#these guys are made to just sit and vibe until a bug happens to wander their way | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bekahdoesnerdshit · 4 years

Note

20, 27, 35, 40, 50, 59, 67, 88 for All Eight Characters (one each but if you wanna go Hog Fucking Wild feel free)

Alright so. I’m not going hog wild but! I decided to do two guys per question, one who was my first gut instinct for that question, and then one random character to spice things up! Do some character building in a direction I might not have thought to go, you know?

Also bro this got so long so just. Putting it. Under a read more because I do respect your time and dashboard.

20. How would your character define love? Caspian: Love is when people stop to listen to you. When they smile when they see you, and sneak you an extra dessert when no one is looking. Love is being willing to bend the rules to make you happy, teaching you to hold your head up high even when you’re getting in trouble, and telling you to always look the world right in the eye when it wants you to back down. Love is giving up whatever you have to without a second thought for the other person’s sake, and knowing they would do the same for you. Love is taking the lessons they taught you, carrying them in your heart, swallowing your fear and setting out to bring them home. Ryker: Love is fleeting, and fickle, and fragile. Love is at best a luxury and more realistically a bargaining chip. It’s real, sure, but its primary use is to blind people to what’s hidden behind it. Some people may get lucky, but only a fool would bet on those odds. ...if you are lucky enough to find it, though, hold on tight. Real love, genuine, honest, reciprocated love, is worth doing anything for. The people you care about should know how you feel by what you do, not by what you say. Show love with discretion, but show it fiercely.

27. How much have they given up to get to where they are in life, willingly or unwillingly? How much do they think they would give up to get to where they want to be, in the future? Raini: Raini I think is super interesting because I think she’s given up a fair bit, and she’s completely fine with the sacrifices she did make because she decided the benefits outweighed whatever she had to give up to get it. But on the other hand, giving something up unwillingly? Having something taken from her? Absolutely a cause for retribution at any cost. idk if I’m explaining the difference in a way that makes sense, but that distinction means the world to Raini because, even if the sacrifice is hard to swallow, at least she was in control of it. And like, the whole premise of the campaign is giving up shit! Giving up everything! And was it willing at the time? Yes! But coming out on the other side of it and not remembering making the decision and, quite frankly, not agreeing with the decision you made is rough! You’re yourself, you know because you’re you, but you’re also not yourself because that’s the whole point of what you did, so did you really do this? Was it someone else in a body you now inhabit? What happens to this new you when you regain your old memories, because there’s no way in hell you don’t at least try to get them back? It’s a lot to think about!! And that, and the core of this question, is why Raini doesn’t let this end without a Wish to restore the memory of whoever wants it. I don’t think she sees erasing them the first time as a decision “she” necessarily made -although whether that’s a philosophical issue or one of diverting guilt is open for debate- so she wants to reclaim what she sees as having been taken from her unwillingly. Pip: Tbh, the plot and premise of Strahd aside, Pip has lived a pretty charmed life. He fucked up plenty, but he always seemed to manage to stumble his way into where he needed to be when he needed to be there. Honestly, even within the module things didn’t go too badly for him! He lost a good friend at one point, and nearly died in that same fight, but other than that he fared pretty well. The biggest thing he’s given up in his life was his place in his home village, but honestly it’s like 50/50 on whether that was willingly or unwillingly. Like, he feels bad about the accidental arson? But also. It kinda kicks ass that he did then just like. Leave and it was fine. With his campaign over, I don’t really have much in the way of future goals for him! He’s just. He’s just fucking vibing. You know? So! Seems like he’s getting out of giving up anything in the future.

