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gale-gentlepenguin · 3 years

Text

ML Ficlet: Nothing changed

It was unnaturally cold for this time of year. That is what the crimson heroine thought to herself as she dashed across the rooftops in the city of love.

She landed on the roof that was their usual meet up point.

"Just in time My Lady." Chat noir purred. "Looks like you are keeping your promise about not missing our patrols."

Ladybug wished she could be in a happier mood. She was questioning whether she should even tell him about what she did.

"Ladybug? You in there?" Chat noir inquired. "I called you my Lady again and you didn't correct me?"

His question snapped Ladybug back to the present.

"Huh? Oh, right sorry." She apologized.

"A lot on your mind?"

"You could say that."

"Do you want to talk about it? Or is it guardian stuff?"

Ladybug decided she would tell him after patrol tonight, she didn't want the mood to be soured over this.

She takes his hand.

"We can talk later. But first, Paris needs protecting." She smiled sweetly. The cat felt a faint blush on his cheeks. But the feeling faded when he realized she had taken off.

"Oh! So thats how you want to play." Chat noir smiled.

The two teens patrolled the city from above. They made sure to protect several food stands... in case an akuma was Hangry. Making time to take photos. They even comforted a girl after a bad date, preventing an akuma in the making.

It had been awhile since Chat noir was able to enjoy a patrol with Ladybug like this. She wasn't so high strung trying to force herself to have fun or so quick to get out. It was like nothing had changed. Perhaps Ladybug had finally found a good balance, he hoped that was the case.

Though as soon as it started, the patrol was at an end. Chat noir wishing it could have went on forever.

"Well sadly while the night is young, we must part." Chat noir acted out like a thespian. Using over dramatic hand gestures to exemplify his 'Heartbreak.'

"Silly kitty." Ladybug let out a sigh and light giggle. Oh how it was music to his ears.

"Well good night bugaboo. I will dream of you." He teased.

Ladybug's expression went grim.

"Wait a second."

Chat noir stopped himself from leaping.

"Yes My... yes Ladybug?"

Chat noir could tell that the mood had shifted. He had gotten better at reading her emotions and it was clear she was going to say something serious. He put away the mental clown nose.

"I... I need to tell you something important." Ladybug spoke. Her words holding much more weight with each passing second.

"Look Ladybug... if this is too much you don't have to tell me. I know that..."

"No, I need to tell you this. Even if it hurts." Ladybug interrupted. Her voice shook in that moment.

The air blew much colder to the cat.

"Okay, what is it?"

Chat noir prepared for some sort of verbal punch. Whatever it was, he was sure he could take it.

"I told someone my identity."

He was wrong. It was like he had the air knocked out of him. That couldn't be right. There was no way she would.... right?

"I'm sorry Ladybug. I think I must of misheard what you said. Cause it sounded like you said you told someone your secret identity." He tried to make light of it. His body shaking as he forced a Cheshire grin.

"You didn't. I told someone who I am under the mask."

His heart felt like it was dropped off the roof of the building they were standing on.

"You mean someone forced you to tell them? Cause we can track them down and fix it."

"I told someone, of my own free will, who I am. I know that comes as a shock. You are right to feel mad."

The cat hero looked at her, his expression became unreadable.

"Mad? You think I would be mad about this?" His voice trying to so hard to maintain calm when every part of his heart feels like he is being stabbed. "I am hurt, that you would think that."

"It wasn't something I did to hurt you. I just felt the pressure of everything... and I couldn't.... I couldn't bear it alone." Ladybug answered. She was not happy with this. She knew chat noir would feel hurt, but she never expected this.

Chat noir took a deep breath. He would ease himself. He needed to be rational. Ladybug was being honest with him. She could have just kept it from him. He needed to understand how hurt she must feel about all of this. Even if this felt like his heart was being dissected, he would not make Ladybug feel worse about this. He would try to be understanding.

"Okay... I understand. Fu had Marianne. Its okay that you would tell someone."

Ladybug eased a bit, the cat seemed to be coming around.

"It wasn't something I wanted to do. I know how much this must sting hearing this."

This felt so condescending to the black cat. And that was the last straw.

"No. Not at all. I mean sure I want nothing more in life then to know who my closest friend and crime fighting partner is. And sure, I completely hated the rule with a passion that could rival the desire shadow moth has for our miraculous. But I stuck to it because, hey, it was for the sake of Paris and it made sure we could stay safe from the crazy super villain. It made sense, and even though I wanted to tell one person who I love who I am, I couldn't risk it. Even though it ruined the relationships I had, I endured. I did it because, Ladybug was counting on me. I did it because even though it was killing me internally, Ladybug was bearing the same burden! It was us against the world! I could endure it with her! I guess that was a lie too!"

Chat noir took a breath.

"Chatton..."

"Im not done." He snapped. His smile had vanished, showing a nasty snarl.

Ladybug felt herself step back. The ferocity of that statement triggered a long suppressed fear. Something she wished she would never see again. The reason why she didn't want him to find out her identity. She saw the anger of Chat Blanc.

Chat noir noticed the fear on ladybug's face, and the tears forming in her eyes. He had gone too far. His anger replaced with horror at what he had done.

"Wait... Ladybug... That was too far."

"No... you're right to be mad. I broke your trust. I forced you to agree to things you hated and then I broke the rule I set. I just... I couldn't take it. So I know I am being selfish to expect you to take it in stride. You don't deserve this. I would understand if you hate me and want to quit..."

Chat noir hugged her. Catching the red heroine off guard.

"This isn't your fault. Yes I'm mad. I am also hurt and feel betrayed... but I don't hate you."

"You don't?"

"I couldn't hate you Ladybug. Its not like I've been the perfect partner. I've screwed up too. But you still want me around right?" Chat noir answered.

"I don't think I could be ladybug without you."

Chat noir felt his emotions ease.

"And I couldn't be Chat noir without you."

He releases the hug.

They stood in silence for a few minutes. Both taking calming breaths. They wanted to ensure they were both able to continue talking without a potential akuma risk.

"So, you told someone because you needed someone to talk to because being the guardian along with other stuff was too much for you to handle quietly. " Chat noir asked calmly.

"Yes, that is what happened."

"It was better you told someone then just suffered alone. I wanted to be your support... but I understand that its dangerous right now if I know who you are and vice versa." Chat noir continued.

"I know its hard to accept..."

"No no, lets not try and ease it. I will accept it over time. I just want you to know that its okay that you did that. I want you to know that despite how much it hurt, I am glad you told me now. Finding this out... that might have hurt so much worse. It would have felt like nothing changed from back then."

Ladybug knew he was referring to how master fu had kept her from tell him about things. How he was left in the dark? She hated that period of her life.

"When this is over, when Hawkmoth is done. I swear we can reveal our identities to each other. We can even go catch a movie."

Chat noir smiled a bit.

"I would like that."

In the end, Chat noir was still hurt by this, but he knew how to take a bit of pain. He would move past it, he and Ladybug would still be partners. He still love her dearly. Nothing changed.

#ml #gang of secrets #ml spoilers #ml ficlet #hurt and comfort #miraculous ladybug #ladynoir #ladybug #chat noir #chat blanc mention #ml angst #ml season 4

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mochegato · 3 years

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Hope on Board

Chapter 1 - Boy’s Night Out

“Okay,” Dick boomed, bringing the room’s attention to himself. “Weapons on the counter.” He raised an eyebrow at the disgruntled objections around the room. “We are going out to have fun. We are not going to take guns or knives or arrows to the bar. This is a night off. This night is to relax and blow off steam. Boy’s night out.”

“Having a gun does relax me!” Jason mumbled around the bite of apple in his mouth.

“Naw, it’s the shooting that relaxes you,” Roy pointed out shoving his head away as he walked past him.

“No guns!” Dick grabbed the gun out of Jason’s thigh holster as he passed by and tossed it onto the counter.

“Hey!” Jason yelled, grabbing Dick’s shirt and violently pulling him back to face Jason. “Don’t touch my guns.”

Dick held his hands up in surrender and waited quietly for Jason to let go. Once Jason had backed off and taken another bite of his apple, Dick shook his head. “See that there, is exactly why we need a night out and no weapons. I expect all weapons on this counter before we walk out that door.” He stared Jason and Roy down.

“Why are we going to a club if we just want to talk?” Tim pointed out with a defeated sigh. “Loud music, people bumping into you, lights flashing… not the ideal atmosphere for talking.”

“We’re also blowing off steam and a distraction while we talk so Jason doesn’t get bored and start fighting is not a bad idea,” Dick pointed out. “Which brings us back to no weapons.”

Jason huffed and walked over to the counter keeping eye contact with Dick as he started removing his knife and his backup knife and his small knife and his backup gun and laid them on the counter one at a time. “Thank you, Jason. Roy?”

Roy sighed and removed his knife and a gun. Dick raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. “What? I’m not a paranoid asshole like him.” He motioned to Jason.

“Tim?” Dick questioned with a stern look.

“Like I carry weapons on me when I’m not in the suit,” he scoffed.

Dick stared him down waiting for him to admit having weapons. When Tim didn’t fold under his stare, Dick nodded and looked back to the group. “Fine.” He reached behind him to pull off his tee shirt, throwing it over the back of the couch and grabbing a button up shirt instead.

Tim stared at the shirt he put on as he buttoned it. “That’s what you’re wearing?”

“Yeah… what? I like it.”

Jason opened his mouth to comment but instead glared at Roy when he smacked him upside the head to stop him from saying what they all were thinking. "If Wally were here, you'd let him say it," he muttered.

"Well, Wally's sick isn't he? So he's not here." Roy muttered back.

Dick looked between them and finally gave up waiting. He shook his head and moved to the door. “Let’s go. We’re going to hang out, drink, dance, and have fun.”

“And get laid,” Roy cheered.

“Not about getting laid,” Dick singsonged as he walked through the door.

“But we’re totally going to,” Roy whispered to Jason. “Well, we,” he motioned between himself and Jason, “are going to. Tim’s boy is out of town and Dick’s on his own with that shirt.”

“Whatever, I just can’t believe he thought those were my only weapons,” Jason scoffed.

“Or that I didn’t have any,” Tim agreed. “Either we’re getting better or he’s getting worse.”

<><><><><>

The bar was more crowded than they expected, but they had still been able to find a table far away from the dancefloor where they could actually talk and watch the other patrons while they drank.

“Dick, we need another round,” Roy pointed out, motioning toward the bar.

“And?” Dick scoffed not even looking at him, keeping his eyes on the dancefloor instead.

“And we want the drinks now not in an hour,” Jason retorted quickly.

“We all know if any of us go it’s completely hit and miss when the bartender acknowledges us and with the bar as busy as it is, it could take a while. But every time you go up, he makes a beeline straight for you.” Tim continued flatly.

“Heh, straight,” Roy chuckled.

Dick rolled his eyes but got up anyway. “Fine. I’ll just buy all night long.”

“Now that’s what I call a good night out,” Jason cheered, holding his beer up toasting Dick. “Get me two.”

Dick pushed through the crowd and finally settled into a spot leaning against the bar. As soon as he appeared, the bartender made his way over to him, bypassing patrons who had been waiting since before he got there. Dick sighed at the proof the others were right. He ordered their drinks with a smile. No use upsetting the man pouring their drinks and controlling whether they got served or not.

He looked up and down the bar while he waited for their drinks. His eyes caught on a woman a few people down from him. She was waiting patiently and gorgeously for her drink. Her dark hair was pulled up in a high bun, but tendrils had fallen around her face from vigorous dancing. Her body was covered in a light sheen of sweat and her long-sleeved, bright blue crop top looked like it was meant to flutter lightly over her top but instead it clung to her sweat-covered body as she moved, occasionally giving a flash of the black bra underneath. She was flushed from dancing giving her a luminescent look. But the thing that truly drew his attention was her smile. She had the most gorgeous, welcoming, exuberant smile on her face. It lit up her whole face, causing her eyes to crinkle.

He started to push away from the bar to talk to her when he saw a man drape his arms over her shoulders. His head was positioned so the back of his head was blocking Dick’s view of her face so he couldn’t see if her expression was happy about the intrusion or upset, and his yellow and red shirt that hung loosely off him blocked Dick's view of her body language. Dick leaned back against the bar, but kept an eye on her in case the embrace was not welcome. How bad was it that he kind of hoped it wasn’t? However, it quickly became apparent that it was not unwelcome. “Come on Bugaboo, let’s get back out there. I want to have fun tonight. Maybe find someone to finally make out with me.”

The woman rolled her eyes at him. “Adrien, almost anyone here would make out with you. Straight men would make out with you if you asked.” She and the man nodded to the bartender in thanks when he dropped off their shots.

“It can’t just be anyone though. I’m looking for a sign. I’m waiting for the universe to show me my future.” He stretched out his hand in front of him as if showing off his future.

“In a nightclub that is probably a front for one of the mob families,” she deadpanned. He shrugged at her. “I cannot stress enough how much that’s not how this whole thing works. The universe isn’t going to give you a sign, especially not in a dive bar while you’re drunk. You make your own destiny, my child, this isn’t Serendipity. Now, drink,” she commanded.

Dick watched as they clinked their glasses together and downed the shots before returning to the dancefloor. His eyes followed her as she started dancing. He hummed to himself, clearly together but not together. Their boy’s night had been going on long enough, hadn’t it? They had been talking long enough that it would be acceptable for him to get on the dancefloor himself soon, right? He hummed to himself. He might have to try to find her later. He tore his eyes away when the bartender brought his drinks. He winked at the bartender in thanks and returned to their table.

He brought the drinks back to the table, joking and reminiscing with the three of them. The point was to get closer to each other, after all. All throughout their conversation, he kept an eye on the bar for the woman he had seen earlier. The next time she went up to get a drink, Dick excused himself to get one as well. They were close enough. He wanted to get closer to someone else now. The others at the table raised their eyebrows, giving each other knowing looks.

By the time he made his way through the crowd to get near the bar, the woman was facing off against a man who was easily twice her size and mostly muscle. “Hey, asshole! Back off!”

“Excuse me? What the fuck business is it of yours?” he growled, crowding her personal space in an effort to intimidate her.

The woman clearly didn’t get the message, furrowing her brows in an angry glare. “Grabbing someone’s ass and attempting to grab other areas as well without their permission is sexual assault, fucker! She clearly does not know you and does not want you touching her.”

“You have no proof of anything,” he snarled at her. “Now sit that pretty, tight, little ass down and maybe I’ll let you kneel in front of me a little later.”

The woman’s mouth dropped as she stared at the man. “Yep, that’s the expression you’ll be making later.” He reached to pat her on her ass. Dick lunged to grab his hand before he could reach her, but he was just a beat too slow. Instead, the woman grabbed the man’s hand and twisted along with his momentum, pushing him down as she twisted. She moved her feet slightly to trip him, throwing him even further off balance. She twisted his arm at an uncomfortable angle as he fell, forcing him to turn over on his stomach so she could pin him to the floor once he finally landed. “Also, sexual assault? Illegal, asshole. Doing it to more people, surprisingly, doesn’t make it less illegal.”

“It isn’t sexual assault if you want it,” he jeered at her.

She scoffed at him, making sure to keep the pressure on her hold as she did. “I doubt there has ever been anything living or otherwise that has wanted you looking at them let alone touching them.” Dick chuckled at her response.

“Excuse me, what is going on here?” A man Dick recognized as the bouncer asked. He was eying the woman who was pinning the man down with heavy suspicion.

“That man sexually assaulted that woman and when this woman pointed it out he tried to sexually assault her as well,” Dick answered for her.

The bouncer looked between the first woman, the second woman, the man on the floor, and Dick. He finally nodded and grabbed the man by his jacket collar. “Come on mother fucker, we’re going to get your picture then you are never coming in here again, understood?”

“Do you know who I am? You’re making a monumental mistake,” the man screamed as he was getting dragged away.

The black haired woman didn’t bother watching the man as he was hauled away. She shifted her focus entirely onto the blonde woman who had been assaulted. “Hey, are you okay? Can I get you a drink to steady your nerves?”

The blonde shook her head. “No, thanks. I’m okay. It happens. You go to a club, it’s going to happen.”

The black haired woman and Dick both gaped at her. “It shouldn’t happen ever. If anyone ever does anything like that to you again, kick their asses or call someone over to do it for you. He had no right to touch you. Going out to have fun doesn’t make you an open target,” Dick interceded. “Assholes like that should feel unsafe in clubs not you.”

The blonde shrugged at him. “Thanks for your help anyway. Can I buy you a drink?”

The black haired woman shook her head and gave her a gentle smile. “No, thank you. I just refreshed mine. Have fun, yeah?” The blonde nodded and waved before returning to the dancefloor.

The black haired woman collapsed onto a barstool with a sigh. She chuckled and shook her head as she looked at her drink. “Thank you by the way. I don’t know if the bouncer would have trusted just my word.”

