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crowbarstodd · 5 years

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I Wouldn’t Hate A Romance With You (oneshot)

Thank you to the 130+ people who’ve followed me these last three or so weeks. And for all the appreciation so many of you have shown my pieces, especially Course Of Nature. This isn’t the most fluffy of fluffs, but I enjoyed writing it and it’s in Damian’s POV mostly!

Work Summary: Sometimes all you need to do is turn into a baby for all the unshared feelings to come out Word Count: 3,808 Rating: G Pairing: DAMINETTE

She hadn’t let go of his shirt since he picked her up half an hour, and at this point, he’s convinced she’ll keep it in her clutches until it eventually melts into her flesh and becomes one with her. Still, he’d gladly let her keep it as long is it kept her from crying. Again.

It was his fault, and Damian knew it, but he certainly wasn’t looking forward to explaining it all to Grayson. He considered keeping it--her a secret, but when she started teething on his sleeves, drooling freely all over his designer jacket, he knew he needed help. If he were honest he was desperate enough to accept assistance from anyone. Except Drake. (Todd wasn’t exactly an exciting candidate either, but Damian knew well enough that he was lacking in options.

Damian was lucky (or unlucky?) enough that the first bat he encountered was not one of his brothers.

Brown jumped back as soon as she saw the toddler in his arms, staring at him with wide eyes, mouth agape. “What is that?”

Damian cleared his throat. She was hardly the worst person to encounter, but asking for her help… Every moment he’d called her ‘Fatgirl’ in the past seemed to jeer at his current self. All the hot wind he’d blown so cooly about being superior to her (which, he really was), and all the criticisms he’d hashed out. His pride was about to suffer. “It’s Ladybug.”

Silence followed his admission, heavy and awkward and made him feel like he was breathing in hot fog.

Her brows furrowed, and he could see the gears shifting in her head. “Ladybug, as in the teen hero Ladybug? The one who’s definitely not…” She paused to examine the child carefully, pinching its cheeks with a small coo. Marinette didn’t seem to like it, blubbering hotly in response. “The one who’s not two, or-- or three? The one who’s--”

“I don’t need you to tell me who Ladybug is, Brown (“no names on the field!), I know exactly who she is. She was hit by some sort of de-aging ray. We apprehended the villain, but I’ve yet to locate a cure.”

“How long have you been looking?”

“Approximately thirty minutes.”

Brown smirked, tugging on the ends of her purple Batgirl cape, clearly delighted by his misfortune. “Half an hour? And you haven’t phoned a friend for help? Daddy bats isn’t gonna be happy, huh?”

Damian wrinkled his nose, readjusting his grip on Marinette as she mumbled by his ear. “For your information, Father is in Brazil.”

“I was talking about Nightwing, Robin.”

Damian humphed.

Marinette began to wriggle in his grasp, pushing against his arms in an attempt to be set down. His grip on her tightened. There was no way he’d be letting a toddler out on Gotham’s roofs, especially not Marinette.

His struggle seemed to elicit some pity from the blonde Batgirl, as she pat his arm warmly. “Take her to my apartment, Rob, I’ll get Cass (“no names on the field.”) and we’ll look for a cure or something. If you’re lucky Signal or Bluebird might swing over and you can beg them to give you a hand.”

“We were at an alley in Grand Avenue. Across Dell’s Diner,” he told her. She repeated it under her breath, eyes focused as she tried to remember the place. When her blue eyes lit up, he knew he could trust her. He’d have to anyway. There was no way he could keep following empty trails with Marinette squirming in his hold.

Damian nodded his head in thanks, but it didn’t seem to be enough for Stephanie who swiped at his nose with her pointer finger. “What’s the magic words, Robin?”

He looked away from her, eyes sweeping across the dark clouds that kissed the rooftops of Gotham. “Thank you.”

She pat his head, an action he normally would have thrown a fit over, and leaped off the building, grappling across the city.

Damian turned down to look at Marinette who’s large, round eyes were focused on his face. “Tami!” She squealed.

He rolled his eyes at her, though his look was considerably softened by the pure joy in her face. “Say it with a ‘D,’ Marinette. Dami-an.” He cursed himself internally at having almost forgotten the second half of his own name because of the baby in his arms. He wasn’t going to start giving himself nicknames just because she couldn’t speak well currently.

His mother raised him to improve himself, hardly ever making an easy route for him. He grew up strong. He would do the same with Marinette for however long she was young. (Not because he wanted her to grow up strong too, he insisted to the voice in his head that said so. It was because he couldn’t handle weakness. Nothing more to it.)

“Tami!”

He huffed out a breath and swung to Brown’s apartment.

It was cleaner than he expected, barer too, but Brown’s bed had enough pillows to make it a safe place for him to put down Marinette. His left arm was a little sore from having to bear her weight for such a long time, but he didn’t have the energy to massage it, slumping down beside the crawling toddler.

Young Marinette seemed to love food as much as her older self, but wasn’t quite yet able to discern what was and wasn’t edible. As soon as he’d placed her down she’d grabbed a pillow and promptly shoved it in her mouth, chewing at it lightly.

“Take that out of your mouth at once!” He ordered, glaring at the child who did nothing to heed his words, simply blinking her bluebell eyes at him innocently. “Take it out!”

When she failed to move, he yanked it from her, setting it back down at the edge of the bed. Satisfied, he moved to sit back down only to notice her watering eyes and trembling lips. She was about to cry again.

“Please stop.”

“Waaahhhh!”

Damian groaned, walking past the toddler and to the fridge. Surely Brown had something kid-safe enough to feed the little cretin. Maybe if she had something in her mouth she’d be quiet.

Brown’s fridge was full of packaged easy-make food and a sad bunch of bananas that he suspected a friend (surely not Drake as he lived on coffee alone) bought for her.

He took the bananas out, silently wondering why she refrigerated them (had Brown never seen Bananas before? Didn’t she know they were fine in the pantry or on the table? Had Pennyworth not bothered to teach her?), borrowing a spoon from a kitchen drawer, mashing the fruit dutifully.

Marinette stopped crying as soon as she saw the spoon and bowl, eyes stuck on it, as if hypnotised. She opened her mouth before he even asked, letting him feed her without complaint. “Sorry,” he said, wiping the sides of her mouth, “you must have been hungry. Still, that pillow is for resting, not food. Understand?”

Marinette nodded her head well and truly ashamed, and Damian returned to feeding her. Young Marinette was a lot more reserved than her older self. While Ladybug’s company was sometimes appreciated, more often than not their argumentative natures would spark feuds that lasted for weeks. This young Marinette, with chubby cheeks and a tiny mouth intent only on eating, would probably not be fighting with him every other day or so.

“It’s not very heroic of me to ask this, but you wouldn’t mind staying this way for a while longer would you? Your older self gives me headaches.”

“Ouch. Heataches hurt.”

“Are ‘D’s’ that hard to say?”

“T?”

Damian snorted, swirling the silver spoon around the bland, yellow mash. “Sure, T.”

She ate the rest of the meal in relative silence, and by the time she was finished, Damian was starting to feel a little too comfortable talking to a toddler.

“We were really good friends once, you know?”

Interested, young Marinette crawled forward, placing her hands on his folded knees. “Who?”

“Your older self,” he said, not clarifying when she looked at him with bewilderment. “We were pretty good friends. I thought telling her I was Robin would let us be closer, I’d know she was Ladybug for a while by then. I suppose saving lives is divisive work because it drove us apart in the end. Too many disagreements.”

Young Marinette raised her brows, sucking on the banana remnants on the spoon. “You look sat?”

Damian breathed in heavily, forcing a small smile on his face, forgetting any ideas about harshness and strength. This child would grow to be someone important to him. His mother helped him to grow up strong, but for the time he had Marinette as a child, he would help her grow up loved. “I think I miss her.”

Young Marinette yawned, effectively shattering the strange melancholy mood that had settled. Children were lucky that they couldn’t read the room yet. Ignorance was bliss, he supposed. “I guess I must be boring enough to put you to sleep,” he commented, nudging her to the center of the bed as she surrendered to the comfort of a full stomach and a lulling voice. Her older self was certainly the type to hurt herself rolling out of bed, and he’d hate for young Marinette to fall off and hurt herself.

“Take all the sleep you need,” he told her, and she seemed keen on listening to him for once. “Your older self barely sleeps these days, I think she’s competing with Drake on who can stay awake the longest. Sometimes I wish I could force her to go to bed.”

“An unstructured sleep-schedule isn’t conducive to her night job,” he added as if he needed to convince himself that his concern wasn’t completely selfless. Because it wasn’t. Ladybug was known to work with Robin, and really it’d reflect badly on him if she were to fall asleep on duty or something equally ridiculous.

He brushed the short strands of navy hair away from the toddler’s face, capturing the moment in his mind. He had no excuse for that one.

He didn’t like her, truly. She was argumentative and reckless, almost irrational at times with the most bizarre leaps in logic that made the most convoluted of plans (how they worked, he had no clue. It must have been a miracle of sorts.) And she was always angry, and passionate, and kind.

There was a part of him that disliked her. Resentment that grew from disbelief and fear at how easy she made it for him to trust her. To appreciate her judgment and her presence. To feel guilty each time they argued.

Damian wasn’t exactly sure what kind of person he was, but he would never call himself kind. Not when a word like that far better described the likes of Grayson, or Cain, or Thomas.

Without his notice, his legs had unfurled, and his position had switched from sitting to lying beside the sleeping child.

He let his eyes flutter shut.

His first thought when he woke up the next morning was that someone had forgotten to close the blinds. Light streamed through the curtains, illuminating his closed lids a faint orange-toned gray as the early morning sun rose. His arm around Marinette hadn’t moved at all last night, so he was sure she hadn’t slipped off Brown’s bed, only he noticed that the expanse of his palm no longer covered most of her back.

His eyes snapped open the same time as hers, and the two jumped away from each other, alarmed and just a little confused. Marinette had reverted back sometime during the night, and without his notice either. She didn’t look too surprised to be in Brown’s apartment, so she must spend an awful lot of time there.

