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kasienda · 4 months

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A Miraculous Reveal - Rings True

Post Season Five - Angst w/ a very happy ending

Summary: Ladybug hits send on her text to Chat Noir, telling him who Monarch is. She tells Adrien a very different story. Adrien doesn't know what to make of it, but he thinks he deserves the truth. Thanks to @coffeebanana, @wackus-bonkus-maximus, and @nemaliwrites for the beta read. This hits just a bit harder because of your input.

Read on Ao3

A Miraculous Reveal - Rings True

I figured out who Monarch is. He’s Gabriel Agreste. Meet me at the Agreste Mansion .

Chat Noir stares at the text and then glances up once again at the imposing statue erected in his father’s honor. Because his father apparently sacrificed himself to help Ladybug defeat Monarch.

He shivers in the winter morning air.

Both of those realities can’t be true.

Chat Noir falls to the ground, his father’s oversized form blocking out the sun’s glare. He has no idea what he was feeling, but whatever it was, it wasn’t good. He just sits there, gravel from the pavement digging through his suit, barely aware of the passersby chattering about his unexpected presence. He can’t hear what they’re saying with his heart trying to beat its way out of his chest. His stomach is so sour he thinks he might throw up, and his hands shake hard enough he’s not certain he will keep hold of his baton.

His father’s gone.

He wished for this. Adrien wanted the man who wouldn’t let him make his own choices or live his life gone. And him being Monarch made all of that worse somehow.

How many times had Adrien wished Monarch dead?

Well, now he was.

But Ladybug told him to his face, as Adrien, that his father gave up everything so he could be happy.

Adrien can’t believe it. His father had never cared about Adrien’s happiness. That had never been more clear than when he shipped Adrien off to London to be the poster child alongside Kagami for the Alliance rings or whatever else his father had in mind.

It’s far, far easier to believe his father had been Monarch.

But why did Ladybug lie?

He doesn’t have to contemplate the question long. She lands next to him and he scrambles to his feet, his shoulders tense as he turns to her. She asked to meet him this morning, it’s the first time he’s seen her since he failed to show up to fight Monarch. Is she angry with him? She doesn’t look angry, but she doesn’t look happy either.

She very noticeably does not look at the monument.

“Can we talk anywhere but here?” Her voice shakes. And it’s amazing how just that small sign of anxiety from her makes his own turmoil abate.

For the moment, at least.

He clears his throat. “Lead the way.” His voice sounds like gravel.

She takes off, and he launches himself in pursuit, not paying any attention to where they’re going. He just follows the flash of red as he always does.

They eventually settle on an ordinary rooftop away from prying eyes. She doesn’t speak. She stares at the blank brick wall in front of them as if it holds all the answers of the universe.

Every moment of silence eats at him, bringing back the clammy feeling in his neck and the sour churn in his stomach. He can’t stand it.

“M’lady?”

She glances at him and visibly swallows.

“Are you okay?”

Her hands grip the edge of the roof and her gaze drops. She shakes her head and her eyes well with tears.

His hand covers hers immediately. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”

She leans into his shoulder and his arm comes around her immediately.

She breaks down into tears immediately, and he just holds her as she cries herself out.

“I wish you were there,” she whispers, and his chest tightens in guilt. “I don’t know that it would have made any difference, but–” her head nuzzles further into his shoulder, “–I would have felt better with you there.”

“I’m sorry,” he croaks again. He shouldn’t have given into his nightmare. He could have broken out of his father’s prison. It apparently wouldn’t have even mattered that it would have revealed his identity.

Monarch was dead.

She shakes her head. “You couldn’t have known. I didn’t know either. I was there for another reason entirely.”

He wants to ask what that reason was, but now that she’s talking, he’s unwilling to interrupt.

“Discovering his identity was an accident. The miraculized robots were everywhere. They were tracking my active miraculous somehow. I had to detransform. He had me cornered. Thank god you sent Plagg. The tides shifted then! And I had him!”

Her face falls and she buries her eyes in her closed fists.

“I was so stupid! I thought I could convince him to give it up for Adrien.”

His throat tightens. It isn’t surprising that his father wouldn’t. But hearing her say it still somehow hurts.

Adrien had never been enough, not for his father.

He blinks furiously to fend off the unwanted tears.

“So why is there a statue of Monarch in the middle of Paris?” he croaks. “Why did you lie to Adrien?”

He doesn’t mean for it to be an accusation. He needs to know.

But she recoils violently. “It wasn’t a lie!”

He frowns. “But—“

Her face crumples and her body shakes like an earthquake. She breaks down into wracking sobs all over again. “I lost , Chaton. I trusted him. I wanted to be able to heal their relationship. He took all the miraculouses - including the Ladybug and the Black Cat. He made a wish.”

Adrien sucks in a breath.

“But something I said must have gotten through because he changed his wish. He didn’t wish for his wife to be revived. He joined her in death instead. Then all the miraculouses minus the butterfly were returned to me. Before he did it, he asked me to make sure Adrien remembered him fondly.”

Adrien tastes bile. Seriously? His father wanted Adrien to think well of him?

“So I only told Adrien the good parts. But I didn’t lie . Gabriel did sacrifice himself for his son’s happiness in the end. He did help me defeat Monarch.”

Adrien’s claws dig into his knee. His father may have said he did it for Adrien, but that’s what he always said. That’s what he said when he wouldn’t let Adrien have a birthday party, or go play music with his friends, what he said when he had forbidden Adrien from being with Marinette and when he had Adrien shipped off to London.

But none of it was ever actually for Adrien. It never was.

His father hadn’t needed to make a wish at all. He didn’t have to leave. If he wanted Adrien to be happy, he could have come back and done things differently. “But it’s a lie.”

She shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Doesn’t matter?!” he echoes hotly. “That’s what Gabriel did to his son all the time. Lied to him, made choices for him about what he was allowed to know and do, what Adrien was allowed to feel . He locked him up and sent him away from the people he loved most!”

His heart rises to his throat, his chest heaves up and down.

Ladybug stares at him, her eyes wide. “How do you know all that?”

He tries to meet her gaze, but he can’t do it. He feels exposed.

“And now you want Adrien to remember that man fondly?! Want him to think that his pain and frustration and anger are all something he imagined?!”

She cries harder. “But he deserves better than Gabriel,” she sobs.

Chat Noir took both her shoulders and squeezed them gently. “He deserves the truth. You need to tell him, M’lady.”

And he’s being ridiculous. He already knows, so what does it matter?

He just wants her to be the one to tell him.