“Not a problem.” He took a seat next to her. “I’m glad I could do something to help. I tried to grab him before he could get to you but I wasn’t as fast as you. You were really impressive.”

She shot him a glance from the corner of her eye but didn’t really stop to look at him. The charming smile he shot her faltered when she didn’t look close enough to actually see it. His liquor fueled mind frowned at the lack of attention. “Thanks,” she mumbled. She drank the rest of her drink in one gulp, which Dick thought was quite impressive considering it was full and not a shot.

She laid the glass on the counter harder than it seemed like she meant to and continued to stare at it for a few moments. “Hey,” he leaned a little closer to her while still giving her space. “You okay? You want another drink?” He motioned to the bartender for two more drinks for them.

She rubbed her face and took a beat before turning to finally face him with a thankful smile. “You really don’t have to.”

Dick’s charming smile made it back to his lips, even wider than it had been before. “No, but you deserve it for protecting the club.”

She shook her head. “It wasn’t…” She looked down at his shirt and balked, staring at it suspiciously. After a few moments, she looked up toward the sky with an annoyed scowl that still looked adorable, like an irritated kitten. “Am I a joke to you?” she called out.

His charming smile morphed into a look of confusion. “I’m sorry?”

She waved her arms like she was waving away the concern. “It’s nothing. Interesting shirt. Fan of ladybugs?”

He looked down at his shirt as though seeing it for the first time, “Oh… uh… I just liked the pattern. I don’t think I would have even recognized them as a ladybug if you hadn’t explicitly pointed it out.” The woman looked back up toward the sky with a menacing look he didn’t quite understand. He thanked the bartender when he served their drinks and turned back to her. “Do you… uh… like ladybugs?”

The woman gave a defeated sigh and looked down to her shoes. When she looked back up, a resigned but amused smile was on her lips. “No, it’s just… my friends used to call me their everyday ladybug.”

Dick cocked his head to the side studying her curiously. There was something going on, but he couldn’t quite make it out yet. But there was no way he was going to miss an opportunity to dance with a beautiful, strong, sweet woman. “I’m Dick.” He stuck his hand out to shake hers.

She took his hand and gave him a bright smile, “Marinette.”

He looked over to the dancefloor and back to her. “Do you want to dance?” Her smile brightened, making his heartbeat pick up. She pulled on the hand she was still holding and guided him onto the dancefloor, drinks still in hand.

Chapter 2

@dickinette-february

#maribat #dickinette #Dickinette February #Hope on Board #platonic jasonette #platonic adrienette #Knocked Up AU #prompt - dance

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another-cancer · 3 years

Text

Day 6, July 12th Trust

“I need you to trust me.”

PSA: I know absolutely nothing about how to treat stab wounds or any type of wound for that matter.

///

Sure Marinette had missed Adrien, but he was driving her up the wall. His stubborn ass wasn’t going to leave no matter how much Jason fought with him. Him in Gotham had proved to be an issue. After the first patrol things constantly got worse. There was a lot of tension in the apartment with Jason and Marinette constantly frustrated with the blonde. On the other hand, Adrien was too stubborn to pack up and leave before their anniversary. He attempted to make peace and it did not work out. Instead, he decided to individually patrol Gotham. BAD IDEA.

Adrien was not as familiar with Gotham as he should have been to do an individual patrol. The truth is no one should ever patrol individually in Gotham.

Chat Noir loved to jump into action, that is exactly what had put him on the outs with Jason and Marinette. And it was exactly what he was afraid of. Gotham was dangerous and maybe he wasn’t meant for the city. But patrol became his unhealthy coping mechanism after all the years. He just wanted to be there for their eight-year anniversary.

There was shouting in an alleyway, Chat passed. He ducked in to check out the problem. Sticking to the shadows he saw two men attacking an older man. He tried his best to not jump out and instead chose to quickly analyze.

He noticed a cane pushed to the side and a knife in one of the men’s hands. They were demanding money.

Chat pounced.

He was right on top of the guy with the knife. And then he was stabbed.

“Shit that’s the Paris hero the news talked about,” one of the guys said.

Chat’s world got blurry.

“Fuck he works with Hood and Beetle.”

The panicked voices faded.

The world went black.

///

Jason wasn’t stupid, he knew Adrien going on solo patrol was a stupid idea. So he snuck one of the bat trackers on the cat. If there was one thing he picked up from his family it was paranoia. He was worried the damn cat would get himself killed. And he was worried if the guy got injured Marinette would somehow manage to blame herself.

He followed Chat Noir. Watched him actually strategize. Red Hood felt like the boy had actually learned a lesson. But when Chat pounced and it turns out he wasn’t prepared. Red Hood rushed down as the men panicked.

He shot the crooks with rubber bullets and ended up knocking them out. He told the old man to go home and call the cops. The guys would be out for a while, anyway. And then he rushed to the blonde's side. It was a single stab wound with the weapon still in place keeping any major damage hidden.

Jason had to bring Adrien to somewhere safe. Somewhere that wasn’t a hospital.

He ended up rushing him to the apartment. He knew Marinette would be out with the bats, and the apartment would be empty most of the night. He laid Adrien out on the kitchen island, a place he and Marinette had both sat injured in the past.

Jason had to focus, it was a simple stab wound. He had seen worse. But this was Adrien. Adrien who was Marinette’s first love, her first partner, and best friend for years. This wasn’t just himself. This was one of the most important people in the world to Marinette. And he was bleeding.

Jason pulled the knife and applied pressure to the wound. Thankfully, it was small. Unfortunately, it woke Adrien.

Adrien gasped for air, suddenly aware of a pain in his abdomen. He let out a painful scream.

Jason kept applying pressure to the wound and tried to calm Adrien down.

“Calm down, please I promise you it’ll be okay. I can fix this, but I need you to detransform so I can fix it. I can stitch you up,” Jason calmly explained.

Adrien’s breathing slowed to a normal pace, “Claws in.”

His transformation dropped and he stripped his shirt so Jason could have a better view of the wound.

Jason pulled out a clean needle to help him close the wound. Adrien's eyes widened in fear. He attempted to pull himself away but had no strength to do so. Instead, he shook his head back and forth nodding no repeatedly.

Squirming he asked, “Isn’t there a better way to do this?”

“Look I can give you some pain meds but they aren’t going to kick in until later,” Jason explained, “It’ll be quick and not as painful as you think, I promise.”

“I want the pain meds,” Adrien insisted.

“I can give you the pain meds, but I still need to stitch you up right away,” Jason explained.

“You sure?”

“I need you to trust me.”

Adrien hesitated, “Okay.”

Jason reached for the pain meds and passed them to Adrien. As soon as he swallowed the pill Jason stuck the needle into his flesh. Performing a stitch he had done in the past he listened to Adrien’s yells as he concentrated on closing the wound. As he tied off the thread Adrien calmed down.

“See, was that so bad?” Jason questioned.

“What happens now?”

“We wait for Marinette to come home, freak out, ask if you are fine twenty times, check the wound, check the stitching, redress the wound, make sure it is bandaged correctly, and then yell at us.”

///

When Marinette arrived back at the apartment she noticed the blood on the floor. It led to the counter. The counter had previously been used as an operating table in the past. The counter was clean though.

Adrien’s signature shirt on the floor, however, was not.

“JASON ADRIEN GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!” Marinette screamed.

When the two scrammed out to the living room, Adrien hobbled as Jason supported him.

“Holy shit, Adrien are you okay? What the fuck happened? Are you okay? Come here so I can make sure you’re fine. Wait no stay there, stop moving.”

“Bugaboo, I’m fine, Jason fixed me.”

“I need to double-check.”

She ended up triple-checking, repeatedly asking if Adrien was fine, and redressing the wound, before informing the boys how reckless they had been and stupid for not notifying her as soon as possible. Adrien laughed.

He ended up being scolded for that.

Masterlist AO3

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@jasonette-july-event

#jasonette #jason todd #jasonette july #ml marinette #adrien agreste #maribat #miraculous #marinette dupain cheng

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thewritewolf · 3 years

Text

A Model’s Shadow

Summary: Juleka's dream is to be a model, and there is one person in her class that can give her a hand... and maybe she has a little insight that can help him out in return.

I wrote this fic way back in August of 2019 for @adrienagrestezine "Silver Linings". Now that the zine has been published and the left over sale has started, I'm pleased to finally be able to share this fic with all of you!

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3

Adrien walked up the steps of the school with a smile on his face. Not because he was particularly looking forward to learning today, but because this was the first day back to school after he and Ladybug had accidentally revealed their identities to each other.

It hadn’t been anything too exciting that finally did their secrecy in. They both simply happened to duck into the same alleyway as their miraculous gave their last shrill beeps. A few silent moments had passed between them before Marinette shrieked and sprinted away before Adrien could squeeze a word out.

But that was okay! It was a lot to take in and Marinette could be a little… jumpy under pressure. He gave her plenty of space. No matter how often he had wanted to run over to her house as Chat Noir that weekend. But now it was Monday and seeing each other was practically unavoidable.

His ears perked up when he caught her voice, although he couldn’t make out the words. He closed his locker quietly and crept towards the sound. That was definitely her voice, but he couldn’t hear the other speaker. Maybe it was her kwami?

Then they rounded the corner. Bumping into her didn’t bother him at all, that had happened plenty of times before. But her reaction was to spring backwards as if his chest had burned her? It stung to see. She lost her footing and almost went tumbling onto the floor before Adrien caught her by the wrist.

He helped her regain her footing, his hand lingering on hers as he asked, “Are you alright, Mari?”

Her face turned bright red and she pulled away. While she retreated, she pulled the person she had been speaking with around the corner and brandished her in front of herself. She blurted out, “Juleka wants modeling help!”

And then she was gone.

Adrien blinked and turned to face Juleka. No wonder he hadn’t heard her - he wasn’t sure if he had ever heard Juleka raise her voice to be much louder than a whisper. Juleka glanced up at him, blinking in confusion at what just happened. She gave a nervous smile and tiny wave before looking away again.

“So…” Adrien said, rubbing the back of his neck, “...you want to be a model?”

—————

Towards the end of the week, Adrien found himself at a photoshoot for the spring line. More precisely, he found himself waiting in the dressing room while they were working through the other models and getting his set assembled.

At least this time he had company.

Adrien squirmed in his seat. He felt like a bad host for letting the silence stretch between them. Especially since she’d be hovering at the sidelines anyway while he was in front of the camera.

“So… Modeling, huh?”

Juleka blinked in surprise before giving a weak smile. “I know, it’s not what most people expect, from, um… someone like me.”

“It’s not that I don’t think you can do it,” Adrien rushed to add. “I just didn’t think you wanted to be in the spotlight is all.”

“You’re not wrong.” She laughed nervously. “I guess… I guess it’s about proving that I could if I set my mind to it, you know?”

“I can get that and I’ll do my best to help, but…” Adrien frowned. “Are you sure you want to do something that stresses you out this much, just to prove a point?”

“You sound like Rose.” Her smile was bright and genuine. “She worries a lot about me, but even when she thinks I’m making a mistake she has my back.”

His thoughts went back to Marinette. Even when she couldn’t form words around him, he knew she was incredibly loyal to her friends and was always willing to go the extra mile for them. He was brought back to the present by Juleka waving her hand in front of his face.

“Hey. You zoned out for a second. Thinking about someone in particular?” There was a glint of amusement in the one eye he could see, as if she already knew.

“Am I that obvious?” He sighed.

“Just a little. The whole ‘watching her like a love sick kitten’ thing really gave it away.”

“Well, she’s just so…” He trailed off, gesturing wildly with his hand as he struggled to come up with the right words. “Small. And cute. And pink?” He buried his face in his hands as Juleka laughed.

“Trust me, I totally understand. That’s a spot on description of my girlfriend, after all. What else do you like about her?”

“Her kindness. Her creativity. The way her nose scrunches when she concentrates.” He peeked out from between his fingers. “Feel free to stop me at any time. I could go on all day.”

“Don’t worry. It’s cute.” She drummed nervously on her legs as she glanced at the door to the room, as if expecting the photographer to burst in at any moment. She asked distractedly, “Are you going to ask her out?”

Poor Adrien had been taking a sip of water at just the wrong moment and Juleka had to wait until his coughing fit subsided before he could answer. “Well, I- not that I don’t want to but- I’m not sure she really…”

She tilted her head at him. “You don’t know, do you?”

“Know what?”

“Um… let’s just say Marinette won’t turn you down if you ask for a date.”

“What do you-”

Juleka’s phone went off and she pulled it out quickly. “Oh! An update from the Ladyblog. So… the heroes of Paris - pretty cool, huh?”

Adrien was aware she was changing the topic, but considering it was ultimately still about the same person, he let it slide. “Yeah, very cool. Especially that Ladybug. She’d give Marinette a run for her money.”

“See, I always liked Chat Noir better.”

That caught Adrien’s attention. “Really?”

“Mhm. He’s… actually kind of a role model to me. Have you ever met him? In person?”

“I- No, I don’t think I have.” He smirked. “Is it because you two have a similar taste in colors?”

She glanced down at her mostly-black outfit and smirked. “I appreciate that he’s a cat of fine taste too, but no. He’s a sweet guy, friendly, outgoing… but he’s fine taking a backseat and letting Ladybug take the spotlight.”

“It sounds like you really admire him.” Adrien was proud of how level he was keeping his voice. It would be hard to explain if he started crying now.

“Oh, definitely. Especially his confidence. Whenever I’m scared about putting myself out there, I try my best to be like him.”

Adrien chuckled. “You’ve just summed up the big piece of advice I was going to give you.” At her confused look, he added, “Fake confidence looks exactly like the real deal if you believe.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “Everyone is afraid, but you do it anyway.”

For the next few minutes, he did his best to pass along as many tips that he could. The ones that he would have loved to have gotten when he was starting out. Soon enough they were chatting like old friends. By the time an intern came to get him, Juleka was looking more sure of herself and as ready as she was ever going to be.

——————

“A-adrien, if you could just move a little over… Perfect!” Marinette took another few pictures and checked her phone to look them over.

Adrien relaxed from his pose and walked around to look over Marinette’s shoulder, a spot already crowded by the rest of the girls. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Juleka wearing a similar outfit to his own, hanging back uncertainly. He gave her a reassuring smile and motioned her over.

“Wow, you guys did great!” Mylene beamed at the pictures as Marinette sorted through them. “I bet it’ll be hard to narrow them down to just a few for the website.”

“I’m so proud of you, Jules!” Rose threw her arms around Juleka, humming excitedly.

Alya pulled Marinette into a one armed hug. “Your designs look great, girl! How about we all go celebrate with some ice cream?” She glanced over at him.

“Sure! I’m not supposed to be home for another half hour anyway.”

While the others funneled downstairs, chatting excitedly among themselves, Adrien noticed that Marinette was hanging behind to put away the props and accessories they had used.

It was just the two of them in the room. Adrien took a deep breath and stood beside her, his mind racing with all the first date ideas he’d thought up during all the time they’d known each other. He called on all the fake confidence he could find.

“Hey, bugaboo… Got a moment to Chat?”

#Miraculous Ladybug #Adrien Agreste #Juleka Couffaine #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Julerose #Adrienette #ml fanfiction #my writing #A Model's Shadow

166 notes · View notes

alyasgf · 3 years

Text

I can trust you, right?

mlb fanfic master list

Summary- ladybug: "chat I kinda told someone in my civilian form that I am ladybug"

chat noir: "huuh not me? Well its only fair if I tell someone, byee"

ladybug: " wait don't- "

next day at school:

Adrien:"marinette I need to tell you something but don't freak out"

Notes- I saw this tweet by Mina (@lovesquaree) on Twitter and could not stop thinking about it until I wrote it. Go follow them and as usual enjoy

Word Count- 3255

AO3

Begin

After Marinette told Alya her identity she ended up staying the night while Marinette explained everything. After hours of comforting on Alya’s end, Marinette was starting to feel better.

Alya hugged her and told her everything would work out as her best friend cried into her arms. Maybe love wasn’t on the table right now, but she’d always have her.

Eventually they fell asleep, Alya holding her tight as Marinette snored softly. In that moment, with Alya’s warmth surrounding her, Marinette truly believed everything would be okay.

Unfortunately Marinette awoke with a new problem on her mind.

“Alya, how am I supposed to tell Chat that I revealed my identity?” She panicked. “He’s going to be so heartbroken. He’s going to think I don’t trust him!”

“Calm down girl, you stress yourself out too much. Just take a deep breath.” She gave Marinette a moment to breathe. “Chat loves you, there’s no denying that. Sure he might be hurt, but you’ve been so overwhelmed he’ll just have to try to understand. You’re under a lot of pressure Marinette, it was only a matter of time until you broke. I’m just glad I was there before it got too bad. You’ll be okay.” Alya said this last part as she pulled Marinette into another tight hug.

“I love you and I’m here for you.” The brunette said for the thousandth time since the day before.

