#Protective Alya

[knifedancer]

Love At First Sight - Main Story

Marinette is hit by an akuma on her way to school one morning. At first, she doesn't feel any different but a few classmates seem to be acting strangely after meeting her eyes. Realizing the dire situation she's in, she gives the Ladybug miraculous to Alya and hides herself until the cure can be cast. However Felix finds her huddled under a desk and he seems to be immune to the effects of the akuma...why?

This is posted on AO3, it can be found here! Silly Thoughts

Bonus, Sorta

*******

Huddled beneath a desk in an empty classroom, terrified and miracu-less while an akuma ran amok outside, Marinette would not count this as one of her better moments…but desperation was sometimes a powerful source of inspiration. Desperation born from that same akuma, which appeared on her way to school and hit her before she could even transform. And that wasn’t even the worst part!

What could be worse? Good question.

Marinette could think of several ideas but, right now, she really could only focus on trying to calm her panicked breathing and nurse her sprained wrist. She had created a sling with the ripped remnants of her jacket as soon as she hid here from her pursuers.

Why was she here instead of out in the fight? Wait– pursuers?!

Well, it’s a long story…

~~~

Like any typical Thursday, Marinette awoke late and rushed to get ready before stumbling out of the bakery to head towards the school. She had thrown on her new pink circle skirt – which she hemmed to stop a flirty few centimeters above her knees – since her capris were in the wash, which ultimately made getting ready faster. Perhaps, if she weren’t so sleepy from a late-night working on commissions and sewing projects, the bluenette would have noticed that there were far more cars and people in the street than usual. She would have taken more than a precursory glance at the sheer amount of people chasing others around and fighting over each other. Maybe she would have reacted a little faster when the initial chill went down her spine hearing a singsong voice soliloquizing behind her.

“Guillaume said he didn’t believe in love at first sight; that it seldom happens that you can plan your whole future just by looking at someone in the eyes. I’ll show him!”

Marinette, suddenly wide awake and on high alert, spun to face the oncoming threat with a clenched fist. In the middle of the street stood a lone figure draped in a Juliet styled dress of red and white, decorated with gold floral embroidery. A violet gauzy Grecian drape seemed to attach at the shoulders and flared back behind her, the train forming a torn heart on the ground. The long slit up one side of the skirt revealed smooth lavender colored skin from hip to bare foot with each purposeful step. A circlet of gold arrows formed a dangerous looking crown that rested upon her upswept ebony black hair. However, what the secret heroine was most terrified of was the long bullwhip the akuma had stretched between her hands.

Red, heart-shaped irises locked onto the young designer on the street corner. The chill was suddenly replaced with dread as an unnatural grin split the akuma’s face, “You believe in love at first sight, don’t you, chérie? Haha, if not, you soon will!”

‘Not good, not good,’ the girl thought as her eyes scanned for an escape route. Marinette was within sight of the school – in fact she could hear the tardy bell ringing right now! She could take shelter there and transform in the locker room!

Armed with a plan and with only seconds to spare, she proceeded to bolt down the sidewalk as the akuma’s whip cracked on her heels; barely missing the teen and causing the akuma to growl with frustration. The pink clad girl rounded the curve and began bolting up the front stairs, only to trip on the top step when she glanced back to gauge the distance between them. She scrambled to get up on bloodied knees, but it was too late. The akuma’s whip landed a solid blow to her left leg and Marinette screamed as the searing hot pain coursed up her body from the point of impact. A blinding ache seemed to settle behind her eyes like a migraine before vanishing completely. By the time the bluenette recovered, the akuma had gone – her distant cackle echoing in the noisy Parisian streets.

“I don’t feel any different,” Marinette muttered to herself as she looked down at her hands and felt around for wounds. Besides the bloodied scuffs on her knees and light scratches to the palms of her hands from the fall, there was no mark from where the akuma hit her. “I’m not under mind control or changed into anything odd...” The designer got up with a wince and limped into the doorway. Too preoccupied with brushing the bits of dirt off her knees as she glanced back towards the street, she failed to notice a person leaving the locker room and bumped right into them. She soon found herself back on the ground again. “Oh gods, I’m so sorr—"

“Being as clumsy as ever, huh, Maritrash?” An unpleasant voice sneered down at her.

Marinette looked up and met the glaring eyes of the one person she really couldn't stand: Lila Rossi.

“Look, Lila, I didn’t see you there so it’s not like I did it on purpose!”

“Oh…,” was all the school’s liar could say in reply. Marinette noticed her olive-green eyes widened and took on a pink sheen before returning to their normal coloration. Lila’s look softened and she helped Marinette to her feet with a sweet smile, her voice becoming as smooth as honey. “Did you do something new with your hair today? It really glows in the sun. Perhaps you could tell me all about your beauty routine…”

Freaked out by the sudden change of character and filled with suspicion, the bluenette took a few steps back. “What? What ploy or lie is it this time, Lila?”

“Ploy? Oh, nothing… I just suddenly realized how beautiful you look and wanted to tell you,” the Italian shyly replied. “Oh goodness! You’re bleeding! Here, let me carry your books for you…”

Marinette jumped back, her eyes narrowing as she tried to figure out what Lila’s plan was. The sausage haired teen continued to advance and grabbing at her backpack straps as they circled each other. ‘I need to go transform; I don’t have time for this!’ the heroine thought with irritation.

Suddenly a long shadow cast over the entryway and both girls looked up to see Lê Chiến Kim curiously watching them as he stood there holding a doctor’s note in his fist. However, once his eyes met Marinette’s, the athlete’s mouth dropped open in a silent ‘oh…’ and his eyes also took on a quick pink sheen.

“Dang, Mari, have you been working out? You look really great today!” The taller boy smiled and approached them.

“Uhh….no…” she replied stiffly as Lila took that moment of distraction to latch on to her arm. Marinette glanced at the Italian, who seemed to be glaring at Kim as she began to pull the designer in the opposite direction. “Lila, what are you—let go!”

“Hey, Rossi, you heard the hottie with the body. Let her go,” growled the Vietnamese boy, “or I’ll make you.”

The hallway fell silent as they glared at each other, time seemed to slow to an agonizing crawl. Suddenly Kim dropped into a three-point stance and leveled his intense gaze on them. Without warning, he launched himself forward – remaining low to the ground as he charged – and scooped a screaming Marinette over his shoulder as he sprinted further into the school. Lila attempted to tighten her grasp, but it was only successful at ripping the other girl’s sleeve at the shoulder seam. Marinette felt her friend bolting up the central stairs two at a time while Lila let out an unholy screech from the floor below. ‘Is this caused by the akuma? Was looking at me the trigger?’ Marinette thought warily as she jostled on the jock’s shoulder.

Kim finally slid to a stop and set her on her feet again right in front of the classroom. He opened the door for her and had the expectant face of a puppy looking for praise. “Um, thank you…,” Marinette mumbled before proceeding into class, she would have to ask to go to the bathroom so she could transform. That’s when Kim’s arm snaked around her waist and pulled her to his side, she looked at him in shock at his boldness. “Wha-what are you…” the bluenette began to ask when Chloe approached.

“Dupain-Cheng! What are you doing? What, is Adrikins not enough for you or are you attempting to make him jealous? Because he’s not even in class today!” The whole class fell silent, watching with interest.

‘Well, it’s not from looking at my person then, otherwise Chloe would be acting oddly,’ the secret heroine mused.

The athletic boy’s arm tightened on her as Marinette tried to edge away unsuccessfully. Chloe’s hand reached out and grabbed her right arm and yanked hard, finally dislodging her from Kim’s embrace and causing her to stumble right into the haughty blond. They landed in a heap – Chloe beneath her – on the floor. The blond diva began to shriek and attempted to push her off while the designer tried to get up. In the process, their eyes met for a brief second.

“Oh…” stated Chloe, her eyes shining pink for a moment before a blush appeared on her cheeks.

“You’re so clumsy, Mari,” she stated fondly, raising her manicured hand to cup the bluenette’s cheek as blue gazed into blue. “It’s ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. Maybe it’s because you’re falling for me?”

Marinette’s mouth hung open and she was momentarily stunned, unsure how to process this sudden change in Chloe’s behavior. Same as with Kim and Lila…it had happened after they made eye contact. ‘That must be the trigger!’ she thought, already worrying about the struggle of trying to fight if she could not risk accidentally meeting someone’s eyes. Meanwhile the mayor’s daughter was taking her silence as encouragement and leaned towards Marinette hesitantly, her eyes on her lips… Only to be left blinking in surprise as her ladylove was suddenly torn from her arms. She glared up at the jock and now-present liar as they both tried to pull the bluenette closer. Marinette focused her gaze on the floor to avoid enthralling any other of her dumbstruck classmates and struggled to get free.

“Guys, let go!” she desperately cried. The trio began to argue, pulling her around as the heated exchange threatened to become a brawl.

“Vaffanculo! I saw her first, testa di minchia!”

“She would rather be with a guy like me than your sausage-faced ass!”

“Neither of you can truly appreciate Marikins! If you don’t let go, I’ll get my daddy to ruin both of your lives!”

“Sausage-face?! I’m going to claw your face off, stronzo!”

“Lê Chiến! You already have a girlfriend, Ondine. And Rossi, you don’t even like her on a good day!”

“Ondine isn’t my true love, Mari is! Besides, you’d just crush her until she gets akumatized like you did to me!”

“I’ll show you—!”

“Mang nó đi con chó cái!”

All at once, they began to claw, pummel, and shriek at each other – with Marinette trapped in the middle, like a violent game of keep away. Forcing her eyes closed, she felt one of them pull a pigtail while another yanked hard enough on her right arm that she felt something pop. Someone else – Lila, she assumed – ended up stomping on her foot hard while jumping to reach Kim behind her. The next instant she felt someone’s nails slide down her face nearest her eye, causing the bluenette to cry out with pain. Her cry seemed to bring the rest of the stunned class out of their bewildered voyeurism, their panicked voices joining the cacophony of the argument until she felt deafened by the volume.

Suddenly two familiar arms wrapped around her waist and pulled until she was free of the kerfuffle at the cost of her right sleeve – which ripped clean off by whomever had last held her arm. She briefly opened her eyes but used her peripherals through her lashes to look back towards the fight. The trio were so engrossed in attacking each other, verbally and physically, that they had not noticed her sudden departure. Their classmates and teacher were attempting to pull them apart. Marinette closed her eyes again, as Alya’s voice popped up next to her ear.

“What the hell is going on with them?”

“Akuma. Code scarab,” the secret heroine murmured, knowing her friend would know exactly what needed to happen.

“On it,” came the blogger’s reply. Marinette stumbled painfully as she was guided quickly out of the classroom and down the hall. She could hear a commotion behind them as the trio finally noticed her absence, so they picked up their pace a little as they started hearing footfalls giving chase. Soon enough Alya pulled them into an empty classroom and shut the door; they stood in silence as they heard angry voices pass them by. They both let out a relieved breath.

“Alright, you said it was an akuma. What happened?” Her friend kept her voice low so as not to chance them being overheard.

“I was on my way to school when an akuma hit me with their whip. Besides some horrible pain at first, I didn’t notice any other change until I got in the front door. I bumped into Lila and she started acting odd, then Kim, and you saw what happened with Chloe. If I look someone in the eyes, I think it makes them fall in love with me.” Marinette carefully shook her head and reached up for her earrings. “I can’t chance compromising Chat Noir nor making the fight any more difficult. There’s no way I can transform like this, we’ll need Scarabella on this one,” blindly she held her hand out in front of her, palm up with the miraculous on full display.

“I won’t let you down, girl,” she felt Alya’s warm fingers take the earrings from her hand and then guide her to one of the desks. “You better settle down and take cover until I can cast the cure.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Thanks and good luck, Alya,” she sighed, slipping beneath the desk. Once she heard her friend leave the room, Marinette opened her eyes and looked around. The Ladyblogger had brought her to one of the classrooms they used for the occasional overflow when other schools visited for special events. At least no one else would likely come in here! Whew.

Then she began surveying the damage from the fight earlier. She could tell she was missing one hairband, so she pulled the remaining one out and slid it onto her left wrist for later and ran the fingers of her good hand through the tangles quickly. Her jacket was missing an entire sleeve and a pocket was ripped open, her black flat now sported a foot-shaped scuff but, other than that, her clothes were simply disheveled. Her wrist was badly sprained from the tugging earlier and was beginning to swell, her knees were scraped and bleeding, her palms were lightly scratched, and she could feel a stinging wound on her face where she had been clawed. ‘Just my luck,’ she thought ruefully. ‘At least these should be healed by the cure, might as well make myself more comfortable until then.’ She carefully extracted her arm from the blazer and created a sling to immobilize her right wrist, any blood would have to wait until she had access to supplies to clean the wounds properly – man, she’d kill for an icepack – but like hell was she going outside right now!

Marinette heard a stampede of footsteps and people frantically calling her name in the hall, her heartrate skyrocketed with panic, and she prayed to every kwami that they would not find her. The door opened and she held her breath, keeping her eyes firmly planted on her knees as she listened. The door closed and a single pair of soft footfalls could be heard moving through the classroom. ‘Please don’t be Lila or Chloe, please go away…’ she begged mentally as she screwed her teary eyes shut. The footsteps stopped in the aisle, she curled more tightly into the corner beneath the desk in hopes that she would not be seen. Hearing a chair scrape back beside her made her involuntarily open her eyes and stare forward in absolute fear at whom was there.

The bluenette was shocked to see the grey hazel eyes of Felix Fathom gazing back at her with a hint of concern. The same Felix that disguised himself as his cousin months ago and now attended their school with the excuse of ‘needing to review his French’ – which he obviously didn’t need! The same rude, cold, and argumentative classmate she had to deal with every day in class; always attempting to get a rise out of her as if it were his new purpose in life. The same boy that sported the face of her former crush. All things considered, at least he wasn’t Lila!

“Dupa—oh…” Her eyes slammed shut again, unwilling to watch the change as she cursed her idiocy. Marinette flinched back and whimpered as she heard him sidle more under the desk. Unexpectedly she felt the ghost-like touch of fingertips beneath the wound on her face and she jerked away, finally opening her teary eyes to see Felix kindly lifting a handkerchief to dab at the blood on her face. “You’re bleeding.”

“How were you able to find me?” Her tone was as accusatory as it was scared.

“I happened to see Césaire slip out of the room after she took off with you. Don’t worry, I made sure I wasn’t followed. Care to explain what is going on?”

A few rebel tears spilled down her cheeks, but he mopped those up too, with growing concern in his eyes. “I was hit by an akuma on the steps of the school…apparently it makes anyone that looks into my eyes fall in love with me. I bumped into Lila and Kim in the entry and, well, you saw what happened with Chloe in class. And now you—” she choked on a sob. If her current state was from Kim, Lila, and Chloe’s possessive reactions, she was terrified of how malicious Felix could be under the forced enthrallment.

The taciturn blond frowned but remained silent as he continued to dry her tears and check for any other wounds. Finally, he cleared his throat and spoke softly to the huddled girl. “I think it would be best to get you out of here. It’s only a matter of time before the others start ripping apart classrooms to find you.”

“You’re right but I would never make it past the front gate and our classmates know where I live. Going to any unaffected friend’s house would put them at risk and likely end in the same kind of fight we saw earlier…”

“Hmm. I have an idea, give me a few moments to get it ready. Stay hidden and quiet,” he replied.

“Wait, where are you going?” Marinette looked into his eyes as he rose to his feet, a small smile gracing his lips.

“I’m going to gather some supplies. Stay here. I’ll knock three times so that you know it is me.” With that, he departed the classroom and shut the door firmly behind him. Having no other choice, Marinette took out her phone and texted her mother to make sure she knew not to let anyone into the house from school and checked for battle updates on the Ladyblog’s messaging board. ‘If only I had Kaalki, then I could just teleport home…,’ the girl thought sadly. About fifteen agonizing minutes later, she heard the three consecutive knocks that announced Felix’s return but didn’t even attempt to move from under the desk until she heard the door shut. He quickly strode to her side, setting out his spoils on the tabletop.

A large red hoodie.

White sunglasses.

And was that an icepack?!

“Felix, what…” the confused girl started.

“You can thank your ‘admirers’ for their generous gifts later. I found Lê Chiến, who was easy to convince to give me his sweater. The sunglasses… I found Bourgeois and encouraged her to give you a ‘token of her affections’ that you could wear. I told them that you would meet them at Andre’s at 2 o’clock. Lila must have overheard as I saw the three of them running off in an effort to get to you first,” he laughed softly.

“And the icepack?”

Felix’s eyes softened and his voice dropped to a murmur, “I stole it from the nurse’s office. For your wrist.” He cleared his throat and looked as if he was trying to find something to keep him preoccupied. He settled on picking up the icepack, breaking the activator inside of it and shaking the contents to expedite the reaction. “This will be your disguise to get you off campus grounds. The sunglasses are to, hopefully, block anyone else from possibly seeing your eyes and being affected by the akuma’s influence.”

Her heart fluttered briefly in her chest. To think that he planned this all out and even considered the pain she was so obviously in as well as her worries…she was truly touched. “Thank you, Felix.” She carefully began to untie her jacket sling from her chest and began to slide into the red hoodie, finding that it hung down just past her skirt hem. ‘This is going to make me look naked under here,’ the designer thought wearily. She hissed with pain as she attempted to zip it up; her sprain made it almost impossible to maneuver the end into the slide. Felix extended the icepack to Marinette to wrap around her wrist, then pulled the ends of the zipper together to help fasten the front for her.

“Do you have a hair tie on you? It would be best to tie it back to hide it in the hood.”

“Um, yes,” she gently rolled it off her left wrist and held it up between her fingers. “But I won’t be able to secure it with one hand. My right is practically useless right now.”

“May I?” Offered the blond, taking the hair tie and situating himself behind her. Marinette held in a surprised squeak as his fingers began to tentatively card through her locks, gently massaging the scalp while he pulled her hair back. She closed her eyes and reclined her head slightly, getting lost in the tingling sensations on her scalp for a moment. However, it could not last forever – too soon he tied off the ends and she felt his fingers glance off her shoulders before he moved in front of her, both teens now sporting a light blush. The bluenette reached up and touched her hair, finding that he had created a loose French braid that even incorporated her bangs in a way that kept most of it from her face.

“I didn’t know you knew how to style hair…” she murmured, unsure why she was even saying the thought aloud.

“It’s…uh, not common knowledge. However, I’ve always loved to play with my mother’s hair since I was little. I picked up a few techniques,” he kept his eyes diverted from her face, the tops of his ears turning as red as Ladybug’s suit. He finally cleared his throat and crossed his arms behind his back.

“Put the hood and glasses on, then we’ll get out of here.” Felix instructed gently.

Marinette did so, feeling a bit ridiculous in the giant hoodie and bug-eyed glasses. A giggle bubbled up her throat and Felix looked at her as if silently questioning the sound. “How do I look?” She held up the overly long sleeves to either side like tentacle appendages, popping out a hip as she posed. He raised a contemplative hand to cover his lips and chin, his eyes wandered down her body, lingering on her exposed legs for a long moment before trailing back up to her face.

The blond chuckled and adopted a falsetto to his voice, “In the words of Bourgeois: ‘ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!’” They both broke into quiet laughter.

“No one would ever expect to see me wearing this!”

“Exactly why I chose it,” he smiled smugly. “Now, come. We have quite the walk ahead of us.”

“Wait…where are we going? Aren’t I just going home?” She asked in confusion, joining him by the door.

“You said it yourself: they know where you live, and I highly doubt they will stop at your front door just because you say ‘no.’ The whole class saw how one-track minded they were. Plus, you can’t chance enthralling anyone else. The most obvious solution is that you come home with me. You’ve already looked into my eyes and they certainly won’t come looking for you there.”

“But I…” the bluenette paused, unable to see a flaw in his logic. He was right. No one had ever been to his house and, besides herself and the school administration, no one else would even know Felix’s address. Besides he was already hit and seemed unaffected – perhaps he was immune? Contemplating the boy’s face a little more, she was unsure why he of all people would be unaltered by the akuma’s power. Perhaps he was aromantic or something? Would one’s sexual identity even prevent an akuma’s abilities from taking hold when nothing else seemed to? This required further study… “Alright then. Lead the way.”

