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gale-gentlepenguin · 3 years

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ML Fic: Soulmate Survey Part 34

Man these parts are getting harder and harder to churn out. A lot of plot points converging and real life ramping up. Hopefully you all enjoy this. Please comment your thoughts on the chapter. And if you really liked it, Reblog it. Thats the best way to get others to see it. Also, Please let me know your thoughts. Your comments fuel me.

(Master Post)

_____________________________________________________________

Masquerade surveyed the classroom. Her former classmates now her masked servants. It was fitting how they were all silent. Before, they listened to her because she told them exactly the things they wanted to hear, now they listened because she had power over them. It was kind of poetic in a way.

She looked across the classroom, she realized that there seemed to be more people missing than she initially realized.

“We are missing someone. Aside from Marinette, who is missing?”

The controlled classmates looked amongst themselves. Trying to figure out who was the one that was not in the class.

“Is it Chloé?” Miracular inquired, trying to answer her master’s request.

The akuma looked around.

“Huh… Oh yea, she isn’t here. Well she isn’t important. I was thinking someone else.” Masquerade answered. She looked to her most recently made akuma servant.

The Bubbler, the akumatized version of Nino stood motionless. As if he was not registering what was going on.

“Bubbler? Do you know who is missing?”

The multicolored akuma said nothing. Not even looking in the direction of the mask maiden.

“Bubbler! I order you to answer me!” She commanded with fiery rage.

The akuma turned to face his master, now responding.

“Adrien is missing.” The bubbler answered, his voice robotic and as emotive as a speak and spell.

“So, Adrien isn’t in the room. What a shame. I was planning on turning him into my handsome little knight.”

Masquerade thought for a moment.

Has Adrien been akumatized? Lila wasn’t sure she had ever seen or heard about him getting akumatized. She knew that the class had pretty much gotten hit at least once or twice at some point from what she had heard and read from the ladyblog. But if that goody-goody Marinette hadn’t been akumatized, Adrien likely hadn’t been akumatized either.

“Alright my servants! We have a new mission. I want you to lock this school down! No one is allowed in or out. Anyone you find, bring them to me. If they can be akumatized, then they are joining our cause.”

“Time breaker. Guard the perimeter outside of the school. Anyone outside of Ladybug and Chat noir trying to get in. Tag them, but only if they are suspicious of what’s going on. Stay hidden otherwise.”

“Timebreaker nodded and began skating out of the room in a rush.

“Horrificator, once Timebreaker is outside, seal all the exits in the main building.”

The masked monstress nodded and sped out of the room.

“Dark Cupid, Stoneheart, Princess Fragrance, Miracular and Reflekta. I want you to split up check all of the rooms and bring me potential akumas.”

The five akuma nodded and made their way out the door.

“Gamer and Robostus. I want you to hack into the airwaves. I want access to every Electric device in Paris when I give you the signal. But make sure to be subtle. I don’t want anyone to know about us until I tell you.”

The two nod and start working to get that ready for her.

She focuses her attention to the bubble making akuma that was giving her problems earlier.

Considering how hard it was to break him down, it was understandable. She had saved him for last for a reason. Because he was the hardest one to crack.

He was a relatively calm individual, able to keep a level head. But even he had his weakness. His confidence. Once that was shaken, seeing his entire class taken, knowing his girlfriend was under her control, he couldn't resist another moment. In a way, it was the most satisfying charm on her bracelet.

“Now Bubbler, you are going to go and locate Marinette and Adrien for me. Put them in a bubble and bring them to me. Help that girlfriend of yours.”

The bubbler nodded yes despite severe shaking. Seems even now he is trying to resist the control of the mask.

“Troublesome, but it is only temporary. He will break soon enough.” Masquerade mused to herself.

She looked at the near empty room with contempt. This was hardly a place where she could exact her vengeance. It was so… lame. Though a thought occurs as she realized who she had left standing at attention without orders.

“Evillustrator, I have a special request for you.”

________________________________________________________

“What is this?” Chloé screeched. “My daddy bought me the best phone plan in the city. How can I not have service right now?!”

The nurse felt a chill run down her spine. Could the akuma block out phone signals? Is that why there is no attention being given to the school? How could they call for help? How would anyone know of the akuma attack? Would Ladybug and Chat noir be able to help them?

The nurse started to feel herself going pale, she was just supposed to be a school nurse. Worst thing she needed to deal with was a scraped knee or give a kid an ice pack. Now she has a woman that collapsed on the bed and an akuma that is somewhere in the school. She had just moved to Paris a few months ago. It was her dream to live in the city of love, get her career going, find a nice guy, and just live the good life. But no one told her that supervillain attacks would be so personally connected to her situation? She had heard about this crap in New York and in America. But Paris? It was too much. What if Ladybug and Chat noir didn’t fix everything? What if this was where her story ended. What if…

“Hey!”

The nurse turned to her attention to the voice. It was the brash blonde teen that was complaining.

“You look like you’re going to pass out. Just a heads up, I am not taking care of you.” Chloé commented.

Angela felt her face heat up with annoyance.

“Listen you brat. I don’t have time to deal with your attitude. I have a woman that is out cold from exhaustion in a building with a hostile akuma.”

“Good, at least you aren’t going to faint. I don’t need any more whinny women fainting on me”

The nurse paused, did the girl say that just to help her not succumb to the grim situation?

Chloé started making her way to the door.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“You already got your hands full with the annoying assistant. I need to make a call to daddy. So, I am going to head out the building and try there. Try not to get ripped apart by an akuma, I still need more ice when I get back.”

Angela blinked. This girl wasn’t scared of the akuma. She was actually going out to do something reasonable. If she could call for help, it would mean that this whole thing blows over.

“Okay, I’ll stay here. Be safe.”

“Yea whatever.”

Chloé headed out the door.

Angela felt a ghost of a smile grace her face.

‘Maybe that girl isn’t a complete brat after all.’

__________________________________________________

The shapeshifting sentimonster growled as it smacked the locker. It lost both primary targets. And worst of all, Ladybug appeared to make this even harder. Masquerade needed to hear about this.

“Master, Marinette and Adrien have escaped my sight.”

The sentimonster heard a sigh of disappointment from the other end.

“It is fine Simularé, They wont be able to escape the school anyway. They will be found soon enough. If anything, this is a blessing in disguise. Having them be the last targets will have them bare witness to how devasting it will all be.” Masquerade answered. “Any news on Ladybug and Chat noir?”

“That’s the other bad news. Ladybug arrived, I am assuming that’s how Marinette managed to escape, and ladybug also took Adrien away as well. No sign of chat noir. But if you know one is here, the other is likely soon to follow.”

There was a brief moment of silence, as masquerade mulled over the information she had received.

“Actually, that works out well for us. Meet up at my location, I have the other students out looking for them, I need your power for something more important.”

“Yes master.”

Simularé shifted back into its phantom form, moving quickly down the hallway to obey her master’s request.

Just as it left, Ladybug popped out of a nearby locker. Relieved it didn’t notice.

“That’s not good, Masquerade likely got everyone in the classroom.” The red heroine said aloud.

She activated her communicator and tried to contact chat noir. But there was no sound.

“Damn it. No signal. Lila likely cut the communication as soon as she realized it.?”

“No worries Buggaboo, I happen to be on site.” A voice called out.

Chat noir jumped out of another locker to reveal he was there.

Ladybug felt a bit of relief at her partner’s appearance. She could tell he felt the same. Better a situation with two heroes.

“Been here the whole time?” The spotted heroine asked her cat crimefighting comrade.

“Just arrived a few minutes ago, I figured something was up, so I decided to take a quick peek. Cat curiosity and all that.”

“And you assumed it was with Collège Françoise Dupont?”

“It seemed like a solid guess.”

“Considering the track record, that is reasonable.” Ladybug conceded.

“Ever wonder why it is always this school and never any of the other schools? Paris is a big city. You would think Hawkmoth would decide to branch out to the other schools in the city.” Chat noir inquired as they started walking down the hall.

“I assumed its just a coincidence.”

“Shot in the dark, maybe he has a kid that goes here. He is pretty old” Chat noir dissed.

“I can’t imagine anyone that would want to date Hawkmoth.” Ladybug joked.

“What about the blue lady? She seemed crazy enough.”

“And now that image is burned in my mind. Thanks kitty.” Ladybug sarcastically commented. “Despite the mental scarring, I am glad you got here. Seems a repeat offender got herself an upgrade in the akuma powers department.”

“Lila.”

“How did you know?”

“I was reading the ladyblog, Alya did great work on that article.” Chat noir praised. He mentally applauded his quick thinking.

“Right, kind of the reason I felt the need to keep an eye on this place. But sadly, I was too slow.” Ladybug responded a tad gloomy.

“Hey, don’t sweat it. We will finish this akuma before lunch.”

Ladybug heard a footstep from the end of the hallway.

“Get down!”

Ladybug tackled the cat hero down. Just narrowly avoiding a neon pause symbol, which now suck on the wall.

“Looks like Lila has been busy.” Chat noir noted as he turned his face to the direction of the attacker.

Ladybug looked at the akuma. The white mask covering her friend’s face. Lady Wifi was back.

“Alya…”

The two heroes got into a fighting stance and prepared to take down this controlled akuma.

________________________________________________

The halls were empty and lifeless as the two visiting teens made their way cautiously down the halls.

“Oddly quiet in here.” The fencer commented. “What do you think Luka?”

“Well last time we entered a place with an akuma in it, it was brimming with armored minions. Maybe this akuma has more stealth?” The Musician commented. “So, I don’t think you will be fighting as directly as you are use to Kagami.”

Kagami nodded at that, not exactly happy or sad regarding that remark. Her plan was to see if she could help her friends get out of the building, grab her textbook, and get out. She wasn’t really that interested in fighting a superpowered foe at this moment in time.

The two ceased speaking when they heard approaching footsteps.

“Someone’s coming.” Luka noted.

The two duck into the nearest room.

The two stayed close to the door as they listened to the sound of the approaching figure.

Kagami dropped to the floor silently as to check and see if she could get a visual.

She could only see what appeared to be costume boots of a larger figure. Which made the expert fencer believe it was not friendly.

The figure stopped, looking at the door. The two teens felt their neck hairs stand on edge as they did their best not to make a sound.

After what felt like an eternity, the figure passed the door without checking. Once the sound of his footsteps could no longer be heard, they let out a sigh of relief.

“That was way too close for comfort.”

“Agreed. I would prefer a direct confrontation next time, much less nerve-racking. “

The two carefully open the door and exit the room.

“Seems we found the akuma.” Luka commented. “Now we just need to avoid it and.”

“You mean akumas.” Kagami corrected.

“Akumas?”

Kagami tilted the boys head to look in the same direction she was looking, and sure enough she saw a rather large rock like creature walking the halls.

“Oh… well that is bad.”

Kagami pushed him back into the room and closed the door. Locking it before the rock giant could notice them.

“I’m surprised.”

“By the fact there is an 8-foot-tall rock beast outside?”

“No, by the fact you didn’t try to fight it.”

“I don’t have a weapon.” Kagami replied flatly.

Luka raised a brow at the comment, unsure if the fencer was serious or not about fighting that thing if she had a foil.

“Is something wrong?” A third voice came from behind them.

The two teens turned around, preparing for the worst. Though they were relieved to see it was just an old janitor… in a Hawaiian shirt. Despite his odd dress, he did give off a kind aura. One of a trusting old grandpa.

They noticed that the room seemed to be a sort of teacher’s lounge, with a small counter with a sink and cabinets. As well as a fridge to keep food cold and stored. A place in the school where teachers would come to get a quick coffee or store their lunch.

“Oh good, you aren’t an akuma.” Luka sighed with relief.

“An akuma?” The old man asked.

“Yes, it is very dangerous out there right now. There are multiple villains outside. I would recommend staying put while we go out there and help handle things.” Kagami explained.

“Quite bold of you to go out there against those monsters.” The man responded.

“Don’t worry, we will be careful. We just need to make sure we can get as many people out as we can so Ladybug and Chat noir won’t need to worry.”

“Ah, how selfless of you. You both seem quite capable for ones so young.”

“You’re very kind, but we are just doing what we can. Our friends are out there and they need our help.”

Kagami goes to the door. Checking to ensure the coast is clear again.

The old man pats the musician’s shoulder.

“I am sure you two will figure a way to help your friends.”

“There are too many outside this room.” Kagami grumbled. If only I had a way to fight them.”

The mysterious janitor smiled.

“Say… I did happen to see Ladybug earlier.”

The two teens turned their attention to the old man.

“You did?” they asked in unison.

“Yes, she happened to drop something while rushing. Would you two be so kind as to return them to her when you see her.”

The two of them glance at each other and shrug. The old janitor might be senile.

“Sure… We can give it to her.” Luka assured the old man, trying to remain polite.

The old man moves to a closet, where out of view of the two teens, an elaborate chest with the symbol of the guardian’s decorates the top. He quickly gets two smaller boxes and closes the closet.

“Ah! Here they are.”

He hands the two a small box each. Their eyes go wide.

“They seemed important, so I didn’t want to just leave them on the floor. But I have a feeling you two will take good care of them.”

The two teens were engrossed by the boxes in their hands. They recognized them immediately. These were the boxes Ladybug used when handing out miraculous.

“Where did you find…?” Kagami tried to question, but noticed the old man was no longer there.

“He’s gone…”

“Actually, I am over here.”

The teens look in the opposite direction they were looking in order to see him at the end of the room getting a snack from the fridge.

The duo decided that maybe this old guy wasn’t all there after all and figured it would be best to go somewhere and utilize the ‘gift’ they were just given.

“Stay in the lounge where it’s safe okay?” Luka asked politely.

“Of course. I am not paid if I am not working.”

The two teens checked the door again, and once the coast was clear. They both slipped out of the room.

After he knew they were out of sight, the old man chuckled.

“The senile routine works every time.”

“Master, you really cut it close with that one.” A small turtle creature exclaimed as he popped out from the closet.

“The universe works in mysterious ways Wayzz. What are the odds that there would be an attack on the school the very day I decide to hide out as a janitor?”

“Considering the frequency of akuma attacks, very likely.”

“True, but how about running into two individuals that Marinette had picked to be heroes.” Fu followed up.

“That is quite a coincidence.”

The guardian pulled out his phone and noticed he didn’t have a signal.

“It seems I can’t get a signal to notify her of the reinforcements I sent her way. Likely it would be the same on her end. So, it is a good thing I acted in advance.”

Fu moved to the closet where he kept the miraculous.

“I can’t help but shake the feeling Ladybug and Chat noir will need all of the help they can get.

“Don’t worry master, I am sure Ladybug and Chat noir will be successful.

“Let us keep an eye on things. They might need another ally to turn the tide.

________________________________________________________

“I am guessing you are also familiar with what’s inside here?” Kagami inquired as the two stealthily moved in the hall.

“I may be familiar with it.” Luka commented.

Kagami contemplated the statement. She figured out the truth.

“Seems we both have used a miraculous then?”

“It appears we have. Though I am not sure Ladybug will be thrilled that someone knows I have helped her.”

“I understand the sentiment. Though lets simply agree to keep it between us.” Kagami answered. “Friends do keep secrets like that if I’m correct.”

Luka smiled at the comment.

“Your secret is safe with me.” Luka assured.

“As is yours.”

The two found the locker room and quickly moved inside.

“Coast is clear.”

The two opened the boxes and as they did two magical creatures appeared in front of them.

A floating creature with multiple spikes appeared in front of the fencer, while another floating creature that resembled a cobra stood in front of luka.

“It is a pleasure to see you again Mistress Kagami.”

“It’s been too long, Longg.” Kagami smiled. Happy to see her kwami friend.

“Hello Luka, itssss been a while.” The snake kwami greeted.

“Happy to see you too Sass.” Luka fist bumped his kwami.

The kwamis stop and turn to see the other kwami there.

“Does Ladybug know about this?” They both ask in unison.

“We will inform her after. Right now, there is a lot of danger.” Kagami exclaimed. “Ladybug needs our help.”

The two kwami nod and prepare to fight.

“Consssider us accomplissses.” Sass answered.

The two teens put on the miraculous.

“Sass! Scales Slither.”

“Longg! Bring the storm”

The two teens transform into their heroic alter egos.

Kagami shifting into the dragon miraculous hero Ryuuko, and Luka changing into the Snake hero Viperion.

The two stop to glance at the other.

“So, what should I call you.” The snake hero asked curiously.

“Call me Ryuuko. And what about you mister snake?”

“Viperion is what I am going with.”

“Fitting.”

“As is yours.”

The two give a nod of comradery before making their way out of the locker room. They had to go help Ladybug.

__________________________________________________

Ladybug dashed across the hallway, avoiding pause symbols being flung at her by the conniving akuma.

She slid underneath one of the symbols and preformed a daring slide kick to knock Lady Wifi off balance.

While she was unstable, Chat noir charged and used his baton to make contact with her white mask. Believing it was the obvious weak point.

“Got it!” Chat noir exclaimed triumphantly. The strike of the staff knocking Ladywifi a good several meters. Before lying flat on her back.

“Wow, that is a tough mask. I thought for sure that was the weak point.” Chat noir commented.

Lady Wifi stood up robotically.

“There must be a way to snap her out of it. Unless Hawkmoth is learning from his mistakes.” Ladybug hypothesized as she got up from the ground.

“Well I got nothing.” Chat noir shrugged.

Another set of footsteps approaching caught the hero’s attention. The recognized the multicolored bubble maker the moment they saw him.

“Nino… You too?” Chat noir said under his breath.

The Bubble maker used his bubble wand to summon two large bubbles to capture the heroes. Bringing back flashbacks of their first encounter with the bubble akuma.

Chat noir and Ladybug expertly slide between the gaps of the attack, resulting in Lady Wifi getting hit with the large bubbles and being sent flying into the wall via bubble prison.

Chat noir lunged at the Bubbler, his quick pounce pinning him down before he could attack.

“Maybe I can destroy his mask with…”

“Wait Chat noir!” Ladybug called out.

Chat noir paused.

“What if your cataclysm doesn’t free him?”

“And then I am left without the power before a recharge.”

“Exactly. We need to hold off on using our powers right now.”

Chat noir wanted to save his friend. But he knew his partner was right. They needed to conserve their powers before facing Lila.

The Bubbler managed to get the cat hero off of him with a burst of strength. Knocking Chat noir to the ground.

Lady Wifi had gotten free from the bubble attack and was now blocking the other entrance.

Ladybug and Chat noir moved back to back, Ladybug facing the ladyblogger turned mindless akuma slave and Chat noir facing the akumatized DJ.

“Any ideas, Buggaboo?”

“Seems they can’t adapt. They are pretty much mindless slaves. Which makes sense since Lila wouldn’t want them to think for themselves.”

“So you’re saying their movements are simple.”

“Which means they are exploitable.”

Chat noir felt relief watch over him. He knew Ladybug had a plan.

_____________________________________________________

“EWWWW!” Chloé screeched in disgust. The front entrance to the school had been covered in a pink slime.

She wiped her hand on the cleanest section of wall she could find. This was not her day.

“What is with this nasty gross akuma? First, I can’t call Daddy to come and pick me up. I can’t even post about it! How will Ladybug know to save me? Or better yet, get me the bee miraculous so I can help her save the day?”

Chloé decided to try another exit, since she had no plans of sticking around without knowing if she was going to be given a miraculous or not. Plus, she did say she would call for help, and doing that would make her look good in potential hero points.

As she was walking, she bumps into something in the middle of the hall. Which was bizzare since the hall was clear.

“Ouch, right on my bruise. What the hell is…”

Chloé felt her anger shift to fear when she watched as the empty hall now contained a familiar akuma.

“Sabrina?”

The akuma turned to her, her face covered with a white face mask.

“Eww. Your akuma form looks even tacker than before.”

“Take potential akuma to master.” The akumatized Sabrina stated in an emotionless tone. Repeating the order, she had been given.

“Oh no you don’t! Sabrina, I order you to listen to me!”

The akuma ignored the blonde’s command and slowly walked towards her.

“Sabrina… I am warning you. I am going to yell at you over this later if you don’t stop right now.”

Chloé started slowly backing away. She wasn’t sure of what to do.

“Listen… if you stop right now… I’ll uh… let you take a pick of one of my old sweaters.” Chloé bargained, not intending to let her pick one of the ones she actually liked.

Chloé felt her hand touch the sealed door, and knew she was at the end of the hall. She was boxed in.

“This is so unacceptable.” Chloé stated, preparing to get captured. But a flash of Red and Black came out of nowhere and kicked the akuma hard to the wall.

“Ladybug! I knew you would like save me!” Chloé jumped and hugged her savior.

“Im not ladybug.” The heroine spoke.”

Chloé released the hug as she examined who her savior was.

“Who the hell are you?”

Chloé had never bothered to learn the names of any of the other miraculous heroes. She sometimes forgets chat noir’s name.

“Ryuuko.” The dragon heroine stated calmly, almost regretting saving Chloé.

“Did Ladybug send you? Cause it would have been better if she got me to help.”

Ryuuko decided to ignore Chloé’s comment.

“Now we need to leave before she… Where did she go?” Looking at the dented locker that no longer had an akuma lying on the ground.

Suddenly the akuma popped out of nowhere about to strike from above with her tonfa and steal Ryuuko’s powers, but was stopped when a small harp smacked her face.

“She appears to have invisibility.” A voice called out.

The two turn to see the snake hero as he caught his harp on the rebound.

Chloé took a moment to look over the snake hero. She had to admit, he was pretty cute. Not Adrien cute, maybe she would start learning the names of the other heroes.

“Quick thinking Viperion.” Ryuuko thanked the snake teen.

“Just following your lead.” Viperion responded. The two giving eachother a respectful smile. They both seemed to have gotten used to working together.

The akuma got up. Its white face mask making the akuma’s expression unreadable. But its body language exuded rage.

“Seems we aren’t going anywhere until she is taken care of.” Ryuuko said as she stared down the akuma.

Viperion turned to chloé.

“You need to go and get to safety.”

“Okay!” Chloé says as she runs off.

“How come she didn’t give you any sass?”

“Because I already have him.”

Kagami had to admit that was a clever response.

“Not what I meant, but Chat noir would love that joke.”

“I will be sure to tell him it later.”

“Stick to playing guitar. You’re a better musician than comedian.”

Before they could get off anymore banter. The akuma went for another attack.

________________________________________________________

Simularé entered Ms.Bustier’s classroom.

“I am here.” The ghostly sentimonster announced.

“Excellent.”

The sentimonster looked up to see that the classroom it was expeciting to see had been altered into what appeared to be a rather glamourous throne room. The windows covered by white curtains with the design of an akuma in black. The platforms and stairs had been altered to be marble. And at the top, where Lila’s desk once was was now a golden throne akin to something one would see in a castle. Though despite the impressive change in the classroom it was still being designed. The akuma known as the evillustrator was still creating more furnishings for the room.

“Simulare, I have an order for you.” Masquerade stated as she sat on the new throne. Clearly confident in her position.

The sentimonster approached her master. Stopping only a few feet away.

“I want you to create a mirage over the school. Since Ladybug is already in the school. It would be best if you made sure no one notices whats happening here. I don’t need any additional heroes popping in yet. Let’s handle her before making things public.”

Simularé nodded.

“Understood. But what should we do if she…”

“I have everything under control. Just follow my orders.”

Simularé ceased her questioning.

“As you wish master.”

The sentimonster shifted into her Volpina form and headed out of the classroom.

“She is getting arrogant in her power. If things do go south, I will need to step in.” Simularé said to herself. But for now, she knew she had a role to play.

_____________________________________________________________

And that ends part 34.

Seems things are REALLY heating up. Will Viperion and Ryuuko be able to help Ladybug and Chat noir?

Will Ladybug and Chat noir be able to get through to their brainwashed friends?

Will Masquerade's gambit be enough for her to get her vengeance?

Whats Simularé's deal?

Find out by staying tuned and sharing. Remember Reblogs help content creators and if you do enjoy my content, the support really does help

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2manyfandoms2count · 3 years

Text

A Night at the Opera

A @mlwritersguild Valentine for @noirequin! Happy belated Valentine’s day! 💕

Summary: Chat Noir wanted a date with Ladybug for Valentine's day. Marinette wanted a date with Adrien. When neither option work out, Chat Noir and Multimouse end up on a platonic outing at the Opera. Or at least, that was the plan.

Tags: Marichat, Multichat, Ladynoir, Adrienette, Snekmouse

Read on AO3

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Adrien sighed wistfully as he listened to Mme Mendeleiev’s lecture, head leaning on his hand.

It wasn’t that chemical structures bored him, far from it. It was just that, looking at the structure of oxytocin on the black board, he couldn’t help but remember that it was also known as the love hormone, which, of course, made him think about Ladybug, which, in turn, made him replay the last conversation they’d had, a couple of nights back.

The moon had been out, shining its bright, kind light over the city. They’d sat down on the edge of a building, wrapped in thick blankets as they watched out for signs of an Akuma. January had seen quite a few emerge at night, and they’d assumed February would probably be no different.

The warm light from the streetlights below, along with the few stars shining from above, had made it all feel quite romantic.

Without looking at her, fearing that his heart might burst out from his ribcage, he’d asked if she was doing anything special for Valentine’s Day.

He’d seen her nod out of the corner of his eye.

“Oh.” He’d managed to utter before a lump took over his throat.

“I’m going to ask out the boy I love.” She’d whispered, a small blush creeping up her cheeks.

“That’s great!” He’d put on his best smile, and tried to sound as supportive as possible, although his voice sounded more high-pitched than he would’ve liked it to. She didn’t seem to notice, or, at least, chose not to comment on it. “I’m sure it will go well. You’re the best, my Lady, he’d be an idiot to turn you down.”

He’d been almost thankful for the ruckus that had emerged a couple of blocks away, providing an effective change in subject.

It felt stupid to torture himself like this, but he couldn’t help it. He resented the jealous feeling that invaded his chest when he thought about the possibility of Ladybug being in love with someone else. He wished he knew who the boy was, to see if he was a suitable match for her. Well, that was his second wish. He really wished he was the boy (it was foolish, he knew). Ladybug had every right to have someone else in her life. And maybe it would be for the best if they got together, too. Seeing her in a happy relationship, maybe he’d find it in him to properly move on.

He sighed again, and leaned back in his seat, hoping the distance might help him concentrate, but his ears perked up at the sound of Marinette and Alya’s whispered conversation. He couldn’t help but listen in.

“Why must everything be about love right now? Honestly I wish I had some oxytocin.” There was a small thud, which Adrien assumed was Marinette landing her head on the table. She did it a lot when she was frustrated, and he really thought it was valid. He didn’t dare flop down from the first row, though.

“You’re pining so hard, it would be a wonder if you didn’t have any.” Alya snorted.

“Alya!” Marinette hissed, although he really couldn’t understand why, before sighing. “Paris is just so wonderful around Valentine’s Day, if only I had someone to share the feeling with.”

“Just stick to the plan, you’ll have someone to frolic in the snow with soon enough.” The aspiring reporter giggled.

The word 'snow' had Adrien’s gaze snap towards the window, and completely wave off the rest of Alya’s words. Sure enough, the morning’s light rain had turned into majestic snowflakes dancing in the wind, a little shy of completely covering surfaces.

It was pretty romantic weather, perfect for walking hand in hand, giggling as the cold reddened your cheeks and snowflakes landed on your eyelashes. Or for snuggling up side by side on a carriage ride around the Champ de Mars. Or for staying in to watch a movie, warming your hands around a hot cup of tea or cocoa.

