eiffel returning to earth and encountering people and places and things that he's known so closely for years - that some part of him might even instinctively feel he should recognize - but without the ability to consciously remember them vs. lovelace returning to earth and seeing all those familiar things and knowing them, and knowing how they've changed in her absence, but being unable to shake the part of her that keeps telling her she's seeing them for the first time. how both of these could be used as an exploration of trauma, and returning to a place (that hasn't changed at all; that's changed too much) that you no longer fit into; that rubs up against the changed shape of your life in raw and uncomfortable places.

Okay, now they REALLY gotta drop the Jacobi duck-related lore 🦆 (and I need to stop holding out hope Blessie will return 😔💔)

(Or my reaction to Wolf359’s Mission Mishap Episodes).

Welcome back dear readers! My schedule has been busy lately, but the Mission Mishap episodes were mercifully short, so I’ve been listening to a few episodes per week and have gathered my reactions here for you all to enjoy.

Tagging the mutuals who got me invested in this, and if you want to be tagged or untagged from these posts, lmk, or you can follow my blog or simply follow the tag "#bods wolf359 reactions". Anyone who has followed me for a while knows my updates are inconsistent, so I apologize in advance for that and for any spelling/grammar mistakes in my posts.

@sophieswundergarten @oflightningandstars @acollectionofcuriousreblogs @herawell @commsroom

Also tagging @lovelyladylavie because I promised I’d tag you way back on this post and forgot (I’m so sorry!) but my reactions are all under the tag so you should be able to find them!

Mission Mishaps: A Little Night Music

"Not fully reading your contract before you sign it...not understanding your job responsibilities, and wanting commander off your back" I love Doug's sponsorships and the dramatic irony 😂 *Cue The Fine Print playing in the background...*

I guess the only actor they could get was Doug. Nice of him to fill us in on what Minkowski and Hera are saying though.

OH MY GOSH.

HIS VOICE.

DR. DR. PROFESSOR DR. PROFESSOR F. EIFFEL 😂

It's so fancy. Mannnyyyy PhDs. Very impressive, Doug.

I'm so happy we got more radio show Doug. I need to hear him do a radio show where all his personalities talk to each other. Being the special guest on the show is Cutter's punishment for all eternity. The Dear Listeners make 5 copies of Doug so he can be all the characters.

"The feeling you'll die miserably..." yikes, broke character for a second there Doug.

"Ah yes...the way the piano notes dance around the...other piano notes...absolutely fantastic piece for when you want to start your day with the paino-y energy" Well said Doug.

Oh boy. Cowboy music. Is this the return of Badass McAwesome? Do I dare to hope?

Ah, well, better luck next time.

His poor toe. I hate when that happens too, Doug.

The...mind eraser?

Don't like how that sounds. Especially after the threats in "Change of Mind".

Better not be foreshadowing.

"This song is a mutant, it's superpower is being catchy. It never leaves."

Okay, THAT better not be foreshadowing.

"Afraid of the plant monster?" I wish we could be, Doug. I wish we could be. 😔🪴

"Worried you'll never get back to Earth to see you're family?" Oh, Doug. 💔

"Bosses you're pretty sure are kind of evil" Kind of is generous Doug.

Yeah...yeah Doug that got very dark there for a bit.

Moral boosting? Oh dear. MUTE 😂 AFTER TWO MINUTES 😂

I love Doug. Poor fellow. I enjoyed the broadcast Doug. They don't appreciate your talents.

Mission Mishaps: The Space You’re In

I love the title’s double meaning.

More of Doug dodging his work I see. A common theme.

“Please stop going off on tangents” I guess Cutter and Pryce didn’t send them up with any ADHD meds. “I’m here for work 😊” Nice cover, Doug. 👍🏻 nailed it.

“I’m gonna get that thing that I forgot”. You do that Doug.

How did I know Doug was gonna break something? 🤣

Specimen incubation period??? BLESSIE????

How dare they tease us with Blessie lore?

Good question Doug. Why IS there a harpoon?

Doug literally has no where to hide. 🤣

Oh right. Space. Why do I see that backfiring?

PFFTTT—- Did she just call him a lizard? 🦎

“It’s beautiful” -> “I hate space” poor Doug. I’m sensing a pattern 🤣

Mission Mishaps: You Want, I Solve Ah Doug stealing coffee from Minkowski. Once again, I sense a pattern.