35. What is their most prized possession? If they have one that is. Ryker: For sure have talked about this before: it’s his hammers. He has two enormous hammers that he fights with, named Last Chance and Misery’s End. They’re sturdy orc made weapons with their names hammered into the side of each head in orc, that have been passed down from clan leader to clan leader for generations. They hit well, they don’t do much else, but when you’re regularly shattering knees, ribs, and skulls, what else do you need them to do? They’re sturdy, practical weapons. Reliable, and they remind him of home. He’s more comfortable putting his life in their hands than anything -or anyone- else’s. Brilliance: Her armor! For several reasons: 1. She paid extra to have it enchanted so that it repels dirt and blood and grime. After crawling through cult sewers to clear out some nasty boys, Brilliance decided that never again was she going to spend her short rest having to wipe blood or shit off her nice armor. When she upgraded to splint mail, she absolutely forked out that Armor of Gleaming enchantment. 2. Her shield specifically was decorated by her fiancee! Sienna likes to paint, and when Brilliance first got her shield for guard duty at the church Sienna took it upon herself to get out her paints and paint on a wreaths of vines and roses and birds and other lovely things, so that her love could always have a piece of her with her 💖

40. Do people expect a lot from your character or look up to them for something? Why or why not? Ayen: Unfortunately, Ayen is baybe. And even though she hasn’t outright told anyone how old she is, it’s becoming rapidly apparent that. Hey? They might have figured it out. It’s literally inconceivable how they could have pieced it together though?? I mean, how does anything about her not read as completely mature and put together elf woman thank you I’m an elf?? So, no. I don’t think anyone looks up to her. And that’s okay!! Yes she is a young adult with her own set of skills and her own value to add to the world and the people around her, but she would not thrive in a position of leadership like she thinks she would. She needs time to mellow out and settle down, and to learn how to make decisions quickly and responsibly. I think, one day, she’ll be able to show a lot of people how to do a lot of good. For now, though, she’s happy trotting along after Dad and rowing her and her new friend around in circles in a row boat, just because it’s fun to mess around sometimes. Auriga: Interesting question! Interesting question. I think in the collective sense, as part of the Court of Stars, definitely yes. They’re the rulers! They guide their people through the knowledge and wisdom accumulated over the course of millennia! I think Auriga specifically even is seen as having a closer connection to this wealth of knowledge, being a cleric and all. But I am toying with the thought that outside of the context of the council and the court, the people that make it up don’t have as much weight? There’s still respect of course! But while one star shining on its own is all well and good, without the context of those around it how are you meant to learn from what it has to say to you? Auriga understands this, it’s just part of their culture, and he’s in no way troubled by it. It’s the way things are meant to be, and so they will continue to be until it is clear that something needs to change!

50. What’s their earliest memory? Auriga: Now full warning this is going to be a lot less detailed than Cog’s is just because I know him less, but I think Auriga earliest memory is something sweet and warm like. Sitting in one of his older sibling’s laps (while he’s the Baby of the family!) and just. Dozing against their chest while the rest of them sit in front of a roaring fire and just talk. He doesn’t remember a word of what was said, he just remembers being little and held and loved. Their family mostly interacts in the council room, I think, because when things get busy with ruling it’s so easy to just fall into work and let family time fall by the wayside. But when things get stressful, when he realizes he hasn’t interacted with his brothers or sisters outside their meetings in a while, I think this is one of the memories that comes to mind and encourages him to set aside whatever he’s reading and go off to be intentional about spending time with his brothers and sisters :) Cog: One of her earliest memories was when her magic first manifested! She was maybe six or seven, and Mama was busy at church and Daddy had gone out to check on some of the folks that lived a bit further out from town, and baby Cog was bored to tears. She knew she wasn’t supposed to leave home alone!! But there were some Cool Older Kids she wanted to impress, and they were going to sneak out and explore the swamp. They were big kids! They were like thirteen! Surely, nothing bad could happen if there were big kids with her! So she followed them out of town, and by the time they noticed their tag-along it would have been Way too much work to take her back home. Whatever. It’s fine. They start poking around the edge of the swamp, looking at weird fish and bugs and poking at mushrooms or whatever kind of shit grows in swamps. Probably getting eaten alive by mosquitos. Well! Cog is having a grand old time playing with frogs and cattails, and she’d wandered off from the teenagers she was supposed to be staying with. She was up to her calves in the brackish water trying to recapture a frog that escaped her when she looked up to see a long, thin shape darting through the water straight for her. It was a cottonmouth, mutated by the Wasteland and nearly as big as she is. It hissed as it closed the distance between them, mouth open wide as it readied itself to lunge and sink its fangs into her. Cog screamed and threw her arms up to protect herself- And then there was a burn of something wild and unfamiliar in her chest, a warm hand on her shoulder, and a flash of light so blinding that people swore later they could see it from town. Cog stood there for a moment, frozen and trembling, but when she gathered the courage to open her eyes everything within five feet of her was scorched clean, and the corpse of the snake that had charged her was bobbing, almost completely unrecognizable, in the water in front of her. Mama was furious with her when they made it back home, of course, but after hearing what happened? After hearing that Cog had finally managed to channel a spell, some rudimentary form of Word of Radiance? Well, there were much, much more pressing things to worry about, all of a sudden.