Marinette relaxed into the hug. “You’re right. I love you too, Alya. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Marinette began tearing up again, but she was determined not to cry anymore. She had Alya now. As a team there was no way she’d be alone anymore.

———————————

For the first time in a while Ladybug was early to patrol. As she paced she repeated Alya’s words to herself.

“I’ll be okay, I’ll be okay, I’ll be okay.” She mumbled.

Just then she heard a thump behind her. Even now, his presence calmed her.

She turned around with a smile.

“Looks like I’ve attracted a stray.”

“You know I can never resist your pull M’lady.” He replied, taking her hand to place a kiss on it.

She pulled it back giggling.

“Sit for a moment?” She asked. Her nerves were returning but she was determined to keep her cool.

“Something wrong bug? You’re early and I know you well enough to recognize that look on your face.” Chat sat beside her and looked into her eyes expectantly.

“Yes? I don’t really know.” She let out a nervous laugh. “Depends on how you take it.”

She looked back at him to see him as confused as ever.

“I’m sure you’ve noticed how different I’ve been since I became guardian. With juggling school work, superhero stuff, and my guardian responsibilities, I’ve had to lie to the people closest to me and it’s made me more absentminded than ever.

I’ve been missing patrols, doing work last minute, ruining relationships, and losing my friends trust. Yesterday I hit my breaking point.”

“M’lady if this is you apologizing it’s okay. I understand. If you need to talk I can be here for you too. Sure, your actions at the movies were a little odd, but nothing to worry about.” Chat said with a reassuring smile.

“No Chat, it’s not about that, although I am sorry about that and in a way this is leading to an apology, but for something entirely different. Yesterday I-“ Ladybug tried to figure out the best way to tell him without hurting him. “I revealed my identity to my best friend. I just felt so hopeless and I needed someone to take some of the weight off my shoulders. Kitty I’m so sorry I can’t tell you, you have no idea how much I want to.”

Chat sat there for a moment, processing the information he was just told.

“Wow. I just always thought we’d be the first to know. At least that’s what you always said.” Chat tried to mask his hurt but it was evident on his face. “Did it make you feel better?”

“A lot. All of my responsibilities feel just a little more manageable. Are you mad at me?” She asked looking alway and crossing her arms to hold herself.

Chat saw how worried she looked and decided he couldn’t hold it against her. Anything for her to be happy. Still, he couldn’t let her go scot free.

“I could never be mad at you bug.” He said softly. “You did what you needed to do. I know you wouldn’t reveal your identity unless it was your last resort.” He pulled her into a hug. “Although I have to say, it seems a bit unfair that you can reveal your identity to someone and I can’t.”

“Chat, we can’t reveal our identities to each other.” She pulled from the hug. “It’s just not safe right now.”

Though she still looked serious, she looked far less stressed than before. That was a win in Chat’s book.

“Okay, then what if I revealed it to someone close to me? Someone I trust and know would never tell anyone? Fair is fair after all.” Chat nudged Ladybug’s shoulder.

“Uh actually Chat I don’t know if-“

Chat jumped up. “Really! This is great thank you so much bugaboo!”

He was practically hopping up and down when Ladybug stood up.

“I thought I told you to stop calling me that.” She teased, grateful he wasn’t hurt. Maybe that is a good idea, she thought. This way she could subtly let Chat know she trusted him.

“You know you love it. Now come on, don’t we have a city to patrol?”

And with that he bounded off onto the next building, leaving Ladybug to laugh softly to herself before joining him.

————————

Adrien got back home that night excited. He jumped through he window and de-transformed immediately.

“Plagg! I get to tell someone my identity.” Adrien flopped onto his bed to stare at the ceiling. “Who should I tell?”

“I don’t know! I’m not in any way apart of this I just want my food.” Plagg phased into the safe full of cheese and came back out with a large wedge of camembert.

“Should I tell Nino?” Adrien asked, ignoring the kwami’s previous statement. “Actually I don’t know, he’s dating Alya. What if she accidentally lets something slip on the Ladyblog? I need someone trustworthy, someone who always puts others first, someone… someone just like Ladybug!” His eyes lit up as he came to a realization.

“That’s it Plagg I know who I’m gonna tell!”

Plagg laughed loudly. “Sounds like a great idea kid.” He said before delving back into his cheeses.

Adrien went to bed that night shaking with excitement.

————————————

The next day Adrien could hardly wait. He ate his breakfast faster than normal and was already waiting at the door when The Gorilla showed up to drive him to school.

When he arrived, he joined Nino in front of the school and looked around.

“Hey bud, what’s up are you looking for something?” Nino asked as he noticed Adrien’s wandering eyes.

“Have you seen Marinette? I want to tell her something.” Adrien said nervously.

Nino subtly jabbed his thumb at a bush towards the left.

Adrien turned to the bush and heard a loud rustle before Marinette tumbled out with a yelp. Alya walked from behind the bush and gave them a small wave.

Adrien turned to Nino with a confused look before shrugging and walking over.

Adrien put his hand out to help Marinette off the ground and she took it with a deep blush.

“Hey Alya, mind if I borrow Marinette for a minute?” He asked. He realized he hadn’t let go of Marinette’s hand yet and adopted a slight bush of his own before dropping it.

“Of course you can Adrien!” Marinette let out a squeak as Alya said this.

Alya gave Marinette a pat on the shoulder and chuckled before walking over to Nino.

Now that they were alone Adrien’s excitement turned to anxiety. He was so nervous he felt like he was going to throw up.

“So…uh Marinette,” he began as he took in her demeanor. She seemed as nervous as him. This made him feel a little better. “I need to tell you something but don't freak out. I can trust you, right?”

Marinette looked stunned but she gave a small nod. Adrien took a deep breath.

“I’m Chat Noir.”

A beat of silence.

“Hey Mari, you okay?” Adrien asked, worried he’d broken her.

He put his hand on her shoulder and she jolted, now fully back.

“Sorry sorry I’m fine.” She rushed out.

“So I can trust you to keep this a secret?” Adrien’s anxiety began to return, even though he knew Marinette would never tell anyone and this was an irrational fear.

“You can always trust me Adrien.” She said with a fondness she had never used with him before. “Though I have to ask, why tell me? Why not Nino or Chloe? They seem closer to you.”

Now it was Adrien’s turn to blush. “Well when I thought of who I wanted to tell, I figured why not tell the most Ladybug person I knew?” He said sheepishly.

“And you’re in love with Ladybug, right?” She asked as though confirming.

Adrien blushed harder. “Well, yeah.”

“Okay well thank you for trusting me Adrien, really it means a lot to me.” She pulled him into a hug.

“We should probably head into school, the bells about to ring.” She said dragging him over to their pair of friends a couple feet away.

———————————

“What’d you say to Adrien?” Alya whispered to her once they sat down. “It’s weird. He was actually the blushing mess this time, rather than you.”

“I can’t say too much because he told me not to tell anyone.” Marinette confessed. “But let’s just say it solves a few of my problems.”

Alya looked more confused than ever and Marinette just giggled.

———————-

Marinette was playing it cool, but on the inside her brain was jumping hurdles.

Adrien and Chat Noir were the same person?

It wasn’t completely unbelievable, she’d heard Adrien tell horrible puns before and Chat was certainly cute enough to be a model, but it was still a shock to her system. At least now she could finally stop denying her feeling for Chat.

Still, what were the chances after she specifically told him not to reveal his identity to her he’d do just that. There’s no way it was on purpose thought, Marinette doubted he’d have kept his cool of he knew who she really was.

Which meant there was only one logical explanation. Plagg put him up to this. Call it entertainment, call it annoyance at their continued antics, it was most definitely in Plagg’s nature.

And yet Marinette still couldn’t shake the feeling that this was just fate leading them on their way.

Marinette tried to talk to Adrien all day, but there was never really a chance to talk about anything of substance due to the continued presence of other people. She just couldn’t find a time to catch him alone.

In the end she opted to drop by his house later as Ladybug and let him know the truth, while also taking the time to chew out Plagg. She couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when he realized his mistake.

As she watched Adrien walk to his car she called, “See you later Adrien!”

He seemed a little confused but gave her a well meaning wave anyway.

———————

“Do you think Chat Noir would love me if he knew my identity?” Marinette asked.

She decided to walk Alya home that day, and was starting to rethink her decision to reveal her identity to Chat Noir.

“Have you seen that boy? He’s head over heels for you. I doubt anything could change that. Does this have something to do with your conversation last night? You never told me how it went you know.” Alya’s reporter side began to show.

Marinette loved Alya for that. Her quizzical smart nature was what had attracted Marinette to her in the first place. Marinette smiled at her friend as she thought about that.

“It went well...” Marinette began, choosing her word wisely. She didn’t want to accidentally let Alya know that Chat Noir had revealed himself to her today. “We came up with a resolution to show him that I still trusted him, and I think he understands a little bit.”

“Girl that’s amazing! I told you you’d have nothing to worry about.” Alya squeezed her hand as she said this, and Marinette couldn’t help but appreciate her warmth.

“Yeah yeah I know. You’re always right because you’re super smart and the best friend ever.” Marinette laughed along with her brunette friend.

“And don’t you forget it.” Alya stopped in front of her house. “Call me if you need me okay?”

Marinette nodded, Alya kissed her cheek, and that was that.

Marinette decided to take the long way home that day. The longer she took to get home, the longer she had to decide what to do about Chat.

As if reading her mind she heard Tikki from her purse.

“What are you going to do about Adrien, Marinette?” Tikki had taken the Alya situation pretty well. Still Marinette wasn’t sure how Tikki would feel about her plans.

“Well, if I know his identity why shouldn’t he know mine? I am the guardian after all, and he’s my partner.” She decided.

“I’m not going to push you, because it is your choice. But if this isn’t absolutely necessary why do it?”

“I just feel like he deserves to know. He’s trusted me blindly for so long, it’s time for me to do the same for him.”

Tikki nodded and they were quiet for the rest of the way home.

—————————

Once she greeted her parents and headed upstairs, she went up to her balcony and called out her transformation phrase.

It was getting dark, so she knew Adrien would be home from fencing by then.

As she leaped across buildings she attempted to calm her nerves.

This was her goofy partner as well as her longtime crush. He was both of her favorite boys in one. No big deal.

There was one thing she was sure of though. Nothing she could say would change how he felt about her.

This comforted her as she neared his mansion.

————————-

Adrien was still riding off the rush of the day. Marinette seemed to take his confession in stride. Maybe this was the push their friendship needed.

Overall, he was glad he chose her to tell. That was one thing he would never regret.

He entered his room after the long day and threw off his white over shirt, Plagg along with it.

“Hey! Be careful with me I’m not a toy!” He complained, zooming back over to Adrien with his arms crossed.

“Sorry Plagg I forgot you were there to be honest.” Adrien sighed zoned out and laid out on his bed.

“I take it you enjoyed telling pigtails?” Plagg chuckled.

This snapped Adrien back. “Yeah I did actually, why?” Adrien said, voice full of suspicion.

“Oh I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough.” As he said this, Plagg phased back into the safe after a quick look over his shoulder.

Right as Adrien was about to demand what that was about, he heard a tapping on his window.

Confused, he turned to see Ladybug.

He ran over to open it immediately, almost tripping over his feet.

“Ladybug! What are you doing here?” He asked, helping her down from the window ledge.

“Is it wrong to visit my favorite civilian?”

Adrien blushed, earning a laugh from the hero.

“I actually came here to talk to you about something Adrien.”

“Oh?” Adrien was more confused than ever. Ladybug had never stopped by before, why would she start now?

“I understand you know Marinette Dupain Cheng?”

Adrien’s heart dropped. Had Marinette really revealed his identity to Ladybug?

“Listen Ladybug, whatever she told you I’m sure I can explain! I promise I didn’t think she’d tell anyone, much less have to means to tell you.” Adrie felt so guilty. He shouldn’t have told anyone. Now who knows who else knew his secret.

Adrien was shocked to hear Ladybug laugh.

“No one told me anything, Mon Chaton. At least not on purpose.” She walked over to his bed and pat the spot beside him. Still in a daze, he sat down without a word.

“Tikki, spots off.” She said quietly.

There was a flash of pink and there on his bed was none other than Marientte.

Adrien gasped, eyes widening and jaw dropping. “I- wow I had no idea when I told you I swear!” He managed to get out.

“I know. I assumed Plagg had something to do with it.” Marinette said, looking around for the black kwami.

At that Plagg came out from his spot.

“All I’m guilty of is not stopping it. It was all his idea. You guys needed to hurry up and tell each other anyway. I was getting bored.” Plagg huffed.

Tikki flew over to him and pulled him away, muttering about the importance of secret identities and his irresponsibility.

Adrien turned back to the girl. “So you told Alya I’m guessing?”

“Not on purpose. Right after she and the other girls got akumatized the other day, she asked me what was wrong and I broke down and told her.” Marinette replied, looking at her twiddling hands.

Adrien took one of her hands, her eyes meeting his again.

“Well now you have two people here to support you Mari. You won’t have to hold this weight by yourself anymore. You have us.”

Marinette teared up but wiped her eyes quickly before anything came out.

“You know this doesn’t change how I feel about you right? I know there’s still Luka, but I can’t sit here and pretend that my feelings haven’t only grown stronger knowing the truth.” Adrien confessed, searching her eyes for any immediate reaction.

What he hadn’t expected to see was the amount of love that filled them.

“Oh kitty, it’s always been you. Whether you were Adrien or Chat Noir, you’ve held my heart.” Her hand went up to cradle his face as she said this. “I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about my identity so I didn’t want to push anything on you, but I’ve felt something toward you ever since that day in the rain, ever since I realized how I could never truly be Ladybug without you. I love you, Adrien.”

Adrien looked shocked yet again. First finding out her identity and then this? Adrien couldn’t believe his luck.

Without another word he leaned in to kiss her.

As his eyes closed he felt her soft lips meet his. They were warm and tasted of chocolate. He could smell her hair, which was strawberry scented. He did everything he could to take this moment in, remember it to the fullest extent, but his mind was turned to putty by her touch. Her hand still cradled his face and he brought and arm around her to pull her closer.

When they pulled apart to catch a breath, all Adrien could think of was how his skin was still hot where her hand had been, how his stomach was still fluttering looking at her dilated eyes and freshly kissed lips.

“I love you too, my buginette.”

End Notes- This one was a lot of fun! Reply with your favorite parts because that makes my day and leave a like and reblog if you enjoyed this! I think I’m getting back to my writing swing so let’s hope the first wave of exams don’t ruin that, but if I don’t finish Adrinette April feel free to blame them.

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miraclekittyandbug · 3 years

Text

Ten Questions With A Twist Chapter 7 (Final Chapter)

Here ya go! Final chapter! So exciting! Please don’t hesitate to comment and tell me what you think of it and what you would like to see in the next fic!

~ Chapter 1 ~ Chapter 2 ~ Chapter 3 ~ Chapter 4 ~ Chapter 5 ~ Chapter 6 ~ This Chapter ~

Patrol that night couldn’t have come fast enough. Adrien got there about fifteen minutes early, only to be surprised that Ladybug was already at their meeting place. When he saw her the realization hit him all over again. There, on the ledge of the Eiffel Tower, was Marinette Dupain-Cheng, in a magical suit and a magical mask. She glanced up and him and beamed. His heart melted. There was only one more step to the plan.

“Evening, my lady! How are you fairing on this lovely parisian night?”

Ladybug sighed and smiled, staring at the city before her. “I’m doing… really well. I’ve got all those answers, if you’re ready for them.” She turned so she was sitting cross legged next to Chat, who had sat down to her right.

“I actually have one more question for you to ask him.” Chat focused on his dangling legs, not brave enough to make eye contact with what he was about to say.

“You’re never going to guess all these answers, kitty.”

He responded, glancing her direction, “I have my ways.”

“Alright what’s this question?”

Still not daring to make eye contact, he mustered up enough courage and told her the addition to the list. Her reaction was immediate.

“No. No way, Chat, I absolutely cannot ask him that question! I barely got through the ten you already gave me and that question is a million times worse than any of them! I’m simply not capable!”

Chat shrugged, having expected something along these lines. “You’re capable of anything, Bugaboo. But you don’t have to ask it if you don’t want to. I’ll have the answer either way.”

“He could be anybody, Chat. How can you be so sure? Really, tell me.”

“I’ll tell you what, Bug. Ask the question or don’t. Either way, I’ll explain everything tomorrow night, if you’re willing to listen.”

The next day at school, Adrien couldn’t contain his excitement. Knowing Marinette, he didn’t bother getting to school early. He did, however, wait outside until he saw her run up the sidewalk. Not as late as she had been the day before, but still in a hurry nonetheless. He stood there, frozen for a minute. He watched as she met up with Alya and chatted a bit as they walked up to the steps. He stared in horror as she glanced in his direction to find him gazing at her.