Wait. A puppy? 🥰🐕‍🦺🐾

“The mean lady who runs this place” really Doug? You did just steal her coffee.

2 tails? Well, twice the wagging, I see that as a win. 🥰

Follow him Doug!

IS ZACH VALENTI DOING THE VOICE OF THE DOG?

AS SMEGOL AND GOLLUM FROM LORD OF THE RINGS?

AND IS DOUG HALLUCINATING FROM THE COFFEE???

The dogs are multiplying? David Bowie is here? Okay Doug is hallucinating for sure.

Ah hello Hilbert.

Why is he treating the manual like it’s the ring? 🤣

Well. That was weird.

Oh, Hilbert. All to get Doug to bond with the manual.

And yet something tells me he still won’t read it. It does sound like he might be cuddling with it at night and killing anyone who tries to take it from him though. Mildly concerning. Mission Mishaps: The Veldt Oh my gosh. The episode description. Eiffel goes into the greenhouse… y’all. I don’t wanna get my hopes up, but…

IS THIS BLESSIE CONTENT???? 🪴

I’m so excited guys. I don’t wanna get my hopes up, I know I shouldn’t, but I need Blessie back!

So Doug is doing his chores again. I sense a pattern.

He does a great Australian accent. Again, I need the aliens to clone Doug just so he can have a show where his different personalities talk to each other. Hm. Oxygen chamber has a lot of passwords. And a lot of weird ways to enter passwords. Which is nice for protecting the air, but not so great when you, you know, desperately need air and only have a few seconds to enter the password.

The binary forms of color? This is so extreme not to mention boring. Not one sign of Blessie. I’ve been bamboozled. And WHY is there a timer? This is so weird.

THAT’S IT?

Well I’m upset. We went to the greenhouse and didn’t see leaf or stem of Blessie. 💔

I’m not giving up hope. If not in the show then in fanfic that plant is coming back.

Mission Mishaps: Lights Out

Another entry from dear Doug. I wonder if Minkowski and Hilbert are gonna have him do something he doesn’t want to and then hijinks ensues and Doug messes something up?

HP Lovecraft, Call of Kuthulu? Oh me too Doug stuff is hard to pronounce.

Doug does a good creepy narrator voice. It’s funny to think of Hera listening to all this. It reminds me of those people on Lovelace’s crew reading stories together.

“Property of Dr….”

DOCTOR WHO? (A good show, but I’m literally asking the question).

Is it that girl on Lovelace’s crew who liked to read? (I’m sorry it’s hard to keep track of their names).

Ah yes, and the star is acting up. As is Doug’s imagination. I’m sure this couldn’t possibly go wrong.

Hilbert. What sample? What escaped?

I’m not getting my hopes up this time. You teased me with Blessie once. I’m not falling for it again. I’ve been burned before.

It just sounds like a little mouse. 🐁

…I hope it’s not one of the spiders… I’m now beginning to realize Doug’s fears…

“It’s small and scurrying”

Is it a mouse?

Doug, it’s probably just a mouse. “It’s staring at me.” Well it’s probably scared too, Doug.

Doug, you better not have killed that poor little mouse.

You killed the maintenance drone Doug? Well that was a wild ride. At first I thought they weren’t gonna go the “Doug messes up a thing Hilbert and Minkowski are doing” route but they always surprise me with their ability to bring it back there. Not that I’m complaining, I’m loving these stories. Mission Mishaps: Cold Turkey More Doug! Wow. 553 days. That’s… that’s a lot.

Thanksgiving? Is this the same Thanksgiving from Hera’s memory? 🦃

Banned from the kitchen? Oh poor, Doug. Was Hilbert not available? I guess he’s Russian so he doesn’t celebrate it. But he can probably cook.

Doug is just like me fr. Don’t ask my partner what happened when I tried to make him food. All you need to know was that I tried my best, and it’s the thought that counts.

Doug is gonna burn this Turkey. I know the actress was probably busy and these are “extra” episodes, but Hera please come online and help him.

Oh gross. Cans of spam? Disgusting.

Right, maybe Hilbert can do something. But on the other hand, Hilbert and Eiffel can make each other worse. And what was that about psychoactive properties? What was Hilbert exposed to?

“Can I give indifference? I have plenty of that.” Yes, Hilbert, you made that very clear.

