#the whole dupain-chengs being parents to adrien hits different

[moonlitceleste]

marinette dupain-cheng’s guide to picking up cute guys

A/N: Chez Vous is real in the DC universe; it’s described as a restaurant but I decided to use it as the name of the café because I didn’t want to come up with one myself. It translates to “at your house,” which basically implies “make yourself at home.”

thanks to @ramos123 for being my beta reader! <3

ao3

“Bet.”

Marinette slapped a crisp 20-dollar bill onto the wooden table with enough force to slosh around the brown liquid in the cup sitting before Alya’s smirking face.

Chez Vous was the name of the café they had been sitting in for the past fifteen minutes. The place had a nice ambience, the quiet chatter of customers and aromatic smells combining to make what was an unusually cozy atmosphere considering the location.

Gotham wasn’t exactly known for being hospitable, but she supposed the fact that it was clearly fashioned after Parisian cafés contributed to the homey feel. It vaguely reminded her of her parents’ bakery as well, so it certainly lived up to its name.

Perhaps it was this sense of familiarity that had her and Alya reminiscing on how far they’d come. It hadn’t been that long since lycée or université—the two were only 22 and 23, respectively—but recalling the good times they’d shared was always fun to do.

Of course, their friendship had momentary blips (ahem, Lila), but the two had managed to sort out their problems eventually. Now that Alya had become more attuned to Marinette’s boundaries and there were no pressing superhero secrets to keep, they knew how to both ground and challenge each other in positive ways. Which was exactly what had caused Marinette to get herself into this situation.

While chattering about their lycée days, Alya poked fun at her once again for what had transpired on the day of the Animan akuma. How could she ever forget that while secretly masquerading as a superhero and locking her best friends in an empty gorilla habitat together, she had somehow helped them end up in a relationship? And now the two were engaged.

This topic somehow lead to Adrien and the stupid puns he spewed both in superhero and civilian form. Alya was insistent that Marinette was charmed by them at some point, to which she replied, No way! They were horrible. Even I could do better.

It was with twinkling eyes that her best friend asked “Bet?” and well, Marinette was never one to back down from a challenge. So after pulling out some spare cash from her purse and setting it down in front of Alya, she raised a brow.

A wicked smirk grew on her best friend’s face, and any lesser person would have faltered, but Marinette was prepared for anything that could possibly be thrown at her.

“Fine. If you’re so confident, I dare you to use a pick-up line on… him.”

As if on cue, the bell at the top of the glass-paneled wooden door jingled, and Marinette followed Alya’s pointed finger right on time to see a very attractive man walk through.

He had a confident stride, but not an arrogant one—his aura was one of someone who was assured and knew exactly what they were capable of.

Despite his seemingly laid-back disposition, she didn’t fail to notice how his eyes darted around the room cautiously, the same habit she had gotten used to doing after she had been given the Ladybug Miraculous. Then again, this was Gotham, so being on constant guard was only natural.

One thumb was hooked in the pocket of his jeans while the other moved up to ruffle his hair, and wow did he have nice hair.

It was perfectly coiffed, and if she didn’t have experience with hairstyling due to her career she would’ve thought it was as effortless as it looked. Most models would kill for the natural luster his locks seemed to have, and even from a distance she could tell that anyone who decided to run their fingers through his hair would be met with softness.

And she didn’t even want to get started on his face. From his glowing skin to his strong jaw and pretty eyes, she refused to believe someone so attractive could be real. It was unfair, really.

“...inette? Marinette? You good there, girl?”

A snap in front of her face broke Marinette out of her stupor, and she offered an instinctual yelp in response.

“What?”

Alya’s eyes twinkled knowingly, and Marinette shifted anxiously in her seat.

“You sure you weren’t checking him out?”

“Alya!”

Said girl let out a mischievous cackle at her hissed response.

“Now get over there!” she said, waving her hands around in a shooing motion.

Marinette glanced over to the line, where the man was no doubt giving the barista his order.

From what she could tell he was just about done, and she watched as he shuffled through his wallet to hand the barista a bill. But rather than proceed normally as most client-worker interactions would, his payment was met with wide eyes and flailing hands.

Marinette was much too far to discern what was being said, but from context clues she could deduct that he had just handed the barista quite a sizable amount. She had already guessed he was well-off from simply observing the quality of his clothes, but this was near confirmation.

It wasn’t as if status or wealth mattered much to her, but she did have a tendency to be wary of higher-class people due to past experiences with them. Being around them really wasn’t as pleasant as it seemed.

Her musing was interrupted when the man suddenly moved, relocating to the waiting line. There was her chance.

Marinette pushed herself out of her seat, steeling herself and lifting her chin high. This was no biggie. All she had to do was somehow convince this gorgeous man to give her his number by making a crappy pick-up line and a pun on the spot. It wasn’t anything she hadn’t done before, but this felt different, probably because it was a total stranger she was about to attempt it on.

She felt Alya’s gaze trailing after her with each step, and Marinette reminded herself that she absolutely had to succeed or she would never hear the end of it.

The closer she got, however, the more her confidence died. Apparently she had made a major miscalculation while gauging her probability of success, because she hadn’t accounted for the brain spasm she was currently having. Why, oh why did he have to be so cute?

Marinette had the sinking feeling that she was about to majorly embarrass herself, but she was determined to win. Screw embarrassment—she was Marinette Dupain-Cheng. All the trouble she had gotten into with Alix and Kim as kids had prepared her for this very moment. Nothing mattered besides victory.

So she sauntered up confidently, stopping right in front of her target.

“Hey, you must be Batman’s sidekick.”

“What?”

The man’s head snapped towards her, and Marinette didn’t fail to notice the subtle defensive stance he took. Years of hero experience had made her more perceptive towards these things—it was part of the job, after all. She filed the information away in the back of her mind, making a mental note to dissect all that later. Her priority was winning the bet—and oh, right, she still had to finish that pick-up line.

“...because you’re Robin my heart.”

The quip was accompanied by an uncharacteristically roguish smile, à la Chat Noir. She’d give herself a solid 10/10 points on delivery.

Her target seemed to agree with the verdict, because after a split second of shocked silence, he burst into full-bodied laughter.

The instantaneous shift in demeanor nearly caught her off-guard, but she was too occupied by the bright smile on his face and his melodic chuckle to notice. It was light and carefree, and she couldn’t help but crack a small smile as a result.

The only problem was that the laughter didn’t end, though, and she felt her face heat up more as the seconds ticked by.

Oh, Kwami.

Marinette buried her face into her hands with a soft groan, wishing the ground could just open up and swallow her whole.

She knew it wasn’t the greatest pick-up line ever, but she didn’t think her attempt warranted that much amusement.

The laugher ceased abruptly, and she peeked through her fingers in time to see the man quickly sober up.

“Sorry, I wasn’t laughing at you!”

A pause.

“Okay, not exactly. I just—wow, that was a great pick-up line.”

She slowly lowered her hands, though she kept her head down to peer at him through her lashes.

“Did it work?”

He chuckled and offered her a bright smile that made her blush like a high schooler with a massive crush.

“Yeah, you can tell your friend over there that you won your bet.”

If it was even possible, she turned redder.

“What? How…”

At the mention of Alya, Marinette sent a quick glance to their café table only to find that she was doing absolutely nothing to hide her rapt attention. She quickly caught on to the fact that they were looking her way and sent a very obvious thumbs-up and wink.

Oh, I am so going to kill her later!

But Marinette’s momentary vexation made way for embarrassment as the gravity of the situation hit her.

“I guess I wasn’t exactly subtle, huh?”

“Yeah,” the handsome stranger shrugged. “You probably could have been more discreet. But I liked it.”

“Okay, that’s the second time you’ve said that, but I have a hard time believing you. You can’t possibly tell me that you actually enjoy puns.”

“So I’m guessing I shouldn’t tell you that meeting you was a fortuitous aster?”

“Aster? As in the opposite of disaster?” she wrinkled her nose.

“You got it!”

Marinette rolled her eyes in exasperation, though the upwards tug at the corner of her lips betrayed her true feelings.

“Careful there, or you’ll be the one Robin my heart.”

She’d never admit to it, but she flushed a tiny bit before straightening up in realization. Hey, she was supposed to be the one doing the wooing here!

But before she could open her mouth to respond, her companion beat her to it.

“Since you’re stealing something so dear to me, I think it’s only fair that I get my thief’s name in exchange.”

He was clever, she had to admit.

“Marinette,” she proffered.

“Dick.”

She blinked in surprise at the seemingly random obscenity before it clicked.

“Oh, that’s your name!”

The words tumbled forward, and once she realized what she had said, Marinette tried to frantically backpedal. Her spilled apologies didn’t seem to be necessary, though, because that mesmerizing laugh came back.

“No, it’s fine, I get that a lot,” he breathed between chuckles.

She brightened immediately, glad she hadn’t offended him or embarrassed herself too much.

“Well, since I’m already taking something from you, may I steal your number as well?”

“Only if I can do the same.”

Her inquiry was met with a grin, and the two exchanged phones to type in their respective numbers. Marinette’s found its way back into her hand shortly after, and moments after she pocketed it the call of “medium espresso and beignets!” broke the quiet ambience.

“Well, that’s my order,” Dick said, words weighted by a silent apology. “I’d love to stay and chat, but I have a few things I need to take care of. Maybe we can meet up later this week?”

The end of his sentence lilted up in hope, and Marinette found her chest warming with affection.

“I’d like that.”

She bid him goodbye with a smile and a wave and quickly tacked on an “I’ll text you later!” in afterthought.

She’d forever deny squealing giddily as she unceremoniously dragged Alya out from her seat and through the café doors, but the sound didn’t escape Dick’s attention—or his enhanced hearing, courtesy of Bat-Tech.

As he watched her leave with Alya, a smile slowly spread across his face at the thought of seeing her again.

Yeah, he sighed to himself. She’s definitely Robin my heart.

-

PERMANENT TAGLIST *@astoriaandromeda @avengerthewarrior *@bluesimani @enternalempires @flower-girll @freesportspalacesalad @glastwime859 @h1sss @heart-charming @iloontjeboontje @jayjayspixiepop @jalaluvsu @kitsunebell @maskedpainter @moongoddesskiana @nathleigh @no-username2544 @too0bsessedformyowngood @ultimatetornshipper

#maribat #dickinette #cel's fics #celestewrites #ml x dc #mlb x dc #dick x marinette

[arty-shadow-morningstar]

Graveyard Siblings (5)

[Masterlink] (PART 1) (PART 4)

-----

Mari and Cass sometimes switch their suits as they have the same body type. Cass would sometimes go out in full Hellbat gear and give the appearance that Hellbat is out more often than she actually is.

So Orphan/Black Bat also sometimes uses guns.

This also helps with concealing secret identities. Maria was rescued by Hellbat from Joker’s Henchmen. (Vicki Vale was getting sus of the new Wayne and Hellbat.)

Unfortunately since Hellbat rarely comes out and she had already made all of her appearance for the month and it wasn’t a busy weekend, the public had come to the conclusion that Hellbat has a crush on the newest Wayne.

Basically everyone thought that Mari has a crush on herself. Which led to some teasing and escalated to Mari announcing that Jason had a crush on Red Hood on live TV.

It didn’t help that a video of Red Hood and Jason re-enacting Romeo and Juliet with Jason on his apartment balcony and Red Hood on the roof was posted on the internet a few days later. (Thank you, Trixx and Tim’s awesome video editing skills)

Sadly, it was taken down 24 hours later. (Tim and the others have multiple copies of it, on the cloud or hardware, hidden around in the manor and their respective safehouses in the US.)

Some people kidnapped Jason to hopefully gain leverage over the Red Hood and to their dismay and nightmares for years to come, Hellbat came instead.

One lucky and incredibly brave reporter asked why she was there instead of her brother.

Mari being a little shit, “Red Hood may be a tough and scary guy but when it comes to his feelings, my brother is a chicken.”

Pictures of Jason tackling Hellbat somehow never made it into any papers.

The criminal underworld hasn’t taken a hint and Jason has been kidnapped a few more times.

Other times Jason was kidnapped:

Robin: Red Hood made a fool of himself in front of Todd recently and he doesn’t dare to show his face.

Spoiler: He was taking too damn long checking his hair even though I told him that no one was going to see it under his helmet and he was so offended that he is currently sulking in the bathroom.

Red Robin: Red Hood can’t think straight when he is around Jason. I mean have you seen the dude.

Arsenal*during a rare visit to Gotham*: Red Hood owes me one now.

Dick finally ends it by going out as Red Hood and rescuing Jason. Gotham is happy that Redson (Red Hood x Jason) ship has finally sailed.

-------

Kate, Babs, Cass, Steph and Mari were out on Mari’s first girls’ night since her move to the manor.

This is set a little after she came back from Paris with Jason.

They watched rom-com movies, did hair and nails, gossip about the superhero community and bitch and vent to each other.

Marinette off-handedly mentioned the crazy shits she had done during her stint as Ladybug. It started with asking about the T-rex in the Batcave and she mentions jumping into the mouth of a live one before.

Everyone in the room was shocked and after a few more questions, it was obvious that she was very reckless and self-sacrificing. Yep, she was going to fit into this crazy family just fine.

And Holy Shit. There is so much trauma packed into this kid. She needs lots of therapy.

Babs finally decided that they all needed to get out and have some fun. All in their respective suits and they went out.

Joined by Harley, Ivy and Selina.

Plagg came along because I want Plagg to meet Selina.

It was a chaotic night and it was a miracle that Bruce didn’t find out about what the girls did.

-------

Batman and Red Hood were on patrol together when Selina jumped in front of them.

“Hello, Boys”

“What do you want, Catwoman?”

“I want to meet my new prodigy, Kitty Noire.”

Cue Marinette jumping down from her hiding spot, transformed with the Black Cat Miraculous. “Hiya.”

Red Hood carries her like a potato sack and points his gun at the other two.

“Nope, she’s my sister and I called dibs. I adopted her. She’s off limits.”

“Legally, she’s mine.” Batman coughed out.

“I did it first. Emotionally. She’s my emotional support sister. You have plenty kids already, B and Selina, get your own.”

“Hey, I am still here and can hear you.”- Maria

-------

Alya was worried for Lila. She had been acting weirdly for the past month.

She looked very out of sorts. Her clothes weren’t in order and her hair was in disarray. She had bags under her eyes and her eyes looked wild. Lila didn’t look like herself at all.

She jumped at any sound and flinched at really sudden movements.

Alya tried to find out what was wrong with Lila and received vague answers.

One time Lila said that Marinette is to blame.

Alya reaches the somewhat right conclusion that Marinette was haunting Lila and hurting her because Lila used to come to school with bruises and claims that Marinette did it.

Alya goes to Marinette’s grave to desecrate it. (Yeah, go anger the ghost that is haunting someone.)

Unfortunately, the moment she tries to do something, the sky turns dark, clouds appear and the wind begins whipping. A Lightning strike near her and there was a cloaked figure beside her with a scythe.

All Alya saw from the figure was the blood-red lips in a very sharp grin and glowing blue eyes, raising the scythe high before she ran away. The scythe swiped the air where her head once was.

Alya didn’t get far before she tripped and blacked out.

When she woke up, she found herself in the hospital with no idea how she got there.

She was told that somebody found her with a concussion in the park and took her to the hospital.

------

The next one on Mari’s hit list was Natalie.

She wasn’t as involved in the whole thing like Lila, Adrien or Gabriel but she still did it anyways.

Her punishment is a little mild compared to the others and was more of a warning to Gabriel.

Natalie woke up in the middle of the night to see a not-so-dead Ladybug sitting on her vanity chair with the moonlight from the windows illuminating her body and her neck. Her suit was torn exactly like the day of that battle with blood dripping down her arms and from her open wounds. The shadows kept her face hidden but glowing blue eyes stared at her.

Natalie was scared at first. But she regained her normal cool composure.

“I assume you are here to extract your revenge for aiding in your unfortunate demise. But before you kill me, I regret my part in my entire thing and I apologize for everything I have done against you even though I knew it was wrong.”

“At least you show remorse over what you have done. Visiting my grave when even my parents didn’t and leaving flowers. I love those purple hyacinths by the way. Did you know that they mean sorry in the language of the flowers?”

“Why are you stalling my death? Just kill me already.”

“Madam Sancouer. You just played a minor role in my downfall compared to what Adrien and Lila Rossi did to me. And you showed more guilt over your actions than they ever did and Adrien claimed to have loved me. And like I have told the Bats, Death is too swift of a punishment.”

“Who are the bats?”

“None of your concern. You should be more concerned about yourself.”

“Lila sees the ghosts of her past and they haunt her. Adrien is in a living nightmare and has no control over his actions and is despised by everyone. What are you going to do to me?”

“Well, since you show some guilt over your actions, let me tell you a little secret. I am not dead. Not really. I mean I did die. But there was a spell in the grimoire that revived me. It took a few days to work.”

Marinette changed to her normal form. It was a little jarring to see an older Marinette Dupain-Cheng sitting on her vanity chair like it was a throne. The Ladybug suit and the wounds were gone. She looked a little familiar.

“Why are you telling me this? What was the point?” Natalie faltered as she wondered why the girl looked familiar. Marinette moved closer and her face was fully illuminated by the moonlight.

“I intend to take everything by which I mean everything from Gabriel Agreste for what he did.”

“M. Agreste just wanted his wife back. You just gave him your Miraculous, you would still have everything.”

“What difference would it make? Sure I had friends and family before but they turned out to be disappointing. I might have become a famous designer like I dreamed of and can't achieve because I died. Besides, he never said about wanting his wife to come back in his tedious monologues. For all we knew back then, he wanted them for world domination. He showed that he would end the world for them. For kwamis’ sake, he nearly started World War III, just for a pair of earring and a ring. He was willing to kill me to have her back. No wait, he did that too. If he actually read the translated grimoire or asked the Guardian or at least someone with magic for help instead or maybe used his head and made some who can heal as his champion using the Butterfly, we wouldn’t even be in this mess. Face it, Mme Sancour, your boss is a power-hungry and very controlling maniac who is also thankfully an idiot.”

“But- he- he just-. You are just a child, what do you know? M. Agreste knew what he was doing.”

“A child who had a normal life up until he tried to ruin it with his idiotic schemes and hiring Lila to do it. A child who had to fight a war on her own.”

“I am sorry you had to go through that but I doubt you and your little revenge rampage is going to solve anything.”

Ghostly Chains wrapped around Natalie’s body, squeezing tight like it was squeezing the life out of her.

“I was all for sparing you, you know. If you had actually listened to my side of the story, you would have spared from my ‘little revenge rampage’. This is going to be a little painful. Sorry about that.” In a tone that was definitely not sorry.

Pain coursed through Natalie’s body. Her skin crawled and itched as pitch back feathers grew out of it. Her bones turned to dust and reformed.

Where Natalie Sancour once was, there was a raven.

An omen of death and destruction for one Gabriel Agreste.

Marinette leaned down towards the raven. Natalie tried to peck her eye out but Marinette held the beak in a firm grip.

“Ah. ah ah. Luckily for you this is temporary. Mostly. Every night, you will assume this shape and each night the longer you will stay in this form. Slowly counting down the days until Gabriel’s downfall. Since you love helping him so much, you are going to help him know how long he has to live. The night you are a raven from sunset to sunrise, that sunrise starts the day Gabriel Agreste will be utterly destroyed.”

She released the beak and headed towards the window.

"Send him my regards."

With that, she was gone.

(Part 6)

#platonic jasonette #graveyard siblings #maribat #ml x dc #marinette meets the sirens

[legends-live-in-memories]

Super-Rockin’ Wedding of the Century

AYO! Day 2 of MGI Trope Tussle! Team Enemies-to-Lovers for the win. I bring you another oneshot. but this time i used 3 prompts like a dumbass.

Fics Masterlist

Daminette Oneshot 4.3K words (no warnings except slight cursing)

Summary:

“Marinette is invited to the Super-Rockin' Wedding of the Century and she needs a date. Alya is both her best and worst wingman.”

Day 2 of MGI Trope Tussle, I used 3 prompts to make this thing: 1. "You don't have to like me, you just need to pretend you do." 2. "I like your costume. You look very cute." "Are you making fun of me?" 3. 'Write about a very unusual wedding proposal.' this is the culmination of all my efforts.

without further ado:

It was the biggest news on the internet. Global sensation, international rockstar, Jagged Stone, was officially engaged to childhood friend turned manager, Penny Rolling. Memes and fan theories stormed every corner of the web. Trending topics including #rockstar_wedding and #RollingStone permeated every social media platform. Guest lists were speculated, dress designers were tagged in every post that even mentioned the words ‘wedding’ or ‘bride’. It was total mayhem but none felt it worse than up-and-coming Parisian designer, M. D. Cheng, privately known as Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

The young adult was up to her neck in design templates, and was drowning in half-baked ideas and sketches. While the internet has only heard about the proposal for a solid two weeks at this point, Marinette was in the know for six months. Jagged Stone had contacted her in advance because he needed her help with the proposal itself.

And what a proposal it was.  

Jagged had outlined his idea in simple terms but it was still so mind-boggling that Marinette needed him to draw some visual aids to completely convey his idea. Initially it sounded simple enough but the more the man spoke, the more Marinette felt her brain fry at the mental picture. It first involved recreating a scene from Penny’s favourite movie. Which sounded rather romantic, if you ignored the fact that her favourite movie was Bride of Chucky. Then it involved Jagged dressed as the Tinman from Wizard of Oz. Oh, and the proposal had to happen on Halloween because that was the anniversary of their first date apparently, and based on everything else this plan entailed it might as well have been. Marinette’s role in all of this was to simply re-make the white wedding dress Chucky’s bride, Tiffany, wore because Penny already had the leather jacket to match. Of course she did. She didn’t even want to know how Jagged acquired the Tinman suit. Not her barrel of monkeys.

While many thought Jagged was the eccentric one of the pair, due to his loud personality and being an actual rockstar, the more Marinette worked for the two of them over the years, the more she learned how absolutely wrong they all were. It turned out it was Penny’s idea for Jagged to dye his hair purple, and she was the one to ask him out on Halloween all those faithful years ago. Her calm and collected demeanor was an impressive cover for the absolute weirdo she actually was. And Jagged had planned a proposal that was undoubtedly perfect for her. Regardless of how abso-fucking-lutely bizarre it was.

To each their own and let’s move on.

The set-up for the proposal started with Jagged, dressed as the Tinman, playing the part of Chucky, who begins the body-switching chant from the movie. Everything from that point on was resting on Penny’s love for the movie. Without hesitating, Penny, dressed as Tiffany, and playing her part, knew the lines by heart and immediately began reenacting the scene with Jagged. Her lines involved telling ‘Chucky’ to kiss her while she reaches for a knife that’s supposed to be in his pocket. Instead, as Jagged was still dressed as the Tinman, Penny pulled out a slip of paper. On said paper, the words ‘All the Tinman wanted was a heart’ were written in Jagged’s almost illegible chicken scratch. When Penny was distracted with the piece of paper, Jagged had gotten down on one knee and pulled out the engagement ring. The actual words of his proposal were never actually said because, upon seeing the ring, Penny flung herself into the man, clipping her chin into his metal-plated shoulder, but she wasn’t complaining.  

So that was how the proposal went.

Wedding planning started almost immediately since the newly engaged had already picked a theme. And this is where Marinette began to regret every life choice she has made since she was thirteen; starting with opening the mysterious box she found on her desk and ending with agreeing to being the main designer for the Rockin’ Wedding of the Century. One thing that wasn’t well-known but not a secret about Jagged was that he was a superhero fan. He grew up enjoying the fictional ones in his childhood comic books and he adored the real ones he witnessed in his adult life. His song that he dedicated to the teenage Ladybug was only one part of his… appreciation. His hero-worship went so far as to beieve that a hero-themed wedding was appropriate. Or he didn’t, but also didn’t care about adhering to societal propriety and went with that theme anyways. So the Rockin’ Wedding of the Century was now the Super-Rockin’ Wedding of the Century. And twenty-three year old Marinette was incharge of the entire wedding party’s outfits.

Perfect.

As a small mercy from some god, both the bride and groom to-be had a rather short list of people in their parties. Marinette was also able to design appropriate hero-themed outfits for all of them and scheduled them for fittings in the coming weeks. That, surprisingly, was the easy part as there were plenty of heroes to draw inspiration from. However, that wasn’t the cause of her current crisis right now.

No. Marinette was up to her neck in unnecessary designs and ideas because she’s been avoiding one particular contingency in her acceptance of the wedding invitation.

She needed a date.

She needed a date because she had promised Penny that she wasn’t overworking herself and to prove it, she would bring a date to the wedding. Rather than call any of the people who expressed interest in her at some point in time, she designated herself to wallow in her situation and distract herself with designs. In the midst of her one person pity party, her phone rang under the sea of ripped out pages. She scoured for the device and hastily answered before she could accidently send the caller to voicemail.

“Hello?” She didn’t check the caller ID and was delighted at the sound of her best friend answering her.