“But how do I do that?” Her words are barely louder than the wind. Tears slipdown her face.

“He deserves to know,” he says again.

She leans back into Chat’s chest. “You’re right. I just— I wish he didn’t have to go through all this.”

“He won’t be alone.”

He has Marinette, Nino, and Plagg.

He has her .

…

Ladybug doesn’t show up that night. Or the next. Adrien spends each evening pacing back and forth in front of his stupidly large glass window. He purposely kept his evenings clear - sending Marinette home early and begging Nathalie to let him eat alone in his room.

He was trying to make it easier for Ladybug to approach him.

But still, she hasn’t come. He doesn’t understand it. What is she waiting for? Does she not trust him as Chat Noir? Does she think Adrien can’t handle the truth?

Adrien throws himself backwards onto his bed. Each day he proves more irritable than the last, prone to snapping at everyone around him — even Marinette, who’s the absolutely last person who deserves his ire.

Five excruciating days later, she stands before him, wringing her gloved hands and all the tension that had been building up inside him like water against a dam for days, releases.

She’s here. She’s going to tell him.

He smiles at her. “What can I do for you, Ladybug?” he asks.

She doesn’t meet his gaze. She’s so worked up, he almost feels bad that he pushed her into this. He could have just volunteered as Chat Noir to talk to Adrien himself.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

She laughs darkly, and looks at him. “You should not be asking me that. I just… I have some things that I need to tell you, things I should have told you before. C-can we sit down for this?”

“Of course!” he says, walking her to the couch. “Can I get you anything?”

“No, no! I’m fine,” she says. “You should sit too.”

He sits next to her. She’s vibrating in her seat. Her legs are bouncing, her hands are fidgeting, she looks at him only to look away immediately.

She bolts to her feet and starts pacing in front of him. His eyes follow her.

“So umm…” Her hands flail around her. “You know how I told the city that your father helped me defeat Monarch?” The words come out of her in a rush, like she’s afraid if she stops she won’t get them out.

“Yes?”

“Well, that wasn’t exactly true. Your father—” she looks at him now. “Well, he was Monarch.”

And there it is. The words are out. He almost wants to laugh. Instead, he lets out a heavy sigh.

“Are you okay?” she asks, kneeling down in front of him, and taking his hands.

He smiles again, and nods. “I… okay is not the word, but maybe? Thank you for telling me. It’s relieving in a way.”

“Relieving?” she repeats, her eyebrows arching in disbelief.

“Yeah, thinking of him as a hero after everything he had done to me… it didn’t feel right, but being angry with the person who helped Ladybug save all of Paris— well, that didn’t feel right either.”

“I— I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before.”

He squeezes her hand.

“Why are you letting the whole city believe he was a hero?” he asks. It’s still the one bit that doesn’t make sense.

She offers him a pained smile. “Because I didn’t want anyone to know you had any association with the villains.”

He frowns. “You don’t need to do—“

She shakes her head sharply, cutting him off. “There’s more to it than that. This next part, Adrien. I…” she bites her lower lip. “I haven’t told anyone. Not even my partner.”

Every muscle in his body locks up.

“This is too sensitive, too personal. I feel like I shouldn’t even know.”

Her hands tremble, and he shivers. What could be so awful that it was worth letting all of Paris believe Monarch was a hero?

Ladybug’s finger taps the rings on his left hand - and he glances down at his parents’ wedding rings.

“These aren’t ordinary rings. They’re amoks.”

“Amoks?” he repeats. “Like for a sentimonster?”

“Sentibeings,” she corrects. “These are your amoks.”

Did his father leave sentimonsters running around? Ones that Adrien is now responsible for? How awful was—

Ladybug watches him carefully. She’s biting her lip again, her eyes wide, clearly bracing herself for his reaction.

He missed the mark. The rings are suddenly all he can see. These are his amoks.

He hunches forward, his shoulders feeling like lead. He gasps for air that won’t fill his lungs. It feels like the ground has opened up underneath him and swallowed him whole.

Ladybug’s arms wrap around him, she cradles his head against her chest. She strokes his hair like he’s a small child needing to be soothed.

“I’m a… sentimonster.”

She shakes her head violently. “Senti- being. ”

He laughs, the sound hysterical and unbelieving even in his own ears.

“But yes, you were created with the peacock miraculous.”

He’s a sentimonster.

His whole life is stored in a pair of rings .

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know how to tell you this,” Ladybug says, tears slipping over her mask. “I wish you didn’t have to know.”

His eyes fly up to her face. Ladybug almost didn’t tell him. If Chat Noir hadn’t convinced her, would he have ever known?

Suddenly, he’s furious. “You weren’t going to tell me.”

“Adrien, I swear I returned the rings to you the second I understood what they were.”

“What if I had taken them off or given them away?!”

Then her words catch up to him.

“Wait. You didn’t give me these rings. It was… Marinette?”

Her eyes flood with tears. It’s confirmation enough.

He scuttles backward so fast the couch tips over. He shoves himself across the floor further, needing to be away from her.

“Adrien! Please!” she begs, reaching for him on her knees.

She’s Marinette.

He sobs brokenly, shaking his head. “I don’t understand! Why would you keep this from me?! I thought Ladybug, at least, had no idea what my father was like. But you? Marinette! You stood against him time and again. And now you cave to him?! To lie to me?!”

“I didn’t want to hurt you! I wanted you to be as happy as possible given everything that has happened.”

He caves in on himself - he cradles his neck, and buries his head between his knees, rocking back and forth.

“Adrien?” she asks, her hand hovering over his shoulder. He flinches from her, and she backs away.

“I’m sorry!” she cries.

“You know, when I read your text the first time, I felt relief . My father was Monarch. That sucked, but it also felt like a puzzle piece had snapped into place. Something that made sense .”

“What text?”

“Then you showed up to talk to me, and you fed me a completely different story! My father, a hero?“ he laughs bitterly.

“Adrien—“

“When I told you that you needed to tell me, I didn’t think it mattered because I already knew. I wanted to hear it from you.”

Her eyes blow open wide and her mouth falls open into a horrified “oh”.

“Chaton?” she asks, her voice cracking.

“If I hadn’t done that, would you have ever told me?”

Her cries only intensify and she doesn’t answer him, but for once, he’s unmoved by her tears. He can’t ever remember being so angry with her.

“You’re just like him.”

The look on her face is pure devastation. He can’t bring himself to care.

“I’m so sorry,” she sobs.

“Why didn’t you just use the rings?”

