feel that energy from before," Marinette asked them all. "Maybe that has something to do with what's going on."

"And what is even going on, girl," Alya asked her best friend.

Marinette gave her a look that clearly was saying "Are you serious, right now?"

"An akuma, Alya," Marinette says. "You would think after all this time, you would have learned the signs of an akuma by now."

"Marinette, don't be mean to Alya," Lila had the gall to try and scold her.

"Hey, Marinette has a point," Adrien stood up for Marinette. "Hawkmoth has been sending akumas for over a year. It is pretty obvious when he is up to something."

"What type of akuma even is this," Lyon was visibly disturbed by the sight of 'Thing' still crawling around on Juleka and Rose's desk. "Does it bring inanimate objects to life?"

"I would have guessed that if not for Juleka's change in voice and Miss.Bustier's earlier shout," Marinette says.

"Vallia, what do you..." Lyon cut himself off at the sight of his sister missing from her seat. "Vallia? What in the name of the gods!"

He looked around, trying to find his sister. The others all looked under their desks and around them as well to see if Vallia had hidden somewhere in the classroom for some reason. They would have thought she climbed out the window for some reason if they had not heard a tiny voice.

"You guys might want to look up," they all heard from above them.

They all looked up and their jaws hit the floor. Flying above them was a fairy. And not just any fairy, it was Vallia.

"Someone please tell me that I am dreaming," Max stated. "Ow!"

"You're not dreaming," Kim said, having just pinched Max on his arm.

"Vallia," Lyon gasped at the sight of his sister being an actual fairy.

"Don't ask me," Vallia flew down and sat on her and Lyon's desk in front of her brother. "One second I was fine, and the next I was tiny and flying. I know I joked about wanting my want to actually be able to work earlier, but not like this."

"That's it," Nathaniel, of all people, stood up.

"What's it," Alix asked him.

"That is what the akuma does," Nathaniel says. "It doesn't bring inanimate objects to life, that wave of energy from earlier turned all of us into our costumes!"

All of them then started looking at themselves just to test if Nathaniel's theory was true. And it turned out he was right. Sabrina nearly jumped out of her skin when one of her fake Pokeballs grew larger in her hand when she pressed the button on it. Alix touched her desk and immediately had to take her hand off it because she accidentally started burning it just from her touch. Nino tapped his robotic arm and it opened up to reveal a small computer screen, just like the one Cyborg uses to communicate with his teammates on the show without the use of his Titan communicator. Max simply stood up and instantly tripped over his own feet in a classic case of Urkel clumsiness and also instantly said "Did I do that?" by pure instinct.

"How did you figure it out, Nath," Adrien asked him, curious.

"It would not be the first time I have seen this happen," Nathaniel said.

"What," everyone gasped.

"Not in reality, obviously," Nathaniel continued. "But, I've seen a lot of TV shows that have had 'turning into their costumes' as part of their Halloween specials. It was done on Fairly Odd Parents, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The Simpsons, not to mention the iconic Haunted Mask episode of Goosebumps."

"I am suddenly so glad that you're a nerd," Alix stated.

"I'm a nerd and proud of it," Nathaniel says.

Unknown to the rest of the class, four other members were way more concerned about the current situation. Adrien, Marinette, Lyon, and Vallia all had no idea if this akuma would keep them from transforming. None of them had currently been wearing their miraculous but had also kept them on them. Giving her bag a quick look, Marinette was relieved to see Tikki was still there with the earrings. The same could be said for Adrien, who was glad that Plagg was still in his jacket pocket with the ring. Lyon looked inside his and Vallia's backpacks, glad to see their own miraculous and kwami were still there. The only problem was that Vallia was too tiny to put hers on.

"Adrien, I'm scared," Lila immediately took the opportunity to latch onto Adrien's arm.

"Then go get comfort from someone that cares," Adrien forced her arms off of him.

"You don't mean that," Lila would not take 'no' for an answer.

Adrien smirked as he decided to take advantage of his own costume transformation. He made some hand gestures and with a POOF, he was replaced by a log of wood with Lila holding onto a branch of the log. Adrien appeared behind Lyon.

"I have always wanted to do that," Adrien was actually excited.

"You are not that upset about this akuma, are you," Lyon raised an eyebrow at his friend.

"While I can not really be excited about there being an akuma, out there, I can at least have some fun with this one," Adrien smirked.

"You really are an anime geek," Lyon chuckled.

"Says the guy dressed as another anime character," Adrien threw back.

"A character that can freeze you into an ice statue, so I would watch that mouth," Lyon playfully threatened his friend.

The fact that ice was slowly spreading from where Lyon's hand was on his desk, Adrien chose not to push his luck even though he knew Lyon was only joking.

"You're a real Ice Prince, now," Vallia giggled.

"You are too tiny to make fun of me, right now," Lyon glared at her.

Vallia wisely shut up, knowing that she could easily be squished given her current size. Plus, she was not in the mood to be turned into a fairy-cicle.

Bustier ended up sighing, knowing that there was no point in trying to continue class because of what was going on. After all, how could she when she might end up taking the class on a potentially dangerous field trip because of her own costume? So, she dismissed the class and told them all to go home.

Getting out of the classroom, they saw that all the other classes had been let out as well. And everyone had been transformed into their costume the same as they had.

"Oh, crap," the four secret heroes swore at the same time.

Looking around, they could see their other friends from around the school not doing very well with their new abilities.

Aurore, who had dressed up as Stella from Winx Club, was currently trying her best not to blind anyone with her new light powers. Not to mention she could not control her wings very well. Jean, who had obviously dressed as a magician, could not stop pulling rabbits out of his hat. Plus, flowers kept popping into his hand every time he flicked his hands in the slightest way. Mirelle had dressed up as Mulan and she was now being followed by what had definitely been a fake Mushu that she had been carrying around. She also looked terrified that she was now carrying a real sword.

It was Marc who looked to be struggling the most. Mostly because the costume he chose had been outside of his comfort zone. He had dressed as a vampire. An old-school one, at that. So, now he had to hide in the shadows because the sun would literally kill him. Nathaniel immediately went over to check on his boyfriend.

"Something tells me that this is going to be one seriously crazy Halloween," Marinette says.

"My sister is literally sitting on my shoulder because she is not even six inches tall," Lyon says to her. "We are already way past crazy at this point."

"Let's just hope Ladybug, Cat Noir, Beautifly, and White Wolf can take down the akuma before chaos takes over Paris," Alya said.

"If the akuma ever shows itself," Kim muttered.

"Kim," Max slapped his best friend on his arm.

"I didn't mean that in a 'we are doomed' kind of way," Kim immediately tried to change what he had said before. "I meant it in a 'the akuma has not even really revealed itself and is already causing problems' kind of way."

"Oh," Max said, before he then tripped again, knocking down a bunch of the class like human dominos. "Did I do that?"

"I am never watching that show ever again," Sabrina stated, having been the first one Max had knocked over when he tripped.

"There is nothing to worry about," Lila bragged. "I texted Ladybug and she knows about the akuma. Or, since I now have Ladybug's powers, I could handle it if she ends up having trouble."

Those aware that she was a liar all rolled their eyes.

"Who needs Ladybug now that Queen Bee is back," Chloe boasted, obviously enjoying that her costume was made real.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Lyon, Marinette, and Adrien all did their classic "got to transform away from prying eyes" disappearing act. No one even noticed they had vanished. And even if they did, they probably thought that Marinette went home to check on her parents, Lyon and Vallia went to check on their dad, and Adrien was summoned home by his father.

Lyon hid in the empty art room and opened up his backpack to pet out his and Vallia's kwami, Flutter and Frostbite.

"Please tell us that there is a way for me to transform," Vallia immediately asked them.

"We... uh... We don't know," Flutter reluctantly admitted.

"You don't know," Lyon almost yelled.

"This has never happened before," Frostbite says. "Fairies have never been involved with the miraculous. So, there has never been a reason to see if a fairy could use a miraculous."

"Hold on," Vallia could not help but pause at what the wolf kwami had said. "Are you saying that fairies are real?"

"I don't think right now is the right time to process that," Lyon tells his tiny sister.

"Fine," Vallia got back on topic. "Do you think it could work if I basically stood inside of my bracelet almost as if it was a very large dress?"

"There have been many situations the miraculous face faced, but never anything like this," Flutter said. "While there have been times when our holders have been shrunk, but that was also a time when they were still wearing the miraculous, so it was shrunk along with them."

"I do believe that this is what you humans would call an uncanny valley situation," Frostbite says.

"At least you have been slowly learning about modern language," Lyon said. "And yet, I still feel the urge to keep you away from the internet."

"That is something more for what Plagg's holder should do," Frostbite says.

"The more we learn about Plagg, the more I feel pity for Cat Noir," Lyon stated.

And speaking of Cat Noir, Adrien had hidden in the locker room to talk to Plagg to see if the transformation would affect him as Cat Noir.

"So, there will be some type of effect my current situation will have on me being Cat Noir," Adrien wanted some clarification from Plagg.

"I have had holders in the past who have had their own powers," Plagg reveals. "When they use the miraculous, their powers would get enhanced. So you, ninja boy, will be given a boost when you transform."

"I know I should feel this way, but I think this is my favorite akuma," Adrien says.

"It would have been a lot better if you had been dressed as someone that could summon cheese by their will," Plagg adorably pouted.

"As I told you when I was choosing my costume, there is no such character that can do that," Adrien could not help but roll his eyes.

"And I said before, that should be considered a crime," Plagg stated.

"You are a smelly cheese gremlin and not even you can deny that," Adrien tells him.

"It's not my fault that you do not know how to appreciate proper smelly and delectable cheese," Plagg adorably crossed in arms in stubbornness.

Adrien rolled his eyes as he put his ring back on.

With Marinette and Tikki, they were having a similar conversation that Adrien and Plagg were having. Marinette had also been concerned if her costume would interfere with being Ladybug.

"If anything, this could help you defeat the akuma more easily," Tikki tried to soothe her panicking holder.

"But I don't even know where to begin with these powers," Marinette was once again in full panic mode. "Lapis is one of the most powerful characters in Steven Universe with her ability to bend water to her will. I can't learn to control such a powerful ability this quickly."

"You are going to have to, Marinette," Tikki says. "So far, everyone is still acting like themselves. But, it is only a matter of time before your costumes start influencing your personalities as well."

"You think that will happen," Marinette was now even more concerned.

"I may have never experienced anything exactly like this before, but there have been things like this," Tikki explained. "There is a magical Native American mask that a tribe once used to turn into animals to fight in wars by wearing animal skins and then using the mask's magic on themselves. Only, once they were turned, they also acted like animals rather than simply turning into them."

"Great, just great," Marinette facepalmed.

"While I am not sure that will happen this time, we still need to find and defeat this akuma as quickly as possible," Tikki advised.

"The one time that Kim was right about something, it had to be that the akuma has not shown up, yet," Marinette groaned.

"I am sure the akuma will show up sooner or later, Marinette," Tikki tells her.

"Let's hope for sooner with this one," Marinette said.

And then, as if summoned by her desire, the sky started to darken. Given that Aurore had been transformed into a fairy, they knew it was not Stormy Weather. It seems that Marinette's "Ladybug Luck" was working in her favor this time.

"Well, you got what you wanted, Marinette," Tikki said.

Soon, they heard a voice shouting from outside. Even for akumas that have nothing to do with the school, they would still find ways to come to the school. There was a reason why Dupont had gained the reputation as the "Akuma School." However, there were literally no students who would argue with that title for the school. Especially since Chloe had been the cause of a majority of the akumas created, with a lot of them happening because of things she had done at school. Such as when she had locked Juleka in the bathroom, called Ivan a monster, and ripped up Rose's letter to Prince Ali.

"I am the Pumpkin King," shouted out a male voice, but also sounded very young at the same time. "If others want to make fun of me for being scared of Halloween, then I will be the one to make THEM scared!"

The heroes all looked out of the rooms they had hidden in. They saw the akuma riding on what was obviously supposed to be a witch's broom right over the school courtyard.

"That name is definitely a Nightmare Before Christmas reference," Lyon said.

"Hawkmoth is pushing the limits when comes to a potential copyright lawsuit," Vallia says.

Pumpkin King was definitely a young boy. They could only guess that he was about seven or eight years old. His looks were also inspired by the main character of Nightmare Before Christmas, Jack. He was dressed in a pitch-black suit but with some visible spider web designs on it. There was also a mini skull in the middle of his bowtie. He also had black boots on. His head looked a lot like a skeleton skull because of the white and black makeup. Over his eyes was a pumpkin-designed mask with a pumpkin-themed witch hat on his head. It was like he was the child of Jack Skellington and a witch.

"Someone please tell me that Chloe did not make fun of a little kid and got him akumatized," Adrien basically was pleading with the universe.

"What makes you think she was the cause of this one," Plagg asked his holder.

"Why else would an akuma come straight to the school," Adrien looked very done with the number of akumas his childhood friend caused.

"There, there," Plagg tried and failed to be a comforting kwami.

All of the heroes were about to transform when they, unfortunately, heard a very familiar voice. And they could also feel headaches forming.

"You came to the wrong place, you utterly ridiculous villain," Chloe said in the most pompous voice possible. "Queen Bee is back and I am the only hero that Paris needs!"

"Delusional, party of one," Aurore called out.

That got a lot of laughs, even though there was an akuma right there. Given that the entire school hated Chloe, they could not help but laugh whenever anyone would make fun of her.

"Nobody cares about Queen Bee, Chloe," Alya yelled at her.

"You were never a hero," Kim shouted at her.

"Get out of here and let the actual heroes come and fight the akuma," Aurore called out again.

"You are all ridiculous, utterly ridiculous," Chloe huffed at what everyone was shouting at her. "You don't deserve to have the help of the amazing Queen Bee."

"More like Queen Brat," shouted another student.

The akuma was floating on his broom, watching everything that was going down. The look on his face was definitely saying that he was thinking something like "Did they forget I am even here?" However, he did have to admit that it was very entertaining to watch most of the school gang up against a very obvious spoiled brat.

"Only this school could be so against Chloe that they forget about the akuma that is right in front of them," Lyon sighed.

"It should really say something about a group of people if they can so easily forget about an akuma," Vallia said.

The akuma, tired of being ignored, decided he was not going to take it.

"Maybe this should teach you not to ignore and akuma," he shouted.

He held out his hand and shadows seemed to fall from his fingers. Once the shadows landed on the ground, they formed into classic Halloween monsters. Vampires, werewolves, mummies, witches, and many others. All the students started to back away from the creatures.

"This isn't good," Marinette gasped.

"You need to transform, Marinette," Tikki tells her, urgency in her voice.

"Tikki! Spots..." but hearing a voice stopped her from finishing her transformation phrase.

