thewanderersminuet - Tumblr blog

thewanderersminuet · 2 months

Text

Dear lover this is the last time

Rating: T

Relationship:Toxigriffe/Marigriffe

Tags: Paris Special, reverse crush, light angst, rated T for cursing

Summary:

Try as she might, Marinette hasn't been able to get Griffe Noire out of her head. That's why it's such a shock when he turns up on her balcony.

I wrote the first work in this series in a daze of inspiration and had originally planned to just leave it at that. A lot of people wanted more, and when I saw that day 1 of @marinettemarch was Shadybug I realized I had to write this as a follow up. (Even if she's not Toxinelle through most of this.) This is a sequel, while I would reccomend reading the first work in this series, if you haven't the main takeaway is that Toxigriffe got their own umbrella moment and now Marinette is down bad.

Thank you so much to @ladyofthenoodle for looking this over for me. The title is from the same song as the first work.

[Previous work]

[Read on AO3]

The noise of spray paint filled Toxinelle's ears. Another boring day of looking for leads to the hole Hesperia crawled into. Another boring day of coming up empty handed. Toxinelle found it hard to complain however; she was too busy being transfixed on Griffe's goofy grin as he spray painted a cat on the wall.

She was only a split second too late to look away when he turned back to her.

“Admiring the view?” He waggled his eyebrows at her and struck an exaggerated pose.

Her heart beat hard in her chest. This time it wasn't her embarrassingly huge crush, but fear. She had to remind herself that the feeling of bugs crawling up and down her arms was just in her head.

Deny, deny deny.

“I was just thinking about how stupid you looked with paint on your face.” Somehow her voice managed to come out even despite her panic.

His face twisted comically into shock. He pulled out his baton to use as a mirror to see his face. The paint was on the cheek that had been faced away from her, she didn't see it until he turned to her. She hoped he didn't notice.

He grinned as he placed his hand at his chin and examined himself. It was so goofy and Toxinelle wanted to scream when she realized she found it cute.

“I don't know,” He said, putting his baton away and shooting her a shit-eating grin. “I think I look awfully char-meow-ing myself. Maybe you're just projecting, Cockroach.”

“Whatever.” She wrapped her arms protectively around herself and turned away from him.

It was fine. She'd been called worse. Besides, she'd been the one to start the insults.

Still, she couldn't help but wish he wouldn't take to their back and forth with such glee.

She let out a frustrated sigh and pulled her yo-yo out.

“Leaving so soon?” He said.

She couldn't decide if she wanted to punch that grin off his face or kiss it.

“Sorry, watching you paint cats that look like they need to be put down is not exactly my idea of fun.” She turned her burning face away from him before he could accuse her of being the liar that she was.

“Suit yourself.” He said.

The sound of spray paint filled her ears once more. Somehow, that hurt more than any of his insults.

*******************************************************

Marinette dropped from her skylight and onto her bed. As soon as she dropped her transformation she buried her face in her pillow. She couldn't bear to see the pity she knew would be in Tikki's eyes. The supreme had told her that the kwami was nothing more than a means to an end. An object to allow her to transform. Despite this, sometimes Marinette swore she could see Tikki looking at her with genuine care.

She hated it .

It made her feel too raw, too vulnerable. It was too close to everything she really wanted. The fact that Tikki, by all rights, should hate her only made it worse.

Marinette rolled over onto her side and wrapped her arms around herself protectively. Her thoughts drifted to Griffe Noire and that day they’d eaten snacks under his umbrella.

The Supreme had made it clear, although they were to work together, only one of them would be spared once the missing Miraculous were retrieved. Griffe had no reason to show her the kindness he did that day.

...but that stupid cat did, and now she couldn't get him out of her head.

It drove her crazy. It was stupid that she was secretly excited to drop everything to fight one of Hesperia's champions just because it meant she would get to see him. It was annoying that she could hear his stupid jokes playing in her head when he wasn't around. She hated the hours she wasted fantasizing about another life, with hamsters, cats, and a boy who's name she didn't know.

Marinette clutched a pillow to her chest. It hurt. It hurt that she would never know what he was like outside of the mask. What his normal life was like. That her fantasy would only ever be a fantasy. Even without their Miraculous slowly killing them, she knew Griffe would never see her that way.

There were some days that she caught glimpses of the Griffe she saw in that alley. On patrols where everything would melt away and they could just laugh and enjoy each others company. She would eat up every crumb as if it was the only thing keeping her from starving.