That, or she remembered her time as a child. Based on the way her eyes scanned the room, stopping at the banana bowl, he guessed the latter was correct.

“Well this is awkward,” she said, scratching the back of her head. Her arms seemed to stumble for something to do, finally resting on the bed-sheets and blanket. She was folding it rather meticulously he noticed. She must be pretty stressed.

“Do you remember anything?” He asked, a mix of curious and concerned.

She let out a stilted laugh that was breathy in quality. “Uh yeah actually. I um. Iremembereverything!”

As if saying it quickly would stop him from understanding. Damian had long since grown fluent in Marinette speak, and any stuttering or mumbling or weirdly voiced exclamations she let out, he was sure he would understand.

That didn’t bode so well for him.

Nerves hit him fast and hard like a speeding train had rammed straight in his chest. “Oh?” His stomach numbed and hurt at once, and he wondered if it was an appropriate time to stop the conversation to vomit.

“Yeah, um. I didn’t get what you were saying at the time, but I do remember it. I guess I get it now.”

As it always did for him, panic turned into shame that boiled into a hot fury, and he had to hold his breath to stop himself from erupting like a volcano. “Whatever you’re remembering is probably wrong. I hardly doubt your brain is capable of forming a coherent thought as an adolescent anyway, let alone an infant.”

“I miss you too Damian.”

The magma of his wounded pride dissipated into steam. He didn’t have the confidence to say anything in response, or look her in the eye, so he simply folded his arms and looked to the side with a huff.

He had heard her walk closer, but he hadn’t expected her to place a hand on his chin, forcing him to look straight at her. “I said I miss you too Damian.”

Her thin arms wound their way around him, and he melted a little at her touch. “Are you going to hug me back?” Her voice was muffled by his crumpled, drool-stained jacket, but he understood her well enough. Gladly, he complied, holding her in a welcome embrace.

It didn’t last long, he wasn’t the most comfortable with touch and she knew it.

“You don’t really act like you miss me.” He was being childish and he knew it, but he wanted to know why. Why she acted like she was always mad at him, and why they never talked anymore unless they were fighting.

She laughed, surprising him. “I miss you. I guess I just get frustrated with you because I have all these expectations. In a way I guess I was mad at myself.”

He turned his head slightly to look at her. Examining the twitches of her lips and the small dimple that formed on her left cheek each time she grinned. “Mad at you for being so bad at taking care of yourself (he grunted at that one, hardly believing that little miss never-sleeps was saying that to him), and mad at myself for not being able to squash my feelings for you. It’s easier to push you away than get too attached and hurt myself. I guess I get mad at you because you can be real annyoing, but you already know that.”

“Feelings?” Damian questioned. His heart picked up in pace, going from a canter to a gallop and he was sure that if she said something akin to loathing he wouldn’t be able to handle the second train that would undoubtedly plummet him after.

Marinette let out a burst of full-bellied laughter. The tinkling bells tickled his ears, and though he usually liked making her laugh until she snorted, he didn’t exactly enjoy being laughed at. “Damian for someone so perceptive you’re so dense.” She held his face in her hands, letting go of the blanket completely so that she could have his full attention.

“I’m only going to say this once, okay?”

He did his best to nod without displacing her touch. Her soft fingers left tingling sensations on his skin that had his cheeks burning and his lungs constricting.

“Damian, I like you.”

“I like you too.”

She shook her head, letting go of his cheeks to finish setting Brown’s bed. He couldn’t help the disappointment that shot through him when her warm touch left, leaving cool wind in its place. “I mean that I like you romantically.”

Oh. Romantically. It was a little gruesome, but recently any fantasies of his future involved his own dead body crushed at a tragically young age. With the kind of lifestyle he lead, it couldn’t be helped. He hadn’t even considered romance, so absorbed in being Robin and fighting for justice that it seemed like such an irrelevant concept.

Only now Marinette wanted romance, and he was sure he felt something for her, but he wasn’t the romantic type. He was the type to yell at people when they beat him at Cheese Viking, and to push Todd off a rood when he was being irritating. He couldn’t romance.

“Relax, Damian. I can see you panicking--”

“You’re not even looking at me--”

“I can feel you panicking. I didn’t tell you that because I expected a response. I just wanted to get it off my chest so that maybe we could be friends again. We really don’t need to be anything more.”

The words slipped from his mouth before he could overthink and regret them. “What if I want to be more?”

Marinette turned away from the bed, the pillow she was fluffing slipped from her fingers as she turned to stare at Damian, completely shocked. “Seriously?”

Damian had no answer to that, feeling just as shocked as Marinette looked. “Well, I wouldn’t hate a romance with you.” Which was true, he really wouldn’t. As uncomfortable as it might make him in the beginning, he was sure he would enjoy her company.

Marinette’s face fell, and Damian had an inkling he said something completely wrong.

“Thanks, Damian, but uh. I don’t really think that’s a qualifier for wanting something more. I mean I wouldn’t hate a romance with Tim, but--”

Damian’s back straightened stiff. “Drake? You have feelings for Drake?” Suddenly, the thought of offing his older brother looked far more appealing than it did on normal days.

“No!” Marinette protested face screwed to look aghast. “I don’t have feelings for Tim. Nothing other than general appreciation I guess.”

Damian fumed. He appreciated Marinette completely, how she smiled, and how she thought on her feet, and here she was saying she liked him romantically but admitting she appreciated Drake too?

“So you like me and Drake.”

“I just said I don’t like Tim, Damian.”

“Well clearly you do, you just said you appreciate him.”

“In a general sense!” Marinette pursed her lips, wiping the sides of her face with her hands until they cupped her cheeks. They looked so nice Damian almost wanted to place his hands atop hers. “Damian, what do you think I mean when I say I appreciate Tim?”

Damian considered the question but tapped his foot impatiently. Now she wanted to rub it in his face or something. Maybe he should have pursued the romance with her after all. “Well I appreciate you,” he said. “So I recognise your worth wholly. Your mind, body, personality, and wellbeing are all incredibly valuable to me. Surely you know the meaning of appreciate?”

Marinette was glowing in a way he hadn’t seen her do before. If he was from further away he would have confused her for a star. “Why are you smiling at me like that?”

“Damian you’re so stupid.”

“I resent that.”

“So you don’t hate the idea of a romance with me right?”

He nodded his head in confirmation, unsure of where she was leading their conversation.

“Would you say you like it?”

Would he? Well, they were probably going to have a tragic romance, one worse than Grayson and Gordon. Not like Grayson and Kory though, he’d never in his life be lured by infidelity, especially not when there wasn’t a person who could compete with Marinette. But besides the tragic ending, he might like spending the extra time with her. “I suppose,” he said. With more thought, he figured he might still enjoy it even with the tragic ending. Time with her was better than none at all.

“Well do you like the idea of me kissing you?”

Her lips were parted, inviting. Kissing was a romantic thing, and he’d learned enough from Grayson to know that it was really important to people. And if she wanted to do something like that with him then… “I wouldn’t mind.”

Her lips were as supple as they looked, pressing gently against his own. It was chaste and hardly heavy-handed enough to leave any taste of her on his lips, but the sensation lingered and filled him with a warmth he never knew.

Oh. So this was what she meant when she called him stupid. There was no denying it now, that the pain in his stomach was undoubtedly those wretched butterflies Grayson had warned him about, and he really did like her. A lot.

“What if I want more?” He repeated, this time quieter, gentler, and surer.

Marinette looked him in the eyes, searching for any uncertainty. “Are you sure?”

“Well, I suppose I’d need another kiss to make up my mind.”

Marinette shoved him back by the shoulders, passing by him to wash the banana bowl in the sink. “This is what I meant when I said you were annoying!” She sang. There was no sting to her words, and even from behind, Damian could spot her bright red ears.

In his pocket, his phone buzzed.

6:29am Brown: Hope ur awake. LB reverted back in the middle of the night, no cure necessary. Slept at Cas’ cos u looked tired.

6:30am Brown: Hey maybe u can confess or smth

6:30am Brown: Confess u like her i mean

6:30am Brown: Wait cass said u didnt know how u felt yet so ignore the last text lol

6:31am Me: A bit late.

“What do you want for breakfast?” Marinette asked, rifling through Brown’s drawers.

Damian took her hand in his, entwining their fingers. A trill rushed through him at the action, and he did his best to keep his cool, barely noticing how flustered Marinette had gotten too.

“Brown doesn’t exactly have a choice selection. The pancake mix wouldn’t be awful, however.”

They spent the rest of the morning squabbling as they usually did, though the usual heat was absent, and Damian thought that if the rest of his life was spent this way, well, he didn’t hate the idea of it.

End Notes: The ending was sort of abrupt but honestly I would’ve just never stopped if I didn’t wrap it up. I’m not the best at fluff, but I wrote it for all you guys!

100 isn’t exactly a big milestone, and I’m not the most popular, and certainly not the best MLxDC writer, but I’m just really happy that that many people have found something to enjoy with my writing. <3 <3

#daminette #daminette fluff #maridami #robinette #maribat #mlb crossover #mlb au #ml x dc #miraculous ladybug x dc #miraculous ladybug x batman #marinette x damian #marinette dupain cheng x damian wayne #ml au #ml crossover #fluff #fic

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tired-college-student-writing · 4 years

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Beautiful Versions of Brokenness pt. 2

Summary: Marinette is different. There was no denying it, but none would have guessed that the true reason was soul deep

Continuation of Prompt: If you're into Black Butler, maybe something with that and Miraculous ladybug? Or Black Butler with Demon Bim? I just think you'd do a good job with the Black Butler characters.

Part 1

____________________________________________

Chat Noir reluctantly left so that Ladybug and Sebastian, shortly after, promised to meet up on the next patrol night so that they could properly discuss their unlikely reunion.

Instead of going home, Marinette leads them to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Parisians are used to seeing their heroine and a black figure at the top of the tower, no one would think twice if she arrived there. Sebastian follows as he always did.

“This isn’t my first life after Ciel then,” She hummed, once she arrived, deciding to deal with the first question on her mind.

“No,” Sebastian agreed, as her timer slowly beeped towards its end, “This is my 37th time meeting you since your contract was created. The 21st time you’ve awoken your Phantomhive memories.”