“Marinette! How’s it going over there?” Alya’s voice was mixed in with the busy street life of Metropolis. She had moved there immediately after high school, snatching an internship with the Daily Planet and attending the local community college. She and Marinette don’t call often due to time differences, but when they do it’s like they’ve never parted. She always looked forward to her calls.

“It’s going great, Als,” if she ignored her current dilemma, then yeah, everything was perfect. “But you wouldn’t happen to have an available bachelor willing to be my date to the ‘Super-Rockin’ Wedding of the Century’ in your back pocket, would you?”  

Alya’s answering laugh was both comforting and teasing and Marinette felt herself missing her even more. What she said next, however, took Marinette by surprise.

“Actually I do.”

“Pardon?”

“Well,” she took a pause to build suspense. “I know a guy who knows a guy. But it’s nothing shady, I swear.”

“That’s not comforting.” Oh god. What has she unintentionally signed herself up for?

“You know my coworker, Jon? The guy who does the photography for all my field work?” Alya had met Jon as soon as she had started her internship. Both of his parents were top journalists at the Daily Planet so he volunteered to act as tour guide for all the new interns. He and Alya, from the exasperated stories Marinette has heard from Nino, got along like a house on fire. If he was involved, Marinette was starting to doubt even further that this was going to end well for her.

“Yes, I know Jon. How is he by the way?”

“He’s fine, but I remember him telling me how he tried to set up his best friend on several dates over the years and how they all ended poorly. He’s as approachable as a brick wall; not just a prick but the whole damn cactus. Or so Jon says.” How does that sound like someone Marinette wanted to bring along with her to the wedding? “But he’s totally your type so I could ask Jon to wrap him up in bubblewrap and send him your way whenever you want.”

“How,” and Marinette said this with a lot of feeling, “is he my type exactly?”

“Green eyes with daddy issues.”

“ALYA!” Marinette was absolutely floored at her bluntness. She wasn’t even sorry about shouting into the receiver.

“Am I wrong? You have a type and he fits that type. Jon mentioned how this guy and his dad hit several roadblocks when they first met. And I’ve seen pictures of him so ‘green eyes’ checks too.”

“That is not my type of guy.” She can’t believe this was how this conversation was going.

“Adrien.”

“I didn’t even know who his father was at the time, Alya.”

“Felix.”

“His dad is dead! That doesn’t count as ‘daddy issues.’” She can feel her cheeks flaming as the call went on. Any hotter and she was going to set her sketchbooks on fire. “Besides, I dated Luka so he doesn’t fit the criteria.”

“He’s an outlier and that’s only because his eyes are blue.” Okay, fine she had a type. “And besides, you don’t even have to date the guy. You only need him to accompany you to the wedding and you both go your separate ways after. No harm, no foul.”

Right. That was true. No strings attached. She could do that.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but,” she held her breath and let it out loudly, ignoring Alya’s chuckle at her dramatics.” Give Jon my number to give this guy. And send his number to me.”

“Wahoo! Look at you, girl,” Alya was hooting and hollering over the speaker and Marinette found herself going along with the theatrics. “Okay, I will. But I gotta go, my cab is here. Bye!”

“Bye! Stay safe. Oh before you go, what’s Jon’s friend’s name anyways?”

“Uh, Damian, I think.” The call ended before Marinette could respond, but it was okay she mused. Tossing her phone onto her couch, she flopped down onto her floor and stared at her ceiling contemplatively.

What could go wrong?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Alya had described this Damian guy as ‘not just a prick but the whole damn cactus,’ she was right. Marinette had been texting back and forth with Damian for a month, and the guy was making this idea seem less and less worth it by the day. Whenever Marinette tried to learn more about the guy, he would ghost her for days on end before replying with a half-assed response at best. She knew nothing about him other than that his first name was Damian and that he was from Gotham. She had no idea how the ball of life that was Jon was even friends with someone like Damian. She asked as much to Alya in their most recent call.

“How did they even meet?” She was pacing the floor plan of her apartment, ready to tear her hair out. “Did Damian bully him in school or something?”

“Apparently their dads knew each other and introduced them,” Alya sounded half awake, stifling a yawn; probably because Marinette had called her at 1 am, Metropolis’s time. “Their brothers being friends also forced them to get along.”

“And that’s another thing!” Marinette had paused in her pacing and was now staring intently at a potted plant in the corner of her living room. Any more rage in her glare and the plant would have wilted and died. “He doesn’t tell me anything about him. I don’t need to know all his personal information, but if he’s going to be flying out to Paris on my behalf, I think I at least deserve to know his last name.”

“Hey, M,” another yawn echoed through the speaker, “I love you, truly, but maybe this could wait for holier day time hours?”

“I guess,” a vindictive part of Marinette felt like this was payback for all those inopportune calls when Marinette was busy with clients. “Sorry for interrupting your sleep.”

“It’s no big deal. But have you tried talking to him about it? If he’s ghosting your texts, try calling him. If he ignores you then too then maybe you should try finding another person to be your plus one.”

“The wedding is in two weeks, Alya!” Marinette partially regrets waiting so long to vent her frustration about the situation but she had tried to tough it out. “I would have much preferred if you were my plus one. You sure there’s no way to convince your parents to skip out on the family trip?”

“Sorry, M. Once the news about the proposal hit the internet, I tried everything. I even tried to use work, saying that I could cover the ceremony for the newspaper. My folks won’t budge though. My dad’s aunt is important to him and he wants us all at the funeral.”

“Right, right, I forgot about that.” Now she felt like an ass. “Send you dad my condolences when you see him again.”

“Will do. Good morning, Marinette. And don’t worry too much about the guy. Everything will turn up great. I can feel it.”

“Thanks, Alya. Good night, get some sleep.”

The line went dead and Marinette let out a rather weary exhale. She had no idea how this was going to work. She pulled up her contacts and searched for what she had Damian saved as.

‘Douche’ flashed on her screen and she hit the call button without remorse. She didn’t care that it was also currently 1 am in Gotham. He didn’t deserve that much consideration from her.

“What?” His voice was gravely and deep. And also really pissed if his clipped tone was anything to go by.

“Damian? Hi, this is Marinette, the girl you’re accompanying to the wedding in two weeks?” Her voice was pitched as if she was dealing with an irritating customer. Fake and polite.

“I know who you are. Why are you calling me at this unreasonable hour?” Fair, but Marinette was still aggravated at him so she wouldn’t concede.

“I’m calling because we need to talk.” She heard him scoff over the line and she felt her blood boil even hotter. She took several calming breaths to reign her temper in. “Don’t hang up.”

“Look,” She didn’t give him a chance to refuse and kept talking, getting everything off her chest. “This wedding is important to me and I promised the bride I would bring a date. After that you can delete my number and we never have to speak to each other ever. You don’t have to like me, you just need to pretend you do.”

“Whatever,” he sounded less annoyed from when he first answered the phone. “I will act as cordial as the situation requires, and nothing more. I also have my attire secured for the wedding and accommodations in Paris already prepared. I will see you at the wedding.”

“Than—” The sound of the call ending interrupted her and her frustration was back tenfold. With a cry in anguish she flung her phone onto her couch and stomped into her kitchen to channel her rage into baking.

Three loaves of bread and a dozen eclairs later, Marinette felt calm enough to finish the final touches on her outfit for the wedding.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was the day of the Super-Rockin’ Wedding of the Century. The Rolling-Stone’s, as they were asking to be called, had kept the ceremony small. Relatively. Only two hundred invited guests, few of which were asked to bring a plus one. Marinette was over the moon at the array of outfits people were sporting. Some chose full-on cosplay while others, like herself, went for more subtle nods to the heroes. In honour of a previous Ladybug, Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, Marinette based her outfit off of Wonder Woman’s uniform, Hippolyta’s daughter. A navy blue sequined halter top bodice that flows into a blood red A-line skirt. She paired it with a thick silver belt, silver gladiator heels rather than boots and broad silver arm cuffs. It was simple but effective. Besides, all attention should be on the bride and groom today.

A tap on her shoulder caught her attention and she turned only to come face first with red with black spots. Ladybug. Someone chose her as inspiration. How flattering. Looking up to see who was wearing the Ladybug-themed suit jacket, she stared at a pair of deep forest green eyes and a sneer to ruin that ridiculously handsome face. She recognized him from the photo Alya had sent some time ago. Damian.

“Hi, Damian,” at least one of them had to be civil and Marinette knew it was going to be her. But the idea that of all the heroes for him to choose from he chose her sent her into poorly stifled fits of giggling. Images of him going ‘Lucky Charm’ and ‘Miraculous Ladybug’ were almost too much to bear.

“I don’t know what’s so amusing about my choice of attire,” his face was starting to flush in similar shades to his jacket and that made Marinette laugh harder. “Ladybug is a well respected heroine and I thought it appropriate to pay homage while in her home city.”

“No. No no. There is nothing wrong with it. I like your costume, you look very cute.”

“Are you making fun of me?” His irritation was rather cathartic for the still giggling woman.

“No, I just didn’t think you would have put that much thought into your outfit for today. You always gave me the impression that you were ready to back out at any time.”

“I made a commitment and I had all intentions to see it through the end.”

“Could have fooled me.” And her snark was back. Now was not the time to pick a fight with the guy, he did fly all the way to Paris on her behalf after all.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” and Marinette wanted to know how he managed to sound so condescending with that statement. “How did you even get an invitation to this wedding anyways? You’re not a celebrity and you don’t look like family either.”

“Actually,” she said it with more force than what was probably necessary but his slightly accusatory tone was just so irritating. “I am the lead designer for the wedding party,” her chest was swimming with confidence at the chance to talk about her job. “I’ve worked with the bride and groom for years; M. D. Cheng, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Marinette will deny to her grave the rush of satisfaction at the absolute gobsmacked look on Damian’s face. A real fish out of water. Mouth open wide ready to catch flies. She wished she could capture this moment forever.

The moment was over too soon because Damian was regaining his composure and slipping into his default stoic expression. He cleared his throat and fixed a look at Marinette. It was rather intense.

“I believe I owe you an apology then.” He looked put-out at admitting something so menial. “I believed you were nothing more than a socialite chain climber.”

“A what?”

“When Jon reached out to me saying that a friend of one of his coworkers needed a date for an event, and when that event turned out to be the wedding of someone of such popularity, I figured you were only trying to increase your own social status by showing up with me on your arm.”

“And you said ‘yes’ anyways?” Marinette was confused but pieces of the mystery that is Damian were starting to fit in place. But something else stuck out as odd to her. “Also, how would you being my date increase my social status anyhow?”

He scoffs before answering. Bitch.

“What? It wouldn’t be the first time one of Jon’s set-ups ended that way. Besides, we’ve had an agreement that I can’t turn down an offer until meeting the person face to face.” Weird deal but some friendships are just like, Marinette supposes. “And being seen with me is enough to make anyone more popular.”

“...And you are?”

“Damian… Wayne…” He spoke as if he was talking to a small child. As if it should be obvious who he was like he was some celeb— Oh shit.

A name had flashed into her mind. On the finalised guest list, Marinette had only seen it once in passing, there was a name that belonged to someone Jagged was rather excited to see. He said the friend was an old college buddy. She remembered that much. She had completely forgotten that ‘a billionaire playboy’ was also attached to the name. Damian was the son of Bruce Wayne. Suddenly everything in the past few months made perfect sense. The cold shoulder, the ghosting, and his prickly disposition. He was overly guarded because he had justified reasons to be. Now she felt like an ass.

“Oh.” Real intelligent, Marinette.

“Oh? What, you didn’t know?” He sounded incredulous at the notion and he had every right to be. Marinette could only shake her head. Words were failing her now, her brain trying to rewrite the memories of every interaction the two ever had.

She was saved from further mortification by a call for everyone to find their seats. The wedding was about to begin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ceremony was beautiful. Penny’s dress was a silver grey, tied back with a golden belt. Instead of a long train, Marinette had attached a black cape that shimmered in the right lighting. Penny wore a tiara with two peaks to imitate the ‘bat-ears.’ A Batman-themed wedding dress was not something she ever saw herself making, but she was proud at how beautiful and confident Penny looked in it. Jagged was adorn in a royal blue suit with bold red lapels. He also had a matching red cape. His hair was styled in the familiar sleek way Superman wears it. The two made quite the pair.  

The reception was a lively affair. Jagged had dedicated several songs to his new wife and they dazzled the crowd on the dance floor. Marinette didn’t pay much attention to the speeches beyond a quick glance at Damian when his own father stepped up to the podium. He had buried his head in his hands, looking like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole. A courtesy pat on the back was all Marinette gave to him.

The two hadn’t really spoken much since the revelation that they had completely misjudged each other. The awkward tension was almost palpable. As Marinette was gathering the courage to speak to him, to try and officially clear the air, she was being dragged by one of the bridesmaids onto the dancefloor. It was time for the bride to throw the bouquet. All the unmarried women were being corralled into a tight cluster and Marinette got swept up in the tide.

Marinette wasn’t focusing on the actual game, trying her hardest not to get trampled, when she saw something move in her periphery. Years of being Ladybug had left her with finely honed instincts so she could not be blamed when she immediately jumped and caught the incoming object. The bouquet. She had caught the bouquet. Oh that was just her luck. Deafening squeals of delight brought her out of her own head and she was suddenly being embraced in Penny’s arms. She returned the hug, sharing in her delight, before breaking away to sit down.

“Nice catch.” His voice had surprised her, she hadn’t expected him to speak to her for the rest of the night.

“Uh, thank you. Just lucky, I guess.” Damian didn’t get the chance to respond because he was being dragged by his own father to join all the bachelors in catching the garter. Marinette was equally uninterested in this spectacle and had let her mind wander to other things.

A loud uproar caught her attention again and her eyes zeroed in on Damian holding the tossed garter. He made his way back over to her, dropping himself into his seat gracelessly. The two sat in silence, contemplating the implications of them both catching the garter and bouquet. The games were done purely for tradition’s sake, with total disregard of what it was supposed to symbolise. Still. One’s mind couldn’t help but wander. Minutes ticked passed and Marinette was beginning to wonder if someone was going to talk about the elephant in the room.

“So,” Damian’s voice was slightly strained, like he wasn’t used to being this flustered. It was kind of endearing. Wait what?

“So.”

“While marriage seems far out of reach for right now,” Oh god. He was going to talk about it. “How does dinner sound, next Friday?”

“Wait,” he wanted to spend more time with her? After their disastrous first impressions? “Really?”

“Really. I believe we started off on the wrong foot,” he let out a soft chuckle, almost self-deprecating. “Which isn’t really new for me, but it’s not everyday I meet someone who doesn’t recognise me at first glance. I think you’re someone who I would like to get to know better. If that is something you are also interested in.”

“Yeah,” Marinette knows all about wanting to get acquainted with someone who she’s had a bad first impression of. Just look at her past relationships. Wow, she really does have a type. Damning thoughts for later. “Friday works for me. Seven pm?”

“Perfect. I’ll text you the details then.”

“Wonderful, I can’t wait.”

The rest of the evening was spent in companionable silence with small bouts of conversation in between. They shared a couple dances on the floor and parted ways at the end of the night with budding anticipation for Friday.

As Marinette was preparing for bed that night in the comfort of her apartment, she sent a text to Alya that her friend would see later in the day.

You were right, I do have a type :(

#maribat #daminette #maridami #mgi trope tussle #mgi- server event #enemies to lovers #speedrun #i #like a dumbass challenged myself to use three prompts and i delivered #i hope #i hope yall enjoy #tumblr do me a solid #dont hide my posts #please #im begging #ml x dc #mlb x dc #tumblr please stop hiding my posts #no beta this is tussle

[justcourttee]

I would love for like Adrien to find a lost 4 year old at one of his photo shoots and after conformting the child and trying to help him find his parents the kid yells mommy! And runs to damian and Marinette

So so sorry for being so inactive. It’s been a crazy semester and I haven’t been able to sit down and write as much as I had hoped. (Side note, If you sent a request, I promise I will get to it. I never overlook them unless they are the same request twice. I will only answer one if it’s the same prompt :))

There were three or four of these requests in my inbox all slightly different but based on this same idea! So I hope you enjoy this :)

Just Like You

Adrien knew one thing was absolute in this world.

Photoshoots always were and always would be the bane of his existence.

He thought that when his father left him in charge of the company so that he and Nathalie could travel the world, he could lay off on the photoshoots, hire some new faces. What a naive wish. He should’ve known that his father would have booked him to wear all of the upcoming designs and deadlines for the next two years.

“Alright guys, let’s call it quits for now and take an hour lunch. Everyone meet back here by 1.”

Adrien sighed as he slipped off the jacket he was wearing, handing it off to the intern before stepping out of their cornered off section of the park. What to eat for lunch was the only question plaguing his mind as he unconsciously stepped toward Andre’s cart conveniently set up a mere 20 feet from their site.  He was so close to his tasty snack when a cry pierced his ears.

His eyes swept the park looking for the culprit only pausing once they landed on a small child collapsed by the water fountain, their face buried in tiny hands.

Nobody seemed to be rushing to their aid, in fact, it was as if all of Paris was trying to ignore the girl’s cries as they scurried to wherever they were in such a hurry to be. Typical. His eyes glanced once more longingly at the ice cream cart before his feet turned on their path. He tried to approach as slowly as possible stopping a couple of feet from the child, careful to not scare her off.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?”

She didn’t even bother to look up, her wails echoing off the marble of the fountain. Adrien wasn’t sure what to do. He had worked with kids before in photoshoots, but he truly had no personal experience with them.

“Why are you crying?”

There was still no answer. He didn’t know what he was expecting. Just because he changed the question didn’t mean she was going to automatically talk to him. So instead, he remained crouched, hoping he could wait her out before his lunch break ended.

“Mom-Mommy told me not to talk to strangers sir.”

Her french was jagged, much like it was a language in progress. She was definitely from out of town. That concerned Adrien more than anything else. Hawkmoth may have fallen off the face of the Earth, but that didn’t mean every scum followed suit.

“That’s good advice from your mom. Is she with you today?”

Adrien regretted the words the minute they flew from his mouth. Her whole body stiffened as if she suddenly remembered her situation.

“I don’t know. She told me to stay put, but I saw this pretty butterfly and I thought it was one of mommy’s friends. So I tried to chase and after it and when it went bye-bye, I didn’t know where I was.”

Slowly, her head tilted to the side, her watery eyes drilling into his as if she wasn’t sure whether to cry or attack. The look, however, wasn’t what sucked all the air out of his surroundings.

“My God, you look just like her.”

The child turned her whole body, her face morphing from hostile to curious. It was as if some Akuma had hit Marinette Dupain-Cheng shrinking her to the size of one four-year-old girl. She was identical to the girl he had cared for save for her eyes. Instead of the mesmerizing blue he had gotten lost in so many times, they were a striking emerald green.

“Can we get some ice cream?”

Adrien blinked twice as if waking from a strange dream.

“From that cart over there?”

Her little finger nearly poked his eye out as she motioned behind him to where Andre stood.

“I-I-um,” his voice hadn’t cracked in years, was he going to hit puberty again? “I thought I was a stranger. You can’t get ice cream with a stranger.”

Gone were her tears and in their place stood a dazzling smile of tiny peals.

“You’re right, but you’re not gonna hurt me, mister. I can tell by your eyes. Daddy always tells me to check the eyes.”

Without another word, she skipped past Adrien forcing him to chase after her retreating figure. She had just reached the cart when a frantic voice stopped her order in its tracks.

“Amelia Martha Wayne, Where are you?”

“Mommy!”

It was as if she completely had forgotten about her ice cream as she pushed past Adrien’s legs leaving him frozen in place. That voice. He hadn’t heard it in so many months, so many years. It stilled his racing heart.

“Mommy, mommy, do you want some ice cream? This nice man was about to pay for some!”

Instantly Adrien felt his senses heightened. It felt as if he was seconds away from his death bed.

“I promise Marinette, it wasn’t like that!”

Adrien whipped around, his hands straight up in the air only to come face to face with a shorter, very angry face. His fist was already balled, raised in the air as if he was going to clobber Adrien from behind.

“Damian! Wait!” In an instance, a flash of black hair jumped between him and his would-be assailant. “I know him! You remember my partner, right? This is Adrien!”

The words didn’t seem to ebb at his anger, but he slowly lowered his fist, reaching down to scoop up the little girl instead. Adrien released the breath he didn’t even know he was holding.

“That is you, right Marinette?”

He felt like time itself had frozen as she turned, that familiar smile blinding his vision. 

She had matured. Her smile no longer held the naivety and love from when they were younger, but it was just as bright and welcoming. He couldn’t help his own smile that pulled at his lips. She was just as intoxicating as ever. And she was-

His eyes landed on the small bump protruding from her stomach.

“Hey Kitty, it’s been a while.” Her eyes followed his to where they remained glued on her midsection. “Oh yes, a lot has happened the past few years. Please, allow me to introduce my husband Damian and our daughter Amelia.”

His eyes shot back up, the red swallowing his face as he shot his hand out to accept the man’s extended hand in front of him.

“Very nice to meet you Damian, and of course, you as well Amelia,”

The man didn’t utter a word, his face still contorted into the snarl he had upon arriving. Adrien felt as though his voice was stuck in the back of his throat. How could this small man be so intimidating?

“Set call! Ten minutes people, ten minutes!”

Adrien’s eyes widened as he yanked his phone from his back pocket. There was no way that he had wasted his entire break, he hadn’t even had lunch yet!

“I remember that sound, we should be heading out cause I doubt Amelia has given you any time to eat.” Her playful glare earned a giggle from the little girl who mouthed a sorry to him. “But we should catch up before we head back to the States! Just text me when you’re free.”

Her smile was still warm, her eyes still shining with love, but there was one difference from the Marinette he used to know. All of that love was no longer directed at him. He watched as she intertwined her hand with the man beside her, turning to leave the park, the giggle of her and Amelia echoing in his ears. He wanted to reach out, ask them to stay longer, watch the shoot for old time's sake. But as they retreated further away, he couldn’t find it in him to bring her back to the past.

He chuckled quietly to himself, turning to rush to Andre’s cart before he had to return to the life he had chosen.

“I’m happy for you Marinette and that little girl of yours, well,” he spared one last glance over his shoulder, Amelia’s smile just as blinding as the one from his childhood “she looks just like you.”

Permanent Tag List:

@ash-amg @rebecarojas07 @heaven428 @long-lost-peace @thequeenofpotatoeunicornss @moongoddesskiana @nach0ava @iamablinkmarvelarmy @seraphkitty @clumsy-owl-4178 @pawsitivelymiraculous @mialuvscats @leagrey @smolplantmum @animegirlweeb @glitterflowercat @ladybug-182 @maskedpainter @remy-289 @redbullgivescaswings

#daminette #maribat

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

Canary, Part 5

First

Previous

Tim tipped his head to the side as he considered the woman in front of him.

She had a slightly nervous smile as she pulled one of her earbuds out of her ears. “Hi.”

Her eyes flicked past him and, after quickly glancing back to make sure no one was about to attack him, he realized she was feeling cornered.

… probably because she was currently being cornered.

He hesitantly took a few steps to the side until he could lean against the wall. “I’m not here to hurt you or anything, I just want to talk,” he promised.

Her hand slipped out of her pocket. He was willing to bet that she had some kind of weapon in there.

Which was good, honestly. Gotham was a dangerous place for newcomers like her.

“... so, what’re you here for?” She asked when he didn’t say anything for a while.

He bit his lip as he considered her.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng, 27.

The first time they’d spotted her following them around, they’d assumed she was just another alias of Canary… but the fourteen aliases they had found for Canary so far had always had one thing in common: despite how far back it may have gone or how many connections she may have had, there was never anyone alive to corroborate her story.

She would have definitely done that this time since there was a 100% chance that the bats would notice her. Canary would have made sure that, no matter what, they couldn’t pop on over to anyone’s house and ask about her.

But Marinette had two parents. They were back in Paris, of course, but they still existed. Babs had spotted them walking to the grocery store just yesterday. They had a consistent call history with them dating back years.

He had entertained the idea that they could be paid actors… but Canary worked alone. She had informants and sponsors, sure, but partners? No. It had been nine years, if she was going to start working with people she probably would have done that already.

Marinette checked out.

… or, at least, she checked out in all ways but two.

“How did you get here?” Asked Tim.

Marinette frowned a little. “... plane?”

He shook his head. “We have footage of you at Roissy Airport, but you never arrived in Gotham.”

Her skin paled. “Must be a glitch.”

Okay. That’s definitely not suspicious at all, no way.

He raised his eyebrows. “I don’t think so, no.”

“Maybe you missed me.”

“With our facial recognition scanners? And three people checking it over?”

Her hand was back in her pocket and her eyes were flicking to the exit nervously.

“I’m not going to deport you or anything,” he added quickly. “Lots of people here aren’t documented and that’s totally fine, the immigration system is totally messed up… I’ll shut up about that now, that’s not helping... I just… want to know. Curious.”