“Oh well if I have to “come on”.” “Really!” “No.” Hilbert is lowkey hilarious 🤣 “I like pecan pie…maybe thanksgiving is not so terrible.” 🥧

I love how Hilbert sounds like he’s plotting something ominous even when he’s just talking about pie. 🤣

But seriously, why was he in Texas? He never answered that.

“The best way to keep him away from the kitchen was to put you in charge” oh poor Doug. She was right though.

Aw, this is sweet. I like how it connects to what we saw in Hera’s memories too.

Mission Mishaps: No Complaints Aw man, SI-5? What happened to Doug?

First they take Blessie from me then they force me to spent time with his killers.

Well gang, I guess it’s time for the adventures of Whiskey Man and Duck Boy.

Wow. Sitting in a car and brooding in the rain. An action packed adventure if I’ve ever heard one.

Oh wait, are they stalking Maxwell? They said she was from a small town.

“Did you stalk me?” Yes, he did Jacobi. Kepler was acting so creepy at that bar, I’m sorry. What even was that?

“I really hate you sometimes sir. ✨You’re the worst✨” oh Duck Boy you have no idea.

THE DUCK THING? OH NO PLEASE TELL US ABOUT THE DUCK THING.

What video. WHAT VIDEO.

Please tell us why Jacobi is brooding and PLEASE tell us about the duck video.

Jacobi taught him questions only? Wow he really does love to dig his own grave.

Kepler is not your friend Jacobi. If you think he is, you… gosh you really need to meet somebody. Anybody.

All this complaining… Jacobi really is the evil version of Doug sometimes…

What was on Jacobi’s mind? What did Rachel think was on his mind? Oh, his one year recruitment.

Nothing good ever comes out of a mysterious duffel bag. Why does he have all those fireworks?

When your evil boss takes you on a fake stake out and gives you some fireworks to blow up because he knows you crave destruction: 💣🎆🥰🎇🧨😍

I like that they play fireworks sounds as they roll the credits. It’s a nice touch. Mission Mishaps: Happy Holidays Already down to the last one. Time flies when you’re having fun. Oh more SI-5. Hopefully a little less Whiskey Boy, a little more Duck related lore.

Oh no such luck. :(

Geez, Kepler really does love flexing every single bit of power that he has, doesn’t he? Just get to the point already! Why couldn’t he have been the one to go instead of Maxwell?

“Oh no! Not a binary fault in the quartical… um… that’s bad!” Duck Boy stop being funny I don’t want to like you.

Not Kepler’s slow claps… I swear this man is infatuated with the idea of being a super villain.

What are they afraid of?

…

A holiday party?

the evil space corporation has a HOLIDAY PARTY?

For what holiday? Cutter and Pryce clearly hate holidays. They’ve ordered people killed on nearly every holiday we’ve seen! … actually maybe that’s their way of making the holidays their own… and it makes me wonder who they want to kill at this party. Jacobi and Maxwell have a right to be concerned about this.

“We don’t ask questions. We trust that we were given orders for a reason.” THAT ONLY WORKS IF YOU ARE WORKING FOR TRUSTWORTHY PEOPLE. And committing or endorsing murder takes you off the trustworthy list.

The idea of Cutter and Pryce celebrating Christmas disgusts me. Like, physically I have a hard time stomaching it. Christmas is about joy, and love, and goodwill toward mankind. Cutter and his crazy science gf have no place involving themselves in that. Not unless they show some serious remorse and do some serious penance and jail time.

SECRET SANTA EXCHANGE?

What kind of horrifying messed up gifts do people get each other? I hope Jacobi gets a pet duck.

… Maxwell’s mom died? “We all know you don’t talk to your mom” “…my mom just died?” “No Jacobi.” STOP BEING FUNNY.

Compare this to the holiday stuff that happens with the Hephaestus… this has such a creepy undertone. Especially when you imagine the events happening at the same time.

Well, that’s all for the Mission Mishaps. Sorry it took me so long guys, but I love and appreciate your patience. Excited to finish the rest of the series and hopefully I’ll have more for you soon!

Without you, what is the point?

AO3 / FFN

Summary: The relief was instantaneously doused with ice cold water, freezing Ladybug from head to toe as Noir asked the question that has been eating him away since he woke up. "I want the truth, and the truth only..."

.