Suddenly, Adrien realized he wasn’t excited. He was nervous. Like, REALLY nervous. Because if she worked up the courage to ask that question then he would have to work up the courage to answer it. He would have to answer that question that he gave her. THE question. Holy shit, he couldn’t do this. He was sweating. And she was walking towards him. She was blushing, but grew more concerned as she grew near. Adrien felt the sweat trickle down his neck and his face grow flush. He could only imagine what horrifying monstrosity his face had mangled itself into.

But Marinette was in front of him. She waved her hand in front of his face and he snapped out of it.

“Are you okay, Adrien? You don’t look too good.”

Adrien cleared his throat before he dared to answer, “Oh, me? Yeah I think I just need some fresh air.”

Marinette looked around her. “Well you’re already outside, so hopefully that will help. Did you need me to take you to the nurse’s office?”

“No,” he waved his hands in front of him, “I’m just gonna run to the bathroom and splash some water on my face.”

“Okay. And I want you to know,” she lowered her voice so nobody else could hear them, “If you think this might be a panic attack, I know all sorts of techniques to help with that. Breathing exercises and pressure points in your hands, the whole deal. They’re nothing to be ashamed of.”

Oh god, he fell in love with her all over again. He suddenly felt like crying, just because her gaze was so comforting. She stared into his eyes and smiled the most genuine smile. He found himself being drawn to her. Faster than he had control over, he glanced down to her lips and found that she did the same. Microscopically, they grew closer. This, Adrien thought, was not part of the plan. But who am I to resist?

“Adrien! Bro!” Nino called, snapping the two out of their shared reverie. Nino ran up to them, completely oblivious to the fact that he was interrupting something. “Hey, are you alright, dude? I’ve been calling your name for like two full minutes.”

“Yeah,” Adrien shrugged his way out of the awkward air that surrounded them, daring to look at Marinette, he found she was doing much the same. She wasn’t making eye contact and instead she was studying the hem of her sleeve.

And so the day went on.

And on.

Adrien got in close proximity to Marinette as often as he could, but once she saw him, Marinette would only blush and walk away. A handful of times she was the one that approached him, but they both lost their nerve before the question was asked or answered.

All too soon, and yet not soon enough, that evening’s patrol was about to start. Chat found himself circling the block a few times, trying to run off his adrenaline. He thought he had purged himself clean of it, but when he landed at their meeting place, his heart started racing again.

This was it. This was the moment.

“Did you ask that question?” Chat asked, settling down on her left side this time.

Ladybug sighed, “I tried, Chat, I honestly did. But I just couldn’t. Everytime I attempted, my heart started beating so fast and I got in my own head and then I pictured his response and was wondering if it was going to be the response that I wanted or if it was if he would even be able to say that to me or even-”

“Hey! It’s okay! Calm down, you’ll hyperventilate. A friend told me today about breathing exercises and pressure points. Do you know any?”

Ladybug paled, but after a moment took a deep breath and dug her thumb into her opposite hand.

“It’s alright that you didn’t ask. I know the answer anyway.”

“Alright, Chat,” Ladybug relaxed and looked her partner in the eyes, “I’ve waited a day. Now tell me how you know these answers. Because, unless you have proof, I’ll never believe you know the answer to that question.”

Chat was leaning back on the palms of hands, and glanced at Ladybug. “You want proof?” he asked, trying to be casual.

Ladybug looked at him, concern and something unnamed in her eyes, “Desperately.”

“Alright. I’ll tell you. But I need you to promise me something.”

Ladybug sat up straighter when she saw Chat do the same, “Whatever you need.”

“Promise me you won’t interrupt me. I honestly don’t think I’ll be able to finish saying what I have to say if you stop me at any point.”

Her eyes grazed the skyline, something in her knowing that things were about to change. “I promise. I’m ready.”

Chat faced his partner and crossed his legs.

“This boy you like has blonde hair and green eyes. He’s really good at fencing and loves his friends,” somewhere in his mind, Chat was aware that these weren’t the answers, but he couldn’t help himself. He needed to describe himself fully. “But you already knew that.” He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Man, this is harder than I thought it would be.” Ladybug put a hand on his knee. Not interrupting, because she promised she wouldn’t, but just making enough contact to let him know she was listening.

Chat continued, “This boy you like wants to visit Italy. He’s been before but never got to sightsee because of his father’s business. His favorite animals are cats, and if he could have any pet in the world he would have a black cat named the Plague. His worst fear is that he’s going to work for his father his whole life when he actually wants to be a stay at home dad one day. His favorite movie is The Princess Bride and he even referenced it when he was asked what his name was by responding ‘Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die.’ If he were stuck on an island he would bring his three best friends to keep him company. He said he goes to Hogwarts and you were really frustrated that he wasn’t giving you straight answers. His favorite dessert is the macarons from your parents bakery. And, my lady, if you had asked him that question, the one I begged you to ask him.” Chat looked her in the eyes for the first time since he started talking, “If you had worked up the nerve to ask and he had worked up the nerve to answer, I would have told you that I am in love with Ladybug, but I’m really starting to fall for you too, Marinette.”

Her eyes were red-rimmed and watery. The two just stared at each other for a moment. There was only silence between them, heavy and filled with something neither of them could name. Chat was forcing himself not to think about what he just did, if only because she hadn’t responded yet. Ladybug’s lips were wavering, but not in a frown or a smile, only twitching as if they were eager to say something but hadn’t been given a script. Chat was about to run away- go around Paris and chase rooftops while he tried not to consider the damage he had just done to the most important relationship in his life.

But then he heard a chuckle, short and sweet. Tears were streaming down her face, but the chuckle built itself up into a giggle and then into the sounds of laughter. If that sound, still, he thought, the most beautiful sound in the world, was any indication, those were tears of joy falling between them.

Ladybug clutched her stomach in laughter and her heart in joy. Chat heard her talk through her laughter, “You’re such an asshole! You made me reconsider my sexuality!” She was leaning towards him with tears still in her eyes, staring at him incredulously, “You actually had me thinking I might have been poly!”

It was impossible for Chat to stifle his own laugh, “Hey, you had me thinking the same thing before I figured it out!”

Something magnetic within her drew her closer to Chat, “I can’t believe it, she spoke, mostly to herself, “I fell in love with the same boy twice.” Chat could barely hear her over the sounds of the city, “Chat, I think you should ask out this girl.”

At full volume, he leans his head down so he could catch her eye, “Would you go out with me, Ladybug?”

Another laugh erupted from her, this time loud enough for the whole world to hear, “Silly kitty. Superheroes can’t date! I think you’d be much happier if your civilian self asked out that Marinette girl. I have a feeling she’ll say yes.”

~ Chapter 1 ~ Chapter 2 ~ Chapter 3 ~ Chapter 4 ~ Chapter 5 ~ Chapter 6 ~ This Chapter ~

And that’s all she wrote! I so hope you guys liked this. Please don’t hesitate to send me asks, as I would really love to write more for you! I’m working on another fic in the meantime, but it will probably be a while until it’s out.

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all your like and comments and reblogs!

#miraculous ladybug fic #miraculous fic #ladrien #adrienette #marichat #ladynoir #ten questions with a twist

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kianadove · 2 years

Text

The Life of a Shihōin Princess!

Part 2

Summary: Kimiyo Shihōin is next in line for the title of Head of the Noble Shihōin clan. This story follows her life from a child to an young adult. She will have many challenges face her. Will she break under the pressure her Aunt Yoruichi Shihōin left behind?

Rating: G

Pairing: None

Warnings: Growing Up, Fluff, Aging not like humans!!!

Status: On-Going

Word Count: 3,414

A/N: Hi Bugaboos, this whole story was started in like 2008 and I have been adding on to it over the years. I'm re-editing it, but there could be plot holes, and mistakes. It's all been edited by me, so yeah. Sorry. Feel free to comment any you find. I will happily fix them! Anyways, I hope you enjoy this story!! <3

My Master List | My Wattpad | My Patreon |

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

It is now Tuesday, February 10th, 1891.

Eighteen years, five months and twenty days have passed.

I am now 8-years-old, 84, and I've grown to three foot one inch. I weigh sixty-two pounds now and my hair is down to my upper arms. I'm not as wild as I used to be. I've matured a little; it's mostly thanks to Kisuke.

"Kisuke-kun!" I called, running through the halls of the Royal Manor. "Kisuke-kun!"

"Kimiyo-chan, why are you yelling?" Mom snapped as I came darting around the corner. "I've told you not to run in the house, either," She added, pissed.

I looked over at her, "Sorry, Mom, but Kisuke-kun is late." I told her as I flew past her.

"Stop!" She demanded then.

I slid to a stop and looked back at her, "Hai, Mom?"

"Go back to your room and wait for him like a proper girl." She ordered me as she moved toward me.

My eyes narrowed a little.

"Were you not listening to your Aunt this morning?" She asked then, stopping in front of me.

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked back, confused, "I always listen to Aunty Yoruichi."

She sighed. ...I know; it's starting to worry me... She thought. She then said, "Onee-sama told us this morning that Kisuke-san would be taking his Captain's test today."

"Captain's..." I breathed, "Test..."

She nodded, "He won't be here until very late tonight or not until tomorrow afternoon." She informed me, looking into my eyes.

My face darkened, "But he promised to take me to the little spring at the back of the estate today." I snapped, annoyed.

"Kimiyo-chan, you know I don't like you going outside without my guards with you." She hissed at me.

I rolled my eyes and walked away from her, "Well, you don't have to worry about it anymore, since he can't do it."

"Kimiyo-chan!" She snapped, but I disappeared. She exhaled and walked back into the room she was in.

I appeared in front of my room and opened the doors. I exhaled as I walked over to my bed and fell onto it. I'm on my stomach.

"This sucks." I complained. ...He's becoming a Captain now?... I thought as I closed my eyes. ...He'll never have time for me anymore... I sighed, "This really does suck."

I ended up falling asleep.

~45 Minutes Later: 10:55am~

SMACK!

"OW!" I screamed as I shot up into a seated position. "What the—"

"Why are you sleeping this early in the morning?" Someone asked me then.

I looked over and smiled, "Aunty Yoruichi, what are you doing here?"

She turned away from me, "Come on, I have someone here to meet you." She started for the door.

I jumped off the bed and ran after her, "Who?" I asked.

We walked into the front foyer and I froze.

...Who is that? His spiritual pressure is so strong, I feel like I can't breathe... I thought and my shoulders hunched.

The old man turned toward us, "Oh sorry, Kimiyo-sama," He said when he saw me frozen in place. He lowered his spiritual pressure and I stood up straight.

Yoruichi looked back at me, "You couldn't handle that little spiritual pressure?" She inquired, disappointed.

I spun around to face her and glared. "I'm only eight, you know, give me a few more decades and I'll have more spiritual pressure than you, Aunty Yoruichi." I told her as I walked over to her.

She snorted, "Yeah, right, kid." She put her hand on my head and patted me.

I pushed her hand off and then we were both laughing.

The old man walked over to us then.

"Kimiyo-chan, this is Ginrei Kuchiki," She told me as he stopped in front of us.

My eyes widened just a little bit. ...So, this man is Byakuya-kun's grandfather...

"He is the 27th Head of the Kuchiki clan and the Captain of Squad 6." She continued, not noticing my reaction.

I bowed a little, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Kuchiki-sama."

He bowed his head back, "You as well, Kimiyo-sama." He replied and stood back up, "Yoruichi-sama told me you're going to succeed her one day."

I smiled at him, "Did she?" I asked, "She normally tells me she's never handing the clan over to me." I looked over at her then. My eyebrow rose.

"Well, if I'm fortunate to live how long he has," She shrugged and tossed her long hair over her shoulder, "Then you won't ever get the clan."

Both Ginrei and I looked over at her. She just started to laugh.

I checked Ginrei out. "If it's not too rude, may I know your age, Kuchiki-sama?" I asked him then, looking up at him.

He almost let a smile through.

Yoruichi almost choked.

"I'm guessing you would like to know, because you want the clan someday." He stated in a low voice.

I nodded, serious.

He let out a small laugh, "I will be a hundred next year."

My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open. ...He's 999-years-old, what?...

Yoruichi busted out laughing and Ginrei laughed a small laugh.

I looked over at Yoruichi, "You better not live that long, Aunty." I told her, playfully.

"What—" She squealed and grabbed my head, "What did you say?" She pushed me forward.

I laughed and disappeared.

"Damn girl," She hissed as she stood back up.

I reappeared behind Ginrei. I looked around him, smiling.

He looked down at me, "Oh?"

"You wouldn't want to be that old anyways, Aunty," I continued, tilting my head to the side.

She looked at Ginrei and then down at my head.

"You'd be all wrinkly." I finished and busted out laughing.

"You're asking for it, kid." She snapped and then disappeared.

I cut off my laughter and disappeared too.

Ginrei sighed, "I've seen this somewhere before, but I can't put my finger on it." He said in a low voice.

I came to stop in front of him then. "Hey, so you're Byakuya-kun's grandfather, right?" I asked, looking up at him with huge curious eyes.

His eyes widened just a fraction. "You know of Byakuya-kun?"

I nodded and then disappeared. Yoruichi landed in front of him a half second later.

"Oh, are you having a hard time, Yoruichi-sama?" He asked, almost smiling. "She's quite fast."

Yoruichi looked back at him, "I'm going easy."

I appeared behind her, "Sure, Aunty." I replied, crossing my arms over my chest. "I've been faster than you since I was seven."

She swung her arm out at me and I flashed behind Ginrei again.

"You're nowhere near as fast as me, kid." She told me as she stood up and faced Ginrei again.

I walked out from behind him and put my hands on my hips, "Wanna test that?"

"You're on," She proclaimed, immediately.

Ginrei walked around me then and stood in-between us, "Not right now, girls."

We both looked over at him.

I sighed and then looked back at her, "Oh, Aunty, where is Kisuke-kun? He's late by over an hour."

She smiled at me, "I'm on my way to meet him now," She answered, "Ginrei-sama and I just came from talking with the Head-Captain."

My eyes lit up, "May I please come with you?"

She walked over to me. "You know your Mom's rules, kid." She said with her hand on my head.

I looked away from her, "Yeah, yeah, I can't go outside at all."

She giggled, softly, "I'll bring Kisuke-san back with me tonight, alright?" She asked, serious. "I know you two had plans today, I'm sorry."

I looked up at her and then nodded. I turned to Ginrei and bowed a little. I stood back up and said, "It was nice to meet you, Kuchiki-sama."

He bowed back, "As well as you, Kimiyo-sama."

I smiled, "You should come by sometimes, you look like you know some great stories." I told him.

He laughed a little, "I suppose I do. If I ever have the time, I will come tell you some."

I bowed again, "Thank you." I then spun on the ball of my feet and ran away from them. "See you tonight, Aunty Yoruichi."

They watched me run off and then Yoruichi sighed.

"She knows I don't like to be called 'Aunty', but she keeps doing it." She said and then shook her head.

Ginrei laughed a small laugh, "I see she takes after you more than Akemi-sama."

Yoruichi started for the front door; he followed beside her.

"Akemi-chan is starting to get worried about that; she already has a hard enough time with her now." Yoruichi replied as they walked.

"Why can't she go outside?" Ginrei asked and then added, "In fact, I didn't know you had a niece; why is that?"

"Akemi-chan is very protective of her; she doesn't trust many people," Yoruichi answered, lacing her hands behind her back. "There are only a few nobles that know about Kimiyo-chan, none of the Soul Society knows." She looked over at him, "You'll have to keep this to yourself. Akemi-chan doesn't even want the Head-Captain to know about her."

His eyes widened, "Why so extreme?"

Yoruichi sighed, "When Akemi-chan was younger, she followed me out the estate one day, but she couldn't keep up with me, so she got lost." She explained as they walked out of the house, "She was attacked by some commoner kids because of her noble looks and clothes. She's never really trusted anyone since."

"How cruel," Ginrei said.

"Kimiyo-chan is going to sneak out one of these days too," Yoruichi said then, "I keep trying to tell that to Akemi-chan, but she thinks the Royal Manor is invincible. Kimiyo-chan is smart, I'm sure she already knows some of my old get-away tunnels."

Ginrei laughed, "You made get-away tunnels?"

Yoruichi busted out laughing, "Sure did, our parents weren't as bad as Akemi-chan, but still they wanted us in the Royal manor or on the royal estate at all times."

"Hmm, it's good for a girl that young to get out," Ginrei said then, "Why don't you bring her to the Kuchiki Estate one day? I wouldn't mind talking with her again, she does seem very intelligent."

Yoruichi froze and Ginrei looked back at her.

She was then bent over laughing. "If I take her to your estate, Ginrei-sama, she wouldn't be talking with you."

He gave her a confused look.

"She'd go find Byakuya-kun." She added, while still laughing.

His head tilted to the side, "She did ask about him while you two were playing, but why would she go looking for him?"

"That girl has a huge crush on your grandson," Yoruichi told him and finally calmed down. She stood up and wiped her eyes; she laughed so hard that her eyes watered.

"Has she ever met Byakuya-kun?" He asked then, intrigued.