“Paranoid,” she corrected with a hesitant grin.

“... cautious,” he said after a few seconds.

“Sure, if that’s what you want to call it.”

“It’s much nicer than paranoid, that’s for sure,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

She rolled her eyes and he smiled as some of the tension in her shoulders disappeared.

“The horse miraculous,” she said after a few seconds. “That’s how I got here.”

He sighed internally. Metas in Gotham. Not good. There was a reason that rule was in place. If metas -- even good ones -- started coming then there was nothing stopping the huge, otherworldly threats from following them over. They’d stick with their overdramatic fucks that need therapy, thanks, their gadgets didn’t exactly hold up against literal gods.

And then Marinette giggled. “You don’t need to look so scared. The weird old guy who holds onto all the miraculous… he doesn’t really use them, he just keeps them locked in a weird box thing. I just…” She shrugged. “I had something on him and he was more than happy to get rid of me.”

… well, that’s a little concerning, thought Tim.

Not exactly unexpected, though. She’d very publicly gotten a restraining order by Chat Noir around ten years prior and, while none of the other miraculous holders had come out against her, many of the ones that had revealed themselves as holders had already denounced her. Tim wouldn’t have been surprised if she had stalked more of them -- hell, she was stalking him and his family, clearly she hadn’t limited herself to Chat Noir.

But this raised his second question: “Why now?”

She cringed. “Well, I’d thought about moving a long time ago. No place in France was going to hire me with the whole ‘stalking one of their beloved superheroes’ thing… but I decided to stay for a while. I didn’t want it to seem like I was running away, y’know?”

He nodded his understanding slowly. That made sense. It wasn’t a decision based on logic, but not all decisions are.

She smiled awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck. “Also, I kind of missed having superheroes, to be honest.”

Tim raised his eyebrows. He wasn’t going to correct her use of the word ‘superheroes’ instead of ‘vigilantes’, English was at least her second language and that would be rude, so he went down a different route: “I thought they still had their miraculous. It’d be stupid if they didn’t. Mayura is still out there and all.”

“As far as I know, everyone but Ladybug and Chat Noir gave up their miraculous. Everyone knows Mayura is just Adrien Agreste even if we can’t prove it. Nothing else makes sense,” she said with a shrug.

He bit his lip. “I thought that the secretary disappeared that day, though. Wasn’t it her?”

“Nathalie Sancoeur? I heard she moved to America,” Marinette said with a shrug. “But America hasn’t had any attacks, so no one in Paris thinks it was her. Adrien is probably just waiting until the miraculous holders drop their guards.”

He nodded slowly. He didn’t realize he was going to be gossiping and discussing conspiracy theories with a person who stalked heroes but, he had to admit, it was kind of fun. Reminded him of the good old days when he was just a kid who followed the bats around for fun.

… but that wasn’t how things were anymore. He had responsibilities now. Which he was currently not doing. Oops.

“I should get back to work.”

“I should get back to watching you work,” she half-joked.

He hesitated. “Is there any way I can convince you not to do that? Gotham isn’t Paris, it’s dangerous here.”

She grinned. “I stalked a guy who had a literal god at his beck and call. I can handle a few odd goons,” she said.

He bit his lip but nodded. “Call for help if you ever need it.”

“Fine. Fine.”

He got the distinct feeling that she wasn’t going to but he was going to give her the benefit of the doubt just for now.

He pulled his grapple gun from his belt and hooked it around the rooftop.

“See you later.”

“Well, you will see me later, I’ll --,” she began, only to cut herself off with a gasp: “NO!”

He quickly checked over his shoulder but he didn’t see anything. He turned back to her, questioning look on his face, only to see her devastated expression.

“Cedric died,” she said sadly, pointing at the ear with the earbud still in it.

…?

~

Marinette sat in a coffee shop, sipping at a drink as she worked on her computer.

Tim Drake had five coffee shops that he enjoyed. The tiny tweet she’d sent out a little over a week ago ensured that he wasn’t going to be allowed coffee at his place of work. So, he was likely to go and get coffee somewhere else. She was currently sitting at the one closest to WE.

… it was very expensive. She needed to drink her coffee slower.

She squinted at her resume with a frown.

She was pretty sure it was good enough to get in, but…

Marinette sighed lightly and let her head hit the table. Fuck. She hated this stupid job so much.

She heard the chair across from her scrape against the wooden floors and slowly lifted her head. She squinted at the guy in front of her for a minute.

“Hello,” she said carefully.

The brown-haired man smiled at her.

She glanced him up and down. He was clean in a slimy kind of way. He was too nice. His hair was coiffed perfectly, his suit neatly pressed, his face clean-shaven. People who had the guts to dress like that in Gotham were always the worst of the worst.

“Hi!” he said cheerfully.

She sighed. “You weren’t even going to ask if you could sit here?”

“You’ve been alone for a while. Figured it was safe to assume you didn’t have anyone.”

Cool. Cool cool cool. Her hand slipped to the dagger hidden in her hoodie pocket. She may not know what kind of bad he was, but he was definitely bad news.

“No, actually, I was just waiting for my friend to get off work so they could join me.”

“Oh! I’ll keep you company until they show up!”

Damn. She hated when people called her bluff.

She forced her most pleasant smile to her face. “No thanks. I have work to do, actually.”

“Applying for jobs, right?”

She paled.

“Sorry, but I was curious so I just peeked over your shoulder a little bit. I actually had a couple of openings at my job, and you seem like a good candidate, if you’d like --.”

“No!” She said quickly.

His smile didn’t waver, but his eyes narrowed just a little. “I was just offering you a job.”

“I don’t want to get a job this way. I prefer the formal interview process and everything,” she lied.

“Oh, well, my company is having interviews tomorrow and there should be an open spot around --.”

A hand came to rest on the man’s shoulder.

“Hey, bud, she said no.”

~~~

TheBetterCanary: @/BrucieWayne give me a hundred million dollars and ill stop doing crime

BrucieWayne: Done.

TheBetterCanary: i take it back five hundred million

BrucieWayne: Sure.

TheBetterCanary: a billion

BrucieWayne: Alright.

TheBetterCanary: what the fuck

~~~~~

Next

Perma taglist: @nathleigh @peachmuses

Canary taglist: @jayjayspixiepop @unoriginalmess @miraculousfanfic127 @probably-a-hologram

#my little cousin stole my phone #:( havent seen it in days #its lost to the void #helpppppp #canary #maribat #timinette #timari #shutterbug #timmari #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #tim drake #red robin

[chocoluckchipz]

Not a Spying, Not a Fake Date

The day Marinette met Adrien Agreste—the hottest supermodel alive, an only son of fashion icon Gabriel Agreste, and her long-time, embarrassing celebrity crush—was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. Instead, not only did she present herself as a total klutz, but his friend Nino had stolen Alya only two weeks later.

On a Saturday afternoon, no less!

Don’t get her wrong. Marinette was happy that Alya finally was interested in a guy more than the latest scoop. And she absolutely didn't mind skipping one of their weekly get-togethers in favour of her BFF going on a coffee date with their new classmate. Marinette wouldn’t be bored. She could work on one of her projects or play video games… if the day wouldn't be so perfectly gorgeous and sunny. Wasting it inside would’ve been a crime. A walk around a local farmer’s market, on the other hand, sounded just about right. And if said market happened to be across the street from where her friend was meeting Nino, that was a pure coincidence.

Nothing more. Nothing less.

Marinette was absolutely not spying on anyone, and if she glanced the couples’ way once or twice, it was only to appease her morbid curiosity. No harm done. She wasn’t interfering. She couldn’t even hear what the two of them were talking about. Surely not about Adrien. Or her. Or her and Adrien. Nope. No way. Impossible. She wasn’t curious at all.

“You know you aren’t very subtle?”

Marinette froze, her blood running cold. She knew that voice. It was ingrained in her memory by now. But there was no way Adrien Agreste was standing right behind her, whispering in her ear. It must be nothing but a product of her imagination. Yes! A hallucination of a post-pubescent girl with a crush of irrational proportions.

Still, she spun around just to check if it was time to make an appointment with a therapi—  

Her jaw hit the floor, eyes widening. The man in front of her sounded like Adrien, yet he barely looked the part. Most of his hair was hidden under a beanie, a pair of glasses framed his face. Baggy, black clothes covered his body. His chiselled jaw sported a light stubble, and a hippy backpack was slung over his shoulders. Not a shred of his classy self left, replaced by a sexy, casual chic version of the man.

“Adrien?”

He winked. “Looking beautiful as always, Princess.”

Her cheeks flamed despite her knowing better. He’d given her that nickname only because she was a clumsy mess, not because he was trying to flirt. Princess, aka "damsel in distress", someone in need of being saved. In her case, frequently being caught before she hit the ground as she kept tripping around him. Stupid Agreste and his stupidly handsome face.

A movement in the cafe caught her eye, and Marinette nervously grinned. Adrien was Nino’s best friend. There was no way he wouldn't know where Nino was taking Alya for their first date, which meant Marinette better be very careful in her words and actions, or else she wouldn’t be the damsel for much longer. The title of a “Creepy Stalker” didn't sound the bit least appealing to her.

“You look nice too,” she said, looking her best innocent self. “Different. I barely recognized you. I like the glasses. And stubble. Stubble is nice. Little of it. Not too much. Too much would look shabby. But yours looks good. Perfect. Not shabby at all.”

He chuckled, a corner of his lips curling into a smile. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You should. It was one. A compliment.”

“Why, thank you.”

Another couple left the cafe, catching both of their attention. Marinette quickly shifted her gaze to the apples at the stall she was standing by. As long as she acted natural, Adrien wouldn't suspect a thing.

“So, what are you doing here today?”

She inwardly groaned and stashed a few apples in a paper bag. “Apples. I’m here for the apples.”

“What a coincidence.” Adrien picked one of the red ones and twirled it in his hand. “I’m here for the apples too. By the way… Nino just asked for the bill, so if you were planning to do more shopping in other places, I’d say that’s our cue to pay for these and get ready to leave.”

Marinette glared his way, her whole face burning up. That cocky smile, that glint in his eyes. Of course, he’d catch her. But she wouldn’t give up so easily or she wasn’t Marinette Dupain-Cheng: her papa’s pumpkin, her mother’s sweetheart, the future of Paris’ fashion! “I’m not spying on anyone if that’s what you’re implying.”

“I wouldn't dare to accuse you of such a thing.” He grinned, putting the apple back. “But… may I suggest a few tweaks to your disguise? You know, in case you’re still up for some non-spying activities today.”

“I don’t need any tweaks. I’ve been here for an hour, and they haven’t noticed me. I could tail them all day if I wanted to, and they would not notice me.”

She froze, the last of her hopes to escape this unscathed vanishing right before her eyes. Curse this man! It was his fault her brain was shutting down around him.

The corner of Adrien’s lips curled in a smile as he leaned closer. “You might be well hidden amongst the rainbow of produce here, but, believe me, as soon as you step outside, that bright red hoodie of yours will give you away instantly.”

“In your dreams,” Marinette huffed, folding her arms over her chest. “This hoodie is the only thing in my closet Alya hasn't seen yet. My sunglasses cover half of my face, and I let my hair down instead of my usual ponytails. They would never recognize me.”

“Well, I did, didn’t I?”

“That’s because you came close. They are at a distance.”

“Nino will notice someone trailing them in a bright red hoodie. Believe me, that man lets no detail escape him. But give me five minutes, and your own parents won’t recognize you even up close.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “What for? The date is over.”

“Far from it. Nino planned coffee, a walk around the city, and a movie. He bought the tickets this morning.”

Adrien seemed to be confident in what he was saying, but Marinette couldn’t trust someone she’d recently met over her best friend, even if she was in love with him. “I don’t believe you.”

“There is only one way to find out if I’m lying.” He stretched his hand towards her. “Shall we?”

Shall they what? Why was he even here? She had to get out of the house for physical rest and mental health. What was his excuse?

“And what are you doing here, M Agreste?”

“I told you already.” The corners of his lips curled up in a sly grin. “Apples.”

“Right. And you went all out on a disguise for that?”

“Precisely.” He grinned wider. “I also knew Nino was having a date nearby, and being the great friend I am, I didn’t want them to see me and think I’m spying on them.”

She wanted to smack that shit-eating grin off his face. But Nino and Alya were exiting the cafe, and Adrien tilted his head to the side, his hand still outstretched toward her. “So? Want to not spy on them some more, or do you have other plans for the day?”

No, she didn’t, and perhaps she should be smarter, but something inside her was melting by the second, Adrien’s smile slowly massacring any scraps of reason she still had. “If you tell anyone, I’ll deny every word.”

“No one shall ever know.” He grinned. “Now, may I suggest a few tweaks to your disguise? To minimize our chances of being discovered.”

“Fine, but be quick. They are walking away.”

Adrien nodded and pointed to her hoodie. “Take this off.”

There was no time for questions, so she silently obeyed. The moment Marinette removed the garment, Adrien was already pulling his black sweater over her head.

“Wait! What are you—“

“Black is less conspicuous.”

“But what about you? It’s chilly, and your shirt doesn’t look very warm.”

“I’ll be fine. I wore that sweater for fashion, not because I was cold.” Stuffing her hoodie in his backpack, he looked her over once more. His face suddenly brightened. He grabbed her hand and pulled her out to the street in the direction of the nearest convenience store.

“We don’t have time for this,” Marinette protested as they neared the door of said establishment. “We’ve already lost them.”

“No, we didn't. We might not see them, but I know where they are.”

“I know that, too,” she grumbled. “In Paris. Where else? Europe, Eurasia. Planet Earth, Solar system. Hard to miss if you fly toward the Sun. ”

Adrien laughed. Long and heartfelt, the sound of his laughter brightened the space around them. There was still a glint of joy in his eye and a hint of mischief in his voice when he recomposed himself. “Nino spent hours planning their route yesterday, and yours truly was helping him. I know where they are headed. We’ll catch up.”

Hesitantly relenting, she followed him in the store, and once inside, Adrien disappeared somewhere between the rows. When he walked out, he was carrying a hairbrush, a couple of pins and hair ties, a small mirror, a plastic tablecloth, and a can of temporary hair dye. Quickly paid for, Adrien pulled her into the nearby alley. "Do you trust me enough for a blind makeover?"

A loaded question. She hardly knew anything about the man behind the carefully crafted image of his public persona. But Marinette loved surprises, and it wasn’t like Adrien even had anything that could potentially cause serious damage to her appearance in his hands.

“You aren’t going to cut my hair, are you?”

“Wouldn’t dare to even think about it.”

“Strangle me with that tablecloth?”

“It’s to protect your clothes from the dye. And before you freak out, it’s a temporary one. It’ll wash out with the first shower.”

At least it was pink—her favourite colour. "Don't make me regret this, Agreste."

“I promise, you won’t.”

She sent a glare his way. “If I do, you’re dead.”

Adrien laughed and slightly bowed. “Your trust means the world to me, Princess. Now, if you’ll allow me, I shall start.”

Marinette nodded, removing the sunglasses from her face. Adrien quickly draped the plastic tablecloth around her shoulders. The moment his hands ran through her hair, her brain short-circuited. It felt like heaven. Pleasant tingles cascaded down her skin at every touch as he brushed, tied, and clipped for what felt like an eternity yet was way too short of a period before he whispered in her ear, “Close your eyes and hold your breath for me for a moment.”

That would not be a problem; Marinette wasn’t sure she was breathing for the last few minutes anyway. He was too close. She could feel the heat of his body, the warmth of his breath, and that was doing things to her she’d rather not experience in a random alley off a busy street in the middle of Paris.

Oblivious to her internal turmoil, Adrien sprayed her hair with the temporary hair dye and proudly pronounced his job finished. The plastic tablecloth off her shoulders, he pushed a small mirror in her hands. “You can open your eyes and look now.”

Her speech was gone the moment her eyes caught her reflection. Most of her bangs were pinned back in the middle, only some of the hair framing her face on either side. The rest was gathered in two cute, messy buns on top of her head that had pink highlights all over them, something the tips of her bangs sported as well. It was a look she’d never thought of doing herself, yet somehow found herself loving more with each passing moment.

“Not bad,” she said, a ghost of a smile on her lips. “Are you secretly a stylist by any chance?”

Adrien chuckled, putting her sunglasses back on her nose. “Nope. But I did grow up in a fashion tycoon’s house watching makeup artists transform people to an unrecognizable degree with simple tricks.”

“Well, you have a talent, M Agreste. I really like this.”

"Why, thank you." Adrien grinned. "I do like the outcome, too. You were always cute, but now you're straight-up adorable. Like a little mouse. An extremely lovely little mouse. ”

Marinette looked away, taking a step towards a street. He wasn’t flirting. He was just complimenting his own work. He wasn’t flirting. “As long as Alya doesn’t recognize me.”

“She won’t.” Adrien followed her. “Hey! Maybe we should hold hands and pretend to be on a date? They’ll never figure us out if we do that.”

Her eyes widened as he offered her his hand. “Are you… are you asking me on a fake date?”

“Do you want me to ask you on a fake date?”

“I’ve never liked anything fake,” she huffed. “Says a lot about one’s character.”

Adrien chuckled. “Then it’s good that all I’m asking is to hold hands. For a better disguise, of course. Not faking. Real hand-holding.”

An earnest smile on his lips, he stepped closer, silently waiting for her reply.

Marinette swallowed, her eyes falling to his outstretched hand, one that looked more and more appealing to hold by the second. How would it feel to have her palm in his? If she chickened out now, she might not get another chance to find out. “Only for the purpose of a disguise.”

"Only for that," Adrien assured, entwining their fingers together, his gaze on her soft and gentle. "Allow me to be your guide on this non-spying, not-a-fake-date mission, Princess."

His words fell on deaf ears as Marinette struggled to keep her composure. Big, strong, and very warm. Somehow safe and secure. Like a lover’s embrace. Holding Adrien’s hand was everything Marinette didn’t know she needed up until now.

He must have noticed something was amiss, cracking a dumb joke to break the awkwardness as they started their walk. Marinette tried her best not to laugh, but Adrien kept going, each joke worse than the preceding one. Ten minutes in, and she couldn't believe she ever had a crush on this… man-child. Adrien was the dorkiest dork she'd ever met. A dork who asked too many questions. So many it felt like he wanted to know everything there was to Marinette. She didn't mind. There were quite a few things she wanted to know about Adrien, as well, and what better way to ask if not as a retaliation to his inquiries?

About an hour later, they spotted Nino and Alya on a promenade by the Seine, walking hand in hand just like them. Her friend beamed, laughing so hard, Marinette could swear there were tears in Alya’s eyes. Nino looked no less happy, grinning at Alya with a satisfied look on his face. A smile found its way onto Marinette’s face. Adrien watched them mesmerized, slightly tightening his grip on her hand.

“Everything looks good,” he said, turning to her. “Their next stop should be a music shop a few blocks away, and there are a few cafes just across the street. Want to get a headstart and have an early lunch?”

Marinette nodded. She could use a drink or two right now. A nice large glass of the cold water because Adrien seemed to take their… whatever-this-was way too seriously, being all attentive and gentlemanly and extra charming, and if not for his assurance they were not on a date, Marinette would’ve surely thought otherwise. Just as she suspected, her silly crush on this man seemed to slowly be turning into something more than a simple attraction. Something different. Something deeper and more profound.

“Awesome!” Adrien grinned, turning back to the town. “I’ll buy us movie tickets once we’re there. Where do you want to sit? I prefer the middle, but I’m pretty sure Nino got the middle row seats, so that’s a bit risky. Shall we try for the back row?”

A pinch of guilt nagged at Marinette. Another glance at their friends in the distance and she stopped, slowly pulling her hand from Adrien’s grasp, mourning the loss with every inch lost. “Perhaps, we should stop here.”

He halted his steps, looking down. Seemed like she wasn't the only one feeling guilty about this. “You’re right. This wasn't a good idea.”

“They deserve more than two stalkers for friends.”

“They do. I was just too curious. This is the first time Nino’s been so crazy about someone.”

“So you decided to secretly third wheel them?”

He gave her an unimpressed look. “You don’t get to judge me. We’re in the same boat in this. Apples and all.”

Marinette couldn't hold back a snicker.

Adrien interlocked his fingers behind his head, a glimmer of mischief in his eyes. “I was really looking forward to that movie, though.”  

“You’ll live.”

“Will I?”

“Absolutely, you big baby. Just go watch it by yourself if you want it so much.”

“But that’s not fun.”

“Better than stalking your friend on his date.”

“Then perhaps I should get my own. A date, I mean. For the movies.”

Marinette fell silent, her chest tightening. A guy like Adrien could have any girl he wished. And while she didn't think herself to be worse than anyone else, what were the chances he’d want her when girls like Kagami Tsurugi openly confessed their love to him?

“I guess you could,” she said, pulling out her cellphone to get an Uber.

“Then will you?”

“Will I what?”

“Go to the movies with me? Lunch and movies. A date. A real one. Nothing fake about it.” He was looking straight at her, a trembling smile on his lips, a soft glint in his eyes.

She blinked once. Twice. Her ears must be deceiving her. “Me?”

He nodded. “You.”

“But… Why?”

“Because I like you.” He stepped closer. “Because ever since you fell into my arms that first day, I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

“Excuse me, but I did not fall into your arms!” Marinette huffed. Amazing or not, she wouldn't allow him to trample her reputation like that. “I just tripped, and you happened to stand in the trajectory of my fall. Or rather, you moved into it because, if my memory isn’t failing me—and my memory never fails me—you almost ran across the room to catch me.”

Adrien laughed. “Guilty as charged, but can you blame me? You’re amazing, Marinette. You’re smart and brave and confident and so very beautiful. A guy like me could only dream of being worthy of your attention.”

“You kidding me, right? A guy like you can have any girl he wants.”

“But there is only one I need,” he purred, leaning closer. “Her name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and I’d be the happiest man alive if she’d give me a chance. I’m prepared to beg on my knees if that’s what it’ll take.”

Somehow, her hand was in his. He brought it to his lips and laid a lingering kiss on her knuckles. How could she say no to those eyes and that confident smoulder with a hint of childish worry behind it? The way she felt about him, she wouldn't want to say no even if her life depended on it. Marinette kept her eyes on Adrien's when she shifted her hand in his grasp, entwining their fingers together. "Only if we go to a different movie theatre. I don't want to run into Alya and have to explain things."

“Sounds good to me.”

“And we’re getting soulmate ice cream at Andre’s before that. I want to check if we’re meant to be before I commit to anything.”

Adrien laughed, pulling Marinette into a hug. “I’m pretty sure I won’t even have to bribe the man to get the result I want.”

“You’re way too confident, M Agreste, you know that, right?”

“Only when it really matters.”

“And is this one of those situations?”

His gaze soft and loving, Adrien leaned down, his lips gently brushing against the flustered skin of her cheek. “You’re at the top of my ‘Really Matters’ list, Mlle Dupain-Cheng.”

Another kiss to her nose, he lingered for a moment before whispering, “May I kiss you the way I know you want me to kiss you now? Or shall I wait until the end of our date?”

There was only one answer Marinette could give him. “Right now would be perfect.”

***

This is a reworked chapter from my upcoming "Dreams of You" story. If you're planning on reading it, don't be surprised to see part of this as one of the chapters. Hope you'll enjoy both of them!

#miraculous ladybug #adrienette #adrinetteapril2021 #first date #fluff #they're stalkers and they know it #aged up

[silvia7272]

ML Salt ~ The Cardigan Story

This is based on a true story.

Honestly, I always remembered this story because it constantly made my Sister and Mum laugh when I told them I outed a liar at school by wearing a cardigan, they were so proud of me because what I did wasn’t mean and I wasn’t even doing it out maliciousness so I thought, hey why not put it in the ML universe?

This isn’t canon to my main series so no Rosina since there isn’t any need for her, sorry sweetie.

And since I doubt Mlle Bustier would never out Lila, I’m changing the teacher to someone who actually has a backbone.

Word Count: 2303

Tags: @queenmj10, @fangirl39, @animegirlweeb, @northernbluetongue, @maribat-is-lifeblood, @raisuke06, @indecisive-mess-named-me, @luleck, @themotherofhogwarts, @more-or-less-human-i-guess, if you wish to be tagged all you have to do is say. Also, if you change your name please tell me, I don’t want to leave you out since you’ve asked to be tagged.

I know you may not wish to be tagged for one-shots, but I thought you might enjoy some salt I was able to come up with.

Also, I wrote this in one day so I’m extremely proud of myself.

***

If you told Marinette that Lila’s reign over the school would end over a cardigan, she would tell you you’re as crazy as she was about Adrien.

A lot.

But, she did just that.

She had to thank Adrien really, the ‘advice’ he gave her was what really pushed her.

She wouldn’t outright expose her, no, she had tried that before and look where that got her, near expulsion that’s what. And not one of her friends tried to stick up for her. She always remembered that glare Alix gave her, and since then she had been ignored, turned away by them.

Even after Lila came out with ‘the truth’ she was still seen as an overly jealous girl.