"Hey, Skeleton Boy," Alya's voice was heard. "You do realize that you made a big mistake, right?"

"Excuse me," Pumpkin King glared at her.

"Oh, Alya," Marinette facepalmed. "One of these days, she is going to give me a heart attack."

"You may have transformed us into our costumes, but maybe you should have also added some mine control when you did that," Alya smirked.

Suddenly, she changed. Since she had been transformed into Valerie Gray, that meant she also had Valere's Red Huntress suit. So, with a small swirl of energy, the red and black mechanical suit appeared on her body. Complete with the red and black hoverboard under her feet.

Within seconds, Alya flew right at the summoned monsters. Wrist blasters came out of her armor at the wrists, obviously, and she started shooting at them. She looked to be having a lot of fun.

"Why am I not surprised Alya is the first to go on the offensive," Tikki giggled.

"There is a reason why I wanted Alya to be given the bee miraculous while fighting Style Queen," Marinette tells the kwami. "As great as she is as Rena Rouge, Alya is more headstrong and straightforward. So, she is better with a miraculous where she can fight head-on rather than staying back to cast an illusion."

"We still need to transform, Marinette," Tikki reminds her.

"Right, Tikki," Marinette nodded.

As much as Adrien, Lyon, and Vallia were all enjoying the sight of Alya using her costume to her advantage, they knew they had to transform as well. Quickly ducking back into their hiding places, they put on their miraculous and said their transformation phrases.

"Tikki! Spots on!"

"Plagg! Claws out!"

"Frostbite! Freeze over!"

Lyon almost went "Awwwwww" as he saw his sister pouting from where she was sitting. It was obvious that she would not be able to transform because of her new fairy form. Lyon had to admit she was very adorable as a pouting fairy.

The heroes all had to sneak out of the windows in the rooms they had been hiding in. That way, they could make it look like they arrived normally rather than having obviously come from somewhere inside the school. It was a lot of work, but hiding their identities was very important. They were glad that when they "arrived" at the school, a lot of students followed Alya's lead. They went on the attack.

Alya looked to be having the time of her life being Red Huntress. If she was not blasting vampires with her wrist blasters, she was dropping energy bombs onto groups of werewolves. All with a smile on her face. Nino was backing his girlfriend up using his new Cyborg strength. And if she needed a more powerful helping hand, he was more than happy to use his sonic cannon. Kim actually provided some great backup by using his new wrestler moves. There was a reason why Sin Cara was one of the best wrestlers in the WWE. Because he had skills.

And to the surprise of most of them, another one of the best fighters turned out to be Juleka. Since he had chosen the version of Wednesday from the Jenna Ortega show, it meant she was incredibly skilled at fencing. So, she had grabbed two swords from the gym supplies and was using them to be a terrifying force of fierceness. Mirelle joined her, using her new skills that came from being turned into Mulan. Not to mention she had her own backup in the form of the fake Mushu that had been brought to life. That tiny dragon could be very scary once it lets loose its fire breath. Aurore also let loose her new fairy magic. Being the fairy of the shining sun was actually the best member of the Winx that she could have been for the situation that was happening. Especially given that they were fighting literal creatures of the night. Marc did have to avoid her powers as he and Nathaniel fought side by side. The boyfriends were already partners while working on their hero comic, but they were now crime-fighting partners as well.

There were still some students who were not very helpful since their costumes were not of characters that had powers. Such as Mylene, whose mime costume only meant that she had lost her voice and had basically been turned into the stereotype of French mimes that others like to make fun of. Ivan was also not very helpful given that DJ was known for being quite the loveable coward on Total Drama. With Rose, it was pretty easy to see why she was not very helpful. After all, Princess Peach was known for being a damsel in distress.

The three heroes all landed next to each other on the school's roof.

"Well, it looks like we have more help than we usually do," Cat Noir immediately said.

"We're going to need it," White Wolf stated.

"That have to do with the reason why Beautifly is not here," Ladybug asked him.

The icy hero nodded. "Her costume was that of a fairy, so she shrank too much for her miraculous to be able to work with her."

"I am never looking at Halloween in the same way ever again," Ladybug sighed.

"Speak for yourself," Cat Noir grinned brightly. "I am still going to love this holiday no matter what."

"As an almost literal black cat, I am not surprised that you love... Ladybug, are you blue," White Wolf cut off his statement to ask the question.

"I will be honest and say that I only noticed that when you brought it up," Cat Noir's eyes widened at the sight of Ladybug's blue skin.

Ladybug sighed. "My friends and I had chosen to do a combined theme for our costumes. We all wanted to basically turn into human versions of the elements. I was water."

"You had a much more creative costume than me," Cat Noir chuckled. "I just dressed as a ninja."

"I was my own original character that I called the Ice Prince," White Wolf shrugged.

The other two heroes raised an eyebrow.

"Isn't that a bit of a hint to you being White Wolf," Ladybug asked him.

"Hiding in plain sight is the best way to hide my identity," White Wolf tells them. "After all, no one would think an ice hero would dress up in an icy costume."

"Got to admit, it is clever," Cat Noir says.

The three of them then jumped into battle. They head right for Pumpkin King. He barely was able to dodge them since they had caught him by surprise.

"So, you have finally shown up," he says to them. "Give me your miraculous or Paris will be known as the City of Nightmares instead of the City of Love!"

"I have a better idea," Cat Noir smirked. "How about you give us your akumatized object before we unleash a can of butt-kick on you!"

"I think this is a better idea," Pumpkin King glared at them. "Get them!"

Some of his creatures that had not been fighting the students all charged at the three heroes. White Wolf simply yawned as he touched his hand to the floor. Instantly, ice covered the ground. It caused the monsters to slip and side right into a wall.

"You, ghouls, should learn how to be careful," the icy hero snickered. "Icy roads ahead."

"How did you do that," Pumpkin King yelled. "You did not even say your superpower activation phrase!"

"I didn't have to," White Wolf smirked. "My costume had been a character with ice powers. Your powers are the reason for my little upgrade."

The look on the villain's face was priceless.

"Yeah, neither you nor Hawkmoth thought things through when it came to your powers," Cat Noir laughed.

He did a few hand gestures and in the blink of an eye, multiple versions of him appeared around the villain. And all of them looked just as cheeky as the original.

"And we are more than happy to use our new ninja powers to our advantage," they all said at the same time.

They all attacked the Halloween villain at the same time. Even though he had the advantage of being able to fly because of his broom, Pumpkin King was learning that flight was not the big advantage he thought that it was. After all, with a dozen Cat Noirs attacking him at the same time, it would only be a matter of luck and time before one of them would be able to get a hit in.

And it soon came to pass when he had to dive down to avoid one group of Cat Noirs, but that sent him right into the path of two more. Using their staffs, they were able to knock him off his broom. They all smirked as they looked at the downed villain.

"He is really enjoying himself," White Wolf said.

"He is such an anime nerd," Ladybug playfully rolled her eyes.

"Or, just a nerd in general," White Wolf chuckled.

The Cat Noir copies then all vanished, leaving only the original.

"I am going to miss that for after you cast the cure, M'Lady," he said.

Ladybug opened her mouth to answer, only to be distracted for a second. A few vampires tried to attack her, which forced her to use her new powers. She held out her hands, which unleashed a strong blast of water. It sent the vampires flying back into another wall.

"I have to admit that it would be nice to still have these powers," Ladybug admitted. "If only I did not have to be blue."

Thinking that the broom Pumpkin King had been riding on had to be his akumatized object, Cat Noir picked it up from where it had landed on the ground. He was about to say his power activation word when someone else said theirs first.

"Venom," Chloe shouted.

Her hand lit up as she activated her paralyzing power. Only, she did not go for the akuma, she went for Cat Noir. If it had not been for the quick action of Ladybug using her yo-yo to pull Cat Noir away from her, she would have been able to get him with her power.

"Chloe, what in the name of the gods are you doing," White Wolf yelled at her.

He notched an arrow into his bow and aimed it at her. He was not going to let her come close to them.

"You can't do this to me," Chloe screamed at the heroes.

"Do what to you," Cat Noir raised an eyebrow. "We are just defeating an akuma as we usually do."

"You took Queen Bee away from me once," Chloe continued to yell. "I will not let you do it to me again!"

"You are willing to let an akuma stay out just so that you can continue to pretend to be a hero," White Wolf glared at her.

"I was a GREAT hero," Chloe protested White Wolf saying that she had only been pretending to be a hero. "It's not my fault you were utterly ridiculous enough to take MY miraculous from me."

"It was not YOUR miraculous," Ladybug yelled back. "It was NEVER yours. It did NOT belong to you!"

"It was MINE," Chloe denied Ladybug saying that the bee miraculous was not yours.

"Just because you want it, doesn't make it yours," Cat Noir glared at the brat. "And it was long overdue for someone to not give into your spoiled brat attitude."

"If Beautifly and I had been here from the start, we would have dealt with her long before she had a chance to be such a dangerous fake hero," White Wolf growled.

"How dare you," Chloe screamed.

She tried to use her Venom on him, only for him to easily dodge her by gliding on the ice still on the floor. He barely even looked like he cared that she was attacking him, which only made her even angrier. After all, someone like Chloe basically lives off of others paying attention to her. So, White Wolf basically dismissing her only served to piss her off. Not that he cared.

"I think he might actually be enjoying this," Cat Noir commented to Ladybug.

"If there is one thing we are well aware of when it comes to White Wolf, he takes no nonsense from anyone," Ladybug said. "Especially Chloe."

"So, you think you should call your lucky charm," Cat Noir asked her. "We might not need it for Pumpkin King, but that is how you cast the cure."

"You have a point," Ladybug says. "Lucky charm!"

She threw up her yo-yo in order to summon her charm. When it came down, it was revealed to be a replica of her magical yo-yo.

"Huh," Cat Noir looked at the replica. "I feel like that is a message."

"For what is the real question," Ladybug said.

"Well, it certainly isn't for this brat," White Wolf says as he continues to easily dodge Chloe's strikes. "I have her handled."

"You will pay for disrespecting the most amazing person in all of Paris," Chloe screamed at him.

"When did that happen," White Wolf tauntingly raised an eyebrow. "You are the one I am disrespecting and you are the WORST person in all of Paris.

That really pissed Chloe off. She charged at him again, only for the icy hero to simply step to the side and then put his foot out. He tripped her, which caused her to slide down a path of ice he made. She crashed into the janitor's closet. The door was closed by Juleka.

"Sweet revenge," Juleka smirked, still talking in her low Wednesday voice.

"I knew there was a reason why I liked that girl," White Wolf chuckled.

But while they were dealing with Chloe and Pumpkin King was still knocked out from the multiple Cat Noir attacks, the heroes did not notice someone else sneaking near them. Someone who was also holding something red and black ladybug-themed. The person threw it at the heroes, specifically Ladybug. But, she did not count on Cat Noir's new ninja reflexes.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the object heading right for them. His eyes widened when he noticed it was a ladybug-themed grenade. He quickly took action by throwing his baton, which easily met its mark because his ninja skills combined with his cat eyes made him a very good shot. After all, ninjas had to be very good at throwing things because of their use of throwing stars.

The grenade was knocked back to the person who threw it. It exploded but was thankfully not a firey type of explosive. It exploded with what they thought was red and black glue/paint. The scream that followed the explosion told them who had thrown it.

"Well, now the lucky charm makes sense," Ladybug said as she saw Lila covered in the sticky paint.

"I guess means we are finally done, then," Cat Noir says. "Let's actually finish this. Cataclysm!"

The broom that was still in his hand crumbled to dust. The purple butterfly flew out of the dust.

"No more evil-doing for you, little akuma," Ladybug opened her yo-yo and captured the akuma. "Time to de-evilize! Bye, bye, little butterfly."

She opened her yo-yo and freed the now-white butterfly. She then threw up the lucky charm yo-yo while shouting "Miraculous Ladybug!" to cast the cure. It washed over Paris which turned everyone back to normal while also getting rid of all the creatures Pumpkin King had summoned. He was also turned back to normal.

However, one person was strangely not completely cured by the magic. Even after the ladybugs washed over the school, Lila was still covered in her sabotage attempt.

"I am seriously not surprised," White Wolf commented.

"Lila... you tried to sabotage Ladybug and the other heroes," Alya was the first of the students to come over. "Why... Why would you do that?"

Normally, Lila would have tried to lie while also throwing in her typical crocodile tears as well. But, this time, she was too angry to do that.

"What did you do to me, Lady Brat," Lila yelled at Ladybug. "Look at me! You did this to me!"

"You did it to yourself, Lila," Cat Noir crossed his arms. "I always knew you would make a mistake one of these days and it looks like karma has finally come to collect your debt."

"What... What do you mean," Rose stuttered as she asked.

"He means that Lila is finally experiencing the consequences of her actions," White Wolf says. "Something she has previously been able to escape because of her lying skills."

"L...Lying," Mylene stuttered.

Ladybug sighed. "I did not want it to come out this way, but it is true. Lila, there, has been nothing but a liar ever since she came to Paris. Especially since after what you have all just witnessed, it is obvious that she is NOT my best friend."

"But... But you never said anything," Alya looked at her phone, obviously looking at her blog.

"I never said anything because I wanted you to come to me," Ladybug tells the blogger. "Alya, you can become an amazing reporter someday, but you need to learn to not take things at face value. I did not come to you because you should have come to me in order to fact-check what Lila was saying. Clearly, I had too much faith in you. Maybe after this, you will learn to be careful about who you trust."

Ladybug was not that upset with Alya, especially since Alya had stopped trying to get her and Lila to become "friends." But, she still wanted Alya to learn about these things in case anyone else tried something like Lila had. Lying about being friends with a hero to gain attention.

"I think a lot of people learned a very good lesson today," White Wolf stated, smirking at Lila while she glared at the heroes.

"If I was in Harry Potter, this would be my Patronus memory," Cat Noir snickered while also looking at Lila.

"Bug out," Ladybug says.

The heroes then all left. Slowly, the students returned to their classes. The battle had not been that long, so they did still have to return to class.

"Hello," Chloe yelled from the janitor's closet. "Hello! Get me out of this filthy place! I demand it! Let me out right now! This is ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!"

No one heard her. And even if they did, they wouldn't care.

#miraculous #miraculous fandom #ml salt #original character #lila salt #i hate chloe #chloe salt #halloween #original akuma #original heroes #original miraculous

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sariahsue · 7 months

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Let Me Count the Ways

Chapter Nineteen - Epilogue

[Ch 1] [Ch 2] [Ch 3] [Ch 4] [Ch 5] [Ch 6] [Ch 7] [Ch 8] [Ch 9] [Ch 10] [Ch 11] [Ch 12] [Ch 13] [Ch 14] [Ch 15] [Ch 16] [Ch 17] [Ch 18]

“So who was he? The boy you loved so much.”