"Nope," Yoruichi answered and walked over to him.

They started forward again.

"I've been telling her stories about him, though." She continued, "His reactions are so funny, I have to tell someone about it and Kimiyo-chan loves stories."

"Hmm, why haven't you brought her over before?" He insisted, looking over at her, "I'm sure she's asked before; seeing as how quick she was to ask if she could go meet Urahara-san with you."

"Yeah, she's asked a bunch of times, but I have to ask Akemi-chan if I can take her out the estate and most of the time, she says no." Yoruichi answered, "Plus your grandson doesn't like me very much," A huge smile broke across her face, "Kimiyo-chan is still young, I don't want him to upset her if he doesn't like her as well."

"Hmm," Ginrei replied, "Still I think I will stop by sometime to talk with her." He said as they got to the entrance of the Shihōin Estate. "She's a very intriguing girl for someone so young."

Yoruichi nodded, "I'll see you in a couple hours then."

He nodded back and they both disappeared; going in different directions.

I'm sitting on the bridge that's over a small pond in my Japanese garden. I dropped some bread into the water and watched the koi fish swim up to eat it.

"Kimiyo-chan, there you are," Shinjiro said running toward me, "Where have you been?"

I didn't look up, "I was with Aunty Yoruichi. She brought Ginrei Kuchiki to meet me."

He stopped next to me, "Oh, the head of the Kuchiki clan? Wow."

"Yeah, he was interesting, I figured he'd be a stuck-up old man, but he was actually very fun to be around." I replied, tossing more bread into the water.

"Kimiyo-chan!" Shinjiro snapped, "Watch your mouth!"

I just sighed.

"I heard Kisuke-sama isn't coming today, I'm sorry." He told me then, "I know you were excited about it."

I shrugged and stood up, "I'll see him tonight." I said as I walked toward my room.

This Japanese garden is connected directly to my bedroom. It has walls around it, so the only way in and out is through there.

"I'm gonna read one of the picture-book-things Aunty Yoruichi brought me from the World of the Living." I called as I walked into my room.

"It's called Manga, Kimiyo-chan." He called after me.

"Right," I replied, waving my hand over my head.

He sighed and followed me into the room.

~45 Minutes Later: 11:53am~

Yoruichi and Kisuke are sitting across from each other, up against hills. They've just finished attacking each other—sparring.

"That's a bit much for a warm-up!" Kisuke said then.

"Ha, well, I've hit that age where a girl worries about that kind of stuff." Yoruichi replied as she stood up.

"Worries?" Kisuke joked, "You don't have a care in the world, Yoruichi-san." He started to laugh.

Yoruichi hit him on the head then.

"Ouch!" Kisuke proclaimed as he kneeled down and held his head.

"And what about you?" Yoruichi asked with her hands on her hips, "How's it all going?"

He looked up at her with his hands still on his head, "Well, I managed to clear away all the obstacles."

Yoruichi smiled, "I see. I'm counting on you, Unit Captain."

Kisuke smiled back, "Right." He then stood up, "Oh hai, what did you need me for?"

"Oh, that's right!" Yoruichi answered, "We received a summons from the Head-Captain yesterday." She turned and walked away from him.

"Huh?" He asked, confused.

She stopped and looked back at him, "I've recommended you for the position of Squad 12 Captain."

Kisuke took a step forward, "Why'd you do that?"

Yoruichi started to walk off, "You'll have to take the Captain Test later today."

"What?" Kisuke called, stunned.

She stopped and turned back to him fully. "Kimiyo-chan is quite upset that you can't come by today, so later tonight come by the manor."

He sighed, "Damn, that's why you told me not to come over this morning." He groaned under his breath.

She smiled, "If I let you two get together, I'd never get you to the Captain's Test on time." She told him then.

He just sighed again. "We had really fun plans today too." He almost whined. He fell back up against the hill, sitting down again.

She tilted her head to the side, "What were they?" She asked, intrigued.

"I was gonna take her to that little spring at the back of the estate." He answered and looked at her, "You know the one with the waterfall and boulder in the middle of the spring."

"Oh?" She voiced and then she was in front of him. She leaned forward to see his eyes, "You were gonna sneak out of the Manor?"

He just stared at her and then he smiled.

She stood up and busted out laughing. "Geez, now I feel even worse about messing up your day."

"You should," He replied, serious.

She turned away from him and started to walk away. She waved over her head back at him, "Yeah, yeah, just make sure tonight you come over."

He snorted, "I'll be there; don't worry."

"Good, I'll even let you sleep with her tonight." Yoruichi called then.

"WHAT?" Kisuke yelled, shocked.

Yoruichi busted out laughing, "I didn't mean it that way, Prevent Kisuke-san!" She said as she looked back at him.

He rolled his eyes and leaned back into the hill.

Yoruichi started to laugh again and then she sighed, "Plus if she doesn't get enough of Kisuke-Time, then she'll double how many times she asks if she can meet Byakuya-kun."

"She's still asking that?" He asked then, leaning forward.

"Hai, she met Ginrei-sama today." Yoruichi told him, "She'll be asking to go see him or Byakuya-kun now."

Kisuke inhaled and then leaned against the hill. "She's still a handful."

"Indeed," Yoruichi said, "Be at the 1st Barracks around 2pm." She then disappeared.

"Sure," Kisuke said to himself.

~Royal Living Room: 8:01pm~

I'm on the floor in front of a small fire in the fireplace. I'm irritated, because Aunty Yoruichi came home without Kisuke.

Akemi looked over at me, "Dear, please move to your room and start getting ready for bed." She told me.

I looked up at her; I'm lying on my stomach. I sighed, "Hai, Mom." I said and stood up. I grabbed my books and then left the room.

Akemi looked over at Yoruichi, "She's not happy." She told her, quietly.

"I can still hear you, you know." I called from down the hall.

They both looked in my direction.

"Continue to your room, Kimiyo-chan." Mom snapped.

"Night, Mom, Aunty Yoruichi." I called back and then flashed to my room. I slammed the doors and then went to my bed.

Akemi sighed, "What's holding him up, do you think?" She asked then.

Yoruichi shrugged, "Probably something with his new Squad."

Akemi stood up, "I won't act like I understand what goes on in a Squad, but Kimiyo-chan is going to be a pain in my backside for a couple days now." She said as she walked over to the fire.

"He'll come even if it's midnight," Yoruichi replied, not worried about it.

"Midnight?" Akemi asked, surprised. "Kimiyo-chan will be asleep by then."

Yoruichi shrugged, "I gave him permission to stay with her tonight."

Akemi dropped the book she had in her hand, "YOU WHAT?" She yelled.

Yoruichi stood up and started for the door, "Don't have a cow, Akemi-chan. It's not like anything is going to happen." She said as she walked. She then looked back at her, "This is Kisuke-san we are talking about." She turned and walked out of the room.

"I wish you would not to give him permission again, Onee-chan." She called out the room.

"Sure thing," Yoruichi called back.

~3 Hours Later: 11:34pm~

"Kimiyo-chan," A voice called to me then.

"Mmm," I groaned and rolled over. "Ahh," I squealed and jumped backwards. "Who's—" I froze.

"Sorry, little one," Kisuke told me, smiling, "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Kisuke-kun?" I asked and then yawned, "What time is it?"

"It's sometime after eleven," He told me, sitting on the bed next to me. "Sorry, I couldn't make it today."

"Aunty told me you were taking the test to become a Captain, so I guess it's okay." I said and rubbed my eyes.

"I did."

"So?" I asked, looking him over. He's wearing a white haori, just like the one Aunty wears.

"I passed." He answered, smiling.

"I'm happy," I told him, smiling back. I yawned again.

"Come on, get back under the covers," He said then.

"NO," I proclaimed, fighting him doing exactly that. "I finally get to see you."

He smiled at me, "I'm sleeping here tonight, little one."

"Really?" I asked, smiling hugely.

He nodded, "Now back under the covers." He grabbed them and lifted them up.

I nodded back and got under them. I lay down and he jumped over me, landing on the bed next to me. He's on top of the covers.

I looked over at him, "Mom actually agreed to this?" I asked, curious.

He laughed as he put his hands under his head, "I doubt it, but Yoruichi-san told me it was okay."

I rolled onto my right shoulder, "I'm glad you became a Captain, Kisuke-kun." I said and then yawned again.

He let his face land on the pillow, so he could see me, "Thanks, little one."

My eyes closed, "Don't call me that..." I whined in a low voice. I was asleep within a second.

He laughed and went to sleep too.

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miraculouslycool · 4 years

Text

Ladynoir July 2020

Day 4: Disguises

@ladynoirjuly2020

All Adrien did the previous day was mope sadly to Ladybug about how much of a bust his date was.

It wasn't Kagami's fault at all. It was him. He was the one who couldn't connect with her the way they used to when they were still friends.

He had wanted to do something fun, like have a picnic in the park, Kagami wanted to slow down a lot more and just get to know each other more in a restaurant. Which was a very very valid request. And one he was more than happy to oblige.

The troubling thing was, as an Agreste, he should have been used to dining in fancy restaurants and knowing which fork to use. It wasn't boring, it was.... suffocating.

Every single moment he was uncomfortably aware of how many people were eyeing Adrien Agreste and his date, so much he couldn't focus on Kagami's stories about her childhood in Japan.

And when she had held his hand across the table, he DID reciprocate! He really did, but his mind was very much cloudy with....other details. Was he holding her hand too tight? Too loosely? Could he have sworn that the single flashing light behind their window was one of the paparazzi?

So at the end of the date, it didn't feel like a date, it felt more like an interview.

Kagami had felt his discomfort, and had acknowledged her own too. She was able to put in words what he was unable to even understand. They were putting too much pressure on themselves to be a couple.

Maybe next time. Some other day, they had promised.

He felt completely awful about the way he made her feel and was telling Ladybug every single excruciating detail without giving away his identity. She had patiently listened into the night, and when he was done with his story....

She asked him to wait for her at the park next to François Dupont, wearing a specific disguise she had instructed him to wear.

So here he was, wearing khakis, a green undershirt, the shade of his eyes, and a black jacket with a dark green scarf. (He badly wanted to wear the one his father had given him, but growing up around fashion, heck, common sense told him that green and blue clashed heavily together. Besides, it was a huge clue to his identity and the last thing he wanted was to make things more difficult for Ladybug.)

To top it all off, he was wearing dark sunglasses, which had been the most important part of his disguise.

"Chat?" A distant female voice called to him, easy to hear in the barely crowded park during twilight.

He turned his head and was immediately met with shades of red and pink.

Holy shit, Ladybug was so cute.

She was wearing a pink sundress underneath a red jacket, the same red as her costume, except without her spots, and she was wearing a pink scarf, and black sunglasses just like him.

"Ladybug...?" His cheeks were turning red.

Holy shit holy shit holy shit he needed to stop blushing because he was just on a date with someone else and Ladybug still had her other boy and he still didn't know what the hell they were doing here but she looked so cute and pretty and even more cuddly-

"It is you!" She said cheerfully, running up to him.

"Well, this cat did what you asked!" He did a quick twirl to show her his outfit, and she grinned appreciatively.

"Very nice, you clean up well." She said.

"So do you." He said, to make up for how much he wanted to scream BEAUTIFUL.

"Cats always clean up after themselves, Little Bug." He said, noting with pride the extra height his recent growth spurt had given him.

"Wait, is that a basket?" He asked, pointing to it in her hand.

"Yeah, sorry for making you wait, but I had somethings to do and I was running a little late." She said sheepishly.

"No worries, LB." He waved it off. He would wait anywhere for as long as he could for her and she knew that.

"Here." She said, thrusting something into his hand something black.

"A mask? Do you want me to put this on?" He asked, even more confused and she nodded.

"I'm wearing one underneath my sunglasses." She said.

"But if we're going to be masked, why didn't we just transform? Why the disguises?" He asked.

"Silly kitty." She booped his nose before taking his hand. "Follow me."

She asked him turn away for a few minutes, and he took the moment to remove his sunglasses and wear the surprisingly comfortable cloth mask.

"Did you buy this somewhere?" He asked curiously.

"Y-yeah I did!!" She said.

"Can I turn around now...?"

"No!!! I'm not done yet!!" She said indignantly.

She had led them into a dark corner of the park, where they were alone and no one would disturb them.

"Bugaboo, pleeeeaaasee." He pouted, even though she couldn't see his kitten eyes.

"Don't think I'm not aware that you are pouting, but you'll have to wait a few minutes longer."

He whined. "But-"

"Chat." She said firmly. "Good things come to those who wait."

"I've been waiting FOREVER!! I'll die of old age at this rate! Are you calling that a good thing??"

He heard her groan. "It's literally been 3 minutes, you drama queen."

He opened his mouth to complain again, but the sudden waft of something delicious shut him up.

He felt her hands on his shoulders, turning him around. "Okay, now you can look."

His mouth dropped open when he found a picnic blanket laden with croissants, spaghetti, macarons (PASSION FRUIT!! SHE REMEMBERED!!), and pastries.

He had never seen so much food in his entire life.

"Chaton?" She called, but all that came out was "Buh?"

Giggling, she raised a finger to shut his gaping mouth. "Careful. You'll catch flies."

"What's... what's all this?" He asked, dumbstruck.

"You said you didn't exactly enjoy the date with your girl and you looked so unhappy all week, and well, you said you would have wanted a picnic for a date, and well, I thought, why not give you that experience? So I took note of all your favourite foods and tada!! I thought it would cheer you up." She said proudly.

She went through all that trouble just for him?

Just to cheer him up??

Tears sprang to the corners of his eyes and for once, he didn't care about who might be watching or everyone else's opinion. He was too busy wondering how he, the literal embodiment of bad luck was blessed with the presence of Ladybug in his life.

His friends had tried to make him feel better, but there was nothing much they could do. His father reprimanded him for not keeping up his image as a teen idol.

And then there was Ladybug, who cooked him an entire feast with so much effort just to make him happy.

"Chat?" She sounded worried now that he hadn't answered for a good minute. "Chat, is everything okay? Did...did I do something wrong?"

"Wrong??" He choked out a teary laugh. "This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me!!" He cheered as he picked her up by the waist and spun her around in a grateful hug.

She laughed, and the sound was heaven compared to the blood still pounding in his ears. "Thank goodness." She whispered, her arms around his neck. "I was so afraid I crossed a line or something."

At that he pulled back and placed a loud, searing kiss on her cheek. "I love you." He said. He didn't even know how he said it, all that mattered was that he did, and he meant it.

"I love you too, silly kitty." She said fondly, brushing his bangs out of his forehead.

#miraculous ladybug #ladynoir #ladybug #chat noir #Ladynoir July 2020 #my fics

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gryffindorcls · 4 years

Note

I'd love to see "2 I'm cold" ♡

I had Valentine’s Day on the brain when I was writing this one!

Post-Reveal/Established-Relationship Board

(If anyone else would like to submit a Lovesquare Fluff Bingo request, you can find the ask prompt here.)

February 15th

AO3

Marinette groaned and pulled her blanket over her head after a second volley of loud knocks sounded against the hatch on her floor. She was too tired to wake up, and she was too comfortable to move. In an attempt to block out the disturbance, Marinette snuggled further into her nest of warmth and softness. She squeezed her eyes shut when she heard the hatch slowly creak open.

“Princess?” Adrien’s voice filled the room. “Where are you?”

“She’s not here,” Marinette mumbled into her pillow, “Try again later.”

He chuckled. “Do I need to come up there and get you?”

“NO!”

“I’m coming up.”

“No, Adrien, let me sleep!”

“Too late!”

Within a matter of seconds, her boyfriend’s head peered over the edge of the wooden platform that lofted her bed above her room. The weight of Adrien’s body caused the far end of her mattress to creak under the pressure.

“I will tickle your feet if you don’t get up,” he warned with a teasing lilt in his voice.

Marinette quickly pulled her legs against her body. “Why are you being so mean?”

“Because I can’t wait to spend the day with the most beautiful girl in the world.”

She sat up and was met by two bright green eyes and a lopsided smile. “Aww, Adrien, that’s so sweet!”

“I can be cute sometimes.”

“No, you’re cute all the time, but it’s too early for your cuteness.”

“It’s ten o’clock, Marinette.”

“And we had to fight four Akumas yesterday. FOUR. That’s three more than one. And we didn’t finish fighting the last one until one o’clock this morning.”

Adrien scooted next to her and pulled her into a tight embrace. “I know, but it’s not every year that February 15th falls on a Saturday. This is our day.”

She relaxed against his chest. “I know. If only Valentine’s Day wasn’t so terrible for us every year. I’m starting to think that Hawkmoth has no life.”

“Really? You’re just picking up on that now?”

“I wish we could celebrate Valentine’s Day on the actual day like every other couple.”

He pulled away. “But you and I are not like every other couple.”

“Hmmm. I guess you’re right.” She gave him a gentle peck on the lips. “We’re pretty super.”