“What do you mean?” Her voice is so quiet he barely hears her.

“If you wanted me to be happy, couldn’t you have just ordered me to be happy?”

“Adrien! That’s horrible!”

“Is it?! How is it any different than what you did?! You told me lies to manipulate my feelings! Made me believe in something that you knew wasn’t true. The rings just would have made it easier.”

“I would never do that to you!”

“But you did!”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t understand! I never wanted to hurt you. I love you.”

“That just makes it worse.”

“Adrien, please.” She reaches for him again. And he pulls away.

“I can’t do this right now.”

She stares at him, her eyes glassy. “Adrien–”

“Just go!” he shouts.

And she does. And he’s not entirely certain that he wants her to come back.

…

She keeps calling him. She calls him so many times that first night he loses track. She leaves him messages almost every time. He listens to every single one the second it comes in.

She apologizes profusely again and again. She cries until her voice is sandpaper, and then she cries more. She understands why he’s angry and she knows what she did wrong.

He wants to forgive her. He does.

But he doesn’t know how.

Two days go by, and he still doesn’t take any of her calls. But he continues to listen to every message.

His phone rings again, but it’s Alya.

“Hey, what’s up?” he answers cautiously.

“How are you doing?” And it’s definitely Alya talking — not Marinette and he relaxes.

“That depends.”

“On?”

“Are you asking because you want to know, or because Marinette does?”

“I won’t tell Marinette anything if you don’t want me to, but whatever happened between the two of you, know that she has always loved you.”

He squeezes his eyes closed. He doesn’t even doubt that. But his parents had loved him too. He twists his amoks around his finger. That hadn’t stopped either of them from controlling and manipulating him.

“Sometimes love isn’t enough,” he says.

Alya’s silent for a moment. “You don’t really believe that, do you?” she asks softly.

“I didn’t used to,” he admits. “But now… now, I don’t know where I stand with anyone.”

“I can only imagine how hard it must be to process everything about your father.”

“Yeah, everything about my father,” he echoes dully. Alya doesn’t know even half of it—

“It’s so messed up,” she commiserates. “Especially given who you all turned out to be.”

Unless she already knows all of it. Because she’s Ladybug’s best friend!

“How long have you known?” he asks, trying to keep his tone even, but it probably just comes out cold.

“Known what?”

“That I’m Chat Noir, she’s Ladybug, and my father was fucking Monarch?!”

“Adrien, listen—“

Adrien’s tired of listening.

“—she had a total meltdown.”

“She told you before she told me, didn’t she?”

“Adrien–”

He’s shaking his head even though she can’t see him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I thought it should come from her! ”

“Did she also tell you I’m a sentimonster and she wasn’t going to tell me?!”

“A what?! Adrien!—“

He hangs up. He tries to take solace from the fact that Marinette hadn’t told Alya or Chat Noir about Adrien being a sentimonster. She had some lines she wouldn’t cross at least.

But it’s not enough. She hadn’t planned on telling him either.

He twists the rings on his finger. What if he had taken them off?

It’s the thought he can’t shake.

He calls Nino.

“Hey mec! What’s up?”

“Tell me you didn’t know.”

“Know what?”

“Did Marinette or Alya tell you about me?”

“Umm… I thought you already knew that Marinette liked you since you guys have been dating.”

And despite everything Adrien bursts out laughing. Nino definitely didn’t know anything.

“Dude! What is going on?”

“Can I come over?”

“Anytime, mec!” Nino exclaims enthusiastically! “You never have to ask.”

…

Adrien barely has time to knock before Nino whips the door open and yanks him inside and into a hug.

Adrien lets himself relax. Nino didn’t know anything. Nino never lied to him. If anything, Nino was stupidly forthcoming about his own secrets.

He can trust Nino.

Which gives him an idea. A terrible idea.

“Dude! How’ve you been holding up?”

Adrien shrugs. Before he can overthink it, he slips both of his amoks off his finger and presses them into Nino’s hands.

“Put these on,” he says.

Nino looks at the rings. “Are these wedding rings?” Nino asks.

“Technically, yes.”

“You proposing, mec? You could at least buy me dinner first.”

Adrien doesn’t laugh. “Just put them on. I want to try something. I’ll explain after.”

Nino slips the rings on without any hesitation. “Okay. Now what?”

Because Nino trusts him.

“Tell me to do something weird.”

“Weird like what?”

“I don’t know, something I wouldn’t normally do.”

Nino pulls out his phone and puts on a dance remix. “Alright dude. Dance like you’ve never danced before.”

Adrien throws himself into the moves, rolls with the music Nino’s music, he tells himself. It doesn’t feel like a compulsion. It feels like he wants to do it - almost like it’s his own idea. But he can’t stop either. And he wants to cry.

How many times had he tried to stand up to his father only to immediately fold once standing before him?

Even his maman! How many times had she sweet talked him into cooperating? She had always said he was an easy child. All he had ever wanted was to make them proud. Was any of it him?

Nino stops the music.

“Dude! You’re crying.”

He is, and yet, he’s still dancing. Another sob tears from his throat.

He’s not human. He’s a sentimonster, a puppet on strings, a plaything for his parents’ amusement.

“Stop it! What’s wrong?” Nino asks, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Adrien’s limbs still, and he falls to his knees, sobbing.

Nino is on the ground right next to him an instant later. “Talk to me, please.”

Adrien knows with that command, he can technically talk about anything, but he had come here to talk about one thing in particular.

“I’m a sentimonster,” he gasps. “I’ve been a sentimonster my whole life. Those,” he points to the rings on Nino’s pinky and ring finger, “are my amoks.”

Nino’s expression falls off his face. Then he tears the rings off his hands and slams them up against Adrien’s chest.

“Why would you ever give these to me?! Why would you give them to anyone?!”

“I just… wanted to know how they worked, what it felt like. I didn’t think you would use them if you knew.”

“Damn right, I wouldn’t!” Nino roared, his chest visibly heaving. “Please don’t put me in that position again!”

Adrien nods. “I’m sorry.”

“What the hell is going on? What do you mean you’re a sentimonster? They haven’t been around that long. Are you some kind of copy of my best friend?”

Adrien shakes his head. “I’m the original, one and only, Adrien Agreste. My father had the butterfly and the peacock since before I was born, and apparently for some reason —“ that Adrien hadn’t had time to even think about, let alone figure out. “—they raised a sentimonster instead of having a child using more natural methods.”

“Wait! Your father had the butterfly?! But that means—“

“He was Monarch,” Adrien says before Nino can.