59. Have they ever had an encounter with someone that changed their whole life? Cog: HA Morgan opened up a can of “Talk About Ace” SOUP and folks it’s fucking lunchtime. Drink up assholes!!! I know I’ve talked about this a hundred times but I’ll never be sick of it: they’re JUST such good friends and they’ve been so so good for each other. Before they met, Cog was in a place in her life where she felt trapped and perpetually anxious, and Ace was restless and angry at the world. Neither of them felt like they could measure up to the expectations other people had for them, and Cog had turned that worry self-destructively inward while Ace had turned it outward. Ace’s straining at his leash brought him to Lafaroh, and Cog’s -at the time, Charlotte’s- soft heart had her defying direct orders to slip up to this stranger and warn him that he needed to leave before he got hurt. And Ace looked at Charlotte, at the genuine worry on her face for someone she’d only just met. And he looked at the town around them, at the way the people who passed by looked at him and how that look shifted from suspicion to shock and outrage when they saw Charlotte with him. And he did some math, and he realized whatever the hell was going on in this podunk town was a thousand times more interesting than anything that would ever happen back in New Alexandria proper. So of course, he settles in to pry. Charlotte, bless her, has many, many strengths; reading into people’s intent is not one of them. So when Ace starts asking questions, she’s happy to answer to impress upon him how important it is that he goes home! And the more she talks, the easier it is to just... keep talking? This man, this stranger from the Academy, is talking to her, listening to her like nobody ever has. And more than that, he actually seems to care! He has no reason to care that she’s worried she won’t be able to step up the way she knows her mom wants her to, but he’s clearly concerned and invested in her story. And even though she’s trying to keep things vague, she’s never been very good at deceiving people. Pieces start to fall in place, Charlotte lets more slip than she means to, and by the time they’ve been talking for an hour or so Ace has a pretty good picture of what’s going on here. It’s not safe here, not for him and certainly not for her, so he doesn’t even stop to consider whether it’s an offer he can make when he holds out his hand, both literally and figuratively, and tells her he can take her back to the Academy with him. And to Charlotte, who less than an hour ago had been weighing her odds of surviving the Wasteland alone if she ran away on her own, the door this man just opened to her? The way he’s reaching back through it to offer her a hand, to pull her through to a better, safer life? How can she say no? They fought their way out of Lafaroh that day. Charlotte almost certainly wanted to try to slip out unnoticed, but they’d already attracted too much attention by letting townspeople see them talking. Charlotte goes home to quickly pack, and she doesn’t come back out of the house. Ace waits, and the sun starts to set, and she still hasn’t come back out. Something isn’t right. He knocks on the door: there’s no answer. He knocks again, louder. Then again. Finally, an angry looking man opens the door and starts to tell Ace to get lost, but there’s clear sounds of arguing inside coming from just out of view of the doorway. The man is big, but Ace is fast enough to duck inside and around the corner in time to see Charlotte struggling to get around a woman who looks strikingly like her in order to make a break down the stairs and toward the door. The next several seconds are messy and disjointed; no one expects someone in high level caster robes to take the staff off their back and start attacking with it, but the next thing Charlotte knows Ace has her hastily packed bag slung over one shoulder, has planted her firmly behind himself, and is holding her hand with one of his own while he levels his staff at her parents with the other. His voice is calm but hard as he explains that they’re leaving, because Charlotte made it clear that she isn’t safe or happy here. If they try to stop them, Ace can and will bring the full force of New Alexandria’s wrath down on their tiny, shitty town. He’s going to take Charlotte away, find her a place in the Academy, and they’re not going to say a word. And so they leave! With all of Lafaroh absolutely seething behind them, with Charlotte gripping Ace’s hand as tight as she can and willing her own not to shake, they set out together into the Wasteland and, ultimately, to New Alexandria. I have Such a vivid mental image of the two of them camping out in the Wasteland the night before they made it back to New Alexandria, with the lights of the city just peeking over the horizon in front of them. They’re eating dinner over a fire Ace made Such a show of lighting with magic instead of the tinderbox one of them definitely had, and they’re talking about names Charlotte could use in New Alexandria because she’d quietly admitted earlier that day that the name “Charlotte” has so much baggage that she doesn’t want to carry anymore. And Ace, while he is trying to help, is also a dork. He’s throwing out every name that pops into his head, good or not, trying to see if he can get her to laugh at one of them. They spend a few minutes talking, Ace muses aloud over “Charlotte Olivia Grace” a few times, looking for some cute nickname he can pull out of a name like that. And then he pauses, and sits up, and looks at Charlotte, and nods. The suggestion that she go by “Cog” makes her laugh, but that’s a good thing. Ace is grinning too because some dumb shit he said finally got a smile of out Charlotte for the first time since they left her shithole town. She’s sort of laughing in spite of herself, and it eases some of the heaviness that’s been hanging over them the last few days, but after considering it for a moment? She loves it. Taking the name she was given, and making it her own