~~~

They made it out of the building and down the front steps without an issue, a chance encounter having proven Felix’s hypothesis that blocking her eyes with dark sunglasses would prevent them from becoming enthralled after they bumped into another student coming around a corner too quickly. They had both made an audible sigh of relief after the student had stalked off in a huff. Once on the street, the blond grabbed her hand and pulled her in close to his side. Marinette had questioned it – no, she would not admit that she was blushing because he was holding her hand! – but he had simply explained that they could not risk them getting separated in her current state. Logical.

They had walked about two kilometers from the school when they came across a gaggle of people that seemed to be arguing the finest points of a terrified looking young man. Felix tried to give them a wide berth but, in a hot second, the argument became a shoving match. A dark-haired man was shoved hard enough that he stumbled back into Marinette, dislodging the glasses from her face and knocking her to the ground. While Felix was distracted pushing the man away, the bluenette was looking frantically around for the glasses – catching sight of them as a man in a leather jacket across the street was also caught by her gaze.

“Oh no,” the designer cried as she frantically shoved back on the glasses and attempted to get to her feet – only to find her ankle had twisted in the fall. She was helpless on the ground as the man was quickly approaching. She had to get Felix out of here before he could get hurt! “Felix! Go, run!” The blond, having finally dealt with the argumentative idiots from before, turned and caught sight of the approaching figure. However, instead of attempting to get away, he took up a defensive stance in front of the young designer.

“Hey Baby, how about we go back to my place?” Asked the leather clad man.

“She’s NOT your baby,” growled the blond, the tone making her heart race.

“Not yet but she will be. Come on, Baby, I’ll show you a good time,” laying on the cocky smarm rather thickly.

She watched in horror as Felix balled up a fist. “She’s not going anywhere with you.”

“Oh yeah, tough guy? Let’s see how you—” the man never finished the sentence for, almost faster than the blink of an eye, her blond protector swung two quick punches. First to the man’s stomach, winding him, and then a right hook that knocked the cocksure man right out. She blinked, amazed at how efficiently he had resolved the fight. He glared down as if waiting to see if the man would wake and, when sure he was out cold, turned a worried countenance back towards Marinette.

“Are you alright?” He asked softly, offering her the same hand that had just been used to defend her, long fingers now relaxed and extended as if presenting her a treasure. Something about his seamless transition from protector to caregiver brought a warm fluttery feeling to her stomach. She took the hand and wobbled on one good leg as she hopped back onto her feet.

“No, I must have twisted my ankle when that other guy bumped into me. I can’t put any weight on it.” Marinette winced as she demonstrated.

Felix sighed, turned away, and stooped down slightly. “Come on, hop on.”

The young designer blinked, ‘Does he…. want to give me a piggyback ride?’ He motioned with one of his hands to hurry up. ‘Wow, I guess so.’ Carefully placing her hands on his shoulders, she slid in close enough for him to cup behind her knees and effortlessly lifted them both to his feet. He bounced twice, resettling her weight between his hands – his palms now pressed against the back of her bare thighs. His thumb softly rubbed up against her hiked up skirt hem for a moment and they both froze. Marinette’s face instantly heated up but she silently thanked Tikki that Felix could not see her over his shoulder at this moment.

He cleared his throat roughly, “Are you comfortable?”

“Y-yes, thank you…” came her bashful reply.

“Good, th-that’s good.” Felix cleared his throat again, “Right. On our way again.”

“Um, Felix? If you don’t mind me asking…where did you learn that back there?”

“…I learned karate when I was young at my father’s behest,” he simply stated.