Her eyebrows rose, “it’s only been 130 years since Ciel died, how have I been reborn 37 times?”

The demon all but scoffed, “Really mistress? All these years with beings of heaven and hell toying with your life and you still believe we are playing by earthly rules?”

Marinette just glared, “You’re telling me Hell lacks linear time then? When I die, my soul just flies to any time period it pleases and becomes whichever child it can find?”

“Precisely,” Sebastian smirks, “There have only been a few rules your soul seems to follow, your eyes remain virtually unchanged, still the strikingly blue and purple hues they have been since our contract was sealed, your hair an inky black and your memories return within a year of the age you took your earldom, thirteen, or not at all. Other than that this is the eighteenth time you’ve taken a female form, fifth where you’ve been of mixed races, tenth of being Asian descent, you’ve been of African descent six times, middle eastern eight, Native American three times. You’ve been of peasantry or slavery six times, on three different continents. Though being enslaved has triggered your memories flawlessly every time and allowed for you to rise in the ranks of society with grace. Sixteen times you’ve been of noble birth in multiple different royal families across the globe. It’s been an adventure each time

“What about Lizzie?” She finally asked,” She never sold her soul, and yet Chat Noir is clearly my fiancé.”

Sebastian frowned, “To be quite honest, she’s never appeared before, or at the very least never awoken. Human souls are not supposed to be reincarnated so quickly, even by heaven’s terms we should not have run into Miss Elizabeth before the 30th century and I’ve never heard of the average reincarnation remembering their memories as vividly as Chat Noir did.”

“Who would know?”

The grimace was fleeting on the demon’s face but Marinette knew what he was getting at.

“The Grim Reapers,” She groaned, “Grell hanging around anywhere?”

“What makes you so certain that pest is still working off their debt?” Sebastian countered

Marinette glared, “Because I’ve seen a shockingly familiar red figure watching the Akuma battles before, but only the ones that might have high casualty counts if we had lost. Plus you’re always aggravated whenever I came back from those types of battles and she was the only one that I know that gets under your skin that badly. If she wasn’t so… open about her desires I would have loved to see her around more.”

The demon sighed, “Observant as always my lady. Grell Sutcliff, William T. Spears, and Ronald Knox have all been given special assignments to follow your reincarnated soul around as they are used to our unique brand of chaos. They are given time off when your soul is inactive, and this works counts as double time for their repayment… containing the destruction left in your wake.”

Marinette hummed, as her time finally wore out a Tikki appeared next to her.

“Sebastian,” Tikki greeted, cooly, drawing a wicked grin on the young girl’s face.

“Miss. Tikki,” He offered with his polite butler smile, the one Marinette knew meant he wasn’t happy, “A pleasure as always.”

“Oh, you’ve met then?” Marinette laughed with twisted glee “I haven’t seen you look so constipated since we had to do those Phoenix poses!”

She could practically hear the teeth grinding behind his forced smile, “I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about Mistress, I think the reincarnation process has scrambled your mind.”

She hummed, cheeky grin not falling as she passed Tikki her emergency cookie, “Either way, we need to plan. Obviously, we can’t play the butler and Earl roles as we once did so we must figure out new roles that we can play, and create a fake hero identity for you if you plan on continuing to help out during Akuma battles.”

The smirk he gave showed off far too many teeth, but instead of unnerving her, it filled her with a sense of comfort, “Allow me to handle everything, mistress. What kind of demon would I be if I couldn’t manage a simple cover story and superhero outfit.”

________________________________________

Marinette awoke the next day to find it starting off horribly. Not only had she overslept without the ever-present tapping on her balcony door Sebastian normally did whenever she slept through her alarm, but as she was rushing she tore her blue contact, only to find it was the last one she had in stock, her new order not set to arrive until later in the week. She decided to give the demon a pass just this once since he most likely was still coming up with proper identification and dwellings for him to stay at now that she required him to be more than just a bird.

Looking in her closet she paused at her normal outfits, plink blossoms, pink jeans, and ballet flats. It just… felt wrong with her new memories of the Earl rattling around her head. She wasn’t unhappy being a woman in this life, still feeling as comfortable as ever in her own skin, but the overly modern and feminine dress just didn’t sit right with Ciel’s memories so fresh in her mind.

Instead, she pulled out a peter pan collared button-down shirt with the collar and large buttons navy against the cream of the rest of the shirt, a forest green western tie clasped in the front. She also pulled on a pair of straight-legged green pants and a navy blazer adding a tan pair of thick heeled ankle boots. For her final touch, she deep parted her hair, pinning it over her right eye and pulling it back into a bun securing a cream ribbon in a bow around the base of the bun once she was finished. Satisfied she grabbed her bag and took off at a run, bidding her parents goodbye as she attempted to make it class before the bell rang.

She arrived seconds late and found the room reorganized, seats had been moved and the open seat on her normal side of the room was right up next to Adrien. Well, she had to admit her previous actions around him had been overboard in retrospect, and while he was still cute but with Lizzie back in the picture it seemed almost like cheating on her old fianceé.

“Good morning, Adrian,” She greeted, choosing to stand in front of the desk instead of sitting down yet.

The blonde turned to her and perked up, “Marinette! I’m loving the new look, very Victorian esque”

“Thank you!” She laughed, “I felt like a change, You look great too!”

She could feel the eyebrows around the room go up as she smiled gently at the boy, but it was a good change of pace for him, his usual sneakers, jeans, and T-shirt had been swapped out for shiny dark brown dress shoes, a fitted pair of emerald green pants, with a crisp dark blue shirt tucked in. When he turned she could see a silver lace embroidery cutting a wavy path from his left shoulder to his right hip shimmer. He even wore a simple silver ear cuff to finish off the look.

“I picked it myself,” He preened under the positive attention, “Father usually is so strict about what I wear in public but he said I did well with this one!”

“Well, I have to agree,” She hummed, “You should experiment more often, I’d love to give you critiques now that we’re desk partners.”

“Girl what?” Alya finally interrupted, “That’s not your seat, you’re sitting in the back now.”

She could stop her smile from falling into a stony blank look as she turned around, “Excuse me? Who made that call?”

“Well,” Nino piped up with a slight weariness at her look, “She’s got hearing issues so we had to put her upfront, to make it work Ivan sat next to Mylène, Nate sat next to Alix, and she came up with the idea of moving me up here, so I could spend more time with my girlfriend.”

Marinette raised a brow making the majority of the room fidget, “Who exactly is she?”

Before any of them could answer Ms. Bustier opened the door and started her normal classroom announcements, “Good morning, students. I'm sure you've all heard by now, but Lila's home from her trip to Achu and she's back in school with us again.”

The Italian girl all, but bounced into the room to greet everyone, receiving a warm answer back as Marinette’s mouth thinned.

The fox paid her little mind as she pretended to gasp in surprise at the empty seat next to Adrian and started gushing, “Oh, a seat in the front row! You all remembered my hearing issue! You're such sweethearts, all of you!”

Marinette tilted her head, “I didn’t realize you had a hearing issue, Lila.”

Green eyes flashed towards her as she painted on a self-conscious smile, “Oh Yes, I suffer from tinnitus, a constant ringing in my left ear. I've had it ever since the sound of an airplane engine burst my eardrum on the runaway when I was saving Jagged Stone's lost kitten,”

“Really?” Marinette questioned with a raised brow, “Well I am sorry to hear that, but I would like to know why your disability is ranking above my own.”

Lila froze as Bustier paled eyes widening with realization. The room grew silent before Kim slapped the desk, “Oh my god, we forgot Marinette can’t see!”

She laughed, shaking her head, “I’m not blind Kim,”

He waved her off, “You know what I mean.”

Nino groaned, slinking down, “You aren’t even wearing your contacts today!”

“I ripped one this morning,” She sighed in explanation, “My replacements aren’t coming until Wednesday. So I really can’t sit in the back of the room even if I wanted to.”

Alya’s face scrunched, “I’m missing something,”

Marinette stared up at her unblinkingly, “I have a severe vision problem that causes me issues with depth perception and distance, especially if I’m not wearing my contacts. As noted by my doctor I need to be sitting within the first two rows of the classroom, and to have a seat partner is willing to give me notes that I may have missed if my vision acts up. It has been on file since I was six years old.”

“Ivan and I can move to the back,” Mylene offered quickly, “I’m sorry for forgetting Marinette!”

She offered a soft smile, “It really is no issue, as long as it gets sorted. While I must admit I believe the origin of Lila’s disability is fabricated, I am sympathetic to her for having said disability, but I refuse to not have my accommodations met just for someone else’s to be met.”

“Fabricated!” Lila gasped tears welling in her eyes, “How mean! You don’t like me, do you! You’re trying to make me look bad and have a hard time due to my disability!”

The ice that entered Marinette’s eye before she turned to the Italian girl sent a shiver down the class's spine, causing Chloe to shrink back and Adrian to sit up stick straight. Marinette felt an odd calm fall over her as the Phantomhive came out to play.

“You claim that you received hearing damage from being too close to an airplane because you ran onto an active runway to save Jagged Stone’s kitten from a jet preparing to take off,” Marinette repeated slowly, “ Not only does Jagged Stone despise cats, but he’s despised them since he was a child after one attacked and killed his parakeet, Juniper. This is an easy fact to look up as he’s mentioned it several times in multiple interviews. The pet he currently owns and has owned for almost twenty years now, is Fang, a freshwater crocodile that Jagged hatched himself. No one is stupid enough to forget the animal they heroically saved from a vehicle that’s accelerating an average of 32 meters per second squared, wasn’t even a mammal when I know that Fang weighs almost 200kg.”

Lila tried to break in but Marinette just straightened her back, and crossed her leg at the knee before continuing, “Furthermore, no airport in this day and age would allow for a teenage girl to make it to the runways where a plane was taking off without being tackled by security, nor do I believe that your mother, a diplomat, would be moronic enough to allow you to be placed in that much danger. If it did happen there would no doubt be multiple stories run by the media about it, internationally so since Jagged Stone is such a big name and you are the daughter of a diplomat, this would not be the first we would be hearing it.”