“Lila’s promised she hasn’t lied about anything else she’s said to us, it only acts up around people she doesn’t know as well, maybe next time, instead of being jealous you should give her a chance and stop being a baby. Girl this all could’ve easily been avoided if you weren’t so Adrien crazy”

Really? They actually believed that load of crap?

Whatever, Marinette was done, done with everyone.

If they wanted to show her how wrong she was then she’d let them wait until hell would frost over, because fat chance that would ever happen.

If Marinette was proud of one thing about her then it would have to be her stubbornness to get to the truth.

And she could be extremely patient.

***

It was just an average day at Collège Françoise Dupont. There weren’t any Akuma’s caused by anyone the previous day so Marinette was finally able to have a good night’s rest, something the exhausted teenager really missed.

She felt so re-energised she danced in the kitchen as she made breakfast without a care in the world.

.

Before she fell over that was.

“…Owww”

“Careful dear, you wouldn’t want to be hurt before school hours, now just sit tight and I’ll get you something to eat,” Her Maman said. Marinette felt grateful. After breakfast, she gave her Parents a kiss before leaving.

She had loving parents that supported her every beck and call.

…Well most of the time, but that didn’t matter, she would never let Lila manipulate them ever, her Parents were off-limits.

By the time she arrived at school she was one of the first ones there, Nathaniel in the back drawing his comics, texting Marc as well, it seemed like he was in his own ‘do not disturb’ bubble. Max was talking to Markov about some new type of game, and Rose and Juleka were just cuddling.

She made her way to the back feeling a positive emotion before exhaling.

Because it was about to be ruined.

Lila walked in with Alya, Nino and Adrien by her side.

She was telling a story about her ‘one of a kind cardigan-

Wait-

“My Grandmother made this cardigan especially for me carving her signature on as well, it’s the only one in existence because shortly after she made this, she ended up being in a terrible accident that left her bedridden.” They pandered to her of course. But for once she wasn’t focusing on the lie but the cardigan.

Oh, Lila’s only gone and done it now.

“I’ve always wanted to wear it, but I didn’t want it to end up ruined by someone” Her gaze casually went up to a lone bluenette, but she really wasn’t bothered.

“Don’t worry girl, I’ll keep a watchful eye on your cardigan for you. Ain't nothing gonna come between me and my besties property” They hugged before sitting down in their spaces.

‘Oh my god, I have a plan’ Marinette had that thought circled around her head until break. It was all she thought of.

Mind you, she wasn’t trying to expose everything she’d done, just that one lie. And that would be enough.

As soon as the bell rang, she was ready, she gathered her stuff and rushed home.

And thank god as well, Lila would not shut up about that cardigan, through Literature, Science and PE, it was constantly my Grandmother made it for me this, it’s the only one of its kind that.

Ugh, she wanted to rip her ears out at some point but had to endure it. No one else was bothered since they all believed her, even the teachers!

Yeah, you don’t really need any proof if it was handmade, some of Marinette’s earlier stuff didn’t have her signature on, but still, it was the principle of the matter!

And she could right that wrong.

In her room she was frantically searching for that item as Tikki dodged different articles of clothing, one hit her as she wasn’t looking, and she was down for the count.

“Marinette what are you looking for?” Marinette paused to look back at Tikki before continuing a bit calmer.

“Lila’s been lying about that cardigan and this time I can prove it.” Her eyes lit up as she lifted a cardigan up from her cupboard.

“One of Maman’s friends gave this to me a few years back, it was one of the reasons I got into fashion because of how soft it is and I wanted to replicate that. Don’t you think it looks familiar?” As Tikki looked over it her eyes widened, she knew Lila was lying anyway but she had no idea Marinette had definitive proof of it.

“That’s the same cardigan Lila has!” Marinette nodded before wearing it.

At least it still fit.

“But Marinette I thought we were gonna take the high ground?”

“Tikki it's tiring having to listen to them being lied too. I may not want them to be my friends anymore, but I just want the lying to stop. If I go and tell them that she’s lying with this as evidence they’ll clearly see she’s lying”

“But outing her like that won’t make it better!” Marinette wished she could respond with ‘are you sure’ but didn’t want to piss the mini-god off.

“Fine, what if I just wear it until someone notices, that way I’m not actively looking to publicly shame her? Better?” Tikki gave a reluctant nod, she knew her chosen wouldn’t let up about the situation, besides this whole thing was really just pettiness, nothing too serious. If no one noticed nothing bad would happen.

“Bye Maman, bye Papa” As she began walking back, she grew a bit nervous with her plan.

What if Lila made a whole other lie about her cardigan? What if she lied that Marinette had stolen it out of jealousy and everyone would try to take hers? She’d have to run away and live with a secret identity, all before getting caught and going to prison, and she’d never have her three kids and her hamster named-

“Ahem Marinette, is thou there?” A hand brought her out of her trance

“Ahhh!” She waved her arms before composing herself and seeing D’Argencourt in front of her.

“Ah, yes Monsieur?” How long had he been standing there? How long had she been rambling in her head?

“As I was saying, these new garments of yours, where did they originate from?” It took her a while before realising he was talking about her cardigan, she was so used to wearing her jacket it felt strange she had changed.

“Ohh this, well it was a present from Maman’s friend. They were on sale a few years back, so I thought I’d wear it again” He furrowed his brow before telling her to carry on with whatever she was doing.

“Well, that was weird. Do you think he liked the jacket?” Tikki ponded as her head ever so slightly popped out the small handbag.

“He’s always been weird Tikki. But whatever, let's just get back to the classroom.” All she had to do was wait.

***

‘How the hell hasn’t anyone noticed yet?’ Marinette was secretly fuming in her mind right now. None of her classmates noticed the change in her outfit.

Not one.

Bustier did however, the bluenette was sure because she’d see her teacher quickly glance from Marinette to Lila but never said a word. Probably thinking of that whole, ‘be the bigger person’ crap.

And not even the excuse of maybe Bustier didn’t know, bs. By the time break happened everyone in the school knew about that damn cardigan so don’t get her started.

‘Oh well, looks like that’s it. My petty revenge came flat… At least Lila didn’t pull a Marinette ruined my belongings stunt’ That would’ve been the last thing she needed.

Knock Knock Knock

The door opened before Bustier could reply, a teacher would reprimand a student for this type of rudeness, but it wasn’t a student.

It was a teacher.

And it was Monsieur D’Argencourt.

‘What the-’ Marinette didn’t remember this part of the plan.

“Excuse me Caline, but I need to interrupt the class for an announcement.” Bustier was about to deny but D’Argencourt the stubborn teacher as he was, walked straight on through ignoring whatever Bustier would’ve said.

“Lila Rossi, may you please step in front of the classroom?” Lila looking completely confused let go off Adrien, much to the relief of the boy, and walked in front of her desk.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng?” He didn’t need to repeat the command.

Yes, command not a request.

“Can I ask you where you got your cardigans from?”

“Armand, I don’t think this is appropriate-” He shot a glare back at the teacher.

“I can assure you this won’t take long if I’m not interrupted”

Lila looked over to Marinette and realised with a sinking feeling what was happening. But she would win this time. Just like all the others.

“My Grandmother made this specifically, you see-”

He held a hand up to silence her.

“Yes, that’s quite alright, and Marinette would you like to repeat what you said before?” As Marinette did just that Lila was seething, he cut her off. How dare that simpleton cut off Lila Rossi!

He would pay.

“Well, it appears one of you is lying, and I expect that person to own up to it now” The class gasped as they all looked expectedly at Marinette, they knew she was petty but to do this was so low.

Lila looked at her smugly, she had tried to play with fire but got burned in the process. How could she even think she’d get away with this?

“I was talking about you, Lila Rossi”

“Eh, what?” The class gasped as they tried to say of course Lila was innocent, Marinette was the one lying. Or that Marinette must’ve tricked him.

He shot a glare towards all the class members as they instantly shut up.

“I don’t remember this being a class discussion, if I want your opinion, I will ask for it. Understood?” They nodded before giving sympathetic glances towards the brunette, D’Argencourt almost had the urge to shout at their incompetence but alas they were kids.

“I can tell you why you are lying Lila, with a photo. But as I’m feeling generous, I will give you one more chance to reveal yourself.” The class was silent as they all looked on in anticipation.

But Lila stood her ground defiantly, as if he actually had proof-

Oh…

Oh no she’s doomed…

“Then I don’t suppose this looks familiar? Hmm?” On his phone was a picture. Lila immediately lowered her head, too ashamed to look him in the eye.

3 guesses of what it is?

No.

.

.

No one?

.

.

Too easy?

.

.

Ok, it was the cardigan.

And at a fairly cheap price. No wonder she had it in brand new condition.

“I first knew you were lying once I saw Marinette wear the exact same one, however, hers was clearly worn out, evidently she has worn it for several amount of years. You had already messed up when you said it was the only one made. So please…” Lila looked up to see D’Argencourt giving one of the most frightening glares of the century.

“Don’t ever lie about anything to my face or anyone ever again, you will be court out and I will be keeping an eye on you. Is that final?” She meekly nodded her head, trying to give a frightened appearance to make him have sympathy but he was immune.

“That will be all. I hope your class has learned a valuable lesson of not taking things at face value” And with that, he left. Leaving Marinette with a different impression of her PE teacher, it seemed he didn’t like liars all that much.

Marinette smiled, her plan worked, and she didn’t even out her herself. Tikki surely can’t be mad at her now.

Bustier tried to get the class to go back to normal but she couldn’t. The class erupted into a screaming fit, asking how Lila could lie about that sort of thing?

It wasn’t until someone unexpected said the next few words she wondered if this was a dream.

“Hey if Lila lied about this what else did she lie about? She even said herself she doesn’t lie to her friends but that was a lie” That made the class tick as they soon realised and soon torn into her about it.

Leaving Lila, a ‘sobbing mess’ on the floor. All before she stopped that fake display and arguing back.

But the one who said that…

Was Adrien.

He was able to slip by the crowd and stand next to Marinette.

No words were said, she knew what he would’ve said even without the noise.

‘I’m sorry’

It was a start, and maybe through time, she could start trusting again.

But for now, she just wanted to enjoy this chaos…

.

.

Before there was an Akuma alert.

***

I want more D’Argencourt I want more D’Argencourt I want more D’Argencourt. I probably screwed his speech but oh well this is salt, doesn’t have to be accurate.

Phew, hope you enjoyed it, sorry its shorter than the others but this happened when I was in Year 5 and I was 9/10 years old. Woo 10 years ago, god that makes me feel old. Also, not everything was exactly this way, the teacher did out the person in front of the whole class, but she admitted it and went back to her class, we had two classes for maths. Anyway, I actually have to give Lila credit compared to the liar we had at our school, this person actually knew I had that cardigan and actually complimented me on it like months earlier and still had the audacity to say that. I think that’s the reason why I think if I was in their world I wouldn’t believe Lila because I already had a Lila at my school who would always say they’ve done the exact same thing as we had (They even said they had the same Aunt as me living on the same street, crazy right). Mind you they never said anything to me, I think they were too embarrassed plus, I was a goody little two-shoes there.

Anyway I really hope you enjoy it and if you like real-life stories so much I can always try to ask my friends for more ideas, I did have like some slightly toxic friends there that I may be able to tell you about but I’ll try to think how later.

Cya next time.

#ml salt #miraculous ladybug #miraculous salt #ml class salt #class salt #salt fic #miraculous fanfic #ml marinette #ml tikki #Marinette deserves better #adrien sugar #adrien pepper #ml adrien #D’Argencourt #D’Argencourt sugar #ml Alya #alya salt #ml lila #lila salt #ml lila lying again #bustier salt #ml bustier salt #please comment #let me know your thoughts #have a good day #thanks for all the support

[chicoriii]

Miraculous World: Shanghai, the Legend of Lady Dragon

Again my random, not well-arranged thoughts about a new Miraculous TV movie. I'm surprised that my posts like these are getting some likes, mostly from people who even don't follow me (by the way, I wonder how you find them if they are reblogged by no more than two persons, through tags like "miraculous ladybug" or what?). I very thank you all for reading them. I'm not a good at analysis like many others, so every single person who likes read about my opinions and thoughts makes me really happy.

Personally I have never been overly excited about the specials in general, I'm more interested in the main show, how its plot is going to progress, besides I'm not a big fan of the New York TV movie, so I feel really astonished by the Shangai one. I really, really love it, more than any of already released S4 episodes (well, no wonder if I found both Furious Fu and Truth rather mediocre) and very well-received by the fandom NY special. I guess my opinion is not popular one, as I know some people have been generally negative biased towards it for some reason.

To begin with, I'm gonna explain why I don't see New York special being an amazing episode of Miraculous. I generally liked it but it, but I have some issues with it. One of them is pacing, the first part in Paris and on the plane is too long in comparison to actual action in New York (so it feels so rushed) and it's too much focused on shipping content (and remember I'm a big Adrienette fan), so American superheroes haven't gotten enough screentime. Every character other than Aeon and Jess were portrayed very shallow. Of course I don't think that every character should have been deep, but Olympia and Barbara were just disappointing. I have expected more from women who are Majestia and Knight Owl. But my the biggest problem is how much overly dramatic it is, to the point in which it's just tiring. I especially dislike the scene in which Marinette is chasing Adrien and screams she loves him after the falling off a bike, it feels like taken from very corny romance.

Shanghai was different, much more enjoyable to me. It has better pacing, no over-the-top melodrama, fewer but more interesting characters, more exciting plot. I even like the music more, because I really enjoy oriental sound.

I've seen people complaining about Marinette chasing Adrien instead of just wanting to spend time with her uncle on his birthday and learning more about her roots, that it's "bad writing". It's not new that Marinette is crazy about Adrien and it's not uncommon that people are not interested in learning language and culture of one (or even both) of their parents if they live in a completely different country the whole life. I actually liked that Tom and Sabine haven't been forcing her to that and they have been waiting for the moment in which Marinette would be ready. It also shows how good and understanding her parents are. Of course her motivation to go to Shanghai was bad and shallow, but she was punished for it by getting lost and robbed in a big Chinese city without chance to speak to people. And I find it funny that her future husband wants to learn her Chinese despite of not having Chinese roots (but maybe he has, who knows?).

I never would have thought that I would like Wang Cheng as much as I liked him the special. Especially his scenes with Adrien. I should not have been that much attached to fictional character, but seeing how happy my boy was during his time in Cheng's restaurant melted my heart. I don't remember him laughing out loud that often before (I know only about the umbrella scene). He really fits to the Dupain-Cheng family. It's sad when you think about terrible parenting of Gabriel, but his future with Marinette is going to make him happy, also because of her lovable family. I miss Adrien so much, because we have barely seen him in only one of two released S4 episodes till now, so I really treasured those moments with him we've gotten in this special.

I also loved Bastille, the adorable grey parrot (I'm not sure, but Miraculous Wiki agrees with me) and I want to draw him as well. He reminds me character designs in Dreamworks animations. That's funny than he immediately noticed that Adrien loves Marinette.

I need to say that I love Fei so much. I'm happy that she's the main character of the special (along with Marinette, I think both girl got more or less the same screentime), it made me really care about her, unlike the New York characters. I liked some of them like Jess, but not that much to make me want to see them again so badly. Fei is a cool, but still a flawed character, her story is both sad and thrilling. We've seen her good and bad sides and I think she's well-balanced. I see her a very good protagonist material for a series. Besides, I love her design as well and I'm gonna draw her one day.

Renren and Renlings concept is also interesting and fresh, I like all magical creatures in Miraculous so they are not exceptions.

But my favourite creature design is Mei Shi in his Kwami-like form. I really, really need to draw this thing.

I want to write something about the merchant of pawnshop, because I find him interesting character as well.The bad guy from the New York special was bland as hell, but Cash was really intimidating. The man obsessed with money, but very intelligent and smart. I also like his style of speaking,  I think he was more dangerous as a normal human than as an akuma villain.

I've noticed that Tikki has some sort of pinkish vision, so I wonder if Plagg sees in green. ;)

I also enjoyed the atmosphere in this. Shanghai looks beautiful and the oriental music adds more soul to it. I'm surprised how serious and brutal it was for a kid's show in few moments . I would never have expected that they would show three adults who are chasing two teens with a stick (civilian, not superheroes, there's a difference). We haven't seen of them hitting any of the girls or boys, but still. It has some dramatic moments, but they are better balanced and more subtle than in the New York special.

I'm sure I forget about something I wanted to write about, like always, but I can't see it in that moment, so I'm keeping it the way it is. This post is already way too long. ;)

#miraculous ladybug #ml shanghai special #ml spoilers #ml spoiler #chicoriii #original post

[marrys-dream-world]

lovers alone wear sunlight (chapter eight)

Chapter One  Chapter Two  Chapter Three  Chapter Four  Chapter Five  Chapter Six  Chapter Seven

Read on AO3

Notes: Day 20: Escape. @ladrienjune​

Ladybug absolutely detested the cold season. 

Tikki had warned her, at the beginning of the end of her normal life™ , that she would retain some of the characteristics of the ladybug insect because of her miraculous. It was just September, so she brushed it off easily, mind filled with the electrifying sensation of flying and the rush of falling for the sunshine that occupied the seat in front of her in class. Of course, now during the old drags of Paris’ rainy season, it never left her mind, especially as she was soaked to the bone.

It had just been a drizzle when she left her house, even though Tikki had strongly advised her against it. But Adrien had been upset during the day, eyes cloudy as he looked out of the wind for most of the period. Ms. Bustier, aware of the good student Adrien is, didn’t call him out in favor of asking Marinette to please look at the board and not her classmate. She had turned tomato red and hid behind her book, but didn’t miss the concerned look her teacher sent Adrien and the way she held him back for a few minutes after class, talking in hushed tones in the empty classroom. 

At least I won’t die if I fall. Ladybug thought as she threw her yo-yo at the slippery slopes of the buildings. The rain was starting to get even heavier, but she soldiered on as the light of Adrien’s window grew closer and closer. 

When she finally reached it, she knocked desperately, precariously perched on the most solid thing she could find. She couldn’t see Adrien through the foggy and drenched glass, so she almost fell forward when he suddenly opened the window. Fortunately, strong arms caught before she could hit the ground.

“Falling for me, my hero?” Adrien said softly, the ghost of a smile pulling on his lips. Just by seeing him, it felt like the rain outside got lighter and the sky wasn’t as grey anymore.

“Can't deny it, handsome.” She said, cuddling against his chest before her eyes snapped wide open. “I got you all wet!”

“It’s just water.” He shrugged it off, squeezing her shoulder. He seemed to do that a lot, whether she was Ladybug or just Marinette. “I’ll get you a towel.”

“Thanks.” Ladybug said, using his distraction to take in the sight of him.

She hadn't imagined his bad disposition at all. Adrien looked frail, shoulders slumped and skin pale. He walked sluggishly to his closet, the small smile he wore whenever she was around leaving his face. 

“Is everything okay, Adrien?” Ladybug asked, unwilling to beat around the bush. They cried in each other’s arms too much (a worrying amount, to be honest) for her to hesitate asking. 

He turned to her and opened his mouth and then closed it again, frowning and handing her the bigger towel he got. He motioned for her to turn around and after she did, he started to dry her hair gently with a smaller towel he had in hands. 

“Today is my mother’s birthday.” He said simply and it knocked her breath away. “My father and I haven’t really been talking these days, you know why. But I thought that since it’s today, we could spend some time together. It’s not like he would let aunt Amelie and Félix come back here after what happened last time.”

Ladybug shuddered as he thought of Adrien’s creepy cousin. She couldn’t believe that she agreed with Gabriel Agreste on something.

“So I asked him if we could spend the day together, watch one of mom’s movies and maybe get her favorite orange cake just to celebrate her, but he…” Adrien laughed wetly. “Let’s just say I wish he just told me a simple no.”

“Oh, Adrien…” She dropped her towel and turned around to hug his shaking form. “It’s okay, you can let it out.”

“I’m just so tired of crying, Ladybug.” He choked out. “It feels like it’s all I’ve been doing lately. It’s not fair, I should be happy.”

“Adrien?” She said hesitantly, taking notice of the hysterical note his voice took.

“I have friends, I’m going to school and I have a wonderful girlfriend. I should be happy. Hell, I should be ecstatic!” His voice slowly grew in volume and she desantagled herself from his arms to look at his glassy eyes. “Why am I not happy?”

Because of your father. She wanted to say. Because Adrien’s weird complex with his model persona? His isolation from his friends? His family drama? It all boiled down to Gabriel and it would be so easy for her to just say it.... But Adrien was too vulnerable right now. 

Because of me. She also wanted to say. Because Adrien’s school life wasn’t as enjoyable with Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s avoidance of him and the whole class aware of their forced break up. Alya urged to talk to him everyday, but just the thought of facing Adrien with no mask after everything that happened made her skin break out into hives.

Because of me. She wanted to say even more, emphasize. Because Ladybug, as Adrien’s girlfriend, was absolutely useless. She was someone whose real name and face he didn’t know, who he couldn’t introduce to his friends and family. And if he did? It was doomed anyways. She felt helpless, relying on words when all she wanted was to fix his problems.

She would never say any of that, though, too scared of ruining her relationship with Adrien.

Like you ruined yours with Chat? A malicious voice rang around her head. It sounded like herself. 

“It’s all I ever wanted…” He continued, sounding exhausted. “So why am I like this?”

“You don’t have to be happy just because you have those things, you know?” She said gently, taking his hand on hers. “It doesn’t make you ungrateful or anything.”

“I-I guess so.” Adrien admitted, squeezing her hand. “But I’m just tired of being sad, Ladybug.”

An idea popped into her head.

“Then let’s do something about it.” Ladybug looked outside the window and sure enough, the rain had faded away, leaving the cloudy sky. “You know what always cheers me up? A yo-yo ride.”

“Are you saying…?” He said, eyes becoming more focused.

“Do you think your father would notice if you left?”

He snorted. “Definitely not. But what if it rains again?”

“It’s not like we're made of sugar.” She said, opening the window and holding out her hand. “I would never let you fall. Trust me?”

Adrien’s eyes softened. “Always, my love.”

And then they were soaring through the sky. Even though it was barely after five in the afternoon, the sky was dark enough it looked like late at night, so Adrien got the full experience of soaring through the Parisian night lights. Ladybug had a hard time steering them as she could barely keep her eyes away from Adrien’s awed face and shining eyes. They swung between the building for a few minutes before she noticed he was shivering, so they stopped on top of a very familiar building near her parent’s bakery.

Chat’s rooftop for the romantic surprise that day… She shook away those thoughts before they could consume her. 

“I should have told you to put on a sweater before we left.” Ladybug told Adrien, hugging his shivering body to her. “I forget how windy it can get and that I don’t feel very cold in the suit and…”

“Hey, it’s okay, my hero.” He said, sounding a lot more chirpy than before. “I got so excited that I forgot, too.”

“Well, at least I can warm you up like this.” She said, tightening her arms and he hummed happily.

“Maybe that was my plan all along.” Adrien teased, wiggling his eyebrows.

“You only had to ask, handsome.” Ladybug answered, enjoying the flush it brought to his face. “So, did you enjoy it?”

“Enjoy it? I loved it! It felt so… different.” His smile was brighter than the lights around them.

“Good. You deserve to have nice things.” She said, rubbing his back. “Look, I can’t solve all your problems, no matter how much I want to. But if I can give you anything in my reach, please tell me.”

“You already do more than enough, my love.” And he truly believed that, from the way he looked at her. “I just get overwhelmed, sometimes. I feel like I’m in such a better place than I was last year, so I shouldn’t be so… ungrateful.”

“You’re not ungrateful, Adrien.” She repeated her words from their previous conversation. “It’s okay to be sad.”

“I know that, objectively, but it doesn’t feel like that.” Adrien sighed, looking up from the girl in his arms to the sky. “Uh… Ladybug?”

“Yeah?”

“I think it’s going to-” Before he could finish, it started to rain once again, heavily.

Ladybug spluttered and Adrien, already looking soaked, laughed at the ridiculous situation. She quickly contemplated her options, holding back from just grabbing Adrien and taking him to her balcony so they could hide in her room. Instead, she did what she always did when she didn’t know what to do. 

“Lucky Charm!” She shouted, magic flaring up around her and changing her suit to its new form. An open umbrella fell into her hands and she put it over their heads, even if they were already too wet for it to be useful.

“Wow.” Adrien said, eyes shining. “I haven’t been able to see it so close yet. Especially since you’re not, you know, in battle.”

“I’m still getting used to this transformation after transformation stuff.” She said, trying to steady the umbrella against the strong wind. “What do you think of the new suit?”

“I think it suits you.” He said and laughed when she rolled her eyes. “Thanks for lucky charming this umbrella. Think I can keep it?”

“Dunno, never tried to keep a lucky charm. But why? Can’t even buy an umbrella, rich boy?”

“I did have you. It was my mother’s, but it’s safe with a friend. A good one.” His gaze turned melancholic as it slid to the balcony on the top of Tom&Sabine’s. 