"Who the hell was that white monster?"

( One second Ladybug and him were fighting a brutal akuma; a malevolent, broken person whose powers enabled you to experience the most traumatising memory the person closest to you have suffered (an absolute insane method to enforce empathy), the next second, he was...Here.)

A/N: Was inspired by this post on tumblr to write this up and the delicious angst monster inside me rose like a motherfucker, ready to wreck havoc. Now suffer :))))) (Takes place after the episode: Ladybug. So, canon divergent.) "Even if I cry, even if I smile, even if I hate, I'll live my life with love" Samurai Heart (Some like it hot!) - SPYAIR ~(x)~ . . . 'What...what is this!?' 

Chat Noir's knees buckled before he could comprehend, collapsing to the surface he was perched on, eyes wide open and lips parted in absolute horror. Icy, sharp shivers ricocheted through his veins, his entire body shivering as he frantically observed the dystopian element around him and choked. One second Ladybug and him were fighting a brutal akuma; a malevolent, broken person whose powers enabled you to experience the most traumatising memory the person closest to you have suffered (an absolute insane method to enforce empathy), the next second, he was... Here. The remains of Paris and its monuments floated like motionless corpses in the deadly sea, his paralysed body stuck to a stray beam belonging to the Eiffel Tower like glue. The moon was absolutely shattered and split into halves up above, answering his questions on why the sea level was so high but generating more worries about how the satellite managed to get into that state in the first place. Most importantly, he knows with all of his heart and soul that the person that he considers the closest to him was his Lady...so what on earth did she experience? And when!? What the hell happened to their beloved home??? "YOU'RE BREAKING MORE THAN MY HEART NOW, MARINETTE!" Noir took a double take, leaping to his feet by muscle memory and whipping out his baton in combat mode, ready to protect Marinette at all costs from the angry voice, only to pause and his body to become paralysed once more. His mind speeding faster than the speed of sound as the dread that rooted itself in his stomach started to build up and spread out like a plague, muscles twitching with the fight or flight response. "Ma...Marinette? This is...Marinette's memory?" His lips trembled as he murmured to himself, vaulting away from the area with his weapon and hastening towards the sound of the horribly familiar voice. The cogs were starting to click in his mind but the more he saw of the destroyed city, the more apprehension gnawed on the base of his skull, his brain screaming to get the girl to safety no matter the costs. His heart pummelling his chest as the jitters inside pressured bile to build up in his tight throat. By the time he reached the area, Chat Noir felt like his soul left his body, shackling his frame on a lone, abandoned pillar as his face blanched with terror and gutted him. "Give me a hug...MARINETTE!" Chat Noir couldn't do anything but blink as the stark, white...imposter attacked, his Lady (his princesse) scrambling to her feet in order to dodge the infinite amounts of ancient destruction that was headed her way. Alabaster discs of elimination barely grazing the surface of her suit... Blinding power surges of eradication decaying the area she was momentarily stranded in mid-run... Omnipotent beams of slaughter swallowing everything it touched... All the poor blonde could do was gape inaudibly, every attack his doppelganger threw and every aghast expression Ladybug made, branded to his brain mercilessly until all he could see... ...Was black. ~(x)~ "Chat Noir! Chat! CHAT NOIR!"

A voice... "Chat, please wake up! CHAT!"