Marinette grimaced as she moved onto the next point, not even paying mind to the sputtering Lila was doing, “Based on these facts I’m going to assume the claims that he wrote a personal song for you that have been bouncing around are also false as if they’re not it does not paint a good picture that a famous man in his forties is writing and dedicating songs for you, a young teen fan. If these accusations were true, I'd be forced to believe that Jagged Stone is a hebephile or at the very least grooming you.”

Marinette simply crossed her arms as the room grew deathly silent, “Lastly, nothing suggests that sitting closer to the front of the room helps tinnitus, as the persistent ringing would not change and make little difference in a room this small. Most students with tinnitus require the student being given the option to move to a quieter location if the condition is triggered during class, groups the student is working with being given the option to move to a different area in case group work gets too loud during group activities and being placed near a low-level sound, such a small fan, computer, a heating element, or an open window, as complete silence can irritate the issue. I did enough research when helping Aurora fight for proper accommodations made in her own classroom on the subject to know that much. Or as by the way you are dressed and the fact you claim to have spent the last few months traveling the world, your family clearly has money so buying one of the many options of hearing aid out that that has been developed to assist and almost eliminate tinnitus would be overly easy. They sell them for around 270€, fairly cheap for accommodation products, and if your family truly took you on trips across the globe then you can’t convince me they don’t love you enough to shell out a few hundred euros to make your life easier. So tell me again why I’m making a big deal about making sure my own disability is taken care of?”

Lila sputtered, before bursting into tears, “I was too embarrassed to tell you the real reason! I didn’t want you guys to think less of me for taking a break with Prince Ali to go see a concert, I didn’t mean to get so close to the amps but… the hearing loss is so new I’m still adjusting”

Marinette glared at her, “Save the tears. Lies are pathetic tools to use and earn you no lasting loyalty, and to accuse someone of being ableist for questioning the origin of your disability, not even the disability itself is vile. Not a single person in this room would have been upset at you if you told the truth instead of tried to force the issue of fake heroics.”

She sniffled, “I’m sorry Marinette, I didn’t mean to make accusations about you or your character. I’m still on edge from the whole situation…”

Marinette let her glare drop and gave a cool, “It’s forgiven this time, now can we please figure out the seating situation?”

“Well,” the teacher stepped in, “Since Adrian agreed to be Lila’s tutor to help her catch up-”

“Actually, Miss Bustier,” Adrian raised his hand sheepishly, “I was going to bring it up with you later in private, but I really don’t think I’d be a good option to tutor Lila given how full and sporadic my schedule is already, I really would hate for her to fall enough further behind.”

“Oh crap,” Alix swore, “We didn’t even think of that when Lila suggested you!”

Adrian just gave a slight shrug, eyes not looking up from his desk, “It’s okay, I do want to help out the class as much as possible, I feel bad never being able to help out with anything after school.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Kim brushed off, “We get your dad is really on you about everything, we’ll just have to find stuff you can do in class instead!”

“Maybe,” Mylene squirmed a little in her seat as everyone turned to face her, “I mean just a suggestion… but maybe Adrian could be Marinette’s seat partner and help her take notes. You rarely miss actual class time for your activities and this way you’re helping out without committing to any extra time that your dad might not let you come for.”

Bustier clapped, a blinding smile on her face, completely missing how Lila’s face had twisted into an angry mask, “Excellent idea! Let’s all find new seats again, Marinette and Adrian stick together in the first two rows, Lila why don’t you sit on the left side of the classroom by the windows to see if that helps your tinnitus for now. I’ll call your mother in for a proper evaluation over the next few days and we’ll find a proper course to deal with your disability. If someone would like to volunteer to be Lila’s primary tutor please take the seat next to her. Everyone else please fill in!”

Slowly the room began shifting once again. Adrien and Marinette simply switched seats to allow her to better see the room as Alya, Nino, Chloe, Sabrina, Rose, Juleka, and Nathaniel stayed in their same seats. Ivan and Mylene did move to the back row together as Max broke away from Kim to sit in the second row next to where Lila ended up and Alix slid across the aisle to take his old spot.

Alya was still looking at Marinette as if she had three heads, “Girl, what on earth was that? You’re like sunshine personified, but you just tore Lila apart like she was tissue paper.”

Nino huffed a slight laugh, “Keep forgetting you’ve only been in the class for a year, babe. You’ve never seen a Marinette takedown before.”

Marinette smiled, “Do not lie and do not do anything that might have permanent consequences. If they can not follow those two simple objectives in my presence then I will gladly set them straight. Lila not only lied but accused me of being a bigot, I will not tolerate slander.”

“Well I think it was badass,” Adrian commented, causing her to smirk wickedly.

“Thank you. It’s always nice to know my skills are appreciated.”

“Oh do you need any notes from the last few days,” Adrian asked suddenly, sliding his notebook between them as the lesson started.

She gazed down idly, “Not that I can think of but thank-”

Marinette had to keep her eyes from bulging as her words faded off, because in the middle of the page, squished between two facts about the Roman empire stood a simple sentence in perfect English.

I didn’t think I would see you until tonight, Ciel.

“How on earth were we this blind,” Marinette mumbled in English, earning a laugh from his once betrothed.

“Excuse me?”

The pairs heads snap towards the door as a worryingly familiar voice sounds through the room.

There in the doorway was a tall teen with shaggy raven hair as he sheepishly held out a paper towards the teacher, “Are you, Miss. Bustier? There seemed to be a mix up with my transfer papers. Mr. Damocles told me just to head down and you should have all of my forms by tomorrow, but he didn’t want to prevent me from starting today as planned.”

“Oh I hadn’t realized I was getting a new student today,” She apologized, taking the paper and skimming it briefly before turning to the room, “Class it looks like we’re getting another new face today! I want you all to welcome him with open arms! This is-”

He was shorter, a little lankier and with a rounder face then they typically saw him, looking every bit the fourteen year old he was in no doubt playing, but there was no doubt who it was.

“Sebastian,” The demon introduced, mirth dancing in those burgundy depths as he grinned up at the reincarnated duo, “Sebastian Michaelis. I look forward to joining your class.”

___________________________________

Tag List: @lividdreams9

#miraculous ladybug #black butler #kuroshitsuji #marinette dupain cheng #sebastian michaelis #Adrian agreste #miraculous class #lila rossi is the worst #lila rossi #lila rossi takedown #reincarnated au

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irisandlily · 4 years

Text

Marichat Drabbles: Fluffvember 2019 2/30

I know Fluffvember is over BUT IM STILL COMMITTING TO WRITING MARICHAT FLUFFVEMBER EVEN IF IT KILLS ME

Prompt 19: “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”/ “I’m so glad I met you.”

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug

Pairing: Marichat, Chat Noir/Marinette

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings/Tags: No Archive Warnings Apply

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21602170/chapters/53761939 (marichat... nice 👌) part 1 is here >> https://irisandlily.tumblr.com/post/189365279345/marichat-drabbles-fluffvember-2019-130

To say Ladybug was a little annoyed at an Akuma happening at 12 am was an understatement.

“Nice of you to drop in Ladybug.” Chat Noir greeted her, looking mildly irritated as he stared at the akumatized villain. Ladybug did her best to push the confession to the back of her mind so she could focus on the villain at hand. Thankfully as Ladybug she had the mask, which helped her stay (somewhat) in professional mode.

“It’s 12 am, doesn't Hawkmoth ever sleep?”

“He’s probably a shut-in with too much time on his hands.”

“Let’s end this quickly then.”

…

Thirty minutes passed and they were no closer to defeating the Akumatized villain who had been dubbed the Golfer (because… that was exactly what he was) was hitting exploding golf balls at them. Chat Noir hadn’t used his Cataclysm since it would have caused more damage than necessary.

They had been able to contain the exploding golf balls to the cathedral area and not any civilian homes, but dammit if she had to tackle Alya out of the way one more time.

What was her best friend doing out at this time anyway?! At least the other Parisians that were out at this hour had the decency and smart thinking to stay a safe distance away from the fighting as they recorded videos and/or took pictures. Honestly, what was Alya thinking?!

She summoned her Lucky Charm, and a red and black polka-dotted umbrella landed in her hands. She was struggling to figure out how the umbrella could help, as she was beginning to get dangerously close to transforming back to Marinette, and running on four hours of sleep her brain just wasn’t working properly.

“Any plan yet?” Chat Noir asked as she hid behind a tree.

“I’m working on it.” she peeked her head out and ducked back as a golf ball came flying towards her. Chat Noir jumped in the way, swinging his baton like a bat, hitting the golf ball into the air as it exploded.

That’s when it struck her.

“Chat you’re a genius!”

“I try to be.”

“Can you draw his attention away from me?” with a nod of his head, he led the attacks away from her. She readied the umbrella in her hands.

It was time for a direct approach.

“Hey!” the Golfer turned around just in time to see Ladybug running at him, umbrella in hand, swinging it to hit him right on the head with full force, effortlessly knocking out the Golfer.

Perhaps it had to do with the stress from school and being class president, or how heavy the duties and expectations of being a fulltime superhero weighed on her shoulders. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep. Or the fact that Chat Noir had been about to confess his feelings for Marinette but had been interrupted by an akuma (the fifth one this week) that she decided to just get straight to the point and beat up the akumatized man with an umbrella.

She picked up the golf club and broke it in half on her knee, the little Akuma flying out. She grabbed it with her yo-yo and purified it.

“Miraculous Ladybug!” she threw the umbrella into the air and the damage was fixed.

“Nice hit L.B.” he grinned, holding his fist out. She returned his smile, a bit more tired, as they fist-bumped with their usual phrase.

“Ladybug! Chat Noir!” Alya ran over to them, and that’s when Ladybug noticed the girl was still in her pajamas. “Can I get a quick interview for the Ladyblog?” Ladybug was about to point out it was one in the morning when her earrings started beeping.

“Chat, can you make sure Alya here gets home safely?” she aimed her yo-yo at a nearby rooftop.

“Will do L.B.”

“And maybe Chat Noir can give you an interview.” she grinned, “Bug out!”