She was suddenly overwhelmed with the need to tell him. Tell him she has his umbrella, that it meant so much more to her than he could ever think, that there has never been anyone else for her, that her coming to visit him was as much for her sake as it was for his, that she wanted to hold his hand in class, that she wanted to go on double dates with Nino and Alya, that she wanted his father to suck it if he disapproved.That she’s Marinette Dupain-Cheng and she’s irrevocably in love with Adrien Agreste.

But she can’t. And didn’t that hurt?

“I’m glad you have good friends, Adrien.” She said, burying her head on his chest so he wouldn’t see the guilt in her eyes.

“I’m glad, too.” He murmured back, unaware of how her chest was caving in under the weight of so much emotion. 

They stayed under the umbrella until the heavy rain wore down. When Marinette woke up with a light fever and a sore throat the next day and her doting mother called the school to say she wouldn’t show up, she only had one thought on her mind.

I want to tell Adrien who I am. 

#ladrienjune #ladrienjune2021 #ladrien #ladybug #adrien agreste #ml fic #my stuff #lovers alone wear sunlight

[sd1970x]

Marinette, work in progress - Chapter 1

Read also on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26203645/chapters/63770623

----

“One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” Simone de Beauvoir

There is almost nothing about Marin Dupain-cheng's life, an aspiring clothes designer, that makes them happy. Certainly not the bullying they keep getting at school.

Marin doesn't even know her true gender identity yet.

Both of these are about to change. But would that be enough for her to fight the demons within? ----

CW - Homophobia

Pronouns note: in the beginning of the fic, as Marin(ette) is very much closeted, I am purposefully using he/him pronouns as these capture the correct perspective feel. Pronouns will change as soon as she realizes who/what she really is.

---

So, this is my first work after almost two years of not producing any new ones. I am planning to explore mental challenges involving the crossing of the gender barrier, the very same ones I am now fighting after discovering my own gender identity, as I was writing it in a Miraculous Ladybug fic.

This work is planned to be about a dozen chapters and around 30-40k words when complete.

Thanks go to: V- for inspiring this fic and for being the amazing and caring person they are. Wonderful beta feedback and copyediting: Skye, MyKeyboardDidIt

(further thanks will be updated as goes! if you helped with beta/ideas just hit me up and i'll add you!)

------------

"Dear, your alarm’s been going off for fifteen minutes! You’re going to be late for your first day of school!”

You say that as if it’s a bad thing. As if I don’t want to be several hours late. Or days.

“Yeah Mom, I’m coming.”

Marin dragged himself out of bed, his form hunched as he made his way to his closet, regarding his clothes with indifference.

I Don’t even like any of them. And I doubt they would solve the real problem here. That I do not like what I see in the mirror.

Myself.

His hand drifted to a random shirt of no particular interest and he casually tossed it over his head. He shuffled over to the bathroom, glancing at himself in the mirror.

Ho-hum. Same old me, isn’t it?

His hair was in its usual mess on top of his head. Foregoing using a brush, he ended up lightly combing through his hair with his fingers until it looked somewhat acceptable.

I guess that’s okay, he thought while shrugging.

As he was brushing his teeth, his eyes strayed to his face. Studying it. Scrutinizing it.

I ought to shave better than this, He thought. His hand reached for the razor, but he stopped short of picking it up.

What even is the point. Either way, trying won’t make any difference.

The image in the mirror appeared to give him a judgemental look, his own blue eyes prying into the inner parts of his soul.

Well, at least these eyes aren’t half as bad. Perhaps they would have been of some use if they had been matched with another person altogether.

He sighed and turned his head away, as if that would be enough to make the thought disappear.

It wasn’t.

The stairway creaked just a bit as he went downstairs to the kitchen where his parents were already toiling about.

“Your need to patch up your shave, my boy,” Tom said. “You want to look good for the ladies, don’t you?”

I’m not into girls, Dad.

Maybe one day I’ll gather the courage to tell you that.

“Well… not really…”

After all, what difference does it make?

“Come now, where’s the spirit? Every girl is different, they can’t all be like Chloe,” Sabine interjected, attempting to be helpful but having just the opposite effect.

“Ugh, Mom, why’d you have to mention her at all?”

Marin frowned as he sat down for breakfast, unable to drive Chloe’s image away from his mind. He took a bite off of his omelette and was struck by the apparent blandness. He set the fork down, sighing quietly to himself.

And there goes my appetite. It’s not the omelette that’s the issue though....

A sip of fresh juice did the trick, the taste too strong to be overridden.

“Cheer up, buddy!” Tom came over. “Take these macarons to school, maybe a tasty start would help lighten up your day!”

“Thanks, Dad, these are awesome.” He said as he picked them up, giving him a half-hearted smile in return.

I appreciate the gesture..., but it feels more like bribing my classmates with these. Guess anything is worth a try at this point.

---

Marin walked into school where everyone was bustling about and chatting with old friends.

Bright banners greeted the students and everything still felt pristine and clean. The corridors even had flower bouquets placed as decorations. Marin took a breath of air, relishing in the floral scent, and proceeded to enter class.

The classroom was freshly painted and even the furniture had been patched with an attention to detail. Marin barely allowed himself a moment of excitement, before despair and weariness took hold again.

It may look different, but looks won’t change anything for people like me. It’ll still be an endless test of mettle against bullying and harassment.

He cautiously went for his seat and observed his classmates.

So there’s Nino, he’s kinda-sorta okay with me. Something I could never say about Kim. Max hasn’t been mean either, but he’s with Kim, so... At least I don’t see her , maybe we’re not in the same—

“What do you think you’re doing?” a loud cry halted his thoughts and confirmed his fears.

Chloe. The nastiest of them all. Here’s to an old-new welcome, a start-over that amounts to absolutely nothing.

“Ugh. Here we go again,” he muttered quietly, hoping Chloe wouldn’t pick it up.

She came over, an accusing look plastered on her face.

“That's my seat.”

“But Chloe, this has always…” he attempted to retort, then quickly backtracked.

“Fine, just… take it. I don’t care.”

“Take it? It’s always been ours.” Sabrina added, bearing the same mocking countenance.

Sabrina helped herself to one of Marin’s macarons uninvited, then made a puking motion.

“Ugh, they are so gross!” she said, even though she was quick to pocket one for her friend as well.

Chloe paid no heed to the macarons as she was already busy teaching Marin the new rules.

“Listen. Adrien's arriving today and the last thing he needs is someone who needs straightening like you giving this class a bad name. Stay away from him, get it?”

Marin tried his best to ignore the obvious insult and focus on the more pressing question.

“Who’s Adrien?”

Both Chloe and Sabrina chuckled, making Marin regret asking.

“Adrien is a famous model. Pretty, rich, glamorous, someone to look up to. Like me. And just like me, he’s everything you’ll never be and everything you’ll never have.” Chloe fawned over her imaginary description as Sabrina took up the task of reprimanding Marin for the question.

“A loser that doesn’t even know who Adrien is, needs to sit as far away from him as possible. You’re enough of an embarrassment to our class as is.”

Marin opened his mouth as if to deny every word, but opted against it.

You’re wrong. One day, I’ll be a famous and successful designer and every single one of you will be sorry for how you treated me. I just have to persist through this. I won’t bite it this time.

He picked up his bag wordlessly and slowly went towards his designated seat.

At least that’s what he planned to do, but the new girl pre-empted him as she grabbed him by the hand and helped him to the seat next to her. Apparently she had overheard the conversation and didn’t plan on letting it slide, at least as far as her expression read as she looked towards one Chloe Bourgeois.

“Hey! Who elected you queen of seats?” She cried out.

“I did. Good luck dethroning me with your pariah friend.” Chloe laughed at her.

It was then that Miss Bustier entered the class, finally putting a timely end to the whole ordeal.

“Has everyone found a seat?” she called.

“Hey. Don’t let her get to you.” The new girl turned towards Marin again.

He nodded.

“If only I could… She makes my life miserable. My only comfort is the thought that I’ll be free once I graduate.”

“I’m Alya, what’s your name?”

“I’m Marin” He replied. “Pleased to meet you.”

“For those of you who don't yet know me,” Miss Bustier called yet again, “I'm Miss Bustier and I'll be your teacher this year.”

At least with the lesson going on, I should be safe from unnecessary trouble.

Marin pulled out his history book, the same one from last year, bearing yet another reminder. "Marin the Gay-boy" scrawled over the cover, courtesy of Kim.

Safe, huh.

“Everything you’ll never be, Everything you’ll never have.”

Like a clean history book.

It was then when the memories came back to life, a flashback from last year.

---

“Who did this?”

Marin looked about, trying to discern any dead giveaways by his classmates. Too many of them seemed to be smiling too mysteriously to be able to get anything out of them.

You need to stand up for yourself! Show them weakness and they’ll hunt you down like prey!

… easier said than done.

He took another good look at his history book. A small red scrawl was now adorning it, not unlike a barb stuck in flesh and equally painful.

“ Marin the Gay-Boy ”.

“Please… tell me who did this.”

Weariness engulfed his voice as it went weak.

I’ll find out who did this! I’ll…

Drip.

Drop.

The book’s hardcover had just won yet another adornment, as Marin’s teardrops started collecting over it.

Marin picked up the book, tucked it by his side and blasted away from class, his legs carrying him as far as he could, a bout of laughter coming from his classmates in his wake.

By the time Nino found him, his tears had mostly dried out.

“I saw it, dude. It was Kim.”

Marin sighed.

“Thanks, Nino. I… there’s nothing I can do about it, now can I?”

Nino nodded.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

---

I may have missed first period and the picking of seats, but I haven’t missed out the first day entirely. I guess luck is somewhat on my side, today.

“Hey there, Adrikins. Here’s your seat, I saved it for you. Right in front of me!”

So, I have that going for me as well!

“Thanks, Chloe, that’s really nice of you!”

As Chloe and her friend Sabrina went to do something else, Adrien found it to be an opportunity to introduce himself to other students around. What caught his attention the most about the nearby student were his orange headphones, seemingly a fixture of his appearance.

“Hey, I’m Adrien, pleased to meet you!” he offered his hand and got answered with a sturdy shake.

“Yo, I’m Nino. So, you’re that guy Chloe mentioned earlier?”

It was at that moment that he caught something happening out of the corner of his eye.

“What’s that all about?” he called towards Chloe and Sabrina, as both were putting gum on one of the seats.

“The brat that sits here needs a reminder of his place in the hierarchy. I'm just commanding a bit of respect, that's all.”

“You think that's really necessary?”

“Ah, you've got a lot to learn about school culture, Adrikins. Watch the master.”

Hardly convinced, Adrien went about trying to remove the gum from that seat, as he heard another male voice.

“Oh. So that’s your method of choice. How original.”

The voice sighed as Chloe and Sabrina laughed.

“Uhhh… I…” Adrien tried to protest, as he turned towards who he presumed was the seat’s owner.

The first thing that struck him about this boy is that he had a good amount of untapped potential. Smooth black hair, bright blue eyes… given proper care, he could look so much nicer, but he was relatively unkempt and his clothes were poorly matched too.

“And to think I imagined this year would be any different. Stupid, stupid, stupid. ” The boy lamented.

“No, no, I was just trying to take this off!” Adrien tried to salvage the situation, but to no avail.

All the while, Chloe and Sabrina continued to laugh.

“I see you’re in cahoots with Chloe. You don’t need to play pretend with me.”

“See?” Chloe said, “Gay-boy here knows his place. As he should.”

Marin just covered the gum with spare tissue paper and sat by Alya.

“There you go. Adrien Agreste, daddy's boy, teen supermodel and Chloe's buddy.” Alya quipped.

“I bet he’s used to not seeing or caring how people beneath his status feel,” Marin muttered.

---

Alya had little interest in the class, but much more interest in her table partner. She quickly learned that Marin wanted to be a famous designer after he graduated. While she wasn’t a professional, the sketches Marin gave her seemed really good. But there was something else to watch for, too. How his face had lit up when he handed her his sketches. For a moment there, he seemed to be another person altogether. His face brightened up as he took at least a hint of pride in his handiwork.

And you should. Not to mention that a smile looks so much better on you than that sad face you had on earlier.

They had a free hour just after class, so Alya was only mildly surprised when Marin caught her hand and pulled her towards somewhere as he ran forward.

“Where are you taking me?” She asked.

“The best place this school has to offer.” he grinned and continued to dash forward.

“I present you… the art club room!” he exclaimed.

It’s as if he’s another person entirely.

Marin waded in, showing Alya all the different areas the art room had to offer.

A wall for street art, mostly cleaned from past works but still bearing color marks of older works. Desks used for writing, pen scratch marks still visible even after having been cleaned for the new year. Drawing stands, also marked by some uncleanable paint blots. Then there was...

“... Here it is. A state of the art sewing machine, My best and only friend in this entire school.” he laughed, but in a moment the smile dropped from his face.

“That… I…”

He sat by, not nearly as happy as before, and pulled a derby hat from the nearby drawer.

“I worked on this last year and haven’t managed to finish it yet.”

Alya picked up the hat and casually caressed the fabric. It felt somewhat sturdy yet comfy.

Marin flicked the machine on and seemed to be mulling his next move. Eventually, he just turned it back off without doing anything.

“We technically shouldn’t be here without a teacher, so let’s go.” His passionless voice took over again.

Alya could see this was nothing but an excuse, but she declined to call it out. Her instincts told her there was no chance on earth Marin wasn’t keen on violating this rule more than once.

“It really is a lovely place.” She tried to brighten up the atmosphere, with mild success.

“And I loved the hat.” She said as she handed it back for Marin to place in the drawer again.

That seemed to work a bit better.

“Wait ‘till it’s complete, then. I’m sure it will suit you well.” Half a smile crept to Marin’s face.

---

Marin bid Alya farewell as he left the classroom and slouched towards the school’s main doors.

He cautiously opened it, only to find rain pouring outside and the sky filled with grey clouds.

A fresh start, huh? The morning’s nice weather is already gone. At least the bleakness isn’t hiding anymore.

He stood by, still sheltered, when he found out another person was standing next to him.

That Adrien guy. And he just noticed me. That’s the last thing I need right now.

“Hey!” Adrien called.

He slowly sidestepped to maintain a safe distance between them and turned his head away, muttering a slight ‘hmph’.

“Hey, listen buddy… I really was trying to remove that gum from your seat.”

Marin turned his head around and looked at Adrien, wide-eyed.

I… I must be dreaming. Did he really just say that?

“S-so… you weren’t…” he tried to piece together his words and found himself unable to do so.

“Of course not. I came here to study, to make friends… I’m not here to harass or insult people, where’s the sense in that?”

He is sincere about it. Somebody that doesn’t see me as the “gay punching bag” everyone else does.

“I didn’t even get your name.”

“It’s… It’s Marin.”

Marin’s heart nearly skipped a beat, one that he was sure Adrien managed to hear even with the rain’s sound muffling it.

And then, there was an inaudible sound he missed.

A cracking sound, as the nearly-impenetrable shell, one that was built layer over layer of self-defence from bullying and mistreatment, sealing off his emotions, gave just a little bit of way.

Adrien let his hand out of the shelter, feeling the raindrops accumulating.

“So, Marin, It’s raining and I’ve got a ride, need an umbrella?”

He nodded ever so slightly and Adrien pulled out a black umbrella. A click and a whoosh and it was now open, handed for him to take.

Marin cautiously reached out for the umbrella Adrien handed him, his hand shaking and trembling.

That’s… so nice… so… so unlike…

No sooner than he had picked it up though, his hand slipped and triggered the activation switch, the umbrella closing shut over him.

Adrien laughed for a brief moment and gave Marin a slight friendly shoulder bump.

“You keep safe, alright buddy?”

“A… al… alr-...”

Marin barely even noticed his bag dropping, hitting the ground with a ‘thud’ and his personal effects rolling about on the wet pavement. His eyes were transfixed as Adrien waved goodbye and proceeded towards his pick up car.

He’s not going to insult me or beat me or humiliate me.

Someone I can trust. Someone I can rely on.

I feel… safe next to him.

.

.

Oh, Adrien!

Maybe things were going to be different after all.

---

Unnoticed by them both, there was another figure watching the exchange, clad in a hawaiian t-shirt and accompanied by a green looking creature.

“Are you sure of your choice, master?”

“Yes. He will make a fine Chat Noir…

… and she will make for an unforgettable Ladybug.”

next

#miraculous #miraculous ladybug #fanfiction #trans marinette #trans-AU #fanfic #ladybug #umbrella scene

[quicksilversquared]

The Substitute Ladybug: Chapter 8

After Lila takes things too far and Marinette ends up with a broken leg, Paris is going to have to deal with a different superhero arrangement for a bit. Having to share her superhero identity with her parents before Hawkmoth can be defeated isn’t something that Marinette had planned on doing, but- well, it might end up being a bit of a blessing in disguise.

links in the reblog

Marinette had gotten as far as the gate in front of the Agreste mansion when she realized that, like her house, Adrien's place had stairs. Unlike the Dupain-Cheng household, the mansion didn't have any sort of lifts on the stairs, or an elevator like the school.

She hadn't remembered to consider that. Really, she should have, and then she should have talked to Adrien about it before school let out for the day to figure out what he wanted her to do.

Worrying her lip, Marinette step-hopped forward through the gates as they swung open. She could probably figure out the steps- she had been working on it during her physical therapy, it was just that normally she had people behind her to steady her- or just scoot herself up the stairs on her rear, but neither seemed like particularly good ideas. The first sounded dangerous, and the second-

Well, Mr. Agreste was all about appearances, and scooting up the stairs on her butt wasn't exactly a good appearance. And after it had taken so long for Adrien to get permission to have Marinette over in the first place, she didn't want to do anything that would get her immediately booted out.

With a deep breath, Marinette readied herself to go up the steps. She had only just gotten herself in position to start hopping her way up, though, when two large hands grabbed her shoulders and lifted. Before Marinette could figure out what was going on, she was being carried up the front steps and through the front door as it smoothly swung open. The carrier- it had to be the Gorilla, based both on the size of the hands and the height at which she was being unceremoniously carried- continued forward at an unchanging pace, all the way up the set of stairs in the entryway and right to the door of Adrien's room, where they came to an abrupt halt.

Marinette didn't doubt that if Adrien hadn't been standing in front of his door, cringing as he took in the sight of her getting hauled in by her shoulders, that the Gorilla would have continued straight into his room without missing a beat.

And then Marinette found herself scrambling to get her feet under herself as the Gorilla set her back down, just as abruptly as he had picked her up. He lingered long enough to make sure that she wouldn't fall over, then headed off without a word.

"I am so, so sorry," Adrien murmured as he opened the door to his room, standing back to give her plenty of room to get by. "I mentioned that you might have trouble getting up the stairs, so- well, I was trying to ask about if we have any elevators or ground-level entrances, honestly, but. Uh. He just decided to do that, apparently."

Marinette giggled, unable to help finding it funny now that she wasn't being taken off guard and manhandled up the stairs. "He decided to interpret that as him needing to be a human elevator, apparently. I would have preferred a heads-up, sure, but I know he was just trying to help."

"I think he forgot that even if I'm used to him picking me up and moving me around without warning, not everyone is," Adrien said with a sigh. He stepped around Marinette, pulling out a chair for her so that she could sit down. "Really, I'm sorry about that. We can find some other way for you to get back down the stairs later on."

"It's fine," Marinette insisted. She sat down, scooting up to Adrien's desk. "So, what are we doing first- photos or schoolwork?"

"We should probably at least get out our homework," Adrien admitted. "And get started on it. That way, if Nathalie sticks her head in, we can claim that we've been working on it the whole time. Or that we're just taking a quick break from studying."

Somehow, Marinette doubted that Nathalie would fall for that. Whether or not she would let it slide, though, was another matter. Sometimes it seemed like she was willing to help and cover for Adrien, while other times she ratted him out and interfered with Adrien's attempts to get together with his friends. Which way she went seemed to depend on the day.

How Adrien put up with that, Marinette just didn't know. Having to be around adults who blew hot or cold at random had to be super hard.

It didn't take long for them to set up their things, and sure enough, Marinette heard the quiet click of a door as they started work, giving away that someone- Nathalie, probably- had just poked her head in to make sure that they were actually working. Adrien glanced over at the door at the same time, and Marinette knew that he must have heard it as well.

And she had thought that her parents were nosy. At least they wouldn't care if they were actually doing homework or not.

"We should definitely try to study together more often," Adrien said appreciatively as they worked their way through their science and math homework. "It goes really fast with both of us. If I had to work through these problems on my own, I think it would probably take twice as long."

Marinette smiled and nodded. She had been about to say the same, honestly. When she and Adrien hit a snag with a concept that they weren't quite getting, they would either both toss ideas back and forth until they had figured out what they were messing up, or they would dive into their books and onto the computer to find something that explained the concept better if they really had no idea where to start. They hadn't really worked together that much before, so the ease with which they clicked and worked as a team was- well, a little surprising.

Surprising, but definitely not a bad thing. If they were really productive, then hopefully Nathalie would let them hang out together more often, without so much hassle.

"Okay, we have probably fifteen minutes before Nathalie checks in again," Adrien murmured seconds after they heard the third click of their study session. He paused, listening closely, then pushed his chair across the floor to grab a small photo album that had been tucked alongside his desk. "So my mom made this photo album. It's a secret from my father, technically. It's all of the photos that he hates, for whatever reason, but my mom thought were cute or funny."

Marinette's eyes got wide. That- that sounded like the kind of this that Mr. Agreste would probably destroy, if he found out that the album existed. "And it's not been- well, destroyed or anything?"

"No, I keep it hidden. And I have digital copies, in case anything ever happens to it. I don't think my dad would mess with it, though. My mom thought it was cute, and he-" Adrien paused, swallowing. "I don't want to think that he would destroy anything that she liked so much. But it's better safe than sorry with him, honestly." He took a moment, then scooted back to Marinette's side. "There's- uh, okay, there's a lot of baby photos in here, honestly. Just ignore that. But further along..." He flipped through the pages, and Marinette had to restrain herself from trying to catch a peek of what Baby Adrien (or Toddler Adrien) had looked like. If he wanted her to know, then he wouldn't be flipping through so fast. "Aha! Here's the toga."

Marinette took one look and had to clap a hand over her mouth to keep from bursting out with laughter. "Oh my god. That- how did you not trip over that?"

"Okay, the first iteration left something to be desired," Adrien admitted. "To be fair, I was nine, and I had no idea how togas were meant to work. And the sheets on my bed- well, I have a big bed. And I wasn't a particularly big nine-year-old."

"The first iteration?" Marinette asked, puzzled. She frowned. "I thought your father would have put a stop to it."

"He tried, but it wasn't like I was just dressing up for fun," Adrien told her. "My mom pointed out that I had a reason for it, and then she got me a smaller bedsheet and looked up how to tie a toga. And she had access to safety pins and everything, so..."

He turned the page, and- oh, that wasn't fair. How did Adrien look so good while wearing- well, just a bedsheet with a belt around it?

"If Father had taken any longer to make cast-friendly pants, my mom and I were planning on ordering some kilts in my size," Adrien told Marinette. "Not for wearing out, necessarily, but to bug Father a bit." He laughed. "I kind of regret that I didn't get to do that, actually. I would have loved trying on a kilt."

...well, now Marinette wanted to make him one. It would be an interesting experience, and maybe she would learn some skills that she hadn't really dealt with before. But that also ran a very real risk of ticking Gabriel Agreste off, and considering that she had already ticked Audrey Bourgeois off this year...

Maybe that was a project for another time. Or at the very least, a project that could not be shown off beyond the confines of her house.

"Maybe Father got mad, but when Mom was here and made sure that he wasn't taking it out on me, it was fun," Adrien told her. "He might huff and puff but there wouldn't be any consequences."

Unlike there would be now went unsaid. Marinette had to wince on his behalf, because that had to be an unpleasant change to get used to.

"Anyway, there were a couple days of togas, and then I had my new cast-friendly pants to wear," Adrien finished, flipping the page. It was another page of him posing in different togas, each made up slightly differently. There were different belts, then a couple brooches to hold the toga together, then a deep red one that was clearly not meant to be worn out, considering that the back dragged out like a royal cape. "But it was fun while it lasted, and it was probably- no, definitely- the best part of having a broken leg."

"There's not much good about being on crutches," Marinette agreed. "I mean, Lila's gone, so that's good. But if I could have just, like, sprained my ankle and gotten a few bruises instead but gotten the same results, that would have been so much better."

Adrien grinned, clearly about to respond, but a noise near the door had them scrambling to hide the photo album and turn back to their books before they could be caught. When they heard the telltale click a minute later, they exchanged conspiratorial glances. Adrien's was tinged with an impish smile, and Marinette was sure that she was no better.

Being around Adrien like this was fun. Marinette had gotten tastes of it before, of course- it was hardly as though she and Adrien never hung out together by themselves- but it had never quite been this side of him, impish and rule-bending and all poorly-concealed grins and twinkling eyes and muffled laughter.