He could imagine sharing those moments with Marinette. In fact, beside Ladybug, Marinette was the only person he could see himself spending Valentine’s Day with.

He got lost in his thoughts. Maybe he could take the bluenette out for Valentine’s Day. She deserved a break, and he was more than willing to go all out for her to have a good time. They could hit all the romantic spots - strictly platonically, of course. He still wasn’t sure who it was that she liked, but he doubted it could be him.

Really, nothing prevented them from getting some pommes d’amour on the Champs-Elysées together, ride the merry-go-round at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, or the Tuilerie's Grande Roue. It could all be great fun.

But then again… He wasn’t sure how much she’d enjoy going out with him. They were bound to run into some fans, disturbing their tranquillity.

Or worse: the press. He could already see the headlines: Does Adrien Agreste have a girlfriend? All you need to know about Marinette Dupain-Cheng! She didn’t need people lurking about, trying to find juicy information about her.

And that, of course, would only possibly happen if his father allowed him to go out in the first place. He sighed. The man made everything a real hassle.

There were clearly too many obstacles, if he wanted to spend some quality time with his friend.

That being said, a little voice in his head whispered, there is one purr-son who doesn’t have to answer to anyone, and could sneak out fairly easily. Someone who could fade into the night to avoid the crowds, and had access to even more romantic spots of the capital.

A satisfied smile spread on Adrien’s lips as he relaxed into his seat. Neither he, nor Marinette, would spend Valentine’s Day alone this year.

And he already knew exactly where Chat Noir would be taking her.

---

“Adrien?” Marinette called after him on the school steps at the end of the day. The skies had cleared earlier, and the snow had already melted, making the ground quite slippery underfoot.

“Yes, Marinette?” He turned around with a bright smile as he waited for her to join him at the bottom of the staircase. Her steps were measured, her breathing controlled, but she was wringing her hands, giving away a certain tension. He noticed that a light blush dusted her cheeks, although it could also have been the nipping cold. The colour looked good on her.

“Um…” She cleared her throat, and stood a little taller. “I was wondering… Are you doing anything next Thursday?”

“You mean for Valentine’s Day?” His smile widened. He knew he’d be turning her down, but if she was asking him about his availability, it meant that she was definitely free.

His question seemed to catch her off-guard, and her own brave smile faltered. “Oh, is it already Valentine’s? Gosh, time flies by so quickly, don’t you think?” She chuckled nervously. “Anyway, I… I forgot about that detail, I was definitely asking you out. I mean! Not! Asking you out!” Her eyes widened in panic. “I was just thinking… Since, you know… We’re both single… Maybe we could hang out? Definitely not anywhere romantic, just-”

“You know, I really would have loved to spend Valentine’s Day with you.” He interrupted her with a chuckle, gently touching her forearm. She froze, and her cheeks flamed up.

“Really?” She squeaked. Kwami, she’s adorable, he thought with a smile.

“Yeah!” Seeing her like this, he had to fight back the urge to change his mind and say yes to her straight away. Remember your plan, the voice in his head spoke again. She’ll love it so much more. “It would be so much better than what my father has planned for me.” He rolled his eyes, silently hoping that he wasn’t invoking a real hold-up.

“Oh.” She sounded almost disappointed. “Another photoshoot?”

“I’m not even sure, at this point. I just know there’s something.” He shrugged as defeatedly as he could muster. “Maybe we could hang out some other time, though? I miss my UMS partner.” He winked.

“That would be nice.” She gave him a small smile.

A honking sound made them both jump. Adrien turned around and saw his bodyguard was waiting for him in his car. He waved at him sheepishly. He couldn’t run too late on his schedule, or he wouldn’t be able to fit in his little visit to Marinette.

“See you around, then!” He smiled at her before running towards the car.

She just waved in response.

---

“I’m so pathetic, Tikki, what even was that?” Marinette groaned as she finally flopped down on her bed after finishing her homework, covering her face with her hands. “What is wrong with me? I mean, never mind telling him I love him, why can’t I even ask him out without instantly backtracking?”

“You’ll do it one day, Marinette.” She felt her Kwami’s flippers pat her head gently.

“I’m not sure I will.” She rolled over to her side, hugging her pillow against her chest. “You saw the way he looked at me before I said it wouldn’t hold any romantic implications. He doesn’t like me that way.”

“You know, I wouldn’t-”

Tikki’s sentence was interrupted by a light thud above their heads, followed by footsteps, which sent her zooming behind Marinette’s books.

A few seconds later, a familiar masked face peeked over her skylight, face brightening with a smile as he saw her. Marinette got up and opened the latch, letting him in.

“Hi, Marinette!” Chat Noir said excitedly as he carefully climbed down, mindful not to step on her pillows. He sat cross-legged at the foot of her bed, looking very smug.

“Hey, Chat Noir.” She smiled softly. He really knew when to show up to cheer her up. Maybe they did share a special connection. “What’s up?”

“You’re going to love this.” His smile grew wider, if that was possible, and he started rocking back and forth, as he went straight to the point. “Do you have any plans for Valentine’s day?”

“No, as usual.” She sighed, meeting Adrien’s gaze on one of his pictures.

“Then you’re in luck because I have one ticket for the best night Paris will offer.” His eyes sparkled in the half-light of her room. “I’m taking you out on an adventure.”

“Oh?” Marinette’s eyebrows shot up.

“Yep.” He popped the “p” sound. “I have something great in mind for my favourite mouse.”

“Leftovers from your plan for Ladybug?” She tried teasing. It came out a little more abrupt than she’d intended, but her soft gaze smoothened the edge a little. She’d been so quick to say no to Chat, she hadn’t considered that, being his very thoughtful self, he’d probably had a whole event planned.

He looked more offended than hurt at her words. “Of course not! In fact, I think it might actually be better than my original plan, believe it or not.” He crossed his arms over his chest and stuck his tongue out.

“Sorry, kitty, that was uncalled for.” She placed a hand on his knee, and sighed. “It’s been a long day.”

“That’s alright, Princess.” He smiled and covered her hand with his. Maybe he’d been a little too abrupt with his refusal earlier, and he’d actually hurt her feelings. Marinette did look pretty tired, which he knew from experience could lead to misinterpretations.

“So, what did you have in mind?” She cleared her throat.

“It’s a surprise.” He waggled his eyebrows mysteriously. “The only thing I’ll say is that I’m a sucker for romance, and I might be pulling all the stops for the evening. Even if we’re just hanging out as friends, obviously. Why should couples have all the fun?”

“It’s completely unfair.” She nodded. The thought that maybe it wouldn’t be that bad if they actually were a couple crossed her mind. It wasn’t like she didn’t really like Chat Noir already. There was a part of her she’d actively tried to repress that was very intent on saying that if anything, Chat Noir was very hot on Adrien’s orange Converse’s heels in the race for her affection. Maybe it was time to let him take the lead. If he wanted to, of course.

But really, anyway, going on a date with him (a platonic one, at that) didn’t engage anything. It would always be more than what she’d had with Adrien. And it really couldn’t hurt to expand her horizons a little further than the one Adrien Agreste.

“There is one thing I still need to sort out, and that is how to get the Mouse Miraculous for you.” Chat Noir tapped his chin thoughtfully.

Marinette bit back a smile. “I could take care of that for you, if you want.”

“Really?” He asked, sounding almost relieved. Not that it would have been a huge hassle to get it from Ladybug, just that if he was to set everything up for their night out, he was almost sure it would slip his mind.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it.” She smiled angelically. “Any reason in particular that I should invoke?”

“Just anonymity.” He shrugged. It was true, to a certain extent. It would obviously be a lot easier to explain to a wandering gardien de nuit why two superheroes were hanging around his monument, even if they were in the middle of a picnic. Another reason was a pun, but neither Marinette, nor Ladybug, needed to know that. Ladybug would probably say no if she knew. And finally, it didn’t hurt that Marinette looked particularly badass as Multimouse. Really, he just wanted her to get used to her powers, was all.

“Okay, will do.” Marinette played with the fabric of her pillowcase. “Anything else I can bring?”

Chat Noir’s pupils dilated hungrily at the thought of Tom & Sabine’s macarons. He shook his head. “Maybe some macarons?” He asked as nonchalantly as possible, even though it was pretty clear she was not fooled.

“I’m sure that can be arranged.” She smirked and patted his thigh gently. “Passion fruit, right?”

“You know me so well, Purr-incess.” He leaned forwards and kissed her cheek, before standing up unsteadily on the soft mattress and pushing her skylight up.

“Pick you up at 7pm?” He asked before lifting himself out.

“I’ll be there.” She watched him vault away across the rooftops, then closed the window and wrapped herself in her blanket.

Maybe she’d get a not-so-platonic Valentine’s evening with a passion fruit macaron lover after all.

---

“Stop!” Chat whispered, flattening himself behind a pillar and extending an arm to block Multimouse’s path. She squeaked at the sudden contact and he flinched, looking wildly at the incoming warden from the safety of their hiding place.

The latter walked past without a second glance, humming along to the Swan Lake Waltz which could be faintly heard coming from behind the closed doors lining the corridor. Chat Noir let out a sigh of relief as he disappeared around the corner, and tiptoed out, ears flickering around in search of any sound.

“All clear.” He gestured for her to come out of hiding, and resumed his path on the richly carpeted hallway.

“You know, when you said that you had romantic plans in mind, I didn’t really picture us breaking into the Opéra Garnier.” Multimouse jogged to catch up with him (he walked surprisingly fast, even loaded with a giant picnic basket), her heart beating even quicker than during their first close call. At this rate, she probably wouldn’t survive the evening.

“Me? Doing anything illegal? You wound me my L…” He stopped shy of blurting out “my Lady”. It felt so natural to speak with Marinette like this; honestly, it was like talking to Ladybug.

Maybe because both Ladybug and Marinette shared the ability to worry about anything. As if he’d put her in any danger.

Marinette raised her eyebrows and she shot him a pointed look, daring him to finish the thought. If he’d looked more closely, though, he would have noticed she’d tensed up.

“My little rat de l’Opéra.” He saved himself, gulping.

She rolled her eyes. “So that’s why you needed me to suit up. It’s all a very elaborate pun.”

“Maybe.” He smiled mischievously and stopped in front of a door, double-checking the namecard shoved above the little doorbell. His ears drooped a little as he covered it with his hand to prevent Marinette from seeing it. He put his basket down and opened the door for her. Memories came flooding back as he took in the chairs and the view.

His mother had always loved the Opera, and especially the Palais Garnier. He remembered coming here with her as a little kid, after his father had offered her a box for Christmas. He’d felt so shy and small as they climbed the grand staircase. It had been the first time he’d worn a suit; he remembered people had stopped them and gushed about how cute he was. He’d clung to Emilie’s gloved hand, hiding in her midnight blue skirt as she thanked them. She’d smiled and ruffled his hair tenderly as they continued their ascension, before bringing him to this very door. She’d picked him up and handed him the card, whispering in his ear to slide it in the cardholder.

“What does it say, Maman?” He’d asked when the task was accomplished.

“It says that this is our special place.” She’d kissed his cheek and taken him inside, where red velvet chairs awaited, as well as a whole musical universe.

The card just said Agreste family, he realised now. He didn’t think he’d ever noticed before; he’d always been too excited by the shows to linger at the door. It wasn’t like they came frequently, even when Emilie was still alive. Since then, they’d stayed away, but clearly Gabriel hadn’t found it in him to cancel the rental of the box. That, or he’d forgotten all about it.

“Everything alright, Kitty?” Multimouse’s head poked back out when he didn’t follow her inside.

“Yeah, peachy.” Chat shook away the memories, forcing a small smile, and walked into the box, making sure he closed the door behind them. “So, what do you think?”

Marinette leaned over the bannister. This was an excellent location; they had a prime view of the stage and of the rest of the room, but were high up enough that anyone on stage wouldn’t see them.

Which was a good thing tonight, given that there clearly was a rehearsal going on.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered as she watched the dancers glide, jump, and land gracefully in a symphony of pitter-patters, barely audible over the orchestra even with her enhanced hearing. She wondered if her companion had asked her to transform so she could fully appreciate that experience. “Really, Chat, it’s amazing.”

“I’m glad you like it.” He smiled; it was genuine, this time. She looked like a little kid on Christmas day, her eyes eating up the flurry of colours on stage. Maybe she’d design the costumes herself, one day. After all, she was already getting stage experience with Kitty Section and Jagged Stone.

“Do you come here often?” She turned around to face him.

“Not really.” He chose to leave out the fact it was actually his first time back since his mother’s disappearance. It wasn’t exactly a good Valentine’s Day topic. “But it does hold a special place in my heart, and I had a feline you’d be happy here.”

She rolled her eyes at the pun, but a small blush coloured her cheeks. Or maybe there’d just been a lighting change, he couldn’t tell. “I am, thanks, Kitty.”

They stared at each other from the safe distance of the box’s length, until all the Orchestra joined in for the apotheosis of the mouvement, making them jump slightly, looking away as they cleared their throats.

Chat Noir decided to busy himself by opening the basket he’d brought. He expertly shook out the tablecloth to set it flat in the small aisle. It was less romantic than a restaurant, but he thought the cosiness of the setting made up for it. It wasn’t anywhere you could have rich velvet seats and a private ballet show.

Multimouse pretended to follow the show below, watching him carefully switch on small electric candles and pepper their surroundings with them out of the corner of her eye. He then started setting a large amount of food down, before taking out a small vase of pink roses and placing it in the middle of their improvised table. She had to say, it all looked very fancy for a picnic.

“Would Mademoiselle care to join me for dinner?” Chat Noir bowed when he was satisfied everything was in order.

“Avec plaisir, très cher.” She giggled, daintily picking up an invisible skirt to sit down.

Marinette was very impressed. She kept forgetting, or rather, quashing, how thoughtful Chat Noir could be. Everything looked so lovely, the perfect amount of intimate, fun and reprehensible, which she surprisingly didn’t mind so much. If anything, it made the date feel that much more exclusive.

Her companion followed suit, but pulled a displeased face as he looked around.

“Just a second,” he shot up and carefully pulled the tablecloth closer to the bannister. Marinette scooted along, watching carefully over the objects set out on it, ready to spring into action if anything threatened to topple over. She appreciated the relocation, though; there was more space thanks to the extra leg room at the front, and they had a better view of the events on stage. “There, purrfect.” He smiled, pleased with himself.

Her heart rate quickened at the thought that it really was just the two of them in a romantic setting, and she was thankful for the distraction Chat provided by pulling out a glass bottle and two flutes from his basket.

“Can I interest you in some sparkling apple juice?” He asked as he started undoing the bottle’s wire cage.

“Yes, please.” She cleared her throat.

She watched him struggle with the cork, and her eyes widened as it flew off with a loud 'pop'. Her reflexes kicked in just in time, allowing her to catch it before it could fall out of the box.

They stared at each other wildly for a couple of minutes, completely frozen but for their hearts beating wildly, as they waited for someone to come bursting through the door to throw them out or arrest them. After what felt like an eternity of nothing happening, the show below continuing without so much as a wrong note, they started sniggering, covering their mouths to make as little noise as possible.

“Nice catch there, Princess.” Chat handed her a glass.

“Thanks.” Maybe being a superhero didn’t help with expressing her feelings, but it had done wonders for her clumsiness, especially when it came to Chat Noir. It was like she could anticipate his movements. Or maybe she just was less clumsy than him.

The interested party cleared his throat, holding out his flute. “To platonic Valentines.”

“Especially the ones planned by you.” Marinette clinked their glasses together, and took a sip before continuing. “This really is something else, Kitty. You’ll have to tell me how much I owe you.” She popped a gougère in her mouth, and almost melted at the delicate taste.

“Absolutely nothing. Your presence is all I need to make it worthwhile.” He smiled softly, making her heart skip a beat.

“Are you sure?” She squinted when he nodded fervently. “Are you secretly rich, or something?”

“Maybe.” It was Chat Noir’s turn to feel his face heat up. This conversation could quickly become a slippery slope. “Anyway, anything I could have done to improve this evening?” He nonchalantly dipped a carrot stick in hummus.

“Well, it’s still early, but I think it’s actually pretty perfect as is.” She escaped his gaze, feeling her conflicted feelings surface. She wasn’t sure that saying that there was nobody else she’d rather be with would be entirely false, yet she felt it wouldn’t be entirely true either.

“You wouldn’t mind me being somebody else, wouldn’t you?” Chat asked gently when her silence stretched for a little too long, as if reading her thoughts.

“I was actually thinking maybe asking if we could be there would be a good idea? Just to avoid your date having to be rushed off for a heart attack…” She started, but decided to backtrack when he gave her a pointed look. “Fine. Maybe. But I promise it’s nothing against you!”

“I know.” He smiled and reached for her hand, squeezing it compassionately. “I’d be lying if I said a little part of me didn’t wish to be with Ladybug right now.”

Multimouse squeezed his hand back as she searched for his eyes. “You know she loves you very much, right?” She couldn’t just say that actually he was in luck because he was with Ladybug tonight, when the person she would’ve liked to be with was stuck somewhere awful.

“Yeah, I do.” He smiled tightly, before clearing his throat. “But anyway, who’s lucky enough to have stolen the heart of Marinette Dupain-Cheng?”

“A… good friend.” She changed her mind in the middle of her reply. “I don’t want to ruin our friendship, though. And I don’t think he likes me that way.”

“You won’t know until you ask him,” he pushed with a supportive smile.

“That’s what my best friend keeps telling me, too,” she sighed. “I can’t bring myself to tell him, though. I’m… I’m afraid of the rejection.”

It was stupid, really. Adrien was so lovely, he’d never hurt her intentionally. But still, the fear remained.

“Yeah, it’s not the best feeling.” Chat winced, and Marinette cursed herself for bringing up the topic. “That being said,” he added when he saw her ready to apologise, “I’d rather Ladybug know how I feel about her, rather than let my feelings eat me up. Plus, she knows I’m an option, if she ever changes her mind.”

He wondered if this would be a good time to tell her that, had he met her before Ladybug, she would probably be the one receiving all of his love declarations. He wasn’t sure it would make her feel better, though. It wasn’t like she liked him like that, and he didn’t want her to feel like she was his second choice. She was just as lovely as Ladybug.

“I think he loves someone else, though,” Marinette muttered in her drink. He’d said as much when they’d gone to the musée Grévin.

“Trust me, I’ve heard that one before.” He winked. “Maybe the reason we get along so well is that we’re both idiots who stay stuck on one person instead of moving on.”

“Maybe.” They smiled at each other.

Marinette mused that maybe it wouldn’t be so difficult to move on if she did it with Chat. They could support each other. Find comfort, and maybe something else, along the way.

The other option would be to move on alone, wearing another mask than the one she was wearing. By the look of things, though, she’d have to be quick about it, in case Chat decided to move on first.

“Anyway,” she cleared her throat for what felt like the thousandth time in the evening, thinking it was getting more and more dangerous to drown into her partner’s eyes. “What’s your perfect date idea?”

Chat paused, and started playing with his glass as he thought.

“Well, if I actually was at liberty of doing anything… I think something like this would suit me just fine. I’m being very self-indulgent, tonight.” His eyes twinkled in the dim lighting. “But, I’d also really like to ride the Tuilerie's Grande Roue; tucked in with a nice blanket, the city at our feet…”

“What a cheeseball,” she chuckled. It sounded very nice, though.

“Aren’t mice supposed to like that?” He smirked.

“I guess they can be tempted, from time to time.” She grabbed a cheese stick and bit into it, maintaining his gaze.

He was the first to break contact, hoping the lighting would conceal his blush. It probably wouldn’t do to kiss Multimouse, as adorable as she looked right now. Or to just pick her up and carry her all the way to the Tuileries to recreate his little daydream.

The silence stretched on, not uncomfortably, but something seemed to be missing nonetheless.

“Hey, the music stopped.” He realised, looking through the bannister. Sure enough, the stage and the orchestra pit were empty, although the lights hadn’t been switched off yet. It gave him an idea.

“Have you ever done ballet before?” He asked, a twinkle in his eye as he stood up and extended a hand to help her up.

“I took classes when I was little, but I stopped quickly. I preferred fixing my friends’ tutus to actually being on stage.” She smiled bashfully.

He chuckled. He could picture that very well. “How would you feel about having the Opéra stage to yourself?”

“I’m not sure I’d be worthy of it, but I do kind of like the idea.”

“Let’s go then!” He extended his baton, and automatically moved to wrap an arm around her waist so they could hop down, but his arm froze mere inches from her body. Maybe Multimouse would want to use her jumping rope, instead of hitching a ride with him.

His friend smiled and moved closer, draping an arm around his shoulders. “Yes, let’s.”

Chat felt a warm feeling spread in his chest as he held her close. He let go of her on stage, and hopped into the orchestra pit to conceal his fluster.

“Does the Etoile of the night have any music preference?” He asked as he sat at the piano. It was conveniently placed so the player could see the performers.

“None at all.” She replied, sliding her foot in a half circle in front of her, testing the ground.

He pondered. He didn’t know any of the Swan Lake pieces, but he supposed Saint-Saëns’ Swan would do just as well.

Multimouse closed her eyes, and let herself be carried by the music. She sailed across the stage, twirling gracefully; Chat’s eyes were glued to her and her hypnotising movements. It wasn’t exactly ballet, but somehow looked a million times more elegant.

He tried to keep the music going for as long as he could, watching her smile blissfully as she danced. He tried to capture the image in his head. She looked so carefree, for once, so beautiful. He was glad to have given her that, and he was grateful for her sweetening his memories of the Opera.

Multimouse wished Chat Noir would never stop playing. His rendition of the piece was so peaceful, so gentle, he made her feel like time had stopped. Like it was just them and the music, with nothing else mattering in the world.

After the third repetition, he let the last note resonate in the room. She didn’t want it to end, though.

“Hey, Chat Noir?” She murmured, not wanting to disrupt the atmosphere.

“Yes?”

“Would you come and dance with me?” She opened her eyes, and Chat Noir stood up automatically. He made his way up to her slowly, never breaking eye contact, as if in a trance.

He held out a hand, which she took, and pulled her close.

They spun around for a bit, lost in each other’s gaze. He made her twirl, making her almost regret she wasn’t wearing a dress, and dipped her.

Both of their hearts went haywire at the proximity.

Chat's eyes flickered to Marinette's lips, and he decided to pull her up before he could do anything stupid. He kept her close as they slow-danced, though.

“Hey, Marinette?” He interrupted the silence after a while.

She hummed in reply, revelling in his proximity.

“Who was it you wanted to spend tonight with?” Chat Noir whispered as they spun cheek to cheek, one of his hands on the small of her back, the other holding hers. “Another superhero?”

“Sort of. I mean, he’s been picked once, although I don’t think you’ve met him properly… Remember Aspik?” She blushed as she felt his breath tickle her ear.

Chat Noir pulled back a little to see her face, revealing his own broad smile. He was so lucky. She liked him. “Really? Adrien Agreste? You're in luck, Princess, it just so happens that I know him quite well... He actually told me he was very disappointed not to spend tonight with you, maybe I could arrange a date for the two of you?”

“I’m not sure I’d want that anymore, though.” She murmured. Her eyes fluttered elegantly and landed on his lips.

It took all of his self-control not to say that, actually, she didn't have to choose, since wherever he went, Adrien and Aspik went, too. Which meant there was none left to prevent him from closing the space between their lips.

What a shame, he smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

He was kissing Marinette. It was nice. Very nice. And she liked him. Adrien Agreste.

Well, Aspik, but that made no difference.

Except it does, he pulled back suddenly as he hit an epiphany.

She looked up at him inquisitively, almost disappointed that the moment was over.

“How do you know about Aspik?” Chat Noir squinted at her. “You weren’t there.”

Crap, she thought. Here I was, thinking I’d been doing so well. She wondered what her next step should be. She could protest. Pretend that she and Ladybug had talked about it together.

She felt the heat rise to her cheeks as she stumbled for words. She seriously considered kissing him again. Maybe it would make him drop the subject.

“Unless… You were.” He said, almost in awe, before letting out a small chuckle. “It would seem like we make a great pair of idiots, my Lady. We managed to fall in love with different sides of the mask.”

“That’s why you went AWOL that day.” Realisation dawned on her face, and he nodded.

They stared at each other, Multimouse’s hands still tangled in his hair, Chat Noir’s hands wrapped around her waist.

“Well, so much for a platonic Valentine’s, then.” He smirked.

“I think that was off the table the moment you kissed me anyway,” she breathed.

“You know I wouldn’t have gone for it had I not felt like it would be right.”

“And you know I love you for it.” She smiled, standing on her tiptoes to press her lips to his. She tried to express how glad she was that everything was turning out like this. She also hoped it would distract him from the fact she’d just blurted out that she loved him.

“Hey Chaton?” She broke off, and he rested his forehead against hers.

“Yep?”

“We haven’t had dessert.”

“Why, my Lady, what a scandalous statement.” He teased as she rolled her eyes.

“How about we end this date the way we both wanted? We could get the macarons, and go sit at the very top of the Grande Roue. There’ll be nobody to stop us.”

“See, this is exactly why I love you.” He kissed her nose and picked her up bridal style, eliciting a small yelp from her. “We just need to make one stop on the way, to get the snake Miraculous. I couldn’t deny you of a date with dear Aspik now, could I?”

She giggled and hung on more tightly to him as he carried her out of the building.

Really, the evening couldn’t have gone better in her dreams.

58 notes · View notes

birlcholtz · 3 years

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Fic Questions

tagged by @the-lincyclopedia thank you!! (fun game: watch my writing get progressively less formal as the post continues. by the end it’s like what is capitalization)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

77!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

434,378 as of this week but it does go up quite regularly

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Okay so in terms of what’s on my AO3, I have Check Please, All For the Game, Sharp Zero, HP, and Miraculous Ladybug. I also have The Forbidden LOTR and PJO Fanfiction (as in, I’ve written it, but it’s never seeing the light of day)

(technically there is a PJO fic out there that has seen the light of day but I orphaned it because I was tired of getting comments asking about when it would be updated)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

and then i met you (and the whole world changed)

for the better

Knew It Was You

come home (to you, to us)

sin bin schematics

All of these are Check Please and all of them except Knew It Was You are part of my Zimbits Airport AU!

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! It’s actually a very recent thing that I’ve started not responding to literally every single comment. Mainly I respond because I love talking about my writing so I am going to seize that opportunity when it comes up

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Oh, DEFINITELY Happy Birthday (HP). Check out that MCD tag ahah. (I say HP but what I really mean is that I write fic about Regulus Black. The Regulus Black-centric tag is my home in the HP fandom)

fun fact: this is a very short fic that I wrote when I was 15 and basically forgot about until recently, and then I reread it recently and went holy shit?? I pulled NO punches????

7. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the wildest one you’ve written?

Not a ton? I think a lot of the fandoms I write for don’t really mesh that well. That being said, the aforementioned orphaned PJO fic is actually a PJO/ML crossover, so there’s that

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Nope! Sometimes I get comments that are just.... really confusing? And a more common thing is that in my AFTG fic I’ll get comments from people who are so focused on Andreil (or the most common ships in general) to the point that like. they miss the point of what I actually wrote. Those are annoying but they’re not hate, they’re very enthusiastic, they’re just... enthusiastic about a story I’m not writing? So it’s a bit frustrating.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No sjflskgjhgf I struggle enough to write kissing, I think if I ever tried to write smut my brain would just shut down. I’ve managed some fade-to-blacks (which are mostly in WIPs that haven’t been posted) but they rely HEAVILY on the powers of implication

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of!