“But Ladybug said—“

“Yeah well, Ladybug doesn’t have the best relationship with the truth,” he says bitterly. “She’s just like my father.”

Nino looks more shocked by that than anything else Adrien has said.

“What?” Adrien asks, unable to interpret Nino’s silence.

“Dude!” Nino exclaims like that explains everything. “You’ve always been Ladybug’s biggest fan!”

“That was before she tried to lie to me about my father! She wasn’t even going to tell me about being a sentimonster! She gave me back these rings without saying anything! What if I had lost one or taken them off? Or gave her one when I proposed?!”

“When you proposed?” Nino echoes. “To Ladybug?”

Adrien thunks his head against the wall. He hadn’t lasted twenty-four hours with her identity. She’s going to kill him.

“Can we pretend I didn’t say that?”

Nino’s head cocks to the side. “Marinette is Ladybug. Huh.”

“That doesn’t surprise you?”

“That’s definitely the least surprising thing you’ve said today. Not surprising at all really,” Nino says. “Okay, so we’re pissed at Maribug—“

“Cute.”

“—because she didn’t tell you about your father being an even worse dick than we already knew. And she didn’t tell you were a sentimonster. But then, how did you find out?”

“She told me.”

“But—“

Adrien sighs. He’s already screwed as it is. “She told me as Chat Noir.”

Nino is silent again. “You’re Chat Noir.”

“Yup.”

“And your dad was Monarch.”

“Unfortunately.”

“Mec! That’s so messed up.”

“Tell me about it.”

“So Maribug told Adrien the same thing she told the city?”

“Yeah, that he died a hero helping her defeat Monarch.”

“Gross,” Nino says. “Why would she want you to remember him with rose colored glasses?”

“I don’t know!”

“Do you think she killed him?”

Adrien freezes. The thought had never occurred to him because it’s incomprehensible. “No. There’s no way.”

“And she told Chat Noir - not knowing that she was talking to you - that you’re a sentimonster?”

“No, she only told Chat Noir that my father was Monarch.”

Nino hums.

“Just say it,” Adrien says.

“Well, I get that you’re pissed. I think I am too on your behalf. But I don’t think Marinette is anything like your father.”

“Go on.” Adrien wants to forgive her. He just needed a way to get there in his own head.

“The difference is Marinette did tell you.”

“She wasn’t going to. I had to talk her into it.”

Nino nods. “ Exactly. She wasn’t going to, and then you explained your perspective and she changed her mind. She recognized that she was wrong, that you were right and she did what Marinette always does. She tried to fix it. Your dad would have only doubled down.”

“Or tried to akumatize someone over it,” Adrien adds darkly.

“Dude! He’s akumatized like every single one of your friends.”

His father hadn't wanted him to have any friends. Had his father ever seen him as a real person?

“Nino, do you still care about me knowing that I’m not real?”

“What the fuck kinda question is that? One, yes! I care about you more than almost anyone on this planet. And two, you are most definitely real .”

Adrien’s crying again, but Nino quickly seizes him in a hug. Adrien buries himself in Nino’s solid embrace, and he knows he’s going to be okay even if he’s not there yet.

…

It’s been four days since he shouted at Marinette to get out of his room.

She’s still calling him, and he covets every message, as a sign that she loves him despite what he is, that she hasn’t given up on him, or on them. He listens to them the second they show up, though he still hasn’t been able to bring himself to respond, though he thinks he might be getting close. He did send a message through Alya that he just wants some space and he’ll let her know when he’s ready to talk.

Most of her messages are similar in nature. She apologizes over and over, tells him that she loves him, and that she’ll do anything to make it up to him. She just doesn’t know what that is.

He thought that he might feel vindicated or something hearing her so small and contrite, but he doesn’t. He feels awful because as much as he was hurt, he doesn’t want her to hurt either.

He loves her.

Then her last two messages were drastically different in content.

“I learned that you were a Senti from Felix.” Her voice is subdued, like she’s narrating from a script. “He and Kagami are both sentis as well. They asked Ladybug for help.”

Figured that Felix told Ladybug without even telling him .

“I’m not sure they want anyone to know that, but I guess… even if you—“ her voice cracks and his chest clenches at the pain in her voice. “—even if you can’t forgive me, I-I just wanted you to know you’re not alone.”

She’s openly sobbing now. “I love you.”

The message abruptly ends.

The second message that day comes in hours later.

“I got Kagami to bully Felix into letting me talk to Dusuu!” Her voice is so different from the previous call. She sounds excited. She sounds like Ladybug with an idea. “The original amoks didn’t have a mind control feature. That was something the Guardians added at the same time they added it to the miraculouses to be able to control the Kwamis. If they added it, there’s gotta be a way to take it away, right?”

“I have a plan to free you all from your amoks. But there’s a hiccup. We’ll need the butterfly so I can give you the power to see your spiritual connection to the ring so you can cataclysm only the part that can control you. I know it’s dangerous. And we don’t have to do it if you’re not comfortable, and we don’t have the butterfly right now anyway—“

Adrien smiles as Marinette rambles on. How had he never realized Ladybug and Marinette were the same? They think out loud in the exact same way.

Even though he asked for space, even though he wasn’t talking to her, even though she wasn’t certain they were going to remain a couple, she was still fighting for him.

He transforms immediately and lands just outside the bakery. He’s not sure if she’s even home, but he hopes that she is.

He takes the stairs two at a time. He hesitates before knocking. And before he can bridge the gap, the door flies open of its own accord.

Marinette drops her purse and stares at him. Her eyes are red and her usually neat pigtails are half falling out and completely uneven. She’s still in her pajamas though she had thrown a coat and a scarf over them.

She has never looked more beautiful.

He offers her a wobbly smile. “I’m sorry. You’re on your way out. I can— I can come back.” He starts to turn around.

She grabs his wrist. “No! Please don’t go.” Her voice is hoarse, and faint, like she’s afraid if she’s too loud he’ll bolt. “Wh-what do you wan— I mean, need? What do you need?”

He eyes her grip on his wrist, and she instantly lets go, and suddenly can’t meet his eyes.

“Can we talk?” he asks.

She nods. Her eyes are downcast, her shoulders are hunched in, and her arms are wrapped around her stomach. She’s been tearing herself up for all the days he didn’t speak to her.

“Hey,” he says softly. “Can you look at me?”

She does, but her eyes water immediately, and he yanks her into his arms.

“It’s going to be okay,” he assures.

She falls to pieces in his arms. He rocks her harder, kisses her hair, and continues to hold her.