It was evening at the Eiffel Tower, and Chat Noir sat and leaned against a beam. The weather was clear, the sunset was golden, and Ladybug was curled up in his lap, lazing against his chest as he traced his claws across her stomach.

They’d gone on several dates in the last few weeks, and he thought it might be safe enough to finally satisfy his curiosity.

She didn’t answer immediately, just hummed absently while she considered. “I finally got over him enough to see what was right in front of me this whole time.”

Chat Noir felt his face flush. It might have embarrassed him a few weeks ago to display how easily she made him swoon, but he didn’t bother to hide it now.

“It would compromise my identity,” she said, “but I don’t really care anymore.”

He nodded, and his hold on her tightened. That was so much more than he had ever expected and wished for.

Ladybug launched into an explanation. “Okay, so do you remember that first year we fought together? How Chloe’s class got akumatized a lot?”

“Almost everyone in the class got it at least once.”

“Right. I was in that class. And so was the boy I was crushing on.”

Chat was intensely interested, leaning forward and shifting her in his lap.

“I’m explaining this to you,” she continued, “so you don’t make fun of me.”

“Why would I?”

“Because.” She let go of him to hug herself. “I’m not like all the other thousands of girls who had a crush on Adrien Agreste. I personally knew him. We were close friends back then.”

His breath caught at his own name, and it took several seconds for it to return to a normal pace. He wasn’t sure his heart would ever calm down. Not only did she love him now, but she had loved him the entire time.

That also narrowed down the list of people she could be. It had been several years, but he still remembered the roster. Chloe, Lila, Alya, Rose… all those girls he knew couldn’t have been Ladybug. They’d been heroes and villains he and Ladybug had fought either with or against. Their looks were didn’t match, their personalities were too different, and he ruled them all out one by one, until–

“I hate to give you bad news,” he said after several seconds of recovery, “but I know who you are.”

She shrugged, leaning against him again. “I figured you would. You got to know my class well after a year of fighting them.”

“More bad news.” He swallowed around the heart beating in his throat. “You didn’t get over Adrien.”

“I did!” she said, jerking backward. “I love you! More than anything.” Her eyes were wide and insistent, begging him to believe. “I love you with my whole heart. You’re the only person for me. I love only you, I mean it. Why– Why are you smiling?”

“Because you’re lying.”

Her face flooded red, like she’d just cast her Miraculous Cure. And just like the real Cure, Chat Noir was left with the feeling that everything was right where it should be, and safe, and whole. When he cupped her face, she grabbed his wrists to steady herself.

“You love Adrien,” he said, a smile coloring his words. “More than anything.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off with a kiss to the cheek. When he pulled away, her face was scrunched in confusion.

“You love Adrien with your whole heart.” A kiss on the opposite cheek.

Her expression was unwinding, growing loose with what he hoped was comprehension. He waited, holding her. This time, he was the one silently begging the other to believe.

“Adrien is the only person for you.” He kissed her on the nose.

Ladybug - Marinette - didn’t let him get far, holding onto his neck to keep him in place. Are you serious? her expression asked him. You’re not making fun of me right now?

He let his wide smile answer, and one more repeated line. “You love only Adrien, I mean it.”

Chat Noir leaned in one more time, kissing her smiling lips. When he pulled away, he found himself wrapped tightly around her and encircled in her arms. Just where he’d always wanted to be.

“That’s what I said,” she replied. “I love you, Adrien.”

THE END

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Tag list: @clawsout83 @trippingovermyfeet @tbehartoo @yoonjae20 @random-cartoon-fangirl

Author’s note: Thank you for reading! I loved working on this story. When I started, I literally asked myself the question, “How obvious can I make it before he catches on?” and it was so fun to write him being super dumb about everything!

Special thanks to my betas, @jennagrinsoverml, @h-sunnywet-d, and @ladyofthenoodle. You made the story stronger, and I’m grateful!

(Self promo warning) Click here to see my other stories. (Lots of one-shots and a handful of longer stories.) Be on the lookout for my Square Dance fic in Nov. and my Big Bang in Jan. I’ve also got a ton of drabbles that I have ideas for, plus a few one-shots and longer fics that I’m excited to work on!

#ml #ladynoir #fanfic #miracuous ladybug #miraculous

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jasmine-the-fox · 1 month

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The bee protects the ladybug better then the cat ever could

So... this was a request made by Anon. I have been meaning to post it but now here I am doing it at long last.

I hope you all enjoy this piece!

Marinette realised she fell out of love towards Adrien once she understood she was in love with Chloe's half sister Zoe. It had been a huge shock to her but Tikki was able to calm her down enough that she was able to think over things... and understand that changes needed to be done in her life. As a result, she got rid of every single picture she had of Adrien in her room and donated all of the gifts she made for Adrien after getting rid of his schedule.

Once all of that was done. She decided to redo her room a little bit with the decor... and who better to ask for help then Zoe! It was perfect! She could ask her to come help her pick things out and then invite her over to help her redo her decor. Which is what she did, while nervous of course Mari stuttered out her request of Zoe helping her buy some new decor for her room after school... and the blonde accepted making Mari very excited to the answer. Which resulted in them having a fun time together doing some shopping.

When they were done, Mari asked Zoe if she was free to come over tomorrow... she wanted her opinion on where to place the new decor and she happily accepted "I think it would be a fun thing to do together. Then we could take a walk together" she offered which made Mari even more excited about tomorrow. She was freaking out on how things were going "What if she asks me out! Or I ask her out or even better we do it at the same time!?" She said as she flopped on her bed with a smile on her face.

Tikki found it nice that her bug and Pollen's bee were bonding so well at the moment... for in the past, some of Plagg's cats would never let it happen so Plagg had to start keeping them away so it can happen. Later that day, Mari drops off the bee miraculous in Zoe's room to make Vesperia an official member to the team... she could only hope that Cat Noir would be alright with this... last thing she wants is a temper tantrum from him, the next day. Zoe arrives and goes up to Mari's room.

The two get to work quickly since Zoe had come up with a few ideas for them to use to decorate Mari's room, it actually made things go faster than they thought... so when they finished... the two went on there walk together. Mari was of course internally screaming... but it got worst when Zoe took hold of her hand... resulting in Mari blushing like crazy... and also stuttering out both her feelings and asking Zoe out on a date. Of course, Zoe laughed and claimed she was cute and funny... but accepted both her feelings and the date request.

People watched as Mari had a slight freak out of joy in silence... while Tikki and Pollen laughed at the whole thing...

So... the two girls walked into school as a couple the following week. People found them cute and Alya began calling them 'Zoenette' which made them blush. Chloe at one point took Mari away and gave her the "If you hurt my sister's heart in any way I will hurt you and ruin your life" talk and Mari not only had a freak out... but Zoe had a fight with her sister when they got back to the hotel. Chloe to Mari's shock apologized the next day and offered to take her out shopping after school which she accepted since Sabrina was nodding to her to agree.

Adrien however... didn't like this. Even though everyone thought the two girls were cute together... he didn't think they should be together... the same went for Vesperia and Ladybug. The two started not only dating but working more together! Alya had made a poll about there ship name being either 'Ladyria' or 'Vespebug' and he hated it all to be honest. he believed they were making a mistake and that 'LadyNoir' was meant to be no matter what in the end... but no one wanted to listen to him.

So he decided to start with Zoe and Marinette... and what better way they to claim Zoe like her sister Chloe...

He was avoided like the plague. He couldn't believe it didn't work, Lila tried to help him with a few lies... but it quickly backfired when Chloe and Sabrina revealed she was a liar... scared for her life and not wanting to face her actions, she ran back to Italy to be safe... which caused everyone who gave her money for stuff or to donate... wasn't getting it back at all which caused them to be upset with her. But before she left she revealed to them the one truth she would say "Adrien and Marinette were the only ones who knew I was a liar. You all turned your backs on her when she tried to reveal me and Adrien kept quiet" this caused them all to feel betrayed by him.

He lost his friends without ever knowing why. Zoe and Mari on the other hand were very happy now that Lila was gone... this left Vesperia and Ladybug for him to stop. He found out that they were going on a date together when he was on patrol... so he planned to ruin it... but he missed it due to a photoshoot his father had for him. As a result... Mari revealed herself to Vesperia which resulted in there relationship being stronger than before... and 'Vespebug' became there ship name.

Adrien was of course pissed off at the fact he failed to allow the four to be in relationships in the end. Believing he still had a chance he stormed over to Mari's place, he went to her room "You need to leave Zoe Marinette! I'm telling you she's just like Chloe! This sweet and nice thing is an act! Once she get's what she want's from you she will leave you while laughing!" he claimed with the great hope she would believe him... but instead he was kicked out of the bakery by her angry parents while Mari screamed from her balcony to stay away from her.

He tried the same thing as Cat Noir to Vesperia... but she kept her distance every time he tried to talk to her. What he didn't know is that Mari tried calling her but ended up calling Chloe by mistake... she of course quickly told Zoe who ran to be by her girlfriend's side to comfort her. As a result, there were problems between them during akuma battles that the public noticed pretty quickly and began to worry that something was wrong... they began to ask questions which annoyed Adrien as it wasn't any of there business in the first place, but then he had enough and did an interview for Nadja.

She brought it up and he... lied, he claimed that Ladybug and Vesperia were fighting over something and to mind there own business now. This angered many as they were worried for them and wanted things to get back to normal... and claimed he was being a jerk for telling them that, but he believed he had a right to say what he said... until it backfired on him when Ladybug and Vesperia gave Alya an interview to tell the truth, they were in her living room and they spoke "Cat Noir lied about the problem... the truth is he is the problem" Ladybug explained "He tried to lie to me about Ladybug being in love with him and that I was in the way of them being together. He also claimed that she and I weren't a match and that I needed to leave the team" Vesperia explained.

They talked a bit more about the situation but in the end it caused Cat Noir to be greatly hated by the public. His merch was destroyed and the statue made in his and Ladybug's honor was destroyed and would only be remade once he was replaced, this caused Adrien to not transform as he didn't want to get thrown stuff at him anymore. Mari struggled with this but Zoe was by her side and believed it was for the best... so they reclaimed it from him when Ladybug got him to come out. He tried to fight back but venom used on him... it was over.

But it wasn't over just yet. With Zoe's support and Chloe and Sabrina by her side, Mari told the entire class what Adrien tried to tell her about Zoe so they could breakup... it infuriated the class since he was in the wrong to do something like this to Mari, Chloe even showed them how Mari called her by mistake that day which proved what he did. The class attacked him for it and he was reported to his father... who decided to send him to London to live with his aunt and cousin for the time being.

After that... things were better for the two girls. They were happy and freed from Adrien and Cat Noir... they even replaced him with Chloe who went by the name Black Panthère and she worked hard to prove she was better than Cat Noir. As a result, merch began to be designed and a new statue was in the making for the three girls... but considering the team was planning to expand... it might take awhile to make before getting revealed.

But the bee and ladybug were happy now... and no black cat would put an end to that...

#miraculous ladybug #adrien salt #miraculous salt #zoenette #marinette dupain cheng #zoe lee #cat!chloe #miraculous swap

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flightfoot · 3 months

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Hi, I'd be interested in some fanfictions that center around Nino (all ships welcome, bonus points if it's the core four hanging out).

Most fics that have him tagged don't focus on him. If you have any recs lmk, feel free to take as long as you need! Have a nice day

I'm on it! So long as you're fine with ships that also revolve around couples anyway, otherwise this would be rather sparse. I'm gonna go ahead and limit it to completed fics. Oh, and if you wonder why some of these have commentary and some don't, it's because the ones with commentary are from previous reclists I made.

(Edit: I'd said that I'd only include complete fics, but I accidentally included Withered Wings anyway, because I kinda forgot that. It's pretty close to finished at any rate, and it's good and long so I'm keeping it.)

Within Your Heart by Inkyibis

It’s Valentine’s Day and Ladybug just wants to her superhero partner to find his love. And what she wants, the Lucky Charm will create. If only she could remember what it is she did last night.

Adrino fic here! Marinette’s drunk and feeling awful that her superhero partner is alone on Valentine’s (she’s in a loving and committed relationship with Alya), so she creates a Lucky Charm to help Chat find love! In this universe, Ladybug’s Lucky Charms have the power to create new rules for the universe to follow, such as making one that demands that if you have any magic in you, you have to tell the truth or else you’ll freeze. Or in Adrien’s case, that he has to wake up in the arms of his true love every day XD. It’s very sweet and I love both Adrien’s and Nino’s relationship, and the relationship between the rest of the Miracuteam members as well, even though that’s not the focus.

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I’ll give myself a name (something stupid and pretentious) by @bbutterflies

Nino looked at the number and didn’t recognize it. Usually he wouldn’t answer, but he had nothing better to do – and could still really use a distraction – so he did. “Hello?”

“Hey, Nino.”

Nino stood up quickly, chest tightening. He knew that voice. He’d been waiting to hear it again for over two years. “Adrien?” he whispered.

“Yeah. It’s me."

When Monarch is defeated (and revealed to be Gabriel Agreste), Chat Noir immediately goes missing. Adrien disappears not long after. When Adrien finally shows up in Paris again, Nino would do anything to make sure he doesn't disappear again.

Ah this is lovely, Adrien’s been in a lot of emotional turmoil since Monarch’s defeat, convinced that everyone would hate him, SHOULD hate him, for not realizing that his father was the villain, and should hate him even more for disappearing like he does. But slowly Marinette and Nino get through to him, convince him that they just want him back.

And also Adrien and Nino smooch. Multiple times. So that’s a bonus XD.

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Would Trust You With Everything by @kasienda

Nino breaks off, tears streaking down his face. Adrien wishes he was here as himself instead of Chat so he could offer a hug.

“It’s not like I don’t think she deserved her privacy. It’s just it felt like I was her last priority. And if I knew why, then maybe we could overcome it. But when I don’t, I’m not willing to be her last thought. You know? I always put her first.”

“Yeah,” Chat agrees, able to relate too well. He always put Ladybug first too, and he’s not sure it has ever been the same for her. “I’m sorry you’ve been so alone through this."

“I haven’t been totally alone,” Nino disagrees, holding up his phone. “My best friend has been keeping me company virtually most of the day.”

“Yeah? It helped?”

“I don’t know if any of the stuff he sent helped, but like, given what I know he’s up to, he totally had to move heaven and earth to talk to me so much, and that really helped. You know, just knowing that someone was thinking of me.”

“I’m glad,” Chat Noir said. “I wish he could be there in person for you.”

Nino sighs. “Yeah, me too, but at least you’re here."

...

Season 4 au - canon divergent from Rocketear Rocketear led to DJWiFi breakup.