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, although I have occasionally made a brief go of it, not to post, more as an exercise for myself in a language that I’m learning. Anyway I never finish them so I’m gonna say no

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not really? I’ve definitely group brainstormed fics and then written them (the best example of this being Q&A (AFTG), which was the product of a truly off-the-walls group chat), but I tend to do all the actual writing myself. I think the way I write would drive a co-writer up the wall since it’s very disorganized and I don’t write stuff down because ~I know what’s gonna happen I don’t need notes~ and it would infuriate me if I was co-writing with me lmao, so I won’t inflict that on someone else

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

I regularly move through ships I’m SUPER focused on, like it’s kind of a rotation. I will forever and always ship Percabeth though.

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Okay so if you follow me at @birlwrites you may know this already, but i have this ‘warmups’ document that is just like, random ideas i get that i don’t necessarily want to finish but i just want to try out for a bit? and i have a rule that once a ‘warmup’ is more than 10 pages long (so 11+) then it has to be moved to its own document, just to make scrolling through the warmups doc easier. but usually, a warmup only passes 10 pages when i’m INTO it. so i have a bazillion wips i will probably never finish. i complain about this a lot. i have so many wips. i don’t need more.

here’s one: it’s titled ‘interrobang doesn’t know they’re dating’, it’s basically a full outline for a chowder/tango fic and it would be SO cool if i could ever like. get around to writing it. but i am constantly swamped with writing projects, so it’s probably not gonna happen. if anyone’s interested in adopting it though i’d be down for that!! i think it’s a fun idea i just almost def won’t write it myself

15. What are your writing strengths?

SNAPPY DIALOGUE AND SNARKY INTERNAL MONOLOGUE. my writing is COMEDIC, 90% of my ideas are based on a funny snippet that popped into my head, a lot of my worldbuilding is based on ‘hey you know what would be hilarious’ (whenever i explain how larai selects a chosen one in the rainfall universe i start laughing, which is a STARK contrast to how it plays out on the page), i love writing funny stuff!!

also i think my writing sounds nice, a lot of the time i pick words/syntax based on sound and flow so there’s that too. and i have lots of ideas! i don’t struggle much with writer’s block because a) i have a lot of strategies to deal with it and b) i have a lot of ideas to help get around it/work with it

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

PHYSICAL INTIMACY LMAO, sometimes in my end notes on shippy fics you can see me complaining ‘it took me literally 4 hours to write that very brief kiss’. also sometimes the humor in my writing gets in the way a bit, i have to very consciously put it away so characters can actually have serious, genuine emotions. also i don’t like outlining and i tend not to get betas for fanfiction so like..... i do my best continuity-wise but having really tightly plotted stories is just not my focus lol. (and i do put more effort into that for original stuff, it’s just fic where i kind of go wild)

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

If the reader’s supposed to know what it means, then writing it in another language is iffy for me. (stuff like terms of endearment which come up a lot in fic are fine imo, you can just put a note in to translate them and your reader will prob remember)

If the pov character isn’t supposed to understand it, and it doesn’t matter if the reader understands it, then ig it’s fine? but unless you already speak the other language (and i am NOT confident in my ability to translate english into literally any other language), then i think it’s way easier to just note that a character’s speaking x language and provide tone indicators, body language cues, etc. so the reader understands as much as the pov character.

That being said there are def times when it’s used super effectively--the dialogue in spanish in cemetery boys comes to mind! that’s not fanfic but it’s still creative writing so w/e

so i guess it comes down to: does actually writing out the dialogue in the other language serve a purpose? if it doesn’t, then you’re filling up the screen with words your reader isn’t likely to understand, which i try to avoid doing

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

so the first fandom i actually *wrote* for was PJO, but i distinctly remember creating warrior cats OCs when i was little. i never actually did anything w them but i had them and my favorite was a riverclan warrior named shellstream i remember this VIVIDLY

19. What’s your favorite fic you’ve ever written?

oh boy. okay so this is hard because i feel like i’m continuously improving as a writer. like in the sense that my writing is getting closer and closer to really matching my own taste? my favorites tend to always be my current projects as a result. and i do really love set those ghosts alight (HP) but it feels a little like cheating to say a fic i haven’t even finished writing yet. even though it’s def not cheating, that’s just the direction my brain is taking it.

i’m gonna say and then what? (OMGCP) because i’m super proud of the prose (especially ch 2 aka the first actual prose chapter), survived by (HP) for SUCCESSFULLY WRITING AN EMOTION and making readers cry :), and Q&A (AFTG) because i’m literally the one who wrote it and yet it still makes me wheeze. those are all fics i reread occasionally, because i’m big enough to admit i enjoy rereading my old stuff! (just like. to a point. some of my old stuff i can’t look at anymore because all the mistakes stick out to me like they have spotlights shining directly on them)

this was fun!! i’m gonna do an open tag because i just started my fall semester and brain tired. i know sometimes people see open tags and assume the op didn’t really mean it but I MEAN IT, PLEASE DO THIS AND TAG ME!!!!! YES YOU READING THIS

#tag games #long post #birl talks

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silverwhiteraven · 3 years

Text

Wings of Broken White - Ch. 4

Tag List: @marichatmay

[ Posted on Ao3 ] [ Chapter 1 ] [ Chapter 3 ] [ Chapter 5 ]

[ Summary: Alya takes Marinette somewhere, and it turns cute. ]

Alya decided that Marinette wasn’t getting out enough despite the fact that they shouldn't be going anywhere when it was still late winter.

“Girl, you hardly go anywhere anyways unless it’s for someone else!” Alya argues as she dragged a snugly bundled Marinette down snow and salt dusted sidewalks.

“Hey, I went to the school’s Valentine’s party last month, that should count for something!”

Allya scoffed at the weak defense. “You were, like, a ninth-wheel, Marinette. Rose and Juleka, Nathaniel and Marc, Mylène and Ivan, Nino and I, we were the wheels on that bus. You on the other hand…” She trailed off to emphasize her point.

Marinette scoffed. “I think you missed a set of wheels, Als. Max and Kim were there. Chloé and Adrien showed up, too.”

“Max was there sporting an Aro-pride flag pin and keeping Kim company,” Alya shot back. “They were just being single-wheels, together. And Adrien, with Chloé? More like she had kidnapped him to a secondary location! Adrien clearly wasn't the one to decide to show up. And remember the color coded cups? He was using the one for the ‘Single, just here to support my friends’ category. Just like Max, just like you. So my point still stands: You need to get out more often, just for yourself.”

Marinette sighed, relenting. “Fine, but next time, I get to decide where I go, so no more surprise trips.”

“Yesss,” Alya pumped her fist in the air victoriously, her wings spreading out, too. Marinette laughed and pushed her hand back down to her side while she dodged out of the way of one fairly the overexcited wing.

“Anyways, where are we going? You said something about, ‘You’re going to love it, my treat!’” Marinette quoted in an exaggerated mimic of Alya’s voice, causing both girls to burst into giggles.

“Just a café,” Alya says coyly, almost teasingly. It made Marinette squint in suspicion.

“It wouldn’t happen to be the same café you mentioned two weeks ago on the Ladyblog, right? The one they planned to theme after Paris’s new heroes?” Marinette asked, teasing her friend right back with her confident guess.

“You remembered! Yep, that’s the place! And it’s not just any regular themed café, either. It’s a cat café,”Alya revealed dramatically, while spreading her wings again to wrap them both in a mock cocoon of unnecessary but playful secrecy. Marinette balked.

“Wait, so you’re basically taking me to a ‘Chat Blanc emphasis-on-the-Chat’ Café?”

Alya snorted, pulling her wings back. “Yes, but it’s actually called ‘Hero Rescue Café’. They work together with the animal shelters around Paris, most of the cats they have are available for adoption. The profits are even donated back to those shelters to help keep the animals cared for. Isn’t that cool?”

“Mhm,” Marinette nodded along as Alya continued to rave excitedly and lead the way to their destination. I wonder if they’ll have any cats that look like Blanc? Probably not. Blue-eyed white cats were already popular, and no doubt are even more so now. Not that I could adopt a cat anyways, but it’s a niche thought. Wait, why is it a nice thought? It’s not like I like Chat Blanc or anything, no way! I don’t do crushes! Oh, who am I kidding? Marinette groaned in defeat to her own thoughts, making Alya stop talking and look at her.

“Something wrong, Marinette?”

“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you, I was just thinking about how sad I’m going to be if I see a cat I really want to keep but can’t?”

Alya nodded in acceptance of the awkward excuse, and Marinette sighed in relief. I can never tell her about my crush- I’m scared to find out what kind of match-maker she would try to be. Or even worse, tell me I have no chance! I mean, I know I have no chance, but still, ow. Would Ladybug have a chance? Wait, she and I are the same person! If I don’t have a chance, neither does Ladybug! Hold on, why am I even thinking about this!?

“We’re here~!” Alya announced, breaking Marinette free once more from her internal chaos.

“Is that a cat in the window? There’s a cat in the window!” Marinette let herself get distracted by the café and Alya laughed.

“Duh there's a cat in the window, it’s a cat café, what else would be in the window?” She teased, but Marinette only laughed.

“Well I know that, but I can still be excited over a cat, can’t I?”

“Save it for when we go inside,” Alya winked, opening the door for them both. There was a second set of doors past the first, and Marinette realized that they did the smart thing and made an enclosed entryway.

“Oh, this is to keep the cats from dashing outside, like at a dog park,” she mused, making Alya chuckle.

“Yeah, and gives people a fur-free place to hang up their coats. Oh, look!” She added excitedly, pointing to the opposite wall from the hanger rod. There was something that almost looked like a long shawl or a barber cape. Marinette recognized it easily. “They have wing-covers for patrons to borrow, in case we don’t want the cat’s playing with our feathers. That’s so thoughtful. They really went all-out on this place.”

Marinette smiled and nodded in agreement as she slid off her jacket and hung it up. “It really is sweet of them. Are you going to use one?” Alya shook her head.

“Nope. My wing’s are tough, I can handle a few clingy kitties,” she declared with a proud smile, and Marinette only chuckled as she opened the next set of doors for them both.

Unsurprisingly, Marinette enjoyed the café. She spent a lot of time admiring their logo that was embedded in the resin coating of their tables. The stylized lettering was inspired by some of the animal-themed Akumas. Then the entire name was encircled by the white belt of Chat Blanc and the red and black yo-yo of Ladybug. Symbolic of two heroes saving those in need. They really thought this out. Maybe Ladybug should show her respect here some time.

Surprisingly, the café’s cats also enjoyed Marinette. Alya was convinced they had met every single cat in the building before they even got their drinks. Marinette was just embarrassed and spent a lot of time spreading her attention between each feline before shooing them all off towards other guests. One of the cats, sleek black with yellow-flecked green eyes, was too stubborn to leave, so she let him claim her lap indefinitely.

But, completely unbelievably, the café got a surprise guest. Chat Blanc himself showed up out of the blue. Alya had spotted him running across a rooftop across the street, and proceeded to book it out the door, fly after him, and then shamelessly ask to take a photo of him with the cats that were inside the café inspired by him and his partner. He was stunned at first, but agreed, soon enough beaming happily as he surrounded himself with cats.

“Is he crying?” Marinette whispered to Alya as she recorded the feline hero sitting on the floor with at least five different cats climbing his back, shoulders, and into his lap.

“The happiest tears I’ve ever seen,” Alya confirmed.

Once Alya was satisfied she had taken enough pictures and video footage for the blog, she turned her focus to getting a few personal memorabilias.

“Mari! Come here! Take a pic of me with Chat, please? I want something for my desktop background, this would be perfect!”

Marinette agreed, to the annoyance of the cat in her lap. She managed to get the photo, a cute scene of Alya, her nerdy school friend, and Chat Blanc, her dorky friend-but-only-because-she’s-secretly-Ladybug, doing a silly pose with their arms linked, wings flared out, and several cats surrounding them.

She gave a thumbs up, and Alya whooped, standing to take back the phone. Marinette stepped forward, only for the clingy black cat from earlier to entangle himself with her ankles.

With a squawk, she went tumbling, but was deftly caught in the arms of Chat before she could meet an untimely end via a floor of cats.

Marinette flushed scarlet. Chat Blanc smiled shyly. The black cat jumped up on them, getting his lap-seat back. Alya, of course, got another photo.

All three of them managed to laugh it off, but not without Alya demanding another picture of the two and the cats before she would let them stand up.

“Marinette, I’m texting you copies to keep for yourself. Sorry, Chat, I’d send you some but-”

“No worries,” he chuckled and rubbed his neck, waving her concern away with his other hand. “Secret identity means secret number. You’ll be using your own pictures on your computer, though, right? Consider me honored by that,” he bowed dramatically and the two laughed as he straightened. “And Marinette, I’d be more than happy to let you do the same if you wanted, too,” he played the comment off with a wink.

“Time for me to go,” Chat Blanc continued before either girl could respond. “Chat out!”

They watched him dash out the doors and off over the rooftops.

“Girl...Did he just flirt with you?” Alya looked at Marinette, awestruck.

“What? No! There’s no way! Nope!” Marinette flustered and started walking out in a feeble attempt to escape the accusation.

“Uh-huh, because feeling ‘honored’ to be a screensaver for one girl and being ‘happy’ in case it were to happen by a second girl, is totally the same thing,” Alya followed after, determined to tease the life out of Marinette.

“Yes, exactly! Completely the same! It would have just been awkward to say the same line twice, so he just reworded himself, that's all! He was just giving permission to use his picture for personal use, nothing more, nope!”

Alya laughed before winking playfully. “Yeah, girl, sure. That was all, nothing more, nothing less. Whatever you say.”

“Thank you,” Marinette nodded in finality, ignoring the teasing sarcasm from her friend.

Later that day, Marinette saved one of the café photos as her phone’s background, making sure to put a completely different photo as her lockscreen to avoid any further notice or teasing about her and Chat Blanc.

#marichatmay2021 #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #ml wing au #chat blanc #wing-binding #willowbendt

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p-artsypants · 4 years

Text

Longest Night (38) Disobeying

So, I mentioned this on my Tumblr, but I guess some people didn’t see it, and left some pretty rude comments on the last chapter. While the world is in quarantine, that doesn’t mean I have tons of free time. I am working full-time remotely, and even more hours than normal. So don’t demand more of me because ‘I have nothing better to do’. Trust me, I’d love to write more.

For those of you who are always very patient and kind: Thank you, my little angels. I write for you and you only.

Ao3 | FF.net

—

“How are you today, Adrien?” Dr. Boucher asked.

‘Much better!’ Past Adrien would have said, considering he was off the ventilator. But today’s Adrien was much less enthused. He just laid there, staring at the doctor, before flicking his gaze to stare at the wall.

“The good news is, you can drink as much water as you’d like. We’d actually prefer if you drink as much as you can.” The doctor set the styrofoam cup down on the side table.

To Gabriel’s dismay, this also didn’t get a response from the boy. Adrien was listless, hollow, and a dull husk of his old vibrant self.

“So, since we’ve got you off the ventilator, I’m going to check something. We’ll sit you up, and then we’re going to perform a Laryngoscopy on you.”

Adrien at least looked at the doctor at this point.

“It’s a pretty painless procedure. From what I observed from the stream, I believe you may have developed vocal nodules. They’re little calluses that form on the vocal cords and cause the voice to became horse and raspy, as well as neck pain and exhaustion. Though I’m sure you’re exhausted for other reasons too.” He grinned. “So what we’ll do is, we’re going to fish a small camera in your nose down the back of your throat to look at the vocal cords. We’ll keep you awake for it. If you do have vocal nodules, we can perform surgery on them, depending on how big they are. Does that sound okay?”

Adrien didn’t answer. They were going to do whatever to him anyway, why would he have to consent to anything?

“Let’s just take a look first and see what we can do.”

Adrien really was a model patient. He did exactly as he was told during the exam, and even made some noise to move his vocal cords.

“Yep,” said the doctor. “He’s got a pair of matching ones. Big. These will have to be removed before he’s able to talk normally again.”

“Is that why he’s not talking now?”

“Could be. They are painful. But it can also be a psychological problem. Only Adrien has the answer. I’m sure he’ll communicate eventually, though patience is the best medicine for him right now.”

Adrien rolled his eyes at the conversation. Gabriel was never known for his patience before, especially when it came to him. Why would he start now?

Dr. Boucher fished the endoscope out, and let Adrien relax. “Great job, Adrien. That didn’t hurt too bad, did it?”

He shook his head.

“That’s a good boy.” He rubbed his hair.

The rest of the day passed slowly and in boredom. There was no TV in his room, and Gabriel hadn’t let him have a phone or tablet to look online. So he spent his time passing in and out of restless sleep.

The clock on the wall showed it to be around seven when Gabriel stood and stretched. “Son,” he stated, waking him a little more. “I’m going to go home tonight. I’m really happy with the progress you’re making, and I’m confident enough I can leave you in the doctors care until I return in the morning.”

He could have just left. Either way, Adrien didn’t really care.

Gabriel held the ring up in front of him, pinching it between his fingers. “Now, I’m going to leave this with you. Because it rightfully belongs to you. But you have to promise me you won’t use it.”

Adrien reached for it.

But Gabriel pulled it away. “Promise me.”

With a sigh, Adrien nodded, and held out his hand patiently.

Considering it good enough, Gabriel dropped the ring back into his hand.

“Ahhhhhhh!” Plagg stretched from where he had been sleeping on Adrien’s stomach. “It’s good to be back where I belong!”

“You can feel through the ring?” Gabriel asked, astonished.

“It’s a spiritual thing,” the cat drawled, nuzzling against Adrien’s hand. “You wouldn’t understand.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “No, I suppose not. Adrien, I’ll bring you some pajamas in the morning so you can change out of the gown.”

Adrien didn’t bother responding. Instead, he slid the ring on his finger, watching as it shrank to adapt to the weight loss.

He hadn’t noticed how naked he felt without the ring on. But having it back felt like a piece of him was falling back into place.

Just right.

Gently, he rubbed his thumb over the band and just savored the feeling of having control back in his hands. He closed his eyes, and just reveled.

Plagg watched this with concern and a touch of curiosity as the hours passed. Adrien’s eyes twitched, and his brow creased in concentration. He remained this way long after the nurse came and turned off the light to sleep.

He wasn’t just admiring the feeling of the ring, he was thinking.

But the moment Plagg realized what he was thinking about, by then it was too late.

“Kid, you prom—!” Was all he could say before being sucked into the ring.

Like a drug addict finally getting a fix after being sober for days on end, the power rushed over Adrien and filled him with strength and adrenaline. The pain waned, and his focus sharped razor sharp. All his cords and tubes became disconnected and alarms started blaring.

He flung the sheets off of him, and rolled onto the floor, lacking the finesse to slide and stand. The police standing guard were already coming in the room, begging him to drop his transformation.

But Chat Noir refused, withdrawing his baton from behind his back. He let the staff do the work, extending it to hit one man in the balls, and the other in the jaw. Then, with a little work, he was up on his feet and staggering passed the guards.

Though gifted with superhuman strength, his body wasn’t used to moving. He shuffled and wobbled down the hall, frustrated with his own body for not working properly.

“Chat Noir?” A nurse asked in horror.

He hissed at her.

“Chat Noir!” She shrieked. “Wait!” Then she bit her tongue as she remembered training. She held her hands out at her sides, palm up. “Hey, it’s okay. Relax. What do you need? What can I do to help you?”

He shrieked at her, his voice cracking painfully.

“My name is Sam, okay Adrien?” She took a careful step forward as several staff members approached quietly from behind, intent on subduing him. “Do you want to see Ladybug? We can make that happen, okay? Let’s just get you a wheelchair, and you can transform—“

He shook his head violently. He was done waiting. ‘Oh you’ll see her soon’ they said ‘just wait a little longer’ they said. Well, he waited. And no one was letting him see her. He was sick of it. He extended the baton to knock her in the stomach.

“Move!” Someone shouted from behind, before a pair of arms hooked under his arms and pulled backwards. He was pulled off balance, but managed to stomp the person’s toes to let him go.

“Someone prepare 2 mg of lorazepam, we’re going to need to administer it the second we subdue him!”

But Chat wasn’t about to let that happen. He broke into a run, the best he could, and took off down the hall.

He had no idea where he was going, but looked into every room he passed, catching the attention of a lot of staff members.

It became a hospital wide game of tag.

Chat really didn’t want to hurt anyone, but if they were standing in his way, he was using force. At one point, he had gotten pinned by two robust men while a female nurse prepared to administer the sedative. He thrashed wildly, getting one arm free to scratch the woman in the face. One of the men attempted to recover the dropped syringe, only to loosen his hold on Chat, who then wriggled himself free and threw the other man off of him.

“Someone get John! He plays flag football on the weekends!”

“John’s off today!”

“Son of a bitch!”

As the chase went on, Chat grew more and more frantic and feral. He hissed at patients and staff alike, his eyes darting out and around, trying desperately to find a clue to his lady.

Then a little mousey nurse stood in front of him at the end of the hall. She looked shocked to see him barreling towards her, and froze like a deer in the headlights.

If Chat had to run her over, so be it. He wasn’t stopping.

Coming out of her shock, the little nurse held up her hands and shouted at him. “Third floor, room 308!”

As he came upon her, he grasped her by the shoulders and spun her out of the way, unharmed.

Just beyond her were the elevators, and he sprinted in one as the door was closing.

Inside, there was already a passenger, an old man with a bouquet of flowers. “Would you mind hitting the button for the fifth floor? My eyes aren’t what they used to be.”

As Chat heaved a breath from his sprint, he looked curiously at the man, and then hit the button as the man asked, as well as his own.

At the third floor, he was off in a sprint again. Counting down the room numbers until he reached the end of the hall. The police officers standing guard should have been a clear sign.

“Chat Noir, we can’t let you in.” One said firmly.

He hissed in response.

“Did you say Chat Noir?” Marinette’s sweet voice called from inside the room.

His ears dropped and his eyes dilated. Chat trembled and walked forward, ignoring the protests of the officers. Vaguely, he heard Tom talking to them, reasoning with them to leave him be.

But none of that mattered now, because she was here. His lady.

Like seeing the sun finally rise, or taking the first breath of clean air, Chat felt goosebumps settle down his spine as his body relaxed. A hand settled on his back to keep him steady, but his legs still wobbled.

She was so beautiful. Unbathed, bruised, and crusty, but still so beautiful. Those bluebell eyes that remained unchanged, and bored into him with a passion. It set the tips of his fingers tingling with the ache to have her, to touch her.

It was only a second as Marinette digested what she was seeing as real, before she flung her sheets off and hurried to him.

Her steps were weak and wobbly, and she almost fell. But she reached him, just as he started to slide to the floor. Her arms hooked under his and they dropped to the ground.

“Kitty…” she breathed.

In a voice so quiet it was barely audible, Adrien released his transformation. Once the strength was gone, he hissed in pain, and curled closer to her.

“Rebuke him,” Plagg huffed. “He promised he wouldn’t transform, and the second he was clear, he went ahead and did it.”

Marinette raised a hand to his head and brushed back his bangs back to kiss him. “My sweet, reckless kitty.”

He closed his eyes, exhausted from his excursion. But now he could rest, because he was with her.

Marinette leaned her forehead against his, soaking in his warmth. Oh how she missed him. His touch filled her soul with a quiet calmness she hadn’t felt since that final night in the catacombs. Back then, she was holding him as he was dying, but now?

Now he was living. And it felt so right.

There was a clamor at the door as several staff members finally caught up to him.

“He just wants to be with Marinette,” Tom explained. “We can’t separate them.”

“Did someone tell Dr. Boucher Adrien escaped?”

“He went home for the night, but I’ll call him.”

Now that no one was trying to tackle him and tranquilize him, Adrien actually allowed a smile to grace his face.

“That can’t be comfortable down there,” said Tom, knelling. “Let’s get you kiddos on the bed, hm?”

Adrien didn’t fight the man. He was right, it was extremely uncomfortable on the floor.

Tom and another nurse helped them stand, and then sit on the bed, only for Adrien to lean on Marinette. In turn, she raked her nails over his scalp, eliciting a purr from his chest.

The doctor who had left to make the call to Dr. Boucher returned. “Dr. Boucher will be back in a little bit. But he said it’s best if we move Adrien’s bed up here.”

“Is he stable enough for that?”

“Doesn’t matter if he’s going to run away every chance he gets. Dr. Boucher says it’ll be alright since he’s off of a ventilator now. He and Marinette have a team assigned to them specifically anyways.” The doctor came to Adrien and touched his knee. “Alright, you got what you wanted. You get to stay with Ladybug. But please, on behalf of the staff here, Don’t. Do that. Again.”

He rolled his eyes, but understood.

“Seriously Mr. Agreste,” The doctor continued. “Protocol demands that if patients show excessive violence towards staff, we are to put them in seclusion. I don’t want to do that to you. Especially after everything you’ve been through. So this is the only warning I’m giving you.”

Oh, seclusion didn’t sound fun. So he nodded in agreement.

“Good. I have to get back to my patients, but your team will be bringing the bed and equipment up soon. Please try not to move.” He sighed, and left the room.

Tom rubbed Adrien’s head. “You crazy kid.” There was no rebuking, no scolding or judgement, though he deserved it. Tom just didn’t see the point in it.

Before too long, a pair of nurses moved his bed into the room, moving Marinette over to make room. Then they moved Adrien into bed. “Don’t get too comfortable,” said one. “Dr. Boucher is going to need to examine you, and you’ll probably have your drains and catheter replaced.”

Adrien grunted in protest.

They had him lean on his side to check his stitches all the way down his back to his calves. “Despite your little stunt, your sutures look to be in good shape. I don’t see any pulls or tears.”

Finally, Dr. Boucher arrived, dressed in casual clothes. “Adrien, you teleported!”

Adrien hunched his shoulders slightly in shame.

“Dr. Kranken told me he gave you a thorough scolding, so I’ll skip that part. Instead, I’ll just check your wounds and make sure you didn’t add any time to your recovery.”

“His stitches look good,” said a nurse.

“Good, good. That’s the thing we are most concerned about.” He studied the labyrinth of stitches that made up Adrien’s back, prodding and poking as he went. “Sorry, I know this is so uncomfortable. But loose stitches can mean infection and infection with a skin graft like this can lead to necrosis or MRSA.”

“What’s that?” Asked Marinette.

“Necrosis is dead flesh. When the graft has poor blood supply, the skin will turn black and fall off. MRSA is a flesh eating bacteria, which can then lead to necrosis. So it’s very very important that you both follow our instructions.” Then he said a little quieter. “And stop freaking transforming into superheroes.”

Okay, the threat of turning into a zombie with flesh eating bacteria was a little more persuading than just “it’s not good for you.”

“Let’s see here...when you transformed, you forced your drains out, so that has to all be redone. And...” he held his arm out, inspecting the inside of his elbow. “And removing the IV the way you did blew out the vein. So we’ll have to wait until it heals before we can insert another one in this arm.” He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration and a little in exhaustion. “Alright, we’re going to get you settled in here. Please promise me you’re not going to pull anymore stunts, huh? At least not tonight. My wife and son had to pause the movie.”

Adrien looked over to Marinette meaningfully, and then back to the doctor.

“I’ll make sure everyone knows not to move you from this room.” Then he looked at Marinette. “How are you feeling, darling? Anything new? Any symptoms that we talked about?”

“I have another headache. It’s not that bad though.”

“The nurse gave her some ibuprofen at 6:00.” Sabine added.