“I’m so sorry,” she sobs.

“It’s… o—“ he cuts himself off before he can say it’s okay. Nino told him that was the one sentence he wasn’t allowed to say. “It’s going to be okay,” he says again.

She shakes her head. “No, I’m awful. I don’t know what I was thinking! You’re right to be so angry. You’re right to hate me!”

He laughs, and then cups either side of her face. Her blue eyes fill with tears and he aches for her. “M’lady, I could never ever hate you. I was hurt.”

“Of course you were!”

“And I needed some space.”

She nods against his hands.

“But I’ve been thinking, and Nino made me realize that I actually should be thanking you.”

“Thanking me?! For what?!”

“Because you told me.”

“But I wasn’t going to. Not until you convinced me to.”

“But then you did. You listened to me, and you trusted me as Chat Noir, and then you told me as Adrien. And I’m glad that I know now. I needed to know. No one else was ever going to tell me. And so, I’m really glad I have you, that you respected me enough to tell me this hard truth about my own life. My parents didn’t tell me. Nathalie never did, though she had to have known. And I don’t think she ever would have. Even Felix, and apparently Kagami, didn’t tell me though you think they’d get it better than anyone.”

“But I should have told you right away. I never should have lied.”

He shrugs. “Yeah, that’s true, but we all make mistakes. And when you realized you were wrong, you tried to fix it.” He held up his phone. “And you’re still trying to fix it. Even though it’s hard, even though I didn’t take it well. You still told me the truth when no one else did. And I just— I love you.”

He presses his forehead to hers. “Even when you make mistakes, even when you really piss me off, even when you’re not perfect, I love you. And I don’t think that will ever not be the case. Thank you for telling me, thank you for giving me some space to figure stuff out on my own, and if you’ll still have me, may I still be yours?”

“If I’ll still have you?” she repeats, aghast. “Shouldn’t it be if you’ll still have me?”

He shrugs again. “I’ve already said I still want to be your partner in every sense of the word, but I’ve had time to think about it while you were sending me message after message that you loved me. Even though I’m not even human.”

Her face contorts into pure rage. “Adrien Agreste! You are the most beautiful human being I have ever met in my life! You are kind. You give people second chances. You are persistent, and brave, and you have the dorkiest sense of humor. You drive me absolutely insane both with and without a mask, and I am so stupidly in love with you, I will absolutely still have you! And if you think—“

He cuts her off with a kiss. He’s going to spend the rest of his life with this girl if he has anything to say about it.

#miraculous ladybug #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #ladynoir #ladrien #identity reveal #they fight #alya and nino are MVPs #they make up #happily ever after #my own content #a miraculous reveal #angst with a happy ending #rings true

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rwsdarw · 3 months

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pretend this is a good caption

#miraculous lb #miraculous fanart #mlb #miraculous ladybug #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #adrien agreste #chat noir #gabriel agreste #I guess he’s there??#hawkmoth #I have parental problems obviously #does this make sense #very short comic #this abt the one episode where um #the one where they reveal identities and Adrien’s bald??#i cannot remember

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juulded · 10 months

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have some adrinette post reveal domestic doodles heehee

#miraculous ladybug #adrinette #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #mlb #post reveal #my mlb art!

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lea-panthera · 9 months

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Okay, so remember this scene from Darkblade?

...and everyone was like 'adriennnn your cat noir's showing'?

Pay a little attention to Marinette in that last frame there.

That's a perfect 'goddammit cat noir' pose if I've ever seen one.

#miraculous ladybug #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #marinette your ladybug is showing #season 1 #ladynoir #adrienette #ladynoir and adrienette are the same freaking thing #these idiots just don't realize it #season six you better give me a reveal

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anna-scribbles · 8 months

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in honor of 8 years of miraculous ladybug: text messages i sent my friends in 2016 when i first watched the show

#if you were my friend in 2016 im so sorry #the pre hawkmoth is gabriel reveal days. dark ages #ml #miraculous ladybug #anna rambles #happy birthday miraculous ladybug ur one of my longest most committed relationships

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saytr · 11 months

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They are so extra, and it is canon

(

#miraculous ladybug #doodle #miraculous fanart #doodles #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #mlb #chat noir #ladybug #ladynoir #love square #post reveal #dating #already

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bklily · 7 months

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Evil Ladrien because i wish i was in Adrien's shoes

#i gotta post this FAST before adrien's design is revealed #and starts a whole other brainrot #miraculous ladybug #ml spoilers #mlb #my art #adrien agreste #shadybug #ladrien #love square #ml paris special #ml paris special spoilers

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tumble-witch · 9 months

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@xhanisai I was snickering the whole time tysm

#miraculous ladybug #ladynoir #chat noir #ladybug #mlb fanart #post reveal #thats my art blog lol #i love your stuff btw!!!!!!!!#miraculous ladybug fanart #my art

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arikee · 9 months

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Why on earth was the miraculous movie that was 1hr 40 mins better than the series that was carefully curated over around 8yrs? Thomas Astruc should be ashamed that that movie made his series and god-forsaken season 5 finale look like dogwater from the animation, to the ACTUAL ROMANCE DEVELOPING ,the songs , and that ADRIEN AND GABRIEL IDENTITY REVEAL! Cannot wait for the inevitable sequel based on that little end bit, and *loved* the running gag of ending the film right before they kissed :)

#miraculous movie #mlb #mlb season 5 spoilers #miraculous ladybug #chat noir #gabriel agreste #identity reveal #thomas astruc #mlb awakening

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mossytrash · 10 months

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lazy post reveal doodles

#miraculous ladybug #my art #miraculous #art #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #miraculous fanart #ladybug #miraculous comic #miraculous spoilers #kagami tsuguri #felix fathom #ml ladybug #ladrien #ladynoir #post reveal #feligami

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kasienda · 11 months

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A Miraculous Reveal - Representation

Spoilers for Representation (5x24) Link to Ao3

...

Chat Noir swings wildly at the akuma who is his father. Adrien is almost glad Ladybug has yet to show up. He doesn’t have a plan, he almost doesn’t want to fix this one. It just feels good to lash out, to hurt this man and send him crashing to the ground, for every blow to make solid contact against the man who seems bent on stealing every good thing in his life.

As Chat Noir, he doesn’t have to listen to his father. He can resist, he can fight. He can cataclysm anything that stands in his way as many times as he needs to!

He can do all the things he can’t do as Adrien.

Why can’t he fight as Adrien?!

“I feel sorry for your son!”