Ahh, Adrino my beloved XD. I love the identity shenanigans in this one with Adrien being around Nino as both Adrien and Chat Noir, and both of them vaguely describing their situations to each other. It takes Adrien a bit to figure out that he has a crush on Nino, but once he does...

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The moment I knew (I’d no choice but to love you) by @bbutterflies

“He’s dating me,” Nino said, taking Adrien’s hand in his own.

Adrien could only stare back at him in shock.

“How dare you all force him to come out?” Nino continued, glaring at the reporters. “That was disgusting.” He pulled Adrien over to the car, guided him in, and shut the door behind them.

In the relative quiet and privacy of the backseat, Adrien finally processed what had just happened. “So… when were you going to tell me we were dating?”

This Adrino fic is delicious XD. Reporters keep hounding Adrien about his love life, so Nino finally gets them off Adrien’s back by fake-dating him. Problem is, Adrien’s actually been madly in love with Nino for years but has never been able to tell him. And now as they’re spending more time together, Nino’s beginning to find that he’s enjoying all these “couple” activities more than maybe he ought to if it’s entirely platonic...

If you want to see Adrien and Nino PINING for each other while “fake” dating (is it really fake if both parties want it to be real?) then you’ve come to the right fic!

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Chemistry With Him by @bbutterflies

It kind of sucked Nino was taking chemistry, but classes had filled up fast and he needed to take something and his advisor had said the credits would, somehow, count towards his major. It really sucked he was taking it first thing on a Monday morning (and Wednesdays, and Fridays, unfortunately). But he could get through it. He knew he could.

So no more boys. No distractions. He could do this all on his own.

“Is anyone sitting here?”

Nino looked up to find the source of the voice. A blond, green-eyed, absolutely beautiful someone.

Okay. Maybe one distraction.

Ah, adorable Adrino. This is a universe where Adrien never went to public school, so while Chat Noir, Ladybug, Carapace, and Rena Rouge all know each other (and Marinette, Alya, and Nino all know each other’s identities) they’re unaware that they are all already friends with Adrien. I loved seeing Chat and Carapace excitedly tell each other about their awesome crush/boyfriend, not knowing they were talking about each other XD.

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Strangely Familiar by @sunfoxfic

Alya Césaire’s life is perfect. Indeed, between the success of the Ladyblog, how well she’s doing in school, and the fact that she’s a superhero who has never bore the weight of a crisis of epic proportions, her life almost couldn’t be better. Almost.

But Alya has always been a go-getter, and so she’ll chase after that perfect life if it kills her. Which is how she ends up rushing to move out of her father’s apartment and in with Marinette, Adrien, and a complete stranger: Nino Lahiffe. And in fact, her life does seem perfect — she and Nino are fast friends. They spend a lot of time together and get to know each other really well.

But in the end, fortunate situations will bear unfortunate truths, and she learns things about herself that aren’t quite comfortable. Like I said, though: Alya has always been a go-getter, and she won’t let new feelings deter her from chasing after her perfect life.

This is the single longest DJWifi-centric fic on AO3 (which is a travesty) and it is GLORIOUS. Alya and Nino are both well fleshed-out here, with their own problems and baggage they’re dealing with, but it’s easier together.

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Shelltering Others by @rosie-b:

When Ladybug wakes Nino up in the middle of the night to scold him for revealing his identity, he thinks his career as a Miraculous holder is over. But instead, Ladybug gives him the opportunity to prove himself by becoming Chat Noir’s confidant and learning his secret identity through a scavenger hunt of sorts. Will Nino pass Ladybug and Chat Noir’s test, or will he fail to put the pieces together in time?

Quick disclaimer here: the first chapter looks kinda salty towards Nino, with Ladybug laying into him for revealing his and Alya’s secret identities to Adrien and Marinette. She’s mostly just trying to scare him into taking them seriously, though, since she herself has just proposed that Nino become Chat’s secret-keeper, and he can’t afford to be lackadaisical with that identity. I highly recommend getting through at least chapter 2 of the fic when giving it a shot, because this had some great character development and introspection for Nino, on Chat Noir, Adrien, Ladybug, and himself.

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run boy run by tinuviel_tinuviel

Nino was sprawled on the floor of his room with Alya when his phone chimed, in the quiet of a premature autumnal sunset. It was one of those lazy evenings that had become rare lately. Contrary to popular belief, he and Alya could get studying done when in the same room, and he was elbows-deep in late assignments, which meant his phone was on Do Not Disturb, which meant the notification could only have come from one person.

ADRIEN 🐈: cmoe ove rnow ADRIEN 🐈: like riggt now ADRIEN 🐈: plag NINO: that is literally incomprehensible NINO: wait is that you plagg ADRIEN 🐈: mov faster

So this is a “Adrien finds out that his father is Hawkmoth and consults with Nino about what to do” fic, with Nino throwing Hawkmoth off Adrien’s track, though inadvertently at his own expense. Love Nino’s perspective here, and I always enjoy a good Hawkmoth-takedown fic!

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Best Friend and Boyfriends by @kasienda

“Someone’s in a good mood,” Nino commented when Adrien slid into the seat next to him in the student lounge during the mutual gap they both had between their university classes. Adrien turned his grin towards his best friend. “Yeah,” he agreed. Nino grinned back. “I haven’t seen you in this good of a mood in months. Were you hanging with your mystery lady?” The question caught Adrien completely off guard. Was Nino seriously comparing his feelings for Carapace with his feelings for Ladybug? Sure, Carapace had become one of his favorite people. Adrien currently coveted every moment spent in Carapace’s company. He walked away from talking to him for hours feeling like he was floating on a cloud. And he was anticipating their next patrol like a giddy child waiting for Christmas morning. Holy shit! “You okay, dude?” Nino asked. He totally had feelings for Carapace. When had that even happened?

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Withered Wings by @11jj11

Nino wasn’t sure if anyone had ever willingly took the akuma butterfly before him, but with his mind completely open to this apparent son of Hawk Moth he knew that he couldn’t turn him away. Not someone that was so afraid, not someone who would be left at the mercy of Hawk Moth.

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5 times Adrien, the person, helps Nino aka Chat Noir and one time Adrien, the turtle themed hero (still not the fragrance) does it by DearLittleRobin

Adrien is a cool guy that needs more friends Nino is a good friend (and he's also Chat Noir)

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Turtle-y Awesome by chattonne-rousse

Hugo Dupain-Cheng loves turtles, and by extension, he loves Carapace, his favorite superhero of them all. He doesn't know yet that his idol is also his Uncle Nino, and Nino hasn't yet seen the Carapace shrine that is Hugo's bedroom. But the little man is turning five and has just two wishes - a Carapace-themed party with friends and family, and the latest, greatest Carapace play set. This is a story of best friends, laughter, good kids and even better parents, and a whole lot of turtles.

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I hope the worst isn't over by thescuttlebug

Falling is exactly like flying right up until you stop. Like, assuming the kind of flying you’re used to involves busted steering and useless panic, Nino guesses. “GO LIMP!” a voice shouts, and Nino catches a glimpse of black something-like-leather and the twin flashes of a golden bell and silver staff streaking through the air. “Are you kidding me, dude?!” he shrieks.

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Foxy Lady by WizardlyMagik

In which Nino finds himself unexpectedly attracted to Rena Rouge, tries and fails to tell his friends and get some advice, and desperately attempts to hide it from his girlfriend. (Who in fact, is planning to use it to her advantage)

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Won't Tell A Soul by @thelastpilot

Nino accidentally runs head long into the biggest most stressful secret he can imagine, but now that he knows the truth about Marinette he is determined to help her in any way he can.

#nino lahiffe #ml fanfic rec #miraculous ladybug #adrino #djwifi #ask

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immaturityofthomasastruc · 1 year

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IOTA Reviews: Passion

Well, it only took three and a half years, but the writers are finally taking a mulligan with the whole Kwami swap idea after missing the point of it in “Reflekdoll”. Have they learned their lesson when it comes to what kind of stories you could tell by swapping Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous? What do you think?

Let's get into the seventh episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Passion

We start off with Marinette and Alya having a sleepover, where, much like the audience, Alya is confused as to why Marinette is suddenly in love with Cat Noir. Unlike with “Determination”, it's hinted that Marinette is still blaming Monarch getting fifteen Miraculous on her feelings for Adrien, and once again, rather than actually acknowledge how Marinette has a point in this case, the narrative is portraying her focusing more on Cat Noir as a defense mechanism so she doesn't have to confront her feelings for Adrien now. It's pretty stupid, but par for the course this season because the writers refuse to admit that Marinette's crush on Adrien may have inadvertently made things worse.

We then cut to the Agreste Mansion, where Gabriel is busy cooking pancakes for Adrien, asking if he wants bananas on them. Because Adrien isn't B'Elenna Torres, he doesn't actually like bananas on his pancakes, and only said he did to make Gabriel happy, something Nathalie picks up on. You know, I'm not exactly a Michelin star chef, but I'm pretty sure you don't place these huge chunks of bananas on pancakes instead of small slices.

Nathalie comes down to the kitchen, and while she still seems to judge Gabriel, in a clever bit of visual storytelling, Adrien sees one of Emilie's rings on Nathalie's finger (which she's had ever since the end of Season 4), and it's hinted he believes they're engaged. Of course, as soon as Adrien leaves to get ready for school, Nathalie pins Gabriel down to the table and reveals the true reason for her continuing to work for him after the events of “Evolution”.

Nathalie: I came to this house to hunt magical artifacts for you and Emilie. I became your bodyguard, your right hand woman, your friend, and even more. But this is all over. You used to do this out of love for Emilie, but now, you're only doing it out of madness, and the only reason I'm still here is to protect Adrien from you!

Okay, fair point wanting to protect Adrien, there's other ways to do so that don't involve silently judging him and doing nothing else. What's stopping Nathalie from calling the cops on Gabriel? What's stopping Nathalie from sending in an anonymous tip to Ladybug and Cat Noir? What's stopping her from telling literally anyone else she knows that her boss is the most dangerous man in the world right now? What's stopping Nathalie from flat-out running away with Adrien and telling him the truth about his father? Seriously, of all the things you choose to do with the knowledge you have, and continuing to enable this man while occasionally scolding him was what you settled on? And again, it's really weird that Nathalie suddenly thinks Gabriel is insane when the whole reason she needs those robot braces to walk was because she chose to let the broken Peacock Miraculous ruin her body trying to help Gabriel as Mayura.

After a brief scene where Adrien talks with Plagg about how to confess his feelings for Marinette, we then see Nathalie watching several recordings of Emilie that Gabriel supposedly ordered her to delete. We learn that right before she fell into her coma, Emilie made Nathalie promise to find some way to stop Gabriel from trying to find the Miraculous, if only for Adrien's sake. Yeah, real bang-up job you did there, Nathalie. Adrien comes in and asks Nathalie about what to do about the girl he likes, with Nathalie's response all but stating that Emilie had feelings for Gabriel before he and Emilie got married.

Adrien asks Nathalie if what happened to Emilie will happen to her, to which she tells him that's not that the case, even if she coincidentally has the same symptoms Emilie had before her “disappearance”. After Adrien leaves, Nathalie goes down to Gabriel's lair while he's talking to Emilie's body like every other day that ends in a “Y”, telling him to akumatize her.

It's a dramatic scene, as usually, willing accepting an Akuma is seen as the point of no return for an antagonist, just ask Lila and Chloe. So of course, let's break the tension with a scene of Marinette stuttering around Adrien as he tries to confess his love to her. Nice transition, writers. Plagg tries to tell Tikki about the situation, claiming that their holders falling in love with each other could spell the end of the world (and he's not wrong in that case), but Tikki points out that Marinette's crippling anxiety prevents her from making any advances in her love life.

Back with Nathalie, for some reason, she chose to walk back down to her room where she keps a mannequin displaying some explorer clothes of hers, where Monarch akumatizes her into Safari.

Safari's design is pretty cool, even if it is a little too similar to a certain other French sniper with a primarily purple color scheme. I like the classical hunter motif, and the color scheme is pretty appealing. Admittedly, I'm not too sure about her powers, because right from the start, she uses the Goat Miraculous' Genesis to create her hunting gear (which somehow has bullets themed after the Tiger, Dragon, Pig, Fox, and Bee Miraculous), including a crossbow whose bullets who can track their targets.

Safari uses a Mirage bullet to create an illusion of Timetagger, an Akuma who shouldn't even exist in the present day, so she's not exactly not off to a good start. Despite that, Marinette and Adrien transform into Ladybug and Cat Noir respectively and give chase, only to lose “Timetagger”. Of course, Ladybug decides to ask Cat Noir out on a date despite the suspicious situation, only to be immobilized by one of Safari's Venom bullets. After a pretty decent chase sequence, Cat Noir manages to evade the bullet with the stunned Ladybug in hand. Cat Noir tries to escape, but eventually, he's cornered by the bullets in the sewers. For some reason, after Adrien transforms, the bullets just go away, because that's how Monarch designed Safari's powers. Also, Ladybug doesn't see Cat Noir detransform because her eyes were covered when she was stunned. Plot contrivance at its finest, folks.

Adrien has Plagg take Marinette's Miraculous, and he explains the situation, so they come up with a loophole: transform using each other's Miraculous. Before that, Adrien actually thinks about using the Miraculous wish to cure Nathalie and asks “Ladybug” about it, only for Marinette to explain why that can't happen.

Marinette: There's always a balance between creation and destruction. For every one thing we fixed, another would be destroyed. For every sick person we cured, another would become ill. For every villain defeated, something else, just as terrible, would be created somewhere else to replace it.

So I guess we're back to that rule instead of the whole “the world will literally end if the wish is made” crap. Marinette and Adrien take each other's Miraculous and transform into Lady Noire and Mister Bug respectively. While watching over Safari, Lady Noire is just eating the cherry-flavored eye candy that is Mister Bug.

This only adds to the biggest problem I have with Season 5 so far: How it refuses to acknowledge how Marinette's feelings for Adrien/Cat Noir have only been shown to be detrimental to her as a hero. Rather than acknowledge that Marinette's feelings for Adrien were what caused Monarch to get all the other Miraculous, the show constantly says that it wasn't her fault, even when she was blamed for everything going wrong at the end of the last season. There was also the part earlier in the episode where Alya just ignored the point Marinette made about trusting Felix with the Dog Miraculous by just saying that Marinette is deflecting her true feelings for Adrien by focusing on Cat Noir. While you could argue Alya made a good point herself, she didn't acknowledge anything else in Marinette's argument, and just acts like Marinette and Adrien being a couple is more important that Marinette thinking about saving lives. And of course, during the battle, Lady Noire can't stop flirting with Mister Bug, which could potentially get in the way of the fight like we've seen with Cat Noir in the past. You can't just tell the audience to ship Marinette and Adrien together when Marinete's feelings for Adrien have only been shown to get in the way of her superhero life.