Dr. Boucher checked his watch. “I’ll let them know you can have some more in an hour. Think you can last that long?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Good,” he breathed. “Then Adrien, let’s get you some tubes.”

Adrien growled.

—

In the morning, Gabriel Agreste arrived at the hospital with a duffel bag over his arm. As he went on his way to ICU, he was stopped by a receptionist.

“Oh, Mr. Agreste?”

He halted, “yes?”

“Adrien was moved to Marinette’s room last night.”

“Last night? I thought he was still a few days away from being moved?”

“He was, but there was...an incident last night.”

Gabriel heaved a disappointed sigh, knowing exactly what happened. “Thank you,” he muttered out as he passed.

Upstairs, Gabriel stormed into the room, to find his son half awake, and looking at Marinette.

Then his gaze shifted to his father.

He had the gaul to look sheepish.

“I’m disappointed in you.” Gabriel shook his head. “You promised me.”

Adrien looked away, towards Marinette. Perhaps for reassurance.

“How am I suppose to trust you, if the first thing you do is disobey me?”

“Gabriel,” Sabine snapped. “He’s already been chastised. He knows what he did was wrong.”

“Does he? Does he know that he was being selfish and stupid?”

“You can’t get mad at him for being irrational.” Sabine stated, calm as she could.

“Irrational? My son doesn’t do irrational! Dramatic, yes. Emotional, yes. But not irrational. He knows better. And he knows how his behavior reflects on me.”

Sabine balled up a fist. “Have you ever seen Bambi?”

“What? What does that have to do with this?”

“Have you seen it?” Her voice took an edge.

“Yes?”

“Do you remember the little bunny? Thumper?”

“What about him?”

“He has this line: ‘If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.’”

He huffed. “Excuse me? Are you trying to use the philosophy of a child’s movie on me?”

“If you insist on acting like a child, then yes. I will.”

Adrien and Marinette watched with concern as the argument escalated, the insults being tossed back and forth like a volley at a tennis match.

“Childish? Trying to raise my child is childish?! Sabine, he’s dangerous! To himself and other people!”

“That’s a real joke coming from you.”

“As if I had anything to do with this!”

“Keep running your mouth, and I’ll tell them what you did!” Her voice escalated. “And trust!? Really?! You can’t trust him, but you expect him to trust you!?”

He sneered at her. “Sabine, I didn’t say a word when your child recklessly transformed. I’m not trying to tell you how to raise your child, so don’t try to tell me how to raise mine!”

Tom stood from where he was sitting. Not a man to be prone to a temper unless it had to do with his daughter, he had let his wife duke it out with Gabriel. But this left him alone to notice the first of the tears.

He hurried over to Adrien, and very carefully embraced him into a hug.

“What are you doing?! Don’t touch him!”

Tom ignored him and petted the top of Adrien’s head. “Hey son, it’s okay. It’s okay, he’s just scared. It’s okay.”

Son.

Adrien relaxed into Tom’s hold, feeling safe and secure.

“Don’t coddle him! This behavior is appalling!”

“That’s enough.” Plagg’s voice boomed, shaking the room with a slight tremor. Everyone went silent as the kwami approached Gabriel. “You took five steps forward and six steps back, you low life.”

“Now you’re going to lecture me too?”

“No, Gabriel. I don’t lecture. I threaten. I will constantly give you second chances, only for Adrien’s benefit. But if you keep treating him like this, getting rid of you will be to his benefit. Do I make myself clear?”

Gabriel breathed slowly. “I understand.”

“Gabriel,” Sabine spoke firmly, but more gentle than she just had. “Don’t you remember what Dr. Boucher said? We won’t recognize our children. Maybe irrational is what Adrien is now. You need to learn that, and accept it. The sooner you do, the sooner that will stop.”

“Salo talked to him like that,” Marinette spoke. Her hands fisted the blankets. “She belittled us. Told us we were a disappointment. That we were wrong. We were bad.”

She swallowed harshly, tears pricking at her eyes. “If…if the first decisions we were able to make for ourselves were bad…maybe she was right.”

“Oh honey no…” Sabine breathed.

“Gabriel, you shit-stain, you tell them right this instant that didn’t mean it!” Plagg yowled.

Gabriel shook his head and came to stand between the two beds. He reached out both hands to touch them. “I’m sorry.”

Plagg was kind of speechless. He didn’t think that would actually work.

“I gave Adrien his ring back. I knew he wouldn’t be able to handle the temptation…I’m more disappointed in myself for being optimistic.”

Marinette snapped her hand away from him. “Only you could make an apology sound so condescending.”

He pinched his nose. “You know what? I think I’m just going to leave. I’ll listen to that rabbit and keep my mouth shut. Apparently, I’m the bad guy here.”

“You are.” Sabine reminded. “So get it together.”

Gabriel dropped the duffle bag onto a chair and left, taking the coldness of the room with him.

#miraculous #miraculous ladybug #ml #chat noir #ladybug #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #adrinette #adrienette #gabriel agreste #fanfiction #longest night

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kasienda · 4 years

Text

An Open Secret - Chapter Four

Alright @ladybuginettes! It’s finally finished. It’s got a ton of Adrien bonding with everyone. And I thank you for your patience. And I hope you and yours are doing well and are healthy.

Chapter 1: A Revelation

Chapter 2: The New Normal

Chapter 3: Advice

Chapter 4: In the Rain

Ladybug and Chat Noir were out for a normal patrol. These mundane patrols had always been Adrien’s favorite part of his week. Vaulting over rooftops with no expectations to meet or city to save felt liberating. He felt so free - like he could fly. When he shot upwards with a press of his staff, for a second he felt like he was. The patrols were also time he spent with Ladybug without fearing for her life. Time where they could just hangout, or play a game of tag. But now, they were even better. Now, the barriers and secrets between them had almost faded away. And that brought a whole new level of freedom because he could be himself. Only himself, and that was enough.

The sky had been overcast, but the weather report had promised it wouldn’t rain. They were halfway across the Parisian skyline when that prediction proved completely false. And it wasn’t a light drizzle that Chat Noir could push himself through. In one moment, the air had been clear, and the next, the sky had opened and a deluge poured down around them like a waterfall. His feline ears flattened against his now soaked blond hair in displeasure. While transformed, few things were worse than rain. He cursed the blasted feline traits that had a tendency to bleed over into his very human life.

Ladybug’s laughter hit him from behind. Usually, he loved the sound, but at the moment it was entirely at his expense. He turned a grumpy frown in her direction.

“It’ll be okay, kitty,” she reassured, and then pointed at the tall building up ahead. “Over there. Follow me?” He nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Anything he had to say would probably come out as a hiss in this atrocious weather.

She leapt away, swinging on her yoyo and he was quick to follow her path. He settled down next to her with their backs pressed up against a cold stucco wall under a third story rafter. It was a good spot. They had an expansive view of the city before them, but the roof sloped slightly away so the area stayed dry. Better yet, it was secluded between two other taller buildings without windows. So hopefully, others couldn’t see them well from the street or from other windows.

“Lucky charm,” she whispered. A red and black towel fell into her hands and she offered it to him with a smile. “Tikki’s being surprisingly straightforward for once,” he commented.

“I have found that outside of battle, the charm is usually more straightforward.” “That must be nice,” he muttered as he rubbed the towel through his hair. Cataclysm had few practical applications in his opinion, though Plagg insisted he just wasn’t being creative enough.

With the help of the towel, Chat Noir was able to get dry enough that he lost the desire to arch and bristle. He kept at it until Ladybug dropped down to one spot anyway. At that time, he handed her back the towel and closed his eyes. He felt the buzz of her transformation drop and saw the flash of pink that said her transformation was down through his eyelids. He resented the need to keep his eyes closed, but Tikki was there.

“Hello Chat Noir,” the high-pitched voice greeted. “Hi Tikki,” he said, still keeping his eyes closed. “I’m sorry you got caught in this storm, Chat Noir,” the kwami said with genuine sympathy. “Perhaps your luck has been too good lately, and as the holder of the black cat you needed some bad luck to balance things out.” “I have felt pretty lucky lately,” the part time superhero admitted. And if the cost of that was getting caught out in the rain, he would take on a hundred thunderstorms.

“I’m so glad! You deserve it as you’ve been very sweet to my chosen these past few weeks. She hasn’t been able to talk about anything else!”

“Tikki!” Marinette hissed.

Adrien laughed. It was nice to know that Plagg wasn’t the only kwami to give his chosen grief.

“I’m flattered.”

“I will give her back to you so you can open your eyes. Please tell Plagg that I say hello.” “I’m sure he’ll be delighted.”

“Not that he’ll admit it!” Tikki shot back.

Adrien smiled. It was clear that Tikki and Plagg knew each other well even though he had never actually seen them interact. The buzz along his skin told him Marinette was transforming back. “Okay, you can open your eyes again. Thank you for your patience.” “Anytime.” He opened his eyes to take in her smile.

Then she turned towards the rain. He followed her line of sight. Pounding water droplets hit the rooftops and ground with such force they bounced upwards again, softening the Parisian skyline. Even the street lamps had a glowing aura about them.

He leaned his head back on the cold rough surface of the wall behind them and let his eyes fall closed. The rain was rhythmic and soothing like a cat’s purr. He sighed in contentment. Adrien could appreciate the precipitation more when it wasn’t falling on him and when he was sitting side by side with his lady.

He opened his eyes and glanced towards Ladybug. She stared out with a small satisfied smile on her face. Flickering lights from the street were reflected on the rain drops that still sat on her cheeks. She hadn’t used the towel herself, determined to give him all the time her miraculous would allow.

She had never looked so gorgeous. And he didn’t mean physically, though she was that too. She was just a beautiful human being. One that found beauty in everything, even the rain. He tried to stamp out his line of thinking. She knew how he felt, and nothing had happened. She probably was still in love with whoever it was she had a crush on. He needed to get over her before he ruined everything between them. She glanced at him and her smile widened. He smiled back feeling completely at peace. Even if they were never together, he got to share this moment with her. No one else could have patrols or flying over the city with her. Chat Noir would always be special to her, and he was honestly happier than he had ever been in his life since they figured each other out.

This, whatever this now was, wasn’t all he wanted, but it was enough. “I love the rain,” Ladybug commented, breaking the silence. He looked at her in surprise. He hadn’t known that before. Ladybug had never mentioned it.

“I fell in love in the rain.”

Keep Reading on Ao3 Keep Reading on FF.net

Oh.

If Adrien could have curled up and disappeared into his cat suit, he would have. He had always wanted to know the mystery of the boy she had a crush on, but now, he didn’t. No doubt, he’d at least know this idiot boy. And he didn’t want any jealousy to sour his relationship with Marinette on either side of the mask.

“Tell me about it?” he asked like a masochist that couldn’t help himself.

She smiled fondly into the torrents of rain, as if she was remembering something. “Initially, I didn’t like him at all. I thought he had set up a prank trying to embarrass me. I thought he was just like another classmate I knew who had tormented me for years. I yelled at him and never gave him the chance to explain.” Who could she be talking about? That hardly narrowed down the list at all. He had witnessed firsthand that Marinette had delivered the axe down onto several of their peers when she felt they had done wrong to her or to those she loved.

“And then the next day after school, he apologized,” she continued. “Seems like the right thing to do if he tried to embarrass you.”

“See, that’s just it. He hadn’t tried to embarrass me. I just thought that he had. He had actually been trying to undo the prank that was being played on me.” She turned to him then and stared right at him. “So, the first day I met him, he had been trying to protect me even though he didn’t know me, and I yelled at him for it.

Adrien took in every impassioned word because it was important to her, and therefore it had to be important to him no matter how painful.

“And then,” she continued, “he apologized for upsetting me, for giving me the wrong impression. I remember being struck by the complete sincerity in his eyes. I don’t think I have ever met someone so genuine before or since. “And then, before I could accept his apology, he offered me his umbrella so that I would stay dry.”

He stared at her in shock. He needed to breathe, but his lungs weren’t moving. The whole world faded from his senses.

Because he could see it too. Marinette standing in front of him, her blue eyes wide as she stared at his proffered umbrella. Paris behind her blurred with the pouring down rain. Their hands had touched for just a second. That had been a precious moment for him as well, because that was the moment he knew that they were friends.

Chat Noir looked up at that moment to see Marinette again, this time decked out in the glory of Ladybug’s suit, those same blue eyes that were currently lost in her own memory of that day. Her cheeks flushed with just the slightest pink even as they were framed with her dripping wet pigtails that were plastered to her face.

“It was like he was trying to protect me all over again,” she confided. “Even though as far as he knew, I was still mad and didn’t believe him. Our hands touched in that moment, and after that I was totally lost. It took years before I could utter complete sentences in front of him consistently.” His eyes burned. He had too many feelings. He wanted sob at the needless self-doubt that had plagued him for so long, to cry in glee that everything had aligned so perfectly, to shout his euphoria from the rooftops.

Because she had loved him all along. That was why she had always been so nervous around him as Adrien. She was awkward because she liked him. He had always worried he was doing something wrong, but it was because he was doing something right! “A-are you okay?” she asked, her voice dripping with concern. He nodded, unable to form words around the emotion lodged in this throat. He held up a finger to ask for a minute. He needed to get a hold of himself because he was about to cry. He took a deep breath and turned back to her glassy eyes, realizing that she was going to cry too. He laughed, even as the first tear escaped. “I’m way more than okay. I’m just a little overwhelmed.” “Yeah, I can tell,” she commented, a gloved finger wiping the tear from his cheek gently. She smiled brightly at him.

And that familiar expression helped some of the heaviness dissipate, leaving only giddy lightness behind. “Tell me more,” he asked with a huge grin, wiping the last of his tears away.

She blushed. “Honestly, there’s not a whole lot else to tell. I watched him a lot because I couldn’t manage words. I was a bit obsessive and I’ve done quite a few things I’m not proud of in the name of this crush.” “Yeah?” he prompted, a smirk blooming across his face. He honestly loved that her affections were strong enough to push Ladybug into breaking rules. “Like what?” She glanced away. He could practically feel the heat radiating from her face. “I think the w-worst thing I ever did was s-steal his phone.” He stared at her, baffled. When he said nothing, she pulled her knees up to her chest. He realized she was panicking. “Why?” he made himself ask.

“I left an embarrassing voicemail. It started with stuttering nonsense. Then I thought it was over, but apparently, Al… my best friend left it going, and I may have confessed my crush on him and called yo- I mean, him, a ridiculous pet name.” He couldn’t hold back the grin that split his face. He could picture the scene so clearly. Alya and Marinette up in Marinette’s room. Alya trying to meddle as she apparently did all the time. He wished he could hear it now, though he was glad he hadn’t heard it at the time. He wasn’t sure how he would have reacted to Marinette’s interest when he was so caught in his own feelings for Ladybug. “What was the pet name?” “H-hot stuff,” she admitted.

He smirked. He had always told her that she’d find his unmasked face irresistible. “Stop it!” she scolded, as she swatted his arm playfully. “Stop what?” “Looking so pleased with yourself!” He bit his lip, trying not to laugh. The strategy proved unsuccessful. “Chaaaat,” she whined. “What else did you do?” He asked with a grin. Now that he had no reason to fear the identity of her crush, he was completely over the moon. He had no reason to hold his curiosity at bay. He wanted to know everything. Every tiny little gift or attempt at a confession. Every embarrassing misstep if she was willing to share. Because even her mistakes were adorable, and made him love her more if that was possible.

“I have his schedule on my wall.”

“What?” he said flatly. And then grinned again. She was never going to stop surprising him. “I probably know it better than he does.” He didn’t disagree. He had no clue what his schedule was. That was what Nathalie was for. “Why?” he asked. It didn’t bother him, so much as he couldn’t fathom a reason for it. She shrugged. “It made me feel like there was a possibility of running into him during the day to tell him how I felt.” “Why didn’t you?” “For the longest time, I was so nervous around him. Completely tongue-tied. I almost always embarrassed myself horribly before I ever managed to confess any feelings. Other times, I ran away before I could horribly embarrass myself.” “I bet he thought you were cute,” he countered. She blushed. “You think so?”

“It’s what I would have thought,” he assured her, turning towards the rain again, pretending to be nonchalant. “Do you think I should go for it?” she asked. Adrien scoffed from inside his cat suit. “If he turns you down, he’s an idiot.” And he had been an idiot for long enough.

“He’s an attractive idiot,” she teased. He grinned again. “Oh? Should I be jealous?”

She smiled in smug amusement. “Super jealous! Did I tell you he’s a model?”

“Uh oh. You’d better be careful, LB. I hear models can be rather self-absorbed.” “He’s not like that!” she objected.

“He’s not?” Chat whispered, all bravado evaporating from his voice. Raw naked vulnerability took its place. “You don’t think he’s selfish at all?” Startled blue eyes flew towards his. “No, not at all,” she insisted immediately without even a second of hesitation. Adrien looked away back toward the falling rain. The falling water felt ominous and heavy again. “Maybe you don’t know him that well.” Her hand rested gently on top of his own. “I mean, I’ve watched him sacrifice himself for the benefit of others so many times. He’s put himself in harm’s way for me countless times. I think that’s pretty selfless.” “I think he just doesn’t know how to live without you,” he countered, staring up at the rafters above them.

“Chat, look at me.”

He did as she requested. I could never deny her anything.

“Wanting something for yourself doesn’t mean that you’re selfish. Being selfish is more like taking what you want without considering anyone else. He’s like the exact opposite of that. He takes everyone into account first. He doesn’t think of himself often enough. I told you, I fell in love with him because he was kind, because he always goes out of his way to protect others. He’s able to see the potential for good in others even when I struggle. He’s just that genuine.”

He stared at her, his chest was pounding so loudly his feline senses could hear it over the rain. He wanted to cry again. He had almost given her up. And so, all of this was completely unexpected - a shock to his system he was unprepared to take, though he wanted it with every fiber of his being. “Why did you wait so long to tell me this?” he asked. He had confessed to her days and days ago. When she knew that everything was reciprocated, why had she waited?

She turned away, red from her mask spreading into her cheeks. “I-I was afraid.” “Afraid of what?”

Her blue eyes stared out into the monotony of falling water. “What if something happens to him because he’s with me? I mean, if anyone ever found out he was Ladybug’s boyfriend, he’d be a target. In some ways, I think he already is one. I don’t know how I would ever forgive myself if something happened to him because of me.”

He relaxed. Like always, she was keeping secrets to protect those she loved. He never really thought he’d be lucky enough to be on that list. “It wouldn’t be your fault. I’m sure if he loves you, he’d be willing to take the risk.” She turned back to him then, her gaze suddenly piercing. “I know he is. But I still struggle with it.” “You’re still afraid.” He wished she didn’t have to be, but as long as Papillion was free, there’d always be a risk. “I don’t think I’ll ever not be,” she admitted softly.

“So, why didn’t you continue to keep your feelings a secret?” He was so glad she changed her mind on this.

“My best friend pointed out that if something happened to him and I never told him how I felt, I would regret that more. And she was right.” He almost laughed. God, he needed to buy Alya a new laptop or something. She had promised she would come through. And she had more than delivered. “Does she know?” he asked, smiling again.

“That I’m Ladybug?” she shook her head. “No. I think she was baffled by my fear, but she knows that I’ve liked this boy almost since the day we met. And she’s been pushing for me to confess for years. She pushes me and has given me a ton of opportunities, but she also has been so very patient when I didn’t take advantage.” “She sounds like a good friend.”

“The best!” she squealed. Then she sobered. “I’m kinda glad I didn’t confess before now anyway because he didn’t really see me before now. And I didn’t really see him. Now, we can really see each other.” She let her fingertips touch just the tips of his.

He forgot how to breathe for like the third time that night. “You’re right,” he finally managed. “It’s better that you’re both ready now. I hope it works out for you. I can’t imagine that it won’t.”

She turned back to him, her eyes sparkling in mischief. “What do you think we should do?”

“For what?”

“For our first date!” she squealed excitedly. “What do you think he would like?” He smiled. “Maybe you should surprise him.”

…

Nino bobbed his head in time with the baseline of the lofi remix he had been working on for days. His current version emanated from the headphones resting on his shoulders, but there was something missing from the track. Mendeliev wouldn’t let him wear the headphones over his ears in class, but he had learned that if there was a certain amount of bustle and activity, he could get away with listening to the music faintly. He glanced at the clock - there was only two minutes left of the period anyway. He and Adrien had long since finished the lab and cleared away their materials. It was awesome to have a best friend who was so good at science.

The bell rang and there was an immediate flurry of activity as students scrambled to pack up for lunch.

“Nino, I don’t know how to tell you this.”

Nino immediately swiveled towards his girlfriend’s sullen voice. “What’s wrong, babe?” She turned her phone towards him. It took him a moment to realize he was looking at the ten day forecast and then another ten seconds to figure out why that was bad. He tried to suck in his disappointment.

“The concert in the park is going to be rained out,” she added unnecessarily.

He hadn’t even considered the weather being a problem! It had been clear skies for like ten days in a row! Why did the rain have to return now, of all times? “Maybe we could exchange our tickets for something else?” she offered. “How about this one?”

“That’s no good!” he countered, glancing through his phone calendar. “That’s bro time!” he explained, as he offered a playful fistbump to Adrien’s shoulder. His friend smiled in response.

“I can always reschedule if you want,” Adrien offered.

“No way, dude! Knowing your old man and his witch of an assistant, I won’t see you outside these walls for another month if I let you reschedule!”

Adrien laughed. “Fair enough.”

Nino noticed at that moment that Marinette had already cleaned up her and Alya’s lab, and was standing in front of Adrien’s desk, writhing her hands. He grinned, offered her a wink, and started pretending that he was looking for something in his backpack. “A-Adrien, I was wondering if you wanted to go get some lunch with me?” “Of course, Mari! Does that sound good to you guys?” Adrien turned towards him and Alya, and Marinette immediately wilted.

Nino shook his head, and pointed his chin back at Marinette. “Dude! I’m sure Mari wants your first date to just be the two of you.” Green eyes went comically wide, and he whirled back to Marinette with a huge grin.

“Date?” She turned bright red, and nodded with a shy smile. Adrien’s smile extended even further, showing off all his perfect glistening white teeth. “Just tell me when and where Nette.”

“How about right now?” “Let’s go!” He offered his hand. She took it and their fingers quickly interlaced. Nino grinned at the sight. He was so happy for both of his friends. “You kids okay without us?” Adrien asked, turning back to him. “We’re chill, dude!” Nino reassured. “Go have fun! We’ll do a double date sometime later.” Alya added. Nino was shocked to see that she wasn’t filming the moment. Maybe Marinette had requested her to not make a big deal of anything.

Adrien turned back to Marinette. “So, what’re we doing?”

She looked up at him, her eyes dancing, and her free hand fiddled with the hem of her shirt. Adrien still held her other hand. It was sweet. “I-It’s a surprise!”

“Well, then lead the way!” Adrien prompted. He flashed a huge grin to Nino and Alya as he grabbed his bag and followed Marinette’s gentle tugs to get him out the door faster. “It’s still so weird to see you get nervous,” Adrien was saying. “What are you talking about?” Marinette bantered back easily. “You’ve seen me a stuttering mess a million times.” “Maybe, but I’ve also seen you…” Adrien trailed off as the door closed behind them. Nino stared at the closed door considering their two friends. Alya was right. Adrien and Marinette had become so close so fast, and they had a weird dynamic where sometimes they seemed oddly nervous and other times way too comfortable with each other.

“I still don’t really know what happened with them,” Alya commented. “Are you okay with that?” he asked, turning towards her. She shrugged. “The curiosity is literally burning inside me, but I’ll live.”

“You’re a good friend,” he told her as he pulled her against him. “And a good girlfriend I hope?” she asked with a delighted gleam in her eyes. “The absolute best girlfriend.” “Good! Because I have something for you,” she said, pulling away just slightly to retrieve a flat wrapped parcel from her bag.

He took the gift from her hands. “What’s this for?” She shrugged. “Nothing in particular. Just that I love you and this just kinda fell in my lap. And I thought you would like it. And if you don’t, well, you can give it back to me because I love it!”

He tore off the tissue paper, his curiosity piqued. He revealed the charcoaled drawing of Carapace and Rena Rouge. She was leaning in towards him, about to kiss. Carapace was grinning in anticipation with a supportive hand on her waist. The curve of Rena’s jawline, her foxtailed hair, her gloved hand laying gently on his chest, the joy in Carapace’s eyes were rendered in astounding detail.

“Wow,” was all he could think to say. He was going to have to make Alya like the most epic remixed hip hop playlist to say thank you for this.

“I commissioned Marinette actually,” Alya explained.

He grinned, his eyes taking in each carefully constructed detail. “If we ever get a place together, this is going up on a wall!”

“Moving in together?! Moving a little fast for a turtle there, aren’t you?”

Nino shrugged. “You haven’t thought about it?” he countered.

Alya’s cheeks darkened, and she glanced away.

He grinned, carefully set Marinette’s latest masterpiece on his desk, and then slowly pulled Alya to him with a hand on her waist trying to enact the portrait. Today was looking very up!

...

Plagg phased through a park bench, glanced around to be sure no one was around, and floated upward to nestle next to his other half. She currently perched quietly in the naked tree branches. They were somewhat exposed, but anyone looking from a distance would no doubt just see what they expected to see - two birds sitting on a tree branch rather than two kwamis overlooking their chosen.

The two teenagers were sitting side by side on the park’s bench eating ice cream despite the freezing temperature. Adrien tipped his tower of cream until it just briefly made contact with Marinette’s nose.

She shrieked in objection. And then promptly shoved Adrien’s Ladybug themed ice cream back into his own grinning face.

“Aren’t they sweet together?” Tikki commented with a deep sigh of contentment, her bulbous eyes sparkling in pure joy at the innocent scene below them.

“Is that why you haven’t ratted them out to Fu?” Plagg asked. He wasn’t teasing. He needed to know where his partner stood on this. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” the kwami of creation said airily, her eyes never straying from the children below who were now lost in a fit of giggles.

Plagg snorted. “Right, and camembert is the worst kind of cheese on this planet.”

“I knew you’d see sense eventually!” Tikki squealed, “Would you like to try one of Marinette’s macaroons? They come in every flavor you could ever want and every one of them is amazing!”

He gagged.

And then whipped in front of her. “Seriously Sugarcube, you’re not going to ruin this for them, are you?”

Tikki did the kwami equivalent of a shrug. “Order is important, and rules are necessary to maintain order. But nothing is more important than love, Plagg. Plus, it’s really nice to see her get these moments of happiness. She is too young for this burden.”

Plagg relaxed, and allowed himself to settle on the branch. Tikki wouldn’t say anything. “You always say that.”

“It’s always true! Plus, they are doing a remarkable job of pretending they don’t know.”

Plagg laughed. “No, they’re not. They’re pathetically obvious. I’m shocked that blogger girl hasn’t figured it out.”

Tikki sighed. “I just mean that they haven’t explicitly said it out loud even to one another. And until they do, there is a small sliver of doubt. And I can’t ask because if I do, I give it away. So, until one of them actually says something, there’s no reason to mention it to Fu.”

Plagg grinned. Tikki had a way of rationalizing and twisting the letter of the law into her favor when the spirit of a law didn’t suit her. Plagg also suspected that if the kids did completely slip up, she still wouldn’t say anything to Fu. She was more likely to pretend she had fallen asleep and missed whatever incriminating thing had been said.