Her voice... Before the girl cradling him on her lap could breathe, Chat's eyes snapped open and the boy exhaled sharply, shooting up into a standing position and scanning his surroundings like a cornered, frightened animal. His ears, both human and feline, were deaf to Ladybug's queries as blood roared in the drums, almost didn't feel her hands clasping his forearms as he whipped his head around back and forth. The odd silent rooftop they were stranded on allowed him to scour the city, proving that Paris was still intact. The moon up ahead was still whole and luminous in the night sky- perhaps brighter than it usually was. No akuma around- most likely defeated by Ladybug solidarity. And... And, there wasn't a white cat in sight, much to his relief... "Chat, breathe." Finally, the teen clad in black acknowledged his Lady, the girl now cupping his cheeks, fingers digging through his blonde tresses and eyes both soft and wary. "You're safe now. I'm here." She added, knotting her digits into his strands with a sigh. Thankfully, the hero visibly relaxed, pupils no longer constricted to mere, dangerous slits and his erratic heartbeat was now simply an echo in his aching chest. He allowed himself to lose control then, pulling Ladybug into his arms despite her squeaks and hiding his face in the crook of her neck, the shock and confusion from the event that just transpired mere seconds ago like a nightmare ravaging through his flesh. The hair on the back of his neck stood up on its ends and his sentient tail wrapped around them both like a ribbon, bringing them closer and closer. Chat didn't even note the soft purr that escaped his body, a defense mechanism that he was usually absolutely embarrassed about. Ladybug let out a softer sigh this time, body losing tension as her lashes fluttered shut and she inhaled his familiar, fresh scent to keep her grounded. His soothing purrs contributed to the break down of intensity. She felt goosebumps rise under her suit as his claws tentatively combed through her twin tails, tangling up with her raven locks and his soft lips parted open and shut against her neck, his breathing still coming out fast and unsteady. Despite her attempting to make him feel safe, she in turn felt like it was him trying to protect her, the anxiety and questions that she tried to push away flaring inside her body like a bomb. Yet, the way his figure perfectly curled around hers like a weighted blanket and the way his strong, toned arms pressed her against his chest, his heart beat drumming against her heart, allowed Ladybug to drop all her guard and simply indulge herself in his warmth. A selfish luxury that she tried her best locking away in the deepest crevices of her heart and swallowing the key. However, just one raw touch from her partner, one moment of weakness and the Pandora's box was opened, a waterfall of emotions and feelings seeping out of her pores with relief. . The relief was instantaneously doused with ice cold water, freezing Ladybug from head to toe as Noir asked the question that has been eating him away since he woke up. "I want the truth, and the truth only..." . "Who the hell was that white monster?" His face remained hidden under her jaw, his arms locked around her torso so that she couldn't escape. Not this time. He felt the way her form tensed up again, her breathing quickening and her lashes brushing against his suit wildly as she blinked her eyes open in shock. 'No...no! He couldn't have...he SHOULDN'T have seen THAT.' Ladybug screamed internally, panic welling up in her throat, causing all words to die on the tip of her tongue and replace it with a weight, her eyes quick to water with anguish. She shook her head, digging her fingers into his shoulders, physically begging him to let it go. "Y-You..." She sniffed, looking away to the side, guilt plastered all over her face and unable to meet the heated glare her partner directed when he pulled his head away to confront her. His arms remained an iron cage, one his Lady could break out of if she really wanted to but she remained limp in his hold. "You should forget about that..." She answered weakly, still avoiding eye contact. "Nothing good will come out of knowing-" Anger ripped through his body and Chat Noir's jaw clicked from the intense way his teeth grounded themselves against each other, his tail snapping against the floor with outright rage and his eyes as venomous as a predator's. "I'm not going to repeat myself again, Marinette." His steely hiss was a sudden, harsh blow against her screaming heart, the girl's eyes widening as she faced the pissed off boy, lips parted in a gape. "Who the fuck was that!? And when?? When did THAT happen!?" She shook her head again, prepared to counter back and deny everything he said no matter how foolish it was, only for her world to spin as he instantly swept her up, bridal style and took off with outstanding speed. The force of his enhanced power boost against the rooftop caused an explosion of cracks in the concrete and slates, his body like a bullet as he manoeuvred from rooftops to streets and lamps with leaps, twists and turns. The cargo in his arms doing nothing to hinder his speed and strength as the elusive black cat darted to his destination like a shadow ninja and almost invisible to the naked eye. Ladybug couldn't do much but keep her face pressed against his throat, her arms around his neck like a vice, her heart still clenching and unclenching under her ribs at the sudden revelation. He knew now... He knew who she was! She tried so hard to keep it a secret, so hard to protect him! Yet, just