Mister Bug and Lady Noire fight off Safari, asking her why she wants their Miraculous.

Lady Noire: What about you, Safari, what do you want?

Safari: The same thing. A wish. Everyone wants to have one, right?

Monarch: Safari, what are you up to?

Safari: Should I tell them the truth?

Monarch: (growls in frustration)

Safari: That's what I thought.

Because Nathalie would rather risk ending the world instead of telling anyone who Monarch really is. Yes, she is that stupid. Mister Bug summons his Lucky Charm, getting a bottle of perfume. This makes him realize the akumatized object is back at the Agreste mansion. While Lady Noire holds off Safari, Mister Bug breaks the mannequin holding the Akuma. Mister Bug de-evilizes the Akuma, uses Miraculous Mister Bug to fix the damage, vows to stop Monarch for akumatizing such a fragile and innocent person.

After giving each other their Miraculous back, Marinette recounts what happened to Alya and Tikki, somehow believing that because Cat Noir/Mister Bug said nothing in response to her asking him out to the movies since he was focused on stopping the Akuma, this must mean he secretly loves her back. Yep, if “Determination” didn't already set off any red flags, we're really doing this, people. And so the episode ends with Adrien apologizing to Nathalie for supposedly getting her akumatized, while Nathalie reassures Adrien that he means a lot to her, even if she's too stupid to rat out Monarch after five seasons.

Yeah, this episode was pretty lousy. A big chunk of it stemmed from the way it handled Nathalie's character. Obviously, she can't tell Ladybug and Cat Noir about Monarch's identity because we still need to finish the season, but the way they go about it by having her passive-aggressively continue to work for him when she's perfectly capable of restraining him, even in her handicapped state, is just a ridiculous leap in logic. I get that it's an attempt to give Nathalie depth, but the writers never really acknowledge how Nathalie's inaction is endangering so many lives.

And of course, there's the stuff with Marinette. Just like with Cat Noir, her flirting on the job made it look like she wasn't taking things seriously while playing it off as a cute little quirk of hers. Again, the show is at least trying to acknowledge how odd the way she displays her feelings is, but it's not in a way that actually leads to any interesting developments.

The Akuma fight was also pretty dumb, as the heroes pretty much won thanks to dumb luck. Not only did Safari's bullets magically stop working as soon as Ladybug and Cat Noir detransformed, not only did she never adjust her system to target Mister Bug and Lady Noire, but the whole reason Mister Bug's Lucky Charm even worked was because he knew who Safari was and where her Akuma was, something that wouldn't have happened if Ladybug and Cat Noir didn't swap Miraculous.

Overall, it was bad, but not as frustrating as “Illusion” or “Determination”.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... NATHALIE

For someone who said she was looking out for Adrien, Nathalie really made a lot of terrible choices doing so this episode. She only considered ratting out Gabriel near the end of the episode as a threat, tried stealing the Miraculous herself, and never considered the fact that her hesitance to tell anyone what she knows is only making things worse, especially for Adrien.

#immaturity of thomas astruc #iota #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug salt #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #adrien agreste #cat noir #gabriel agreste #hawkmoth #monarch #monarch miraculous #nathalie sancoeur #safari #alya cesaire #tikki #plagg

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quickspinner · 3 months

Text

This is Crazy

Hey @haphira I'm your @lovebugs-and-snakecharmers secret admirer! I hope you enjoy this! The prompt I picked was "0 to married - blind date or one night stand turns into a three day date and married at the end." I also threw in a touch of Alya gets into Marinette's love life, just for fun.

Summary: Marinette's tired and frustrated. Work isn't going well, her social life is dead, and she doesn't believe in fairy tales anymore. When Alya insists there is someone who wants to meet her after the concert tonight, she figures at least it's a distraction from her boring life. She's not expecting the hottest rising rock star on the planet to walk through those doors--or anything that happens after that.

Rating: M for fade-to-black sexytimes and language

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | AO3

She felt ridiculous, now that she was here. Alone in this fancy lounge with its dim lighting and collection of fancy backlit bottles, dressed like—well. Like herself, but a version of herself that was maybe trying a bit too hard. Marinette adjusted her bustier top, checked for the thousandth time that the zipper that ran up the front was still snugged up at the top and not about to fall down.

She wished she had worn a longer skirt. The knee length ones restricted her movement more than she liked, and full-length wouldn’t have been appropriate for this venue, but she was constantly checking to make sure her miniskirt hadn’t ridden up a little bit too much.

But these were the kinds of clothes one wore at a rock concert—and it had been a good concert, Marinette had to admit. She’d had a lot more fun than she expected, and if she could have been riding the metro home now with her girls, chatting about the music and the hot musicians, she would have considered the outfit a low price to pay.

She wasn’t, though. She was standing here alone in a private lounge, waiting for…someone. She didn’t know who. Alya had insisted it was a surprise, and that the person really wanted to see her, and had heavily implied that whoever this— male , Alya had made sure she knew—someone was very much interested in Marinette. You know, in that way. That all Marinette had to do was be hot and sweet and she was guaranteed that this mystery someone would… insert eyebrow waggle .

Well. Marinette hadn’t had any eyebrow waggling in long enough that she let herself be talked into it. Even if this mystery someone wasn’t someone she could see herself with long term, maybe she could get some much needed…stress relief. At least Alya’s insistence on setting her up could be good for something.

If the mystery man ever showed up. Marinette was feeling more and more stupid by the moment. Waiting always felt longer than it was, she reminded herself, but she was also starting to feel uncomfortably like she had been stood up.

She eyed the self-serve bar at the back of the lounge and went to investigate, unsure if she was looking for liquid courage or something to drown her disappointment in. There had sure been a lot of disappointments for her lately. Most recently, she’d had a hugely important order canceled at the last minute, which was the only reason she had time for this concert. She should have been at home being her workaholic self, and the gut-wrenching disappointment she’d felt when the client told her they had changed their mind and decided to go with someone else wasn’t easy to shake.

Marinette sighed and poured herself a drink.

She was leaning back against the bar, sipping a small glass of gin, when the door opened, and she started.

She recognized the man who entered immediately, and her mouth dropped open a little. Was that—it couldn’t be. Her whole body flushed hot with the thought no way, this can’t be happening .

He was imminently recognizable, though, and even if he hadn’t looked just like his posters, she had just spent two hours staring at him on stage.

“Oh, sorry,” he said reflexively as he came in, and Marinette smiled.

“It’s okay, I just needed a quick drink.” She set the gin glass down on the bar. “I’m, um. I’m Marinette.”

“Marinette,” he said, advancing into the room and glancing around like he was expecting someone else. Marinette swallowed and tried not to look down. God, this was embarrassing. Well, he was the one who supposedly wanted to meet her, right? Though, knowing who he was now—an internationally famous rock star, well…who knows what Alya told him. The real thing was guaranteed to be a disappointment.

He approached the bar, finally, with an air of resignation, but clearly determined to at least be polite. “Nice to meet you. I’m Luka.”

Marinette giggled nervously. “Well, obviously.”

He blinked at her like he was finally focusing on her, and smiled. “Right.” His eyes swept over her, and she didn’t miss the appreciation there. That perked her up a little. Luka had changed from his stage clothes into a faded ripped shirt and equally ratty but comfortable-looking pants. She might have been offended that he hadn’t put in more effort for her, but he had just been on stage for hours under those awful lights, so she didn’t blame him for wanting to be comfortable.

Besides, he was really, really, hot. Not necessarily conventionally handsome; some of his features took a little getting used to, but he was interesting, as well as being tall and very fit. One had to be, she supposed, being on display the way rock stars always were.

Oh shit he was talking to her. “Mind if I join you?” he was asking, gesturing across the bar between them. “I’m parched.”

“Oh, of course,” Marinette said, moving sideways instinctively even before he came behind the bar. Ugh, she sounded like an idiot. The space wasn’t very wide and she had basically backed into it instead of coming out, so she leaned back against the bar, trying to arrange herself in a way that was casually attractive instead of unbearably awkward or brazenly sex-starved.

Luka, meanwhile, examined the backlit bottles, and then with a slight shake of his head, turned towards Marinette again. She liked the way his eyes flicked over her and then away, like he was trying not to stare. She wasn’t doing such a good job keeping her eyes to herself either, so she decided to just brazen it out.

“Don’t see anything you like?” she dared to ask, with a slight quirk of her eyebrow.

Something in his stance shifted, like her attempt at flirtation had put him on firmer ground. “Actually, I think I see exactly what I need.” He advanced towards her and Marinette’s heart jumped into her throat. She hadn’t expected him to take the bait that quickly.

He stopped just short of her, and gestured at the glasses hanging above her. “May I?”

His voice was rough, which she supposed was to be expected after the performance he had given. God, he was even hotter up close. If conversation was going nowhere, at least she wanted to get something out of this. What difference did it make what he thought of her after tonight, anyway? “Of course,” she said, putting her hands on the bar and leaning back. She watched his eyes follow her, flicking down at the suddenly very low neckline of her bustier once before he looked up again. He took another step forward, so that he was brushing up against her as he reached over her to snag a glass and bring it down. He didn’t back away as he set it on the counter, and Marinette couldn’t help grinning at him. He leaned in a little more to reach behind her for the carafe of water sitting there.

“Did you enjoy the show?” he asked, still not backing off as he poured his glass of water.

“Very much,” Marinette said honestly. “To be honest, it was the first time I’ve heard your music. I’m definitely a fan now.”

“Are you?” he murmured, meeting her eyes for a moment, and she watched as he lifted the water glass to his lips and took a long drink.

“Definitely,” she said a little breathlessly, aware that she was ogling him shamelessly.

He made a thoughtful noise in his throat. “How many of those have you had?” He asked, before drinking again.

Marinette lifted her own glass. “Just this one.” Out of habit, she turned it so that the existing lip print on the glass matched where she sipped. It was Luka’s turn to swallow and stare, and then he set his water glass down decisively. He put his hands on the bar at either side of Marinette’s hips, and leaned down a little.

“Just to be clear,” he murmured, looking down at her with heavily lidded eyes. “Are you coming on to me? Because,” he continued, as a hot blush flooded up her face, “you are gorgeous and I’m horny as hell after that,” he tipped his head back to indicate the show he had just finished. “So assuming you are, I’d really like to continue this somewhere more private. As soon as possible.”

Marinette couldn’t help a grin, and she looked over her shoulder to eye the completely empty room. “It’s looking pretty private here,” she suggested, mostly just to buy time to figure out if she was really doing this.

“It won’t be for as long as I plan to need privacy,” he told her, leaning his hips harder into hers, and she bit her lip and made a sound in her throat that made him shiver. Fuck. Okay, she was definitely doing this.

“Well, if you insist,” she said breathlessly, and then his hands were on her waist, pulling her hard into him for a moment before he turned her to guide her out of the room.

***

Luka left Marinette in the bed, with a kiss and a whispered promise to be back, and went to shower. He sighed when he stepped into the warm spray, and smiled to himself. Despite the exhaustion now dragging at him, he felt good . The show had been amazing, and Marinette had given him exactly what he needed to top off the night. Shows always left him either feeling so drained and worn out that he wanted nothing more than to go to bed, or else put him on a high that made it impossible to sleep without some kind of release.

He’d actually thought tonight was going to be the low kind until he ducked into the closed lounge, too desperate for a drink to mind the ‘closed’ sign on the door. Then he saw Marinette leaning against the bar, illuminated by the backlighting like a work of art in a museum.

He hadn’t even had enough blood left in his brain to wonder why she was hanging out in the dimly lit, supposedly closed lounge. He was suddenly thirsty in an entirely different way.

It was an impulsive decision to invite her to come back to his room, but those were often his best, and he definitely had no reason to regret it now. His smile turned into a self-satisfied grin and he tilted his head back to wet his hair. Definitely no regrets there.

He shouldn’t take too long, though, or she might think he was trying to get rid of her. He cleaned himself up quickly. He almost wished he’d invited her to shower with him, but he needed this quiet moment after everything that had happened that night, and the hotel shower wasn’t really big enough for two. That was one thing he was looking forward to for the next leg of their tour; American hotel showers weren’t nearly so cramped.

Even as he thought it he found himself wishing then that they were staying in Paris a little longer. He wouldn’t have minded seeing Marinette again. She had this mix of sweetness and sexy that was very appealing to him and he could think of a few more things he’d enjoy doing with her. He felt a little shiver at the memory of her moans. He could listen to her sweet little whimpers for hours, and the beautiful crescendo had been satisfying in more ways than one. Her dazed smile afterward…he wanted to make her smile like that again.

The band was scheduled to leave tomorrow afternoon, though. They’d both known this was only a night.

Luka frowned. She had known that, right? Normally he made sure anyone who was with knew whether he was looking for temporary or long term, but he hadn’t really taken time for much more conversation than was related to the business at hand. He’d have to let her down gently if she’d been expecting more. Luka wasn’t exactly in a position to commit to anything else right now.

He sighed, turning off the water. He didn’t really want to have that conversation, but he didn’t want to string her along with a long-distance promise either…

Dumbass, he scolded himself as he dried off, and prepared to roll with whatever he found when he got out of the shower.

What he found was Marinette, sitting on the edge of the bed in a pool of soft lamplight, and biting her lip as she played with her fingers. She tried to smile at him, but she pulled the edges of the sheet wrapped around her a little tighter. Honestly, that just made her more appealing, with her shapely legs bare and just the important bits of her covered up, like one of those marble statues in the Louvre, only better, because she had color and breath, warmth and softness. He felt a song tickling at the back of his mind as he took in the line of her neck and shoulders, her mussed hair, and…her eyes. Her eyes turned up to him and his breath caught. He swallowed, and looked away, aware that his staring was making her uncomfortable. Her body language was closed and nervous, and he could imagine that she was feeling pretty vulnerable, in his room with no clothes on and clearly not sure what she should do next.

Luka picked up her unzipped top and miniskirt from the floor, and laid them over a chair with a small smile at the memories they conjured. “These are beautiful, on or off you,” he winked at her, and she blushed and ducked her head a little, which he found unreasonably charming, “but I can’t imagine they’ll be comfortable to sleep in. Hang on, I’ll grab you something.”

He found a clean shirt and sweatpants to pull on before he turned back to Marinette with another one of his t-shirts and a clean pair of boxers in his hands. He came to sit on the bed next to her and offered her the clothes, smiling at her whispered thanks.

“I should, um,” she paused to pull the shirt over her head, and Luka couldn’t make himself look away from the sheet that slipped down her body as he did so. That was definitely going in the song too, he decided. “I should probably go, though, right?”

“Do you have a room in the hotel?” he asked, and she blinked in surprise, and shook her head, sliding his shorts up over her legs.