“Ah! And here I was worried the akuma’s power might somehow make people better at fighting or something,” she giggled softly against his shoulder. She could hear him softly chuckle in response, the awkward intensity of the moment finally dissipating as they drifted into companionable silence.

~~~

The rest of the walk was (thankfully) uneventful – even if she did get a bit flustered when his hands gently squeezed her thighs occasionally. Marinette knew it was likely to help with blood flow so his fingers would not go numb under her weight, but she couldn’t logically explain the little electric jolts that went up her spine whenever his thumbs drew lazy circles against her exposed skin. Felix had carried her without complaint the rest of the way and she now found herself comfortably settled on the couch in his family’s quiet apartment. He had switched on the news to keep her entertained while he retrieved a first aid kit and a reusable icepack from the kitchen. The main story was the ongoing akuma battle, which had moved north to the 18th androssiment – nearest the Sacré-Cœur Basilica – and the fight looked intense. Both Scarabella and Chat Noir had had to leave to recharge at some point, but they seemed to be finally gaining the upper hand!

Felix returned with a bowl of warm water, a washcloth, and some first aid supplies. He handed her the icepack and Marinette quickly replaced the instant pack from earlier that had become warm to the touch. He kneeled beside her feet and wet the cloth, then began to carefully dab at her knees. The TV became background noise as the bluenette observed the boy in front of her. He was being unusually kind and gentle with her, never trying to push the boundaries into impropriety or make her uncomfortable. True, the akuma’s effects seemed to make any person enthralled become a tender lover… However, looking back at the reactions of her classmates, it also brought with it a fierce possessiveness and jealousy…which, besides the defensive protection that he demonstrated against the man in the street earlier, Felix did not seem to exhibit. Instead, he had respected her boundaries, giving her as much space as he could with the circumstances being what they were, and dedicated himself to her safety.

The blond rinsed and wrung out the cloth again, edging slightly closer as he leaned in to dab gently at the claw marks beside her eye. The stinging pain had lessened but, if the look in his eyes back in the classroom was any indication, it probably looked worse than it felt. The girl peeked at him through her lowered lashes, attempting to observe his face without being caught. His grey hazel eyes were warm but held a hint of anger in them; his brow was lightly furrowed with concern. ‘Is he worried for me?’ she thought with growing wonder.

Finally, she broke the silence. “Th-thank you, Felix, for everything.”

His lips upturned softly at the edges with his reply. “You’re welcome, I’m just glad I was there to get you out of a tough situation.”

“I…I know you’re probably just being nice to me because of the akuma but…” He paused his ministrations briefly at her words and she noted his lips thinning into a firm line.

She pushed forward with what she was trying to say while fidgeting with her hands, knowing this moment wouldn’t last after the miraculous cure but wanting to communicate clearly what was on her heart. “I really appreciate the thoughtfulness and help you’ve given me today. Everyone else turned violently possessive and you’ve been nothing but respectful. I don’t know if it’s just that each person reacts differently under the influence of the akuma’s powers or what but… I-I know we’re not exactly friends either. However, I’m really glad you were here for me, Felix.” The bluenette raised her eyes to meet his, smiling sweetly. “I mean it, thank you.”

Grey hazel eyes seemed to bore into bluebells for a moment, strange emotions seeming to dance within them. He set down the cloth and took her hands in his own. Felix opened his mouth to say something but hesitated, his brow furrowing. “Marinette, I…”

“I know, it’s weird. I wonder why you didn’t have the same reaction or behaviors as the others,” the girl interrupted him as he hesitated again. They stared at each other in silence for a moment when, all of a sudden, a wave of ladybugs flitted around them before disappearing. Her knees and hands were still scuffed up, those injuries having happened before she was hit by the akuma, but her sprained wrist and rolled ankle were fully healed. Felix’s eyes searched her face, one of his hands gently cupping her cheek while his thumb rubbed over the place where her scratches had once been. The bluenette realized his eyes still held something tender and sweet in them, which exalted and confused her. He should have been freed from the influence with the cure!

“You want to know what made me different?” The blond asked softly, his lips quirked up with a smirk. She nodded into his palm as she stared into his eyes curiously. He raised her other hand in his and pressed a delicate, lingering kiss to the back of her knuckles, which caused a blush to form across her cheek bones. His eyes never left hers.

“That’s my secret, Marinette: I was already in love with you.”

#felinette #marivanily #felix graham de vanily #felix fathom #marinette dupain cheng #miraculous ladybug #felix x marinette #fluff #Marinette is hit by an akuma #humor #romantic #POV Marinette #Smooth Felix #Protective Felix #Protective Alya #alya cesaire #possesive love #one sided attraction #there will be a bonus #cross posted on ao3 #lila rossi #kim le chien #chloe bourgeois

[anna-scribbles]

once adrien and marinette figured out how to date each other they got too powerful and are now dating all their other friends one by one

#first alya and nino and then luka and kagami and now zoe #literally no one is safe #i was watching the eps with abby yesterday and we got to the part where adrien and marinette hug kagami while she sobs that she loves both #of them #& abby was like these kids are desperate to be polyamorous #and they literally are😭 #i started dying laughing when zoe confessed her love to marinette and marinette obviously said she was in love with/dating adrien #and the very next episode she was going on a movie date with zoe😭 #their whole friend group is so messy i’m obsessed w it #ml protection #protection spoilers #ml adoration #adoration spoilers #ml emotion #emotion spoilers #ml migration #migration spoilers #ml #ml spoilers #anna rambles

[pearl-star]

It's Not My Job

I had written and had this story finished back in August of last year, but just never got around to posting it. I revisited it again yesterday and decided to just go ahead and post it. It's crossed posted to my AO3 if if you would prefer reading it there, here's the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54107548. (Also, fair warning, this fic is 10K words long. I didn't feel like dividing it up into different chapters so here it is in its entirely.

Summary: After becoming too stressed out from her class rep duties, Marinette talks to the other class reps about the work she’s been doing, hoping for some help. In a few moments, she discovers that none of the work she’s been assigned to do is what she should be doing as class rep. And when she goes to Miss Bustier only for her teacher to threaten her, her friends and family finally decide that enough is enough and take the issue to the higher ups.  

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

Marinette was on her last legs. The swell of akumas over the past month was bad enough, but the extra work that came with it just made her life so much harder. On top of her regular school work and make-up work from missed classes, she had to handle her class rep duties as well. She had to be an example, help her classmates when Chloe acted up, check essays and homework, and do her other general class rep tasks.

 Not only that, but she had to hatch out a whole plan for the class trip. Not just a general idea but the specifics of where they would stay, the exact activities they would do, how they would get there and travel around, and so on. She also had to plan out the fundraising activities, and had to do enough of them otherwise she would have to put in the rest of the money herself. Chloe had no issues with that in the past, but she was also rich. Marinette couldn’t exactly use her parent’s credit card to get it all situated. 

Alya, by her sense of duty as both her friend and class deputy, tried helping her out but for some reason wasn’t allowed. She could help instruct people once the plans were made, but she couldn’t be a part of the planning process. Otherwise, according to Miss Bustier, the plans would have to be redone completely. The blogger had suggested working on it together secretly, but Marinette was hesitant. She didn’t want to risk Miss Bustier finding out and for her to demand that the plans had to be redone. So for now, the bluenette was working on her own.

Everyone in class had noticed the toll the extra work was doing on her. She barely made it to class on time and was always the last to leave. Her bookbag was stuffed with papers with notes and plans. She always had her shoulders slumped, like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders, and her eye bags were barely being covered by her makeup. She never smiled unless Miss Bustier told her to be a better example, in which case she would stitch on a mechanical smile similar to that of Adrien’s model smile.

The model, for his part, was freaking out over the fact that the sweetest and most happy girl in class (besides Rose, who is just a sparkling ball of pink, glittery sunshine) was struggling. He went so far as to get her coffee order from Alya and made sure to bring one in daily, as well as leave a thermos of heavily sugared black tea on her desk after lunch. The fact that Marinette wasn’t reacting to Adrien’s actions with anything more than a thank you, with no stuttering or blush in sight, proved how tired she really was.

Marinette’s sole goal was to catch up with all of this work as fast as she could, otherwise she would get behind again and be stuck in this loop forever. So when she was asked to attend a lunch out with the other class reps, she hesitated. She didn’t really have time to do much of anything. Even patrols had been cut down, something her partner had insisted on when she almost fell off a building when she zoned out mid jump. Still, maybe they could help her.

Miss Bustier had said that planning the class trip and all that was only the job of the class rep, so her getting advice from the other class reps shouldn’t be against the rules. So Marinette found herself that Friday walking to the cafe where Aurora said to meet. Once she got there, the weather girl waved her over to an open chair next to her. 

As she walked over, she looked at the group. Marinette knew who most of the class reps were, but never got the chance to talk to any of them. Some were in the art club with her, but they tended not to discuss class rep duties there. 

“Sorry I’m late.” The bluenette apologized, sliding into the empty chair. “I had to show Miss Bustier my progress for the class trip.” 

There was silence, and then.

“What do you mean?”

“You know, my plans for the class trip. I’ve narrowed it down to a place and found a hotel that we could stay at, but I still need to figure out travel plans and the exact activities.” Marinette looked at the confused faces around her. Then a thought came to mind. “Am I late on this too?! Miss Bustier only brought it up to me at the end of last month, so I thought that I had plenty of time still but-”

“No it’s not that.” Kimberly said, cutting Marinette off from her panic. “It’s just that… class reps don’t plan out their class trips.”

Marinette blinked at the news. She had been class rep for the past two years. The first year, she didn’t have to be as in depth with the class trip. She proposed a general trip idea, fundraising ideas, and helped coordinate the fundraisers, but this year Miss Bustier said that class reps had to be more hands-on with the trip. The teacher had even given her a packet on the new rules.

“What do you mean? Yes they do. It’s in the newest handbook.”

“What handbook?”

Marinette dug in her book bag before pulling out the packet and handing it to Claude. He flipped through the pages, scanning them while a few other class reps looked over his shoulders. As he read, his frown deepened. 

“This isn’t right. The handbook has been updated last year, but not in this way. It actually had deputies taking on more of the load to help lessen the stress of class reps, as well as a newly added duty to help plan out relaxation days throughout the year to try and lessen the chance of akumas during testing weeks. Where did you get this from?”

“Miss Bustier gave it to me and explained it all. She did say how class reps were now responsible for helping to lower the class’s stress.”

All of the class reps looked at each other, before Aurora finally spoke up.

“Marinette… I don’t know why Miss Bustier gave this to you, but it isn’t right. I don’t have the handbook on me right now but there is one in Ms. Meedeveli’s classroom that I can show you once we get back to the school.”

Marinette paused, before nodding and thanking the weather girl. Slowly the conservation changed to something else, but the bluenette’s mind couldn’t stop from drifting. Why would Miss Bustier give her the wrong packet? Maybe the school had made this version and then changed it, but didn’t inform the teacher of the change. Marinette did become class rep for the first time last year, so it is possible that Miss Bustier went and asked for the newest handbook early so that she could have it at the start of her role.

The pigtailed girl was finally able to relax. That had to be it. Miss Bustier thought that this was the correct version and just didn’t know. Once she gets the new copy, they can figure out how planning for the school trip should really go.  

After lunch she walked back to school with all of the reps, and then split off from the group as she followed Aurora to Ms. Meedeveli’s room. The science teacher was already in the room, working on writing something on the board for the lesson later on.

“Good afternoon, Ms. Meedeveli. Do you have a copy of the class rep handbook?”

“Good afternoon to you too, and yes I do. It’s over on the wall next to the classroom rules.”

“Do you think Marinette can borrow it for the afternoon? There was a bit of a mix-up with the handbook in her homeroom.”

The teacher stiffened at that, and Marinette was worried that she would say no. Instead, once the woman realized the bluenette’s eyes on her, she shook her head.

“Go ahead. And feel free to keep it in your homeroom, Marinette. I can pick up another copy later. Just let me know if you need anything else.”

Once Aurora handed her a packet, a by far smaller one than the previous one, Marinette nodded.

“Thank you so much, Ms. Meedeveli. I’ll see you later in class.”

She gave her thanks to the blonde as well before walking out of the room, looking over the packet. She was in such a rush that she didn’t notice the usually strict teacher give her a look of pity. 

As Marinette read through the packet, she felt less and less stressed already. It was definitely much different than the one she was given, and would absolutely help her catch up on all her other activities. Without having to plan the class trip, she would have so much more freetime. All she would have to do is tell Miss Bustier of the mix up and then she’ll be good. 

She decided to wait until after school though, since class was about to start and she didn’t want to be the reason they had more makeup work. However, once class was over and she talked to Miss Bustier, she got a rude surprise.

“What do you mean this packet is wrong? I got this from Ms. Meedeveli’s room. All the other class reps said that the handbook you gave me was the wrong one.”

“Yes, the other class reps have a different handbook, but you need to follow the one I gave you. You’re my star student, Marinette. You can handle more work.”

“I can’t though.” Marinette nearly cried, before composing herself. “I’m really struggling with just homework with all the akumas interrupting class time. And the handbook you gave me said that Alya can’t even help me with all of these extra duties. I’m gonna fall behind at this rate.”

“Now Marinette, that would be your own fault. You need to manage your time better. Also you do need to help prevent akumas. That thing in the other handbook we can include in ours. I want you to plan a destressing activity for the class to do by the end of next week. We can do a different one every week to keep things different.”

Upon hearing that more work was being put onto her, she opened her mouth to refuse before being silenced.

“I really wouldn’t want to have a talk with your parents about you becoming a problem to our classroom, so make sure to keep up your good job as class rep okay?”

Miss Bustier was… threatening her? The bluenette was so shocked that she could only nod, numbly leaving the classroom. As soon as she turned the corner, she bumped into Alya.

“Oh. Hi, Alya.”

“Marinette… did Miss Bustier really say that?”

It was then that Marinette realized how shaken up her friend was.

“What do you mean?”

“She really-” Alya started, before looking at the direction to the classroom door in contemplation. It seemed like she made a decision, as she pulled Marinette away.

“We’re telling your parents. I can’t believe she said that to you.”

The bluenette got a sense of dread with Alya’s suggestion, realizing that Alya had heard some if not all of the conversation she just had. The reminder of Miss Bustier’s earlier threat rang in her mind.

“No. Miss Bustier-”

“She’s forcing you to do more work. Quite frankly, I was about to ‘accidentally’ hide some of the work I’ve been doing for the class trip in with your notes so that you’d actually be able to get some sleep. But now? I can’t just sit by and let this happen to my best friend.”

“But my parents won’t believe me.”

“Don’t you have both packets? Show that to your parents. Besides, it's the entire class’s words against Miss Bustier. Your parents will believe us.”

Marinette still didn’t like the sound of it. She’d never gone against her teacher before. But Alya was hard to stop once she got an idea in her head, so the bluenette was dragged to the bakery.

Her mom was handling the counter, and was finishing up checking out a customer. Once they left, she finally noticed them.

“Good afternoon girls. Feel free to take a pastry on your way up.”

“Actually Mlle. Cheng, we need to speak to you about something.”

“What is it?”

Alya nudged Marinette forward, but when it was clear that she wasn’t going to talk, Alya took charge. She grabbed the two different class rep handbooks, walking forward and giving them to the women. 

“Miss Bustier has been forcing Marinette to take on more work as class rep. When Marinette asked her about it, she threatened to call you two up and tell you that she’s causing issues.”

Sabine blinked at Alya’s words, before her confusion was swapped for a blank stare. Her eyes shifted from the packets in her hands to her daughter. 

“Marinette, is this true?”

“We-Well I mean, I’m sure Miss Bustier didn’t really mean-”

“Marinette. Please tell me the truth.”

Yep. Her mom was definitely mad at her. She sighed and decided to just take the bullet.

“It’s true, but I-”

“What has she been making you do?”

Marinette flinched at the anger sounding clearly in her mother’s tone. She looked down at her hands. Alya kept a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her. When it was clear that the bluenette had no intention of speaking, the blogger took over.

“She’s been forced to plan the whole class trip by herself. Where we’re going, the hotel we’re staying in, activities we’re doing, the exact travel plans, fundraising, all of that. I wasn’t even allowed to do any of the planning process with her.”

“Anything else?”

“I had to help with grading some things.” Marinette finally added, sighing in defeat. “I also had to help when Chloe acted up.” She leaned back into Alya’s touch, causing the redhead to wrap her arm around her and give her a tight squeeze.

Sabine looked between the two girls and then back at the packets in her hands. She frowned in thought at the clear size difference between the two.

“I’d take it that this is the real one?” She asked, holding up the smaller packet.

“That’s the one that the other class reps use. I got it from Ms. Meedevelei this afternoon.”

“I’m gonna look these over during my break. That will be in… thirty minutes. For now I think you two should grab a treat and relax upstairs. Would you two be okay staying here in case I need to ask you something else?”

The two girls nodded, grabbing a pastry and heading back and up to the apartment. Marinette fiddled with the hem of her jacket, thinking about what had just happened. Alya sighed and pulled her towards the chaise.

“Don’t worry, let your parents handle this.”

“But what if I get in trouble in school? Miss Bustier could do to Principal Damcoles and say that I’m not cooperating and-”

“And then everyone will tell him off if he tries to punish you. Miss Bustier threatened you. That’s a whole other thing to consider, above her dumping a bunch of work onto you and making you do it by yourself.” Alya scowled. “I don’t understand that part. Why did she not want me to help with anything?”

Marinette didn’t have an answer to that. If Miss Bustier truly wanted her to do all of these things, then having Alya help her would have made life so much easier. Why not let someone else who was willing to help take some work off her shoulders do it? The redhead shrugged and reached in her bookbag.

“I guess it doesn’t matter right now. I know your mom said to relax, but I also know you can’t do physics for the life of you so let me help you out while I can.”

The bluenette felt tears prick up at the offer of receiving help, but she quickly wiped those away before her friend could notice. They were so distracted with the work that they didn’t hear the muffled shouts from below. 

“That woman did what?!”

“She threatened our daughter. All because Marinette asked her why the manual she was given as class rep was different from every other class reps’ handbook.”

The two adults were hard to anger. Their life was full of simple joys, being able to live peaceful lives despite running a business and being in a time when a magical terrorist was in their city. But let it not be said that they could never get angry. Because right now, the only other thought in their minds besides concern for their daughter was the anger towards the girl’s teacher. 

“I want to talk to Miss Bustier today. I know that Alya can be dramatic sometimes, but Marinette would never lie. Especially with something like this.”

“We can close the bakery. I want to be there as well.”

Sabine thought about it for a moment before shaking her head.

“No. I’m just gonna do a phone call for now. Besides, we can’t just close the bakery today. I’ll update you once I’m done talking to her.”

She thought that it would be a fifteen minute phone call max. Just her asking to confirm things and then asking for them to be changed to how they should be. She didn’t expect Miss Bustier to try and defend herself. Yes, Marinette was a bright kid and an excellent student, but that didn’t mean that she should be doing the work of her teacher. The more she tried to defend her daughter, the more the teacher defended her own actions. Sabine ended the call more frustrated than before, and she decided to instead talk to Mr. Damocles. Because surely he would be able to correct the teacher? After all, what Ms. Bustier was doing was an abuse of her power.

Alas, Sabine ended her night early. Both adults saw it best to just close the bakery early. Heaven forbid if that principal or teacher decided to pay them a visit. The cup of chamomile tea was not helping her to calm down in the slightest, and her husband paced around as he ranted. The woman herself, while not outwardly expressing her thoughts, did silently stew on the issue.

How dare those people do this to her child. It wasn’t a big deal? It absolutely was. Neither parent had missed the way Marinette was getting more sluggish and tired. It was part of the reason why they had stopped making her work in the bakery as of late. All that extra work was affecting her studies and normal life, and neither of those adults cared? It was an outrage! But who else could she turn to?

It was then that an idea struck her. Sabine grinned, leaving her half finished tea on the table and walking off.

“Calling them back is not going to do anything. I think we need to go in person and demand that they stop this.”

“Oh, I’m not calling them. I have a better idea.”

If those two wouldn’t listen to her, then she would have to get someone who would make them see the error of their ways. Sabine sat down at the computer, typing out a very detailed email before sending it off. She continued to check her inbox throughout the weekend, waiting for a response, but there wasn’t one. Not until Sunday afternoon. 

Dear Madame Cheng,

We have reviewed your complaints regarding Madame Bustier and Mister Damocles, and have officially filed for an investigation to take place. We will begin the investigation starting tomorrow, Monday XX/XXXX, and will inform you of any updates as well as the results. If you are worried about any misaction towards your daughter by Madame Bustier because of this investigation, please let us know. We will be happy to make arrangements for her to be situated in a different homeroom both during and after the course of this investigation. 

We ask that you and your husband be available during some point this week for a meeting to discuss the problem more in depth. We will try our best to be courteous and inform you ahead of time when we will be paying you a visit. If you have anything urgent to report before our meeting, please do not hesitate to reach out either through email or using the phone number listed below. We promise you that your concerns will be taken seriously, and the investigation will not end until a solution is made.

Jon Garnier, Dupont School Board Member

Sabine smiled at the email once she finished reading it. It was done. With the school board involved, Miss Bustier would be forced to take off the workload from her daughter. She sent a response email to him, thanking him and informing him that he could come to the bakery at any time and she would be sure to be available to talk to him. 

There were some other things, some very concerning things, that Alya had filled her and Tom in on Friday before the girl went home, but Sabine didn’t add those in. As awful as they were, they could wait to be discussed once she was face to face with someone.

Marinette was told that things were being handled, but the girl still seemed worried. She was given a choice to switch homerooms temporarily or even just stay home for a day or two, but she rejected both. Not only was Marinette behind on classwork, but she still needed to continue her class rep duties, even if her parents didn’t seem happy when she said that. Reluctantly, her parents sent her off to school on Monday.

Alya made sure to pick her up, trying to offer her support and then try to distract her with little success. It was very clear to anyone that Marinette had not gotten any rest, despite the reassurance from her parents and Alya. She was told not to do any of the class rep work and instead just relax and focus on her other school work, but she wasn’t able to feel calm. Her anxiety at what would happen now that her parents had talked to Miss Bustier and Mr. Damcoles kept her from sleeping. So she worked on not just all the extra class work, but also her guardian work. Tikki was not happy with her, but there was only so much that the kwami could do to stop her. 

The two girls slowed down a bit as they approached their friends by the steps. Both boys eyed the bluenette with great concern with one of them being… a bit more dramatic about it.

“Marientte! What happened? Why do you look more tired now?” 

The blond fretted, handing the cup of coffee he had to Nino to hold as he examined the girl, holding onto her face with one hand as he lightly touched the bags until her eyes with his finger. 

“I couldn’t sleep.” 

“Couldn’t sleep? You look more tired than I do when I have a night and morning shoot back to back. Maybe you should go home and rest for the day?”

“I can’t. I’m already behind on all my work. Besides, as class president it’s my duty to show up.”

The pigtailed girl couldn’t say it with as much conviction as she once might have, due to how much energy that would have taken. Even talking was just wearing her out. How she would be able to handle Chole’s inevitable fits, she didn’t know, or really care about right now. None of the trio were happy to hear that, and even the students who fluttered around looked at the girl with a mix of concern and pity. 

Adrien had always wanted to be able to have a straight conversation with the budding designer. One where she wouldn’t be so flustered that she would have to run off. But if she would have to be like this for him to get that? He would have never wished for it. For now he turned and took the coffee cup back from Nino to hand it to the girl.

“Here you go. If you refuse to go home then at least have this.” 

The small smile she gave him was genuine, and Adrien only wished that it had come at a time when she wasn’t so tired.

“Thank you. I need to get some things done before class starts.” Before anyone could stop her, Marinette started her walk up the stairs. Alya was immediately on her trail.

“She’s wearing herself out. I want to be able to help her more but…” The blond murmured, wishing that he knew what was happening to her. He knew that she was stressed out, but surely there had to be something else he could do besides keeping her caffeinated. Nino patted his shoulder, still looking at where the girls disappeared off to. 

“You’re doing what you can. Besides, Alya’s figured things out.”

“Figured what out? Marinette is still… like that.”

“She didn’t tell you? With the way Alya went off in the group chat and then to me, I thought for sure you would have known.”

Alya did what? Adrien had been on his phone, and he hadn’t noticed any messages coming in at all. Checking his texts, the last message from the class chat had been someone commenting on Marinette’s behavior, but it was just a message of concern from Rose. Nothing from Alya. Nino looked over his shoulder and let out an oh.

“You must not have been added to the chat. Here, let me do that real quick.”

In a few seconds, a request to join a group chat came in. Clicking accept, he quickly scrolled to the top of the conversation before pausing. He blinked once, twice, then screamed.

“She did WHAT to Marinette?!”

“Yeah, it happened on Friday. Alya overheard it and went to Marinette’s parents. They-” Nino went on, but Adrien drowned him out.

He couldn’t believe it. He knew that Marinette was stressed out about her class rep position and he saw how Miss Bustier treated Marinette sometimes, but this? That woman just decided to threaten her? A growl sounded out, and it barely registered in his mind that it came from him.

“That’s it. I don’t care what I have to do, I’m-”

“Adrien.” Nino said, grabbing onto his shoulders and snapping him out of his thoughts. “You need to calm down. Trust me, everyone is upset about this, but you can’t get akumatized.”

He tried to calm himself, but it was hard. This whole time this was happening without him knowing. He was a failure to his princess, his everyday Ladybug. Did his partner have something like this happening in her life and he was failing her too? He knew that she was more tired lately, due to having more work in her civilian life on top of guardian work but she didn’t give specifics. He had tried offering to do some of the guardian work too, but she had declined citing how it would be too dangerous to do it in the open and they had nowhere private to go. Maybe he should have pushed more?

“Dude, calm down.” He instructed again, once again jostling him from his thoughts. “Alya already told Marinette’s parents. They have things covered.”

The question of “how” popped into his mind, but before he could voice it he spotted two adults walking up the steps. Adults who he did not recognize, but felt like they held an air of authority to them.

“Trust me,” Nino said, and it was then that the blonde noticed his friend’s knowing look. “They have things covered.” 

Adrien knew that there was something else to Nino’s words, but decided against asking exactly what. For now he would simply keep a closer eye on both Marinette and Miss Bustier. No one would be allowed to hurt his princess on his watch.

Inside the school, whispers had already begun. There had already been some talk about the bluenette before. With her being one of the only two people in the akuma class who hasn’t gotten akumatized yet, they figured that the noticeable stress she was under would due her in. 

But now the whispers were revolving around the reason for the two adults who entered the building. A man and a woman, both dressed in business attire and wearing the same stern expression. They came in to get answers, and they would get just that. 

Walking straight to Mr. Damocles' office, they gave a sharp knock before letting themselves in. The man, for his part, seemed confused by someone bursting into his office. His confusion quickly turned to concern as he recognized the people standing before him.

“We’re here from the school board. There’s been a recent complaint filed and we will be investigating it.” The woman’s tone left no room for an argument. “I’ll be discussing this issue with you while Mr. Garnier does an observation in one of your classrooms. Depending on what happens, we may have to pull some students out of class to ask them a few questions.”

Mr. Damocles only had enough time to realize what the recent complaint was before the man walked out. The woman sat down in the chair across his desk, setting a file in front of him. 

“So, tell me about your response to the mistreatment of one Miss Marinette Dupain Cheng?”

There would be no use lying. As required with all staff members, their school issued phones recorded every phone call that took place on them. It was meant to protect them if a parent tries to deny something that they said over the call, but in this case it would be used against him. He cleared his throat, trying to figure out a way to save himself. He remembered that last time these people came in they said that then was his final warning, but surely he would be fine. He was an excellent principal, and this issue wasn’t big enough for him to be fired, surely. So he began his defense.