“Don’t be. He’s very happy,” Nightormentor replies.

Adrien is thrown by the statement. Was his father referring to the fact that he’s in love with Marinette, or does he actually think Adrien is happy locked away in some tower with an arranged relationship not of his own choosing a five hundred kilometers away from the most important person in his life.

The akuma broke past his defenses, knocking the wind from his chest. He coughs as he inhales the sparkling dust of his father’s power. The magic settles around him, clinging to his eyes and throat. Reality dissolves around him.

Everything is silent like his ears are clogged with cotton. He turns frantically in every direction. Everything is destroyed. The moon split in half, every building a crumbled skeleton of what it once was. Human-sized statues made of ash surround him as far as his eyes can see.

He looks down, and Marinette is there in his arms, as black as his cataclysmic power. He jerks backwards and her form dissolves into ash and dust in his arms.

“What happened?!” he demands, trying to push back his rising panic. Where’s the akuma? There had to be an akuma somewhere to have caused all of this.

“The same thing that always happens when a child can’t control their anger.” It’s the same voice. The deep foreboding voice that Adrien can never block out, can never escape.

He did this? No!

“No! It’s not real!” he screams, clutching his head.

Next thing he knows, Kim’s hovering over him. “You okay, there buddy? Because we could really use your help right now.”

But Adrien isn’t sure how much help he can be. He’s never stood up to his father and won.

He doesn’t include this time as an exception even when Nightormentor’s staff dissolves under his cataclysm because it was The Resistance that defeated this akuma.

Not Chat Noir.

He flies to Marinette’s balcony as soon as it’s safe to do so, letting his transformation fall the moment almost the moment he lands. He’s not sure what he wants to say to her, but he needs to see her. Just once if not every day.

He’s about to knock on her skylight when the nightmare strikes a second time.

He clutches his head and falls onto his knees as the vision sweeps through him again.

“No,” he sobs. “It’s just a nightmare. It’s not real! I would never do this!” he insists.

Plagg purring at the crook of his neck brings him back to himself once again.

“Plagg! I don’t know what to do. I miss Marinette so much even though it hasn’t even been a day. But I can’t disobey him. And I’m also scared of putting her in danger. I could—“ he clutches his hand into a fist, imagining the power of cataclysm crackling at his fingertips. “—destroy everything.”

“Adrien, you've just come into your own as the holder of destruction!” Plagg says. “I know you will find a way to break free of your chains. All of them.”

Adrien shakes his head. How can he do that when he can’t even say the word no to his father, let alone actually defy his orders?

It all feels so impossible.

The trapdoor window to Marinette’s room opens.

He tenses, still uncertain what he wants to say. He shouldn’t have come here. As much as he wants to see her — needs to see her, he can’t protect her, he can’t explain how he’s there without putting her in danger.

She startles when she sees him, then approaches him slowly.

“Adrien?”

She’s wearing a flowing white dress with intricate pink flowered embroidery that he’s certain she hand-stitched herself. Her eyes are puffy, red, and underlined with dark streaks of mascara running down her cheeks.

It kills him that she’s been crying. He knows it’s his fault because he couldn’t say no to his father. It’s just another example of his weakness, of his selfishness that he wants her love anyway even though she deserves someone who can stand up for her.

In spite of himself, he reaches out for her. She takes his hand, and he pulls her against him, feeling shaky. He buries his head into her shoulder.

“Is it really you?” she asks.

“Who else would I be?” he asks absently.

“Felix.”

He tenses and pulls away, gripping her at the elbows tightly, searching her face for jest and finding none. “What did he do?”

She waves away his concern. “He led me on a wild goose chase through the city. But in the end he only told me a story.”

“A story?” he repeats, confused. “What story? Why?”

Marinette put a hand on his chest. “Adrien, take a breath.”

He does as she says, feeling some of the tension within him bleed out. It always does when he’s in her arms. An experience he’s had on precious few occasions. If only he realized his feelings for her sooner.

“I’m really happy to see you,” he whispers.

“Me too,” she says back, leaning her head onto his chest. “I feel like I’ve been looking for you all night. How are you here?”

He tenses all over again, unsure of how to answer that question. He knows what he wants to tell her. The truth, and all of it! But the vision of Marinette’s ashen form cradled in his arms flies through his head and he’s terrified.

It’s just a dream, a nightmare sent to him by an akuma. It wasn’t real. That wasn’t going to happen. He was careful. He would never hurt her.

He would never hurt her.

“Are you okay?” she asks when he doesn’t answer her question.

He shakes his head, tears falling down his face of their own volition.

She squeezes his hand. “Whatever it is, we’ll get through it together,” she promises.

And some part of him melts. She really believes that, but he can’t see any way to win.

Even Chat Noir couldn’t stand up to Nightormentor. Not on his own.

“My father wants me to stay in London. He wants to control every aspect of my life. And I tried for so long to earn his admiration and approval, but it’s impossible. And what has it ever gotten me? It’s never enough and I can’t do it anymore. I can’t.”

Her grip tightens around his hand. “Shhh, it’s okay.”

“But I can’t get away. It’s like, the second he’s in the room, I can’t… I can’t disobey him, Marinette. I don’t know why. I try, I think I’m going to, and then I just do what he wants anyway. I’m sorry that I’m so weak.”

Tears break past his battered defenses and he drops his head into his knees. He’s shaking so hard, but Marinette never lets go. If anything, she clings to him harder.

“Adrien, does he… does he have a ring that he always wears?”

He glances up, completely thrown by the random question. “Uh, yes. He has his and my mother’s wedding ring. Nathalie has been wearing the other. Why?”

“The story. The story Felix told me! He said that the two princesses gave birth to two boys who were as similar as their mothers. You and Felix. Felix – he was controlled by his father all his life through a ring, and he was only able to break free once his father died and he had the ring for himself. It sounds like it’s the same for you.”

Adrien blinks several times, his brain trying to understand what she’s saying.

Then the tears come back full strength, and he’s trembling like an earthquake.

“Adrien?”

But he’s crying in relief. He wasn’t weak and spineless. He was literally being controlled like a puppet on strings.

And then he was angry.

He looks up into Marinette’s concerned crystal blue eyes that seem to pierce straight through him. “I don’t understand. How?”

Her hands tighten around his and his clings to the lifeline that she’s providing. He fears that he’s weighing her down, that he can never give her everything she deserves, especially if he literally can’t go against his father.

“Felix said his mother and yours were infertile. They tried and tried to have babies, and they never could.”