in a way she knows her parents would hate? It feels good! She’s grinning ear to ear when she turns to Ace and nods in agreement. “Cog” it is. “Charlotte” dies in the Wasteland that night; Cog enrolls in the Academy the next day. In Cog’s eyes, Ace’s intervention literally saved her life. She went from being a scared little girl in the middle of nowhere with no future beyond the ramshackle walls of her small town, to an incredibly promising up and coming student of the Academy. She went from being told that the only use her magic had was what it could do for the Church, to blowing away professors who expected her to barely be able to manage a cantrip and being praised for her intuitive understanding of magic. And for Ace! Cog was the first person his actions truly, directly helped. He saw a problem, he stepped in, he fixed in. In a slow moving, insular city like New Alexandria, that wasn’t something he’d been able to do before. He saw how the good he’d done in helping Cog reflected and redoubled in the way she treated the people around her, and saw her making the choice to be kind not in spite of but because of everything she’d been through growing up. Bro like Ace’s character bio says “self-appointed big bro to Cog” and “he sent a letter to Cog thanking her for being a positive influence in his life”. This question got SO out of control as I wrote my Cog and Ace fanfic but! They deserve it! AND the party is going back to New Alexandria next session, so!! More Ace content soon folks stay tuned! Raini: Did you think I ran out of soup?? Did you think lunchtime was over? FUCK you! This is MY blog and I’ll wax poetic about my dnd characters and their friendships for as LONG as I want to! And there’s nothing you can do to stop me!!!!! Now this one in fairness probably won’t be as long as Cog’s was, just because I know that all the people who follow me are like. Actively in the campaign and various group chats where we discuss how important our characters are to each other. But do NOT make the mistake of assuming it’s because I love you any less. I love you so much. Yes homo. Where do we start? At the beginning, with our lizard. Y’all ever uh. Y’all ever met a dipshit lizard who you’re pretty sure you can trick into taking you adventuring but plan to ditch the second they become deadweight (i.e. whenever they go down for the first time, probably), except then you became like best friends and siblings by all but blood and you realize you’d rip the world in half for them without them even asking and you can’t even begin to imagine how you’d reconcile the hole they’d leave in your life if they left it? Have you ever slowly realized that you’re adding “except for him” at the end of every generally grumpy statement you make about the world? And then realized even more slowly after years of friendship that somehow the bastard managed to extend “except for him” to “except for them”, and you’re so much less disengaged from and disinterested in the world around you? Y’all ever had that happen to you?? Shit’s wild. And then. Y’all ever met a fucking cop who clearly has, like. An actual metric ton of baggage she’s refusing to even glance in the direction of? And at first, it’s a pain to have to circumvent her “morals” in order to get shit done. Honestly, it’s kind of always a pain. But even your crotchety ass has to admit there’s something about sticking so firmly to your guns regardless of the situation you’re put in that’s admirable, that the world would be a much better place if more people had that same iron will and a refusal to be moved. Even if they’re standing up for stupid shit, at least they’re standing up for something. And maybe you take some of that resolve and tuck it away in your chest, to give you something to grip onto when you need to dig in your heels and refuse to let the world knock you around. And then. Y’all ever met a druid who burns with an anger you, honestly, kind of understand? Who wants to be more than the world wants her to be so badly, in a way that you definitely understand? Have you ever gotten to watch over the course of weeks and months as she time and again made the choice to take that anger and that drive and point it at things that would hurt the people she cares about? By god, she’s leaving her mark on the world, and she’s doing that by burning the shit out of it. But, without fail, there’s always a circle of uncharred, untouched ground around each and every party member. And when you notice this pattern, you can’t stop yourself from noticing it again, and again. And you learn: sometimes, you’re angry at the world. Sometimes! You’re angry at your party members! But that anger points outward. Always, and unequivocally. You have your friends’ backs, even if you’re furious with them. And then you meet a fish and you learn that sometimes things just need to be hit a lot of time in a row, really hard, with a big fucking hammer. Okay but you meet this fish who, somehow, despite being monotone and weird and a fish and clearly an outsider to like. Land culture? Which you guess is a thing, apparently. Despite all of that, they have an emotional intelligence that’s off the fucking charts. And quite frankly! For a long time, it makes you really, really uncomfortable! If you don’t tell somebody how you’re feeling, and you don’t, then they shouldn’t be able to figure it out. But, slowly, you start to see the value of it. Your lizard is upset about something, and they won’t tell you what, but you’re able to squint at them and slowly figure it out so you can fix it. A few days later a joke a party member makes rubs you the wrong way, and you swallow your pride enough to admit it and they just. Apologize? Just like that? They promise not to say it again? And fish expressions are so hard to read, but you can just Tell that they’re over there looking smug, the bastard. But while you’re definitely not ready to commit to this being a daily thing you can, begrudgingly, admit that you can see the benefits of “communicating” with the people around you.