...but most days weren't like that. Most days they argued and bickered. Most days she couldn't help but pick at her stitches.

Griffe was an easy target. Especially when he gave it right back.

A small weight settled on her arm. Marinette turned to find Tikki, her blue eyes wide and filled with exactly what she didn't want to see. Her eyes burned.

She was not going to cry.

Marinette sat up, pointedly avoiding Tikki's gaze.

Air. Air would be good.

Climbing onto her balcony, Marinette felt nothing but relief when she felt the cool night air hit her face. She leaned against the railing and let out a sigh.

Only to be interrupted by the sound of a flower pot falling over and shattering.

“Fuck.”

Marinette recognized that voice long before she whipped around to see who her intruder was. Griffe was frozen next to her murdered pothos.

“Please don't freak out.” Griffe lifted his hands placatingly.

Marinette didn't say anything. She had no idea how to react in this situation. Maybe she should have acted scared to protect her identity, but she was stuck between being pissed at him for breaking her plants, and being giddy at the sight of him on /her/ balcony.

Instead, she crossed her arms and stared back at him.

“Wow.” Griffe said breathlessly. “Most people freak out when they see us.”

“I'm not most people.” Marinette said flatly.

“You're not are you?” Griffe had a look on his face that Marinette had never seen before.

“Wh-what are you doing here?” Marinette desperately tried to keep her voice even despite her nerves.

Griffe perked up and instantly started looking around for something at his feet. Upon finding what he was looking for, he bent to grab it before presenting it to her.

A single red rose.

...That was slightly crushed. The stem was slightly bent and a petal fell off as they both stared at it.

“Uh... sorry about that-” He scratched the back of his neck.

“What's this?” Marinette could barely hear her own words over the way her heart threatened to beat out of her chest.

“It's for you!” A goofy grin spread across his face until he seemed to catch himself. He coughed and straightened up before holding the rose out to her again.

Briefly, Marinette wondered if she was dreaming. It made no sense for Griffe to be bringing Marinette a flower. He didn't even know her. She hesitantly reached out to take it. As if everything might dissolve away the second she made contact.

To her surprise, the world stayed intact as she brought the rose up to her face to sniff it. With nothing else to do with it, she tucked the stem behind her ear. Looking back at Griffe, she was surprised to see a soft smile splitting across his features.

“You don't even know me.” She whispered.

“Well..” Griffe rubbed the back of his neck. “I know you're too cool to be afraid of The Griffe Noire. I think that's enough to merit a flower, don't you?”

“I wouldn't know.” Marinette wrapped her arms around herself and avoided his gaze. Silence fell between them. It seemed even Griffe was left with nothing to say for once.

“Hey, uh…” Griffe spoke up. “How do you feel about ice cream?”

“Ice cream?” Marinette swung her head back towards him.

“Yeah, we could go get some. My treat.” Griffe grinned and held a hand out for her. “I bet you've never traveled by stick before.”

Marinette eyed the baton on his back warily. He was right, and she wondered how strange it would feel to travel his way for once.

She turned her attention to his outstretched hand. Part of her screamed to run back inside. Pretend this never happened. He had no reason to be inviting her out, what if it was a trap? Or some elaborate prank?

Her eyes drifted back up to meet his own. As soon as they did he averted his gaze and Marinette swore she could see a tinge of pink stain his cheeks.

It was too hard to say no.

A smile spread across her face as she took his hand. Her stomach fluttered with butterflies as she watched his face mirror her own. He pulled her closer and wrapped one arm around her waist. Every point where their bodies made contact felt like it was on fire, and Marinette never wanted it to stop.

“Hold on tight.” He whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

She was right. It was a completely different feeling to travel over the city in Griffe's arms then via yo-yo. For a moment, she wondered if things had been different if this would be more common. Griffe helping her when there was nothing for her yo-yo to grab onto. Her swooping in to grab Griffe and pull him out of danger at the last moment.

Griffe sat her on his lap and extended his baton high above the city. From here she could see the city lights stretching for what seemed like forever. She took a moment to drink it all in. Despite having seen such sights as Toxinelle before, she was certain she'd never get used to it.

Marinette turned back to Griffe, but whatever she had planned to say died in her throat when she noticed him looking at her. His eyes widened comically. Her own cheeks burned and she quickly looked back down to the streets below them.

“Ice cream?” She squeaked out.

“O-of course. Uh…” She more felt then saw his head swiveling around, looking for his destination. “There!”