~~~~~~~~~~

Mr. Gariner walked through the hallway, trusting that Mrs. Monet would be able to handle things. She was slightly biased in this case, as she had a soft spot for the victims in cases like this, but she was a professional above all else so she should be able to prove well into finding out exactly what Mr. Damocles’ thoughts were. 

Truthfully, they should have done an investigation at this school sooner. They had seen the news reports about the students in this class, but since Hawkmoth was a new thing they had waited. He took his victims by using their emotions against them, and since uncontrolled emotions tended to run higher among adolescents they didn’t push investigating directly as their top priority. 

They had simply decided to send an email and request that something was done within the classrooms to allow for some form of relaxation or meditation to be done. That had gotten accepted without any issues, and they foolishly had allowed their attention to relax from the school. But now they noticed the repeated pattern of akumas forming from one specific class, and something had to be done.

Even without Madame Cheng’s email, they would have been investigating Miss Bustier and her class anyways. Of course, what was said in that email worried them. From what it sounded like, it seemed like Miss Bustier was fostering her work onto a student. That would be bad enough, but threatening said student to continue doing the work was an extra layer that they would have to address.

For now he tried to clear his thoughts, knocking once on the classroom door before walking in. The students were all whispering to themselves, but stopped once they saw his presence. He simply ignored them, turning to the confused teacher.

“My apologies for interrupting your classroom, Madame. The school board sent me to do your regular classroom observation.” It wasn’t true, but it would at least help to make her not mask her true behavior as much. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t be showing off her real behavior though. She seemed a bit flustered, but nodded nonetheless. “I’ll just be sitting in the back. Please just go on with your lessons as you normally would.”

Without another word, he walked up the stairs and took a seat in the very back. The woman eyed him wearily, but called the class to attention anyways. Throughout the morning, he noticed all the students at some point or another looking back at him. 