Marinette raced home as fast as she could, lungs heaving as she crashed through the trap door and onto the bed just as her transformation dropped.

She really hoped the noise didn’t wake her parents.

“Okay. I have maybe ten minutes until Chat gets here to process everything,” she muttered, mainly to herself. “Since Alya stopped him for a quick interview… and since Ladybug forced him to take her home…” she grabbed her pillow and screamed into it, the screams muffled.

“Marinette?”

“Tikki what do I do?! He confessed to me!”

“I thought you’d be happy about that?” Marinette sat cross-legged on the bed, hugging her pillow as Tikki sat before her. “You like Chat Noir don’t you?”

“Yes but- there are complications!”

“Do you mean Adrien?” she… actually hadn’t thought about Adrien being one of the many complications that were running through her brain.

“I-... I don’t know Tikki.” she groaned into her pillow, “I-I do still like Adrien but Chat Noir-...” Adrien was friendly and had an incredibly kind heart, albeit shy and reserved sometimes. Understanding and gentle.

Chat Noir was a bit different. He was cocky and a showoff, and he was a flirt. He cracked terrible puns and jokes and was reckless. But he was also incredibly brave and kind.

Chat Noir was her best friend and partner, someone she trusted with her life.

“Why is love so complicated Tikki?”

“Because love is a wonderful thing.” the kwami put a hand on her cheek, “You’re an amazing person Marinette. Whatever your choice, whoever you choose, everything will be fine between you two.”

“I’m so lucky to have you Tikki.” she kissed the kwami with a smile. “Thank you.” she climbed down from her bed and went over to her desk, grabbing her jar of cookies and handing one to Tikki, the kwami munching on it immediately.

A knock sounded from her trapdoor, and Tikki devoured the cookie in one gulp before hiding away.

Be cool Marinette. She told herself as she climbed back onto her bed. He’s only just confessing to you after fifty times…

But those had been to Ladybug. This one was to Marinette.

“Chat Noir.”

“Sorry I took so long. I was doing a short interview for the Ladyblog.” he smiled, holding a hand out to her, helping her up onto her balcony. “I didn’t get to finish what I was saying earlier.” Marinette noticed his hands were shaking,

“Breathe Chat.” he tensed as she placed a hand against his cheek, but soon relaxed, leaning into her hand.

“Marinette- You’re one of the most incredible people I’ve ever met,” he told her, reaching behind himself and holding out a red rose to her. She took it delicately, admiring the flower before she looked back to him. “I love you.” despite knowing what he was going to say, Marinette still blushed, her cheeks furiously red.

“I- I love you too Chat,” she admitted after a moment, letting the words sink in. The words felt right, and Chat Noir’s fixed stare, his eyes wide but sparkling as his once anxious expression turned into one of joy.

“You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that.” he kissed her forehead before letting his head fall to her shoulder as he pulled her into a hug. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“What about becoming a superhero?” she joked.

“Second best thing.” he grinned, lifting his head to look at her, his expression full of love, brimming with happiness. “I’m so glad I met you Marinette.”

“Me too Chat.”

#fluffvember 2019 #prompt 19 #marichat #marinette x chat noir #chat noir x marinette #miraculous ladybug #miraculous: tales of ladybug and chat noir #mlb #lily's writing

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violetwolfraven · 6 years

Text

Confusion

(I based this sort of on the Twin AU by @edorazzi)

Felix was confused lately. And it wasn’t because Adrien kept acting more and more like a cat.

Well, actually, it was partly because of that. Why his brother scratched the bedpost and chased small, moving objects was beyond him.

But mostly... he was confused about love. Matters of the heart were annoying.

He knew he definitely still had a big thing for Ladybug. That was no question. She was... an amazing woman. She was brave, strong, and fiercely kind in her own way.

Also, he needed her kiss to remove his curse, so... there was that.

Felix had always been sure where his heart belonged. And it was with Ladybug.

But lately...

Bridgette Cheng had stalked him for most of freshmen year. She had a crush on him and was extremely creepy about it. Truthfully, Felix had done some truly crazy things to avoid her.

But all that had stopped about mid-April, when Felix had finally snapped. Finally exploded at her and told her to leave. him. alone. She had seemed hurt, but she had mostly backed off after that. They hadn’t been able to avoid each other completely, of course, considering the fact that Bridgette’s cousin, Marinette, hung out with Adrien a lot, and Adrien often dragged Felix along when they did things together.

Then there was the fact that they were in the same class. Sometimes they didn’t have an option but to work together.

But now that Felix didnt constantly have to see Bridgette hovering on the edge of his vision, he was starting to see the less-annoying parts of her.

Like the way she would always make sure she was the last one into the panic room when an akuma attacked; always staying calm and taking a head count. Making sure everyone was safe.

Or the way she was strangely good at gym class, despite her size. At about five-foot-three, Bridgette was easily in the shortest three in the class, but it never seemed to bother her as she would give someone a sweet smile before chucking a dodgeball at their head. And she never missed.

Or the way she always stood up to Chloe Bourgeois when the mean girl would bully Marinette, or one of her friends. (Felix harbored a deep hatred for Chloe, himself, and did everything in his power to keep his twin brother far away from her.) And Bridgette could have been satisfied with giving Chloe a warning, or even a punch, but she always took the time to make sure the victim was okay. That they didn’t take anything Chloe said to heart.

Now and again, he’d still catch Bridgette’s eyes on him in class, but she’d gotten better about it and usually squeaked an apology when he caught her.

And when she did, he’d taken to telling her, “It’s alright, Brig.”

Nobody else called her Brig. Not even Marinette, or Allegra. Felix wasn’t quite sure when or even why he had started calling her that.

But it felt special between them, like maybe Bridgette was becoming less of an annoyance, and more of a friend.

Maybe even... maybe even more than a friend.

As such, Felix was definitely confused.

...

“Hey, Felix,” Adrien shocked him out of his thoughts.

“Yes?” Felix asked.

“You’re smiling. You okay?”

Felix glared at his brother, “Can’t I just smile?”

“Yeah, but you never smile,” Adrien pointed out, “What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing,” Felix insisted, “You’re clearly imagining things, Adrien.”

But he looked over to where Bridgette was playing jump-rope with her friends.

At this early in the morning, Felix was surprised she was awake enough to play that game. (although he knew she was probably hyped up on at least six coffees) Bridgette’s cheeks were pink, suggesting she’d been jumping for a long time. As Adrien and he got closer to the group, they could hear that they were all counting out loud to see when Bridgette would mess up.

“121, 122, 123...”

Bridgette panted, but was smirking as she stared down a tall boy at the front of the crowd. Kim, if Felix remembered correctly.

“124, 125, 126...”

“Quit worrying,” Felix heard a short, pink-haired girl named Alix mutter to Kim, “She’s already tired. No way she can keep it up long enough to beat your record.

“127, 128, 129...”

On 130, Bridgette spotted Felix in the crowd, and when her cheeks flushed a bit more, he doubted it had anything to do with the physical effort she was exerting.

Unfortunately, seeing him distracted her, and the next time the jumprope swung, Bridgette missed her jump, tripping over it and going flying to the ground.

Felix quickly pushed to the front of the crowd.

“Are you alright, Brig?” He asked.

Bridgette nodded, “I’m okay.”

But Felix saw the blood welling up against scrapes on her hands and knees, which she was trying to hide.

“You’re not okay,” Felix corrected, helping her stand, “I suggest you go to the health room.”

Bridgette looked up at him, seeming surprised that he even cared, or maybe that he was touching her. Felix wouldn’t deny that he didn’t let anyone touch him voluntarily, besides Adrien. But here he was, touching Bridgette first.

Felix was subconsciously aware of how close he actually was standing to her. So close that he could tell that Bridgette smelled as good as the bakery that she lived in.

And her bright blue eyes looking up at him... wow.

Felix let go of Bridgette’s arm quickly, stepping away, “Go to the health room, Brig. I’ll see you in class later.”

Bridgette nodded, her cheeks still flushed, “Um, okay. Yeah.”

As she walked away, Felix ignored how Adrien kept shooting him smirks. Adrien knew just as well as he did the meaning of his actions.

But Felix smiled to himself. He was definitely a little more than just confused.

#miraculous ladybug #original miraculous ladybug #twin au #bridgette cheng #felix agreste #ladybug #chat noir #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #felix x bridgette

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quicksilversquared · 6 years

Text

How to Fake a Marriage Ch. 22

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

(AO3) (FF.net)

Adrien was looking forward to a quiet evening of leftovers, cuddling with his girlfriend, and maybe a movie as he came home from work on Tuesday. It had been a long day- the brothers that had fought the previous day were still being frosty towards each other, and it made the entire workplace not quite as welcoming as usual- and Adrien was just glad it was over.

He stepped into his apartment and was greeted by the sight of his table draped in a gorgeous scarlet tablecloth and set for two, a vase of roses in the middle and candles set on either side of the flowers. A lovely smell came from the kitchen.

Adrien stepped inside, eyes wide. The light in the living room was dimmed slightly, and it gave the entire setting a romantic feel. A movement caught his eye, and Adrien turned in time to see Tikki flitting around, lighting small candles set around the tidied room.

Okay, a really romantic feel. Smiling, Adrien shut the door fully behind him. Tikki finally noticed him and abandoned her candle-lighting job to fly over. "Adrien! Marinette is next door, getting changed. She'll be back over soon."

"This is- wow," Adrien said, glancing around the room. He stepped towards the kitchen, curious. There were some delicious scents floating out, and he wanted to know what Marinette had made. There was definitely something sweet and chocolate-y, but he couldn't place exactly what it was or what else Marinette might have made for dinner- for their date, because there was no denying that that was what this was. "Marinette is amazing. I can't wait to see what she made-"

"But you will wait!" Tikki insisted, flying in front of Adrien and pushing at his chest. "Marinette said that you aren't allowed to look yet. Go clean up and then wait until she comes back!"

Adrien went.

"Ugh, now I'm going to have to put up with your soppiness all evening," Plagg complained as Adrien stripped out of his work clothes and started digging through his closet in search of clothes that would be suitable for a date, since that was apparently what Marinette was planning. "All that kissing and cuddling and ew."