“No, I live—I live in Paris. I can just take the metro home, or—”

Luka frowned. “At this time of night?” He reached out and stroked her hair back, and she relaxed a little at the tender touch, smiling at him. She definitely felt more confident now that she was covered, and she turned towards him a little as she answered.

“I’m a big girl,” she said. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

“If you really want to go, I’ll call you a cab, but I’d be happy for you to stay the night here with me,” he offered. “This bed is plenty big enough for two.” He rested his hand on her back, resisting the urge to pull her against him.

It turned out he didn’t need to, because she scooted a little closer, and leaned into him, glancing up shyly. “I don’t—are you sure?”

Luka nodded, nuzzling her temple without thinking about it. She giggled.

“I wouldn’t have figured you for a cuddler,” she teased, and he grinned, glad to see her more comfortable, and put his arms around her.

“It’s a secret,” he teased back. “Don’t tell anyone. It’ll ruin my image.”

Marinette laughed, and impulsively he kissed her, and she leaned into it, humming softly.

“You’re shaking,” Luka observed, when they parted.

“Cold,” she admitted, squeezing closer to him. “And my whole body feels like jelly. In a good way,” she assured him, with a cheeky smile, and he couldn’t help grinning back.

Luka leaned back and snagged the comforter they had long ago kicked off the end of the bed, and wrapped Marinette in it. She giggled in the puffy cocoon. “What about you?” she asked.

“I sleep hot,” he told her. “I don’t use it anyway.” He stood up and scooped the Marinette cocoon into his arms, laying her down on the bed and climbing back in beside her. He pulled the sheet Marinette had dropped back up over himself, and wrapped his arms around Marinette in her blanket cocoon. She squirmed until she was tucked up under his chin. He found himself drifting off almost immediately. Somewhere in his fuzzy mind he realized he hadn’t talked to her about his intentions, but he was so tired and comfortable that it was barely a speed bump on his way to dreamland.

***

Marinette woke to gentle kisses along her neck and shoulder, and shivered before she was even fully awake. She felt warm breath along her ear and lips pressed into her cheek.

“Good morning, beautiful. Are you a tea or a coffee person?” She rolled onto her back, partially undoing the cocoon of blankets she’d been wound up in. A pleasantly rough hand slipped under the blankets and her shirt—his shirt—to caress her bare belly, and she shivered again, blinking fully awake.

“Hmm,” she sighed, finally processing the question. “Coffee?” She smiled shyly up into Luka’s blue eyes, suppressing another shiver at the look he was giving her. “At least this morning.”

“Cream? Sugar?” he asked, his voice even rougher than the night before, and Marinette bit her lip.

“Please,” she finally managed, and Luka leaned down and kissed her full on the mouth, a long, slow kiss like the ones he had given her as they wound down from their lovemaking. She really liked those. He might be a playboy rock star but he somehow had a way of making her feel like she was the center of the world.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” he said, stroking a hand through her messy hair, and as he pulled back and stood Marinette realized he was already fully dressed, in black ripped jeans dangling with chains, topped with artfully ripped and layered shirts. She swallowed, both appreciating the look on him and suddenly afraid he was about to ditch her or throw her out. He looked ready to get on with his day. What time was it? He hadn’t struck her as an early riser.

Never mind, she told herself as he left the room. She didn’t want to know. Her blanket cocoon was warm and comfortable, and he was bringing her coffee instead of telling her to go home, so he must not be sick of her presence yet. She pulled the wiggled herself at least partially upright, tugging the blanket back up over her shoulders. Luka’s shirt was big enough on her that the collar left a lot of skin exposed to the cold. And his lips, as he’d proved. If he was already dressed, though, he probably wasn’t planning on an encore this morning. She hadn’t been either, but found herself disappointed anyway.

She tried not to pout. Reluctantly, she wiggled herself out of the comforter long enough to find her phone and purse, but the battery was dead. Marinette felt a pang of guilt; she probably should have at least let Alya know she had met up with her mystery man and was fine, but it was too late now. Some investigation proved that while Luka’s charger was on the nightstand, it wasn’t compatible with her phone.

Oh well. She tucked the phone back in her tiny clutch and set it on the table, then went to cocoon herself in the blankets again. She felt really good; more relaxed than she had been since that cancellation call. Even if Luka was done with her, she definitely got the stress relief she was looking for.

Then again, he had supposedly told Alya he wanted to meet her, so maybe…

That was just stupid though. No expectations, no disappointments, Marinette reminded herself. If all she had was a good night—a great night—that was plenty. She felt more relaxed than she had in weeks. Months. She tucked her legs up in the blankets and sighed, leaning back against the headboard. This was a really nice hotel room. Suite. It was a suite, they’d had to navigate past the sitting room to get to the bedroom last night. The rock star life, she thought, a smile quirking her lips.

Might as well enjoy it while she had it.

***

Luka sent his assistant for better coffee than the hotel could offer, and ducked into the gift shop. It took longer than he would have liked, just like everything did since he became famous, but he was able to get out with his purchases just as Emilio returned with the coffee. Luka refused help, hanging the gift shop bag on his wrist and taking both cups of coffee. He let Emilio push the elevator button, and smiled acknowledgement of his reminder about the flight that afternoon.

Marinette didn’t look anything like an art piece when he shouldered his way back into the room, and Luka laughed at her cute face peeking from the pile of coverlet she was once again wrapped in. “You look cozy,” he told her, setting the coffee on the uselessly small table in the room. He set the bag from the gift shop in front of her. “I got you some warmer things to wear if you can bear to come out of there.”

He looked away while she wriggled out and changed into the sweatshirt and yoga pants he’d managed to get for her.

“I’m done,” she said, and he looked back, breaking into a grin at the slightly oversized “I heart Paris” sweatshirt. The sleeves threatened to creep over her hands as she cradled her cup of coffee, inhaling the scent before she took a careful sip.

“Good?” he asked, once again completely charmed. He liked the way she took time to savor things. Her pretty eyes darted around the room, and he wondered what she was thinking. It seemed to him like her mind never stopped. He remembered the way she had looked over him when he came into the lounge last night, the slight tilt of her head and the sense of being…analyzed in some way, before she decided to make her move. It clashed a little with her sweet softness this morning, and he found himself chuckling. It wasn’t the first time he had hooked up with a groupie, and somehow he always seemed to pick the soft ones, no matter how brazen they seemed in the moment.

“You’re up early,” Marinette commented, and then frowned. “Actually, what time is it?”

“Coming up on eleven,” Luka said, glancing at his phone. “But yeah, I had a business meeting this morning.” He rolled his eyes. “Corporate sponsors have no respect for rock star hours. They were pitching to take over our merch sales.”

“What company?” Marinette asked curiously. “If you can tell me,” she added, and Luka smiled. He whispered the company name in her ear. It wasn’t really a secret, he hadn’t signed an NDA yet, but he felt like teasing her a bit.

She wrinkled her nose, but said nothing. Luka quirked an eyebrow, curious about her reaction. “What?”

Marinette shrugged, looking a little uncomfortable. “Nothing. It’s none of my business.”

“Tell me anyway.”

She sighed and gave a little pout, then put her coffee down. “Their quality is terrible. Which isn’t necessarily a negative for you , I guess. If the shirts fall apart faster then fans will just buy more.” Luka frowned at the cynicism in her voice. “If it were me, though, I’d rather pay more for something that will last a little longer. If I’m going to pay to put my logo on something I don’t want it to fade out after a few washes. Of course, you could always work out some kind of split production, so the younger fans can buy the cheaper stuff and the die-hards that have the will or the money can pony up for the quality stuff, but that—” she paused, seeing his gaze on her, and blushed. “Like I said, that’s not really my business,” she finished, picking up her coffee quickly again.

Luka wasn’t even sure what kind of face he was making, caught in a tangled net of feelings he couldn’t quite figure out. He was surprised, he was impressed, he was chagrined, and kind of embarrassed that he hadn’t given anywhere near as much thought to the issue, which had come up several times in the last few months, as Marinette had in five minutes.

Marinette set her coffee down and hopped off the bed, mumbling something about needing the bathroom, and Luka just watched her go, mouth open slightly.

***

Marinette felt better after a shower, and dressed once again in her tourist trap giftware with a sigh. She needed to apologize to Luka, she decided. She shouldn’t be butting into his business. It wasn’t like she was his girlfriend. She didn’t have any right to be grilling him on his business practices.

He was sitting in the suite’s little living room, sipping his own coffee while he scrolled through something on a tablet.

“Um,” she began, shifting nervously, and he looked up, setting down the tablet. “I’m sorry. If it seemed like I was criticizing you earlier. I wasn’t, it’s really none of my business, I know I said that already, but, um. I know you probably have a lot of decisions to make, or you have people that make those decisions for you, and you probably know a lot more about the s-situation than I do, so, I just. Sorry if I—” She trailed off, as if not actually sure what she was sorry for.

Luka beckoned her, and she walked slowly towards him. When she was close enough, he took her hand and pulled her close, wrapping her up in his arms. After a stiff moment, she relaxed into him and sat on his knee to lean her face into his neck.

“I wasn’t offended,” he told her quietly, “and I will definitely ask for samples before we go any further. It’s not something I thought about, and I should have. I’m not out to rip off my fans.” Her head shot up but he put a finger across her lips. “I know. I’m not offended. Actually I really appreciate you being straight with me. It’s hard to find these days.” He smiled, looking fondly up into her shocked face. “You’re—” He stopped, because he couldn’t think of anything that didn’t sound trite or overused. Special. Different. Not like other girls. He’d sound like a pickup artist.

He suddenly found himself wishing he’d met her in a more casual way.

She was still blinking at him, and he realized she was still waiting for him to finish his sentence. Since he couldn’t, he leaned up and kissed her, softly, in a way he hoped conveyed reassurance and affection, and not just lust.

“You keep doing that,” she murmured, when their lips parted.

“Should I stop?” he smiled, a little crookedly.

“No, I—I like it,” she admitted, blushing faintly. “Just. Um.” Her gaze flicked to the bed behind them and then returned to his with something like guilt. “I didn’t expect it.”

“I didn’t expect you,” Luka replied, without thinking. Marinette blinked in surprise, and Luka bit his lip, feeling his own color rising. “I really like you, Marinette.”

She looked down. Her fingers at the nape of his neck twitched, and twined though a strand of his hair. “I like you too,” she whispered, and Luka grinned. “But you…” she trailed off, and met his eyes again, looking…sad.

Reality came crashing in on Luka and he sucked in a breath. Right. He was leaving. Soon, in fact, he realized, as he looked at the clock.

“Come with me,” he blurted, and was immediately convinced it was the best idea he’d ever had.

Marinette looked confused. “Where?”

“To New York. To start with, at least.” Luka slid her off his lap, and then moved to squat in front of her so they were facing each other. “I want—” he stalled, words again getting tangled up in his head. “I have a sense about people. I’ve learned to trust my instincts, and right now they’re telling me I shouldn’t let you just disappear. I want you to come on tour with me.” He swallowed and tried to grin. “I know it sounds crazy. ”

“It’s completely crazy,” Marinette cried, voice gone squeaky and breathless.

“I’ll make it work,” he insisted. “Worst case scenario, we have some fun, you can hang out at the hotel while I do my shows, we see the sights, and I buy you a plane ticket home when you get sick of me.” His tone softened. “I’m just not ready to tell you goodbye, Marinette.”

She gave him a smile that twitched, like she didn’t want to but she couldn’t help it. “That sounds like a song.”

“It absolutely does,” Luka agreed fervently. His whole body was thrumming with—something. Adrenaline or anticipation or fear or— “Please come with me, Marinette.”

Marinette took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Setting aside that the whole idea was fucking crazy —could she do it? She knew she could, even before she went down a mental list of commitments. Wasn’t that the whole reason she had been out on this stupid scheme to begin with? Because she was in a work slump with no immediate obligations to fulfill, no responsibilities at the bakery with her parents in Shanghai for the month. No one to hang out with, no one who needed her. And she hadn’t known what to do with herself.

So…why not do something crazy? Something no one would expect boring little Marinette to do?

And…the way he was looking at her, eyes intense and shining, practically vibrating with—she wasn’t sure what. Suspense? Excitement? Was this just a…thrill seeking type thing for him?

He saw her hesitation and fidgeted a bit on his heels, licking his lips. Preparing for rejection.

She unconsciously licked her own lips, and then offered a trembling smile. “Okay.”

Luka’s eyes lit up and he leaned in, placing a hand on hers and squeezing tightly enough to give his excitement away, even though all he said was, “Are you sure?”

And she was. “Yeah,” she grinned. “Let’s do it. I-if you really want to.”

Luka grabbed her face in both hands and kissed her hard. “I definitely want to. Let me make some calls. Do you have a passport?” He drew up short, as if just that moment realizing that that might be a dealbreaker. Even rock stars needed passports.

“Oh, mm-hmm.” Marinette turned towards her purse on the table and pulled out her wallet and passport to show him.”

Luka laughed. “You have it with you?”

“I like to be prepared,” Marinette defended, blushing. “Though this thing is so small I can’t carry half of what I usually do.” She couldn’t help smiling as Luka leaned forward and kissed her cheek again.

“No complaints here. That’ll make things easier. I’ll buy you anything else you need.”

“Luka, you can’t—” Marinette began, growing alarmed as the practicalities of the situation began to set in. Plane tickets, clothes—she didn’t even have anything comfortable to wear on the plane, she didn’t have her phone charger—the hotel could probably give her a toothbrush, but—

Luka’s finger on her lips interrupted both her protest and her spiraling thoughts. “Trust me, it’ll be the smartest thing I’ve spent money on since the band took off. I’m dragging you to a whole other country on no notice. Let me at least be a gentleman about it.” He flashed her an incongruously wicked grin, caressing her lips with his fingertip before he drew it away and turned to find his phone.

The bounce in his step made her smile despite her worries. Well, he was a good guy. Or at least she thought so, based on…nothing at all. This was insane. She was crazy.

Marinette took another breath, fighting down another wave of panic. No, it was fine. She had friends in the States that could help her out if she really needed it, humiliating as that would be, but it wouldn’t come to that anyway. She had her own money saved, after all, and if Luka turned out to be a complete douche and left her stranded somewhere once he lost interest, she’d be able to get herself home just fine.

He wouldn’t though. Something inside her was sure of it.

Marinette sighed, burying her face in the pillow to let out a quiet little scream.

At least no one would ever be able to call her boring again. Are you happy now, Alya?

***

Luka’s hands shook and he paced as he dialed Lucille’s number. He was reasonably confident that she could do what he was about to ask, but he wasn’t so sure about how she was going to take this. He had a fair number of one night stands, sure, but wasn’t that much of a playboy as rock stars go and he had certainly never asked to bring a hookup along on tour with him before.