And Marinette wanted to see it more. It was easy to be relaxed around Adrien when he was like this. They could joke around and just hang out and not be thinking too much.

Or maybe she was just more relaxed because she wasn't thinking about asking him out. That had been her mom's theory when they had been discussing Marinette's crush and how it was going a few evenings back, and Marinette had to admit that she made a good point.

(Also, her mom seemed to know a lot more about Marinette's attempts to ask Adrien out than Marinette remembered telling. She suspected that Tikki might be telling her a lot, which- well, normally Marinette would be mad about that, but honestly, Alya could have told them just as much.)

They had brought up another very good point when they said that it might not be the best idea to date while she was still fighting Hawkmoth and Mayura. Apparently her parents had heard quite a bit from Alya complaining about Marinette missing out ("forgetting") on things that they had planned, and translating that to a dating setting...

Well, it wouldn't be a good idea with anyone. And with Adrien, who was already regularly let down by his father promising to show up to things and then simply not bothering- well, it would be borderline cruel, even if she didn't mean to leave him on his own.

Focusing strictly on being friends for the time being would definitely be better, Marinette decided as she re-focused on her work. Next to her, Adrien was tapping a faint beat on his notebook with the end of his pencil as he focused on the next question. She didn't want to lose Adrien's friendship because of her duties as Ladybug pulling her away unexpectedly. Once Hawkmoth was defeated- well, then she would have the time to dedicate to a relationship.

  Marinette glanced over at her phone as it let out the oh-so-familiar chirp signaling an akuma attack, then up at her teacher. Ms. Bustier didn't appear to have heard (though maybe she was just choosing to ignore it, considering how many students had that alert on all the time), so Marinette slipped her phone out of her purse and checked the update.

Oh. That- that looked like a difficult akuma. It was flitting back and forth quick as lightning, too fast to spot anything on it that might be the akumatized item.

It would be hard to fight that, even with Second Chance. She just couldn't give out instructions fast enough to keep ahead of the akuma. Marinette puzzled over that for a second, then quickly excused herself to the bathroom and made a break for it, hopping to a supply closet in the hallway instead. One transformation and a Portal later, and Marinette was back at her house.

"Are you getting more Miraculous?" Sass asked as Marinette hopped across her temporary room to the box where she had hidden the Miracle Box. Kaalki was perched on her shoulder, inhaling a quick snack to recharge, and didn't seem at all bothered. "Or are just fighting from here instead of the closet because it's nicer?"

"I want another Miraculous," Marinette told him, pulling the box out. "I thought that the Bee might be a good choice. And- well, I'm not sure if I should give it to Chat Noir or to my mom. In theory, we'll only need one Sting. And if I give it to Chat Noir and he misses, we have Second Chance. But if my mom gets it..." She frowned, pausing with her hand hovering over the Bee's comb. "Actually, Sass, would giving my mom a second Miraculous be a good idea? Master Fu didn't tell us about the fusions right away, so is it not a good idea to have newer Miraculous holders fuse like that?"

"Yeah, it's- well, sometimes it's fine, but new users do have a tendency to tire more easily with fusions," Sass told her. "They're not as acclimated to the magic, and for it to double and for the powers to be used multiple times..."

Marinette winced. "We'll have Chat Bee again, then. I don't want to risk my mom falling ill."

Sass smiled. "That's probably wise."

With that decided, Marinette scooped up the comb and called for Kaalki. With a flash, she transformed, immediately grabbing her horseshoe to find where her mom was. Coccinelle was on the move, which would make catching her next to impossible, but Chat Noir was paused in one place, clearly waiting for instructing while staying a safe distance back from the akuma.

Well. She would just go to him, then. It would be nice to see Chat Noir in person again, even if- well, even if it was only going to be for a few seconds while she handed over the Miraculous.

"And that's a nice flat rooftop, too," Tianma murmured to herself, narrowing her eyes at her map one more time to make sure that she went to the right spot. "Okay, portal!"

The portal shimmered into being in front of her, and Tianma hopped forward on her Miraculous-provided crutches, making sure to jump high enough to clear the (thankfully low) threshold of the portal. She had barely landed when suddenly, her feet were off the ground once more.

"Bugaboo!" Chat Noir exclaimed in her ear, clearly delighted, and Tianma breathed a sigh of relief. He had startled her, but to be fair, she had returned the favor with the sudden unannounced portal popping out of nowhere behind him. "What are you doing out? Is your mom not coming? How's your leg? I didn't expect to see you today! How are you doing?"

"Slow down, kitty," Tianma ordered with a giggle. "My mom is coming, I just had to deliver the Bee. This akuma is super fast, and I think the only way for us to take them down fast is if we immobilize it. And my mom was already headed out when I made that decision, so I came. And my leg is- well, it's healing. Still."

"I wish it would heal faster," Chat Noir told the top of her head. "I mean, the short fights are great and all, and your mom is super cool and helpful, but it's not the same."

"I can't wait to get out again, either," Tianma admitted. "Being stuck at home and not being able to do everything that I'm used to- it sucks. And I have another three weeks before the cast comes off! Initially I had been hoping to have a lot shorter recovery time than more people because Tikki had said that the Miraculous makes us heal faster, but the doctor doesn't know that, so of course he's not going to look at my leg early." She had made that particular realization only a couple days ago, and- well, she still wasn't over it.

Marinette knew that the doctor had said six weeks, but she had really been hoping that Tikki would be able to get her recovery time down to, say, four and a half. Or five. Anything but six.

"Well, it's still going to help you get back out faster," Chat Noir told her, and Tianma pulled back enough to be able to look up at him in confusion. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Bugaboo, you know that just because the cast comes off, that doesn't automatically mean that you're 100% again, right? There's supposed to be several weeks of recovery afterwards, and the bone is still healing. If you didn't have Tikki's healing, you probably wouldn't be cleared to go back to normal physical activity again right away." He shrugged. "Or at least that was what I had happen when I fractured my leg as a kid. It sucked, and it- well, it was just super hard to remember that I still had to be careful after the cast came off."

Tianma's shoulders slumped. She- well, she had been counting down the days to when the cast would come off and she could go out as Ladybug again, but clearly she was being a bit too optimistic. "Oh."

"But like I said, Tikki should help with that part," Chat Noir added. "Maybe she can tell you more later?"

Tianma nodded. She would be questioning her kwami later on for sure. She didn't want to go forward with unrealistic expectations, so- well, she might as well find out sooner rather than later. "Yeah." She let out a long sigh and then, with a start, realized that- well, she hadn't just come out to chat with Chat Noir. She thrust the Bee's box at him. "Oh! Here's the Miraculous. Sass said that it would be better for you to do the combo- I thought maybe my mom could do it, so she would have multiple power uses, but Sass said that she's not used to the magic enough to do combos."

"Right, okay- Pollen, Plagg, combine!" Chat Noir called, and Tianma flinched at the bright flash of the transformation. He grinned at her- and oh, the jagged yellow stripes across his normal outfit would never stop being strange. "I'll do my best."

Tianma nodded, hopping back towards the portal. "Stay safe! And just send the Bee back with my mom. I don't want to have to recharge Kaalki an extra time."

"Of course." Chat Bee paused, then reached out for her, a light hand resting on her shoulder. "Hey, do- do you think we can hang out sometime? Like, for an evening? Not romantically or anything," he added hastily. "But I miss seeing you. It's not the same to just be hearing you."

Tianma didn't even have to consider that before she was nodding, completely on board with the idea. She missed Chat Noir, too, and- well, he was one of her best friends. They didn't get to hang out outside of the suit. "Maybe over the weekend? Not Friday or Saturday, because I don't want to disrupt your patrols with Coccinelle, but Sunday?"

Chat Noir nodded furiously. "Yeah! I'll bring some food- actually, you know what, I'll figure out the details with your mom," he said hastily when a loud explosion went off in the distance. "We've got an akuma to deal with. Back through the portal you go!"

With that, Chat Noir lent her a hand- or, rather, a paw- back through the portal into her room. It closed up behind her, and she detransformed and called on Sass.

"All right, down to business," Vipera announced, settling herself at her desk and getting set up as quickly as possible. She had spent far more time than she had planned with Chat Noir, and now she really had to get going if she wanted to be prepared for the battle.

Still, she smiled. Sunday couldn't come soon enough.

  Ladybug (or, rather, Horsebug) Portaled to their secluded rooftop five minutes early, hauling a backpack stuffed with pastries that her parents had packed for her, plus an entire quiche that her mom had made specifically for them. Unsurprisingly, Chat Noir was already there, spreading out a large blanket and fussing with making sure that it was just so.

"I brought more food," Ladybug announced, stumbling a little as she hopped though the portal. Chat Noir was by her side in an instant, steadying her and making sure that none of her weight landed on her bad leg. "And my mom made quiche, she said it's one of your favorites-"

"Ooh, she's the best!"

"I'll not ask how she knows it's one of your favorites," Ladybug added with a sigh as Chat Noir helped her sit down on the ground- or, well, on a pillow on the ground. She released Kaalki and beamed at the kwami in thanks before turning her attention to her partner. "It seems like she knows quite a bit."

Chat Noir winced at that. "I- yeah. I know I've maybe said too much to her about secret identity stuff, but it's just really easy to talk to her, you know? It's kind of like having a mom again- sorry, sorry, pretend I didn't say that bit," Chat Noir added hastily. "But it's nice to have a parental figure that actually listens, so maybe I talk a little more than I should."

...Ladybug was really glad that Tikki had mentioned that she and Chat Noir might be able to reveal their secret identities at some point soonish. If she hadn't- well, Ladybug would probably be panicking about the additional accidental information.

"Honestly, part of it might also just be that- well, what are the chances that she would actually know me?" Chat Noir asked. "Civilian me, that is. She's an adult, she wouldn't run in, like, the same social circles anyway."

"Except my mom known pretty much everyone I do," Ladybug reminded him. "She knows my classmates, she still recognizes my former classmates, she knows my friends from out of class, she even knows a lot of kids . She's not one of those adults that don't pay any attention to kids."

Chat Noir considered that. "...oh."

"I've told her that she needs to be more careful with what information she mentions to me," Ladybug told him, already hating the way his ears were starting to droop. If having an adult who would listen to him made that much of a difference to her partner- well, that could potentially save him from akumatization, couldn't it? That was super-important. "Because she was assuming at first that you and I talked about the same stuff, so she would just refer to it like common knowledge. So she's not going to accidentally tell me anything now. And..." Ladybug worried her lip for a moment, then forged on. "And she- she already knows my identity. She knows that she has to be careful to not get akumatized. If she figures out yours, too, I suppose it wouldn't be the end of the world. It would just be like how Master Fu knew about both of us, right?"

Chat Noir's entire being brightened, and Ladybug knew that she had made the right call. "I- right! Right, yeah, that- that was not the way I thought this conversation was going to go."

Ladybug had to laugh at that. "Honestly, me neither, but I know how much it's helped to be able to talk to my parents about everything in my life. I have Tikki, sure, but it's different, somehow. Tikki sometimes doesn't understand stuff in my normal life very well. And I don't think it's fair of me to deny you that."

Chat Noir pulled her into a wordless hug. Ladybug hugged him back, resting her cheek against his shoulder. She couldn't help but smile, completely content where she was.

"If I ever need to have a replacement Chat Noir, your parents would definitely be my go-to first choice," Chat Noir told her. "I mean, of course I'd rather be out there myself, but if I sprained my ankle really badly, or- heaven forbid- broke something- except I would have to know who they are, wouldn't I? There goes that idea."

"We could make it work," Ladybug told him. "I don't know how, but we could." She didn't mention Tikki's comment, not quite yet. It didn't seem like the time to.

Maybe once she returned to superheroing full-time then she could bring it up. Now, it just seemed too early and like she might be getting her partner's hopes up too early.

It didn't take long for them to settle down and unpack the food they had brought, arranging it across the blanket so that they could see everything. There was a lot- there was no way that they would be able to finish it all- but that just meant that there were plenty of tasty-looking choices. Chat Noir handed Ladybug a plate, and they dug in.

It was maybe a little strange, since- well, she and Chat Noir didn't really do this, hanging out and eating dinner. Patrols- when they did them, when they had the time to spare- doubled as exercise and training. They sometimes came out for speeches or events or dedications, but that was rare and they didn't really chat during those. It wouldn't be smart, not with reporters lurking nearby and ready to pounce on anything personal the superheroes said. And during akuma attacks, obviously they weren't going to be sprawling out on a rooftop and mindlessly chatting.

It was nice, though. Maybe- if they had the time- they could do this more often after her leg was back to normal.

"How's the Snake treating you?" Chat Noir asked as they finished up their slices of quiche and turned their attention to the petits fours that her parents had packed. "I don't think we've asked in a while. We got a few fights in with the Second Chance reset, and- well, now it's normal. But I have to imagine that it's super-tough on you."

"It's gotten easier," Ladybug told him. "I've gotten better at it, rather. It seems like I don't have to reset as often, because I've gotten good at spotting openings and incoming attacks. I've gotten Sass to give me more screens, so that helps. I have more angles to work with and watch."

"You're a regular Mission Control," Chat Noir said admiringly. "I couldn't do it. It sounds super hard."

Ladybug could only shrug sheepishly. "I guess. But I've gotten used to it, and it's a bit of a mental challenge, too. And I like a challenge." And she really, really did. It was like playing the world's fastest-paced puzzle game crossed with a fighting game.

"But aren't all of the resets hard on you? Like, seeing things going wrong again and again?" Chat Noir hadn't touched his petits four, instead fiddling with the end of his tail. Ladybug frowned at the question, puzzled.

Nothing had really gone terribly wrong during the fights when she was the Snake. Most of the time, it was just things not going nearly as well as they could have. So she said as much.

Chat Noir seemed really relieved by that.

Their conversation wandered from there, touching on the different battles and what they had seen from their perspective of the fight, then talking about things going on in the city. At one point, their conversation drifted towards the non-Miraculous side of their life, but they quickly backed off and changed the subject before they could say anything too identifying.

Maybe Tikki had said that they were getting closer to a reveal, but there was no point in running the risk of an early reveal before they were ready just because they got carried away with talking and teasing each other.

"Ah, it's getting late," Chat Noir exclaimed after he went to check his baton for something and caught sight of the time. "We'd better pack up and go home. I'm glad you could come out."

Ladybug smiled, leaning forward as much as she could to help pack up the leftovers. Her parents had definitely over-packed, and Chat Noir had brought more than they could eat, too. "I'm glad, too. This was fun. And it was nice to get out in this suit, too." She plucked at the red supersuit, smiling at the familiar outfit. "I know I've been transforming with the other kwami, and of course it's not exactly the same as my normal transformation, what with the crutches and the cast, but..." She trailed off, not sure how to explain it. Fortunately, Chat Noir knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Yeah, transforming with different Miraculous... it just isn't the same. I can't put my finger on exactly why, because- well, it's a strength boost, and you can just feel the magic, but it's not quite the same magic. It's like..." Chat Noir floundered for a second, his brow creasing. "Like if you're eating something, and the cook forgot one of the spices, or added a new one. But not like a strong spice. Like a really subtle one, and you'd only pick it up if you had it a lot."

Ladybug giggled, reaching forward to poke Chat Noir's stomach. "Talking about food already? You just ate!"

"There's food in front of me, that's why I thought of it!" Chat Noir protested with a laugh, batting her hand away. "Not because I was hungry!"

Ladybug giggled again before sitting back, content to let Chat Noir deal with packing up the food that was out of her reach. "I suppose it's a decent enough analogy. It's something subtle in the magic, not something obvious like the suit itself."

"Speaking of which- your Horse outfit is adorable," Chat Noir told her, pausing in his packing to beam over at her. "That tunic top over leggings? Very fashionable yet also leaning towards comfortable-at-home chic."

Ladybug beamed. "Thanks! I wanted to try something different. My transformation as Vipera has the same silhouette, actually. It's really comfy. And, well, it's not like I'm running and flipping around or anything. I can have a little fun with the design."

"D'you think you'd incorporate any of that design into your Ladybug outfit once you come back?" Chat Noir asked, clearly curious. "I mean, I can't see that particular design getting in your way while fighting. And it's cute."

Ladybug muffled a giggle. He had already mentioned that, which... well, was a clear giveaway that he wanted to see that sort of outfit more. "Maybe? As long as the tunic would stay down. And I would keep the higher neckline that I have now, just for safety reasons." Which honestly might throw off the composition of the entire outfit, since right now, with both the Horse and the Snake, she had a wider square neckline. Getting rid of that would get rid of the loose look that the tunic had. And- "Oh, and the sleeves aren't great for fighting. They're too loose. So- well, I guess that version of the Ladybug suit will have to wait until Hawkmoth is gone."

"Ooh." Chat Noir considered that, then smiled over at her. "Another motivation to take Hawkmoth down as soon as possible!"

"Flirt," Ladybug muttered, her cheeks red. Chat Noir just grinned at her, passing over the Horse Miraculous before helping her- or rather, lifting her- to her feet. "Thanks."

"Only the best for my lady!" Chat Noir chirped cheerfully. He grinned over at her as she put the Horse Miraculous on, the second part of her transformation washing over her. "Sweet dreams, Ladybug."

Ladybug smiled as she called on Portal. "You too, Chat Noir."

With a careful hop, Ladybug left the rooftop behind and landed back in her family's kitchen, her Portal closing up behind her. The basket of leftovers got unpacked into the fridge- except for a couple things set aside for the kwamis- and then Marinette headed to bed, unable to keep from yawning widely.

"It looks like you've had a good time," Tikki commented as Marinette washed up for bed. "Was it nice to see Chat Noir in person again?"

"It was great," Marinette told her, unable to help smiling. "I forgot how fun it is to banter with him. It's not a dynamic that I really have with any of my other friends, and I missed it." She tugged out her pigtails and started combing her hair before pausing mid-stroke. "It seemed different from when I last saw Chat Noir, though. When I last properly saw Chat Noir, before my leg broke, that is. He wasn't really flirting as much- or no, that's not right," she corrected herself. "He wasn't flirting seriously, that's the difference. We always flirt and tease, that's just how we are, but he wasn't trying to confess or ask me out or anything."

A smile flashed across Tikki's face before she hastily hid it. "He's growing up, maybe."

Marinette hummed in response, starting up her combing again. "Maybe. Whatever it is- well, I liked it. I like spending time with him."

"Do you think you're going to do another dinner together before the cast comes off?" Tikki asked. Marinette thought about it, then shrugged.

"If we have the time, maybe. We'd have to end earlier, though- it's super late right now, and I have school tomorrow."

Tikki smiled at that. "So yes?"

"Yeah." Marinette finished combing her hair and started tying it back up for the night, a small smile on her face. "Yeah, I'd like that."

  The next morning, Marinette's phone started ringing before her alarm even went off. She groaned, swatting for it blearily, and it shut off. Moments later, it started up again, and this time Marinette sat up properly, picking up the phone and squinting at it to see who on earth was calling her at this time in the morning.

It was Alya. With a groan- she and Chat Noir really should have headed home sooner, she was exhausted- Marinette picked up. "Hello? What's-"

"Marinette! Marinette! Have you heard? Ladybug's been spotted! She's finally back!"

#Miraculous Ladybug #My writing #The Substitute Ladybug #marinette dupain cheng

[ronninoir]

Can I Steal You for a Second CH28

Summary: Adrien is forced to participate in a new dating show, but becomes more excited when Ladybug says she’ll participate as her civilian self.

AKA: AU where Adrien doesn’t know Marinette, the superheroes are 22 and Gabriel is mean and ruthless but not Hawkmoth.

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Start from the beginning Chp 1 on AO3

Chapter 28

The van ride back to the mansion was blissful. Marinette was giddy about how well her conversation went with Adrien. The whole night was wonderful, and the icing on the cake was that she didn’t even have to pretend to like Lila since the two never spent any alone time together.

 As she walked in the front doors, Marinette heard a scream and was tackled with a hug. “Thank God you came back! I don’t know if I could have handled it if you went home and left me with Lila alone!” the voice of Juliette moaned as she squeezed the life out of Marinette. When Juliette finally let her go, she was greeted by Lucie as well, who hugged her enthusiastically.

The two girls dragged Marinette to the couch and asked her for every detail about the three-on-one date. She told them all of the awkward details, all except her declaration of love for the cameras. That she wanted to keep to herself a little longer. Right as she finished explaining that she didn’t know who had gone home because she left before she could find out, the door opened. All three girls held their breath, only to let out a small sigh as Lila entered the room.

Lila paused on her way towards the stairs and gave a curt, “What are you three staring at?” before disappearing out of sight.

Juliette just rolled her eyes and carried on like there had been no interruption. “Oh well, we can’t have everything in life.” Marinette and Lucie both began laughing as Lila huffily reentered the room.

She sat down on the couch and crossed her arms, quickly followed by Victoria, who was armed with her signature clipboard. 

“Great, now that we’re all here, we can discuss what next week is going to look like.” She conferred with her clipboard for a moment before continuing. “As you know, the next stop on your journey is Hometowns, where Adrien gets to meet your parents. The dates have already been planned for you as well as the locations, which will be in your town but not your house, for safety reasons, except for Miss Dupain-Cheng.” The other three girls turned and looked at Marinette, but she just shrugged, not understanding what made her different from the rest.

Victoria moved on as if nothing had happened. “That means you will get to see your family for the first time as well. You are not permitted to stay the night with them. You will wake up the morning of your Hometown in your assigned hotel room in your hometown, and you will come back the night of to that same room, are we clear?” 

Every girl gave a mumbled, “Yes ma’am,” before Lila spoke up, “What about my parents? Are we going to Italy and for how long?” Her voice was strained and she didn’t seem very excited about seeing her parents again.

“They are already notified of what is to come and they will be arriving in France a day prior to your Hometown and the leaving the day after shooting.” Victoria said, matter-of-factly. Victoria finally looked up from her clipboard and made eye contact with all of the girls, “Any other questions?” Marinette had a couple of questions, but she didn’t want to ask in front of the other girls and embarrass herself. Victoria gave a satisfied smile and seemed to relax a little. “Anyway, I wanted to congratulate you four for making it this far. We appreciate your dedication to Adrien and to the journey and I hope you’ll be patient with us, as these next few weeks are very critical to the success of the show and everything that happens from here on out will be closely monitored.” With that, she turned on her heel and left the room.

The girls sat quietly for a moment, allowing what was just said to soak in. Lila was the first one out of the room, and the other girls soon followed, wishing the others goodnight.

Marinette laid in her bed, with Tikki on the pillow next to her, thinking about Victoria’s final words. “Do you think they’ll notice when you disappear as Ladybug?” Tikki asked, voicing the question Marinette was pondering.

“Honest, Tik, I don’t know. I’m just going to have to be more careful, I guess, and hope that no one finds out.”

                     ----------------------------------------------------

The next three days felt longer than normal. Without the cocktail party to stress about Friday and Saturday, the days stretched on and on. By Sunday afternoon Marinette was itching to transform. Right before she could escape, she was cornered by a random producer who wanted to officially inform her that her Hometown date would occur Monday, since she was the only local girl and Lila’s parents couldn’t fly in until Thursday.

Realizing that she only had mere hours before truly seeing her parents again made her want to jump and scream with excitement. She had miss them so much, even though they were minutes away from where she was now, it was still exciting to think that soon she would see them with Adrien in tow.

The thought of Adrien meeting her parents gave her butterflies. She knew that she was in it for the long haul, but it was still weird to think that she’d been in a relationship with Adrien long enough for parents to be involved.

As she rounded the corner to her room and walked inside, a horrible thought struck. “What if they don’t like him?” Marinette asked the room at large. 

Thankfully, only Tikki answered, “What if who doesn’t like whom?”

Marinette met Tikki’s eyes, and she must have looked truly worried, because Tikki immediately flew next to Marinette, offering up one of her precious cookies. “What if my parents don’t like Adrien? Like how are they to know that he’s my soulmate who I’ve been in love with for seven years? What do I do if they decide he’s not good enough for me or if there’s something completely wrong with him?” Marinette gasped as an even worse thought came, “What if they decide that I’m not good enough for him and they adopt Adrien and disown me and then I’ll be homeless and living on the street and I’ll have to beg for money and sleep in a cardboard box and my only friends will be the mice that live in my alley and the toothless hobo they call Smelly Todd.”

Tikki grabbed Marinette’s cheek and forced her to make eye contact with the god. Her blue eyes bore into Marinette’s and she felt her breathing relax and her heart rate go down. “Be sensible, Marinette. None of that is going to happen. Your parents are going to love Adrien because they will see how much of a gentleman he is and how much he loves you. Once they see how much you two care for each other, there won’t be any objections.”

Marinette felt herself nodding, Tikki’s words flowing over her and calming her down significantly. “You’re right Tikki,” she sighed, slumping down onto her bed. “Thank you for not letting me become a hobo and being friends with Smelly Todd.”

Tikki gently patted her cheek, “I’ll always be here for you, Marinette.”