"Can I just send you over to Mari's apartment with some cheese?" Adrien asked as he picked out a green button-up that complimented his eyes. "You could just stay over there overnight."

"And then get forgotten in the morning and have to starve all day? No thanks!"

Adrien could only sigh.

It didn't take long to put on a clean pair of black slacks and a fresh button-up and to slip on a pair of dressy shoes, and then Adrien spent several minutes in front of the mirror in the bathroom making sure that his hair looked good. As he finished, he could hear the front door open and close again, followed by the sound of Marinette's voice as she talked to Tikki.

Grinning, Adrien headed out to meet his girlfriend. He didn't get far before he caught sight of her and promptly stopped dead in his tracks, jaw dropping to the floor.

Marinette giggled.

"You can't just spring a dress like that on me with no warning, my Lady," Adrien managed once he picked his jaw off of the floor. "Wow."

"I've been saving it," Marinette admitted. "I found it in my closet over Christmas last year and just had to bring it back, even if I didn't know where I would wear it." She shrugged sheepishly, smiling at him. "Now just seemed the perfect time."

Adrien wasn't entirely certain that his heart had restarted. He was still a bit stuck on the way that Marinette's scarlet dress clung to her like a glove. And the skin- oh, the skin...

He was 97% percent positive that Marinette was trying to kill him. That certainty inched up to 100%- no, 130%- when Marinette turned around to lead the way into the living room.

How she had achieved that body-hugging fit with a back that low, Adrien had no clue. But he wasn't about to complain.

Adrien eagerly followed Marinette into the living room. All of the candles were lit now, bathing the room in a soft glow. As he glanced around, Adrien noticed that there were rose petals scattered around as well.

"I wanted to go really romantic," Marinette explained, twining her arm through his. "So I thought of the time you set up all of those candles and rose petals on the balcony, and I tried to do the same. Are you ready for dinner?"

Adrien nodded, and eagerly followed her directions to sit. Marinette scooted into the kitchen, and soon emerged with two bowls of her great-uncle's famous soup. A second trip to the kitchen, and she came back with a basket of bread.

"This must have taken all afternoon to make!" Adrien exclaimed as she set a plate down in front of him for the bread and then settled into the seat next to him. "You're amazing, Marinette."

Marinette shrugged, pleased smile playing at the corners of her lips. "I thought we could use a proper date- well, as proper as we can get while we're still in London! I used some of my time off to take the afternoon off to prepare everything."

"I love you," Adrien blurted out. Seriously, how had he ended up with someone so amazing? She had gone absolutely above and beyond to make the evening special. Somehow, she had managed to transform his plain old apartment into something practically magical.

Maybe they had only been together-together for a few months, but Adrien was positive that he was going to marry this woman.

"I love you too, chaton," Marinette told him. The soft smile she sent his way made Adrien melt. "Ready to eat?"

Adrien could only nod eagerly as he dug into the meal. Wang Cheng had clearly taught Marinette well, because the soup was every part as delicious as he remembered.

They were halfway through the meal before Tikki and Plagg showed up again. Plagg made a beeline for a buttered chunk of bread on Adrien's plate, while Tikki settled by some candles nearby. She didn't look happy, and Adrien had to wonder if she maybe had been meant to keep Plagg out of the way throughout the entire thing. He wasn't too bothered about it- not having Plagg nearby felt weird at this point, anyway, and he probably would have started wondering what his kwami was up to and if he was getting into any mischief without supervision soon if the two of them hadn't shown up.

"If we hadn't gotten spotted last time, I would have suggested going out on a run after dessert," Marinette said as she passed Adrien a lovely slice of chocolate cake. Tikki wriggled excitedly as she got her own thin, kwami-sized slice of the cake. "But the moon is practically full and the sky is clear, so it wouldn't be safe to go out. I guess that staying in is good, too."

"Any time I spend with you is time well spent," Adrien promised, catching Marinette's hand and pressing a kiss to her knuckles. "Purr-haps we can do a date like this next time we're back in Paris... whenever that is."

"It might not be until Christmas," Marinette admitted. "I might go back some weekend for a visit, but I have enough going on here that I'm not going back to visit as often as I thought I would." She let out a frustrated sigh. "I miss my parents, but they're always busy with the bakery when I go home for a weekend and we only end up getting an evening to be properly together."

"I might end up going back some weekend to do a fall photoshoot for my father, but even if you came back at the same time there's no promises that I wouldn't be too busy to do anything," Adrien said with a sigh. So much for his idea. Realistically, he knew that it would be impossible to plan anything with Marinette without Nathalie knowing about it first, and if he had a chunk of time free then he would also want to see Nino and Alya. "Since now I've been cramming my photoshoots in to a couple days, it means I'd either be getting fitted or in a shoot all day. And I suppose that just some weekend would be a kind of random time for the two of us to show back up in Paris again- as superheroes, I mean."

Marinette made a face but nodded. "Yeah. Ugh, that's annoying. And here I was thinking that it would be easier for us to date in public as superheroes. I can't believe I forgot the whole identity thing."

"Speaking of which..." Adrien started, suddenly reminded of something, and the kwamis both turned to look at him. "I was just thinking about it today, and I can't believe it took us so long to figure each other out after we ran into each other as Ladybug and Chat Noir! One would think that we would put the pieces together, but of course not. I was even considering asking if you wanted to do a reveal so that we could coordinate nights out better, but then we just always went out at the same time."

"I asked about doing a reveal after you mentioned that you had seen me going past your window," Marinette admitted, and Adrien's eyes went wide in surprise. "But Tikki said no."

"What? Why?"

Marinette blinked and then turned to her kwami with one eyebrow raised. "You know, I don't actually know why. Tikki, care to explain why you discouraged me from telling Chat Noir anything?"

Tikki looked positively sheepish as she stuffed a large chunk of cake in her mouth so that she wouldn't have to speak. Neither Adrien nor Marinette were going to back down, though, so finally Tikki swallowed and sighed. "Okay, okay! I just wanted to see how the reveal would go down without you two revealing to each other on purpose. Besides, it was funny! You two were making excuses to each other to run off and see- well, each other!"

"I think Plagg's rubbed off on her too much," Adrien whispered to Marinette as she stared at her kwami. "'Because it was funny' is such a Plagg reason for doing things."

"Besides, it all turned out fine!" Tikki added. A smear of frosting decorated her cheek. "You two found each other even without any help from the kwamis!"

"We figured it out because Plagg forgot to check and see if I had company before barging in demanding cheese," Adrien corrected her dryly. "We didn't just, y'know, spontaneously piece things together."

Tikki just pouted.

"Well, I'm glad we're good entertainment for the kwamis, at least," Marinette said. She set her empty plate to the side and smiled up at him. "So, what else do you want to do? A movie?"

Adrien grinned, reaching over and pulling Marinette into his lap. His hands itched to explore the bare back presented to him by Marinette's marvelous dress. "Oh, I'm sure we can find something to do for the rest of the evening..."

Plagg gagged loudly.

Lazy weekends with Marinette were the best, Adrien decided the last Saturday afternoon in August as he munched on the cookie he had gotten from the kitchen. Maybe they weren't doing a whole lot while they were together, but they could just near close by and enjoy each other's company and maybe nap in the sun. Adrien was just on his way back to the couch with his prize to do just that when a familiar logo on one of Marinette's letters caught his eye and he wandered over to check it out.

"Is that from apartment management?" Adrien asked curiously, bending over to look at the piece of mail on top of Marinette's table. "Are you having maintenance done or something? I haven't gotten any letters from them."

"It's a reminder that I have to renew my lease for next year," Marinette said, glancing over at him from the couch. "I'll do that tomorrow, I just haven't had time recently. My schedule hasn't lined up at all with the landlady's."

"Shouldn't you have already resigned the lease?" Adrien asked, frowning. "You came over here early summer last year. I've already done mine, since Nathalie had my place on hold for a couple months before I came over here."

Marinette laughed at that. It was a reasonable assumption, but she had just gotten a strange arrangement for her apartment in the first place. "I was actually subleasing my apartment for several months before I signed my lease. Some university student had had it and of course their lease ran through the end of the summer, but they had already gotten a job in another city and didn't need this place. So I rented from them over the summer, and then had things set up with the landlady so I would keep the apartment after the previous person's lease ran out."

Adrien looked pensive. "Huh."

"I got lucky, really," Marinette continued. "Abbey- you remember Abbey, right?- she wanted to get into this building, but apartments don't open often. And she's had terrible luck with when openings do come up, because they never line up with when her lease at her current place expires at all and her contract doesn't let her sublease, even if she could find someone to sublease to."

"That stinks," Adrien sympathized, making a face. "And of course she wouldn't want to be paying for an apartment that she wasn't using. Couldn't she coordinate with an outgoing intern? I thought Madam Rosalie said that a lot of her workers live here."

"She's tried," Marinette told him. "But the people leaving most recently that she knew didn't live here." She shrugged. "I'm sure she'll get in soon enough."

Adrien looked pensive, even as he nodded and turned back to his book. Marinette thought that the conversation was over, but that wasn't quite the case.

"We've been spending pretty much all of our time off work together," Adrien started a bit hesitantly as they finished dinner that evening and cleared their plates off the table and into the kitchen. He was looking nervous for some reason, fiddling with his Miraculous as he spoke. "And you've spent pretty much every night since we started dating over here."

"Right," Marinette agreed, brow furrowing in confusion. She really wasn't sure where Adrien was going with this, or why he was so fidgety. Normally it meant that he was uncomfortable or uncertain, but nowadays Adrien was rarely uncomfortable around her. "...what about it?"

Adrien swallowed, looking even more nervous as he reached up to rub the back of his head. "I, um- I was wondering if, instead of renewing your lease, if you wanted to move in with me."

Marinette froze. Part of her- the teenaged, very excitable part- was screaming yes, yes yes!

The other part of her wasn't quite so sure.