“Please let me kiss you again for saying that pun!” Adrien begged.

She giggled. “Nope! You wanted me up, so now you have to let me get ready. Save the kisses for when I’m looking a little better.”

“But you look beautiful right now!” He pulled her close. “You always do! You are more radiant than the sun!”

“How poetic.”

“It’s true.”

“Well, thank you. Now let me go!”

He dropped his arms with a flourish and pouted. “Fine. Go get ready. Just leave me up here all by myself!”

“You’re so dramatic sometimes.” She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “That should tide you over until I’m done.”

Without waiting to see Adrien’s reaction, Marinette climbed down the ladder, walked to her closet, and pulled out a light pink, long-sleeved dress with a fitted bodice and a knee-length circle skirt. She held the garment up to the light and bit her lip. Today was her day to finally celebrate with Adrien, and she really didn’t want to wear jeans.

“Hey, Adrien?” she called across the room.

“Mmmhmm,” Adrien responded, “What’s up?”

“How cold was it outside before you came into the bakery?”

“It was pretty brisk. The wind made the air feel extra cold. You should bundle up.”

“And what are our plans for today?”

“The same thing we do every February 15th. We’re going to brunch at our favorite cafe, and then we're going to the drugstore to buy several boxes of discounted chocolate truffles before heading back here to watch five hours of movies.”

“And we’re walking right?”

“Yes...will that be a problem? I didn’t think you liked having my bodyguard accompany us on all our dates.”

She took another look at the dress. “No, that won’t be a problem.”

“I should be okay if I wear tights,” she thought, “Besides, I’ll be wearing a hat, mittens, and a scarf along with my jacket.�� I’ll be fine.”

With a determined nod, she got dressed, ran into the bathroom, quickly styled her hair into a low bun, and applied neutral make-up. After giving herself a once over in the mirror, she hurried back to her room and put on her winter outerwear.

“I’m back!” she announced.

Adrien scrambled down the ladder. “Does that mean that my Princess is ready to go?”

“Yeah, just let me grab my purse. Does Plagg want to join Tikki in my bag today?”

A tiny black blur shot out from behind Adrien’s collar and stopped in front of Marinette’s face. “Yes, it does. You two and your silly rituals. Blech!”

Tikki zipped next to Plagg and poked him in the stomach. “Stop it! I think it’s wonderful. AND they worked hard yesterday with all the angry love Akumas. They deserve a day for themselves.”

“We worked hard, too, Sugarcube. Ugh, and they always get so mushy. Why do we need to see that on our day off?”

“Because it’s sweet.”

“Oh, yeah? Good to know your sweet-tooth is being satisfied. I’m starving. Adrien forgot to feed me this morning. If they’re gazing into each other’s eyes all day, who’s going to give me cheese?”

“Hey!” Adrien glared at his Kwami. “I said that I would feed you at the cafe.”

“You’re always thinking about your stomach.” Tikki crossed her arms.

Plagg threw his paws into the air. “Well, someone has to!”

“You know, it’s February 15th for us, as well.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re right. We do need to rest, and I was looking forward to spending some time with you today. Just you and me inside Marinette’s bag. Maybe some cheese and cookies, as well.”

“We need more than just one day to make up for yesterday.”

“If you’re not going to be nice, then you can spend the whole day by yourself!” Tikki flew into Marinette’s bag with a huff.

“Sugarcube, wait! I’m sorry!” Plagg dove into the purse and snapped the top of it closed.

Marinette’s gaze slowly shifted away from her bag and eventually landed on Adrien. The second her eyes met his, both teens began laughing uncontrollably.

“What are we going to do with those two?” Marinette said, holding her stomach.

Adrien wiped a tear away from his right eye. “I told you we weren’t a normal couple, Bugaboo!”

“I guess you’re right.”

“I know I’m right. We are an extraordinary couple.”

Marinette grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the hatch. “Come on, kitty-cat. Let’s go enjoy our day!”

Adrien followed without hesitation. Soon enough, they were making their way down the sidewalk hand in hand. When they reached the cafe, Marinette resisted the urge to chatter her teeth. Her legs were freezing.

After taking off her coat and putting it on the back of her chair, Adrien paused and looked at her in awe.

“Princess,” he began, “I know you look amazing every day, but I must say that you make that dress look stunning.”

She cocked her head to the side. “Don’t you mean that the dress makes me look stunning?”

“No, the clothes don’t wear you, Marinette. You wear the clothes. The only reason that dress looks good is because the person wearing it is you.”

She felt her cheeks grow warm. “Flirt.”

“Ahh, yes, but I’m your flirt!”

They spent their time at the cafe laughing, talking, and relaxing. Even though it was no longer Valentine’s Day, she still felt the love that radiated off both of them.

When their identities had been revealed three years ago, she never pictured that their relationship would grow into something this beautiful. Not only were she and Adrien dating, but they were best friends. They were partners. They were made for each other.

After taking their time at brunch, they left the cafe and made their way to the drugstore. Once they had purchased a dozen discounted boxes of chocolate, they headed back to the bakery with their spoils.

Halfway through their trip back, Marinette’s teeth began clacking together.

“Is that you, Princess?” Adrien asked, turning his head towards her.

“Y-yes,” she responded quietly.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m cold. Even though you told me to bundle up, I wanted to wear something nice. I should have listened to you. Now my legs are stiff and frozen.”

“Oh, Marinette, you could have worn a paper bag, and you’d still be beautiful. Come here.”

In one sweeping motion, Adrien scooped her up and began carrying her bridal style down the street.

“What are you doing?” she squeaked.

He kissed the top of her head. “Making the most of my day with the girl of my dreams.”

She giggled. “Happy February 15th, Adrien.”

“Happy February 15th, Princess.”

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug fic #my fic #adrein agreste #marinette dupain cheng #adreinette #post reveal #established relationship #Valentine's Day #February 15th #One-shot #fanfiction #ao3 #fluff #tooth rotting fluff #LITERALLY JUST FLUFF

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p-artsypants · 4 years

Text

Much Obliged (2)

Based on @bugaboo-n-bananoir‘s amazing Cowboy!Adrien and Witch!Marinette AU.

It’s important to know that almost everything is the same in this AU. I’m just changing them from superheroes to a witch and a cowboy. (A magically enhanced Cowboy, but I digress.)

Ao3

Part One

—

“I’m not crazy, am I Tikki?” Marinette asked.

It had been a week since school started, and every time Marinette made eye contact with the sweet Cowboy, she felt her face flush. He was just so kind, honest, and smart! Not to mention adorable!

She had collected an array of photos from his modeling career, but it almost seemed like looking at a different person without the Cowboy charm.

“Not crazy, just in love.”

“Oh please,” Marinette waved her off. “I would hardly call it love. But…I can’t stop thinking about him.”

“That’s normal. Especially when you spend 8 hours a day with him and his boots.” Tikki giggled.

“But I’ve been stuttering and stammering around him all week! He probably thinks I’m a weirdo!”

“Marinette...he thinks he’s a Cowboy.”

“What? No, he is a Cowboy. Just like I’m a witch. We went over this.”

“Okay, if you say so. If you really want to get over your stammering, you just need to talk to him. Invite him to hang out!”

“What? Like a date?”

“Not necessarily. A strong friendship is often a great place to start a relationship. Who knows, you might like him more as a friend anyway!”

Marinette put a finger to her chin. “Hmmm...I suppose so. But what would we do? I don’t know how much we have in common yet!”

“You could take him for a flight! He seemed really interested in it!”

“Hey yeah!” She looked to her window, where the full moon was shining through. “I’ll go now!”

“Now??”

“Yeah! It’ll be a surprise! And it’s a Friday night, so we don’t have school tomorrow.”

“You’ve talked me into it! Let’s go sweep that boy off his feet!”

Marinette grabbed her broomstick, which was propped up by the door to her balcony. Instead of putting on her new hat, she put on the Cowboy hat Adrien had given her.

“How do I look?” Marinette twirled.

“Mighty purdy!” Tikki giggled.

“Don’t make fun of him!”

“I’m not! I think it’s cute!”

After that, they flew together out the window.

Marinette didn’t actually know where Adrien lived, but in the era of GPS, she could look up his address for fan mail and find his house.

It was only around the corner from her! Small world!

A huge mansion, with a tall wall all the way around it, Marinette was surprised that she hadn’t guessed it first.

As she floated around the house, she found a wall of windows, the lights out inside. But there was a light on over the desk, and a boy hard at work.

The same boy she had been looking for.

He was doing his homework, likely so he could have the weekend free. His hat was on the coffee table, his boots kicked off nearby. And his flannel was untucked and unbuttoned.

A black cat sat on his lap, which he stroked absently.

Delicately, Marinette tapped on the glass.

Adrien perked up at the noise, startled. Then he turned to look at the window and his eyes lit up with joy.

He shoved the cat off his lap and went to the window.

“Well! I’ll be! A little witch has appeared at my window! To what do I owe the pleasure?”

She blushed at how happy he sounded to see her. “You sounded interested when I brought up flying the other day. The moon is beautiful out. I thought you might like to take a spin?”

“You’ve come to sweep me off my feet?” His eyes twinkled with mirth.

“That I have, buckaroo.”

He took her in. “My, you ride side saddle like a pro! But cha ain’t got no saddle!”

She giggled. “I don’t need a saddle! It’s a broom!”

“Sure you do! Every self respecting steed needs a saddle, come on in, and I’ll see what I can rustle up!”

Marinette floated through the open window and hovered over the plush carpet.

His room was huge. Her parents entire apartment could probably fit inside it. Despite Adrien’s proclivities towards the American West, the room wasn’t quite as rustic as she imagined. Though, much more rustic than any other place in Paris, she assumed. He had a rock wall, and a skateboarding ramp. And on the second story, yeah, he had a second story, there was a collection of movies.

She assumed most were westerns.

As for the decor, well...there was a mechanical bull in the corner. She also spied a genuine cattle skull and a cow skin blanket over the bed.

Wait was that a wagon wheel?

Adrien returned from the closet. “Ah ha! Here we are!” He held a thick wool blanket over his arm. “I knew my actual saddles wouldn’t fit on the stick. So let’s give this a try.”

“It really is sweet of you, Adrien. But I don’t really need it.”

“Ya sure? Don’t want cha gettin’ splinters in your cooter.”

Marinette doubled over in laughter, loosing her balance and falling off the broom, right into Adrien’s arms. She didn’t even have the mind to be embarrassed. She just hugged him and laughed harder.

Adrien laughed right along with her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“Golly Marinette, your laughter sure is contagious!” He giggled, looking down at her.

She looked up, meeting his eyes. Her laughter faded, seeing how close he was. Their noses were almost touching.

“I-I-I couldn’t help it...you just make me laugh.”

“That’s swell!” He squeezed her and put her on her feet. “Well, I don’t want to pressure you into takin’ this if it’ll make things harder for you.”

“I’m willing to give it a try. May I?”

“Shore!” He handed the blanket over.

The broom still levitated, and Adrien watched as she wrapped the blanket around the handle once, and then draped the remaining over the edges. Then she sat down again.

“Oh! This is nice! A little more surface area to sit along with the cushion!”

“Glad I could be of some service!”

“Want to try it out?”

“You’re sure I won’t be too heavy?”

“Positive!”

A new voice spoke. “It’s powered by magic after all!” A red fairy-bug-thing flew out of her hat.

“Ah! A Flying varmit!”

“No no Adrien!” Marinette waved her arms to calm him down. “This is my familiar, Tikki. She’s the embodiment of my magic.”

Adrien rested a hand on his heart. “Beggin’ your pardon ma’am! You just spooked me!”

“Tikki has a tendency to do that.”

“Is she always with you? I ain’t never seen her before.”

“Yes, she’s usually in my purse.”

“Boy, I wish I had a constant companion. All I got is Plagg, but he’s more of a bully than a friend.”

“Plagg?” Marinette asked.

“My cat.” He pointed at the black blob that had taken up residence on his chair.

Marinette rolled up her sleeves. “I think I can help with that!” She raised her hands, as her eyes glowed blue.

Plagg flashed blue as well, but didn’t seem harmed.

He stood, stretched, and trotted over to Adrien. At his feet, the cat simply stated, “I’m hungry.”

Adrien busted a gut, laughing too hard. “I knew if you ever learned how to talk, that’d be the first thing you’d say to me!!”

“I want cheese. Camembert. Microwave it for 5 seconds.”

“Well hot damn Mari, I knew you made him smart, but did you have to make him picky too?”

“I’ve always been picky. That why you’re the only one who can pet me. And now this girl too, because she has made my demands known.”

Marinette didn’t respond. She was too busy freaking out because Adrien had called her a new nickname.

“Did you just call me Mari?”

“Oh shoot, darlin’! I’m always giving you nicknames.”

She blushed. “Well, Mari just seemed...I don’t know. Special?”

“Cause you’re a special girl! Shucks, and that’s besides your magical-ness!”

“Stop! You’re making me blush!”

“Well, I happen to think you’re mighty purdy when you blush. That’s all.”

Her face was crimson as she cupped her cheeks.

He snickered after her, his own cheeks coloring slightly. “Are you going to be good to fly? Or do you want me to take the reins?”

She elbowed him gently. “If you stop teasing me, I’ll be perfectly fine to fly.”

“Shore thing, ma’am.”

She sat down daintily, the broom moving to the perfect height automatically. “Your turn.”

“Hold on.” He grabbed his hat, and slipped on his boots. “Just in case we run out of juice.”

“Fair.” She grinned. “We won’t, but what’s a Cowboy without his hat and boots?”

He put a finger in her face and spoke sternly. “Not worth a hill of beans. You remember that.”

“Alright.” She blinked.

“Okie dokie, how do you want me to do this?”

“Can you try riding sideways like me? But have your legs over the other side to counterbalance.”

He dropped onto the broom, sliding around until he got his balance. But the handle was kind of short for two people, so he had to sidle right up to her. “This is kinda—here, is this alright?” He reached an arm around her and rested his hand in the front to brace himself up.

She blushed again. “Do you feel safe?”

“Don’t know how I couldn’t with you around, My Lady.”

She beamed at him.

“You know we Cowboy’s have a phrase—“

“You have a lot of phrases.”

“A-HEM. We have a phrase that goes, ‘Jumping the broom’.”

“What does it mean?”

“It’s another way of saying gettin’ hitched. Married.”

She snorted.

“I can’t wait to tell everyone you and I jumped the broom over the weekend.”

“They’ll probably all look at you like you’re insane.”

“Well, it’ll be our own private joke.”

“Our first inside joke! This friendship is coming along beautifully.”

“I’d say it’s a huckleberry above a persimmon!”

“I don’t know what that means, but I agree with you.” She giggled.

“It means good, no sweatin’.”

“Good! You ready?”

“Shore thing!”

“Alright, here we go!”

The broom lifted into the air, and Adrien rocked slightly, but he regained his balance quick enough. Then it took off out the window, and lifted into the sky.

“YEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAWWWW!” Adrien cried as they cleared several buildings in seconds. “Marinette, this is funner than switching your enemies piñata with a bee hive!”

She guffawed, the broom dipping slightly. “Have you done that before!?”

“No, but I assume it’d be pretty fun!”

After they did a fast lap around Paris, weaving through the Eiffel Tower, and the Arc de Triomphe, they came to a coast, just enjoying the night.

“My oh my…I could do this everyday for the rest of my life and never get tired of it.”

“I feel the same.” Marinette admitted, gazing over the city lights. “When my grandfather taught me to fly when I was little, I told myself I’d get out as much as possible. And I do. Except when it rains. It’s just no fun then.“

“Your grandpappy? Was he a witch too?”

“A sorcerer.” She replied wistfully. “Master of all schools of magic. He’s the one that taught me what I know. I have his spell book too, I’ve been trying to learn from it.”

“He’s not around no more?”

“Not in Paris.” She said fondly. “He decided to get into a school of magic that my parents weren’t comfortable with, so he went back to China.”

“What school is that?”

“Necromancy.”

He tilted his head. “Which is?”

“It has to do with the dead. Raising the dead, communing with the dead, avoiding death, and other things that fall into the category, like possession and mind control.”

“That sounds like some spooky stuff. No offense to your pappy.”

“No, I think he’d agree. I think it intrigues him. That’s why he became a Lich.”

“Lich? Is that like...a love witch?”

“No,” she giggled. “It’s a magic user that rejects death. But they lose their humanity. He’s basically a living skeleton now.”

“That’s awful!”

“It would be. But I video chatted with him a few days ago. He’s the same person, just without skin. It’s kinda funny. My dad calls him Skeletor.”

“Are your parents witches too?”

“Nope! Just me! My mom knows a few healing spells, but that’s all she ever cared about. My dad doesn’t have a magical bone in his body.”

“Wow! So you’re going at it alone now, huh?”

“Well like I said, I have my grandfather’s spellbook. But yeah, I’m my own mentor. What about you? Anyone else in your family that’s a Cowboy?”