Plagg grinned again and nuzzled up against his other half. “I knew you’d come around to my way of thinking eventually! Rules are made to be broken. Maybe someday you’ll even be able to appreciate the amazingness of camembert.” “Keep dreaming, stinky sock!”

…

A/N: Thanks for taking this journey with me. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Reviews/Comments/Reblogs are love!

#miraculous ladybug fan fiction #adrinette #ladynoir #post reveal #pre relationship #mostly fluff #clearing up misunderstandings #happy ending #tikki is willing to break rules sometimes #plagg always #love #An Open Secret #For Ladybuginettes #In the Rain

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ladylynse · 6 years

Note

Hey Lynse... ive kinda been down lately because people don't review my fics but also never give me prompts whenever I do requests and stuff... it makes me really sad but I really love writing my fanfiction, it just slows me down tho... any advise or help? T-T

Hey, Anon. *hugs* I know how you feel; it can be hard to work up the motivation to do what you love (or at least keep posting it) when something you’re really excited about gets little to no reaction. I still feel that with some fics, if not as often as I did when I was starting out and going at least three chapters without a single review.

As far as tumblr goes, remember that only your first five tags are searchable; the rest just help organize your blog. Putting in the fandom name, that it’s fanfiction/fanfic, or the characters is your best bet for getting people searching through tags to see your work. However, if you add a link to fanfiction.net, the post won’t show up in the search anyway, and only your followers will see it. (I’m pretty sure you can link to the AO3 and have it searchable, but not FF.net. Sites like deviantart will also render your post unsearchable, if you’re an artist, too.)

Don’t feel bad about reblogging your own work a few times to catch people in different time zones; no one else is going to reblog your fic if they never see it in the first place, and other people reblogging your fic is going to be the main way people find your blog to follow it in the first place. (This might not be true once you get thousands of followers if you’ve already got a large chunk of the fanbase following you, but it’s still true for me.)

Another way to increase your exposure as a writer is to participate in months/weeks where a fandom you’re in is holding prompts. Whether there’s a blog going through reblogging everything with the specific tag they ask you to tag it with or just people searching for that certain tag in general, you’re at least guaranteed that someone will be looking for work like what you’ve done, and if they enjoy it, they might reblog it and follow you. You certainly don’t need to do every single prompt--I did two for Miraculous Ladybug in the entire month of August and that first post remains the one with the most notes out of anything I’ve written--but it’s another way for people to find you.

I’m lucky; I’ve managed to pick up a few followers (thanks!) who will cheerfully give me prompts or leave comments on my fics fairly consistently. But I still opened writing requests three times before I ever got one (and at that point, it was just one, from someone I PMed with on FF.net because I actually specifically told them what I was doing) since until then I didn’t really have anyone who was following me for my writing, or at least no one who happened to be on tumblr/saw the post and wanted to see something from me. That’s not a reflection of your writing skill; it’s simply that people haven’t found you yet.

If you’re writing for popular or at least large fandoms on FF.net/wherever else, the same could be true; your story could be buried before too many people see it beyond those that have you on author alert. If you’re able to, it might be a plan to write ahead of what you’re posting so that you can update more or less consistently; that way, people who are actively reading in the fandom are more likely to spot your story. I used to do that, back when I had more time to write in general, and it seemed to work for me.

Also, as far as first chapters go? Cliffhangers really do work when it comes to getting readers to stick around for the second chapter, and if you’re lucky, you’ll get a review that’s more than just ‘update soon’ (let’s face it; ‘nice! update soon please’ is preferable). If you think your first chapter is rather boring, writing-wise, because you still need to build up to the action/the problem/etc, considering writing a hook first--some sort of preview of a later scene, which you then go back to work up to that point. It’ll give your readers a taste of what’s to come and hopefully catch and hold their interest through the more tedious setup portion of the story.

Never underestimate the power of a good summary. Do not say that you are bad at summaries, do actually give a summary (not just ‘summary inside’), and do proofread it, too. If there are spelling mistakes in it or improper capitalization/blatant grammatical errors, I don’t even click on a story to read it, because I expect more of the same inside.

Basic spelling and grammar are important. Nothing will get to me leave a fic faster than clicking on it and seeing the horrific ‘wall of text’; a new paragraph is necessary whenever someone new speaks, and some people still don’t realize that. Some amazing people write in a language that isn’t their first language, and sometimes spelling isn’t people’s forte in general, but spell check is important and free. It’s not foolproof--you can type the wrong word and it won’t catch it if it’s still a word--and that’s where having a beta-reader is nice, in addition to bouncing ideas off them when you get stuck; you can always let people know at the end of the first chapter that you’re looking for a beta reader for the story. Failing that, give yourself some time between writing something and giving it its final proofread; you’ll catch more of your own mistakes if your brain doesn’t remember exactly what you wanted to say and see it correctly even if you’re missing a word. And please do proofread your work; too many errors is jarring, bringing the reader out of the story, and you’ll have fewer people interested in your work if they can’t get into your fic in the first place. The odd error seems to be okay--I know I have those in my work simply because I’ve missed them, and every once in a while I spot one and go back to fix it--but there are limits. People are lazy as readers; they don’t want to have to work to figure out the story you’re telling them. It’s far simpler to just go read a different story.

#writing #ladylynse #advice #asks #text #I hope something helps #good luck Anon #you might just need to get yourself out there #Anonymous

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sadrien · 7 years

Text

tangled ribbons, ch13: reverance

on Ao3 | on ffnet

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13

Wow. Ok, so, here we are. Before we start, a few things:

(this note is super super long so the full thing is on ao3!!!)

THIS is the inspiration for Mari’s solo. It’s more contemporary than I imagine but it gave me a jumping off point. THIS isn’t the inspiration for Adrien’s because I didn’t have one but it’s really amazing. THIS I’ve linked several times and again I had no real inspiration for the duet but I used this for a few reference points

Thank you to everyone who has read and commented and reblogged and left kudos! Thank you to everyone who created something for this fic because every time I saw anything in this tag I cried for hours. Thank you to readers who have been here since the beginning, who joined along the way, who jumped on now, and who will read in the future <3

Thank you to the @ml-network and @mlfanfiction for your endless support. For being such fantastic friends and providing me with so many laughs and so so much love. Thank you to @matchaball for listening to me ramble and for giving me your lovely thoughts. Thank you to @ladriened and @reyxa for promising to cry with me. Thank you Rey for inadvertently giving me this deadline. <3 Sorry it’s not a coffeeshop au, but I did my best. Happy birthday!! Thank you again to @zoenightstars, @chassecroise, @adastrabella, and @chatstronaut for being with me since the beginning.

And finally, thank you to @gabzilla-z. Thank you for inspiring me with your art because and thank you for supporting this fic <3 Without you, we wouldn’t be here

I hope you all enjoy~

Marinette carefully makes her way through the class of younger dancers who are milling about in the lobby while waiting for their costumes. One of the girls gasps, her eyes sparkling.

“You’re so pretty!” she coos, clapping her hands together.

Marinette thanks her and can barely keep the smile off her face as everyone else starts chiming in. Marinette turns pink as she ducks inside the studio, leaving the group to talk loudly and excitedly about their own costumes.

“Finally fight your way through your adoring fans?” Adrien jokes as he chaînés out of a turn. He spins to face Marinette and his eyes go wide in surprise.

Marinette bites her lip and glances to the mirror. She twists to see the back of the bodice, her heart feeling like it’s going to burst out of her chest.

“Do you like it?” Adrien asks. He walks over to her with a soft smile on his face.

Marinette laughs breathlessly. “Promise not to judge me if I just scream?”

“No judgement,” he promises. “How does it fit?”

She forces herself to focus on the feel of the costume. She twists left and right before doing port de bras forward and backward. She throws a quick double and then relaxes as much as possible. “I think that the bodice probably needs to be just a little bit more snug. But other than that, it fits really well.” Tiny alterations, nothing more. She could do them herself, but she has a feeling that the costume director would rather handle them. “You?”

Adrien studies himself in the mirror. “Honestly, the pants are a nice change. I’m kind tired of wearing white tights. And I’m always afraid that I’m going to ruin them.”

Marinette laughs. She moves back and forth so the skirt twists around her legs. “This might be the nicest thing I’ve ever worn,” she murmurs.

“You make everything look nice,” Adrien says honestly.

She feels her cheeks grow warm as she meets his eyes in the mirror. She pulls away her gaze to look at their costumes together, not thinking about what he just said. She appreciates that Tikki — and Plagg, but mostly Tikki — chose less lavish costumes for the duet. Marinette adores her costume for the production, a deep red traditional tutu with intricate designs and embroidery that reminds her vaguely of her own ladybug tutu, but she can’t help but love the simplicity of these costumes just as much. A simple white satin bodice with embroidered pink flowers and a thin skirt made of silky light pink fabric that reaches just below her knees. The flowers continue down the skirt getting darker and darker in color. Adrien’s shirt is light teal with loose sleeves that come together at the wrists and has stitching done in different shades of blues and greens.

They look like they belong together.

The thought makes her cheeks turn pinker. Anyway.

“Think it fits well enough for a test run?” Adrien asks. “Tikki and Plagg won’t be back for at least twenty minutes. They’re helping Nooroo and Trixx with the costumes for all of the younger groups.”

Marinette brushes her bangs out of her eyes. “You say twenty minutes, I say four years. Have you ever worked with a large group of thirteen year olds?”

“Uh…”

“Exactly,” she says. “They are never getting out of there.”

Adrien shrugs. “More time to ourselves then.”

Marinette yanks her mind out of the gutter as Adrien moves over to the stereos to turn on the music. She adjusts the placement of the skirt on her hips, trying to find the same spot were the costume director had told her her other tutus should rest.

She frowns as the music plays through the speakers. “This…is not our music.” She swears she’s heard this song somewhere before, but certainly not well enough to know why Adrien would choose it.

He smiles playfully and takes her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it. “No, it’s not. But like you said, we have time.” He pulls her into closed position and starts waltzing her around the room. “Dancing through life,” he sings along softly, “skimming the surface, gliding where turf is smooth—”

Marinette rolls her eyes. “Okay, I get it now.”

Adrien raises his eyebrows. “Are you saying you don’t know this song?”

She shrugs. “I’ve heard it before?”

He stops spinning them. “I can’t believe you don’t know Wicked. I feel like we can’t be friends anymore.”

Marinette snorts. “Really?”

“Really. The duet is cancelled.”

“Are you saying I need to give back the costume?” she asks. “Because I really don’t want to.”

Adrien gives her a once over. “Duet is momentarily postponed,” he decides. “Because I can’t believe you don’t know Wicked.”

“I know Wicked!” Marinette protests. “I know some of Wicked.”

“Defying Gravity doesn’t count.”

“…I don’t know Wicked.”

He laughs lightly. “I know you don’t. I’ll have to bring you to see it sometime, then you’ll know it.”

“R-really?” she asks. That’s not just going out to coffee, that’s more. That’s a lot of money. That’s—

Adrien smiles. “It’s a date.”

Marinette’s breath catches in her throat as Adrien pulls them back into a waltz. She wonders if he realizes that he’s casually planned multiple dates for after this summer intensive is over. She wonders if he considers them actual dates. She wonders if it’s weird that she’s keeping count. He’s at six.

“You’re a nerd,” she says instead.

“For the time being, I’m your nerd,” Adrien says.

Marinette wishes she could get rid of the first part of that sentence.

Marinette hums in agreement whenever Alya pauses to breathe. She’s not exactly sure what Alya is ranting about at this exact moment, she’s trying to figure out the best way to get her ballet bun exactly where it needs to be. It’s been slipping in class after lots of turning and she needs it to not do that during the performance.

“…how I grew a ears and tail.”

Marinette frowns. “Excuse me?” she asks through a mouthful of bobby pins.

Alya raises her eyebrows. “I knew you weren’t paying attention.”

Marinette spits the bobby pins out on the counter. “I am paying attention.”

Alya scoffs. “Sure you are. What’s up?”

“Nothing,” Marinette insists. “I’m just…distracted.”

Alya wiggles her eyebrows. “By a certain someone?”

Marinette rolls her eyes. “By my hair.” She thinks about Adrien a lot but he doesn’t take up all of her thoughts.

“Oh. Well…that’s less fun. Are you sure you’re not a little bit distracted by him?”

“Shut up,” Marinette mutters. “You know I am, you don’t have to rub it in my face.”

Alya snorts. “At least you’ve made progress. Let me tell you, for like the first half of the summer I actually wanted to scream. Like come on at least get his phone number.”

“Why are you so invested in my love life?”

“Because it’s more entertaining than most forms of media. And also because if I wasn’t so invested you wouldn’t even have Adrien’s number. I got that for you.”

Marinette examines her hair in the mirror. This might work. “I’m sure I would’ve been fine without your help.”

“Mhm. Keep telling yourself that.”

“I will.”

“Speaking of the bae—”

“He’s not my bae—”

“Not yet. I was just going to ask if he’s back yet or if he’s dancing himself into the ground in the studio.”

“He has additional solo work today with Plagg.”

“Aw it’s so sweet how you know each other’s schedules.”

Marinette takes a step away from the counter and does a single pirouette in the cramped space. Her hair feels fairly solid, but she’ll need to test it out in an actual studio space to be sure. “Of course I know his schedule,” she says. “We live together, it’s hard not to.”

“You’re so married,” Alya coos.

Marinette feels her face grow hot. “Shut up,” she mumbles, gathering up the bobby pins scattered around the sink.

“You so wish you were, though.”

“You remember that we’re teenagers, right?” Marinette asks.

Alya sighs dramatically. Marinette looks to the screen to see her resting in her chin in her hands. “You can be teenagers and still be hopelessly in love.” Alya raises an eyebrow.

“I kind of hate having you as a friend.”

“I know you do.” Alya blows a kiss at the screen. “And as much as I’d love to continue this truly thrilling one sided conversation—” Marinette rolls her eyes. “—I’ve got a shift in ten minutes and school debts that I have to start thinking about.”

Marinette groans. “Please don’t remind me of that.”

“Too late darling,” Alya singsongs. “We’re best friends, we’re stuck in this mess together. We suffer through this together.”

“Well that’s unfortunate.”

“Tell me about it. Text you later?”

Marinette hums in agreement as she starts tugging bobby pins from her hair.

“Let me know when the marshmallow gets home from practice, yeah?”

“Of course.” Marinette makes a face as she yanks out the hair elastics. “It’ll probably be pretty soon. He’s been gone for a while.”

“You dancers and your lack of chill,” Alya teases. “Love you lots, bye!”

“Bye!” Marinette shuts her laptop once Alya’s ended the call. She undoes the rest of her hair and dumps her hair stuff into her bag. She can organize it later, right now she’s just sort of wiped.

She curls up in the desk chair with her laptop once she’s put away all her dance stuff for tomorrow and has changed into pajamas. It’s not even that late, but there’s no way she’s leaving the room tonight. She finds a random movie on Netflix and plugs in her headphones, letting the movie fade to simple background noise as she doodles mindlessly in her sketchbook. Tonight, her sketches are less about the designs and more about the people, which is a rare event. She draws swooping arms and twisting bodies and movement fills the page. Marinette has never really been one for anatomy. Fashion sketches don’t require that type of precision and usually are inaccurate to actual proportions and body structure. It’s more about the clothes than the anatomy.

Marinette finds herself drawing motion, flowing from one person to the next, the designs dancing off the page.

She groans and puts her head down on the desk.

The sketches might look brilliant in the morning, but she needs a few hours away from dance. With the showcase only three days away, her mind has become consumed entirely by dance. She can’t get the instrumental music out of her head or her feet to do any other steps. She finds herself doing balancés down the hallway more often than usual and piques her way around empty rooms. She drags her steps into tendus and falls into tombés. She pas de bourrees when she can’t stay still and found herself doing the footwork for her solo when standing in line at Starbucks.

Adrien had given her an amused smile, dragging his toe in a small rond de jambe.

Marinette sighs and lifts her head from the desk. She’s going to miss this. The Starbucks runs and the crammed schedule. Late nights and pillow forts and Disney movies. Rose’s laugh when she finally perfects a combination and the way Nathanael lights up whenever he nails a turn. And Adrien. What won’t she miss about Adrien?

She turns her attention to the movie. She’s not entirely sure what’s happening. Something dramatic. Probably cheesy and cliche and romantic. Something Adrien would love.

Marinette misses home, but she’s going to miss this just as much.

Just as she’s getting invested in the characters, she swears they’re going to kiss as soon as they’re standing close enough together, the door swings open. She lifts her head from her knee to see Adrien standing in the doorway looking completely exhausted and worn down. She hits the spacebar to pause the movie and tugs out an earbud.

“Good rehearsal?” she asks.

Adrien drops his bag on the ground and leans against the door to close it. “I hate Plagg,” he murmurs. He runs a hand through his hair, immediately make a face of disgust. “Oh god.” His hair sticks up in all directions and Marinette knows the feeling of finishing a rehearsal and just feeling like a gross sweat rag.

She motions to the bathroom. “Shower. I can order food. Same as usual?”

“Please. Pajamas already?”

Marinette shrugs. “I’m tired.”

“Okay, that’s relatable.” Adrien pulls at his shirt and makes a face. “I’m going to join you.” He grabs his clothes and disappears into the bathroom.

Marinette hears the shower turn on and spins lazily in the desk chair as she orders food for them. She’s not exactly sure how she picked up Adrien’s order, she thinks she just heard it enough times to know it. Once she’s finished, she goes back to her movie because, frankly, she’s far more invested in it than she should be and she just really needs to know the outcome.

Once the food is ordered, she goes back to the movie. The characters kiss, finally, with swooping music and dramatic lighting and everything about it is perfect and romantic, from the clothing to the location to the actors’ hair. She was right, Adrien would love this movie and all its overdramatic goodness.

Marinette is scrolling through Netflix — she suddenly has an awful lot of recommended movies of a similar caliber to the one she just watched — when the food arrives. She pays quickly and puts Adrien’s food on his bed, returning to the desk. She eats slowly as she watches, amazed by the pure predictableness of the movie she’s chosen. She doesn’t really know why she chose it. The title was bland and she had the “plot twist” figured out as soon as she read the description but here she is, half invested in another bad movie.

How has this become her life?

A few minutes later, Adrien emerges from the bathroom, hair damp and still sticking up in all directions. He grabs his glasses from the bedside table and slides them on. “I’ll pay you back later,” he promises as he gets his own laptop and sits on the bed to eat.

Marinette waves him away. “It’s fine, I’ve got this one.”

“You sure?”

She nods. “Positive. You buy Starbucks all the time anyway.”

“If you’re totally sure.”

“I am.” To prove her point, and end the conversation, Marinette turns back to her movie.

She hears Adrien say ‘thank you’ over the fairly cliché dialogue and can’t help but smile.

—«·»—

“Hey, Mar?” Adrien asks suddenly.

She pulls out one of her earbuds, eyes trained on the action on her screen. “Yeah?”

“What do you think would happen if I bathed in Icy Hot?” he muses.

Marinette snorts and takes out the other earbud, pausing the movie. “You’d probably smell like mint for the rest of time. And it’d burn in places you do not want it to burn.”

He hums thoughtfully.

She narrows her eyes and glances over her shoulder to look at him suspiciously. “…why?”

“I’m not going to do it,” he promises. “I was just thinking about what I could do with all this Icy Hot. Since I have more than enough to last a lifetime.” He drops the Icy Hot he’s holding onto his bed, where it joins eight other tubes of Icy Hot.

Marinette stares at the pile of Icy Hot. She did not realize he had so much. “Nathalie?” she asks after a moment.

Adrien nods. “I can’t tell if she thinks I get injured more than I do or if she just doesn’t realize how little Icy Hot you need for like…your entire back.”

Marinette shoves away from the desk and spins the chair so she’s facing Adrien. She takes one of tubes. “I’m almost out.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Okay, but how long have you had that one thing of Icy Hot.”

Marinette taps the tube against her chin. “Maybe a year?”

Adrien gestures to all of the Icy Hot in front of him. “Exactly!”

“I think Nathalie just likes to be prepared,” Marinette says as she spins away to hide a smile. When she’d been getting ready to leave for the summer, her parents had gone overboard with buying things she might need. It was just how they showed her how much they were going to miss her and worry about her while she was gone. She tosses the Icy Hot onto her bag on the floor. “I’m sure someone in the studio needs Icy Hot, I’m sure if you asked around you could get rid of it all in seconds.”

“Nathalie likes to over prepare,” Adrien corrects.

“Is that a bad thing?” she asks.

He looks down at his mountain of Icy Hot thoughtfully. “No, not really,” he murmurs.

“We can bring it to class tomorrow,” Marinette says. She wraps her earbuds around her finger. “It’ll be gone in the blink of an eye.”

Adrien gathers up the Icy Hots in his arms and dumps them into his bag. “Sounds like a plan,” he says with a smile. “Maybe I can pawn most of them off to Nathanael without him realizing.”

“If you just stuff them in his big when he isn’t looking. you might actually get away with it.”

“Christmas comes early.” He flops back on his bed.

“Icy Hot as the new stocking stuffer,” Marinette muses. “I don’t think it’s going to be replacing oranges any time soon.”

Adrien shrugs. “I tried my best. What are you doing, anyway?”

She glances to her computer. “Watching mediocre romcoms on Netflix.”

“Sounds like something I’d like.”

She smiles. “Probably. It’s all gross and emotional.”

Adrien gasps. “Hey! I am the perfect amount of gross and emotional.”

Marinette rolls her eyes. “Did you want to join me?”

“Not particularly,” Adrien admits. “You just seem…tense.”

Marinette stops playing with her earbuds. She had nearly forgotten all the fidgeting she was doing while watching. The movies were distracting enough, but she had needed to do something with her hands. She drops her earbuds into her lap. “Just a little stressed.”

Adrien scoots over and pats the bed next to him.

“Are we having a therapy session?” Marinette asks as she closes her laptop and gets up to join him.

“Only if you want to.” He opens his arms and she sighs before leaning into them, resting her head on his shoulder. He wraps her in a loose hug. “Is it the showcase?”

“Mhm.”

“You’ll be fine,” Adrien promises. “Besides, we’ve still got two days of rehearsal. That’s plenty of time to clean anything you think needs to be better.”

“Saturday’s really close,” Marinette murmurs.

“Yeah, but we’ve been training non stop for almost ten weeks.” He runs his hand over her hair. “We can’t get much better than we already are. It’s like a test. You know what you know, cramming the night before isn’t going to help much.”

She closes her eyes. “I guess you’re right.” She sinks into his embrace. “It doesn’t exactly feel real yet.”

Adrien hums softly. “I get that. When do you think it might feel real?”

“Ten minutes before?” she offers.

He snorts. “That sounds like it’s pushing it.”

“I like to live life on the edge,” Marinette deadpans.

Adrien shifts and she can feel his nose pressing against her hair. She wonders if his mind is taking frantic notes of how they’re sitting, how they’re touching, how they’re breathing. She’s noting everything about this that she can— it’s going to be gone so soon.

Marinette’s not going to think about that.

She sighs and pulls away from Adrien just a little so she can see his face. “What do you want to do tonight?”

He raises his eyebrows. “Honestly, I was going to binge Disney channel movies.”

Marinette nods and scoots over to make herself more comfortable on the bed. “That sounds perfect to me.”

Marinette braces herself as she spins en pointe on the smooth, gray Marley floors. It’s been weeks since she danced on Marley and she’s forgotten the feeling.

She arches back and falls down from pointe with ease, gliding back to hide among the back row of dancers while a different row takes the front of the stage.

The theater the showcase will be held in is gorgeous. The large chandelier and the intricate designs along the walls of the stage make Marinette feel like she’s in a fairy tale. She can feel the music in her bones more than she could in the studio and it seems like ages since she’s had real stage lights on her, hot and blinding.

She ducks into the wings once the song has ended and Nooroo has given critiques, mostly about the spacing. She weaves through the dancers squeezed backstage and makes her way to the dressing rooms. The youngest dancers share large rooms, but as one of the eldest, Marinette has one of the small, offstage rooms. She only has to share with Rose, Sabrina, Aurore, and Chloé.

They’re dealing with that as well as they can. And by dealing, she means that her and Chloé aren’t speaking. In turn, Marinette and Sabrina aren’t speaking. Aurore is staying out of it and not speaking in general and Rose is being her sweetheart self and trying to fix it.

The most interaction Marinette and Chloé have had is when Chloé raised a judgemental eyebrow at Marinette’s solo costume. Yes, it’s much more simple than Chloé’s elaborate and sparkling costume, but Marinette thinks it fits the dance and she likes dancing in it. It’s just a white romantic tutu that falls just below her knees and a top that’s really nothing more than a white sports bra, but Marinette wouldn’t have anything else.

Marinette meets Chloé’s eyes in the mirror when Chloé enters the dressing room. Chloé scrunches up her nose and looks away while Marinette rolls her eyes and focuses on taking out her hair piece.

If they can survive this dress rehearsal, they can survive the performance.

Marinette gasps, arms shaking as she struggles to hold the last pose. The gentle notes of the next song on her playlist start up and it takes all the energy she has left in her not to collapse to the ground in a quivering heap.

“It’s beautiful,” Tikki says, her eyes sparkling. She clasps her hands together. “As near to perfection as it can be.”

Marinette drops pointe and sinks to the ground. She brushes away the sweaty bangs that have come loose and reminds herself to make sure they’re extra gelled for the performance.

If only she had danced this way a month ago.

If she had, maybe her jumps at the end wouldn’t be so weak. She’d put her all into the run, but she has no stamina left for the final bars.

She looks up to Tikki and places her hands on her head, taking measured breaths to try and slow her heartbeat. “R-really?”

Tikki joins her on the floor with a sparkling smile. “The best I’ve seen it,” she promises.

“If I’d done that a week ago it could be even better now,” Marinette murmurs.

Tikki tsks. “Hush, look at how brilliantly you just performed it! And with less than ten weeks to perfect it? Marinette, all I have to offer are little critiques and tips, there’s nothing drastic you could change to make this routine any better than it can be with the dancer you are right now.”

Marinette gives her a worried look. “What if I know I could be a better dancer?”

“If you came back to this dance in a year, you would dance a million times better than you just did. If I gave it to you a year ago, you would’ve given me a fraction of what you showed me today. You will keep improving with time, what’s important is that you show how good you are in this very moment. Which I know you can do. You’ve proven it to me time and time again.”

Marinette sighs and gives Tikki a small smile. She feels a little relieved and a little more relaxed but nothing anyone can say will release the anxiety in her chest. It’s going to haunt her until tomorrow night, when she steps onstage and shows the world what she can and can’t do. “Thank you,” she manages. “I… Sorry.”

Tikki shakes her head. “You have nothing to be sorry for. Pre-performance anxiety is nothing to scoff at, we all get it sometimes. Some worse than others.”

“You?” Marinette asks hesitantly.

“Plagg gets it worse,” Tikki whispers lowly. “He uses an awful lot of bravado to offset his nerves.”

Marinette raises her eyebrows in surprise. “Plagg?”

“Mhm.” Tikki nods. “It was a lot worse when we were kids, for the both of us. It’s something you get a little more adjusted to over time.”

Marinette thinks back to her first competition. At the time it’d been nerve wracking but she doesn’t think she really understood everything enough to be nearly this anxious. Her first solo though— that was another story entirely. She’d been an anxious mess. She was just lucky that her anxiety hadn’t transferred to her dance like she’d been so sure it was going to.

“Don’t stay in here too late,” Tikki says, snapping Marinette out of her thoughts. Tikki presses a kiss to Marinette’s forehead before she stands. “You need your rest.”