"I mean, I don't want to pressure you!" Adrien assured her quickly when Marinette didn't respond right away. She could see his expression drop a little bit, his expression closing off marginally. She had known him for long enough- and well enough- to read him well, even when he went into model-mode and controlled his expressions. "I mean, it was just an idea, I don't want to make you feel like you need to say yes or anything, just-"

"You aren't pressuring me," Marinette assured Adrien, reaching out to take his hands as she cut across his sudden stream of babbling. "And it's not like I don't appreciate the offer, Adrien. It's just that..." Marinette trailed off, biting her lip.

Adrien's expression dropped and his gaze fell to the floor. "You don't want to, it's fine."

"No, I-" Marinette cut herself off, frustrated. "As much as I would like to, I don't think it's a good idea, at least not right now."

Adrien's gaze flashed back to her.

"We just started officially dating, Adrien," Marinette reminded him. "Only a couple months ago. I think it's a little early to be moving in with each other."

Adrien's expression shifted to puzzled, which was much better than the downtrodden expression he had been trying to hide before. "But we basically live together anyway- we cook together and eat together, and you sleep over here more often than you sleep in your own flat."

That...was true. "But we still have our own spaces if we need them," Marinette said, remembering the advice her mother had given her when she moved to London. Marinette hadn't been planning on getting a boyfriend while she was out of the country (nor had she been planning on staying for more than a year; she was going to get her work experience and move back to Paris, that was the plan and she was going to stick to it), but Sabine wanted to prepare her for anything she might encounter. One of the things she said- well, besides warning against rushing into a serious relationship or letting a boy get in the way of her internship experience- was that even if she was sure that she loved someone and thought that they would get along well, sharing an apartment with only one bedroom was only asking for trouble when the relationship was young.

Adrien looked slightly taken aback, though he was clearly trying to hide it. "In case we break up, you mean?"

"No, nothing that serious!" Or, rather, possibly. Neither of them had ever dated before, after all- while they had seen other couples and how they acted, that was hardly a substitute for actual experience, which both of them were completely and utterly lacking. It was completely possibly (but not probable, in Marinette's opinion) that they would fight and fall apart for some stupid reason. They would probably make up again, if that happened- they were best friends, after all, and they definitely got along well- but in the hours or days that it took for them to cool down, having to share a one-bedroom apartment would only make things worse, not better. "Just, like, if we get in an argument, or if you need to study and I'm having to brainstorm out loud, it would really be nice to have the separate spaces."

Adrien's kicked kitten look didn't go away completely, and Marinette sighed. "It's advice my mother gave me," she admitted, sliding her chair closer to Adrien as she spoke. "Even if we hung out together all of last year, she told me that people tend to have slightly different expectations for relationships than they did for friendships, even if they don't realize it. I think it would be better if we got used to being, y'know, dating, before we make any permanent moves."

Adrien's face finally cleared. "So it would be to, like, ease the transition?"

"Exactly." Marinette scooted even closer so she could snuggle up to Adrien's side and much to her relief, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Next year at this time, I'm sure I would say yes. But not right now."

"Is that what your parents did?" Adrien asked after a moment. "The living apart for a bit, I mean."

Marinette nodded, remembering what her mother had said. Even if Marinette hadn't thought that she would need to use her mother's advice while she was in London, that didn't mean that she hadn't listened. "They waited two and a half years, actually. And then they got a two-bedroom apartment, and they each had their own designated bedroom. They shared a room most of the time, of course, but if they needed to they had somewhere they could go to be alone for a little while. It was more expensive, of course, but they said that there were a few times when it probably saved their relationship."

"Okay, I can see where that's smart," Adrien admitted. "I know Nino has said before that he's glad his and Alya's families are nearby, because one of them can go back home for some distance if they have a fight or something."

"And we don't exactly have that here," Marinette reminded him. "I mean, maybe I could go to Sarah's apartment or something and sleep on her couch if we had a fight, but that would require actually telling her that we were dating and sharing an apartment. And that wouldn't work for more than a couple nights."

"Right, of course. I just hadn't considered that before I asked you." He gave a small wince, feeling a bit bad about how pouty he had been about the perceived rejection. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine. I'm glad we had a conversation about it, at any rate." Marinette grinned. "My parents always said that communication is the most important thing in a relationship."

"I'm glad that we're doing well with that so far, then." Adrien dropped a kiss onto Marinette's crown. "Any other relationship advice from your parents? They certainly know what they're talking about. They've been married for almost thirty years now, right?"

Marinette nodded. "Yeah, they have." She paused, thinking back to the advice that her parents had given her. "I mean, most of the advice they gave me was, like, how not to get into a bad relationship and the signs of a toxic relationship. Which, I mean, it's important to know and all, but..." She trailed off with a gesture. I trust you. We've been friends and partners forever. "Somehow, I don't think we'll have that issue."

Adrien nodded and beamed down at her, and Marinette felt her heart skip a beat. He was still too cute for his own good.

"My parents also said that it's important for people to have a lot in common," Marinette added, remembering that particular conversation. "That it's important to have some different interests, of course, but it's easier to find things to do together if people have common interests."

Adrien grinned. "Let's see...we both love video games and Jagged Stone's music. I'm at least somewhat interested in fashion, especially when it's you doing the designing-"

"Flirt," Marinette grumbled, though she couldn't hide the grin on her face.

Adrien pressed a kiss to her forehead, just because he could. "Always. We're both superheroes. We're both decent cooks, although the finer points of baking still elude me, though that's fine because I adore your baking."

Marinette giggled. "You'll learn eventually. You pick up on stuff fast."

"We have similar cleaning habits, we have the same friends... Mari," Adrien said, suddenly serious as he turned to her. "We're actual clones of each other."

Marinette snorted and almost choked on the water she had been drinking. She emerged dripping and still snickering. "Adrien!"

"What? It's the truth!"

"We are not clones," Marinette insisted with a laugh. "For one, I don't have a ridiculous sense of humor like you do."

"Try again," Adrien teased, tickling her sides until she squealed. "You laugh at my jokes, I know you do. You're not as good at hiding your smiles as you seem to think."

"I don't understand Physics at all," Marinette said instead of continuing to argue the point. Adrien grinned at the small victory but didn't gloat. Instead, he nodded solemnly.

"Ah, yes, I know. Otherwise, you would be able to understand the true gravity of your beauty."

Predictably, Marinette could only groan loudly.

Despite Marinette's talk about keeping her own apartment so they could each have their own space, they rarely used it. She still slept over every night, and it seemed like more and more of her clothes were migrating over to live in Adrien's drawers and closet.

He didn't mind at all. In fact, he tidied up his dresser even more so Marinette could have a few drawers all to herself and he moved all of his things over to one side of the closet so she would have space there, too.

"I would have thought that you would have more clothes," Marinette admitted when she saw what he had done. "You only take up half a closet? Really? Even though your father is a designer?"

"I'm starting to be worried about how much space your clothes take up," Adrien joked. "But yeah, only half a closet. I mean, I didn't bring everything, of course. I've got loads more clothes at home. But I figured that I didn't need everything. I wouldn't get around to wearing it all." He chanced a glance at her. "...so, uh, how much space does your wardrobe take up?"

Marinette looked a little sheepish. "Now, after the trips I've done home to Paris? We might need to look into finding a wardrobe at a thrift store or something and using that, too once I move fully over here. Either that or I'll have to put out-of-season things in storage."

Adrien did his best not to laugh.

The two of them had also long since given up the idea of trying to keep their shopping and cooking separate. It was too hard to keep track of who had what ingredients and then where the leftovers were when they tried to keep things separate. Besides, combining their pantries meant that mid-week grocery runs could be kept to a minimum, and their weekend trips to the store were a whole lot more enjoyable when they both went.

"I swear, by the time I memorize where everything is in this store it'll be time to go back to Paris," Marinette said with a laugh as they turned around and headed back up the aisle they had just come out of. "You would think that between the two of us we would be able to remember where everything is, but no such luck."

"I think we just distract each other and that's why we always miss stuff," Adrien teased. "I swear I don't have to go back as often when I do the shopping on my own."

Marinette gasped, pressing a mock-scandalized hand to her chest. "Why Adrien, are you insinuating that I'm distracting?"

"You know you are," Adrien said without missing a beat. "Such a distracting Bug."

From inside of Adrien's jacket, Plagg let out a soft gagging sound. Adrien was about to ignore him and ramp up the flirting instead- even if they were out in public, people were shopping, not paying them any attention- when an unfortunately familiar face caught his eye. Promptly, Adrien froze.

Of course they couldn't just have a normal, non-eventful outing, even just once. Of course not.

"We gotta split up," Adrien hissed frantically, steering Marinette further up the aisle where the tabloid reporter Adrien had just spotted (and how did they run into them so often? Was London just overrun with tabloid reporters like rats?) wouldn't notice them. "I can take the second half of the list, if you want."

"Wait, are you serious?" Marinette asked in confusion. She twisted and frowned back at Adrien as he hurried her up the aisle. "I thought you were kidding about the whole being a distraction thing!"

"I was- well, mostly," Adrien corrected himself. "But I just spotted one of the tabloid reporters from one of the more pesky magazines. She's just out shopping, but if she sees us..."

"She would probably make a giant deal out of us grocery shopping together," Marinette finished. She made a face. "Ugh. That sounds so lame and paranoid but some of those magazines totally would."

"Welcome to the life of a very minor celebrity," Adrien joked through gritted teeth. "The life of a very minor celebrity on a slow news day, that it. Imagine what it would be like if anyone ever found out about our, ah, extra-curricular activities back in Paris!"

Marinette shuddered. "I'd rather not imagine that, thanks. That would be awful! We would never get any rest." She glanced down at the list. "Here, you take everything after the cereal. Maybe we'll be able to check out together still, but if not then I'll see you back at the apartment."

Adrien nodded, took the offered part of the list, and hurried off to get a basket. At least he would be the one paying for all of Plagg's cheese with the list divided like this.

"You're not shopping with your wife anymore?" Plagg asked, popping his head out of Adrien's jacket as he snagged a basket and quickly headed towards the dairy section of the store. "Oh, goodie. No more flirting! You were making me sick."

"We were not," Adrien countered, keeping his voice low so no one would give him any funny looks. "And she's not my wife yet, Plagg. You know that."