67. What was the most acidic remark your character’s ever given to someone? And their reaction? Brilliance: In like our third session, our warlock had disguised himself as a “beautiful woman” in order to flirt with the guy we were there to talk to to get information out of him (Note: They did not ask Brilliance, at any point, if she was willing to flirt with him instead. She would not have been, but they could have at least asked). So Brilliance was hanging out at the bar near this dude’s private booth while the warlock chatted him up, and when the warlock got up to leave the dude reached out to try and grab her arm. He missed, but Brilliance was on his ass in a second with her sword out like “If you had grabbed her hand, you would have lost your own. She’s not interested in you; let her leave.” He thought it was funny and kept calling Brilliance “sweetheart”, but I did get to put my sword through his gut before the end of the night SO. Who’s the real winner? Ayen: I rolled Ayen for this one and I want to respect that and not cop out, but I don’t think it’s super in her nature to snark at people. She’s just gonna tell you like straight up that you’re a dickhead, and that’s that. I think the only time we might get to snarking is if someone (Dad, a party member, etc.) said “leave it alone” and Ayen is Not Done. She might send some parting shots over her shoulder then, like a “You’re lucky I like this guy so much, or we wouldn’t be done here” or “Show your face again when my dad’s not around, if you’ve got the balls.”

88. Assuming they aren’t one already would your character prefer to be a Vampire, a Werewolf, or a Demon? Pip: Potentially a cop out! However. A little..... vampire frog? Hello Mr. Strahd. Are we friends now? Could be a vampire! We have seen that vampires are cool and hot and powerful if perhaps a little amoral but that’s okay, because they’re cool and powerful. Caspian: I literally spent fucking forever looking at this because. She literally worships and derives her Sun Soul monk shit from Pelor, the god of the sun. So like! How the fuck you gonna be a vampire or a werewolf with that going on. Dude hates the undead too, so vampire struck out twice. Demon’s iffy too, because it very much goes against the whole “good aligned” thing she has going on. So I guess?? Werewolf is the least offensive?? She’ll just pray and hope Pelor is like. Cool. With it. Haha? Also objectively, a werewolf that worships the god of the sun is VERY funny so there is that.