The one that caught his attention though was one blonde student in the front. Not because he was looking at him, but because he was turning around to look at another student. Marinette Dupain Cheng, he had to presume. He did see her photo when looking into her file, but even without that he could tell that she was the student whose parents had made the complaint. The amount of papers that were on her desk, as well as how the other students occasionally looked over to her in concern was enough of an indicator. 

There were no major issues that had popped up, but there were a few times when he noticed Miss Bustier looking at Marinette. The first came when another student (Chloe Bourgeois, he remembered her from numerous reports before) made an insult to the girl. Instead of calling the student out, Miss Bustier looked over to Marinette and waited. When nothing happened, she opened her mouth before looking back at him and closing it again. Whatever she was going to say was instead replaced with her continuing the lesson as if nothing had happened. 

There were a few other times, when she mentioned the graded homework and a quiz and she looked over to the girl, only to quickly say that she would be passing them back tomorrow. He caught her looking back at him then too. It happened several other times, one notable one being when she mentioned the class’s end of the year trip. The way Marinette’s body stiffened when the teacher commented that all plans would be finished and presented on Friday was noticeable to everyone but the teacher. 

Another thing he noticed was the same blonde boy from before making to stand up, only for his desk mate to pull him back down and shake his head. It was easy enough to tell why he did that when they both looked back at him. He didn’t know if it was out of fear that they would be punished or if they were hoping he would do something.

He was going to do something, of course, Mr. Gariner would never allow for this kind of treatment to continue past today, but he was required to wait until the students left before talking to Miss Bustier directly about these issues. Of course, that didn’t mean that he wasn’t doing anything right now.

A few quick emails and texts got sent out and exchanged. Another member of the school board would be coming to help with asking the students and other teachers some questions regarding both Miss Bustier and Mr. Damocles. The principal had been warned not even a few months ago that he needed to have better control on his students and staff members. 

Those issues had all stemmed from one Miss Bourgeois who had caused issues and hurt students all while never facing any consequences. He was warned to not let a student get out of trouble by threatening to call her father. He was even told that if the mayor tried to actually follow through on the threats his daughter made, that he would be abusing his power and would be kicked out of his position. 

They hadn’t received any complaints since then, but it was a wonder if students had been making them and they never got received. That thought was also troubling. Not all people would consider turning to the school board for issues, not at first anyways. Contacting the teacher or principal was what families were encouraged to do. The issue needed to first be, or at least, attempted to be, dealt with at the school level before going up to the school board after all. 

It was meant to stop unneeded cases from clogging up and stopping them from being able to work on more pressing issues, but it could be possible that people didn’t bother trying to contact them. It could be that they were promised that everything would be settled, or even that the school board wouldn’t be able to help out anyways. Another thought was that they could have been threatened as well. If Miss Bustier made a threat to her one student without a second thought, was it possible that other students were coerced into keeping quiet? 

Once the bell rang for lunch, all the students were packing up and Miss Bustier said one final thing. 

“Marinette, please stay behind for a few minutes.”

Those words caused everyone in the class to stop what they were doing and look between the two. The tension was noticeable, and Mr. Gariner decided to settle things. Walking down the steps and towards the front, he addressed the teacher, not even having to raise his voice to be heard by the rest of the students in the pressing silence. 

“Actually, Miss Bustier, I need to discuss some things with you.” When she opened her mouth to refute, he pressed on. “You can discuss whatever it is with your student later on.”

Seeing how he wasn’t going to budge, Miss Bustier nodded. Marinette quickly walked out, the rest of the students following right behind her. Closing the door after the last student walked out he waited a few moments just to make sure that no one else was going to come in before turning to address the teacher.

“Please take a seat. This will be a long discussion.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette was freaking out. Not only did she not get the chance to hand Miss Bustier the homework and quizzes she helped to grade and would be getting in trouble for that, but she also would need to finalize everything for the class trip before Friday. Even with all the work she did over the weekend, she still wasn’t close to done. 

She hadn’t been able to book anything since she wasn’t an adult, and even if she could bug her parents to help she wouldn’t be able to since they wouldn’t be going on the trip and whoever booked things had to be in attendance. 

That left the only choice being Miss Bustier. She debated sending her an email, but Tikki had actually been able to stop her from doing that, unplugging the computer and causing enough commotion that her parents came up and brought her downstairs to get away from the work laid out on her desk. Her hope was to ask the teacher before class but then she didn’t come into class until the start time. And she wasn’t able to meet with Miss Bustier during lunch since then the man from the school board needed to talk to her, so she would have to put it off until after school.

Right now Alya was dragging her off outside the school and towards her house. She didn’t register the conversation that Nino and Adrien were having behind them. It was when she almost stumbled and felt arms wrapping around her body to keep her upright, while she could see Alya bending down to pick up her dropped items, that she realized they were outside the bakery’s doors.

“Okay. You’re eating lunch and then you’re gonna relax. Maybe you should take a nap too.”

“Adrien?” She tried to turn to look at him, but his arms pulling her back to be flushed with his chest prevented her from being able to do more than glance at him from the corner of her vision. 

“You need to let her go dude. Unless you want to carry her inside.”

There was a pause, and it seemed for a second like he was actually going to do it. As he was adjusting his arms, Alya stopped him.

“Let’s just let Marinette walk. We’re here anyway.”

Adrien did let her go enough for her to walk forward, but kept his hand ghosting her back. The four walked in and headed up into the main part of the house. Marinette was sat down on the couch, held down by Adrien when she tried to grab the papers Alya was still holding.

“I need to work on the rest of the arrangements for the class trip.”

“Nope. That’s not your job.” Alya said, leaving no room for argument. Before Marinette could try though, the blogger walked out of the room with Nino in tow.

“Everything will be okay.” She turned and blinked at Adrien, who was still holding her. “I won’t let Miss Bustier hurt you again. I promise.”

“What do you-”

“I heard about Miss Bustier threatening you. I don’t care how I do it, I promise you I won’t let her get away with that.”

Marinette turned to better face him. Half of her brain was trying to mentally arrange things for the class trip while the other half was too tired to fully comprehend what all was happening. It still hadn’t even processed the fact that Adrien was going to carry her earlier. Before she could even attempt to understand what he was telling her now and how he knew, Alya and Nino walked back in with a bunch of food.

“You’re going to eat then you’re gonna take a nap until lunch is over.”

“But I need to get back to school before lunch is over.” If she was lucky, Miss Bustier would be done talking to the man from the school board. Then she could try and get things figured out in time for Friday. 

“Eat. Then sleep.” 

Alya pushed the plate of food onto her lap. Deciding that she could just sneak out after she got done eating, Marinette began to eat the sandwich Alya had made. During the whole time they ate, their eyes kept drifting back to Marinette. As soon as she was done eating and made to stand, they acted. 

Marinette’s brain was able to conjure up the question of if all her friends were physic or if they had discussed this plan in front of her and she just didn’t realize it, because they all acted in sync. Nino grabbed her plate and cup from her hands, moving out of the way while Adrien pulled her down to lay on the couch. Alya threw a blanket over her body and adjusted it as a pillow got placed under her head. 

“Nap time.”

“But-” 

“You will be stuck here until the end of lunch either way. You might as well just sleep.”

Marinette let out a huff, making to move only for a hand to press her down. She looked up at Adrien’s face as he loomed over her.

“I will lay on you if you try to resist Marinette.” 

That reminded her of Chat Noir. Even though he had canceled group patrols, and he took over her solo ones, she had decided to go out for one last weekend. She couldn’t help herself. She was anxious and just wanted to go out for a little bit. Still, once he realized she was out and hadn’t slept at all, he ran off before returning with a pillow and blankets. Somehow she ended up wrapped up in what she could only refer to as a blanket burrito with a pillow under her head and Chat Noir laying on top of her. She had fallen asleep to the sound of his purring. 

Of course there was no way that Adrien would do that. But he did. As soon as she tried to sit up again, he laid his chest on top of her’s. He was still kneeling on the ground, so it wasn’t all of his body on top of her, but it was enough weight that it kept her from moving.

“Sleep.” He said, turning his head to look at her. His breathing began to slow, and her body mimicked it without thinking. Soon she was out like a light. He didn’t want to move, but slowly lifted himself off her.

“How did you do that?” Nino asked, his voice in a whisper to keep the girl asleep. 

“I read that if you are with someone you both subconsciously match your breathing to theirs.” 

He didn’t say it, but he had specifically looked it up on the off chance that he would have to help Ladybug fall asleep without being transformed. His purring only happened in suit, after all. Before anything else could be said, Madame Cheng walked into the room. Adrien quickly leaned back, hoping that she didn’t notice him laying on top of her daughter. She opened her mouth to speak, but the three teens shushed her and waved her off. The woman smiled to see her daughter asleep, but the expression slowly dropped. 

“You three are wanted downstairs.”

“For what?”

Adrien resisted the urge to lay back down on top of Marinette and hold onto her. She was finally sleeping, and he wasn’t about to let her have any chance of waking up from her nap too soon.

“There’s someone from the school board who is interviewing the students in your class. She was interviewing me and Tom, but when I mentioned the four of you being here she said she wanted to interview you all now.”

“At the same time?”

“No. Tom and I went separately, so I imagine it would be the same for you three.”

“You two go down. I’ll wait here until one of you gets done.” 

Even if Adrien wasn’t the one to watch over Marinette the whole time, he could at least make sure she stayed asleep while Alya and Nino got interviewed. They nodded, and soon Adrien was left alone. He waited a few seconds before laying his head back onto the girl’s chest, smiling as he closed his eyes.

“Oh Plagg, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Marinette is just a very good friend.” 

Adrien let out a huff before looking up and glaring at his kwami. He really didn’t want to argue today, so he tried to close his eyes and ignore the god.

“If you think that will stop me, kid, you’re wrong. I-” Whatever Plagg was about to say was cut off. Adrien opened his eyes and looked up, to see him sporting a look of worry. Slowly lifting his head off Marinette’s chest and turned to look off where the kwami was starring. Nothing was there. 

“Is something wrong?” He asked, turning back around. What Adrien did not realize was that Tikki was floating right behind him, giving Plagg her signature death glare. 

My bug has had no rest at all. Her eyes said. If you stop her from being able to sleep because you’re too busy teasing your kitten and wake her up then I won’t hesitate to end you. 

“Nothing.” Plagg said out loud, not wanting to unleash Tikki’s wrath. He was concerned for her bug too, which was why he was trying to get his oblivious holder to realize his feelings so that she would be cared for on both sides of the mask. Of course, he could do that later when he wasn’t at risk of being destroyed. 