like everything else in her life, it blew up in her face! Tears streamed down her cheeks without permission, her mind anticipating a sudden visit from a disappointed Bunnyx who would undoubtedly berate her for destroying the future again and causing her partner's ultimate demise once more. What the hell did Maître Fu even see in her anyways??? The right thing to do now was take away her miraculous here and there and never let her come across her Chaton again! Not after knowing the pain that she will bring to him in the future. She would give up everything in the world if it meant that her partner could live a happy, safe future. Even if it's without her by his side. Suddenly, Ladybug felt her surroundings halt to a slow but steady stop. Experience with running at inhuman speeds allowed both heroes to polish off their sprints and landings- otherwise the heroine would have definitely been shot out of his arms the minute he braked. She tensed as her body was brought back to its bearings, her ears now hyper-aware of his thrumming heartbeat and her feverish face sensitive from her tears and Chat's body heat. With tenderness, a juxtaposition from his momentary frustrations earlier on, Chat Noir deposited Ladybug on her feet, his eyes hidden under his fringe and his frown breaking her heart into two. He kept his distance, perhaps a metre or so away from her, leaning against what she recognised as the railings of her humble abode's balcony. The teen girl swallowed, the sight of her home cementing the fact that her partner unquestionably knew who she was under the mask. And he absorbed the idea as naturally as breathing. As if it was no surprise that the girl behind the impenetrable mask was none other than herself. No questions, no double takes, like he knew all along... Tikki, despite Ladybug's lack of willingness, unravelled the transformation on her own, her charge frozen on the spot completely as if she was stark naked, hugging her body to herself. "T-Tikki!?" Marinette rasped, eyes narrowed and brows furrowed with slight betrayal. The little Goddess only sighed and delivered a comforting smile, stroking the teen's cheek. "You need to tell him everything. Don't worry anymore. I...I think it's time." "It's...It's time...? You- you don't know that! What if it's not!? What if Bunnyx pops out of nowhere right now and says otherwise!? What if another disaster happens!? What if-" "Marinette. Please. Trust me and talk to him." The kwami directed Marinette's chin to her partner who was yet to move a muscle, eyes still shadowed by his unruly locks and knuckles whitening under his suit from the tight grip on the railings. The French-Chinese couldn't help but shiver. Why couldn't things just be swept under the rug for now? Why couldn't things go her way for once in her life? "You don't need to be so tense." Chat's sudden words sent a jolt down Dupain-Cheng's spine, arms now folded behind her back as she nervously bounced from one leg to the other, bottom lip worried by her teeth. "I'm sorry for blowing up on you like that. That was such a dick move of me." He tilted his chin up, eyes now visible and gleaming with such melancholy that Marinette wanted to do nothing but envelope his sad little face into her arms and soothe his pain away. "I just...I need to know, Marinette. What did I see? What did you go through?" A beat of silence went by, sombre greens gazing into empty blues. The wind was almost silent and the arrondissement was asleep for the night, giving the two more privacy than they could ask for. Taking a gamble, Chat pushed away from the railings, approaching the girl hesitantly and decreasing the distance between them both. "This isn't something that can be forgotten or unspoken about forever, Princesse." His eyes were pleading, faux ears drooped against his blonde hair and tail slack against the floor. The glow of the moon and fairy lights made the scenario quite dreamlike and hazy but the feel of his clawed fingers entangling with hers indicated that everything was very much real. "I...I'd rather hear it from you than try to piece it together by myself. I don't want to jump to the wrong conclusions and I don't want anymore misunderstandings between us...no more...no more secrets, please." His eyes bored into her very being, heightening her nerves but at the same time, she wanted the very dams that were holding her back to finally break and bestow everything her partner deserved. She decided to take Tikki's advice, the little ladybug in question hidden away to give the pair some confidentiality. "Before I do," Marinette began quietly, rubbing a circle on the back of Chat's hand and peering to the side momentarily below her lashes and then back at him again. She bit her bottom lip, debating internally whether she should go with what she had in mind or not. "Can you promise me one thing?" "Anything." The boy replied without a beat, face intent and serious. Marinette nodded, as if to reassure herself first, squeezing his hand and her heart skipping a few beats when he squeezed back with much gusto. "Promise me that you'll still fight by my side, no matter what." "W-What? I mean, obviously I will! I told you many times, it's me and you against the world-" "Promise me!" The designer demanded, her face ambitious despite the way Chat almost jumped out of his skin. Her eyes were now pained and stormy but it was also determined and raw. The windows to her soul. "Yes...I...I promise." He squeezed her hand tighter and then grasped the other one with his spare hand, bringing both of them to his lips so that he can deliver a chaste kiss