Adrien stares at her. This was new information. Why had Felix told Marinette all of this? And not him?

“So your parents found and used the peacock miraculous–”

He hissed in a breath.

“--and their desire to have a child to create a pregnancy.”

“So I’m… I’m… some kind of sentimonster?”

She shakes her head violently. Her hands on either side of his face. “No, you are not a monster. You are the kindest, most beautiful person I have ever met.”

He held her hands and wrists against his face, needing to feel her holding him as his stomach dropped.

“But he can literally control me?”

She nods. “I think so. Felix asked me for help. He has his ring, and Kagami has hers.”

“Kagami too?” he whispers.

She nods again.

Kagami - forceful, ever confident, and never-hesitate-Kagami who he looked up to - could be controlled with a ring.

He could be controlled with a ring, snapped out of existence with the peacock miraculous.

No wonder Felix had been willing to trade all the other miraculouses for it.

He can’t breathe.

The vision of a shattered moon on a red sky, surrounded by destruction and decay flashes through his mind’s eye again. A new dark heavy presence stands behind him, controlling every movement, directing his miraculous powers against everything Chat Noir is supposed to protect, against everything that he loves.

The nightmare suddenly feels all too possible.

If his father ever learns his identity, he can make Adrien destroy anything his father disapproves of.

Like Marinette.

He scuttles backward from her, his back crashing against the railing of her balcony.

“Adrien! What’s wrong?” Marinette asks, standing over him like an avenging angel. She reaches out to hold him, but he holds a hand out and shakes his head. She stops, but tears are falling silently down her cheeks. Her dress is fluttering around her, and strands of her hair have fallen from her updo, framing her face. Her eyes are like shining lights in his darkness.

God, she’s so amazing, so strong.

And he can’t ever be what she deserves. Not when he isn’t his own person.

He buries his eyes under his fists. The rest of him crumples like tissue paper. She wraps around him like a warm blanket on the coldest of nights, and he lets himself fall into warmth and love. This might have to be the last time, so it will have to last him forever.

“I love you,” he says through his devastation. “So much.”

“I love you, too. Talk to me please.”

He untangles himself from her embrace and struggles to collect himself. It shouldn’t be that hard. He’s done it so many times before.

“Marinette,” he starts, slipping his miraculous from his finger with a broken sob. It feels like he’s tearing off a limb, but he would do anything for her. He opens her palm, places the ring in her grasp, and closes her fingers around it. “You have to take this from me, keep it safe so I can’t ever hurt anyone, so I can never hurt you.”

She looks down into her hand, her eyes frozen on the now-black ring in her hand. Her gaze darts up to his face, and then back down to the ring.

“You’re Chat Noir,” she breathes.

“I’m Chat Noir,” he confirms. “I was going to use it to come visit you, so we could stay together even if I was exiled to London. I figured I had to come back for akumas anyway, but… but if my father can literally control me, I can’t keep it. He could discover it, take it, and force me to betray Ladybug and everyone I love. I can’t go through that! Will you please keep it safe for me?.

“No!” she cries, trying to shove the ring back towards him. “You can’t give this up!” she insists. “You can’t!”

He caresses the side of her tear-streaked face, and smiles softly. “I need you to take this for me, Marinette. There’s no one I love or trust more than you.”

Her fist pounds on his chest. He grabs her arm and pulls her against him.

“Please?”

She shakes her head. “No, you don’t understand. I need you.”

“I’m sorry. I wish there was a way for us to be together, but if he ever found out–”

“He won’t!”

“Marinette, he could literally just order me to reveal all my secrets and it’d be done. He could order me to give him my miraculous. He can’t have it. Not ever.”

Her eyes well with tears. He kisses the top of her head.

“What about Ladybug?!” she demands.

“I think I’m only a liability to her right now. I’m a sentimonster. You’ll–”

“You’re not a monster!” Her voice is shrill.

He smiles again, feeling strangely at peace. “You’ll be an amazing partner to Ladybug in my stead.”

“No! I can’t take this from you. It’s yours! It’s your freedom! And I can’t be Ladybug’s partner anyway.”

“Of course you can!” he reassures. “I remember Multimouse. You had every miraculous in the box. You were amazing! You could use any of them.”

She shakes her head, tears pouring from her eyes.

“Marinette,” he begs. “Please!”

“I can’t be Ladybug’s partner,” she says again, her voice suddenly clear and firm. She looks up at him, and he can’t breathe at the depth in her swirling blue eyes. “She needs you. I need you.”

His mind is swirling, on the precipice of something grand, he knows it, but he can’t grasp onto it.

“Tikki, spots on,” she whispers. And in a sparkling wave of pink light, Marinette is gone, transformed and it’s his partner sitting before him with tears in her eyes. “Please Chaton,” she begs. “I have told you over and over, I can’t do this without you. You are irreplaceable. You are perfect. I will never ever abandon you. Please, please don’t abandon me.”

He can’t move, he can’t speak.

She takes up his hand, and holds up the ring, but she pauses her eyes on his, waiting for his permission.

“I don’t want to be turned against you,” he says weakly.

“Whatever he makes you do,” she snarls, “you will never actually be against me. You will fight him, I will fight for you. And neither of us will rest until you are free, truly and completely free. Please, please be my partner again.”

And he is already in love with her. He fell for Ladybug a long time ago, the day they met for a moment almost exactly like this one. He fell for Marinette more recently, slowly after another thousand instances of her standing her ground again and again.

But in this moment, looking at her with determination and love shining from every pore, he falls in love with her all over again.

She can’t conceive of a battle that she can’t win no matter how much the deck is stacked against her. And really, he can’t conceive of a battle she can’t win either. Chat Noir has always had the front row seat to watching her come out on top again and again through creative genius, persistence, and a fierce determination to protect everyone she loves.

Her cause is right, and her sense of justice is stronger than her doubt, and her love is stronger than her fear.

And so he can’t deny her. With his lips stretched into a watery smile, he nods his permission.

She slips the ring back onto his finger and it feels like coming home after being lost in a blizzard.

Their arms are around each other in an instant, and he knows that as long as he has her, as long as she cares and believes in him, he will always fight anyone and everyone that stands against them.

Even his father.

And with her by his side, how can they ever lose?

#miraculous ladybug #love square #give me a canon reveal damnit!#ml spoilers #ml representation spoilers #identity reveal #sentiadrien #my own content #angst #happy ending #theyre in love your honor #They're going to fight gabriel together #They are!#I've decided #And they're going to win!#Because power of love is so strong #power of love #a miraculous reveal #miraculous ladybug fan fiction

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mostmagical · 4 months

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was in desperate need of some serotonin today, so here's some quick post-reveal bed-sharing

Words: 1K+ Summary:

Marinette wakes up to a bump in the night. It’s her boyfriend (and not in the way you’d think).