Confused, but deciding not to question it, Adrien laid his head back down and shut his eyes, falling asleep to the sounds of her gentle breaths. 

~~~~~~~~~~

The first thing that Marinette noticed when she woke up, was the voices drifting into the room. She sat up and looked around, confused as to what she was doing in her living room. She turned around and looked over the couch in time to see her papa coming into the room with another woman. 

“I guess she woke up.” Her papa said, before addressing her. “Marinette, this is Mrs. Blanchet. She’s from the school board and is here to ask you some questions.”

Marinette was immediately confused and also worried. She noticed the woman’s professional attire and immediately went to smooth out her messy hair. Mrs. Blanchet didn’t seem to care though, as she walked over and took a seat on the chair across from the couch, not once giving any judgemental looks.

“Sorry about my appearance.” Marinette muttered.

“It’s quite alright. I’ve heard from your friends that you haven’t been able to rest, so it’s good that you got some sleep at least.”

She had spoken to her friends? The questions continued to build up. She knew that there was a man from the school board who was speaking to Miss Bustier, but that didn’t explain why there was this woman here and why she would speak to her friends. The answer finally snapped into place with the next thing she said.

“So, Ms. Dupain Cheng, please tell me about your experience with Mlle. Bustier. And please, be honest.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Is she okay?”

“Relax, dude, her parents are with her.”

“But she should have been done by now.”

The trio had long finished their interviews with Mrs. Blanchet and were sent back to school. Miss Bustier wasn’t in class, but a sub was brought in to cover for her. Mr. Fournier was allowing them to work quietly together on the assignment, or really was just letting them have some time to discuss what was going on. 

He knew that there would be whispering and notes being passed anyways, so it was better to simply let them go ahead with it so they could not feel so anxious about things. Besides, a few students were still out doing their interviews. It wouldn’t be fair to teach with several students missing due to the investigation.

“Should we call her?”

“Adrien, she is fine. We asked her parents to call us if something bad happens, remember?”

It was the only way they were able to get Adrien to leave the bakery. Even telling him that his father would be upset to find him skipping out on class didn’t get him moving. The two bespeckled teens tried to keep Adrien distracted with the worksheet they were giving, but his eyes kept snapping to the door each time it opened. 

More students returned, none of them being Marinette, and Adrien was at the point of considering if he could run out of the room and to the bakery without being pulled back by Nino. So far the only three students out of the room were the bluenette, Chloe, and Sabrina. 

But then Sabrina came back, and quietly explained to Mr. Fournier that Chloe wouldn’t be returning to class today. Adrien assumed that it was because Chloe didn’t want to bother returning to class, but if he was paying attention he might have noticed Sabrina’s wide eyes and flustered tone. As if she was just exposed to some harsh truth and still trying to comprehend it. 

By the time the door came open again, Adrien was standing up to run to the bakery. As soon as he spotted the familiar pigtails, he got in front of the girl and hugged her as quickly as he could.

“Is everything okay? Are you feeling a bit better now?”

Marinette, for her part, did get enough rest to comprehend some things. Not enough for her to be flustered around Adrien yet, but enough to realize how he got to her so quickly.

“Did you just… jump over your desk?”

“Dude.” Nino muttered, head in his hands.

“Um… no?” It was more of a question, because Adrien truly didn’t know if he did that or not.

“Please sit down. I need to make an announcement to the class.”

It was then that Adrien realized that Marinette wasn’t walking in alone. Behind her was another woman, one who he hadn’t seen before. It also registered in his mind that if he really did jump over a desk, not only did this woman see it but the rest of the class also did. He quietly went back to his seat, but not before making sure Marinette got seated in hers. 

“My name is Mrs. Monet and I am a member of the school board. As you know, we have been asking you questions regarding your teacher and your time here at Francoise Dupont. The school board doesn’t like to make rushed decisions, but we feel like this decision will be best for the students and other members of this school’s safety.” She took a pause before continuing. “Miss Bustier will no longer be your teacher.”

Before, if someone were to say that to the class, they would all be devastated and demand answers. However they had seen how she’s been to Marinette over the past couple weeks. Not just that, but once they heard about her threatening Marinette a lot of the love and respect they felt towards the teacher was burned out. Mrs. Monet had been expecting them not to be upset, and continued on with her speech.

“I am sure you might be confused as to what is happening, but I assure you that the school board makes all of its decisions with the school’s wellbeing in mind. We will be ensuring that this choice doesn’t harmfully impact your education. Mr. Fournier will be taking over as your sub for the rest of the school year. I do ask you to please be patient with getting answers to the questions that I’m sure all of you have. 

“We cannot give out full details of an investigation without permission from several people, and that only can happen after the investigation is fully finished. Of course, if you do have questions you need answered you may contact me and any of the other two school board members who you’ve seen today with the emails we’ve provided you. We will be happy to answer your questions if we are able to.

“It is also decided that since the decision to remove Miss Bustier as a teacher here is affecting multiple classes, that tomorrow will be an optional school day. Students may come in to work on school work or just hang out. However you will be required to come within the first hour of school and stay the whole day if you do wish to come here. It is to ensure all of your safety. Your parents have already been notified and told that they will receive a call just to confirm that you aren’t coming to school. If you have any more questions regarding that, you can ask Mr. Fournier for more details.

“Another change that is taking place is that your principal is also being removed.” This caused whispers of confusion to sprout up, but they quickly died down when the woman raised her hand. “We unfortunately cannot say much about this other than he was breaking some rules and had to be terminated. An official announcement regarding that will be made once the investigation is finished. I wish you all a good rest of your day, and if you have anything else you need to ask or have to tell us please reach out to any of the members you have seen today.”

With that, Mrs. Monet walked out and allowed the class to finally speak what was on everyone’s mind. 

“This is my fault.”

Well, clearly one student didn’t share the same thoughts as everyone else. All eyes immediately turned towards Marinette, who looked very upset at the current news. Which didn’t make sense given what had happened to her just last week.

“Marinette, no it’s not.”

“But, Miss Bustier-”

“Did you ask to have all that work dumped on you? To be threatened?” Adrien said, eye flashing with rage. A pat from within his pocket, unknown to anyone else in class, reminded him to take a deep breath and calm down. 

“But what about the class trip? I still needed to get things booked.”

“Don’t worry, Miss Dupain Cheng. As your current homeroom teacher, I’ll be handling things. Everything will be fine. As for you, I think that it would be a good idea for you to take a break being class representative so that you can focus on your school work and your other activities. Your class deputy can take over for a few weeks, and can appoint someone to help her temporarily as well.”

In the back of her mind, Marinette knew that what the man was saying was supposed to lift a burden off her shoulders. After all, she had been wanting a break for weeks now. But right now it felt like all the work she had done up to this point was all for nothing. 

“But, what about the plans I’ve already made? All that was left was to book things and get them approved?”

Mr. Fournier paused in consideration. It would be wrong to use work that a child was forced to do, but it was clear that it could cause the bluenette more distress if all of her work was for not. 

“See me on Wednesday. I’ll have to reach out to the school board to ensure that it is okay, but if you wish we can take your plans and implement them without you having to do all of the work. For now you all can just finish up on the worksheet I gave you and then have quiet conversations. If you need anything feel free to ask.”

Alya handed Marinetted a worksheet but less for the reason of working on it and more just so she wouldn’t forget about grabbing one later. Right now she wanted to check in on her.

“Miss Bustier had this coming to her.” Alya didn’t let Marinette try and defend that woman. “She was the one who purposely dumped her work onto you. Not just that, but she refused to let anyone else help you out. Then she decided to threaten you whenever you were politely trying to figure out the truth. Whatever happens to her is on her.”

Adrien and Nino nodded, and the rest of the class would have agreed but were pretending that they weren’t eavesdropping to try and give her some privacy. Marinette didn’t seem so sure, and the rest of the class all came to the silent collective decision that they would make sure Marinette wasn’t hurt from this. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Before the end of the week they found out that Chloe got expelled. Turns out all the threats she gave to both staff and students alike was enough to seal her fate. Her father tried to fight it, but there wasn’t a lot that could be done with all the evidence. In fact, he was too busy trying to save himself from being exposed of him abusing his power at the school to worry about abusing it even more. 

Another two weeks passed before they found out why Mr. Damocles was fired. Besides just ignoring Chloe’s behavior and Miss Bustier’s abuse, he had also been stealing the school’s money. Turns out the pay of being a principal alone couldn’t afford him all the comic books and fancy gadgets he wanted to become The Owl. 

It took a few weeks for Marinette to feel okay about things. Tikki adamantly went through, relaying out what responsibility meant for her to ensure that Marinette would take care of herself. Adrien, Alya, and Nino all distracted her when she got doubt that it was her fault more than Miss Bustier’s, and all made sure that she got plenty of rest. 

With all the rest she was getting she was finally able to go on patrols again with Chat’s approval. That still didn’t mean that he didn’t wrap her up in a blanket and make her take a nap instead of patrolling some days, but Marinette found that falling asleep to his purrs made her feel more relaxed so she was okay with it.

It was two months after the whole debacle, when Marinette was made to nap before a study session with her three friends only to wake up to the purring coming from a different blonde boy, that she realized something else. A quick freak out, the two hiding in the bathroom whilst Alya and Nino looked at each other confused from their spots in the living room, and Adrien decided that he really wasn’t going to let Marinette go. Like, literally.

“Adrien.”

“No.”

Marinette sighed, deciding to just lean back into him. He immediately burrowed his face into the crook of her neck, and it was only due to her slowly slipping out her exhausted mindstate and being able to be calm around him during that time that she wasn’t a completely flustered mess. Oh, she was still blushing hardcore, but at least she wasn’t squealing like a kettle.

Alya and Nino could only stare at the two, who had emerged from the bathroom with Adrien carrying Marinette before the blond sat her down between his legs. After a few moments, Alya was able to speak.

“So… are you two dating now or?”

“Engaged, actually.”

“I don’t remember you proposing.” 

“I would say married, but just because we act like a married couple doesn’t mean that we are legally married yet.”

“We’re fourteen.”

“... I can wait.”

#miraculous fanfiction #miraculous ladybug fanfic #mlb marinette #marinette dupain cheng #Ms. Bustier Salt #mlb salt #Alya sugar #protective adrien agreste

[mochinek0]

Robin Hoodie

Marinette hugged her hoodie closer as she walked out of school. She had been so busy the past three weeks and Damian wasn't fairing any better. All they had time for was a quick 'Good morning' or 'Sweet dreams' these days. She couldn't blame him being so far away from her. Their schedules were always so small, but she missed him; the eight hour difference was taking it's toll. It's why she had dressed up that day. She had made an oversized black hoodie with the Robin logo on it. It was the best thing she could think of to comfort her. The only thing better would be-

"Habibiti." a voice called.

Marinette froze.

'I'm hearing things. Right?'

Marinette looked up and saw her boyfriend at the bottom of the steps.

'Damian!'

Marinette rushed over, as fast as she could, and hugged him.

'It's him! I'm not dreaming! It's Damian; my Damian! This is his cologne and shampoo. It really is him.'

"What-What are you doing here?" Marinette asked.

Damian opened his mouth but pulled back, taking in what his tiny girlfriend was wearing.

'She's wearing my colors; my logo! The hoodie appears to my size. Is this the reason those morons parade their girlfriends around in their jackets?'

The hoodie sagged a bit around her waist and a bit over her back shorts. She was wearing black knee high socks and dark green boots with bright red laces. He was quick to realize, he wouldn't mind if he brought Marinette to his school dressed like this, showing off she was his and his alone.

'Angel, are you trying to kill me?'

"Someone on your mind?" Damian questioned, pulling her back into his arms.

Mari simply blushed.

Suddenly, Marinette was yanked out of her boyfriend's arms. She was surprised to see Alya, Adrien, and Nino standing between them.

"Hey!" Nino shouted, "Who do you think you are?"

"Back off ya creep!" Alya sneered.

"Guys!" Marinette squeaked, pushing through them and back into Damian's arms, "This is my boyfriend!"

The trio was silent.

"He's from Gotham, hence the outfit." Mari continued to explain, "We've both been busy. We haven't had time to video call. It's been nothing but quick texts for about two weeks. I wore it because I was starting to feel lonely and I missed him."

Damian kissed the top of Marinette's head, "I missed you, too. How about we take a walk? Maybe we can find this Andre you keep telling me about and we can talk about dinner, tomorrow?"

"I'd like that." Marinette smiled, as they began to walk away from the school.

"Did you know?" they shouted at each other.

"No!" they all answered.

They turned and looked in the direction that Marinette left. She was smiling and obviously very happy with her surprise visitor.

Alya sighed, "We can questioned her tomorrow."

"You mean you'll question her tomorrow." Nino replied.

"Exactly." she smiled.

"Do we have to?" Adrien asked, "She looks really happy."

They looked again to see her brightly smiling at the guy. He looked at her like she was the only thing worth paying attention to.

"Maybe, only a little bit." Alya answered, "We at least need to know some basic stuff about him. Like, maybe how long have they been dating or I don't know, his name!"

The boys looked at each other in shock. The realization sunk in that they never asked for his name. They had no clue Marinette had left with.

"Oh, my God!" Nino cried.

"Yeah." Alya sighed, as the boys continued to panic, "That's what I thought."

"Did you see which way they went?" Adrien shouted, "Do you think we can catch them with my driver?"

"Marinette is gonna get kidnapped and we can't even defend ourselves!" Nino whined.

Adrien shook Nino, "Why did you let me, let her leave?"

Alya pulled out her phone and texted Marinette.

A:Boys are idiots. Give me something to keep the pair of idiots from panicking.

M:Panicking about what?

A:Realized they don't know who you left with and can't see you. Thinking you'll be kidnapped and shit.

M:I'm with my bf. I already called my parents and told them where we were going. I'm assuming I'll be interrogated tomorrow.

A: Yep. Before it was just me but I think the boys just got on board.

M: Damn

"You guys!" Alya shouted.

"What?" Adrien asked, "We are forming a plan and-"

Alya waved her phone at them.

"I texted her and she told her parents where they were going." she smiled, "She said she'll see us tomorrow."

Adrien and Nino relaxed.

"Oh." they mumbled.

TAG LIST: @animeweebgirl @a-star-with-a-human-name @meme991001 @vixen-uchiha @abrx2002 @alysrose-starchild @fandom-trapped-03 @dood-space @moonlightstar64 @saltymiraculer @marveldcedits20 @09shell-sea09 @icerosecrystal @animegirlweeb @insane-fangirl-of-everything @blueblossombliss @nickristus-dreamer @megawhitleycalderonpaganus

#marinette dupain cheng #robin #robin inspired hoodie #damian wayne #daminette #damian x marinette #marinette x damian #long distance relationship #missing you #alya cesaire #nino lahiffe #adrien agreste #marinette protection squad #alya sugar #nino sugar #adrien sugar #mochinek0

[chemicl]

Hoping for more protective Adrien in Season 6 ❤️

#2000s #adrienette #cat noir #ladybug and chat noir #ladynoir #marichat #chat noir #claw noir #emo #miraculous fanart #Protective #adrien agreste #miraculous adrien #adrien x marinette #alya #marinette #mlb adrien #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #miraculous ladybug #miraculous awakening #miraculous lb #ladybug #ml ladybug #tales of ladybug and cat noir #rabbit noir #miraculous #marinette dupain cheng #ladrien #adrinette #lovesquare

[masternia]

YOU THOUGHT SHE COULD USE A LITTLE WHAT NATHANIEL?!?! 😭💀

#miraculous ladybug #mlb s5 spoilers #mlb spoilers #marinette dupain cheng #mlb nathaniel #protection spoilers #kagami tsuguri #mlb kagami #mlb marinette #mlb alya #mlb zoe #zoe bourgeois #zoe lee #mlb chat noir #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #adrien agreste #marc anciel #kids shows #nathaniel kurtzberg

[rainbow-arrow]

idk why but how they’re divided is just. it’s so good. i could (might) write an essay on this later

#let's go #mlb protection #this was also noted bc i support adrien and couffaine friendship #from both siblings #and we all saw guiltrip ofc juleka would choose adrien #at first i thought 'oh kitty section' #but that ain't even it sis #mlb season 5 spoilers #ml season 5 spoilers #mlb #miraculous ladybug #like alya kagami zoe yes #i don't even recall adrien and zoe ever talking #and she #not doing this in these tags sorry

[trashyangelic]

𝟬𝟵𝟭𝟰𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 : ᴍʟʙ ᴛᴜᴍʙʟʀ ᴘʀᴏᴍᴘᴛ ʀᴇᴏ̨ᴜᴇ𝙨ᴛ

ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢs - Felinette, Chlogami sᴀʟᴛs - Lila Salt, Adrien Salt, Alya salt ʀᴇᴅᴇᴍᴘᴛɪᴏɴs - Chloe Redemption ᴏᴛʜᴇʀs - Marinette Protection Squad, Principal Damocles Bashing, Caline Bustier Bashing I just recently started to re-watching some gacha tubers videos. One of my favorited gacha tubers was 707 and Kawaii Ichigo-chan.

The protection squad for Marinette they are Felix Fathom, Kagami Tsurugi, Chloe Bourgeois, Alix Kubdel, Nino Lahiffe, Zoe Lee, Rose Lavillant, Juleka Couffaine, Aurore Beaureal, Mirelle Caquet, Marc Anciel, Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Claude Bellamy, Allegra Blanchet, and Allan Dubois.

Let's say Marinette is a huge fan of 707 & Kawaii Ichigo-chan gacha tubers. But what people doesn't know is that she writes the names of the people who hates the most to get killed by an evil spirit. She is more interested about 'Red Ink Curse' she has read this somewhere in the school library.

-- Her first target was Alya Cesaire since she never show proof which annoyed her.

-- Her second target was Adrien Agreste the one that showed her the true colors of Adrien being a bystander & enabler for bullies and not helping her at all. As she went as Ladybug to retrieve the Black Cat Miraculous from him he wasn't the true holder of Plagg it was actually his cousin Felix.

-- Her third target was Lila Rossi the girl who ruined her reputation and her life.

But she decided to give Gabriel a second chance by fixing the peacock miraculous and bringing back his wife back after the disappointment he got from Marinette's parents about Adrien's action towards her.

While Tikki made a reason with the spirit who had killed her targets. But made a promise not to go near her friends or family unless her miraculous holder had someone who wanted to cause her holder to be akumatized.

As soon as her targets were gone she is no more feels stress from them ever again. While Ms. Bustier and Damocles well they got fired from their job when Chloe send a report to the School Board about them.

#alya salt #lila salt #adrien salt #no lila rossi demption #marinette deserves better #marinette protection squad #chloe redemption #felinette #felix fathom #chlogami #kagami tsurugi #chloe bourgeois #bad teacher caline bustier #damocles salt #gabriel agreste redemption #emilie agreste lives

[iwasbored777]

I'm thinking about Alya when she was convincing Marinette to give Lila a chance by only calling Lila "nice" while Adrien defended Marinette from Kagami's accusations by mentioning good stuff Marinette has done and even used the "unlike Lila Marinette's actions prove it". I like that "I don't know her well enough but she seems nice" vs "I know her well enough and I know she's a good person" thingy they put here with Adrien saying "if I have to choose I'm gonna go with the person I know better". From the start Adrien was never so enamored with Lila like the rest of the class, so he didn't have a change of heart, he is naturally rather there for actions over words. Which is also how he fell for Ladybug in the first place.

#In my high school one of my classmates was accusing another classmate of sleeping with her boyfriend and this one claimed she didn't do it #And she was a really good person I was getting along with her better than the first one #But I didn't meddle in the argument #When I was alone with the second one I told her I don't want to meddle cuz they're both my friends but I genuinely don't think she did it #And it made her feel a lot better cuz she knew I don't think so low of her just bc someone told me that #And I felt proud of myself #How can I trust simple words when I know this person for who she is #miraculous ladybug #ml protection #ml revelation #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #alya cesaire #Lila Rossi

[xhanisai]

charcoal and steel, like seriously, I agree with every one of your takes on mlb, especially with marinette and how the fandom treats her, and your fics and art are just *chef's kiss* the way you write and draw the love square is everything to me. <<<<<<<<<<3

IUHDGEIFGEIUGFC;OWHDIOWOID WBWLAHG WHDBWDJPOQSOI;DHWKJDGWIUGD;OIWHD'PIWD'PWD'IH

THANKS IM SOBBING AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA THANK YOU

#my asks #i CANNOT ENHLISH RN THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU #I WILL FOREVER DEFEND AND PROTECT MY BEST GIRL MARINETTE AND BEST LAD ADRIEN AND ALSO ALYA AND NINO #I WILL DEFEND MY DREAM TEAM FOREVER

[knifedancer]

The Kissing Booth

Marinette's class opts to run a kissing booth for their school fair fundraiser. Unfortunately Chloe drops out at the last minute and Marinette is selected to replace her. She's really uncomfortable with being a 'kisser' at the booth but then something unexpected happens...

Also posted on AO3.

“I don’t know about this, Alya!” Marinette anxiously tugged on the fabric that would be her blindfold for the next hour. It was canary yellow with little bees and flowers embroidered on it. She had handmade one for each participant.

“Come on, girl! You agreed to the kissing booth idea when we were planning what our school fair project would be,” Alya replied.

“But I didn’t plan to participate! This is so humiliating,” the bluenette bit her lip as she mentally panicked. “Why did Chloe have to back out at the last possible minute?”

The other girl shook her head, “Doesn’t matter. Don’t you see? This is your chance! You’ve been in love with Adrien since collège and we’re in lycée now. You’re no longer that short, awkward classmate that tripped over herself in Sunshine’s presence. He’ll kiss you and it’ll be magical. You’ll get married and have three kids and a hamster named—”

“Marinette, it’s your turn at the booth!” Rose’s excited voice called out from the other side of the curtain. The girl in question felt the pit of her stomach drop at the pronouncement, being overtaken by nerves.

“Look, I pulled some strings so you won’t be scheduled for the same hour as Adrien. That way he can come and support you instead of being tied up at the other side of the booth from you. Now get out there!” Alya shoved her from the small prep area they had curtained off and towards the back entry.

Marinette knew the booth set up by heart as she had helped design and build it. It was a long chute with two aisles that led to a set of booths where a male and female student would stand. Both booths were separated by a barrier and an exit curtain would lead the attendees away. Six students in total had signed up to be participants, equally split between sexes, and all had to be eighteen to avoid extra approval paperwork with the school. A few student staff members would stand at the entryway, before the two aisles diverged, to collect the required entry fee. Next to the entry was a bulletin board where the current participants’ photos would be posted. Participants would sit or stand at the booth while blindfolded, kissing whoever approached. They had set the whole thing up to keep things as anonymous as possible so that other students wouldn’t feel pressured to go one way or another, avoiding embarrassment, and keep from any awkwardness happening after in school.

It had been a good plan but Chloe, who had initially volunteered, had decided to flake out at the last possible moment. It left them in a lurch as they needed another female student to take her place and there were very few girls in the class that were eighteen that were willing to fill in: Juleka and Marinette. The Adrienette club, consisting of their various friends from Bustier’s old class, had tapped the designer to do it. She was very uncomfortable with the idea and expressed her desire not to participate – she hadn’t even had her first real kiss yet! No, she didn’t count the ones as Ladybug! – but they were adamant. They had brushed off her concerns without a second thought. It didn’t help when they heaped on the guilt about not being able to reach their fundraising goal for their class trip without their sixth person. Railroaded into accepting, the bluenette had been barely holding back a panic attack ever since.

The Ladyblogger gestured for her to take a seat on the stool and helped her put on the blindfold. “Alright, there you are! Now…I know you’re nervous but don’t worry about it! You’re going to be fine! But, if it helps, I’m your first customer,” with that, Alya gave her a friendly peck on the cheek that caused them both to laugh. “Don’t worry, you got this.” With that, she turned Marinette towards the front of the booth and exited the area, leaving the girl alone.

The young designer sat and wondered who might come to her side of the booth. With her luck, Adrien wouldn’t come at all. Not that she was necessarily hoping for that outcome. She had been waiting for three years for him to notice her, three years to figure out a way to tell him how she felt, three years of helping him with dates or gifts for other girls… Was someone worth waiting for that never noticed you or thought of you as anything more than a friend? She wanted to matter to someone! Marinette had resolved herself to let the silly crush go.  She had grown into herself since making that decision, becoming more confident and outgoing, losing her stutter, as well as finally gaining a little height (170cm). She was finally taller than her maman! Plus the physical exertion she experienced as Ladybug left her with athletic, lean muscles stretched over a pear-shaped frame. She wasn’t as curvy as Alya or Mylene, but she was happy with her more feminine curves. Even with all those changes, Adrien had still not noticed her, so she felt more assured than ever that she made the right choice.

An hour of time can pass in a blink of an eye or feel like a lifetime. For Marinette, it was the latter. After a little while, she found herself still sitting alone. She had propped her elbows up onto the small counter of the booth and rested her head on her hand. The walls themselves were not very thick so she knew Kim, who was sharing other side of the booth for the hour, had received several customers. Satisfied ones at that, if the moans and giggling were any indication.

‘Jeez, Kim… I’d tell you to get a room but you actually have one already…,’ she thought to herself as she blushed from a particularly raunchy noise. ‘Guess I didn’t have anything to worry about, no one really wants to kiss me.’ Tears pricked at her eyes behind the blindfold at that thought. Not that she wanted to be kissed by any random person, especially for her first kiss, but it still wounded her feelings a little. Almost every girl worries that she could be unattractive, Marinette was no exception.

And so, time passed awkwardly accentuated by muffled noises from next door. When it got closer to the end of the hour, Marinette could hear a commotion towards the entryway but could not make out what was being said. She could vaguely hear Alya questioning someone, but the response was lost on the bluenette. She wished she was up there instead, handling angry customers had become second nature to her from all her years working at her parents’ bakery. Anything was better than just sitting here!

Within a few minutes the commotion outside had stopped and she could hear footsteps approaching. “Miss Dupain-Cheng, your hour has finished. It is time for Miss Kubdel’s shift. I have come to retrieve you,” came the familiar voice of Felix. Adrien’s cousin was still the haughty boy he always had been but had mellowed out enough to participate in class fundraisers. Like Marinette, he had also gone through changes over the last three years. While Adrien had the height and strong shoulders, he had taken more after his mother – a lithe form with lean muscles. It turned out for the best, allowing the model to take on more androgynous looks that appealed to Gabriel’s larger audience. Felix had grown to over 180cm, developed broad shoulders and a bulkier muscular structure, and began styling his hair in a shorter version of the Harvard Cut. He still wore the same formal clothes but now had the stature to match his superior attitude. He certainly cut an intimidating figure.

Marinette untied her blindfold, sliding from the booth to join him by the exit curtain. She rubbed her eyes with a stretch, feeling stiff from sitting for so long. “Thanks, Felix. That was a long hour! How did we do on fundraising so far?”

“It appears we made our goal,” he replied blandly.

“Wow, really? Mon Dieu, I guess Kim was really popular!” Felix seemed to stiffen at her statement but did not say anything. “At least whatever we raise from the third shift can be used in our rainy-day fund.”

Felix, ever the gentleman, lifted the curtain aside for her and she nodded her thanks. They politely parted ways – he back to the front to monitor security and money handling practices; Marinette back towards their classroom to grab her wallet so she could enjoy the rest of the fair. Walking among the booths, she selected a one serving a delicious pasta before moving on to the crafts areas. Everyone was so creative and excited!

Her perusal of some bracelets was cut short when someone tugged hard on her elbow. Catching herself from falling over, she looked over to find a very frustrated red head. “Hey Alya, what’s up?”

“Girl, what is going on between you and Felix? Because he made a huge scene earlier at the booth!”

“What scene? There’s nothing going on between us, you know that…,” came Marinette’s puzzled reply.

Alya led her away from the busy booth areas and towards a quieter corner, pulling out her phone and presenting it to her friend. “Here. Watch the video I took during your shift.”