Almost an hour later, Marinette was still thinking about all of the possible ways this meeting tomorrow could go, just without the hyperventilating, when she transformed and disappeared out of her window.

                      ----------------------------------------------------

Chat had actually beat Ladybug to their meeting spot, and, as if it was some unspoken agreement, as soon as Ladybug’s feet hit the roof, both of them dropped their transformations. 

Plagg just glanced between the two of them as Tikki flew to join him. “Why does this feel like an ambush?”

Marinette gave a nervous giggle and moved to sit next to Adrien, who suddenly looked very stressed and worried. She gently grabbed his hand and he quickly entwined their fingers together as he took a deep breath and addressed the kwamis. “We need to talk about our new powers.”

Tikki let out a small sigh, “We figured you would eventually.”

“We just need a better understanding of how they work, so we know how to better control them.” Marinette said calmly, giving Adrien’s hand a small squeeze.

Plagg let out an exasperated sigh that caused Adrien to roll his eyes. “What do you want to know? They’re new and better and that’s about it.”

Adrien opened his mouth to say something, but Marinette beat him to it. “Please, Plagg, we need more information. We’re trying to figure out what happened during the last akuma attack, and how we can try not to destroy all of Paris while we’re saving it.”

“The thing is, Marinette, we can’t give out too much information. You have to figure out the new powers for yourself.” Tikki floated over and gently put her hands on Adrien’s other hand. She was looking at him so sadly that it made Marinette’s heart hurt.

Adrien stared down at his lap and whispered, “I just need to understand how I cataclysmed Montparnasse Tower.” Tikki and Plagg shared a look, and Marinette had a feeling that a mini argument was going on between them. After a few beats, Tikki huffed a “Fine!” and Plagg sped over towards Adrien, forcing him to met his eyes.

“Hey, kid, I know how much this has bothered you this week. But you need to know it wasn’t fully your fault. These enhanced powers allow for your cataclysm to last longer than it did before, which you couldn’t have known.” 

“You mean like more than five minutes?” Marinette asked, genuinely curious.

“Kind of. It’s hard to explain without demonstrating it, but you can use your power more than one time. You have more control over it.”

Adrien’s jaw dropped, and he stuttered, “M-more than one time?”

“Yeah, aren’t you listening?” Plagg asked, giving Adrien a teasing look before continuing. “Let’s look at what happened with Revengapop.” Adrien physically flinched at the name, but didn’t stop Plagg. “You summoned the cataclysm to destroy his popcorn-making machine. But, as you landed from your jump, you touched the roof with your right hand to balance yourself. Your cataclysm was still active when you touched the roof, therefore it cataclysmed the building. You could have done more damage, except once you realized what you had done, you willed the cataclysm away.”

As he was talking, Marinette replayed the event in her mind. She could see Chat jumping towards the machine, and then landing in a lunge with his right hand on the roof. That was when the building started to collapse, and she went into overdrive and grabbed the akuma while using her Miraculous fix.

“So, you’re saying that he can cataclysm more than one thing with a charge? Like it’ll just keep going until he’s done using it, and then he can just turn it off?”

“You got it, LB.”

“But wait, how does the countdown work, if he can cataclysm a number of things?” 

“The timer is the tricky part,” Tikki cut in. “Your timers last longer than 5 minutes now, but it will only gradually increase over time. So now you may have 5 and a half minutes before you detransform, but it’ll eventually become longer and more permanent as you continue to get older.”

“But when do the timers start counting down?” Adrien asked, his gaze dancing between the two kwamis.

“Yours, kid, starts once you turn the cataclysm off.”

“And yours, starts once you are done using your Lucky Charm, usually by throwing it for the Miraculous cure.”

“So, you’re saying I can fight an entire fight with a cataclysm charge on my right hand and my ‘kind of, sort of’ five-minute timer won’t start until I turn off the power?” Marinette noticed that the light was slowly coming back in Adrien’s eyes, and he actually seemed to be getting excited about all of this rather than worried like he was before.

“Yes, but that’s honestly all we can tell you. The rest of it you have to discover for yourself.” Tikki was calm, but it was clear that she was done talking about this topic with the Miraculous holders. Adrien, however, was not.

“So, the bigger jumps and connected thoughts and being able to walk around quieter are all part of the enhanced powers package too?”

Plagg nodded excitedly. “My favorite is the enhanced strength. With it, you can lift the largest piece of camembert ever made!” Marinette laughed at the thought of Chat just casually holding a piece of camembert the size of a car.

As Adrien and Plagg continued to get excited about all of the new powers he has, Marinette’s mind went into overdrive. There was something that Tikki had said after the Task when they learned about all of this that she needed to ask about. 

“I have a question.” She announced, which shut the boys up pretty quickly. “Tikki, when you told us about our new powers, you said more danger could come with it, and that we needed to be more careful. What exactly did you mean by that.”

Tikki paused, as if contemplating the best way to phrase her next statement. Do you remember the akuma Timebreaker?” Marinette nodded, thinking of that akuma from long ago. That was an akuma she would never forget, as she ended up working with another Ladybug as well as a Chat Noir, one Ladybug from the present and one from the past (of like 5 minutes, but still). “Do you remember how Chat got hit by Timebreaker and he dissolved?” Both Marinette and Adrien nodded grimly. They didn’t like to talk about all of the times something horrible had happened to Chat during a battle, but that particular instance was one of the worst. “If that were to happen now, your enhanced powers as Ladybug would go away until you saved Chat.” 

Marinette tried to comprehend what that would look like. Her timer would go back to 5 minutes exactly, her lucky charm wouldn’t be as strong, and she would be without her partner, which is always her greatest weakness. The idea upset her more than she thought it would. 

Tikki let her words hang there before speaking again. “That’s why I warned you to be careful. If something happens to either of you, even if it’s something that the Miraculous cure can fix, the other will suffer greatly.”

Marinette and Adrien exchanged a look. She could tell that he still thought she was the reckless one out of the two of them, but arguing about it won’t fix the problem. “I promise to be more aware of my actions, if you are.” 

Adrien smiled that beautiful smile of his and answered, “We both know I’m not the reckless one, but I promise the same. I’ll be safer if you’ll be safer.” 

Marinette rolled her eyes, but leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder. “I meant what I said at the date last week. I only want you to be safe.”

Adrien turned his head and kissed her forehead, “I just want us to be safe together.”

Marinette closed her eyes and smiled, enjoying this moment with Adrien. Of course, that’s when Plagg decided to clear his throat causing Marinette to open her eyes.

“I hate to break up this moment, but I want cheese before we go patrol.” Adrien rolled his eyes and pulled away from Marinette gently, digging in his pocket for some cheese. He tossed it to his kwami as Marinette stood up, looking for cookies for Tikki.

“Don’t worry, Marinette, I don’t need cookies to transform.” Tikki said with a laugh as Adrien whipped towards her appalled. “Plagg’s just needy.” Marinette laughed as Adrien murmured, “I knew that,” before calling his transformation. Marinette watched as he was bathed in green light and then suddenly, Chat stood before her. She let out a small sigh, which caught Chat’s attention. 

“What was that, princess?” He asked with a smirk.

“Oh nothing. I just don’t think I’ll ever get tired of watching you do that.” Chat let out a small growl-like sound before stepping forward and kissing Marinette aggressively. She got lost in the kiss as his claws ran through her hair and she was finally able to appreciate how skin tight his leather suit really was. Before either of them took it too far though, they broke apart and Chat rested his forehead on Marinette’s.

“We have a city to patrol,” he said rather breathlessly, the sound of which sent shivers down her spine.

“You’re right,” she sighed, wishing for once that she didn’t have to be responsible for the entire city of Paris. “Plus, we’ll have plenty of time for that kind of stuff in the fantasy suite.” She watched Chat gulp and grow slightly pale under the mask, which caused her to laugh. It was nice to know she could still get to him.