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thewritewolf · 4 years

Text

Eating Habits Chapter 13: Bliss

The semester is passing by quickly as Adrien and Marinette live happily together, supporting each other in everything they do.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 (Final)

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3

Her feet aching from the long week of classes fresh out of winter break, Marinette shambled up the stairs and blearily stood in front of the door to her shared home. Her faint hope that it would open on its own extinguished. A few long moments passed before she worked up the energy to open the door, slowly lifting her tired arms as if every centimeter of movement was an absolute chore.

As she stepped into the apartment, she was vaguely aware of the meat and vegetables sitting out on the kitchen counter, but much more important was the mop of blonde hair and the strong back poking out from behind the couch. At the sound of the door closing, Adrien looked behind him with an expression that started off curious before lighting up with a bright smile.

“Bugaboo! Amazing timing as usual, I was just about to get up and-” He was cut off as she plopped onto the couch, resting her head on his lap as she curled up into a more comfortable position, “-and make dinner, but I guess we can sit here for a little while.” Picking up the remote, he turned down the volume of the show on the television. “Wanna talk about it?”

She groaned and reached out her hand, groping around until she found his. Dragging her prize, she dropped his hand onto the back of her head.

Adrien laughed, a sound that was already soothing her aching muscles. His hands began playing with her hair and she sighed in satisfaction. “Poor tired bug. I can’t imagine just sewing and studying all day make you this tuckered out. Did you go to the gym after classes too? I keep telling you that you have to start smaller.”

Marinette was too tired to contribute much to the conversation, but just having him there, listening to him, feeling his touch on her, was doing wonders for her. It was just as heavy a burden she was carrying as last semester. But with him here? It felt so much lighter. She didn’t feel as though she were falling apart at the seams any more.

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Adrien turned off the television and ran his fingers through his hair. His shift at the bakery had ended hours ago, leaving him waiting for Marinette to get back from school. The grumbling of his stomach got louder as he glanced back at the untouched selection of ingredients he’d assembled on the kitchen counter. He didn’t really want to start cooking until she got back.

After all, the time she got home each day was pretty arbitrary. Weeks into the semester and he still struggled to keep track of all her commitments, between student organizations, classes, study groups, and extra design work time. Yet another skill his coddled early years had deprived him of.