Still, this was going to be hard to explain. He didn’t want to have to pull the “you work for me ” card. That wouldn’t be fair to her with all that she did for him.

When he explained the situation, though, all he really got was…silence.

“I know this sounds really crazy—” he began, but shut his mouth when Lucille cut him off.

“Your personal life isn’t my business,” she said briskly. “Just tell me what you need, and I’ll make it happen.

Luka winced at the implied disapproval, but decided it was best just to roll with it.

“Hey, can you—can you get her a room in the hotel in New York?” he asked. “I—” He paused, not sure how to put “I don’t want her to feel pressured to fuck me every night” in professional terms.

“Will do,” Lucille said, still in that clipped, matter-of-fact tone. “Do you want it near you or farther away?”

“Near is good.” Luka cleared his throat. “Next door would probably be fine.” He paused. “Can you find us a good place to eat one night while we’re there? Something fancy but not too touristy. Maybe some broadway tickets? She’d probably like that.” Not that he really knew anything about what she liked, but surely someone on the crew would take the tickets if Marinette didn’t want to go.

“Um…” That seemed to throw Lucille. “I can probably do that.”

“I know we’re on a really tight schedule in Chicago, but what about LA, is it whale season there? Can we book a whale-watching cruise?”

“I don’t really know, I’ll check. Whales might be farther north than LA proper.”

“Okay, well see if we can make time to get up there if so. See if we can schedule some beach time in between rehearsals, too.”

“O-okay. I can do that.”

Luka frowned. “What?”

“Nothing,” Lucille said quickly. “You’re just not usually interested in that kind of stuff.”

“I don’t usually have time,” Luka replied, and then bit his lip. He didn’t really have time on this trip, either. “Just see if we can make it work. I don’t want to cause any problems for anyone.”

“It should be fine,” Lucille told him firmly. “I’ve told you before you work longer hours than you need to on tour. I’m…glad you’re thinking about taking some time.”

“Yeah,” Luka said lamely.

“Make sure your lady friend has all her documents in order. I can’t negotiate immigration and customs rules.”

“I will,” Luka promised. “What’s the absolute latest time I can get to the airport? Can we make a stop at her place before?”

“It’ll have to be a short stop or we’ll lose our departure slot,” Lucille sighed. “Your car’s already on the way to pick you up. Where does she live?”

“Uh—” Luka went back to the bedroom of his suite, and cracked open the door. “Marinette?”

***

They darted from the car to the back door of the bakery, neither keen on advertising Luka’s famous face following her inside. Marinette had asked if he wanted to wait in the car, but Luka found he really didn’t. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was afraid Marinette would panic if he let her out of his sight or because of the intense curiosity he had been feeling about her since she agreed to this mad adventure.

“Don’t say anything,” Marinette warned him as they went up the stairs. “I know it’s really childish looking, and I’ve been meaning to redecorate for years, but then I kept thinking I was moving out, and…none of it ever happened.” Marinette looked away, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Her messy bun was adorable, but it didn’t look very stable.

“Don’t apologize for liking what you like,” Luka told her sincerely, looking at the very girly pink room. Not what he would have expected from the girl he saw leaning on the bar last night, but now that he’d spent time with her, it fit. Another bit of that song he’d been thinking about clicked into place as he squeezed Marinette’s hand. “We’ve got ten minutes,” he told her. “Just grab the personal stuff you really need. We can pick up anything you forget Stateside.”

“Right. Okay.” Marinette hesitated for a moment, making abortive moves in several different directions before committing to one. Luka chuckled, but once she got moving, she moved like lightning. Before he could blink there was a pink polkadot hardshell suitcase open on the chaise, and Marinette’s distractingly perfect lips were silently moving as she pivoted and ducked and grabbed items to throw inside. Despite his offer to buy her clothes, she threw her closet door open and snatched things off hangers to stuff in the bag. She pulled something red and sparkly out of a drawer that absolutely piqued Luka’s interest, but it was in the bag before he could get more than a glimpse. He started to take a step forward but had to step right back when Marinette rushed by him, muttering under her breath. He could feel the manic energy spilling out of her and his hand twitched with the urge to grab hers, to pull her in and get her to breathe for a minute—but they really didn’t have much time, so he clamped down on the impulse and let her do what she needed to do.

He couldn’t help glancing around curiously, taking in the different types of sewing machines, the cones of thread, several poster boards of color swatches and pictures. Mood boards, he realized. “You’re a designer?” he asked, and Marinette paused, turning to look at him in surprise. He nodded towards the mood boards. “My sister’s a model,” he explained. “I’ve seen a designer’s studio before.”

“Oh—well—I mean, yes, but—it’s complicated,” she said, and Luka nodded.

“Sorry, don’t let me distract you,” he said, waving her on. They were on a schedule, after all. He shouldn’t have interrupted her flow, it was just…He let his eyes rove over the pictures and clippings on the walls and resisted the impulse to poke around on her desk.

She paused in the middle of the room, silently ticking off her fingers as if going through a mental list. Then she did one more quick spin, eyes roving over the room. She turned to her suitcase and shut it, leaning on the lid as she reached down to snap the clasps. She pulled it off the chair and set it on its wheels on the floor. She looked up at him with a delighted grin. Her eyes were bright and her hair had come loose from all her sharp turns, and her beautiful eyes were huge and bright with excitement.

I love this girl, Luka thought giddily, and then had to choke on a laugh. What? Where did that even come from? Spending the night with a girl and then standing in her apartment for less than ten minutes—who decides they’re in love after that ?

Me, apparently, he thought, feeling the grin growing on his face as he looked back at her. Don’t be stupid, Luka. You’ll get overinvested and end up breaking the girl’s heart, if you don’t scare her off before we even make it to the airport.

He was already reaching to offer his hand, though, and she took it, dragging her suitcase behind her as they headed for the staircase.

Marinette was still going through things in her mind as Luka carried her suitcase down the stairs, trying to make sure she had everything she needed and reassuring herself that they weren’t traveling into the wilderness, and she could probably buy anything she had missed as long as she had her important documents with her.

The driver was leaning against the car, frowning at his phone and obviously anxious to leave. Luka gave him Marinette’s suitcase to throw in the back, and then opened the door. Marinette almost tripped in her hurry to get in and keep them from being delayed any longer. She rubbed her ankle as Luka slid in beside her. Marinette lurched against him as the anxious driver pulled sharply into the traffic.

“Sorry,” she gasped as he helped her right herself. She groped for the seatbelt, and jerked it across herself, snapping it into the buckle as they made another sharp turn.

Luka let out a breath as he finished doing the same, and leaned back. “Gotta love Paris traffic,” he sighed, and added under his breath, “and Paris drivers. Not that New York is much better.”

Marinette smiled a little shakily, twisting her hands together in her lap.

Back in the car, Luka took her hand, gently curling his fingers around it. “How are you feeling? Still sure you want to do this?”

“Yes,” Marinette smiled, surprised to realize she meant it—the little voice screaming in her head that this was crazy seemed to have given up for now. She was absolutely doing this. Impulsively, she leaned in and curled her hand around the back of Luka’s neck, pulling him into a kiss. He made a pleased noise in the back of his throat and opened his mouth for her as his hand left hers to squeeze her thigh.

The kiss was hot, and it sent shivers down her body, but it was different from the desperate, hungry energy of the night before. Softer, longer, not so rushed or single-minded. This was kissing for the enjoyment of it, not as a rush to something else. Luka’s hand on her thigh came up to cup her cheek, and he managed to wiggle his other arm between her and the seat to wrap around her waist, his fingers kneading gently into her lower back.

She pulled away sooner than she wanted to, conscious of the driver in the front, though he was so busy swearing under his breath at the other cars that she hoped he hadn’t taken too much note of the spectacle she was making. Luka let her break from him, but kept kissing her cheek, her jaw, up near her ear, until she scolded him quietly and put a hand on his chest to stop him from leaning in again. He grinned at her and settled back against the seat with his arm around her shoulders. Marinette smiled and leaned on him, breathing in his clean scent and light cologne.

She must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew was Luka quietly calling her name. She had just enough time to register that before the car door opening made her jump, and Luka helped her out of the car as she tried to bring herself fully awake.

“Sorr—” she began, but Luka hushed her.

“There will probably be reporters,” he told her, putting his arm around her waist. “Don’t say anything and don’t let anyone separate us. If the cameras bother you just hide your face on me. I’ll handle the rest.”

Marinette nodded, still feeling a little confused. “My bag—”

“My staff will handle it. Ready?”

She wasn’t, but she nodded anyway. Luka kept her hip pressed tight to his as they walked into the crowd of reporters. Figuring it was better to look shy than bewildered, Marinette turned her face into Luka’s arm. She peeked just enough to see where they were going and to see black-clad security making a path for them. Luka just walked straight forward, answering no questions and keeping a calm, disinterested expression. This must be normal for him, she figured. He was used to it.

She wasn’t exactly used to it, but Luka’s calm made it easy to keep her own, and she just concentrated on not tripping on her own feet or Luka’s.

“You all right?” he asked, once they were inside. “You handled that well.”

“Y-yeah,” she said, and tried to smile up at him.

“Sorry, I should have warned you about that. They’ll probably pop up a few more times until we get through security, but then we should be clear, at least for a while.”

“It’s all right.”

It wasn’t Marinette’s first introduction to the lifestyles of the rich and famous, but they’d never been up in her face before. She was, she admitted to herself, a little shaken, but not too much.

Everything went fast after that. Despite her cadre of famous friends, Marinette was still caught off-guard at how much easier everything could be when people knew your face. In some ways, at least.

Luka did stop in the airport for pictures with fans, and to sign a few autographs, but a short, stocky young man turned up before they were halfway to the security desk and began hustling them along.

“Oh good, you made it,” he puffed, a little out of breath and a little red in the face. “We need to get you through security and then you can schmooze if you want.”

“Marinette, this is Emilio,” Luka said dryly, giving her an apologetic grin as he lengthened his stride a bit. Emilio was only a little taller than Marinette but he set a brisk pace. “He’s my assistant. It’s his job to make sure I get where I’m supposed to be before I’m supposed to get there.”

Emilio rolled his eyes. “He’d never get anywhere on time if it weren’t for me.”

“That’s not my fault,” Luka protested.

“You’re just too nice to say no to fans without me to be the bad guy,” Emilio shot back.

“That is why I hired you,” Luka admitted.

Emilio rolled his eyes, and then offered Marinette a flustered grin. “Nice to meet you, miss.”

“Marinette,” she put in.

“Marinette. Sorry to rush you both along—”

“You know we’re just going to end up sitting in the lounge waiting on the crew to get the plane ready,” Luka complained.

“—but security doesn’t care how famous you are,” Emilio finished pointedly.

Luka rolled his eyes, but kept pace with Emilio, Marinette’s hand clutched in his own.

***

“I hate the hurry up and wait schtick,” Luka complained, reaching to open the door to the private rich-people lounge. “But it’s so much better than it was when we were flying commercial. At least it’ll be quiet in here.” He hesitated, and pulled his hand back, taking Marinette’s arm and moving her a few steps away.

“What’s wrong?” Marinette asked.

“I just figured we should get our story straight before we go in there,” Luka replied with an embarrassed smile that Marinette found rather sweet. “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

“Oh,” Marinette said, blinking. “That makes sense.”

Luka seemed to hesitate for a moment, licking his lips as he tried to decide what he wanted to say. She had noticed that it sometimes took him a moment to think through his words, and she found she liked it—both that he was so careful and thoughtful about what he said, and the reminder that, famous or not, in some ways he was still just a regular guy.

“Would you be comfortable with me introducing you as my girlfriend?” he finally asked. “That would probably be simplest.”

“Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?” she asked slowly. “Or if I’m okay with being called that?”

Luka shrugged, and she was amused to see the high points of his cheeks turning pink. “Either. Both. Whatever you’re comfortable with.” He hesitated again, and then said quickly, “Yes, I’m asking you to be my girlfriend. For however long this lasts, at least.”

Marinette wasn’t sure if she was more thrown by the request or by the corollary.

Luka sighed, running his fingers through his hair, and let his bag slip off his shoulder to the floor. “This is why I hate labels,” he muttered, and then tried to grin at her. “We can talk about what all it means when we get to New York and have some privacy, I promise. Right now I just mean that I’m with you and only you, until you—or we, I guess—decide we want something to change. Does that work?”

Marinette considered that for a moment, and then nodded. It would make things easier to have a title that people understood, and it came with a set of assumptions that would benefit them both for now. He was right, and they could work out the real meaning of what they were to each other when they got to New York. Worst case scenario, we have some fun, you can hang out at the hotel while I do my shows, we see the sights, and I buy you a plane ticket home when you get sick of me. For the first time it occurred to her to wonder what he considered the best case scenario.

The quick flash of his smile, a real smile, and the excitement in his eyes as he picked up his bag and took her hand, made her smile too, and she let him lead her into the lounge.

There was a group of people lounging in and around chairs, most of them sporting earbuds amongst the glint of their piercings. Luka called out to them, and they all smiled, turning towards him.

“Guys, this is Marinette, my girlfriend.” He grinned at her like the word delighted him, despite his grumbling about labels. “She’s going to be hanging out with us for the next few stops.”

The reactions were all surprised to some degree, but then friendly as they nodded, smiled, or gave a small wave. Marinette made a self-conscious little wave of her own. “Nice to meet you all,” she said. “Sorry if I made Luka late.”

She got a few chuckles at that. One green-haired girl rolled her eyes with a good-natured smile, and said, “We’re always waiting on somebody or other, it feels like. I guess it’s Luka’s turn. We’re not on the plane yet so we probably have at least another hour before we can take off anyway.”

Marinette smiled back, and tried to pay attention while Luka gave names and roles. Then he tugged her away, pulling her towards a separate group of chairs.

“Don’t you want to sit with your friends?” Marinette asked.

“Later,” Luka told her, squeezing her hand. “I have some things I want to work on, and I need a little space.” He gave her hand another little tug before she could offer to leave him alone. “You can stay, I don’t mind. And I’m definitely not leaving you with those maniacs by yourself.”

Marinette laughed, and sat down in the seat he indicated.

“You want a drink?” Luka asked, and when she nodded, he went to the lounge’s little bar and brought back two bottles of water. Marinette was already digging in her capacious purse.

“I need to call Alya,” she sighed, pulling out the phone charger she had stuffed into it during her packing frenzy. She plugged her phone and charger into the port in the table next to her as Luka set her water down on it. “She’s probably frothing at the mouth by now. How do you know her, anyway?”

“Know who?” Luka asked, settling back with a notebook balanced on one knee and the other water bottle in his hand.

“Alya.” Marinette watched him throw his head back and drink, and had to look away.

“I don’t know anyone named Alya,” he said when he lowered the bottle.