~~~ The Video ~~~

The camera shook as it came into focus on the entryway to the kissing booth. A small crowd of students had gathered near the bulletin to see who was participating and the schedule of kissers for the day. Ivan and Juleka were standing next to the collection box that they would add to as students approached. Suddenly a male student walked back through the entry and angrily huffed as he left, followed by another and another. Some asked for their money back but were otherwise either disappointed or angry looking as they left.

“What the heck is going on…,” came Alya’s disembodied voice as the video began progressing into the entryway. First down Kim’s area, where one could clearly see the jock lip-locked with a guy in a ponytail and red football jersey. Then the camera traveled back up the chute and into the other side.

There, Alya encountered a small crowd of agitated students that were stopped. Pushing through, Felix’s towering form was seen at the front. He had planted himself in the middle of the chute, arms crossed, glaring down anyone that dared to pass him. When one brave boy tried to step around him, Felix appeared to snarl something, too low to be heard by the camera, before the unknown boy paled and backed off. “Any other takers?” Felix asked the crowd calmly, staring them all down. “No? Then please leave.”

“Hey! You can’t stop paying customers… I want a kiss from the hottie in the photo!”

“Yeah, I want a kiss too!”

“I wouldn’t mind more than a kiss, if you know what I mean!”

“Ooooh!”

“Not before I get my turn with her!”

“It’s not like she belongs to you, man!”

Many in the crowd echoed similar sentiments, not noticing the darkening countenance of the tall young man in front of them. Felix uncrossed his arms and advanced, looming over the first student that insinuated getting more than a kiss from Marinette. The crowd’s mutterings had fallen silent, those in the front trembled or shivered from the look on Felix’s face. He seemed to exude a deadly aura, even the light in the room seemed to dim in his proximity.