Thump.

The sound tore Marinette from her sleep. She shot straight up in bed, frantically scanning the area for danger. With a start, she realized she wasn’t in her room. Memories were returning slowly as she recalled deciding with Adrien to spend the night at his for once, both too tired after the long day to trek the extra few blocks to hers.

She gasped— Adrien. Her hand patted down the area to her immediate left, seeking his warmth where she was used to finding it. A steady rhythm from her heart beat against her rib cage as she turned to see his side of the bed empty.

“Oof,” a soft sigh breathed from the floor.

Marinette was leaning over the edge in a flash, finding her boyfriend rubbing his eyes as he slowly sat up.

“Adrien!” she gasped. “What happened? What are you doing?”

His eyes flickered to hers, bright even in the dark, and he chuckled. “I think” —his hand moved to massage his side, low by his hip— “it was a well-timed kick to my side.”

Her heart dropped in her chest. “What?”

He laughed again, pulling himself back onto the bed and taking her into his arms. “What kind of dream were you having, Buginette?” he asked. “Must have been pretty intense.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” she said, pushing against his chest so she could continue looking into his face. Mirth danced through his green eyes. “Are you implying that I kicked you out of the bed?” she asked disbelievingly. “Why are you so calm about it?”

“Oh. It’s not the first time.”

“What?”

Adrien shrugged. “Well, usually, when we’re at your place, I just kinda end up pushed against the wall? The loft has that nice built-in baby gate, lucky for me. This is the first time I’ve actually fallen out.”

Her jaw dropped open. This was mortifying information to receive in the middle of the night. “Adrien,” she said sternly, taking his shoulders in her hands and staring intensely into his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me I kick you every night?”

“It’s not every night,” he replied dismissively. She gave him a look. “Okay, it is most nights, but still! Not every night!”

“I don’t care how often it is!” She shook his shoulders, his body pliantly rocking back and forth with her movements. “Why wouldn’t you tell me so I can stop? I must be ruining your sleep!”

“I don’t mind.” He smiled, the picture of innocence. “I think it’s cute.”

Marinette wanted to growl, but she knew it wouldn’t be nearly as intimidating as she wanted it to with the red she could feel all over her face. She groaned, dragging her hands down her cheeks until the skin stretched. “What’s wrong with you?”

Again, Adrien gathered her in his arms, this time with Marinette accepting the embrace. She curled up against his chest as she felt him press a delicate kiss to the crown of her head. “It’s an honor to be your punching bag,” he joked.

“Adrien,” she groaned, thunking her head against his shoulder, “shut up.”

“Sorry.”

“Wait, no, that makes me feel worse,” she hastened to say. “I need to apologize to you! I’m sorry.”

He chuckled again, his warm breath tickling her forehead as it passed through her hair. “Like I said, I really, really don’t mind.”

“Why don’t you mind?” She pouted, tilting her head up to look at him. “Doesn’t it wake you up?”

“Sometimes, yeah, but–” He sighed as he seemed to look for the right words. His mouth tilted in a half-smile. “I like knowing you’re still there with me.”

All the embarrassment drained out of her as she noticed his tone change. “Do you think I would go somewhere?”

“Technically, no,” he answered honestly, “but sometimes… in the back of my mind…”

She frowned. “You get anxious.”

He took in a breath. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Marinette wrapped her arms around his midsection, pressing her face into his worn cotton t-shirt. He smelled of citrus and the fresh linen scent of her Maman’s favorite laundry detergent, making her smile. He smelled of home.

“I’d never leave you, Adrien,” she murmured.

“I know.”

“Especially not in the middle of the night.”

He laughed. “I know.” His arms tightened around her as he laid their bodies back down against the pillows. “We’re a package deal. A bonded pair.”

“Exactly,” she huffed. Leaning up on one arm, she poked him in the chest. “But you really should have told me I was kicking you in my sleep. I feel like a jerk.”

“A cute jerk.”

“Stop calling it cute!”

He waggled his eyebrows as he grinned at her. “It’s not my fault that everything you do is cute.”

She growled frustratedly. She wanted to be angry, but instead she pressed a kiss on the tip of his nose. “You’re so annoying.”

“Annoying and cute?”

Rolling her eyes, she leaned back onto his chest. “Yes,” she huffed.

Adrien laughed again, the sound reverberating in her eardrum. She loved the quiet moments like this where she could hear everything— his laugh, his breaths, his heart beating in his chest. The arm wrapped around his middle tugged him closer, and in response he squeezed her tighter against him.

“Seriously,” she mumbled, “wake me up next time. I don’t want to kick you out of bed.”

“It’s really not a big deal,” he whispered back. She opened her mouth in protest, but he spoke again before she could, “Sometimes it’s just a little nudge. Like this:” His foot connected with her shin under the blankets, gently pushing against her with featherlight pressure.

“Oh.”

“See? Nothing.”

“But–”

“And the kicking,” he interrupted, knowing exactly what she was going to say, as always, “I don’t mind, because I can always tell when you’re having a dream. And I like knowing that.” His thumb was brushing over the exposed skin on her shoulder, lulling her back towards sleep.

Against the siren song, she shook her head. “Still, if you ever want to wake me up– even just to talk, I want you to wake me up,” she whispered.

“Now, I know that’s sleep-Marinette talking.”

She would have rolled her eyes if she thought he could see it. “Ha ha,” she said sarcastically. “I mean it. I’d gladly lose a couple hours’ sleep for you.” She turned her head to press a kiss to his chest, right over his heart. “Especially knowing you would for me.”

“I would. Anytime.”

“I know.”

“Okay,” he mumbled into her hair, his lips brushing her scalp, “I’ll try not to let you attack me inexorably again.” She heard him breathe deeply, his chest expanding beneath her head.

“You’re lucky I’m so tired right now, kitty cat,” she mumbled, her eyes sliding shut.

“Yeah, I really am. I love you."

"Love you too..." she managed before sleep pulled her back in, warm in Adrien’s arms.

#‘nicole didn’t you write post reveal cuddles earlier this year?’ YES. AND I’LL DO IT AGAIN #ml fanfic #adrinette #adrienette #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #love square #ml #my writing #actually probably one of my favorite things i’ve ever written if i’m honest

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