He tightened his grip on her and took off fast enough to make her head spin. When they eventually landed, Griffe gently let her down. Marinette quickly realized where they were when she saw the ice cream cart.

“Andre?” Marinette turned to look at Griffe in surprise. This wasn't just any ice cream.

Griffe jumped and averted his gaze. He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Shall we?” He gave her a nervous smile and once again, Marinette was struck by seeing this side of him.

She took his hand and lead the way. He squeezed her hand as she pulled them to the end of the line. For a moment, everything was strangely normal. Just another couple in line for sweethearts ice cream.

Until the couple in front of them looked back.

They screamed. Soon everyone else in line was screaming and running. Griffe and Marinette looked at each other and shrugged.

“Looks like they're letting us go first.” Griffe flashed her a grin.

“How kind of them.” Marinette couldn't help but return his grin.

Andre was rushing to try to pack up his own cart. Marinette found it absurd that he could be that scared of Griffe and still take his time to try and save his cart.

“Hey! Where are you going?” Griffe put a hand on the cart to keep him from fleeing. “All we want is some ice cream.”

“B-b-b-b-b-b-but- My ice cream is for-” Andre glanced at Marinette and she found herself wondering what he thought was going on. “-for lovers!”

“And? What's the problem?” Griffe asked.

Andre didn't answer. He just looked between them as if that'd tell him what to do.

Marinette caught a familiar grin spreading across Griffe's face. She crossed her arms and took a step back.

Griffe called on his cataclysm and hovered it over the cart.

“One ice cream cone and nothing has to be broken tonight.”

A few minutes later and they were walking down the bank of the Seine, looking for a private place to stop and eat. Griffe carried their cone in one hand. It was raspberry and mint. Marinette was pretty sure the raspberry had to be for her, but the mint confused her. Sure, Griffe had green hair, but it was a lot darker then the color of mint. She wondered if he was just as confused about where the red came from.

“Have you ever had this ice cream before?” He asked.

“No.”

“I'm surprised.” He said. “You seem like the kind of girl to have everyone clamoring to buy her ice cream.”

Marinette scoffed. What kind of impression did he have of her? “Not really, no.”

Another uncomfortable silence fell between them. Marinette pretended the billboards were suddenly very interesting.

At least a Gabriel ad caught her eye.

She let out a groan. Of course it had Adrien Agreste on it. Did they even have any other models?

Griffe stopped and followed her line of sight. Once he caught sight of what she was groaning at he froze.

“Wh-what's the problem?”

“It’s-” Marinette hesitated, unsure if she wanted to get into it. “It’s the model in that ad.”

“Not a fan?” Griffe's tail lashed behind him.

“It's a long story.”

“I have time.”

Marinette looked at him, but he refused to meet her gaze, instead focusing on the ice cream. She sighed.

“Chloé Bourgeois was in the bakery the other day. She had a friend with her.” She gestured over her shoulder to the billboard. “She was bragging about being friends with super famous, super handsome model Adrien Agreste. They were being rude to our other customers so I had to kick them out.”

Griffe quickly turned to look at her. “Both of them?”

Marinette blinked, unsure where he was going with this.

“I mean, they were together.”

“But—” Griffe tapped his foot. “What makes you so sure he was acting like that too?”

“I—” She was thoroughly confused now. It's not like Griffe had been there. Why did he care anyway? “Yeah, sure. I guess technically Chloe was the only one causing problems but… he's her friend. I have no reason to believe he's any different.”

Griffe went silent again. He wouldn't even look at her. Marinette started to wonder if she did something wrong, but she couldn't figure out what.

Maybe coming out was a mistake.

“I— I should go.” She started to step away, only for him to reach out and grab her wrist.

“Wait. don't go— uh…” He frowned and suddenly it hit her.

“You don't know my name do you?” She asked.

“I-” He let go of her and used that hand to rub the back of his neck. “You never gave it to me.”

“How many times have you had sweethearts’ ice cream before?” She wrapped her arms around herself and looked away.

Maybe she wasn't being very fair. But it hurt. It hurt to know that he would bring a stranger out to get ice cream with him, but never Toxinelle.

“N-never!” He said quickly. “Maybe we should start over!” He struck a goofy pose. “My name is Griffe Noire! What's yours?”

She considered telling him. Telling him and pretending this conversation never happened. Pretend he actually cared about her.

Instead, she shook her head.

“Goodbye, Kitty.”

She shoved her hands in her pockets and took off. Leaving him alone with their untouched ice cream.

#miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #toxigriffe #toxinelle #griffe noire

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