“Excuse me? Who do you think you are, you sexist guttersnipe? It appears your parents raised you to think of women as merely playthings to be owned or used,” he slowly looked around, making sure to glare into the eyes of all those present. “You all disgust me. The person down this chute is a respectable, hard-working, intelligent young lady that does not deserve your slimy paws or ghastly thoughts directed toward herself. I will not let you proceed. Regardless of gender, none of you are worthy of her time. Leave immediately or…,” his voice seemed to growl with malice, “I’ll make you leave.”

The crowd dispersed back to the front with nothing more than upset mutterings. The recording drew closer to Felix, who had turned to look with mild interest. “What do you think you are doing? We’re trying to run a kissing booth here!”

“I know, Césaire, and I have a booth to protect,” he replied nonchalantly.

“By what, scaring off all our customers?!” Alya questioned angrily.

“Alya, I’m sure there’s a good reason Felix did that,” came Adrien’s soothing voice. He must have either joined in the investigation or split off from the crowd that had been excused.

“Quite right, cousin. Miss Dupain-Cheng was incredibly uncomfortable about the prospect of performing at the booth as a participant today. No one should be forced to do something that they do not want,” Felix remarked as if schooling a student that had asked a dumb question.

“Excuse you? Marinette didn’t have an issue! She would have told me!” came the blogger’s offended cry.

“Yeah, Felix. Besides, it’s not hurting anyone!” Adrien contributed.

The emerald eyes of the boy in front of them flashed and narrowed on them. “Did you even bother to ask Marinette how she felt? Or, knowing you two, bother to listen?” Felix crossed his arms and stood straight again, taking advantage of the additional 5cm he had over Adrien to now loom over the two friends. “Let me take your silence as a no. You didn’t ask, you didn’t listen. You pressured her until she agreed and then forced her to partake in an activity that she did not want to do in the first place.”

“But she…we didn’t think…,” began the other blond, cowering from his cousin. From his stance one could almost imagine a cat with its tail tucked between its legs while in the presence of a larger predator.

“That’s right, you didn’t think, cousin. You’re both no better than the ignoramuses I have been chasing off. You assigned me security for the day and that’s what I’m doing. Her welfare matters more than your ridiculous kissing booth,” he responded coldly.

“And how are we supposed to make up the money that we just lost to refunds? That had to be at least two dozen you chased off!” Alya questioned, clinging to her anger.

Felix clicked his tongue, looking less deadly than before but no less commanding. “Forty-two in total were sent away. If you’re concerned about the money, then I will pay triple for all the kisses Miss Dupain-Cheng was to give today.”

The camera had picked up Alya and Adrien’s choke at the statement but, before they could reply, Felix pointedly looked at his wristwatch. “Seems the hour is up. I will escort Miss Dupain-Cheng out to make sure she is not bothered by any lingering riffraff. I will join you at the front of the booth to settle the payment after.” With that he turned and walked down the chute towards the booth area.

“What the hell was that abou—,” Alya’s voice was cut off with the end of the recording.

~~~ Back to Present ~~

Marinette stood stunned as her friend took back her phone. She had never seen Felix be so protective before! Especially of her! She pressed a hand to her heart as it raced in her chest, hearing the blood pumping loudly in her ears.

“So? Did he say anything to you?” Alya demanded.

“No…he didn’t say anything about that…,” the girl replied slowly. “All he said was that we reached our goal…”

“Damn right we did, because he paid triple the rate for every person he turned away,” her friend exclaimed. Then her face changed to one of concern, “Was what he said true? Were you not comfortable participating as a kisser?”

Marinette winced and looked down, mumbling, “Yeah… I didn’t want to participate but none of you seemed to listen… I’ve been on the verge of a panic attack since yesterday and it was a relief when no one came to kiss me during my shift.”

Alya threw her arms around her and hugged tight, her tone contrite, “I’m so, so sorry! I should have listened to you. Can you forgive me?”

The designer returned the hug with a small smile, “Done. Just don’t push me into these things again, okay?”

They pulled apart with a giggle of agreement, the bespectacled girl grabbed her shoulders and looked curious. “So…Felix really didn’t say anything to you? Did you tell him how uncomfortable you were?”

“No, nothing…,” Marinette replied confusedly, replaying his words from the video in her mind. Her heart began to race again; she needed to talk to him! She glanced down at her phone to check the time, noting that he should be helping with the tear down right now. “Alya, I gotta go. Call me later, yeah?”

With that, she took off running. She summoned every Ladybug reflex she had and dashed through the throngs of people that still drifted between the food and craft stalls. She finally made it back to the booth location and looked around, not seeing the tall blond anywhere. Marinette approached Ivan, “Have you seen Felix?”

“Uh…yeah, I think he was taking the collection box back to the classroom,” he replied. “Good work today, by the way! I heard you were the big money maker!”

Marinette blushed and took off again, heading towards the main building. She slid to a stop at the classroom door and threw it open with a loud bang. Felix looked up from his task with a glare before realizing it was her. “Would you please close the door? I should have locked it while I was counting but didn’t think anyone else would come in here.”

She gingerly closed and locked the door, unsure how to proceed with this conversation. “Felix… Alya told me what happened at the booth earlier.”

The blond stiffened and sat back in his chair; he pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. “I see. I’m sorry if I overstepped—”

“No, no, you did the right thing! It’s just...,” Marinette pulled at her fingers as sought out what to say. “How did you know I was uncomfortable? I mean…the rest didn’t seem to notice and…”

As she rambled incoherently, Felix had gotten up and approached the table in front of her. He sat on the edge of the desk and sighed, “I notice everything about you, Marinette.”

Marinette met his eyes with a jolt, staring into them as if trying to figure out her lucky charm. “Why?” was all she could manage, her voice taking on a fragile tone.

“In these three or so years that we’ve attended school together, I’ve grown to respect and admire you.” The blond’s voice dropped to a quiet, humble murmur, “Because you matter to me more than you could ever know.”

Not breaking eye contact, she stepped forward into his personal space. She reached out her right hand and hesitated, watching to make sure he was comfortable with it, before settling it on his left pectoral. She could feel his heartbeat beneath her fingers, pounding the same tempo as her own. His eyes were wide with surprise and she could hear his fingers gripping the edge of the desk so tightly that it creaked in protest.

“…Part of the reason I was so uncomfortable today was because I’ve never been kissed before,” she stated hesitantly. She noted the way the muscles in his chest seemed to tense beneath her hand at the confession. “For a long time, I thought it was just because no one was interested in me...” She saw his brow furrow and lips open as if to refute her statement, but Felix stopped when she applied just a little pressure.

“I think I was actually just waiting for the right person,” her hopeful blue eyes met his stare. She was scared of being rejected but, as soon as she saw how he had reacted in the video, she knew she had to take the chance. Because he had somehow wheedled his way into her heart without her noticing. “Felix, I…”

The boy’s hands released the table and one reached up to gently cup her cheek, as if holding a precious jewel. The other came to rest over her hand on his chest. He gazed into her eyes; she watched as something seemed to melt in their depths. Her left hand came up to cover the one on her face, leaning into it with a small smile. Marinette had never felt so safe and treasured. She could feel his heartbeat pick up slightly. Felix looked down at her lips as he leaned in, stopping just as their noses touched. She knew he would not proceed without her consent. They made exhaled a shared shaky breath, as if under great strain, before she closed the distance for him.

His lips were warm and slightly chapped from being in the sun all day, but she had never felt anything so soft before. His lips moved against her own and she eagerly matched his rhythm. The hand on her cheek traveled down to her lower back and pulled her close, her body fitting perfectly between his thighs and against his broad frame. Her hand, now free, moved to the back of his neck and toyed with the soft short hairs there. They kept the kiss languid and gentle, neither wanting to push too far.

When they finally broke away, their faces had matching ruddy complexions. She gently bumped her nose against his, reveling in their new found intimacy. Felix chuckled and wrapped his arms loosely around her, keeping her against his chest but making sure she didn’t feel trapped. Marinette felt some of her old anxieties creeping in. “Was…was that okay?”

“More than okay, my dear. I admit, I am not versed in the art of kissing either. But, if you so desire, I would be willing to practice with you…,” Felix offered slyly, leaning in to nuzzle her neck. “Perhaps for the rest of our lives?”

Her breathing hitched at the implications of his words. Marinette imagined what a life shared with him would be like, the joy and warmth, the teasing and banter, protected and treasured… She felt an overwhelming sense of rightness at the prospect. She must have been lost in thought for too long because Felix leaned back with a look of concern.

“Marinette, I didn’t mean to make the assumption—” he was cut off by her finger to his lips. She smiled at his expectant but shocked face.

“Less talking, more practice, hot stuff.” Felix broke into a grin then happily pulled her into another kiss. The second of many in their future.

Afterall, he had paid for them…

~~~Author's Note:

"Best investment I ever made." - Felix, on his wedding day.

#miraculous ladybug #felinette #felix x marinette #marinette dupain cheng #felix fathom #felix graham de vanily #marivanily #fluff #one shot #aged up au #school festival au #pre relationship #kissing booth #protective felix #pov marinette #first kiss #friends to lovers #alya cesaire #fanfiction #cross posted on ao3

[blue-asher]

Luka Couffaine X Reader

Can you imagine Reader turning into a fangirl over this new ally hero brought by Ladybug, Viperion?

And just the day after his first appearance Reader goes running straight to Alya to ask her all of the details and photos she got of him?

And right after that she takes the photos of all the possible angles and brings them to Marinette and Reader asks her to make a small doll like the one she has for Ladybug and Chat Noir?

And Reader having done that at school, screaming to the four winds because of her excitement, not realising that Luka was around (why would she care either way it's not like Luka is Viperion, that truly would be embarrassing)?

And Marinate, knowing the truth, just looks at Luka straight in the eye and asking Reader what does she like about the hero and Reader going in this spiral rant about everything good with him while Luka starts growing nervous?

Finally, reader and Marinate talking about the design and materials for the doll while Luka just stays freezed and red in the face, glued to the ground, not knowing how to take Reader's interest but also unexplainably happy about it?

Or him turning red every time he sees Reader with the doll on her backpack or shoulder, carrying it everywhere with them "for good luck and protection"?

Yeah, love it.

#luka couffaine #luka couffaine x reader #miraculous ladybug #mlb x reader #luka Couffaine imagine

[miraculouscataclyyysm]

So alix had to leave Paris to protect the bunny miraculous, Luka had to leave because he knows ladybug and chat noirs identity’s…..Alya should just start packing at this point

#they all know to much #lb said evict all the children #at least they got cool trips out of it though #miraculous ladybug #ml #miraculous tales of ladybug and cat noir #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #ml s5 spoilers #chat noir #ladybug #luka couffaine #alix kubdel #alya cesaire

[charlotteking23]

Chat Noir Headcanons

This kitty won't be afraid to show PDA in public or private.

cuddling, holding hands, and lots of kisses are expected anytime you two are together

loves to show off in front of you

like if he's fighting an akumantized villain he will show off his muscles.

loves telling cat puns, That was PURRfect wouldn't you say? but he especially likes it if you join along, You cat to be kitten me right meow 😒. ( insert heart eyes from chat noir 😍)

he would protect you from any danger including any guys.

jealous type

would sneak into your room by your window just to see you but he only comes at night usually.

you probably wouldn't know his identity for he would want to remain a secret but we all know it didn't take that long to figure out who he was behind the mask.

Chat would take you on dates at night to see the Eiffel Tower at its highest point, or he would use his baton to carry him and you to a random rooftop, talking about random things.

his favorite date spot is your balcony just you and him talking in the night sky (so beautiful).

you would start making a chat noir blog, it highlights chat noir as a hero and partner to ladybug not just a sidekick.

it blows up with 2.5 million followers and Alya is jealous that her ladyblog doesn't have that many followers.

#chat noir x reader #chat noir #miraculous ladybug #chat noir x oc #adrien agreste x reader #adrien agreste #alya cesaire #nino lahiffe #mlb #mlb fandom #ladybug and chat noir #tales of ladybug and cat noir #chat blanc #miraculous #marinette dupain cheng #mlb marinette #miraculous marinette #adrien #cat noir x reader #cat noir

[wield-the-mighty-pen]

#miraculous ladybug #mlb #miraculous #ml #ml season 5 #unreality #ml polls #polls

[miabrown007]

the summer after finishing university in New York, Marinette gets invited to a camping trip with Alya and Nino and his best friend. which, honestly, is for the best. at least she has more time than the four years she's already had to figure out how to reach out to her one-time superhero partner, with whom she fell out of touch after the reveal.

only, it's Adrien Agreste waiting for them on the meeting point, beaming so hard at her that it's blatantly obvious they know each other well. in her panic, what is Marinette supposed to tell Alya and Nino to protect their identites, if not that they used to date?

(fake exes AU x there was only one tent)

#miraculous ladybug #writing prompt #ladynoir #adrinette #if you thought fake-dating was ridiculous enough get ready for: fake exes!! #Adrien is sunshine. his lady!! he's so happy to see her again!!! but also she did kind of ghost him for years is she mad at him? #Marinette is dying inside. maybe this would be easier if she ever fell out of love with Chat Noir and not just dated for sport during her B #Alya doesn't understand how could her best friend hide a relationship all throughout highschool but she wants to know all about it! #Nino's pretty sure Adrien is still in love with Nette which makes everything so much more complicated. couldn't they just stargaze in peace #I'm clearly having a lot of thoughts about it but I also do not think this is getting written unfortunately #poor boy sitting in my drafts for a year now. someone liberate him!!