“Of course,” Marinette mumbles, still slightly stuck in the confines of her mind. It’s not until the door clicks shut behind Tikki that she can get out.

Marinette looks around the studio. Large and empty and blank. Like a canvas she could cover in art. Tikki had dimmed the lights slightly when she left. All that’s left is Marinette.

Marinette pulls herself off the floor. She runs her solo. She runs it without music playing aloud, but the notes float through her head, her internal metronome keeping the beat. She lets herself not care as much about the technical aspects of the pieces as she does when being watched. She lets herself sink into the music and just let go.

The boxes of her shoe hit the floor hard as she jumps and lands en pointe.

There’s something about practicing in a darkened, quiet studio that makes her bare her soul in a way that she usually doesn’t.

She finishes her solo and moves on to the duet.

This is harder. She can’t do any of the lifts. She has to imagine Adrien there as she ghosts through the steps, allowing herself to feel far more than she ever does during this dance. Because feeling more while dancing with Adrien can only end in heartbreak.

And yet, she’s never felt more while dancing than with him.

Marinette brushes the thoughts away as she throws herself into a grande jeté. She arches backward and bends her foot up to her head before straightening to land with a gentle ease. She spins as she runs out of the leap, twisting to an invisible partner that she keeps imaging stepping up behind her.

It’s easier to practice group dances on her own, where she’s not relying on another person’s support and existence for a performance. It’s a group dance, but she can do it on her own.

Marinette’s shoes are pinching her feet. She knows that if Tikki finds out how long she’s been en pointe, she’ll be chided relentlessly, or as relentlessly as Tikki can manage. Marinette just sighs and sinks against the barre. She slides down it and lets herself fall backward to hit the wall, dropping to the floor.

Sometimes, dancing makes her feel alive. Sometimes, she finishes and just feels empty.

Marinette unties her pointe shoes and pulls them off, wiggling her toes. She’ll stay off of her feet when she gets back to her room. But for now…

Marinette checks her phone. It’s only seven, not that late. Not late enough to warrant going back just yet. Classes had ended early so everyone could rest for tomorrow’s performance. And she will. She’s just not done here yet.

Marinette tucks away her pointe shoes. She’s at a loss, not exactly what to do next. She only knows that she’s not ready to leave the studio just yet. She stares herself down in the mirror. She looks exhausted and drained. She has better posture than she did at the beginning of the summer and stands with her chin raised with a sort of elegant ease she didn’t think she had before.

She looks different. Maybe not everything she learned had to do with dance.

If she listens closely, she can hear the strains of soft ballet music coming from the studio next to her. Suddenly, Marinette knows exactly what she has to do.

She tugs down her leotard and breathes.

She breathes away the anxieties and the stress and the nerves. She tugs on sweatpants and pulls her tights off her feet, rolling the top of her leotard down to her waist and rolling down the waistband of her tights to meet them. She pulls out a select few bobby pins and shakes down her bangs, pausing for a second before pulling out the elastic that holds her hair up in a bun.

Marinette studies herself in the mirror.

This is the Marinette she knows beyond anything else. Wearing baggy sweatpants and an old sports bra, hair back in a messy ponytail, exhausted and sweaty from dancing till her muscles gave out.

At times in the past ten weeks, she felt like she was losing this part of herself. But she hasn’t. She’s still right here. All of her. Ballerina Marinette, competitive dancer Marinette. She’s embraced the ballet part of herself more this summer than ever, but the rest of her is still here.

She feels sort of empty, but it’s not because of this. She doesn’t know what it is.

She looks away from herself and plugs in her phone. She doesn’t find a playlist so much as her fingers do, moving by with memory than anything else. She soaks in the pulsing bass and surprisingly soulful lyrics.

And she dances.

—«·»—

Marinette finds Adrien in his studio. Honestly, that hasn’t been a surprise for weeks, it’s just expected at this point. Unlike her, he’s still wrapped up in the world of ballet and it’s pristine, glittering lights and elegance.

At this point, she knows his routine as well as her own. She’s watched him struggle perfecting combinations and stumble through steps. She knows Plagg’s running commentary almost as well.

She inhales sharply and bites her lip as Adrien chaînés before launching himself into a butterfly jump. She remembers Adrien telling her how Plagg had demonstrated it with an easy grace before letting him have the floor. And then Adrien continued to mess it up again and again and again. The timing was wrong, he wasn’t fast enough, he wasn’t rotating enough. Marinette had spent hours with him in the studio, working mostly on turning sequences while he tried to get this one jump down.

He’d pulled her aside, a grainy old video pulled up on his phone. They watched in amazement as Gabriel Agreste — the Gabriel Agreste, ballet legend and Adrien’s father, a fact that Marinette has never exactly gotten over — executed the butterfly jump flawlessly with unimaginable ease.

“I’m going to do it,” Adrien said with new determination in his eyes. “I’m going to do this and it is going to be perfect.”

Marinette hadn’t doubted him for a second. Even as he crashed to the floor.

Her heart is in her throat as he soars through the air for a single beat before landing gracefully on the floor and spinning to a kneel. She can’t keep the smile off her face. She’s seen him land it countless times at this point but that doesn’t stop her from feeling a surge of excitement and pride whenever he does.

She lets him finish the run of his routine before she makes her presence known. She knows how he gets during runs, lost in his own mind that it’s nearly impossible to break him out of it.

Adrien smiles at her from the corner across the room where he finishes his solo. “Good?” he asks through heavy breaths.

“Amazing,” Marinette corrects.

“You flatter me,” he insists. He runs his hand through his hair. “I stumbled going into the pas de chat.”

She shrugs. “That’s an easy fix. Just make sure your footing is more solid out of that turn next time.”

Adrien stretches out his arms. “One more run and I swear I’ll stop.”

“Want me to put on the music?”

“Yes please.”

Marinette restarts the song and leans against the wall as she watches Adrien melt into his solo. She doesn’t think she’ll ever get tired of watching him dance. Watching videos on YouTube and Instagram had been one thing, seeing him dance in person is another experience entirely. Dancing with him…

The footwork into his pas de chat is perfect.

“Good?” she asks as the song comes to an end.

“Better.” Adrien joins her by the stereo. “Did you want to go home?”

Marinette shrugs. “It’s not even eight.” He checks the time. “No, it isn’t.” The corner of his lips lifts in a smirk as a familiar pop ballad starts. “Wanna dance?”

She smiles and puts down her bag. “I’d love to.”

—«·»—

Adrien turns off the stereo and lights in the studio as Marinette ducks behind the front desk. She picks up the cloth bag that remains, other is in her bag at her hip.

Marinette opens the bag and peaks inside, sighing softly as she looks at the shining pink pointe shoes inside. She closes the bag and holds it to her chest.

This is it.

Marinette wakes before the sun rises.

She stares at the ceiling for a very long time, too anxiety ridden to move. Competitions always leave her a little jittery. She doesn’t eat well on competition days and someone usually has to remind her to stay hydrated. Her emotions are high strung and on the surface. The stress leaves her tense until the music starts up when she’s onstage. And as soon as it ends, it’s right back the nauseating anxiety.

It’s exhausting, but she loves it.

At least her mind is fairly empty.

Her anxiety is shimmering, but it’s not at the forefront of her mind. It’s kind of just tugging at her gut. Mostly she just zones out. Her thoughts go nowhere in particular, flitting from topic to topic, too distracted and out of it to settle on anything.

She doesn’t know how long she’s been awake when Adrien says, “You up?”

“Hm?” Marinette turns her head to look to the other bed. She wishes they’d been able to move the beds together so they could be closer. The distance between her and Adrien feels awkward and wrong. Usually she’d rather squeeze onto Adrien’s bed with him, but they had to actually get a decent night’s rest with the showcase the next day

No, not the next day. The showcase is today.

“Been up for long?” Adrien murmurs.

Marinette rubs her eyes. “I have no idea. Wha’ time is it?”

“Um…” He squints as he checks his phone, momentarily blinded by the brightness of his screen. “Too early,” he grumbles, flopping back down on his pillow. He covers his eyes with his arm. “G’night.”

She can’t keep lying here.

Marinette sits up and runs her fingers through her hair. She winces as they get caught in knots. She didn’t want to have to deal with a tangled mess of a bedhead today. Whatever.

She swings her legs over the side of the bed and flexes her toes before getting up and wandering around the room. She needs a purpose before she has to start getting ready for the showcase.

Adrien lifts his arm from his eyes. “Where are you going?”

Marinette gestures vaguely with her hands before kneeling down next to her bag. “I don’t know,” she admits. “Nowhere?” She finds a scrap of fabric and some thread. This works.

“You okay?”

“Restless.” She drops down on the foot of Adrien’s bed and curls her legs up under her. She threads the needle and starts mindlessly embroidering the scrap.

Adrien sits up. He yawns and squints at Marinette. She glances up from her work and gives him a half smile.

“I need sugar,” he mumbles.

“Before a performance?” Marinette asks. “I thought you’d be a health nut about this.”

“I want to be awake.” He ruffles his hair. “If I’m avoiding anything, it’s going to be caffeine.”

“Yeah probably don’t start drinking coffee today.”

Adrien slaps his cheeks a few times and then shakes his head, opening his eyes wide. “Right. I’m alive.”

She raises an eyebrow at him.

He tries to hold back a yawn and fails. “Never mind.” He lays back down and covers his face with the pillow.

Marinette stabs at the fabric a few times. “I don’t like this,” she mutters.

“What?” Adrien asks, his voice muffled.

“This,” she says, gesturing to nothing. “I don’t like…this.”

He lifts the pillow to look at her. “Mari, I love you, but I’m not telepathic. I can’t read minds. This feeling, this day, this bed, this fabric, this weather, this air, this—” Marinette feins poking at his leg with the needle. He jerks away and curls up in a ball. “Sorry, sorry!”

She glares at him before she falls back into the spot next to him with a sigh. “I don’t know.” She holds the fabric up to the light. “This…feeling. I guess. Which is weird because I get competition anxiety and it doesn’t exactly feel like…this.”

Adrien uncurls and studies the fabric with her. “Does it feel worse? Better? Is it indescribable?”

“…indescribable,” she decides softly. “I just know it’s not the same.” She lowers the fabric and turns her head to look at him. “Do you feel it?”

He purses his lip and holds out a hand.

Marinette hesitates before putting her hand in his.

“Squeeze.”

She chews on her lip as she squeezes hard, knowing exactly what Adrien is doing.

“I feel it,” Adrien says after a moment. “Unfortunately, I can’t feel my hand anymore.”

Marinette can’t help herself, she laughs. She covers her eyes with her free arm and laughs and laughs and it’s not even that funny but she can’t stop laughing.

“Better?” Adrien asks when she’s breathing normally again. He gives her a crooked smile and squeezes her hand tight.

Marinette sticks her tongue out at him and squeezes his hand harder. “Sure.” She does, just a bit. Some of the pent up…feelings are gone now. It’s kind of unfair that Adrien always seems to know what to do when she never knows what to say to him.

Adrien studies their hands. “I’m not good with performance anxiety,” he murmurs.

She scoffs. “You seem fine to me.”

“Oh well, yeah. I’m sort of used to it at this point. I meant in other people. I’m not good with people.”

That’s a blatant lie. “You’re good with people,” Marinette insists.

Adrien shakes his head. “I am really really not. My role model growing up was Plagg.”

Marinette giggles. “Okay, fair point. You had Tikki too, though.”

“True. But still, I’m still figuring things out.” He kisses the back of her hand.

Her heart flutters. So am I, she thinks. “You wanted sugar?”

Adrien raises his eyes. “Starbucks?”

“Please.”

—«·»—

Marinette takes in the heavy coffee smell and the familiar background sounds of the Starbucks. She’s found that most Starbucks are similar in both aspects because of course they are, it’s a chain franchise. But this is different, because it’s her and Adrien’s Starbucks.

She swipes his drink to take a sip of it.

Adrien raises his eyebrows at her and takes her hot chocolate, muttering, “Fine then.”

“It’s hot,” she says as he goes to drink it.

He rolls his eyes and drinks it anyway.

She doesn’t bother hiding her smile when he makes a pained expression. Their phones vibrate on the table.

From: Nino To: the fellowship you up?

Adrien yawns as Marinette looks up from her phone.

From: cupcake queen ✌ / adrien’s gf / Marinette To: the fellowship Barely

She takes a picture of Adrien staring off into the distance looking half asleep and sends it in the groupchat. He looks down at his phone as it buzzes.

“Anything important?”

She shakes her head. “Nope,” she says innocently.

From: Nino To: the fellowship he looks ready to dance

From: the greatest person ever To: the fellowship i know ur dancers and ur super extra and have rehearsals but it is a saturday and i want to sleep so pls

Marinette rolls her eyes, but she can’t blame Alya. When Marinette had checked her phone this morning, there had been messages from Alya that were sent after two in the morning and the website Alya was insisting upon making had an entirely new navigation system.

From: Nino To: the fellowship my bad dude see you all tonight break a leg!!

From: the greatest person ever To: the fellowship ditto!

From: cupcake queen ✌ / adrien’s gf / Marinette To: the fellowship Thanks guys!! See you then <3

She frowns as she sips Adrien’s drink. She flips through her messages a few times. There has to be a way…

Her thumb freezes over Nino’s contact. Perfect.

From: adrien’s gf To: Nino Hey do you want to do me a favor??

From: Nino To: adrien’s gf sure my dude how can i help?

Adrien takes another sip of Marinette’s hot chocolate, apparently past the point of caring that it was too hot to drink. “What do you want to do until we have to be at the theater?” he asks.

From: adrien’s gf To: Nino Give me a minute and Ill explain

Marinette hums and puts her phone down. “I don’t know, what are we supposed to do with…sevenish hours?”

“Nap?”

She raises an eyebrow.

“Alright not nap.” Adrien runs a hand through his hair. “Honestly, usually on performance days I just lay around and stretch and watch TV. Try to eat healthy and make sure I don’t tire myself out beforehand.”

Marinette sips Adrien’s drink thoughtfully. “So…grocery shopping then binge watch something on Netflix.”

“Yup, that sounds pretty perfect.” Adrien puts Marinette’s hot chocolate down in front of her and takes his strawberry acai. “I think that’s yours.”

—«·»—

Adrien eats a bagel while he stretches his calves out against the wall. Marinette flips through Netflix before deciding on a sitcom they’ll both probably get way too invested in. She pulls out of her split once she presses play and twists into a backbend.

“I was going to ask if you were hungry, but I’m thinking now might not be the best time,” Adrien jokes.

She pulls her chin to her chest. “Yeah, maybe not,” she says, voice slightly strained from her position. “I am, but give me a minute?”

“Sure thing.”

Marinette straights her right leg up into the air and holds it before switching to the left. Then she drops onto her elbows and rocks back and forth a few times before she pops back up to her hands. She holds the bridge for a few seconds more before pulls herself up to standing.

“Show off,” Adrien mutters.

Marinette rolls her eyes and flicks her bangs out her eyes.

“Alright what do you want to eat? Healthy or healthier?”

“I’m thinking or,” she says, dropping down onto the bed.

“Or it is.” Adrien tosses her a box of granola bars. “Bon appétit.”

Marinette opens the box and pulls out two granola bars before throwing it back to him. “They’re going to date,” she says, nodding to the screen where two characters are sharing a not so subtle gaze.

“Before or after midseason?” he asks. “I’ll bet you the plum.”

She takes a bite and chews thoughtfully. “Episode…seven.”

“Very exact.”

She shrugs. “Lucky number.”

“Fair enough.” Adrien sits down on the other bed and crosses his legs. “This is going to be terrible, isn’t it?”

Marinette nods. “Almost definitely.”

He gives her a half smile before leaning back against the pillows. “I look forward to it.”

—«·»—

Marinette tries to keep her mind focused solely on stretching.

It is not working.

Everyone else onstage seems to be fine, stretching on their own or with partners, listening to music, relaxing and enjoying the last few hours before the performance, running tricks and turns… She knows other people are feeling exactly what she is, but she can’t stop feeling incredibly alone. And also a little bit like she’s going to throw up.

Marinette closes her eyes and tries to focus mostly on her music. Usually before performances she likes to listen to the songs she’s dancing to, but she’s been listening to the dance playlist Alya made her since her and Adrien arrived at the theater.

She gets up mindlessly and follows the rest of the dancers off the stage when one of the teachers announces that select dances are going to do quick run throughs. When those dances are completed, the stage will be open for anyone to practice on if the space is there. They have three and a half hours until curtain and need to be dressed with hair and makeup complete half an hour before.

She finds herself sitting on the floor of her shared dressing room, surrounded by glittering costumes and makeup bags. The whole room smells like hairspray and anxiety. Lovely.

Chloé rolls her eyes and scoffs when she opens the dressing room door.

Marinette looks up at her with a flat expression. “Yes?”

Chloé grabs Marinette by the arm and hauls her to her feet. “Time to dance, princess,” she grumbles. “This isn’t flopping because of you.”

Marinette rolls her eyes and yanks her arm away, but follows Chloé out to the stage regardless. She wouldn’t stay back just to be petty. Besides, Chloé’s words don’t seem to hurt as much anymore. Not now that Chloé has gone past words. It’s almost as if Chloé has hurt her so bad in other ways that she no longer feels the little things any more.

Marinette joins Chloé centerstage and lets the music wash over her.

—«·»—

“Marinette, breathe.”

Marinette gasps, inhaling all the air she’d been keeping out. Adrien rubs his hands up and down her arms. She takes a shuddering breath and closes her eyes. Breathing. Right. “You’re going to do fine,” he promises. “You’re going to go onstage and you’re going to dance beautifully. Brilliantly. You’re going to give it your all and everyone will be able to see it. And they’ll love you.”

She closes her eyes and nods a few times. She bites down on her lip to stop it from trembling but she can’t do anything about the fact that her eyes are watering up and oh god she’s going to throw up or pass out or something and she can’t do this she doesn’t—

“Hey, you’ll ruin your makeup,” Adrien teases softly.

Marinette forces a laugh. “Priorities,” she mutters.

“Definitely a priority, your makeup looks great and it took you forever.”

She takes a shaky breath before opening her eyes. “Adrien, I-I can’t—”

“You can.” He slides his hands down her arms to hold her hands. “Mar, you already have. And you did great.”

She glances over her shoulder to the stage where a small group is dancing. She had already been onstage. It had been a group dance. It had been fine. It had been…incredible. Probably should be considered life changing.

She feels numb. She feels like she’s going to fall over.

“It’s different,” she whispers.

“I know, but once you start dancing, you won’t even know they audience is there,” Adrien promises. He lifts their hands so their in line with her chest. “Squeeze.”

“I don’t want to break your hands,” she jokes weakly.

He raises an eyebrow. “Squeeze.”

Marinette takes a deep breath and squeezes his hands as hard as she can. She squeezes out the anxiety and the panic and all the negative thoughts her brain has spun up. She squeezes until her hands cramp. Then she let’s go.

“Better?” Adrien asks.

She shakes her head. Yes. No. Neither. Both. She just feels weird. Wrong. But she knows she needs to get out on that stage.

He pulls her into a tight hug. “You’ve got this,” he murmurs. “I believe in you.” He presses a kiss to the top her of her head and she has to resist the urge to bury her face in his chest. She has makeup on. She’ll ruin both it and his costume.

“Ready?” Adrien ask as he pulls away.

Marinette nods. “Ready.”

“I’m going to go find a better spot to watch, but break a leg.” Adrien squeezes her hand before letting go and walking away.

Marinette stays turned away from the stage. She makes sure her skirt is smooth — not that it’ll matter in a few minutes — and tries to stay calm.

She’s fine. She really is fine.

“Hey, Marinette,” a voice says softly. Marinette turns to see Chloé nearly hidden in the folds of the curtains. Chloé wraps her arms around herself. “I just wanted to say…break a leg.”

Marinette blinks in surprise as Chloé looks away. She didn’t think—

She doesn’t have time to mentally do anything other than gratefully accept Chloé’s well wishes.

Marinette nods to Chloé, glancing towards the stage as the last notes of Aurore’s solo music waver. “Thank you,” she says sincerely before stepping into the wings.

Marinette slows her breathing. She closes her eyes and puts herself into the performance mindset, locking onto her solo and blocking out everything else, all thoughts, all emotions, all worries. She doesn’t process any of Aurore’s solo, she just notices the end and her cue to step out onto the stage.

At her cue, she gathers up her skirts in her arms and takes three steps out onto the stage. She lifts but the armful of tulle and buries her face in in. The fabric scratches her face but it keeps her from facing the reality of the dance.

The music starts and Marinette loses herself.

She drops the fabric and pushes it away, walking forward slowly before sinking into a rond de jambe and kicking a leg out to the side. She knows this routine better than almost any other routine she’s danced in her entire life. It’s probably one of the most accurate representations of herself that she’s ever had.

She slowly rises up en pointe and lets herself perform. She tries to hold on to what Tikki had told her one night when she had been working herself to death, feet bruising and bleeding and no happier with the routine than she had been four hours before when she started dancing. There had been something that Marinette had been missing and she couldn’t figure out what it was.

“You’re cutting yourself off,” Tikki had said. “That’s no way to perform.”

Tikki had told her that dancing ballet doesn’t mean she has to cut herself off from the audience. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

Marinette knows she can’t match the skills of Chloé or even any of the other dancers here, who have had infinitely more training than her. But what she lacks in ability, she would make up in heart.

Every since she was little, she’s been told to leave her soul on the stage. She always did her best to do so, but it was sometimes a hard thing to understand. She could work her hardest physically, but never understood how you just left your soul.

The dance is halfway over before she’s even began.

Marinette can feel the slight panic bubbling up inside of her that always comes around this point. Because she hasn’t shown enough. She hasn’t danced enough, she hasn’t given her heart and soul in the way that she’s supposed to.

The panic starts dissipate with the next assemblé.

The years of performance and hours of rehearsal have made it easier for her to shove that panic away. Her confidence feels back and unwavering when she lifts up to pointe for a grande battement and this isn’t really a smiling dance but she’s having a hard time keeping a straight face because despite all the anxiety she can’t help but feel like she’s finally breathing and finally living.

There’s a reason she loves performance. Hopefully the expression on her face comes off as more wistful than happy. As she spins away from the audience for a beat, she schools her face into something more serious.

She doesn’t think much before throwing the triple pirouette. She grabs at her skirts in the fourth rotation, straightening her leg outward at a ninety degree angle before dropping to the floor and catching herself on her hands. She breathes deep as she arches backward before rolling to stand.

Tikki named the solo ‘Fly’. Marinette has never really been all that invested in naming her own dances. She has a hard time pinning down the dance into a name, or even just a sliver of the dance.

Ballet doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s not perfect. It’s like any other type of dance with it’s long hours and sweaty rehearsals. That perfection that Marinette once thought existed is impossible to reach but all she can do is jump higher and higher— and she can take flight.

She breathes deep before launching into the turning sequence spinning out of it into a calypso leap. She breathes slowly and smiles a little as she lands solidly and throws her skirt up down to float down around her.

She enjoys little moments like these in routines where she can take half a second to collect herself and breathe. She’s got the stamina for longer routines — she has to, especially having been an acro dancer — but a moment of peace is always nice.

Last leg, she thinks to herself as she kicks high. With barely any time in the dance left at all, she throws herself in completely— she’s allowed to collapse offstage. She scoops her arms and stretches as far as she can, pushing herself to her very limit. She’s overly aware of how hard the stage is below her feet when she lands her last jump.

Marinette pulls the front of her skirt up into her arms and buries her face into it as she walks backwards, dragging her feet in front of her against the floor. Her arms are shaking and it’s a good thing that her face is hidden from the audience as she gasps for air.

Someone in the audience cheers. People start clapping.

She retreats into the wings, clutching her skirts and trembling.

Dancers whisper ‘good job’ to her as they push into the wings for the next dance. She leans against the nearest stable thing — she thinks it’s a table but it’s dark and she’s drained and not entire sure — and catches her breath. She watches them dance through the wings, costumes sparkling under the lights.

Marinette gasps as she’s caught in someone’s arms and hugged tight.

“That was stunning, Mari,” Adrien murmurs into her hair. “You were stunning.” His voice is wavering.

“A-are—?” She pulls away and squints at him in the dark. “Are you crying?”

“Yes,” he says honestly. “Well, no, I’m just tearing up. Because makeup. If I weren’t going on in three numbers I would be full out crying.”

Marinette blinks away the tears welling up in her eyes and pulls Adrien into another tight hug. “Shut up,” she whispers.

“I told you there was nothing to worry about,” he says with a laugh. “The only time I’ve seen you dance better was with me.”

She scoffs and shoves him away, trying not to laugh. “Unbelievable.”

Adrien smiles brightly and she wonders if he knows how close to the truth he is. She never dances the same as she does when she dances with him.

“Where’s the best place to watch?” she asks quietly. She’s not missing out on his solo for the world.

He hold out his hand and she takes it without hesitation. “Come on,” he whispers, “I’ll show you.”

—«·»—

Marinette is squeezed between a few of the younger dancers in a small alcove that gives them an incredible view of the stage. It’s only accessible from a hallway backstage and is visible to very little of the audience, so Marinette can’t help but think whoever designed the theater must’ve known some of the cast and crew would be desperate to get a good look at what was happening while they were offstage.

Marinette’s breath catches in her throat when Adrien steps onto the stage.

It’s just not fair how handsome he is.

She’d seen him backstage with his hair slicked back in his all black costume and perfectly done makeup that showed off the fact that he had really incredible eyelashes. She’d seen him on Thursday in dress rehearsal, when his hair was a mess and his makeup was rushed but the costume fit just as well.

She hadn’t been able to see how he transformed when in front of an audience.

This is the Adrien Agreste she knows from videos and photoshoots. An untouchable dance legend from a family of ballet giants, all covered in a mask of gold and diamonds and perfection. She barely registers the music starting because she’s so mesmerized by Adrien.

He moves like water, his motions graceful and fluid. She sees his soul shine through him and this is what everyone means by leaving your soul behind you on the stage. Adrien has it figured out and he’s shattering himself to let the world see.

Is the rest of the world aware of what a gift they’ve been given?

She doesn’t hold her breath this time when he throws his butterfly. He lands it solidly and flows into the next move with no hesitation and she can see the video in her mind of his father doing it. She covers her mouth with her hand to hide her smile.

Watching Adrien has always been worth it. It’s always been breathtaking and jaw dropping. Watching him work so hard to get to what he performs is even better.

Marinette doesn’t clap when the dance ends and Adrien hits his final pose, she runs.

She wiggles out from between the other dancers and bursts out of the alcove, darting out of the way of a few dancers on their way to watch. The boxes of her shoes hit the floor loudly as she runs, but she doesn’t care so long as she stays upright and moving.

She slows as she reaches backstage, crashing right into Adrien as he moves toward his dressing room.

He grabs her around the waist to keep her from falling and she catches herself with her hands on his chest.

“Hi,” he whispers with a crooked smile.

Her heart is beating a million times a minute and she can’t stop herself from laughing breathlessly. “Hi.”

“Good?” he asks, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Perfect,” she insists. She cups his face in her hands and presses their foreheads together. “Perfect.”

Adrien closes his eyes and smiles. “So, good?”

She shakes her head. “You’re ridiculous. Yes. Very good.”

He glances back on the stage. “You should get ready for your next dance,” he murmurs, stepping away. “You’ll need to be lined up in a few numbers.”