He sighed and opened the door to their balcony. The chill of winter was receding fast and the late March night was surprisingly warm. Leaning against the railing, he took a deep breath of the fresh air and stared out into the glimmering lights of the Parisian night.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Adrien jolted, but quickly relaxed when Ladybug landed beside him. His sly smirk was undercut by the soft blush he could already feel spreading across his cheeks. “Yes, you are.” He took her hand and kissed it. “I didn’t know the great hero Ladybug made house calls?”

“She’s been known to make an exception for her favorite civilians.” She smiled teasingly as she closed the distance between them, their faces centimeters apart. “Or at least, the particularly handsome ones.”

“Don’t let Chat Noir hear that,” he whispered into her ear. “I hear he’s the jealous type.” His arms wrapped around her, pulling her flush against him.

“Somehow, I don’t think he’ll mind what I’ve got planned for you tonight,” she said, pressing a chaste kiss against his lips.

“And what do you have planned, hm?”

“You’re about to find out.” Suddenly, she had one arm wrapped around him and with the other pulled out her yo-yo. Before he knew it, he was sailing over Paris and latching onto her. Despite the speed and the heights, he wasn’t afraid. Not just because he’d done this plenty of times as Chat before, but because he had absolute faith in her. She would never let him down - literally, in this case.

Before long, they had landed on the rooftop of a building that stood a story taller than the ones around it. Still holding onto his tiny, superpowered girlfriend, he looked around. His eyes widened when he saw the candlelit dinner with boxed chinese food, a single rose in a vase completing the scene.

His heart melted, but a thought caused him to fall into a giggle fit.

“What’s so funny, oh handsome civilian who is on the fast track to the couch tonight?”

He bit down on his lower lip and looked at her with eyes that glimmered with mirth. “I was just thinking… if I told fourteen year old Adrien that this was happening - that Ladybug made a romantic dinner just for us - I know that either his heart would explode from happiness or he just wouldn’t believe me.”

The annoyance in her eyes melted away, replaced with gentle love. She rocked forward on her toes to press a kiss against his cheek.

“Better believe it, sunshine. You aren’t the only one that knows their way around romance. And I’m definitely not going anywhere.”

He took her hand and held it between his. There were so many things that he wanted to say to her, but he just couldn’t find the words. Instead, he simply whispered, “I know.”

She seemed to understand as she slowly walked away and towards the dinner she had set. She pulled out his seat for him. Laughing, he sat down.

“Such a gentleman!”

She rolled her eyes with a smile and took the seat opposite him. They chatted while they ate, filling each other in on what they’d been doing that day. The food was wonderful and even if he hadn’t seen the logo on the boxes, he would have known it just from the taste. The Chinese restaurant was a favorite of theirs when they went on casual dates. Marinette’s mom was friends with the owners, and they’d all gone as a family plenty of times during the years he’d dated Marinette.

Adrien trailed off in the middle of explaining one customer’s particularly strange order when he heard music filtering up from the building below them. He glanced back at Ladybug, who was smugly watching him.

“...Are we above a symphony’s practice studio?”

“Mhm,” she hummed in confirmation.

Deciding she was being far too smug for her own good, he stood up, offering her his hand as he rose from a bow. “Would you do me the honor of a dance, my lady?”

Her pupils shrunk to pinpricks and she flailed her arms around her face. “Adrien, you know I can’t-”

He grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. His other hand found its familiar spot on her lower back as he held her close to himself. He smiled down at her as she looked up at him, stunned for a moment. He decided in that moment, as he had many times before, that love was a good look on her.

As they settled into their dance, Adrien nuzzled against the top of her head as they twirled in gentle circles across the rooftop. He breathed deep, letting her scent - strawberries and cookies and a hundred other sweet things - fill him and bring peace to his weary spirit.

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

Adrien finished his story and took a sip of his coffee, made exactly how he liked it. The cafe they’d chosen was quickly becoming a favorite and not only because it was right between their current living spaces.

Nino chuckled and shook his head. “Geez, dude. You two are made for each other, no doubt about it.”