Plagg muttered something indistinguishable and vanished back into Adrien's jacket.

As he whizzed through the rest of the shopping trip, Adrien kept an eye out for the reporter he had seen earlier. He spotted her a few times, and each time he quickly headed up whatever aisle was closest. It made what should have been a very normal shopping trip incredibly stressful, and by the time Adrien checked out and started heading back to the apartment building, Adrien was starting to wonder if it was really worth it to keep their relationship a secret.

Sure, maybe their relationship would get plastered all over the tabloids and they might get hounded for a couple weeks until everyone figured out that they were cute but boring, and his father would be upset, but Adrien just wanted to be able to go on a shopping trip like normal.

"I know what you're thinking kid, and I wouldn't do it," Plagg warned as Adrien headed into the apartment building. "You and Marinette already discussed it, remember? You're trying to not tick off your father right now."

Adrien let out a huff and didn't answer. It sometimes seemed that most everything he did ticked off his father in some way, so what was one more thing? Still, Plagg was probably right.

Marinette was already in his apartment, busy unloading bags and putting things away. Tikki was trying to help and failing miserably, since most of the things they had bought were far too heavy for her to lift. Adrien laughed and caught the orange Tikki was trying to carry before she could topple off the counter and then dove into the nearest bag to help with the unpacking.

It looked like Marinette had gotten the lion's share of things to carry. Clearly it hadn't bothered her- if she had thought that she had too much to carry, she would have just waited for him outside the grocery store or somewhere on the route back to their building- but Adrien wasn't going to make her put everything away, too.

"Say, I don't remember chocolate being on our list," Adrien said after a few minutes. He held up the bag and raised an eyebrow at Marinette. "Last-minute addition?"

She reached out to take the bag from him. "Yup. I thought we could make cookies."

Adrien couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Marinette rolled up onto her toes to press a kiss to his lips. "But first, we have to finish unpacking the groceries. Pass the milk, please."

By the time the cookies made it into the oven, Adrien was in dire need of some sugar. His father had called him up- well, Nathalie had called him up, and then put his father on once she had gotten Adrien on the line- and spent a large chunk of time nagging on about Adrien doing menial office work in London instead of coming back to Paris for the summer instead to be at Mr. Agreste's back and call for fittings, photoshoots, and commercial shootings. He had then complained about Adrien's chosen major for another chunk of time, and then ended the call with reminders on how Adrien was expected to behave in London, because apparently Mr. Agreste hadn't learned anything at all from the prank.

"There must have been some article again," Marinette said once Adrien hung up, looking utterly exhausted. "Or maybe he's getting nervous with the start of the fall semester getting closer, if he thought that you would quit sooner."

"It's enough to make me not want to move back to Paris once I've finished here," Adrien grumbled, flopping onto the couch. "I mean, I don't want to let him control me that way, either, by driving me away from Paris, but... I just worry that he'll think he can control me more when I'm closer."

"Eh, he's bound to accept that you're your own person eventually," Plagg piped up helpfully from where he was . "Maybe it won't be until you've finished your degree and have a permanent job and your own apartment in Paris, but I bet you can out-stubborn him."

Adrien groaned. He would be in school for two years more, and right now that felt like forever to have to deal with his father's temper tantrums. At least he hadn't decided to go to a university in Paris. The distance between Paris and London at least provided a little bit of a buffer.

"Don't let him get you down," Marinette said, patting his arm as she curled up next to him on the couch. She nuzzled into his side. "Remember, now that you're an adult, all he is is hot air. He can complain and bluster, but you're in control, kitty cat."

"Right." Adrien let out a long breath, trying to let the negativity out. He was far from his father, following his own chosen major, Hawkmoth was defeated, and he had his girlfriend- his long-time love- at his side. And there were lovely chocolate-chip cookies in the oven. Even if his father insisted on being awful and inconsiderate, life was still good.

From there, the day just got better. Adrien ate far more cookies than was strictly a good idea (both he and Tikki got a scolding from Marinette after they burned their mouths on too-hot cookies just out of the oven), he and Marinette tried to learn how to dance around his living room under Tikki's instruction, and then they cooked dinner together.

It didn't miss Adrien's attention that Marinette had picked out his favorite meal from the week's menu to prepare that night. She really was the best.

Several hours and more than a few rounds of Mega Strike 3 later, the two of them went to bed. As they drifted off together peacefully, Adrien's arms draped over the woman he loved, he knew that together, they could do anything.

Adrien was rudely awakened at six twenty-three by a loud shriek less than a meter away. He jolted upright, years of fighting setting his nerves ablaze, and he positive flew out of bed, eyes scanning the room for the source of the sound.

He found Marinette clutching her phone, staring at the screen and looking incredibly excited. Tikki was floating by her shoulder, rubbing tired eyes with her little paws.

"What's going on?" Adrien asked, puzzled. He rounded the bed to join her, yawning as he went. "Marinette?"

"Jagged Stone's assistant emailed me!" Marinette exclaimed. "She says that some people he knows- other musicians- they want me to make their album art, too!"

Adrien grinned at her. "Really? Congratulations, Marinette! That's so cool!" It was great that Marinette could keep making connections with people that could really get her well-known and a great asset to whatever label she ended up joining. It meant that she would have a wider range of fashion companieswanting her, so she could pick and choose the job that she wanted to be associated with in the long run instead of having to settle with whatever she could get.

Adrien was of the opinion that Marinette was far too talented to settle.

"Yeah! I hope I can get them all what they want." Marinette was grinning widely now. "Oh, wow, I wasn't expecting another Jagged Stone cover, let alone having other musicians wanting me to design covers as well. I'm not- I'm not even a proper artist or anything, I'm a fashion designer-"

"You're an artist," Adrien corrected, smiling and wrapping his arms around Marinette's waist. He pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head. "Just because you chose to focus more on the fashion design aspect doesn't mean you aren't an incredibly talented artist. And you understand the music and you understand color and just... you're amazing, Marinette. Of course people would want you to design things for them."

"It's just hard to believe," Marinette admitted, putting her phone back down on her nightstand and wriggling around in Adrien's arms so she could cuddle into his chest. "Like, I'm only just starting out in fashion and design, yet I got an internship right out of university and now I'm designing album covers for famous musicians and designing fabrics from scratch and- it's just a lot, you know? I always hoped I was good enough to make it, but most people don't. I got an email from one of my old classmates a couple weeks ago and it seems like a lot of people are working other jobs during the day, like at a grocery store or pizza place or in an office, and then they're trying to design stuff to sell online during the time they aren't working. It makes me feel a bit guilty sometimes, you know? Like, how did I get so lucky?"

"Well, you're talented," Adrien pointed out, hugging her close. "Your design aesthetic seems to be one that sells easily. You work hard. It's not like opportunities just fall into your lap."

Marinette made a bit of a face at that. "They kind of do, though? Like, not everyone has the chance to design sunglasses or album covers for rock stars. And that was kind of what set me apart when I was applying to design school, and then again when I was applying for internships."

"So you've had some unique opportunities and took advantage of them," Adrien pointed out. He wasn't going to let Marinette get down on herself like that, not when she was amazing and talented and deserved all of the opportunities she got. And she had done amazing work even when she was protecting the city as Ladybug, which meant it was even more amazing. "Some people could have had the same opportunity and had it go nowhere. They could have just found something in a shop and called it a day."

Marinette cringed and ducked her head at that. "That was what I did at first, actually. I, uh, was a little jealous about Chloe getting to hang out with you while I was out running around, so I bought the first pair of Eiffel Tower-adorned sunglasses I spotted. Jagged hated them. It was only after that when I thought about designing them myself."

"And some people would have quit after that," Adrien said firmly. "I know I would have, probably. We weren't being paid to do the work in the hotel. Or I would have found the person who normally did those sorts of runs for celebrities and just accompanied them. I don't know why they didn't have you do that, actually. Literally everyone else except Chloe and I were just shadowing a normal worker."

"Maybe that person was off," Marinette suggested. "Or Mr. Bourgeois was still really flustered from Jagged showing up and forgot to call up the normal runner for me to work with."

Adrien grinned as he remembered just how shaken Chloe's father had been after he finally got Jagged Stone settled in. He had quickly retired to a private room after ensuring that Chloe had entered everything into the computer correctly, and Adrien and Chloe had spotted a cook bringing a tray with wine on it into the room just a short while later. Chloe had been worried, but Adrien rather thought that Mr. Bourgeois deserved the stress.

After all, he had been very rude to Jagged Stone before Chloe told him who Jagged was. There was no need to be so mean to anyone just because they weren't famous or rich, and it was honestly surprising that Mr. Bourgeois' attitude hadn't lost business for the hotel.

"Oh, this is going to take up my evenings again and I won't get to spend that time with you!" Marinette suddenly said. She was pouting again, and Adrien did his best to refrain from commenting about how adorable she looked with the pout and her messy hair. "That was the only thing I didn't like about doing Jagged Stone's commission. It felt like I was just ignoring you."

"You weren't," Adrien assured her. "I had my own things to do while you were designing. And we can't be doing stuff together 100% of the time anyway, that's just not realistic. I'll be starting up classes again soon enough and I'll probably be studying or working on projects during the evening a lot."

"Maybe we just need to decide on a time when we'll be done for the night, unless there's exams or last-minute project deadlines or something," Marinette suggested. "Then we can make sure we have some time to spend together every night. It'll keep my work from encroaching on our us time too much."

"I think that's a good idea," Adrien agreed, squeezing Marinette tight again and pressing another kiss to her forehead. There was a pause, then Adrien yawned and glanced over at the clock. It was still ridiculously early, not even seven o'clock on a Sunday.

"So..." Adrien started, a little hesitantly. "I know you're probably super-excited right now and everything- and congratulations, by the way, if I forgot to say it before- but can we go back to bed for a bit first before we have a celebratory breakfast?"

#Miraculous Ladybug #My writing #How to Fake a Marriage #more fluff #I meant to post this yesterday but I was working outside for 5 hours #then I meant to post this earlier in the day but I spent most of the afternoon talking to the kitchen guy #and I considered pushing it off another day but I have something else to post tomorrow so have this now

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