Marinette sighs. She would’ve been fine with standing here forever. “See you here for the duet?” They’ve both got dances before it, but they won’t be able to talk between any of them aside from a quick hushed ‘break a leg’ or ‘good job’.

Adrien nods. “See you then.”

She ducks past him and into the dressing room, thinking about how much she’d rather be in his arms than pulling on tights and changing her makeup.

Aurore finishes tying her shoes as Marinette opens the door and jumps to her feet, brushing past Marinette and whispering a hushed thank you as she rushes to join the rest of her small group on the other side of the stage. Marinette closes the door softly behind her and leans against the dressing room table and starts unlacing her shoes.

Chloé glances at her from where she stands in the corner getting ready for her own solo, draped in gold and gemstones. They hold eye contact for a moment before Chloé breaks it to fit another bobby pin in her hair. Marinette sighs and ignores her as she pulls off her costume to get ready for her next dance. She sits down on the floor to pull on her tights — it was weird not wearing tights with pointe shoes for her solo, but she thinks she liked it — and carefully checks them for runs before she pulls on the flowing dress. She steps out of the way as she reaches for her makeup box to let Chloé out of the room. She closes her eyes as her fingers wrap tightly around her lipstick. “Chloé,” she says, her voice sudden and incredibly loud.

Chloé tenses and moves her hand away from the doorknob. She looks over her shoulder at Marinette. “Yes?”

Marinette takes her in for a moment. Chloé sparkles and shines and looks like a painting. Empty. Flat. Marinette would give anything to have the technical background that Chloé has, if she’s being honest. Chloé does have a one up on her in that aspect. But Marinette would never want to be alone as Chloé seems to be. She gives Chloé the best and most honest smile she can manage. “Break a leg, you’re going to do great.”

Chloé returns the smile and Marinette thinks there might be a chance that it’s less perfectly crafted than usual. “Thanks,” Chloé says as she opens the dressing room door. Music flows in and the silence between them no longer feels so empty and strange. She looks like she might have something more to say, but Sabrina appears and drags her off to get ready. She looks back at Marinette and gives her another half smile.

It’s enough for now.

—«·»—

Marinette rolls out her ankles while she waits for Adrien. The anxiety is starting to bubble up in her chest, but it’s nothing like before her solo. Now she has the majority of her dances under her belt. She knows what the stage feels like beneath her feet for a real performance. She knows the heat of the lights and the weight of everyone’s eyes on her. And she knows Adrien.

“Sorry that took so long,” he whispers to her as he lifts his foot into passé before grabbing the arch of his foot and pulling his leg up to touch his ear.

“You did great,” she murmurs. She holds out a fist to him and he fist bumps it with his free hand. “We have two numbers.”

“Sounds good.”

Marinette does a backbend by the wall and is careful not to slip in her pointe shoes. Adrien offers her his hand and pulls her up to stand. They practice their trickiest lift once more when they have the space and then wait impatiently in the wings. At least, Marinette is impatient. She keeps her eyes off of the dancers onstage and focuses on the music in her head.

She looks up in surprise when Adrien takes her hand and squeezes it softly. He gives her a smile and mouths ‘break a leg’. They move further into the wings as the dancers onstage take their final pose.

She takes a shaky breath and nods. ‘You too’. She lets go of his hand and lets him step out before her when they’re cued. When he turns to face her, she steps out of the wings. The stare at each other until the music starts and Marinette melts into Adrien’s touch.

Marinette thinks that dancing with Adrien is the same as the feeling that the poets are always trying describe. The one songwriters sing about, what artists try to capture in their creations. It’s this indescribable feeling of right. She’s never danced with any person or any group that makes her feel this way. She doesn’t think she’s ever met someone that makes her feel this way.

Even as they move away from each other for separate parts of the dance, she knows his presence and his aura and knows his choreography so well she can see it in her mind. She knows the exact moment that they touch again, her skin tingling.

The lift is tricky, it’s scary. It had taken weeks for them to get it without spotting and even longer for them to do it consistently every single time. Her breath hitches when they start it, but she meets Adrien’s eyes and hears him say in her mind, ‘I won’t let you fall’. This time, the lift is as easy as breathing.

Her skirt wraps around her legs as she turns in the familiar way she knows from practice, fluttering around her before settling as there’s a pause in the choreography for her to breathe. She turns her head and keeps her neck long, seeing Adrien center stage as he leaps into the air and flies.

She takes a deep breath before plunging back into the dance, feeling the music deep in her bones as she lets it flow through her. Adrien’s hand is firm on her waist as he guides her into a simpler lift. Adrien smiles softly at her as they hold eye contact throughout it, and Marinette can’t help but smile back. She remembers one rehearsal where Plagg had shouted at them mid routine to feel the connection between them. She had instantly turned into a stuttering mess as Adrien blushed bright red.

The connection feels electric and she embraces it in full.

Whenever Marinette watched Tikki and Plagg perform this choreography, she always thought there was something genius about the way they’d set it up. The first half of the dance is very individual and could almost be done as a solo. Marinette had done it as a solo, several times, in fact. She would turn on the music when alone and practice the first half on her own, needing no support from Adrien at all after the first two counts of eight.

But in the second half, it’s almost impossible to separate the two dancers. Like they’d become so tangled together that they were one person.

Marinette had always chalked it up to genius choreography.

As she arabesques away from Adrien and he reaches for her, one of the few moments of separation in the second half, she feels a pang in her chest and there’s a spark of realization as he pulls her back into his arms.

This dance would almost certainly fall to pieces without chemistry.

She holds her epiphany close to her heart for the last few counts of eight, wrapping herself in the familiar warmth of this dance, this choreography, this music She hadn’t realized how much she cherished it until this very moment, and it’s about to be gone.

Every dance is unique, it’ll never feel exactly like this again.

She barely notices the music coming to a close, focused completely on the steps and the performance. She knows the feeling of Adrien’s arm holding her steady and the strain of her muscles as she arches backward as far as she can, stretching herself to her limit.

The music ends and the world of this specific duet starts to fade away. She doesn’t know whether or not she should mourn.

Marinette meets Adrien’s eyes, breathless. He smiles down at her, dazzling and bright. His arm is tight around her waist and she can’t catch her breath. And it’s only partially because of the dancing.

The mascara makes his eyelashes incredibly long and his eyes seem so much greener under these hot stage lights. Each blemish and freckle is hidden by a layer of concealer, foundation, and powder. His eyebrows seem almost too dark, his features too perfect.

Her heart shudders when she realizes that she knows every line of his face. Even when they’ve all been erased and redrawn, she knows exactly what he should look like under that mask.

Applause. People are applauding. Adrien pulls her upright and she lowers down from pointe. He holds her hand as she curtsies, her heart in her throat, she can barely keep from laughing as it all bubbles up inside of her. She holds her right arm out as he bows. Then he takes her hand again and they bow once more before running off the stage. It takes all her control to run like a proper ballerina and not burst into a sprint.

What she wouldn’t give to be able to run through the streets of Paris laughing and holding Adrien’s hand right now.

Marinette can’t stop smiling as people congratulate them and Adrien weaves them through the crowd backstage. She thinks she thanks people, but she’s too caught up in the excitement and adrenaline to be truly present and grounded.

Adrien shuts the dressing room door behind them. She’s glad the room is empty because her emotions are threatening to overflow and she doesn’t know if she wants anyone but Adrien to see her turn into an mess. He turns to look at Marinette and she starts laughing. She laughs because she has no other way to let out all of this emotion. She throws her arms around his neck. “We did it!”

Adrien laughs as he hugs back her tightly, leaning backwards and lifting her feet off the ground. “We did it!” He spins them around once in the cramped dressing room before putting her down. Adrien smiles at her with sparkling eyes. The green of grass and leaves and life and everything that Marinette has ever wanted. Adrien is everything she’s ever wanted, all she’ll ever want.

The box of her shoes hit the floor and pull her back to reality.

A reality without Adrien Agreste is not what she wants. A reality where Adrien Agreste isn’t a major part of her day isn’t want she wants. Her ideal reality has Adrien Agreste as a constant, unwavering presence in her life. Someone she can love and who will love her in return. Who she can buy far too much Starbucks with and complain about rehearsal with and stay up until sunrise with. Somehow, in a single summer, Adrien has become someone that she always wants in her life. Someone she never wants to let go of. Ideally, she won’t have to.

Ideally—

Marinette doesn’t have to imagine some ideal situation. It’s right there, right in front of her, just a few inches away with a soft smile and bright green eyes.

This isn’t some cosmic story that’s written in the stars. It’s real, it’s tangible, and she has control over it. She has her feet on the ground and her arms around Adrien’s neck. He’s looking at her like she’s the sun and how she’s looking at him can’t be much different than that.

He’s the sun. He’s the moon and the stars and everything inbetween.

To hell with ideal, she wants reality.

Marinette realizes how small of a distance a few inches really is as she pulls Adrien down towards her and presses her lips firmly against his.

In the grand scheme of things, a few inches is nothing.

It doesn’t even take half a moment for Adrien to be kissing her back and Marinette can barely process the kiss because her mind is mostly a whirlwind of adrenaline and ‘oh my god I kissed him’.

Adrien deepens the kiss and their noses bump and she doesn’t care. All that Marinette knows is that his lips are soft and his hands are tight around her waist and she feels like she’s flying. She breaks the kiss and rests her forehead against Adrien’s, ready to touch the ground.

“Your makeup…” Adrien whispers.

Marinette opens her eyes. His eyes are closer than ever, green and welcoming and loving. “I had to fix it anyway,” she murmurs. Her next dance demands lighter lipstick. Her gaze drops to Adrien’s lips, she’s already aching to kiss him again. She laughs softly when she sees the lipstick smear on his lips. She moves her arms from around his neck and brushes her thumb against the lipstick mark. “You have some lipstick—”

Adrien leans into the touch as her hand cups his cheek. He turns his head and kisses the palm of her hand and the butterflies in Marinette’s stomach flutter in a way they never have before. “I needed to fix mine too.”

“Okay,” she says softly, not trusting her voice.

“I’ll see you for the production,” Adrien says and there’s no way she can wait that long. He seems to be thinking the same thing, because he leans forward and kisses her again, soft and slow.

Marinette keeps her eyes closed when he pulls away, only opening them when she hears the dressing room door open and close behind her.

Her legs feel like jello and her heart feels like it’s about to burst. She leans against the table and brushes her fingers against her lips. She would say that it was just the adrenaline or just that she kissed him first and he kissed her back as a reflex or out of courtesy or some other ridiculous excuse that her mind would dip into for an explanation.

But Adrien had kissed her.

He’d kissed her and he’d smiled at her and he’d kissed her.

Marinette buries her face in her hands as her cheeks burn. One of her dressing roommates will be back soon and it’d probably be best if she wasn’t an emotional disaster when they came in, but she can’t stop smiling and she’s fairly certain she’s redder than her production costume.

She lifts her head from her hands and takes a deep breath. That happened. That happened. She sees herself in the mirror already blushing again.

Rolling her eyes at herself, she starts getting ready for her next dance. She wipes off the smeared lipstick with a makeup wipe and carefully reapplies foundation where she wiped it away before taking out the lighter lipliner and lipstick. It was just a kiss, she shouldn’t be getting so worked up about a kiss. Two kisses. From Adrien.

She caps the lipstick and puts it away before staring herself down in the mirror. She’s going to get through the rest of this showcase without overthinking this. She can overthink later.

When Rose opens the door to the dressing room, Marinette helps her with her quick change with a smile, but the butterflies are still fluttering in her stomach.

—«·»—

“Don’t screw this up,” Chloé mutters as they wait squished in the wings to go on for the production. With every dancer in the intensive making an appearance of some sort, it’s a bit cramped. Chloé raises a perfect eyebrow at Marinette. “Got it?”

Marinette shoots Chloé a half hearted glare. She knows Chloé means it, Marinette is as good as dead if she screws this up, but they’ve reached some sort of incredibly uneasy truce and she’s not going to fight it if they only have this one dance left. “I won’t if you don’t,” she says, testing the waters.

Chloé smirks, something dark in her eyes. More like competition than anger. It’s a look Marinette doesn’t think she’s seen before. “Good.”

The music starts with the youngest dancers onstage and Chloé steps out right on cue. She’s no longer the worst part of Marinette’s summer or even an incredibly talented dancer with a mean streak that could kill. She’s just another dancer, contributing the same as any other dancer on the stage.

Marinette locks eyes with Adrien, who’s in the wing directly across the stage from her. He nods at her before he preps for a chaîné and leaps onstage.

One last dance.

Marinette closes her eyes and preps for her turn. The music swells and she spins up en pointe, leg bent back in attitude. She smiles to the audience as she arches away from them and falls into her role as perfectly as she can. She only has a few minutes left to show what she can do.

—«·»—

Marinette gets so caught up in the whirlwind of bows and backstage that she almost forgets to breathe. She doesn’t even get to go back to her dressing room, the crowd of dancers just moves her to the audience in full costume and pointe shoes.

She breaks away from the tide by the entrance to backstage, hearing shouts of congratulations from loved ones as dancers found them. She smiles to herself and hangs back for a moment, waiting for the crowd to thin out a little.

“Hey, kid.” Marinette turns around to see Plagg leaning against the wall. Tikki is standing next to him, absolutely beaming, and Wayzz is there, much to her surprise. Plagg pushes himself off the wall and sticks his hands in his pockets. He’s dressed nice for once, she’s pretty sure Tikki had something to do with that, and smirks before saying, “You did good.”

Marinette’s smile grows and she ducks her head. “Thanks.”

Tikki hurries forward and wraps Marinette up in a tight hug, albeit slightly awkward because of Marinette’s tutu. “Magical, Marinette,” Tikki says as she pulls away. “There isn’t a single person who wasn’t enchanted.”

Marinette doesn’t even know how to respond other than to laugh breathlessly and hug back when Tikki squeezes her in another hug.

Wayzz fiddles with his tie and gives Marinette a lopsided smile. “Maybe you just needed the right pair of shoes.”

Tikki gives him an offended look as Plagg laughs. Tikki rolls her eyes as she turns back to Marinette. “Those two,” she mutters. Marinette bites back a laugh. “Go,” Tikki says, motioning to the doors. “Go see your family, I’m sure they’ll want to congratulate you.”

Marinette takes a step towards the doors and a deep breath. “Thank you,” she says. It’s not enough, for any of them, but it’s all she has at the moment.

Tikki smiles, eyes sparkling with tears, “Thank you. Now go!”

Marinette opens the doors and is immediately swept up into a million conversations. People tell her how good she was and how much they enjoyed her performance as she weaves through the crowd and she smiles and nods and thanks them but can hardly processing all of the attention. Marinette doesn’t notice Alya until Alya throws her arms around her, hugging her tight and crying.

Marinette blinks in surprise. “Uh…” She pats Alya’s back and looks up to Nino, who waves. “Hey, Nino.”

“Hey! You killed it, dude. Super awesome.” He fits bumps her before putting a hand on Alya’s shoulder. “Al, you’re crying on her costume.”

Alya pulls away from Marinette and wipes away her tears. “You…” She points a finger at Marinette. Marinette tries to remember if she’s done something wrong before Alya smiles. “You swore you’d tell me if you got a solo!”

Oh. “Well… I wanted it to be a surprise,” Marinette admits.

“Was it!” Alya whacks Nino’s arm. “He wouldn’t let us see any programs! I should’ve known something was up.” She hugs Marinette again, even tighter. “You’re the worst. I hate you. You did so good and I love you so much.”

Marinette hugs back and mouths ‘thank you’ to Nino. He winks and gives her a thumbs up. His eyes light up as he sees something over Marinette’s shoulder. “Dude!”

Adrien stumbles backward as Nino launches himself at him. “Whoa!”

“Someone new to cry on,” Alya says before letting Marinette out of her death grip and latching onto Adrien and Nino instead.

Adrien gives Marinette an awkward smile before Nino grabs Marinette and pulls her into the middle of the hug. She finds herself squished between Nino and Adrien, her face pressed against Adrien’s shoulder. She tenses and looks up at him, smiling awkwardly.

He returns the smile, his cheeks turning pink.

“You two did so good,” Alya says. “It’s not fair. Gorgeous and talented? Leave something for the rest of us.

“True that,” Nino agrees. He’s as stuck in this hug as Adrien and Marinette are. Marinette isn’t exactly sure how Alya is holding them all in. Nino wriggles an arm free and ruffles Adrien’s hair. “One of your best, bro. You’ve never looked better.”

Marinette bites back a laugh. The gel in Adrien’s hair means that it’s staying a ruffled mess. Nino smirks and ruffles it again, messing it up even more.

“Is our Marinette in there someone?”

Marinette gasps and ducks out from Alya’s arms and runs right into her father’s. “Maman! Papa!” Being wrapped up in their arms feels safe and warm and like home— her father still smells like freshly baked bread, so that’s definitely helping.

“You were beautiful, ma chérie,” Sabine says as she pulls away. “I’ve never seen you dance like that before.”

Marinette hugs Sabine again. “Thank you, Maman, I loved it.” Speaking of loved… “You’ve already met, Nino, right?”

“He hid the programs from us,” Tom says, raising an eyebrow.

Nino rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “Just doing a friend a favor.”

Marinette shakes her head. “Anyway, this is Adrien.”

Alya tugs Adrien forward. He lifts a hand in an awkward greeting. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you.”

“We’ve heard so much about you!” Sabine says with a bright smile.

Marinette groans and buries her face in her hands. She forgot about that. “Maman please.”

“You have?” Adrien asks in surprise.

Nino snorts.

“You did great,” Tom says, putting a hand on Adrien’s shoulder. “Your father should be proud.”

Adrien barely nods, staring at Tom almost in awe. Marinette wants to wrap him up in a hug and tell him that this is what family is supposed to be like.

Alya clears her throat. “Speaking of fathers…”

Adrien tenses, eyes wide.

She elbows him lightly. “Nathalie said she’d meet you in your dressing room before the closing speech thing. I’m not sure how she knows where that is—”

“She’s scary, that’s how,” Nino interrupts. “That women knows all.”

Alya rolls her eyes. “Anyway, she asked me to let you know.”

A look crosses over Adrien’s face. “I’ll see you for the close,” he murmurs to Marinette, squeezing her hand as he passes by. She looks over her shoulder to watch him disappear into the crowd of families and dancers.

“He seems like a good kid,” Tom says.

Marinette finds the floor fascinating.

“A good kid…” Alya murmurs. “Be right back.” She darts into the crowd and and is quickly swallowed by it.

“Should we be concerned?” Nino asks Marinette.

She nods. “Very.”

—«·»—

Sabrina is leaving the dressing room as Marinette heads back to get changed. She loves her costume, but the bodice is starting to dig into her sides and she’d love to go to close of the intensive in comfortable sweatpants.

“You did great, by the way,” Sabrina says breathlessly, catching Marinette by surprise. “Like, really really good.”

“Oh, thank you. You did too, your small group was incredible.”

Sabrina turns pink. “It was nothing. Oh! Chloé is in there so,” she shrugs before heading toward the stage door.

Marinette nods slowly before opening the dressing room door.

She’s surprised by how quickly it’s been cleared out. She’d seen Aurore as she had been wandering around looking for her parents and friends and Aurore had somehow managed to pack everything up and change before getting swept up by the excitement. Rose looks up from her makeup case and smiles brightly, hanging her costume bags over her arm before she leaves the room.

And then there were two.

Marinette shakes her hair out of the bun but kept in in a ponytail. It’s awkward enough, curled stiff with hairspray, and taking it down would just be worse. She’d rather wait until she could wash all the gunk out of her hair before trying to take out anything else. She pulled off her fake eyelashes and trashed them before scrubbing the rest of the makeup off her face with far too many makeup wipes. She sat on the floor as she carefully untied her pointe shoes. Despite only having used them in this one showcase, they were broken in to a point close to ruin. She remembers Tikki joking about how ballerinas go through pointe shoes like they were made of paper. Tikki wasn’t wrong.

Marinette sighs in relief when she finally gets out of her costume and into sweats. She no longer feels like she has to be a perfect statue of elegance. She can slouch. Thank god.

“We have to go,” Chloé says suddenly.

Marinette looks up from where she’s organizing her makeup. “Oh.”

Chloé tosses her perfectly curled hair over her shoulder. She has no idea how Chloé got it so perfect so fast. “Clean up later, they won’t wait for you.” Chloé throws open the door. “Sorry,” she says tightly, “by the way.” And then she’s vanished into the darkness of backstage, her heels clicking against the floor.

Marinette swallows before following her. Okay. In part, she’s relieved that she didn’t have to accept Chloé’s apology, because she doesn’t know if she’d be able to. On the other hand… She’ll deal with it if they have to work together again.

For now, she can let go.

—«·»—

The theater’s seats aren’t the most comfortable in the world, but Marinette’s feet hurt and her entire body aches, so it feels nice to just curl up and rest her head on Adrien’s shoulder as the teachers talk. He plays with her hair mindlessly as they talk about the summer and the showcase and everything everyone accomplished over ten weeks. She can feel a lump of emotion in her throat and she tries to swallow it back. If she starts crying, she’ll probably never stop.

Trixx motions to Wayzz and he steps foward, glasses and smile crooked. “You’re probably wondering why I’m up here,” he says, gesturing to the others and yes, Marinette was wondering that. “Really, I just have friends with connections.” Plagg snorts and Tikki shoots him a look. Wayzz shakes his head. “My name is Wayzz. I don’t teach, I’m not very good at that, but I do work in the shoe room for a ballet company. And I know ballet, I know it well.” He adjusts his glasses. “I’ve been lucky enough to see how some of you have progressed since you were first offered a place in the program, and the leaps and bounds you’ve all made— truly, truly inspiring.”

Marinette sits up, eyes wide.

“You okay?” Adrien whispers.

She nods wordlessly, staring at Wayzz. He’s still talking, but the words are no longer processing. He smiles and it’s like he’s smiling right at her. If she imagines him with his hair combed back and neat, wearing contacts instead of glasses, dressed in an out of place suit—

“If you keep working as hard as you have, I have no doubt that you could all end up in a company like mine,” Wayzz says, “regardless of what opportunities you may or may not have had growing up. With the opportunity you were all given over the past ten weeks, you’ve all been able to truly shine.”

Marinette sinks back in her seat as Wayzz steps back and everyone applauds.

Adrien leans over. “You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine,” Marinette promises, pulling her gaze away from Wayzz to focus on Plagg. “I thought I knew him from somewhere.” She remembers shaking his hand and thanking him calmly before calling Alya and screaming.

“Alright, kids.” Plagg steps forward to center stage. “I know you and your parents want to get out of here soon, so it’s a good thing I don’t do speeches.”

Adrien scoffs.

“But hey, you all crushed it tonight, so pat on the back for that. I told you the fondues would pay off.” There are scattered groans through the audience. Adrien is one of them. Plagg smirks. “I’m going to pass of my nostalgic mush to Tikki, seeing how that’s her thing, but keep fonduing, it’ll get you places eventually.”

Tikki clasps her hands together. “I think I speak for all of us when I say that it has been a true honor to teach you all. One of the greatest parts of teaching is being able to see your students grow and we have seen you grow into dancers that we may very well be sharing a stage with in the near future.

“Ten weeks isn’t long but at the same time, it’s impossibly long. It’s the blink of an eye and an entire summer. Tiny steps lead to big leaps, you just have to keep working. What you go back to tomorrow might not be this extreme; you may have shorter hours and fewer classes, but that doesn’t mean you should stop working as hard as you have been.

“Whether or not you choose to continue dancing, whether or not this is going to be part of your future, you learned a lot this summer, more than you may realize. You’ve made friends and you’ve made connections. You’re only on the brink of what you can truly do and achieve. And we are so thankful to have been able to help you find your way just a little bit more. A little guidance can go a long way and you should be proud of yourselves for how much you’ve learned, because we wouldn't have been able to help you if you didn’t want to learn.

“Take what you’ve learned this summer and apply it to the life you choose to lead, whatever that may mean for you. Some will take more than others. Maybe all you learned from this summer was that you’re a terrible roommate--” A few people laughed and others agreed. “--and while I doubt any of you learned so little, it’s still better than nothing. It got you out of the house didn’t it?”

Adrien hides his face in the crook of his arm to muffle his laugh.

“Dance is hard, ballet is hard. It takes so much work to make it look elegant and graceful and effortless. And despite how hard it is, you all did it wonderfully tonight. The performance you put on was magical and the talent that crossed this stage was unbelievable. You’ve all overcome so many boundaries — physical, mental, and otherwise — this summer and we are all so proud of you and what you’ve accomplished.

“If you’re leaving tonight, make sure you have everything you brought and stay safe on your way home. To those leaving tomorrow, we have to be out of the rooms by ten so they can clean. If you have any studio keys you have to return, both Plagg and I will be there until around eleven. We hope that you’ll consider joining us again next summer, so you can improve even more. And to those of you who are graduating this year, wherever you go, whatever path you may choose, we wish you the absolute best.”

—«·»—

Marinette is packing up the last of her costumes when there’s a soft knock on the dressing room door. She zips up the costume bag as she says, “Come in!”

Tikki opens the door and smiles. “We’re on our way out.”

“Oh!” Marinette reaches for her makeup box. “Sorry for taking so long I can—”

“It’s fine,” Plagg interrupts. “Sheesh, breathe a little.”

Tikki holds out a key. Marinette hesitates before taking it. “All the lights are off but the stage ones and Adrien knows how those work, him and Plagg were fooling around with them after dress rehearsal.” She shoots Plagg a look, but he just shrugs. She rolls her eyes. “Just lock up and you can give us the key tomorrow with your studio key. Don’t worry about anything else, we have to be back here anyway to clean up some things and return the keys.”

“I can help before my train leaves,” Marinette says. “If you need it. With cleaning up and all that.”

Plagg closes her hand around the key. “We’ve got it. We get paid for stuff like this. You don’t.”

“Just make sure he gets home at a reasonable hour,” Tikki says, motioning behind her. “He’s on the stage. He always likes to have some time to himself after performances.”

Marinette squeezes the key, the edges of it biting into her skin. “Yeah, of course.”

Plagg smirks. “No funny business,” he says, draping an arm around Tikki’s shoulder.

Marinette flushes. “W-we— I—”

Tikki gives him a flat look. “Leave her alone, Plagg. You’re fine,” she promises Marinette. “Don’t stay too long. Sleep well.”

Marinette nods and watches them leave. It takes her a moment to collect herself and then another moment to collect all her things. She studies the now empty dressing room and wonders how not even an hour ago it was filled with costumes and people and life.

She shakes off the feeling and shuts the door behind her.

Marinette puts her stuff down and watches Adrien for a few minutes from the wings. He’s not dancing so much as just going through motions and wandering around the stage with a distant expression on his face. It takes her an almost embarrassingly long time to recognize that he’s mostly just moving through the variation from the Bluebird pas de deux. He drags his toe on the stage in a slow compass turn, freezing when he sees her in the wings.

She holds up the key. “Tikki told me to lock up when you finished.”

“Right,” Adrien says softly. “I’ll be done in a minute, just…” He finishes the turn and stands in third position for a long moment before doing a pas de cheval tombé. He preps for a pirouette and does an easy double.

“We don’t have to leave now.” She puts the key down on top of her costume bags. “I can wait.” She toes off her shoes and joins him onstage. It’s strange feeling Marley under her bare feet again.

Adrien faces the audience head on. Marinette gazes out into the darkened rows and rows of empty seats. “It’s weird,” he says, “to think that this place was full of people an hour ago. And now it’s so empty and alone.”

“We’re here,” Marinette points out.