Marinette frowned at him, twisting open her own water. “Alya Cesaire? She said you wanted to meet me last night. That’s why I was in the lounge. Security let me in and everything.”

Luka’s eyebrows raised slightly. “I didn’t know you were going to be in the lounge. It was supposed to be closed off to the public.”

“It was. I had to get Security to let me in.”

“They just let you in?”

“Well, I had to give them my name at the backstage door, and then they took me to the lounge and let me in. Because you asked to meet me.”

Luka shook his head slowly. “I don’t know who you were supposed to meet there, but it wasn’t me. I’m glad you were there, but I definitely didn’t ask to meet you.”

Marinette stared at him for a full three seconds, not even blinking, before she could get his words to make sense. “O-oh. Oh. Oh, um.” She put a hand over her mouth. “S-she didn’t tell me who I was supposed to be meeting, and when you came in I thought—oh my God. Oh my God. ”

Luka frowned, studying her face. “Does it have to change anything?”

“Yes! …No. No, I guess it doesn’t. Shouldn’t it though?” She moved her hand to her forehead, feeling almost dizzy from the sudden change in her perspective.

“I don’t really see why.” Luka picked up her other hand, rubbing his thumb across the back of it. “We met. We had a good time. We liked each other and we want to see where things go.” He hesitated. “I mean, if you really wanted to meet this mystery person then—”

Marinette shook her head weakly. She hadn’t really cared that much, and had only gone to make

Alya happy, and because she was bored and depressed and any kind of escape from her daily life seemed appealing.

Well. She sure got that much, didn’t she? She was shaking, and could barely meet Luka’s gaze as he continued, “Then…it seems like we should be okay?”

“I guess we are, I just…” Marinette shrank a little, grabbing a handful of hair and tugging sharply. “I feel stupid. I thought—I mean I thought you wanted me, all that time, and—”

“I did,” Luka cut her off, squeezing her hand. “From the moment I saw you leaning against that bar.”

“Not like that ,” Marinette groaned, and then amended, “Well, not just like that. I mean—” She stopped, her thoughts hopelessly tangled, trying to figure out what she had been thinking last night—was it only last night? It seemed like so long ago.

“It’s not just like that,” Luka said, pulling her knuckles to her lips. “Not anymore. I promise, Marinette. So let’s just roll with it, okay?” He cupped her cheek to turn her face towards him, and she took in the worried look on his face. Her breath hitched a little, and then she put her hand over his.

“Yeah. Yeah, okay.” She smiled at him. He smiled back, and leaned forward to kiss her softly.

“Anytime you want out, you just tell me,” he whispered. “I’ll send you straight home, no hard feelings.”

“I don’t want out,” she blurted, almost before he was done talking. “I don’t, Luka. I’m sorry, it just…it startled me.” She studied him. “Doesn’t it bother you?”

“A little,” Luka admitted. “I don’t really love the idea that you only—” he glanced towards the band, but no one was paying attention to them, “—did what you did because you were expecting—” he paused. “What were you expecting?”

Marinette groaned, putting her face in her hand. “I don’t even know. Honestly, Alya’s setups have never worked out before. I just thought—well, when I saw you, I thought…” She felt her face going redder and redder.

“You thought, you might as well hit that?”

“No!” Marinette said, horrified, but when she looked up she saw that Luka was grinning.

“Hey, I’m not going to pretend I was thinking anything different,” he teased. “But I think it worked out.” He waggled his eyebrows at her, and Marinette burst out laughing. She couldn’t help it, he looked so silly.

“It did,” she giggled. “And now I’m running away with the hot rock star.”

“You’re the first groupie I’ve ever kidnapped,” Luka teased. Despite his light tone, she felt the way his grip on her hand softened. Not like he was letting go, more just a release of tension. She’d worried him, she realized.

“I’m glad things turned out the way they did,” she told him, making sure to meet his eyes and squeeze his hand back. His shoulders relaxed a little, and she smiled at him with genuine fondness. She was learning to read him, she realized. He kept a lot behind that laid back attitude, she was beginning to see.

Still.

“I really need to talk to Alya now,” she groaned.

“You need me to give you a minute?” Luka asked, and she shook her head, picking up her phone. It had enough battery now to power on and sure enough, there were a bunch of messages waiting for her. One was just a check in from her parents, and she sent them back a quick, mostly-true reply. She didn’t bother with the ones from Alya, just hit the button to call her. She held it away from her ear until she heard Alya’s voice screeching her name—her full name, of course, and then brought it back to her ear when Alya’s voice dropped to a more normal volume.

“Where have you been ?” Alya demanded. “I almost called the police and reported you missing. Adrien said you never showed up and—”

“ Adrien ?” Marinette demanded, and Luka glanced at her, one eyebrow raised. “The mystery man you wanted me to meet was Adrien? ”

“Yes, and you blew it!”

“There was nothing to blow, Alya!” Marinette exclaimed, and then scowled at Luka when he choked on a laugh next to her. She flailed her hand in his direction, smacking his shoulder a couple of times, while he tried to smother his chortling. “Would you please just let that whole thing go? Why on earth would you think I wanted to meet him?” Dressed like that, she thought, slapping a hand on her face. What a disaster that would have been, she was sure.

“Oh, come on, he said he wanted to see you, and he’d been missing you a lot, and I just knew he’d finally gotten a clue and you were so hot last night I thought for sure—”

“She’s not wrong,” Luka muttered, and Marinette whipped her head around to glare at him. He shrugged. “Sorry, she’s loud.”

“Anyway,” Alya said, finally taking a breath, as Marinette turned her back to Luka. “Never mind all of that, where were you? You stood him up and—”

“I thought he stood me up!” Marinette broke in. “He was late ! I almost left, I decided to just have a quick drink first, and then L—and then someone came in, and I thought he was who you were setting me up with, and—and we went out. For a while.” She wouldn’t turn and look at Luka. She wouldn’t. She was sure he was laughing at her again. “My phone died. Alya, I can’t believe you tried to set me up with Adrien again. And you didn’t even warn me!”

“Adrien’s always late these days, it’s the cost of fame. He can’t walk to the bathroom without getting stopped for autographs and selfies, and he’s too nice to say no.”

“Well, you should have warned me about that too then.”

“I just thought you’d be less of a spazz if you didn’t have time to overthink it first!”

Marinette closed her eyes. “Alya, when has that ever worked.” Especially with Adrien.

“Okay, okay,” Alya groaned. “I just thought, it would be so romantic, one last chance after you both thought that it was over for good—it would have made such a story!”

“I’m not a story, Alya,” Marinette folded her free arm and pouted.

“Well there must be some story. Spill it, Marinette, who’s the guy you ran into? Please don’t tell me you blew off Adrien Agreste, Supermodel Actor, for some pathetic roadie who bought you a drink.”

Marinette’s eyebrows raised, and she glanced over her shoulder at Luka. “I definitely did not do that. I’ll tell you about it later, I’m—” about to get on a plane with a guy I just met “—busy.”

“And we’re back to the same old refrain,” Alya groaned. “You need to live a little, Marinette.”

“I’m hanging up now, Alya.”

“Marineeeeeeeeeette,” Alya whined, but Marinette rolled her eyes and ended the call.

She dropped the phone on the table and folded her arms, sinking into her chair as she pouted.

“You okay?” Luka asked, draping his arm behind her and letting his fingers play with her loose hair.

“Yeah.” Marinette rolled her eyes. “She’s just determined to make me the main character in one of her screenplays, I swear. You’d think a writer would know better how unrealistic that all is.”

They sat in silence for a moment, and Marinette closed her eyes as Luka’s fingers moved to the back of her neck, massaging gently.

“Well, if you want,” he said slowly, and she looked at him. “We can absolutely give her a story. Maybe not the one she was hoping for, but…”

Marinette tilted her head curiously. “What do you mean?”

Luka leaned toward her, a wicked grin on his face that made her insides melt a little, and whispered a plan in her ear.

Marinette’s mouth twitched as she tried to keep in her smile. “I’ll think about it.”

***

The band’s private jet made her jaw drop in spite of herself.

“Wow,” she muttered under her breath.

“Yeah, it seems a little extravagant,” Luka confessed, running a self-conscious hand through his hair. “But commercial travel just got too difficult with all of our gear and the band and the staff. Not to mention the fans and the reporters. It’s just easier this way, and I have to admit, way more comfortable for an 8-hour flight. We use trains here on the continent but it’s hard to get around the US that way.”

“It’s really nice,” Marinette said, smiling at him. It was, too, with large, plush single seats on each side and a matching couch beyond. There was a sliding wood-panel pushed aside so that she could see the same type of single seats lining the cabin beyond.

“It keeps us from killing each other at least,” he said lightly. “Pick a seat. We’ll stay up here so you—so we can have some privacy.”

Marinette sat a little gingerly in one of the plush seats. There was a wooden rail at her elbow with drink holders in it

“Need anything else?” Luka asked, and Marinette smiled at him, and shook her head.

“I’m good.”

“Do you mind if I leave you for a bit?” he asked, tilting his head towards the couch behind the forward-facing seats. A slightly battered looking black-and-white guitar was strapped into a stand there. “I have some things I’d like to work on while we’re in the air.”

“Of course. I don’t want to get in the way of your work.”

He smiled at her. “Come and get me or call Emilio if you need anything.”

Marinette pulled her own notebook out of her bag. She curled up in the plane seat and looked out of the window, idly sketching random shapes as a warmup.

Luka also warmed up behind her, playing scales and other short ditties she didn’t know well enough to identify. Eventually he segued into another tune that she recognized from the concert, and then another.

Then he started playing something she hadn’t heard before. The melody inexplicably made her heart beat faster. It was new, but also…familiar. Not the tune, but the way it made her feel. It reminded her of…

Marinette peeked around the side of her seat and watched him for a moment. Luka was electric on stage, charged up and full of energy, but his face now was thoughtful, his brow slightly furrowed, his eyes closed even though his fingers were moving unerringly across the strings. Occasionally he would stop and go back, replaying a piece he’d just done but with some changes. It was a fascinating look at a process Marinette had never put much thought into.

Just then, someone—she thought it was the drummer, but she was still fuzzy on names—stuck their head in through the partition. “That a new one, Luka?” he asked, and Luka made an affirmative noise, but didn’t look up from his instrument. Apparently this was normal for him, because the person just grinned, and then grinned wider when he saw Marinette, and disappeared back behind the partition.

Marinette relaxed back in her seat, looking out of the window. The sun was setting, and she took out her colored pencils to capture the colors. It was weirdly refreshing, she found, to be drawing without a real goal, without a client or a concept in mind. Just…exploring, and recording, and letting her thoughts go where they wanted. She jotted notes on the margin or the next page any time something interesting occurred to her, but otherwise she just let her mind wander. She sketched the sunset, and then the pattern of the wood grain on the drink rail beside her, and anything else that caught her eye. Then she started sketching from memory; the backlit drink display from last night, one of Luka’s tattoos, the curve of his shoulder and neck emerging from the sheet—

Why couldn’t she stop thinking about that all of a sudden? She swallowed and turned the page.

“Hey.” She jumped as Luka’s voice came from behind her. “You still doing okay?” he asked, with a smile.

“Yeah, I’m good,” she said, unsuccessfully covering a yawn.

“I’m done for a little while,” he said. “If you want you can come lay on the couch back here and take a nap. It’s going to be late night Paris time by the time we land in New York.”

“Thanks. I might in a little while.”

“I’ve got to take a meeting with the guys in the back,” he said, stroking a gentle hand over her hair. “I’ll be back in a little bit. Call me if—”

“—I need anything.” She smiled. “I’m really fine.”

“Okay.” He leaned forward, and kissed her forehead before retreating to the back of the plane. She heard some catcalls and whistles and a good-natured, “Yeah, yeah, knock it off,” before he slid the partition shut.

It was funny, she thought, he really did treat her like she was his girlfriend, and not just a fuckbuddy or arm candy, either. The idea of that chat they were supposed to have, about what they really were to each other, suddenly made her stomach feel funny.

This whole scenario was so insane. She couldn’t believe she could possibly be so good at sex that the hottest rock star on the planet (in all possible meanings of the world) would be enthralled by her. He hadn’t even tried anything sexual since they went to sleep last night. Though there hadn’t been many private moments. A salacious thought or two crossed her mind about joining the mile high club when he came back, but she wasn’t sure she was bold enough to have sex with him with just that one little fake wood sliding wall separating them from his entire staff.

Marinette licked her lips and closed her sketchbook decisively. No more drawing in this mood. She got out her earphones and plugged them in, and turned some music on her phone. She didn’t have anything from Luka. She’d have to fix that soon. She really had had her head in the sand, Marinette thought, to have missed out on his music for this long. She put her chin on her fist and looked out at the night sky. There wasn’t anything particularly interesting out there now, the jet’s lights drowning at the stars and nothing but clouds or ocean below them, too dark to see clearly.

Before long, she felt her eyes dropping, and her head nodding, so she moved over to the couch and stretched out. It was surprisingly comfortable, though she would have liked a pillow. She folded her arms under her head, and dropped off quickly.

She woke with a start when someone touched her.

“It’s just me,” Luka said, kissing her cheek. “Can I join you?”

Marinette hummed agreement and scooted against the back of the couch. Luka somehow folded his lanky form onto the couch with her, tucking his bent legs between hers. He’d brought a pillow from somewhere that he propped under his own head, and his arms became Marinette’s pillow. Her neck was probably going to complain in the morning, but Luka was warm and smelled nice, and she was asleep again before she could overthink it.

Emilio woke them up in time to strap in for their landing in New York. Luka gave Marinette an adorable sleepy smile as they both buckled in, and he reached his hand across the aisle. Marinette put her hand in his and felt him squeeze it.

The airport wasn’t very full and all the shops were quiet and dark as they walked through. They mostly passed unremarked until they got to the door where their ride would be waiting.

“Pappos ahoy,” Luka said quietly, leaning over Marinette’s shoulder. She could see the people milling around outside of the airport doors and at least one of them had a camera. “Have you decided?”

Marinette looked up at him and nodded.

“Let’s do this then,” Luka grinned, and Marinette had to grin back. She reached up and smoothed her hair self-consciously, and felt Luka’s arm curl around her waist.

They walked out of the door that way, Marinette keeping her face up and smiling brightly. Neither of them spoke to any of the reporters that shouted at them, looking only at each other.

As the driver opened the car door to let them in, they turned to each other. Marinette put her arms around his neck, and pressed up on her toes. He met her halfway in a soft, long kiss, giving plenty of time for the cameras to catch the whole thing. The flurry of shutter clicks was still going when they parted. Luka helped Marinette in the car and then slid in after her, kissing her one more time before the door closed.

There’s your story, Alya, Marinette thought smugly, settling into the car seat.

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