“Not really. My uncle, my mom’s brother, he owns a cattle farm out in the country, but I wouldn’t call him a Cowboy. He taught me how to ride a horse and how to shoot a gun though.”

“So did you grow up there? Or...?”

He shrugged, timid. “Naw, I grew up here in Paris, don’t really have a rhyme or reason why I am the way I am. Just comes naturally, I reckon. In my blood or somethin’. Don’t know fer shore.” He swung his legs, swaying the broom slightly. “My old man, he doesn’t like it much. Thinks I’m actin’.”

“Well, if you say you’re a Cowboy, you’re a Cowboy. Ain’t nothin’—er, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

He smiled at her, leaning in slightly. “Say My Lady, you know any love spells?”

“Why?”

“Hmm, just wonderin’.”

“Well, I haven’t memorized any, but I know there’s some in my book.”

“You know, I was thinkin’ ‘bout it...maybe it’s none my business. But, on the first day of school, Chloe said you were pretending to be a witch and even Niño—“

“Nino.”

“That’s what I said. Even he said you were just good at slight of hand. Why don’t they believe you?”

Marinette sighed, allowing the broom to coast over the Seine. They floated just above the water, which was still in the evening.

“I’ve gotten better as I’ve gotten older. But when I first learned a spell, I was so excited to show my classmates. It was really easy, just snap your fingers to get a little flame.” She snapped, demonstrating the spell.

Adrien’s eyes lit up with excitement.

“When I got to school, I gathered everyone together, and when I went to perform...I couldn’t. Too many eyes. Chloe ridiculed me. While everyone else has let it go, she likes to torment me about it all the time. I think I encourage her by perpetuating witch stereotypes. No matter how hard I try, I can’t perform magic around our classmates.”

“Oh golly gee, My heart breaks for you darlin. But it’s mighty brave of you to continue studying even though you were hurt so badly. Takes real guts, honest!”

“Thanks Adrien. I think you’re pretty brave too.”

“Why ya know, I bet I could help you out yer magical constipation!”

“How do you figure?”

“I’m thinking perhaps if we plan it right, and I’m there with you, you might get the confidence you need to wow them school kids! What sorts’a spells you know?”

She laughed. “Oh my gosh! I don’t know any good spells that would work! I know plenty of slight of hand tricks, minor hexes and illusions. But my show stoppers are all dangerous, like lightning bolts or fireballs.”

“Whyja learn stuff like that?”

“I thought it would be fun?” She said, nervously.

“Well, I’m sure we could come up with something. Don’t you worry, Darlin.”

“Well, thank you Adrien! I think that’s—“

She was interrupted, however, by a figure in black, rocketing across the ground. It moved faster than any vehicle should in the city.

“What in tarnation is that?!”

#much obliged #cowboy adrien #witch marinette

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leswansong · 5 years

Text

Chapter Twenty-One - Adrinette April - Notes for You

Day 21 - Nightmares

Read it on A03? –> [ Click Here ]

The fog was never ending, she couldn’t see anywhere past a few feet in front of her and so far she hadn’t seen any signs of life, the grass beneath her feet felt fake and made of plastic, there were no signs of light but the area was lit up by something, shadows appeared and disappeared, they were humanoid in shape but never seemed to notice her, she was looking for something but what she didn’t know, she kept trying to ask the shadowy figures if they knew but the response was always the same, nothing.

Marinette tried to release her transformation but the red spotted suit still stayed stuck her body, she was a little bit confused as she hadn’t owned the Ladybug Miraculous in more than 4 years, she pulled the yo-yo off her hip and threw it off in the distance only for it to come flying back.

“My Lady!” he called, She couldn’t see him through the thick fog, she frantically ran towards the sound of his voice.

“CHAT!” she yelled, her heart was racing, she couldn’t find him, shadows moved through the fog, she tried to reach out to one, her hand went straight through it, a few tears fell down her face, “Chat…” she whispered, she crumpled to her knees holding her chest, “Chat…”

“My Lady!”

She pushed her self to her feet and ran towards him again, it was like a never-ending cycle, his voice constantly moved as soon she got anywhere close to him.

“My Lady,” he called again, this time to her left.

She changed her direction and ran towards him only for his voice to be suddenly behind her. “Chat!” She froze in place as his voice flooded the empty space, it was all around her, she had no idea which one was real or where to go. She called his name again panicked and terrified, she continued to call out to him hoping that he would suddenly appear, tears fell freely from her eyes, she felt hopeless.

“Marinette… Marinette wake up, it's only a dream, Please Bug wake up.”

The gentle sound of his voice slowly pulled her from the tight embrace the dream had on her, A sun slowly started to rise, the fog started to dissipate and the dream started to fade into white light.

“Marinette… Hey, it's alright.”

She slowly started to blink and tried to sit up, she raised her hand to wipe away the sleep from her eyes only find her cheeks damp from her own tears.

“Marinette? Are you okay?”

She looked over to Adrien and slowly nodded her head, “Just a dream,” she murmured.

“Did you want to talk about it?” he asked.

“No, no not right now,” she pulled on the blankets she had kicked off in her sleep and pulled them back over herself as she laid back down, “talk in the morning.”

Her eyes fluttered closed and in minutes she was once again asleep.

—————

Shadows, Fog, and his voice, she was back here again and running towards him, she knew now that this was a dream but she couldn’t stop herself from running towards him. The fog wasn’t as heavy as the first time she appeared here, she could see the grass now, she was following a small trail of blood droplets, the rational part of her brain kept trying to tell her that it was nothing to worry about but she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something extremely wrong. Marinette tried to ignore the calls of her partner to continue the trail, she would catch herself running off towards him and would have to pull herself back towards the small trail of blood. The droplets slowly grew in size and Marinette quicken her pace, to get to the source even faster.

“Chat?”

“My Lady…” he was covered in blood, there was a large cut in his side and blood in the corner of his mouth, “It’s good to see you.”

She ran towards him, her hands flying to his side to try and stop the bleeding, “You’re- You’re going to be okay,” she whispered choking back tears, “We’re going to get out of this.”

He struggled a little against her hand, the pain must have been intense, his hand met her cheek, he traced small circles across it, smearing some dried blood, a tear fell from her eye, “Why are you crying Bugaboo?”

“Because I’m afraid for you.”

“Why?”

“Because you might die, Chaton.”

“Why? You know this is a dream.”

“Doesn’t make it any less real.”

“It was good to see you again.”

“What did this to you?”

He chuckled, “I don’t know, I woke up here, like this,” More tears fell freely down her face, she put more pressure on his wound, he sucked in through his teeth, “Ladybug, you need to let me go…”

“No! you’ll die.”

“Ladybug, its almost time for you to wake up.”

“No! I won’t.”

“Marinette!”

She shot up in bed breathing heavily.

“Marinette, Come here.”

She did as she was told and shuffled over to Adrien resting her head on his chest, he whispered small reassurances to her as she slowly cried.

“It's okay… It’s okay, it’s not real and I promise it will never happen, calm down.”

“It- It- It felt real Adrien, I couldn't stop-“

“I know, I know, try to get some sleep, I’ll pull you out if you go back into that dream.”

“Thank you.”

She sunk further into his arms and tight embrace, he moved his fingers in small circles up and down her arm, slowly lulling her to sleep, she felt safe in his arms and soon sleep followed her, no nightmares haunted her for the rest of that night.

<—Previous Drabble Master List Next—>

#Adrinette April #Miraculous Ladybug #Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction #Miraculous #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #adrienette #adrinette #Notes for You #SwanSongWrites #I keep drabbling on

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cheeseeatingtrashmonster · 6 years

Text

Moments

LadyNoir July day 29: Roses/Tangled. Thanks @lovesquare-squad :)

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Read the whole month on AO3

Marinette heard a thump on her balcony and rolled her eyes, a fond smile betraying that her annoyance was performative.

"What is it this time?" she asked herself as she climbed out the skylight. A bouquet of red roses sat on the table. The note attached to them didn't say anything, but it bore a scribbled cat in black pen.

"He'll spoil me," Marinette said to Tikki as she came inside.

"I'm glad you two are so happy," Tikki said.

"It's not all happiness," Marinette said, setting the roses next to the book of poetry, half-finished box of chocolates, new knitting needles, and silver charm bracelet that had also "miraculously" ended up on her balcony. "But the parts with him are all good and right."

/*****/

"He won't mind?" Adrien asked the Gorilla for the sixth time that morning.

"Do I need to get him on the phone? He's old and grown, he's definitely not using this room."

"But it was your son's. I don't want to take away those memories."

"You keep Master Fu out of this and my memories will be just fine in my head."

Adrien laughed and nodded.

"Go get some boxes," Gorilla said. "If we can get everything moved in tonight, you'll have three weeks to get it all settled before school starts."

"That sounds like more than enough time," Adrien said, grabbing his keys from the table.

"You'll learn quickly otherwise."

It took months for Adrien to fully move into Gorilla's son's old room. He knew he was comfortable there when he pried one of the baseboards in the closet away from the wall and tucked two envelopes in the space.

One said "Emilie".

One said "Adrien".

/*****/

Marinette had fallen asleep on her chaise watching a movie with Adrien. He covered her with a blanket, shut off the computer screen, and told Tikki to tell her he had gone home before creeping down the stairs.

"Adrien," Tom said from the kitchen table. "Come sit."

Adrien froze on the stairs.

"Am I in trouble? Is this the 'don't hurt my daughter' speech?"

Tom laughed. "No to both of those. I wanted to see how you were doing with everything going on."

Adrien sat across from him and Tom got up to pour him a cup of tea. Adrien glanced at the paperwork on the table. He hadn't realized there was so much background work that went into running a bakery beyond baking.

"So, you've moved in, you're getting settled, you're preparing for the new school year, your father's out of the hospital and back at work. I won't pretend to know what happened between you two, but I know you're a kid that doesn't like to make waves, so I wanted you to know that I'm proud of you for fighting for what you need."

Adrien found himself trying to hold back tears. He spent much too much time crying these days.

"So, how are you doing?"

"Everything's been a lot," Adrien said, clearing his throat and ducking his head to blink a few times. "I hope you don't mind how much time I've been spending here. It helps."

"You're always welcome."

A quiet moment passed, and it was just starting to turn awkward when Adrien said, "Marinette said... that you didn't know your father growing up. I hope you don't mind that she told me, but I wanted to ask... How did you know you'd make a good dad?"

Tom thought for a minute. "I didn't. I worried that since my Y chromosome came from someone who left, that I would be the kind of person who left. It took Sabine a while to convince me that it was my choice. Every day, every moment, I have the choice to stay. I am the father I am because of a thousand choices, most of them small. That's how you become the person you want to be. And I'm not saying it's easy. It means paying attention to every small choice. Using your will over your instincts when they steer you wrong is exhausting. But it gets easier with time."

Adrien nodded. The Gorilla had given him a similar speech the other day. If both the good dads in his life agreed, then that was exactly what he would have to do.

"Thank you," Adrien said.

"You know," Tom said, getting a glint in his eye that Adrien had seen in his daughter many times, "we have an opening for a part time employee. Mostly behind the register, but some baking would be required. Maybe we wouldn't start you right away, since you're still settling in, but-"

"That sounds amazing," Adrien said.

/*****/

"Ah, Miss Dupain-Cheng," Gabriel said, not looking up from his computer screen. "Nice of you to stop by."

"It's not like we can really leave you unsupervised for long," she muttered under her breath.

"I asked you here for a reason," he said, standing to gesture towards the office's couch. He stood next to it, waiting for her to sit. She tried staring him down, but eventually gave up and sat. He sat at the other end of the couch and tried to smile at her.

"It bugs you, that I'm so young and still managed to keep you from you goal for so long," Marinette said with a smirk.

"It 'bugs' me? I see my son is in fact influencing you. I hope you have an influence on him as well. You two will be good for each other, I think."

"Mr. Agreste, what do you want?"

"I want to offer you an internship for the duration of the school year. Only ten, fifteen hours a week, and very little pay, but it's experience in the industry; invaluable at your age."

"In exchange for?"

"In exchange for your talent being part of my fashion house. I have been aware of your career goals since that first hat contest. You have already started to make a name for yourself, and with the right guidance, you can-"

"No, I mean, what do you expect me to do to earn this 'generosity'? Give you reports on Adrien? Tell him how nice you are at work? Pressure him to come back to you when you haven't even bothered to try and change at all?"

"That's not exactly what I meant," Gabriel said. "I do think it would be good for Adrien to see that I am making an effort, that I can help you two provide for yourselves and build a future, so-"

"Gabriel," Marinette said, standing, "he told you what you have to do. Show him that you've changed. And do that by actually changing. There's no 'use Marinette' shortcut. In fact, trying to take shortcuts proves you're missing the point altogether."

Gabriel stood. "Miss Dupain-Cheng-"

"Gabriel," Marinette said, crossing her arms. "I want you two to have a relationship. But I'd rather Adrien has to turn to other men in his life for a father figure than have you doing a horrible job and hurting him every time he sees you. You want what's best for him?"

Gabriel spluttered for a moment, then stilled. "Yes. I always have."

"Then change. That's the only way."

Marinette headed towards the door.

"Marinette," Gabriel called.

She stopped and turned around. "Yes?"

"I don't know how."

She walked back over and put a hand on his arm. "Try being more like him."

/*****/

"Stop that," Ladybug said, shoving lightly at Chat Noir's shoulder.

"But My Lady! How can I win you over if I don't show you a purr-fect time?"

"You already won me over, remember?" she asked. "Now stop punning or I'm dangling you off the roof again."

"You deserve to be won over every day for the rest of our lives, My Lady," he said, taking her hand to kiss the back of it.

"Ugh, ridiculous flirt," she said, shaking her head. Her smile was enough to encourage him to keep going though.

"Though it might be im-paw-sible, I will dedicate-"

Chat made a high pitched squeaking noise as he was suddenly shoved from his perch next to Ladybug and fell halfway to the ground before her yoyo wrapped around him, yanking him to a halt.

"I told you I would!" she yelled down to him, bouncing the string a little and hearing a smaller squeak from Chat.

"That wasn't fur-nny!"

She let him drop another foot.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!"

"That's better," she muttered, pulling him back up.

Chat waited until he was fully settled next to her to look up with wide eyes and his cat ears back.

"Aw, come here, Kitty," she said, holding her arm out for him to slide into her side. He did, but he kept one hand on the roof under him, and the other low on her back, close to his baton.

"Your aversion to pun-based flirting is un...fur-tunate for me," he said.

He waited a beat. She tensed. He pushed away from her, running to the other end of the roof. She jumped to her feet.

"Chat Noir!"

"Cat-ch me if you can, Bugaboo!"

They lapped the city twice that night, screaming and chasing each other. Paris had never seen their heroes happier.

/*****/

He had to get this right.

"Adrien?"

He had to get all of this right.

"Adrien, everyone else is done."

If he didn't get everything right... His mind supplied lots of things that would go wrong. Marinette would leave him. Plagg would ask him to give up his miraculous. Gorilla wouldn't want to keep taking care of him. His father would-

"Adrien, I've watched you check your test over three times."

His father would...

"Okay, class dismissed. Adrien, please hand in your test."

He grabbed his things and dropped the test on the teacher's desk before bolting out the door, ignoring the annoyed shouts of the classmates he shoved out of the way and the teacher trying to get him to stay. He made his way to the music room he knew was empty all afternoon and closed the door, leaning against it as he slid to the ground.

"Hey, Kid, what was that?" Plagg asked.

"Nothing," he said, shaking his head. "I'm fine."

"You're sweating through your shirt and the teacher had to call you five times."

"I'm fine," he said, wiping at the strange tickling sensation on his face. He was crying.

"I'm gonna go get Pigtails," Plagg said, raising to peek out the window in the top half of the door.

"She'll find me," he said.

"Yeah, she's right there," Plagg said, lowering to Adrien's shoulder where he started purring, trying to impart some comfort. Adrien slid to the side so the door could open and Marinette slipped in and sat next to him.

"I saw you looking pretty upset leaving your literature class," Marinette said, running a hand up and down his arm. "And you sounded really worried about that test even though you knew everything when I helped you study last night."

"I don't know why this is such a big deal," Adrien said, trying to control his breathing, his shaking, something. "It's just one test. This shouldn't be so... big."

"Okay, it's okay," she said, rubbing his back. "Can you try one of those breathing exercises you looked up the other day?" she asked.

She walked through the steps with him until his breathing was even again and his shaking had stopped.

"Do you want to call the Gorilla, have him pick you up?"

"Yeah. I don't want to go back to class today."

Marinette walked Adrien to the nurses office to explain that he had had a panic attack. The nurse had him sit and drink a bottle of water until she could get the Gorilla on the phone. She tried to get Marinette to go back to class, but gave up after she saw the way Adrien grabbed onto her wrist at the suggestion.

"So, what happened, Kitty?" Marinette asked when the nurse was distracted.