She quickly called her transformation, and the two of them flew off into the night.

~~~

Soooooo sorry friends for the long wait! My sister was having trouble finding the inspiration to write, BUT she FINALLY got her act together AND mapped out the rest of the story, so we have almost reached the end of this journey together! Thank you all so much for the support and the constant notes and shares. You guys are the best and this story wouldn't continue to exist without you!

Aaaanyway, we hope you all enjoy the new chapter!

Let me know if you wanna be added to the tag list

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#can i steal you for a second #ml fanfic #ml fic #MLB #miraculous ladybug #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Adrien Agreste #ml ladybug #ml ladynoir #Ayla Cesaire #ml bachlelor au #ml bachelor #ml au #The Bachelor #bachelor! Adrien #chat noir #plagg #ml tikki #tikki #tikki and plagg #ao3 #ao3 work #original content #original characters #Chris Harrison #Lila Rossi #Gabriel Agreste

[missmalice202]

Designing Your Melody: Chapter 11 - Cupid’s Arrow

Chapter 01 - Chapter 10

“Today’s the day,” Marinette uttered nervously, pressing a hand against her churning stomach in a fruitless attempt to untie the knots her insides were tied in. Her nerves were stretched to the limit, ready to snap. She gazed up at the building where her fashion show would take place in a few short hours. She wasn’t ready to go inside. Not until her knees stopped trembling, at least.

She’d been a quivering mess since she woke up this morning. The countless hours of work had all led up to this moment. This was the goal she’d been working toward all these years. Every drop of blood, each drip of sweat, every single sleepless night spent hunched over her sewing machine had been for this chance to showcase her talents and hopefully catch the eye of a famous fashion house that would want to take her on as a designer.

Hands shaking, she gripped the strap of her purse in a futile attempt to steady them.

When a warm arm suddenly wrapped around her shoulders, she shrieked and nearly jumped out of her skin. Spinning in place to view her attacker, she lost her balance and nearly fell over.

“Easy there, Marinette,” Adrien chuckled, hands gripping her arms to keep her on her feet. He gazed at her as she inhaled deeply, trying to keep herself from hyperventilating. “Are you going to be okay?”

Stepping back out of his personal space, she closed her eyes and counted to three, opening them once again to observe her friend.

He’d grown into a truly handsome man. His shining blond hair was artfully styled into deceptively careless disarray, a few wayward strands falling over his brow and into his vivid green eyes. Mouth pulled into a devious smirk, she heard him continue to laugh at her clumsiness. She pouted a bit at how truly handsome he was. It wasn’t fair for someone to be so damn good-looking.

“I’m fine,” she bit, annoyed that he had once again caught her unravelling at the seams. “I’m just a little nervous.”

He laughed. “A little? When I touched you, you nearly came out of your skin.”

“You just startled me, is all.”

Once more, Adrien chuckled softly at her. “You’ll do great. The hard part is already over. Now,” he said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders once more, encouraging her to go inside with him, “let’s do this, Marinette.”

Gathering her courage, she held her head high and stepped inside.

-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-

“Mlle. DuPain-Cheng, music starts in twenty minutes,” the producer – a severe-looking woman with auburn hair pulled into a no-nonsense bun - informed her, clipboard firmly in her hand. “Are your models ready?”

Glancing behind her at her friends, she smiled and nodded her head. She had just finished helping Juleka dress in her first outfit: a tunic length purple sweater with a wide cowl neck that exposed Juleka’s slender shoulders and black floral print leggings. Completing the ensemble was a pair of knee-high platform boots.

Adrien stood next to her looking absolutely dashing in a deep green, v-neck t-shirt, a casual pin-striped blazer emphasizing his broad shoulders and trim waist. Dark washed jeans and white sneakers completed his look. If she had seen him in an outfit like this when she had still been infatuated with him, she would have gushed about how the color of his shirt perfectly matched his eyes and how the blazer drew attention to his perfect butt…

But she wasn’t still infatuated with him, so she’d keep those thoughts to herself, she mused.

“You guys look amazing,” she said happily. “Thank you so much for helping me today, guys. I really appreciate it.”

Juleka smiled softly and said, “No, Marinette, thank you for giving me an opportunity to walk down the catwalk. You’re helping me as much as I’m helping you. I even asked my brother to come today so he could see me model in your show. He was so proud of me when I told him I was going to be modelling during Fashion Week and it’s all thanks to you.. With as much attention as you’re sure to get with your fabulous clothes, I’ll get to shine along side you as your model.” She giggled softly as she cocked her hip out. “With clothes as cute as these, there’s no way they’re not going to love you.”

“She’s right, you know.” Adrien reached over and rested his elbow on Juleka’s shoulder, grinning at her. “You’re going to be a smash hit, my Lady. You’re not alone here. Alya is covering your show for her blog, Nino’s up in the DJ booth cuing up the music as we speak, and don’t forget your parents out in the audience. We’re all here for you and we’re so proud of you.”

“Thanks, guys.” Reassured from her friends’ kind words, she shook her head and focused on the task at hand.

-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-

In the audience, Luka was waiting patiently for the show to begin. Looking around, he saw a few familiar faces, which put him at ease. Across the room, up in the DJ booth, Nino had his headphones on, jamming out the music only he could hear as he got his set list ready for the show. Wondering at the small world he lived in, he spotted Alya Cesaire, Nino’s girlfriend, sitting in the front row, taking pictures with her cell phone and excitedly tapping away on the screen. Must be doing a story on Fashion Week for her blog, he thought. He’d run into her a few times when he and Nino had collaborated together on a project.

Personally, he was excited to see his sister in her first fashion show. Really was proud of how much she’s grown in the past few years. When she had first told him she wanted to be a model, he supported her dream whole-heartedly, but worried whether someone as introverted as she could make it in such a cut-throat business.

His worries had been unnecessary. She had proved all who doubted her wrong and had been steadily finding work doing magazine ads and even appearing on a few billboards recently. But nothing could compare to this. Even though it was for an unknown designer, being able to put that she’d modeled in a Fashion week show would open a lot of doors for her modeling career and he wished nothing but the best for his beloved sister. He’d be there to watch over her, after all.

When the lights dimmed, he sat up, eyes focused on the raised catwalk and waited to see his sister. Techno music pounded through the once silent room, increasing the energy level in the room with is solid base beat.

Behind a screen at the entrance of the stage, he saw a feminine silhouette appear, striking a sassy pose with her hip cocked and her hand behind her head. His mouth gaped as he watched his sister - his shy, mild mannered sister – strut down the lane, hair billowing behind her and her eyes on fire. He could barely recognize his sibling in this fierce woman posing at the end of the walk, showcasing the outfit she was wearing.

When she disappeared backstage, the screen illuminated again, this time outlining a male model. His eyes widened when he recognized the man from advertisements plastered with his face all over the city. It was Adrien Agreste, the face of his father’s internationally branded fashion line. Screams erupted in the room as the audience recognized the handsome model strutting down the catwalk with the grace and intensity of a panther.

The designer responsible for this show was very smart to use him for their show, he decided. Come morning, their designs would be plastered all over social media and possibly even the news now that Adrien Agreste was the one wearing them. And his sister would be piggy-backing on top of that fame, launching her own career into possible fame.

Once the blond model retreated backstage to prepare his next outfit, Luka watched as his sister once again took the stage, wearing a completely different ensemble. How they changed her entire look in less than two minutes was absolutely astounding. It must be pure chaos behind the scenes, he mused.

However, his amusement faded as he continued to watch the show. With each ensemble that was shown, his eyes narrowed further. He recognized some of these clothes. He’d seen them taped to the wall when he’d delivered that fabric to his designer.

It’s impossible, he thought to himself. There’s no way such coincidences exist.

Still denying the possibility that the girl he’d been looking for for so long was the one who was responsible for the show that his sister was modeling in, his jaw dropped when Adrien walked out in his final look: the embroidered blazer that Luka had seen hanging on the mannequin.

Suspicions confirmed, he grinned, disbelieving his luck. Now, he wouldn’t have to try to track her down. He found her without even knowing he’d done it. Even better, his sister already knew his elusive designer and could introduce her to him after the show.

He whistled under his breath when he saw the show’s final piece. Juleka came out dressed in a gorgeous dress. The strapless top shimmered with beads under the bright stage lights. A silver-buckled black satin belt transitioned into a full skirt. The outer layer of black satin contrasted beautifully with the deep purple satin lining, visible due to the front of the skirt ending at Juleka’s thighs and the back cascading down to the floor. Opaque black stockings covered her exposed legs and protected the modesty of his sister, which he was secretly grateful for.

She gracefully walked to the end of the catwalk where Adrien was waiting for her. With a final pose, the two models leaned into each other with wide smiles in response to the roaring applause thundering through the room. turning toward the entrance of the stage, they waved, gesturing for someone to join them.

Tearing his eyes away from his stunning sister, his breath caught when the designer stepped on stage. He could almost hear the twang as he felt a punch in the gut, like he’d been shot by Cupid’s arrow.

She was petite and slender, her limbs willowy and graceful as she joined her models. Her dark hair shined blue under the lights, pulled back into a bun at the base of her neck with a few tendrils escaping to caress her neck. Her bright, blue eyes glistened with unshed tears as she stood proudly next to her designs. Pink lips stretched into a grin as she reached her hands out to either side of her and took her companion’s hands. With a final smile at the audience, the trio bowed, thanked the audience for their praise, and escaped backstage.

Luka was stunned. How on earth had he missed how pretty she was when she crashed into him that first day? In his defense, she had been in such a hurry and so he hadn’t had the chance to get a good look at her, but had he really been so oblivious?

Unable to wait another minute to finally meet his elusive muse – and congratulate his sister on a job well done – he rose from his seat and made his way back stage, eager to be introduced to the blue-eyed beauty responsible for the music pounding in his head.

-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-

Chapter 12

*OMG, It’s almost time! He knows! Aaaaah! Hahaha, sorry. I’m just really excited for these two to get some time together in the same room. Next time, I promise! But things aren’t going to go so easily for them once they do meet face-to-face mwahahaha!

Once again, thanks for taking the time to read this and give me your likes and reblogs. Leave me a reply about what you like, what you don’t like, and what you’d like to see. Your feedback gives me fuel to better myself and my writing.

Until next time, my lovelies, XOXO*

@write-for-your-life2

#lukanette #lukanette february #mlvalentines2k20 #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #marinette dupain cheng #luka couffaine #lukanette fic #lukanette fanfiction #miraculous fanfic

[sincerelymarinette]

A Recorded Life (34/50) - Miraculous Ladybug

Words: 1400 Chapter Summary: The Akuma that interrupted the Mario Kart game is not here to play, and takes a different approach to fighting the heroes. Author's Note: This one was fun, it's intense. I'm so bad at coming up with Akumas, but I think I'm getting better.

Prev / Next / Masterlist

Organizer

---

"This should be relatively easy to beat," Ladybug said as the band of heroes stood watching the Akuma.

"I promise this one wasn't me!" Queen Bee came running up to the group. "I saw it happen, actually. It was one of the receptionist girls," She started to explain. "They were talking about Jagged Stone coming back to Paris next week, and one of them brought up the collab Marinette is working on with him. It became this whole heated debate over nothing, because the Akuma thinks you're fake and not worth-while, and she was outraged."

Ladybug nodded. "Okay, I take it back. Not that easy," She said.

Queen Bee agreed. "Yeah, but at least we know what to expect?"

"She has a point," Rena Rouge said. "The Akuma is going to go after you, so we've got to play it smart."

"Do we have any idea what powers this Akuma has?" Chat Noir asked, all of them turned away from the hotel.

The girls shook their heads. "Uh, guys?" Carapace interrupted. "The Akuma's leaving without even acknowledging us...?" He pointed.

"Oh, no," Ladybug sighed. "She's heading to the bakery."

The team took off, jumping from roof to roof to get to the bakery as fast as they could. "Adrien and I were playing video games while my parents were cleaning up the kitchen. Hopefully, they got out of there when we left," Ladybug announced.

She was wrong. The five heroes stared in shock as the Akuma blasted the roof off their house, jumping out of the home holding Tom and Sabine in a giant bubble-like cage. "Oh, what perfect time for you all to show up!" The Akuma said, sickeningly sweet. "Who should I add to my collection next?"

"Split up!" Ladybug shouted, and they all ran in different directions. The Akuma followed Rena Rouge and Carapace first, and after an illusion failed to trick the Akuma, she caught Rena Rouge. Carapace stood protected by his shell-ter, but who knows how long that would hold. Queen Bee was out of sight, and Chat Noir and Ladybug were on opposite sides of the Akuma.

"Oh, Marinette. I know your name, but you don't know mine. I'm Organizer. I have a collection started, and your Miraculous would be a great addition."

Ladybug sighed. "Sorry, not for sale," She said. "Chat! Now!" Ladybug yelled.

Organizer turned around at light speed, and before Chat Noir could pounce, she shot a bubble-like cage at him, and caught him. The three cages floated around Organizer, and she seemed pleased. "Hawkmoth will be so happy to see you, Adrien. Now all I need is Marinette," Organizer admired Chat Noir trying to break out of the cage. He couldn't speak in the cage, so he couldn't call for his cataclysm, either.

Carapace knew if he let his shield down he would be captured immediately. "Lu-"

"I wouldn't do that, Marinette," Organizer sing-songed. "If you do, Chat Noir will be the first to go to Hawkmoth."

Ladybug sighed. "Okay, what do you want me to do, then?"

"Well," Organizer started. "Hand over your Miraculous, and I'll let your parents go right now. You have thirty seconds to decide before I send them to Hawkmoth."

Ladybug's jaw dropped. She could see her parents gesturing at her, but she knew she couldn't let Hawkmoth near her parents. Organizer was counting down, and once she hit ten seconds, Ladybug finally spoke.

"Fine. You can have my earrings," Ladybug said.

"Oh, goody!" Organizer smiled wide.

Ladybug slowly lifted her hands to her earrings. If she called spots off, she would have to see Tikki and admit what she was doing. By jus taking them off, she could get away without having to give a second thought.

Ladybug took one earring off, her mask and suit seeming to glitch out. "No!" Carapace yelled and dropped his shield. He ran for Ladybug, but was caught by Organizer before he could stop her.

Ladybug took off her other earring as her parents and friends watched in disbelief. Marinette looked at both the earrings in her hand as she started to walk closer to Organizer, slowly and sadly.

Just as Marinette was about to hand over the earrings and get her friends and family back, she saw bright yellow pop up from behind. "Venom!" Queen Bee yelled, and stung Organizer in the back. All the bubble-like cages popped, and the heroes adjusted to being back to normal. Rena Rouge rushed over to Marinette's parents while Carapace shielded himself and Marinette.

Chat Noir called his cataclysm, and Queen Bee showed Chat Noir where the Akuma was. Quickly, the Akuma was flying out, and Marinette quickly turned back into Ladybug, shielded by her friends, so no one saw how it all worked. She purified the Akuma, used the cure, and her and Rena Rouge took Marinette's parents home. The other three stayed to help the receptionist, and soon Adrien was also at the Dupain-Cheng home to make sure everyone was okay.

Once her parents got to bed, the three sat in the living room. "I can't believe I took off my Miraculous," She said. "But I couldn't bear the thought of my parents being with Hawkmoth."

"Girl, we understand. I would have done the same thing. It's just a good thing Chloé came back when she did," Alya said.

"She apologized for leaving," Adrien cut in. "She said she went back to the hotel to figure out where the Akuma was since this Akuma was going to be hard to beat. She didn't think all that would happen in the few minutes she was gone," Adrien explained.

Marinette sighed and slumped into the couch. "I feel like I'm so stupid. How could I let all of that fall apart so quickly?"

"Mari," Adrien started. "If she were targeting me the way she did you, I would have reacted the exact same way. Don't feel bad. None of this is your fault, and we still beat the Akuma. Another day closer to beating Hawkmoth, right?" Adrien comforted her.

Alya left soon after the conversation, having to get home to let her family know she wasn't near the attack. Adrien and Marinette talked for a bit longer, but she really wasn't feeling up to it. So, finally, they decided to go to bed.

For the first time since Adrien has been with her, she wasn't able to sleep. Her thoughts were all over the place, and she couldn't make sense of them. Like any other human, she gave up on sleep, and decided to browse Twitter.

wow...that akuma attack today was rough. now I really understand why secret identities are so important.

yo fuck that guy who posted the video of mari and adrien. if he didn't do that hawkmoth wouldn't have so much hanging over their heads. her parents could have been seriously hurt.

Marinette is so strong. I would have done the same thing, I couldn't imagine what that choice felt like. Good think Queen Bee was there!

hawkmoth really is insane huh? He's going harder and harder with each akuma. uuuuuugh can't this guy have a normal hobby like sports or cars or something why does he have to fight teenagers every day

ha, guess this proves even more marinette dupain cheng isn't fit to be ladybug, look how quick she was to give up her miraculous

i love this team. they all work well together and take it seriously. couldn't ask for better heroes to protect paris <3

How many more days do we have to go hearing about every little thing marinette dc does? I'm so tired of her just kill hawkmoth already so my timeline can go back to normal

I'm so so so glad everyone is all right from the akuma today. it was a close one. hope that the team can get to hawkmoth soon! @MarinetteDC you know your fans have your back!!

Though there were plenty of hate comments, saying that she shouldn't be Ladybug or how annoying she is, the good and supportive people definitely overpowered them. She was thankful for such a sweet fanbase, even if there is a bad apple every so often.

Finally, after about an hour of scrolling, she fell asleep. Tikki was even sure she saw a small smile on her face...those supportive comments really do affect her, and Tikki was glad to see Marinette appreciated.

---

@lady-of-the-roses-and-lilies @bookishserendipity03 @avatheexceed @gkz10 @coccinellegirl @kat-thatoneweirdo @strawberryblondish @snow-swordswoman @lilgaga98 @evufries

#Miraculous #mlb #ml #miraculous ladybug #ladybug #chat noir #marinette dupain-cheng #adrien agreste #alya cesaire #nino lahiffe #miraculous fanfic #fanfiction #lilly writes #adrien x marinette #adrien agreste x marinette dupain-cheng #marichat #adrienette #ladynoir #ladrien #A Recorded Life

[pandawritespoorly]

IFD 2020

Author’s Note: Here's something for IFD 2020. A commenter on With Time said I should write something when I brought it up. I wrote it quick and I haven't really reread it so I hope you enjoy!

Summary: An Akuma attack brings Ladybug and Chat Noir to the... AO3 Work Search page?

This akuma was… slightly different. It had only one goal: show Ladybug and Chat Noir ‘all their fans’.

Whatever that meant.

It only went after them. If a stray projectile went towards a civilian, then it would disappear before they were hit.

Inevitably, they were hit, appearing in an empty room that reminded Chat of pixelator. There was a large screen in front of them, a little taller than the teens. A gray rectangle with several search bars took up most of it. Being the nerds they were, they both recognized it.

“Hey, that’s the AO3 work search page!” Chat says first.

“Yeah…” Ladybug approaches cautiously. She puts her hand out, touching the screen and trying to scroll. Sure enough, the page moves, and they both watch as she goes through the page.

The ‘Fandoms’ bar is filled in, and the way it’s grayed out makes them guess they can’t change it.

“‘Miraculous Ladybug’?” Ladybug reads. “I know people write fanfics about us, but isn’t under like ‘Miraculous Heroes’ or something?”

“It’s actually, ‘Heroes of Paris’,” Chat corrects. Ladybug raises an eyebrow, and he blushes a little. “It’s not like I go above the T rating!”

Ladybug’s face goes red. “Oh, Kwami, I hadn’t even thought of that.” She hurriedly selects the ‘General Audiences’ rating. “Let’s think of the children.”

Chat nods, hitting ‘No Archive Warnings Apply’ and ‘Gen’ for her.

“I’m assuming the akuma just wants us to read some fanfics right?”

“Probably.” Chat shrugs. At the ‘Characters’ bar, Chat types in her name quickly using a keyboard that appears on the screen.

He’s focused on the keyboard, and doesn’t notice how Ladybug stares in shock at the suggested names.

“H-How?”

“You good, Bug?” Chat glances back at his partner, whose mouth is hanging open in surprise.

She doesn’t respond. He glances at the screen and sees the results.

“Oh.”

 Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug

Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug)

Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug)

Ladybug

Master Fu (Miraculous Ladybug)

Wayzz (Miraculous Ladybug)

Nooroo (Miraculous Ladybug)

 It went on for a few more lines, but Chat didn’t read all of it. He and Ladybug just stare for a few quiet moments.

“E-Even if they f-figured out… my identity… the Kwamis, and Master Fu….” Ladybug manages, doing her best to stay calm. “Do they know yours?”

“Do you want to know?”

She laughs, a hysterical edge to her voice. “I-I mean, why not?! At this point does secrecy even matter?! This-”

Chat cuts her off, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Maybe you should sit down.” She nods, sitting on the ground of their empty white whatever-this-is.

Typing in his hero name, Chat sees that, yes, his identity is right there.

 Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir

 “S-so. Adrien, huh?” Ladybug (Marinette), asks, oddly calm.

“Yep.”

“Maybe we should talk a-about this l-later.”

He nods, and she finally approaches the screen again. She hesitates, then types in the first word she thinks of into a different bar.

 Akuma Attack

Akuma Possession

Akumatized Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir

Akumatized Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug

Original Akuma

Akumatized Main Character(s)

Akuma Battle

 “Oh gosh, people want to see us akumatized? That would be a disaster!” Ladybug exclaims.

“Makes for a good story, I guess.” Chat types in a new word.

 Plagg Is So Done (Miraculous Ladybug)

Plagg is a Little Shit (Miraculous Ladybug)

Protective Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug)

Supportive Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug)

Plagg Cares (Miraculous Ladybug)

Plagg Appreciation Week

Plagg Being Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug)

Plagg Is a Troll (Miraculous Ladybug)

Parent Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug)

Cheesy Enough For Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug)

Poor Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug)

Plagg Swears (Miraculous Ladybug)

Plagg Loves Cheese (Miraculous Ladybug)

Unhelpful Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug)

Plagg Swears (Miraculous Ladybug)

Minor Plagg/Tikki

Plagg Ships It (Miraculous Ladybug)

 “Yeah, that sounds about right,” Chat grumbles.

Ladybug laughs. “Are two of them really about cheese?”

“I’m surprised it’s only two. I smell like camembert 24/7 for only two tags.”

“I think he sounds like a sweetheart.”

“Of course you do.”

She rolls her eyes, typing in her own Kwami’s name. A lot are similar to Plagg’s, but there are a few notable ones.

 Cat Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug)

Human Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug)

Cats Plagg and Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug)

Dog Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug)

 “I’m sorry what?” Ladybug frowns. “Do they not know she’s a ladybug?”

“They’re probably for AUs.”

She frowns, still not convinced. Chat decides to leave her to her gumbling, and types something else. Eventually they’re both distracted by looking through the tags for both of their best friends.

“What’s with them both being matchmakers? I’ve never noticed either of them getting any couple together?” Chat questions.

Ladybug coughs, choking on air. He looks at her in concern and she waves him off, recovering and hurriedly typing in her parent’s names.

“‘Sabine Cheng and Tom Dupain Know’? Know what, that I’m Ladybug?”

“I guess so?”

“Well I don’t think that they actually know. I hope.” Ladybug crosses her arms.

Chat looks slightly panicked. “Oh you don’t think my Father knows, do you?” He’s already typing it in.

 Hawk Moth is Gabriel Agreste

 He stares blankly, frozen.

“No.”

Looking to comfort him, Ladybug scans the suggestions quickly. “Well, hey, look this one says he isn’t Hawkmoth!”

They both know it’s weak, especially given that just about every tag lists him as the villain they’d been fighting with this whole time.

Chat hasn’t moved, and Ladybug goes to the ‘Character’ bar, looking to get some final clarification.

 Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth

 “No,” Chat whispers, shaking.

“Oh, Kitty. I’m so sorry.” Ladybug turns to him, worried.

“It’s n-not y-your fault.”

She opens up her arms, and he collapses into the hug.

She’s still holding him when the white fades away, and they’re back in Paris as if no time has passed.

Ladybug gently extracts herself from Chat, whispering for him to just take a moment to rest, and faces the akuma.

“Find anything interesting?” It chirps, looking far too proud of itself.

She doesn’t respond. This is the akuma that forced her partner to find out the worst possible thing in an awful way.

It’s going down.

---

Author’s Note: Wow, today is not a good day for Adriens written by me, huh? Maybe I can post something else soon that's fluffier. Just need to get that ending worked out.

#miraculous ladybug #ladybug #chat noir #akuma attack #international fanworks day 2020 #ifd2020 #sadrien #protective ladybug #ifdrabble #identity reveal #hawkmoth reveal #poor baby #meta #characters reading fanfiction about themselves #or just tags i guess #fanfic #🐼✏️

[crazyrandomfucker]

Hero Apprentice Twins 3

Chapter 3:  Stormy weather

Summary:

This akuma in particular is very similar to canon, but instead of summer it's October, the whole twin thing going on and some love parallels of later akumas.

----------------------------------

-At the Dupain-Cheng living room-

"Manon! Mina! Give Marin those hats back!" says Marinette chasing two little girls across the living room.

"But we want to be designers too" says Mina dodging Marinette again.

"Those aren't finished!" says Marin trying to catch Mina but failing again.

"Please girls! Marin needs to finish those! He should be working and not chasing you two!" says Marinette as she hits her head against the table.

"And remember, press 1# for Aurore and Aria and press 2# for Mirielle and Miriam" says the TV presenter.

"Mirielle! I love Mirielle!" says Mina grabbing Marin's phone and sending a message to the TV station.

"I love Miriam" says Manon grabbing Mari's phone and copying her sister.

"Hey!" say the designers at unison.

"I forgot today was the weather girls competition, Aurore mentioned it if I'm not wrong" says Marinette.

"You know Mirielle and Miriam?" ask the little girls.

"Well, we were classmates once" says Marinette.

"Yeah, but they are really timid. We know better Aurore and Aria" points Marin.

"Can you present us to them?" say the girls with puppy eyes.

"Well... I-" says Marinette trying to resist the puppy eyes.

"We can't unless they want to" says Marin as he catches the hats.

"But we-!" begins Mina, but the doorbell rings.

Marin opens the door and the Césaire twins are standing there. "Hey man, you busy?" says Alen.

"A little bird told us that your crushes are doing a photoshoot in the park" says Alya smirking.

"It's not a crush!" says Marinette blushing.

"I don't have a crush Alya. Besides, we're both working" says Marin.

"Another request from your crush boss or is it from THE boss?" asks Alen.

"First, only god knows how many times I've told you that I'm not crushing on Adrienne" says Marin. "Second, I have a request from Gabriel to make a hat for Adrienne's Halloween costume, which I have already finished".

"Thanks god, because I think that I DO have a crush on her, lucky me I won't have competition. Let's go see her" says Alen.

"Yeah, no. Also, me being the only competition? Are her model friends and army of fans not enough competition for you?" says sassily Marin.

"Man, you're the only one I'm afraid to lose to. You've got it all: baked goods, baked looks and baked talent" teases Alen.

"Bro, stop it with those half-baked puns. Besides, you're more handsome than I am" says Marin.

"Shut up you two and kiss already. What are you working on Marinette?" asks Alya curious.

"I'm babysitting the daughters of my mom's friend. They are... Little precious angels" says Marinette. Mina and Manon appear from behind Marinette.

"Well, luckily for you, we're experts in dealing with little precious angels and we know that a walk in the park can help to tire them" says Alya.

"And what a better opportunity to show your progress on the hat to the one who is going to wear it?" says Alen winking to Marin. "Besides, taking a break is necessary when working and I want to see her but I'm not going without my bro".

Marin sighs. "Okey, I'll go  with you scaredy cat, but you owe me".

"Wait, who are them?" ask Mina and Manon.

"We?" asks Alen smiling.

"We are unicorns from the magical planet Wualulu trapped in the bodies of these two gorgeous teens" says Alya getting down.

"No you're not" says Manon laughing, but then she doubts. "Are you?"

"Do you grant wishes?" ask Mina excited.

"We only grant wishes to well-behaved children and we eat bad-behaved ones. What are you little monkeys?" says Alen.

"I don't know, they sometimes do behave" says Marinette smiling.

"We'll behave!" say both little girls.

"Then let's ride to the park!" says Alya as she and Alen put Manon and Mina in Marin's and Marinette's shoulders.

-At the Kidz+ TV station-

"Now it's time to announce the winners of the Kidz+ weather twins contest!" says the TV presenter. "And the winners are... Mirielle and Miriam! Congratulations you two! And don't be sad Aurore and Aria, you've only lost for..." says as he looks at the paper. "Half a million votes! Yikes, better luck next time!"

Aurore and Aria leave the studio furious and they enter the elevator. "We should have won! We are more cute, more confident and we're dressed a lot better!"

Without the girls noticing it, two dark butterflies enter to the elevator and the elevator stops. The girls, surprised, turn around and see the akumas approaching them just as the elevator lights began to fail. In a desperate attempt of defending themselves, Aurore and Aria fence their umbrellas trying to scare away the butterflies, but as soon as the umbrellas touch the cursed butterflies, they turn to a very dark purple and a light purple butterfly symbol appears on Aria's and Aurore's faces.

"Hello Stormy Weather and Hail Queen. I am Hawk Moth. You should have won that contest but worry not, you can be my weather girls. In exchange, I want you to bring me the miraculous".

"With pleasure Hawk Moth" say the girls and a dark blob covers them.

-At the park-

Adrien and Adrienne are sitting on a fountain with the new winter line their father was releasing in weeks and posing for their Italian photographer, Vincent, when they notice four familiar people coming into the park. Adrienne's face lights when she sees Alen and Alya, but then her expression turns into a strange mix of blush and confusion when she notices that Marin and Marinette are carrying kids on their backs. Adrien also brightens up when he sees the Césaire twins, but then he looks confused because of the little girl on Mari's shoulders, and finally his gaze turns bitter as he glares Marin, who returns him a similar glare. While Adrien now understood better Marin thanks to the little chat with Adrienne some weeks ago, he still didn't trust him because of his odd behaviour around Adrien. Now that he thought about it, Adrien finds weird that both Dupain-Cheng twins behave different only around him.

"Oh no. No no no no no. Don't put hat face. Cheer up, think of Mamma's spaghetti" says Vincent.

The models remember that they still are on a shoot and they regain focus again, putting on a model facade and fake perfect smiles for the cameras. Even so, after twenty or so pictures it gets really boring and the Agreste can't help but to lose their focus. Then, as the expert photographer he is, Vincent notices the boredom of his models and gives them a little break as he searches for something to spice the photoshoot up a bit. The models happily wave at their friends and Marinette waves at Adrien with a dumbfounded expression until Alya hits her softly on her back, making Mari regain some composure. However, Alen just begins to tease Marin about him having a crush on Adrienne (again) and the designer just rolls his eyes. Adrienne goes to the girls and pulls them into a hug while Adrien just shakes Alen hand and holds a kind of staring competition with Marin. Noticing that, Vincent comes up with an idea and, while Mina and Manon beg to the designers to go and play with them until they resign and accept, he approaches the young models and carefully scans the Césaire twins, nodding in approvement.

"Friends! Some emotions are lacking on the young models and what is better than some friends to bring out great emotions than friends" exclaims Vincent without making much sense. "Are you two interested on being in a photoshoot with the young Agreste's?"

"Uh, us?" asks brilliantly Alen.

"I'm sorry sir, but we're horrible picture material" says Alya with a smug grin. "But our friends Marin and Marinette who are over there would be an excellent choice".

Adrienne blushes and Adrien frowns. " But aren't they busy with... those kids?" asks Adrien.

"Don't worry sunshine, we could take care of the little angels if that brings out your model smile" says Alya winking.

"Yeah, imagine making the shoot with sweet old Marinette, she's really cute and hey, maybe she could give you a treat or two as a thanks later" says Alen as he and Adrien gawk thinking on food.

"Idiots" say Alya and Adrienne deadpanned.

"Wait a moment! Those beauties, those cute little features!" says Vincent. "Forget about friends, those two little girls would bring out the excellent adorableness that we need for the picture!"

"What?!" exclaim the teens together, backing away.

"Excuse me! Young sitters!" says Vincent ignoring the surprised teens. "Would it be okay if I borrowed those two cuties for a photoshoot?"

"Uh- I-" stutters Mari unsure of how to react.

"I'm sorry sir, but unless their parents’ consent, I'm afraid we can't" says Marin diligently.

"Of course, that's understandable. Could you perhaps ask their parents?" asks Vincent.

"It would be difficult; we don't have their father's phone number and their mother is currently working. I'll try to send her a message, but I can't assure she'll answer" says Marin and sends a message to Nadja.

"Thank you for being so understanding young man. May I know your name?" says Vincent, examining Marin's clothes.

"I'm Marin Dupain-Cheng and this is my sister Marinette. The girls are Mina and Manon" says Marin.

"Oh, I see you've met already Marin" says Adrienne. She puts on a proud expression. "He's my personal designer and my father has taken interest in him. You will probably work with him in the future, he and Marinette are both really talented".

"We're not that talented" says Marin blushing a bit and rubbing his neck.

"Is that so? Then it's my pleasure to meet you" says Vincent.

"Likewi- Oh, Nadja answered. She says that it's fine as long as there aren't many photos and they are revised by her before using them" says Marin.

"Wait, Nadja?" asks Adrienne confused. "As in Nadja Chamack? The reporter?"

"Yes, she is mom's old friend and we sometimes babysit her daughters while she works" says Marinette sheepishly.

"Anyway, let's just simply finish the break and take the pictures" says Vincent, but Manon stops Mari.

"But I still want to ride the carrousel!" says Manon making puppy eyes.

"Sir, couldn't we have an extended break, we'll be in better shape later" asks Adrienne succumbing into the puppy eyes.

"Fine, but I'll expect only the best afterwards" says Vincent resigning.

"We'll ride the carrousel with them, we already have kept Adrien and Adrienne for ourselves" says Alya as she and Alen pick up the toddlers with smug faces.

"Alya, I love you, but I hate you so much right now" thinks Marinette. Then she notices Adrien approaching and her mind disconnects.

"Hello Marinette, what are you doing here?" says Adrien.

"I- We- Uh- We are Nadja babysitting- I mean, we're daughters Nadja- I mean-" stutters Marinette before Adrienne puts a hand on her shoulder.

"They are babysitting the daughters of Nadja Chamack" explains Adrienne.

"Really? Wow Marinette, I didn't know you were a babysitter" says Adrien impressed.

"I-I'm not really a ba-babysitter. I-I-I've just taken c-ca-care of them and N-Nino's yo-younger brothers" mumbles Marinette awkwardly as she plays with her fingers.

"I see..." says Adrien looking down, remembering what had happened some weeks ago on her rooftop.

"A-Are you o-o-ok Adrien" says Marinette noticing it.

"I'm fine, don't worry" says Adrien gloomy, getting a soft pinch from Adrienne.

"Hey, Marin! The girls want a balloon of Mirielle and Miriam!" says Alen and Marin goes to buy them mumbling something.

"What are you doing here by the way?" asks Adrien.

As Marinette opens her mouth to reply that he is obviously not fine, two akumas descend from the sky. When they see the balloon guy only selling  Miriam's and Mirielle's balloons, they get mad and Hail Queen freezes the poor guy. Marin, who was already back with Mari from giving the balloons to the girls, instinctively puts himself in front of Marinette, Adrien and Adrienne to protect them. Adrien is surprised by that and doesn't have time to react, but Adrienne blushes and mentally fawns over Marin. But unluckily, the akuma notice them and approach, freezing the Agreste's bodyguards who tried to immobilize them.

"Wait, those umbrellas, those faces... Aurore! Aria!" jumps Marinette before she can stop herself.

"Aria and Aurore are gone Marinette. We are Hail Queen and Stormy Weather!" says Stormy Weather.

"And look who do we have here, Agreste twins and Dupain-Cheng twins. Tell me, who did you vote at the contest?" says Hail Queen getting close to them.

"You two of course, I stopped from working just to cheer you two from home" lies Marin.

"I also vote you two" says Marinette quickly.

"Yeah, so did us. We even told our photographer, Vincent" says Adrien.

"We voted Mirielle and Miriam" say Manon and Mina, oblivious to the danger.

Hail Queen freezes the carrousel, trapping inside the little girls with Alen and Alya, and Stormy weather unleashes a storm that covers all of Paris. Adrien takes Adrienne and goes to the limo, letting both of them transform privately and go to their bags to find their kwamis, who were mysteriously gone until the models pull out a piece of cheese. The black kwamis appear and try to bite it, but the models call upon their transformation. Once they have suited up, they exit the limo using the opposite door to avoid suspicion.

Marin and Marinette, on the contrary, rush to the now frozen carrousel to check on their friends and the little girls. Alya and Alen reassure that they are okay and rush the designers to take cover as soon as they can. After promising their return, the designer duo run to the nearest bushes and check that no one could see them transforming. Their kwamis smile knowingly and the designers call upon their transformation, changing into their superheroes personas.

"We have to save them" says Ladybug.

"Agreed" responds Lordbug already leaping and landing near the carrousel.

"Lordbug! Man you need to call your sister and get us out of here" says Alen.

"No need to call me" says Ladybug landing. "I'm already here. I was just talking with two teens who begged us to save you. I recall their names are Marinette and Marin".

"Those are our friends!" says Alya excited.

"Have they abandoned us?" asks Manon and Mina.

"Of course not, they went for help, like us or the firemen" says Lordbug.

"Come on brother, let's try to break this igloo" says Ladybug backing off.

The red clad heroes throw simultaneously their yoyos in opposite directions, rolling them up around the iced carrousel, and pull to break the ice but the yoyos slip away without leaving even a scratch, but landing on the heroes foreheads. Meanwhile, Stormy Weather keeps shooting lightnings to the Mirielle's and Miriam's balloon and Hail Queen keeps shooting big ice chunks at them. People panic and everybody tries to run away, but the akumas chase a couple out of the park and they prepare to shoot once again, until a certain black cat appears on top of the park's fence that is in front of them. Then, Kitty Noir jumps behind them, cutting a possible escape path and thus creating a pincer attack pattern.

"Hey ice queens, why all the terrorizing?" says Kitty Noire moving her tail.

"Why don't you pick someone your own temperature?" says Chat smiling smugly.

"Our names it's not ice queen!" says angered Stormy Weather.

"We are Hail Queen and Stormy weather!" says Hail Queen with an angered but cold tone.

"Listen. I'm feline more generous today than usual" says Chat Noir as he slowly slithers down the fence while playing with his tail. "So cool down and we'll call it quits, okay?"

"Come on, don't give us the cold shoulder and surrender" says Kitty grinning.

The akumas give them a dead stare and Stormy Weather opens her umbrella evoking a gust of wind that sends Chat Noir flying across Paris, who lands on a car and, due to the strength of the impact, bounces to another car and bounces back again. Luckily for him, their superhero magical costume absorbs most of the hits they take, which if you combine it with the strength boost they had, the damage was almost non-existent, but they still felt that they were hit. To avenge her brother Kitty jumps to the akumas, but Hail Queen opens her umbrella and Kitty is tossed to the sky. When she's about to crash to the floor at the speed of sound, Stormy Weather opens again her umbrella and sends her flying in the same direction as her brother. However, before she hits the floor Lordbug catches her on his arms as he swings by. He lands and lets her down by herself, just as Ladybug lands next to them.

"And here I thought that cats always landed on their feet" says Ladybug amused, helping Chat to stand up.

"Well, thanks my Lady and my Lord, but we had it covered" says Chat leaning to kiss Ladybug's hand, but she boops his nose pushing him softly backwards.

"There's no time for your childish charms Chat Noir, but you're welcome" says Ladybug.

"We have some akumas to beat!" says Kitty Noire.

"We should be expecting lighting storms like, right now!" says Stormy Weather as she and Hail Queen descend. She lifts her umbrella and shots a lightning to the sky, which gets stormy and begins to roar with thunders.

Lightnings fall straight to the cat heroes and the bugs tackle them just before the lightnings strike them, rolling and ending with the bugs on the floor and the cats pinning them down. Chat Noir is surprised and smiles sheepishly as he rejoices internally for the unusual luck, but Ladybug deadpans and push his head towards the akumas to make him focus again, unimpressed by Chat's behaviour. Meanwhile, Lordbug thanks the gods for the amazing view he's getting to see, with Kitty pinning him down and her hair all down kind of blocking everything except her. Kitty at first is surprised, but in a moment of smugness, she pulls her hair back and smirks at Lordbug, making him fluster.

"Enjoying the views, my Lord?" says Kitty Noire with a wink.

"W-We sh-should foc-c-cus on the a-akuma f-fi-first, m-my Dame" stutters Lordbug being a blushy mess.

"Come on sis, those akumas have just won themselves a cat fight!" says Chat getting up and charging towards the akumas.

"Flat ice!" says Hail Queen smiling as she points to the floor and covers almost the whole street in ice.

Chat slips and falls, but before he hits the ground, Stormy Weather opens her umbrella, summoning a gust of wind that sends the heroes away. Ladybug and Lordbug react quickly and grab the nearest fixed objects, which resulted to be post lamps. The cats aren't that lucky, but Ladybug manages to catch Kitty Noire's tail and pulls her closer so she doesn't slip away. Lordbug doesn't catch Chat Noir at first, but he somehow gets a firm grip of his yoyo and throws it to Chat, getting the yoyo stuck on Chat's belt and pulling him closer. Then, Stormy Weather closes her umbrella and the wind disappears leaving the heroes mid-air, who fall to the ground and get up complaining. The akumas ignore the superheroes recovering from their fall and turn around to continue their march surrounded by a gust of wind that spun around them, pushing back cars and anything that came near them in a five meters radium. A broken electronic billboard lights up and shows an image of Mirielle and Miriam, catching the akumas attention. Hail Queen and Stormy Weather share a look as if they were mentally speaking to each other and destroy the billboard before heading to the TV station with a devilish grin on their faces.

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#miraculous ladybug #miraculous au #Twins!Au #hero apprentices twins