Adrien smiles at her. “We are, aren’t we?” His eyes widen. “Hold on.” He runs across the stage, disappearing into the wings.

An empty stage and theater is significantly lonelier and creepier if you’re by yourself, Marinette notes.

“Hey, Mari.” Adrien enters from the other side of the stage, holding something behind his back. “These are for you.” Marinette’s eyes go wide as he holds out a bouquet of red roses to her.

“Y-you didn’t have to,” she stutters as she takes them. Alya had told her flower language once, but she doesn’t remember any of it, she’s too focused on the fact that Adrien got her flowers. “You really didn’t.”

“I wanted to,” he promises. He blushes a little. “I wanted to thank you for…being you.”

She wants to protest that isn’t doing anything, certainly nothing to deserve flowers. Her parents always get her flowers after performances, they’ll sit on the counter in a vase until they start to wilt and then she’ll press them in a book to keep forever. She doesn’t think these are the same kind of post show flowers. “You should’ve told me, I would’ve gotten you flowers too. I didn’t get you anything.”

“I didn’t want you to.”

“You got me roses,” Marinette whispers.

“And you gave me friendship,” Adrien says honestly.

She resists the urge to hide her face in the roses. “That is so cheesy,” she mumbles.

“I’m a cheesy person,” he admits. “But you knew that. And…maybe, you wouldn’t mind going out on a cheesy date with a cheesy guy?”

Marinette lowers her flowers and stares at him. Her mind has gone almost completely blank, like some sort of factory reset. She has to run through the words a few times to make sure she actually heard him correctly. “Adrien Agreste that was the lamest way you could’ve asked me out,” she says, her voice surprisingly steady because she honestly thinks her legs are going to give out on her.

He smiles goofily and shrugs. “Did you ever think I was cool?”

“About ten weeks ago I did.”

He laughs. “Is that a yes?” he asks, rubbing the back of his neck.

Marinette smiles down at the flowers before rising up a on her toes and pressing a quick kiss to his lips. “Of course it’s a yes.” Adrien lights up like the sun and her heart flips. “To quote Alya, we were practically dating anyway.”

Adrien snorts. “Her too? Nino’s been bugging me about it for weeks.”

Careful of her roses, Marinette wraps her arms around Adrien’s neck. “I think they may have bonded over trying to get us together.”

He raises his eyebrows. “You think?”

She hums. Their noses brush as she tilts her head. “Maybe a little.”

“We should probably tell them at some point,” Adrien murmurs, just a breath away from her lips. “They probably have a party to throw. Bets to exchange.”

“They can wait.”

Marinette wakes up far too late.

For most people, it’s not late at all. Eight thirty on a Sunday morning? Back to bed. At home, Marinette is up as soon as her parents start baking. For the past few weeks, Marinette has gotten up whenever Adrien does and she doesn’t know if that boy knows what sleeping in even means.

It’s strange to find the bed next to her empty.

She sits up with a groan, aching all over and knowing that she needs to stretch before she gets on a train and sits for several hours but not really wanting to. The perfect day would actually be not moving period, but that’s not going to happen.

She gives herself a few minutes to wake up before she gets out of bed and pads to the bathroom, relieved to see that her hair is only a minor disaster and that there’s no makeup smudged all over her face. She did her best last night, but she still sometimes wakes up after competitions looking like a racoon. There’s only so much you can do to take makeup off once you’ve applied several pounds of it.

Adrien’s things have already been moved out of the room. Marinette packs at a fairly leisurely pace, listening to music on her phone and scrolling through notifications she’d missed last night. She has hours until she has to make her train, she’ll be fine.

She sits back on her heels and closes her eyes, remembering how Adrien’s lips felt against hers and kissing him until she was breathless. It’s kind of hard to believe that it’s not all a dream, but it also feels like the most natural thing in the world.

It’s a little bit of a struggle to get all of her things together, but she manages. She checks the room once more before shutting the door behind her and hearing the finalizing click.

Marinette returns her room key and drops her stuff off at the studio before making a quick Starbucks run. She needs something to eat that isn’t healthy and she’s pretty sure Adrien stole the rest of the granola bars anyway.

Tikki is sitting on the desk while Plagg spins lazy circles in the chair when Marinette returns with drinks. Tikki looks up from her phone with a smile. “Figured you’d be back soon.”

Plagg scoffs. “Like she was going to leave all her stuff here.”

Marinette puts down her hot chocolate and pulls out the keys to the studio and theater. “Thank you for…everything.”

Tikki grins brightly as she tosses the theater key to Plagg. “You’re welcome, and thank you too. You’re welcome to leave your stuff out here.”

Plagg nods toward the studios. “He’s in his usual room.”

“And we’ll be here as long as you’d like.” Tikki winks.

Marinette tucks her hair behind her ear and glances toward the door. “Right. I’m just going to…”

“Go be sappy teenagers!” Plagg says, shooing her away. “You’re making me sick.”

Tikki laughs as Marinette walks over to the studio door. “Like we weren’t sappy teenagers once,” Tikki teases.

Marinette knocks on the door softly before she opens it. She’s not really looking for a response, she knows she’s welcome, she’s more of giving a warning. Snapping him out of his thoughts.

Adrien is doing lazy pencil turns to gentle lyrical music when she opens the door. His face is red and his shirt is disheveled and there’s a pile of luggage in the corner by the stereo. He winks at her the next time he makes a rotation. He poses dramatically as she closes the door before meeting her halfway.

“You were up early,” Marinette says, holding out his drink. “And you were quiet.”

He smiles gratefully before taking it. “I didn’t want to wake you, you looked exhausted last night.”

She shrugs and leans against the barre as he drinks, wrapping both her hands around her hot chocolate. “Performances wipe me out. It’s probably because I psych myself out so much beforehand.”

Adrien nods. “I used to do that too.”

“Got used to it?”

“Had to,” he points out. “If you have a performance every night for a week, you don’t have a chance to be tired. Mostly I just napped a lot until I was able to run on what’s essentially pure willpower.”

Marinette groans. “I like sleep too much for that.”

“Well, you can’t have dance, sleep, and a social life. You have to choose.”

She furrows her eyebrows. “You have a social life?”

Adrien sticks his tongue out at her as she lifts her cup to her mouth with raised eyebrows. “Um, excuse me, I have a girlfriend.”

Marinette feels a blush creeping up her cheeks. She tries to keep the butterflies in her stomach still, but it’s far far too new for her not to freak out just a little bit. “Is she pretty?” she asks playfully.

“Gorgeous,” Adrien says with twinkling eyes.

“Bet she’s a better dancer than you.”

“You’d be right.”

She gives him a flat look. “Okay, no. So not true.”

Adrien shakes he head. “No, I still can’t do a body roll right, so… I think you win this round.”

“I think you’re biased,” Marinette counters.

“Mm… Yeah, probably. But not in this case.”

She rolls her eyes. “You’re the worst.”

“And yet, you love me anyway,” Adrien teases, putting down his drink next to the stereo. He reaches out to take Marinette’s.

“Yes. Yes I do,” she says as she passes her drink off, their hands brushing.

Adrien pauses, eyes wide. He smiles slowly. “Well that’s good. Because I love you too.”

Marinette covers her mouth with her hand to hide her own smile.

“Too soon?” he asks. He takes her other hand and presses a kiss to her knuckles.

“We haven’t even gone on a real date yet,” she points out.

Adrien hums thoughtfully. “Can we consider this our first date?” he asks, motioning to the room.

Marinette nods slowly. “Starbucks and dancing. The only two things we seem to do.”

“We also watch bad movies,” Adrien adds. “And Disney classics.”

“Three things then.”

He shrugs. “I don’t know, two out of three seems pretty good. Sounds like a decent first date to me.” He offers Marinette his hand with a small bow. “What’d you think?”

She curtsies before taking it. “It sounds perfect.”

“Do you waltz, my Lady?” Adrien asks, pulling her into closed position. He starts waltzing before she can even answer.

“Not really, but you seem to waltz just fine, despite this song not being a waltz,” Marinette teases.

“You’re so picky.” he murmurs, leaning his forehead against hers and closing his eyes.

“Mm, well, someone needs to teach you to count music. Can you not hear the downbeat?” she teases.

Adrien stares at her with glittering green eyes. “Will you help me find it?” he asks softly.

Marinette smiles before taking lead. “One,” she says with the next step. She moves out of closed position as she pulls Adrien in a slow circle, counting the downbeat aloud whenever they reach it. He sings along to the music softly, and she thinks that she could stay here forever in this empty studio with nothing but Adrien and gentle music. It doesn’t take long before they’re giggling and improvising poorly while holding hands, completely entangled in one another.

#marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #ml fanfic #miraculous ladybug #adrienette #tangled ribbons #my fics #the end :')

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andseperand · 7 years

Text

thoughts

ive been sitting on this post for the better part of a year. i tried to read through it and make edits, but im going to have to post this as is. maybe ill be able to edit it someday. anyway, this is completely composed of spoilers.

tl;dr: i mostly wrote bitterness about “kung food,” “origins part 1,″ and “reflekta.”

these are my thoughts on what ive watched of the first season of miraculous ladybug (i have watched most of every episode except the last three).

i may be confused or misinformed on some points. some of this is not as serious as other parts, and the writing style is disjointed because i didnt write it all in one go. any links are formatted within brackets (as in [text]).

ordered by the order i initially watched (parts of) the episodes in and indicated by villain name somehow (english, korean, french, french translation, etc.).

stormy weather/climatika

why did alya just toss manon like that? she couldve hurt something just being thrown around with her tiny little bones and joints that lack any significant cushioning. not to mention that her neck is completely unsupported. safety, much?

the bubbler/le bulleur

so the record is fully functional but also survived getting smacked off a building on its edge? wow.

copycat/l’imposteur/the imposter

i get that alya is supposed to be that “go-getter” friend who pushes marinette to be brave, but honestly, if she had waited another minute for marinette to be more ready for making a phone call, this wouldve been less of a mess. yeah, i get the “pushing boundaries to build confidence,” but honestly we could have waited for marinette to stop stalking adrien, too.

i gotta say: marinette is truly fearless. my phone is so suspicious. i would not have the confidence to deliberately touch it with my face and risk contact with who knows what has been on it.

the “moral” or whatever of this episode is kind of unclear? steal someones phone and run into issues with security but then also somehow break into it and get what you want anyway? no, thats not okay. its not that funny that marinette legitimately stole someones phone, and she doesnt even get seriously reprimanded for this.

timebreaker/chronogirl

one of the most pressing questions i have for this episode is why no one thought of using pockets or a bag or something to hold this important watch. hand perspiration is pretty bad for a lot of older and newer mechanical objects alike. why is this clearly-important item treated any different? ive considered both the “tikki is in the bag” (doesnt mean it has to be marinettes bag) and the “girl pockets” (marinette designed her own clothes, though) possibilities, and im still stumped.

mister/monsieur/mr./m. pigeon

how did chloe know what the colors were or even what the embroidery pattern looked like from a pencil sketch? it looked like chicken scratch.

lady wifi

im not sure that “dont violate other peoples privacy” was very well stated, seeing as alya was landed with an unfairly harsh punishment due to corrupt politicians. and how did that get resolved, anyway? was she still suspended? was there even supposed to be a moral in this mess?

the pharaoh/le pharaon

the villain is a pharaoh, continuing the ages-long trend of pretending ancient egyptian culture is just ~so interesting~ and that its portrayal isnt exploitative at all. i cant really say much about this, but i dont like those special ancient egypt episodes of anything.

rogercop

a mess

im pretty sure that this was to save animation budget or something, but why was marinette picking up those croissants off the floor and arranging them so nicely as if it really mattered what she did with them besides cleaning up the spill? i guess ill let it slide if shes trained that way as an advertising thing (though advertising doesnt get a free pass by default just because its strange).

the evillustrator/evil artist/le dessinateur

off topic, but could that tablet also erase or create living beings?

dark cupid/le dislocoeur/heartbreaker

this was still technically a kiss without consent? doesnt really feel all that romantic and whatnot. i cant really get behind this as shipping material.

horrificator

side note: i really liked how chloes english voice actor delivered the lines mockingly announcing mylenes “award” in the beginning.

im not a fan of the “you must kiss as part of acting” plot point. it always gives off those peer pressure vibes from other people and opportunistic vibes from main characters who want to actually kiss the other person.

darkblade/le chevalier noir/the black knight

sabrina is honestly super lucky that marinette made her box have a hole big enough for super tiny animated character wrists or else she wouldve been in a world of more pain.

alya had a platform? im so confused about how this election worked. did they do ballots or some sort of “heads down” in-class vote thing?

the/le mime

seeing as people dont lose their memories of being attacked by the villains, i really dont see how tearing down the eiffel tower (even in an animated show where people are not in the structure at the time) is the best way to minimize traumatic experiences. i get that it was supposed to be a “wow” moment for the plot and just visual effects but not the appeal.

kung food

the second i ever laid my eyes on this name i knew it would be bad, i just didnt know how bad because there were just so many ways it couldve gone with that phrase and i didnt know what to expect until i actually watched the episode. more on this in a bit.

there was literally no point to having the famous chef be related to marinette other than contrived circumstances to get adrien into this episode. im using this as a launching off point for talk of other stuff.

why didnt marinettes parents do anything about a relative coming to their house? this really baffles me because they have their daughter meet an effective stranger with no help.

why didnt marinettes parents tell her what languages the relative spoke? honestly, it kind of seems like they just didnt even care if this would cause her extreme anxiety or anything. you would really think they would have at least discussed this as a family because it was made pretty clear that his visit was actually expected. i thought way higher of their characters until it seemed that they pulled this crap move.

i know it was supposed to be all cute and a bonding moment when adrien came over to translate, but it was even more of a disaster. why did they take a car literally around the corner to get to the hotel? why didnt the chef go directly to the hotel if it was so close? was that adriens car? who was in charge of organizing this event and making sure the contestants didnt end up in the wrong place? how in the world did the chef even get to the bakery? because of the close proximity of the hotel to the bakery, it doesnt make sense that he would go to the bakery instead from an airport or something? unless he was supposed to meet his relatives? which, in this case, was not facilitated at all? so many questions are raised.

i dont speak nor understand mandarin, but im pretty sure adriens wasnt good enough for him to actually be complimented for it. then again, its nothing new to see white people getting complimented for deigning to learn a ~foreign language~ while i get interrogated about my lack of “authenticity” for not speaking “my native tongue,” so i guess the writers were just being realistic.

he bowed...funny story, at least one time i went to a restaurant with other visibly asian people and the apparently-white waiter kept making this weird head bobbing motion every time they left the table and what im saying here is that i know adrien has presumably been learning about culture stuff, but i also know firsthand that creators really love to shove bowing into media whenever asian people show up. (that waiter did give us extra mints, so i guess that was nice.)

sarcasm alert: i love when ~asian~ people have ~asian~ accents. its not like this is a tired gimmick that i dont need to see literally everywhere i turn (oh, wait! according to the english version, it is! hooray for me! this is probably the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me ever! im not being sarcastic at all! or overly sarcastic to the point where im sarcastically putting in that everything ive written in this paragraph is sarcastic because im just so mad! or maybe it definitely is! it probably is all sarcasm!) [bonus sarcasm here]

the chefs english/default dub language fluency was either inconsistent or this was just a straight-up rude portrayal of a nonnative speaker of a language, because adrien didnt seem to wait five seconds (for the chef to even consider the question about what he was cooking) before talking to the chef (and naturally, being a polite person, the chef listened to what adrien was saying), and i feel like it was only for the sake of adrien being ~useful~ because right after that, he talks to the chef in english/whatever language? dont think i didnt notice that his english speaking got “better” after becoming a villain. you know, if they hadnt faked the accent in the first place, they wouldnt have had to hastily cover for the fact that their voice actor couldnt even execute it well.

im sure adrien and marinette tag-teaming to argue with chloe and her racist comments was supposed to be this whole “wow look at that team” deal, but it felt like adrien was shoehorned into this mess sloppily. woohoo for the white boy defending marinette because she cant do it herself or something! i do appreciate when white people help stand up for me, but in this context, it feels off.

i have such a big problem with the “pep talk” adrien gives marinette when she thinks the chef doesnt like her. first thing, white boy explaining things about a person of color to a person of color, and the two people are actually literally related? i think the bouquet misunderstanding was really bizarre, and when did adrien have time to gain all this extensive exposition? the interview when they first arrived was short, and i dont think that both adrien and the chef would be so rude as to exclude marinette from their conversation in the car on the way over. this just comes off as a way to have adrien ~encouraging~ marinette, and its not a very good one.

this supposedly super prestigious competition literally has no security to make sure no one is mucking around behind the scenes, let alone ensure that the contestants arent up to any funny business. because why not. and no cameras around either, because cooking-based television programs never show any cooking, just the tasting and subsequent subjugation by a villain (this is a sarcastic sentence). even if this is supposed to be a featured dish and thus one they dont want to showcase the recipe behind, they could still have those little soundbites interspersed with candid panorama shots (can you tell i have no idea what any of these words mean?). im just going to have to chalk this one up to animation budget and move on.

i know this was just a sort of (intendedly funny) visual thing, but i highly doubt that the objects chloe put in the soup could just go unnoticed, especially since i presume a chef would thoroughly stir (and taste) their cooking, and the soup didnt appear to have properties of decomposing things touching it. otherwise that tasting session would probably have turned out a little messier (i am completely kidding here).

why is the chef being upset about being sabotaged made into a ~cultural~ thing? why is a white boy telling marinette about her ~own~ culture? sheesh, its like you cant just be upset because your shot at a world title was ruined on live television and you have confirmation that you were deliberately sabotaged. yes, chloe did it because shes petty and racist, but the results of her actions could upset anyone! its not just because the chef is chinese! what is the point of saying that? its a pointless throwaway comment! why dont you just find some other way to get the chef alone so he can be become a villain that isnt a) nonsensical and b) making sweeping generalizations about people? (granted, i cant speak to the validity of anything said about cultures, but i sure can comment on why saying such things about them isnt okay regardless).

“kung food” oh my god. this is such a piece of crap name. it is racist. you can literally try to argue against this until youve gone far beyond oxygen deprivation and in a grave but itll still be racist by the time youre done. aside from the pharaoh, there arent a bunch of ~ethnic~ names (not that it would be okay for that to be the case anyway) running around, and yet we get one with this specific villain whose ethnic and national origin is talked to death? okay.

and ive seen this pointed out, but the villain appearance seems to have a kind of anime-inspired design, which is honestly a good laugh because who was just talking about not conflating china and japan again? weeaboos and sinaboos are often in the same boat.

okay, not related, but adrien just had to taste a suspicious substance off the floor. why. there are so many ways to figure out what a substance is before putting it in your mouth. or you could just not do that at all. before this point, they did not appear to suspect a food-related villain, so this couldve ended badly.

another side note: i dont know how that receipt retained its integrity long enough for ladybug to wrap the villain up after dipping it in the soup. do the magical items just have super special properties like extra toughness that allows them to defy the reality of paper receipts? i wonder how many of the things ive talked about in this post have been me marveling at the sturdiness of lucky charm items.

of course this turns into an ~accountability~ lesson for marinette. and chloe doesnt get reprimanded? yeah, she got booted off a panel she didnt even want to be on and no one actually clearly articulated to her that the things she said were absolutely unacceptable? then again, this is a “diversity episode,” so i dont know why my standards are so high.

wow, marinette really needed to have adrien encourage her before going to take a picture with her great-uncle? im going to be generous and allow that she wanted to make sure he would be okay with her ditching him for her much cooler great-uncle because she didnt want him to feel bad about how not-cool he is in comparison. there, you see what i mean about making up story elements? (though im really not much of a writer, oops.)

im so over people making fun of how others dress as a joke. before i realized that i am autistic and reflected back on my life, i didnt realize that i gravitate toward clothing i find comfortable rather than fashionable, and ive always gotten negative comments, ill-intended or otherwise. so i really didnt appreciate marinettes jab at chloe, even if it was to defend herself. it was just unnecessary.

i want to talk about the whole ~chinese representation~ thing in this show. yeah, i know marinette is one of the very few chinese and mixed main characters out there (and there are barely any that are both), but im going to be super honest about this: i dont think shes all that great. i am a big fan of her and this show, but that doesnt make it infallible. the fact that adrien of all people is telling her about her own culture is a huge failing in itself. i dont know everything about my own cultures, but its not cool to have a literal outsider being shown to be the expert on someones culture and be the one to guide them through that. theres barely any portrayal of sino stuff in the show as is, and i hate the way this is only shown as a kind of special episode topic. i would be way more fine with this if this wasnt basically the sole instance of discussion of marinettes heritage. and no, the fact that her mother wears stereotypical clothing doesnt count. at all.

okay, this has been a huge issue for me before and after this point, but it was in this episode that it was made abundantly clear just what we are dealing with. i know that it is completely possible, genetically speaking, for a mixed chinese and white person to have blue eyes. its also completely possible for a chinese person to have gray eyes even without being mixed (i say this because i dont know if her mother is monoracial). however, if you only have two confirmed recurring characters of chinese descent, and their eye colors are ~special~ colors...well, thats kind of iffy there. why is it that the minor chinese character has stereotypical eyes? theyre basically just expanded pupils for all intents and purposes, which is not the problem, because its possible to have irises that are so dark as to make figuring out whether they have a distinguishable brown tint to them really hard. anyway, i suppose i dont want to talk about things ahead in the season, but why is it that the background asian characters get the stereotypical eyes but the main characters who are asian get the special eye colors? (that was a rhetorical question. i know exactly why.)

im pretty that at some point in the creation of this villain name, someone patted themself on the back for being so ~clever~ like “haha kung food geddit? its like kung fu but with food because im actually not that creative and more racist than i would like to openly admit.” okay, i know im being a bit harsh. but its really annoying when one of the few things people “know” about sino people is that kung fu exists. and honestly, i kind of suspected this, but ive seen other people say that the villain more resembles a villain from anime, so...thats kind of disrespectful there...

the/le gamer

i really disliked marinettes combo move names. they all had ~asian~ words like lotus, jade, oriental, etc.

animan

i find the sniffing scene to be kind of creepy. personal space much?

the city has really high quality buses. i cant believe the bus didnt end up backfiring on their plan because if i know anything about buses its that the ones ive seen are probably way older and more decrepit than me.

antibug

how do the earrings work in this setting? as far as i can tell, it would make sense for chloe to have pierced ears and a pair of ladybug imitation earrings that she could put it, but how is it possible that ladybug was able to just pull the earrings off? because that could be a really, really messy situation if they are actually piercings with backings and everything, but is there an explanation for this? magnets, clips, anything?

the puppeteer/le marionnettiste

can that glowing bright red effect that comes from her yo-yo and the power cord being swung around just for the viewers, or can it actually be seen in-universe? or is that a null point because both items are generated by ladybugs magic?

reflekta

this show really didnt need any “haha look a ~guy~ in a dress” jokes. and honestly, this was ill handled (though arguably, its very existence was ill handled). first of all, im not the best judge of this kind of thing, but to me, ladybug felt out of character while mocking chat noir? honestly, marinette doesnt strike me as the type of person to find that kind of situation funny in the first place, so the premise doesnt really hold up in my opinion. i know marinette can make mistakes, but youd really think she would be more open to not thinking this way because she knows what its like to be bullied for other things. moving on... [though, to reiterate]

the way this was not addressed? at all? yeah, ladybug apologized for that one comment at the beginning of their conversation, but then she continued to make jokes at chat noirs expense, and it just wasnt as funny as it was probably intended to be?

i know the whole thing about ambiguous chronology, but there is no reason ladybug wouldnt take chat noirs opinion into account when planning for things anyway. it felt like that part was written specifically so he could “prove” his worth to the rest of the episode and ensure that, yes, he is still allowed to be in it after being turned into a reflekta lookalike, and the whole thing smacks of trying to write out of a corner...that was written into in the first place. if it hadnt gone the route it did with the mocking of appearances, i dont think it would have had to be as convoluted as it ended up being.

i personally dont care for high heels, but i dont get the kind of “fashion cracks” that were being made about them. like yes, high heels can be hard to move in? yeah, it isnt fun being turned into the appearance of someone who isnt you against your will? i just dont understand this gag.

guitar villain

did ladybug really honestly just full-on spray someone in the face with the contents of an aerosol can? im aware that the point was that the hair was in front of his face, but what if some had gotten into guitar villains eyes? dang, what if someone tries to emulate this in real life? ouch.

digital/numeric

kind of done with the spotlight on stalking behavior this show has.

marinette still shows no fear of suspicious screens. she continues to use parts of her face to touch one multiple times, never mind that she literally flings her yoyo all over the place.

stoneheart/coeur de pierre i

did marinette have pierced ears in the first place? shes not shown taking any earrings out, and we dont get that clear a view of her earlobes anyway. that might be deliberate for modeling budget and all.

master fu has brown eyes. so thats like four ~chinese~ characters that are in this show, and the main character and her mother have the special eye colors, and the minor character who is somewhat important to the plotline has non-black eyes, and the minor one-episode character has the black eyes. what a shining example of diversity (no).

anyway this is a good point to say that some things are just not for you. there are things that you just cant be a part of no matter how much you want to be because it just doesnt work that way. and the mess that is the miraculous “mythology” is definitely an example of this. i myself have very little knowledge of anything sino, but i sure as heck can spot that this...”history” thing is so off.

at this point i should probably mention i really dislike master fu as a character in general. just as a single point, apparently hes based off the teacher character in karate kid? i saw somewhere that the creator said he basically made marinette mixed because he was dating an asian person when he was thinking about the show and that marinette is basically his idea of their mixed kid? and back to the eye color thing (again), ive even seen someone with green eyes and blue hair suggest to him that they could be the child of marinette and adrien, and he said theyre like his grandchild? (im not really inclined to try to dig up an iron-clad, indisputably genuine source for this right now, but if youre honestly searching for completely serious, well-researched information in a really good quality post, this is not the post you are looking for.) i have no idea where i was even going with this paragraph.

stoneheart/coeur de pierre ii

why is marinette so invested in her crush on adrien? this couldve been a sweet crush, but no, she has to make it so creepy? leading up to this episode, i really didnt know what to expect because i really thought there would be some sort of explanation for just how extreme the lengths marinette goes to are, but from what i can tell, shes just being super invasive? the ambiguous timeline doesnt really help with this, nor does the fact that the origins episodes were aired at the end of the season. whatever characterization was supposed to be inferred from this feels choppy and unnecessary.

simon says/jackady/jacques a dit

i dont really blame her, but ladybug totally could have reduced the level of adrien distractedness going on here. shes previously shown signs of compartmentalizing ladybug and even having to face the fact that it isnt worth using up her power over adrien, but gosh golly, what gives?

princess/princesse fragrance

ive seen criticisms of how ladybug was written to be overly competent in this episode, which i think is fair since it keeps happening, and its so late in the season by this point that its gotten tired.

volpina

i try not to be too judgmental, but frankly, adrien is not that great of a prize.

anyway, from what i can tell about this episode, i think that there was too much on marinettes flaws, which i really think is a bit much to have in the last chronological episode of a season. its already been established that she makes mistakes with her decisions, but i just thought her unequal prioritization of adrien was too much. it just seemed contrived to squeeze in scenes that the creators wanted to animate regardless of overall context in the show, which is really unfortunate because of how the show becomes a little less chronologically ambiguous at this point.

#lt #kung food #this is a 'kung food' hate blog #wall of text #really long post with low readability #racism text mention (a lot of it)#transmisogyny text mention

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