"I really don't know," he said, rubbing at the headache forming in the middle of his forehead. "I'm really good at literature. Gorilla said so long as I'm doing my best and asking for help when I need it, he doesn't care what grades I get."

"But?"

Adrien sighed and tried to pretend he didn't know the answer to that question. Marinette squeezed his hand, and he dropped his head to her shoulder.

"But I keep thinking of how disappointed my dad was every time I came home with a test that wasn't perfect. I feel like Gorilla deserves me doing even better than I did for Gabriel."

"Gorilla and I want you doing your best," she said, running her fingers through his sweaty hair. "Working yourself into a panic attack is not your best."

"Yeah."

Marinette stayed with Adrien until Gorilla arrived and gave her a Look. She promised to stop by that night with notes for the classes he missed.

"Come on," Gorilla said. "I signed you out. We're heading to the doctor."

It took a while and a lot of work, but Adrien finally had the support he needed to manage his anxiety.

/*****/

Marinette was halfway through the bushes at the edge of the park before she remembered her Ladybug suit wouldn't have torn from the branches scratching at her the way her shirt was at that moment.

"Look at you!" she cooed at the bundle of fur a little deeper in the bush.

"What are you doing?" Adrien asked.

"Can I borrow your gym shirt?" she asked, sticking a hand back out of the bush.

"Why?" he asked, fishing the garment from his gym bag and handing it to her.

"I was right about that sound," she said, emerging with the shirt bundled up and held to her chest. "Meet your new competition for all my love and head scratches."

Adrien stepped closer. In Marinette's arms was a tiny white kitten.

"I love her," Adrien said, bending down so he was almost nose to nose with the kitten. "I figured it would be a few years before we had children, My Lady, but it looks like life had another plan."

She laughed and shifted the kitten so she had a hand free to boop his nose. "Don't make that joke around my parents, okay?"

They took the kitten to the vet and found out that the kitten was a boy and very healthy, with no signs of an owner.

"You can't keep him because of the bakery, right?" Adrien asked.

"Pretty much."

"I hope Gorilla likes cats."

Gorilla did like cats, it turned out.

"I can't believe I rescued a kitten today," Marinette said, running a finger over Chat Blanc's head.

"I can believe it," Adrien said, settling next to her. "You rescued this kitten long ago."

/*****/

"Adrien?"

"Who is this?" Adrien had the phone balanced between his shoulder and ear as he stirred the soup on the stove in the Dupain-Cheng's kitchen. He had wanted to make dinner as a thank you for all they had been doing for him, and the soup recipe he had found sounded delicious and within his skill level.

"It's Nathalie."

"Oh." He hadn't thought about Nathalie much since she left. She was part of his life on which he didn't want to think back. "Hi."

"Hello. I wanted to speak to you. Is this a good time?"

Adrien pushed the last ingredient into the pot and turned on a timer. Stepping away from the stove, he sat on one of the stools to the kitchen table. "Uh, yeah, I guess."

"I wanted to speak to you first. I haven't contacted your father, as per our agreement."

"What's this about, Nathalie?"

"We'll proceed however you think is best," she said. She was avoiding his questions, continuing as if she expected him to cut he off for some reason.

"Nathalie? Is everything okay?"

"I might have a lead on your mother."

He didn't move again until the buzzer went off for the soup.

#LoveLadyNoir #miraculous ladybug #ladynoir #ladybug #chat noir #adrien agreste #marinette dupain-cheng #tom dupain #sabine cheng #nathalie sancoeur #the gorilla #my writing #events #patrol is better with you #um... surpriiiiiise?

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clairelutra · 6 years

Text

ko-fi drabble for @parlezvousladybug, who wanted more of start a fire. the second chapter is fighting me something fierce, so take this lil outtake of them deciding on their story.

buy me a ko-fi!

"So, what's our story?"

On the other end of the line, Chat let out what sounded like a held breath. "No akuma?"

It was a clear, moonlit night—not an akuma in sight. Ladybug was hopping over dusty-turned-muddy rooftops and dodging the puddles in peace. Pretty normal for a solo patrol. "Nope, no akuma."

To be fair, perhaps she should have started the call with a few more pleasantries than that. She didn't call Chat just to chat much.

"Our story for what?"

"This... dating thing," Ladybug said into her communicator as she revved up for a particularly big jump. "Hup! I mean, they're gonna ask us how we got together, you know?"

"Oh! Well, that's easy—"

"It is?" Ladybug wondered, dubious and amused.

"—it was after a big battle—"

"Oh, it was big, was it," she put in, unable to resist.

"Very big," Chat reassured her, and she could actually hear the salacious wink in his voice.

"Oh my god."

(She was laughing though, because of course she was.)

"—anyway, it was a very big battle, we realized we just could not live without each other, and then we kissed."

Ladybug stumbled to a halt over the next roof, petrichor rushing into her nose as she struggled for balance.

"...'Kissed'," she repeated, toneless in her attempts to not laugh aloud. She'd really expected a bed to be involved there somehow.

"After the 'mission accomplished!' bit," Chat confirmed, apparently oblivious to the source of her amusement. "Very romantic, don't you think?"

That part, at least, was pert and mischevious.

"Very," she said, her voice too deep to reach the proper level of dryness. She coughed to get it under control, but a few breathless snickers escaped her anyway. "More seriously—"

"—I was totally serious—"

"—More seriously," Ladybug repeated louder, hopping from the roof over one of her parents' rival bakeries to the roof over the post office, "how long have we been interested in one another?"

"Since we met," Chat replied easily. "It was love at first sight, of course."

With crystal clarity, Ladybug remembered the gentle pressure of Chat's hands, the warmth in his eyes and the reassurance in his smile as he pointed out to her that Chloé would be dead if not for her, that he believed in her, that they could do this—

She firmly pushed back the odd little twisting sensation in her chest. "I said more seriously, Chat."

"Alright, I've been in love with you since we met," Chat groused, his voice catching a little over the words—no doubt making a jump or two of his own.

"They'll never believe that," Ladybug pointed out, rolling her eyes. Who here was the hopeless flirt?

(In all fairness, it might have been her, but if it was, she sure as hell wasn't alone.)

Chat paused for a long moment, and Ladybug took the opportunity to pick her way across a particularly tricky gap.

She'd just touched down on solid ground again when Chat added, "Secretly in love with you. Very secretly."

...Somehow, she'd forgotten that Chat was a hopeless romantic as well as a hopeless flirt.

"Sure thing, tiger," she said, dry and saccharine as cake mix as she alighted on a street lamp and took stock of the intersection ahead of her. "And all that fangirl baiting is just your way of dealing with your unrequited feelings for me? You're flirting with all the receptionists to make me jealous and then going to dinner with them when you fail?"

It occurred to her as she spoke that that... wasn't actually that hard to believe. She might've bought it herself if she hadn't known better.

"It was one time," was Chat's choice of exasperated protest. "Her boyfriend dumped her and she couldn't pay the restaurant reservation on her own. We talked about physics."

"It was three times, actually." She'd know—all the blacklisting in the world couldn't keep it off her socials, she'd tried. "It... might work, I guess."

Chat huffed. Magical communicators didn't do the rush of static noise thing that real phones did, so it almost sounded like he was right beside her. "'Course it'll work. What about you?"

"What about me?" Even as she said it, she knew what about her, but the banter was just autopilot at this point.

"When did you realize this cat has everything you need?"

Ladybug swore she heard an audible wink in there somewhere.

She looked to the sky as if to plead for patience, even if he couldn't see her. "Try 'in your dreams.'"

"Meowch."

Ladybug rubbed the bridge of her nose and forced herself to think about it seriously. "I think... a few months ago might work."

"A few months ago?" Chat echoed, blank.

"You smiled different and everything exploded into rainbows and sunshine, or something." The hopeless romantic here definitely wasn't her. "Then... uh..."

"'Smiled different'?" he questioned, a layer to his voice that she categorized as 'dubious.' "Like... how?"

She puffed her cheeks, embarrassed. "I dunno. Don't you ever get crushes like that?"

"Not really."

"Oh," said Ladybug, now feeling very awkward indeed. "Uh, well. It happens to me, so that's what we're going with."

Chat blew out a little breath. "Okay."

"So yes!" Ladybug chirped, wishing that jumping out of a window could fix her predicament. "Crush. I got a crush on you, and then... huh."

Chat didn't seem to have anything to add to that, which meant that Ladybug was left to flail in her awkwardness alone. "Um. What was the last akuma that erased people's memories? Was it The Dealer? Nutcracker?"

"Nutcracker. When the fantasy world dissolved, remember?"

"Right. So. Say... you sacrificed your life for me—again, seriously, stop doing that—and I decided that I just couldn't live without you or something, and we kissed before the clock tower fell."

"...Sounds good to me," Chat agreed.

"Right," said Ladybug. God it was weird planning something like this. It felt like something essential was missing—probably the 'and then you use Cataclysm on the focus' part. "So! I guess we're dating now."

"Guess so."

"I bet you're so happy you're skipping."

"Ha, skipping? I'm not an amateur, Ladybug. I'm leaping."

Ladybug's snort caught gracelessly in the back of her throat. "Make it a triple lutz."

"What, seriously?" There was a clank, a scrape of metal like Chat had tossed his staff down. "I don't even have an ice rink."

"Has that ever stopped you?"

Chat inhaled sharply, then paused. Ladybug could almost see him pressing a finger against his lips as he thought. "...Well."

"Go for a double at least," Ladybug urged, grinning. She was coming upon the place where their patrols brushed routes, so maybe... "And show me!"

"Well, if the lady insists."

When Chat set up his staff to show her the flat roof he had claimed, Ladybug found that she was right; the street corner he was at was pretty close.

"Watch carefully!" he said, shining a sunny, handsome smile through the screen.

Ladybug snorted, but she didn't look away as she let her feet carry her to where he was.

Chat, of course, took the most ridiculous pose as he backed up, the other half of his staff in hand, crouching and then launching himself up with it and pulling off a full three spins midair.

Ladybug wolf-whistled and called out, "Go for four!"

Chat went for four, wobbling a little as he stuck his landing.

It was pretty damn impressive, Ladybug had to admit. Still, that didn't stop her from daring him, "Bet you can't do five."

Chat shook himself like a ruffled cat, combing his bangs back with the expression of licking its paw. "Who do you think you're talking to?"

"Oooooh." Ladybug drew out the vowel. She was almost there. "Getting cocky now are we, tiger?"

"Psh," said Chat, and took his position.

He completely flubbed the landing of that one, tripping over his tail and flailing at the edge of the roof and then tumbling ass-over-teakettle over the edge.

Ladybug's heart leaped into her mouth, throbbing one, two, three times before Chat spoke.

"...Ow."

"Pffffffffffffft."

On her screen, the very tip of Chat's tail flicked.

Ladybug touched down in the alley he was hanging over, dodging trash and puddles alike as she picked up his fallen weapon-turned-pole-vault. Closing her communicator screen, she searched the roof ledge for a fluffy blond head, and found Chat drooping over the ledge, comically downcast.

"Hey, Chat."

Chat, still a lump growth on the overhang, flinched.

"...Hey, bugaboo."

"You dropped something," Ladybug informed him, badly suppressed amusement pressing against the inside of her ribcage. She wiggled his staff.

Chat raised his head, glancing between his staff and her twitching grin, and said, "...Oh."

She twirled it in a little circle, questioning, and he deigned to present his hand, palm up.

Catching his eye, Ladybug gave into a quicksilver impulse and pressed the butt of his staff against her lips with an easy wink.

Chat choked.

It was cool and smooth, damp enough that she wished she hadn't, but the look on Chat's face was priceless.

Sugar sweet, she purred, "See you Sunday, tiger," and tossed it up into his hands. She waited just long enough to make sure he didn't drop it again and then she tossed her yo-yo and reeled herself back up to her patrol route.

Once she was out of earshot, the window across the way opened, ungreased tracks scraping something fierce.

The opener, a civilian that Chat had probably saved at one point or another, beheld the place where Ladybug had disappeared from for a long moment, then offered, "Crushes suck."

"...Yeah, they kinda do."

"Want a cookie? My mom made, like, five batches."

"...Yeah. Thanks."

#parlezvousladybug #kofiprompts #ladybug #ladynoir #chat noir #sorry for the wait!#my fic #nnnnow i gotta decide if i wanna go back and stuff this in the fic itself jhjhgjhg

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thewritewolf · 5 years

Text

Marinette March Day 8 - Partners

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Ladybug feels herself breaking under the pressure after a close call with an akuma villain. It’s up to Chat Noir to help break her out of her funk!

@marinettemarch

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3

The pleasantly cool night wind rushed through her hair as Marinette swung across the Parisian sky. It was here, up in the air, that she felt truly weightless. Far away from the ground and all the problems she had while she was there. On a normal patrol night, she… well, not quite zoned out, but thought of little besides what she was doing in that exact moment. It was just her and the city. The sound of running feet on the rooftop beside her made her make a slight adjustment to that thought. It was just her, the city... and her trusted partner, Chat Noir.

The spot she chose to land on gave a commanding view of the surrounding area, but she didn’t stop here for the scenery. Chat Noir sidled up beside her without a word - not even a joke or off-handed flirt. She must have clued him in that something was bothering her, an idea supported when he reached out to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Looking over to him, she saw the same steady loyalty that she’d grown accustomed to over their partnership.

“What’s bugging you, my lady?”

Ignoring the pun, she turned around and sat down against a chimney, Chat Noir following after a moment. “Does it ever get to you?” When he didn’t respond immediately, she continued, “Just… the weight of it all?”

“Is this about Zombizou?” He asked the question with a gentleness that she usually didn’t hear from the boisterous hero. It was a fair guess on his part - it was the last akuma victim they’d fought recently and the closest they’d come to defeat in a long while.

She nodded. “We’ve gone up against desperate odds before, you know? But yesterday…” Closing her eyes she rested her head against the brickwork behind her. “When I went home afterwards and went to bed, I woke up from the nightmares. Yeah, it wasn’t the scariest akuma we’ve faced but… I’ve never felt that kind of weight on my shoulders.”

He bumped shoulders with her and gave her a wink when she looked over at him. “Don’t worry about it, bugaboo! We always save the day in the end.”

The surprise was evident on his face when she shook her head bitterly. “That’s what they were always saying! It’s one thing know that we’re the only ones that can stop Hawkbutt’s villains of the week, but it’s another when everyone about to get runover by a horde of off-brand zombies spends their last moments saying ‘oh I’m not worried, I know you’ll fix everything!’” Chat Noir tried to cut in, but Marinette barrelled straight through. “Like, I’m glad they have so much faith in me, but… what if we failed? And don’t say it can’t happen ‘cause we’ve gotten super close to it before! I just… it’s a lot of trust to put on us, right?” She looked at him with pleading eyes.

“I’m sorry, LB. You’re right, it is a lot to ask of us.” He settled back against the chimney. “I guess I’ve never really thought of it like that - I’ve either got you beside me, or I’m mind controlled and can’t remember anything anyway.” His met her gaze and she saw sympathy in his big green eyes. “I can’t imagine fighting by myself against those kind of odds. It must feel terrible.”

“It usually doesn’t bother me, to be honest. Sorry, kitty, but whenever Hawkmoth gets control of you, I kinda always trounce you.”

A rueful smile graced his face. “Sounds about right. Not even magic would make me fully turn against you. The power of love, always so strong.” He attempted to kiss her hand, which she pulled away at the last minute before bopping him on the nose.

“Most of the time, I’m too focussed on the fight at hand that I don’t really think about what happens if I fail - or even really the chance of failing. But people in the process of coming under an akuma’s control telling me they’re sure I’ll save them…? That got me thinking.” She sighed. “It didn’t help I was slowly losing civilians over the course of the day, no matter how hard I tried to keep them safe.” She glanced back at him before looking at the ground. “You know, not one person besides me made it to the end of that fight unakumatized.” She finished in a whisper, “I failed everyone.”

“...Before saving them, you mean.” She looked back at him. “I mean sure, it would’ve been awesome if we all escaped without losing anyone, but you were kinda set up from the start there with how easy it was to lose people to the curse. And in the end, you did spectacularly! You beat Zombizou without breaking a sweat and saved everyone.” She pulled her knees up to her chest and was surprised when he pulled her into a half-hug. “I know it had to have been scary, but even with most of Paris turned against you, we still won in the end. That has to count for something, right?”

“I suppose, but…” She trailed off and continued looking out into the middle distance as Chat Noir pulled back from his hug.

“Listen, I know it’s a heavy burden to bear, but just know that I’m not going to let you bear it alone, alright? We’re partners and we’re in this together.”

He held out his hand and after a moment’s hesitation, she took it, finding certainty in Chat’s unwavering support. They held hands as they sat in a comfortable silence, enjoying each other’s company as around them Paris slumbered under their protection.

#Miraculous Ladybug #Ladybug #Chat Noir #MarinetteMarch #ml fanfiction #my writing

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