“Jealous of our romance, bro?”

“Not a chance. Me and Alya are doing just fine with our chill love. But you two? With your over the top declarations of love? You two got each other to save everyone else from the sickeningly sick vibes and plots.”

“Hm…” Adrien put his chin in his hand, propped up on the table. Tapping his cheek he gave it some thought before nodding. “Definitely jealous then.” Nino scoffed. “Hey, you should have said something sooner! I’m sure Marinette wouldn’t mind if I brought you up to a rooftop for a candlelit dinner. Just so you could see what it’s like.”

Nino covered his face in his hands, but couldn’t hide the laughter bubbling out of him. “Yeah sure, dude. I’m just saying - you two tend to go crazy with romance, so it works out nice that you ended up with each other.”

“It’s way better than nice, man.” Adrien smiled with what he knew was a dopey grin - knew, but didn’t care. “Being with her - living with her - is a dream come true.”

“I figured it would be. I’m psyched for you guys - both of you are loads better when you’re not by yourselves, so it makes a ton of sense for you to move in.”

“What about you and Alya?”

Nino laughed. “After years of being stuck in crowded apartments with tons of siblings, we’re actually enjoying the space apart. But,” he said, grinning at his coffee, “after seeing what you and M have, I’m starting to like the idea more and more.” He made a dismissive gesture and leaned back in his chair, one arm over the back. “But that’s a while down the road. We’re supes happy with our set up right now.”

“I’m happy for you, man,” Adrien said softly. He took another long sip of drink, letting his mind wander. “Things are looking up, aren’t they?”

“They sure are, my bro.” Nino raised his coffee toward Adrien and they clinked their cups in a toast. “They sure are.” Nino took a quick gulp and leaned forward. “What else has been going down? I bet you’ve got a lotta sappy stories now that you two are together every day, so spill.”

They talked for another hour, exchanging stories about their girlfriends, about working with Jagged Stone, about the crazy customers the bakery had seen. He was glad they had managed to sneak in this time to hang out together, despite how busy both of them were. Adrien would always treasure Nino’s friendship, the first real friend he had made at school - his first, and his best.

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

Marinette stretched, reaching her hands far above her head as she worked out the aches from sitting still for so long. The dress in front of her was almost finished, but she needed to take a break before she could continue. If Adrien weren’t working at the bakery for the weekend, he’d have approved.

Her stretch brought her to her feet and then her toes, which then turned into wiggling her hips vaguely in time with the music that was filling the apartment. It felt liberating, dancing in her spotted pajamas in an old black t-shirt she’d stolen from Adrien years ago, hair hanging free. She was making great progress with that commission and she knew it. The dress could wait a few minutes while she had a little fun.

Sure, it was already the middle of April and the spring show was getting closer, but even that didn’t bother her. Speaking of, she was supposed to get a letter soon concerning how many front row tickets she’d be reserving for friends and family. After giving it a moment’s consideration, she opted to just head down to the mail room as she was. Who cares if someone saw her in her pajamas?

The song stayed in her head and she hummed along to it as she quickly went down the stairs. She grabbed the mail and started leafing through it as she returned the way she came. Her eyes widened just as she reached the door, hand hesitating at the door knob when she recognized the writing on one of the letters.

The surprise evaporated under a withering tide of anger. She knew what she’d read if she opened the letter - excuses, protests, and blame directed at Adrien. Of all the limited talents that Gabriel possesed, self-reflection was not among them.

She shoved it roughly in the basket with the rest of his letters, only barely resisting tossing it in the trash. As she changed her playlist to something a little more energetic to help her blow off steam, she decided that Adrien didn’t need to know he had gotten any mail at all today.

And everyone would be happier for it.

#Miraculous Ladybug #Adrien Agreste #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Nino Lahiffe #Adrienette #Ladybug #Ladrien #ml fanfiction #my writing #Eating Habits #The Lucky One series

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