against the knuckles, his emerald crescents never leaving her gaze. He also smiled sadly, ears lowered in submission, knowing that what he will hear from now would make or break him. Letting out a shuddering exhale, a breath she didn't know she was holding, Marinette beckoned him to follow her to the back of her balcony so that the two could sit down against the wall. Originally, she was attempting to sit by his side, only for him to grab her waist and settle her on his lap, resting his forehead against her shoulder from behind and interlocking his hands with hers. If her silly partner pursued to make the same move a long time ago, before the events that occurred after Bunnyx pleaded her to save the future, Marinette would have pushed him away with jest and reprimand him for his lack of personal space. Now? Now she craved for every source and warmth from him. Now she indulged in every touch and smile he gave. Now she relished the way his heart beat in sync with hers and fit perfectly with her body. "Whenever you're ready," Chat prompted, the heat of his form setting fire in the pits of her stomach yet alleviating all the heart ache and suffering she endured for the past lonely, long months. She stared up at the night sky, leaning her head back against his shoulder, her blues then peering to the side at the golden strands that took over her vision as the hero remained with his face hidden. She played with his fingers and began to recall everything to him. ~(x)~ "...No..." His first word after she recited the entire event was no more than a breath. The boy was on his knees, sitting parallel to Marinette now as he couldn't stand being able to freely touch her, knowing what exactly he was capable of. "Chat?" Fear exploded in the girl's chest, her heart swelling with apprehension as she watched Chat tremble and eye his hands with indescribable hate. "...Chat Noir?" Regret was evident on her face, the loud, pessimistic persona inside slapping her for not keeping her mouth shut. "...I...I..." Immediately, the images of Marinette's memories that he stumbled across earlier on barrelled into his mind without grace, stabbing his brain with all the harsh truths and the utter devastation that he caused with one hand. The miraculous on his horrendous finger suddenly looked vile and disgusting, weighting the digit like a burden. A miraculous with a power like this does not deserve to exist- no. A monster like him does not deserve to exist. "I can't do this." The boy didn't dare to look at his partner, swift to twist the ring off his finger but was met with a strong lunge and wail from his companion before his detransformation could settle. "No! You promised!" Marinette cried, face hidden into his now, cotton shirt and shaking her head over and over again, repeating her words. The ring merely laid a few feet away from them, Plagg unable to eject himself from the jewel as the miraculous itself was rejected by the boy. "Marinette- how...how could you want me after all of that!?" His hands were on her shoulders, trying to push the distraught girl away but she remained persistent, latching on his shirt and refusing to see his face, his identity. "I destroyed the world! I-I-I destroyed our home! Our friends! Our family! You!" His words trailed into a sob and his voice cracked, tears cascading down his eyes. "I don't care...you promised! You're not allowed to break them! I won't let you!" Marinette's arms interlocked around his torso like an iron cage, body shaking with pure heartbreak. "You promised...you promised..." She chanted like a mantra, his shirt now saturated with her tears. Yet, Adrien couldn't help but be overwhelmed with not only her affection, but also his for her. Finding out that his Princesse and his Lady were one in the same was like a priceless wish granted by the most benevolent of Gods. Of course the girl he loved turned out to be his other half, his partner, his life. Of course the girl he loved turned out to be sweetness incarnate, a bundle of selflessness, his everything. But now knowing that he turned the very same person into a gaping corpse under the sea in an alternative timeline? "You deserve better...so much better..." Adrien whimpered out, ceasing his struggles to get out of her hold and giving in to his selfish desires, cradling Marinette against him with his arms. "You deserve someone who would never, ever have the power to hurt you. You deserve someone who can make you happy. Someone who you won't fuck up everything for you-" "Shut up! I don't want anyone else! I want you!" As if to emphasise her point, she headbutted his chest, earning a surprised grunt from him whilst her nails dug into his skin through the cloth. "And if you leave without the ring tonight, then I will no longer be Ladybug..." Her muffled threat was like a slap across the model's face, the boy pulled away indignantly, grasping her shoulders so that he could see her face. Marinette on the other hand, kept her eyes stubbornly closed, fingers still grasping on his shirt so that there was still very little distance between them. "Don't be stupid Marinette! Dieu, you are the most smartest girl out there- you shouldn't be spouting such ridiculous bullshit! Paris needs YOU. You're the only one who can do the damn job right-" "And Paris needs you too!" The bitterness and heat in her face then subsided, her shoulders slouching as Marinette hung her head low, exhaustion weighing on her soul. "I'm the one who messed up...I'm the one who caused the future..." "I'm the one who destroyed it! I don't see how any of this is your fault Marinette!" "But it is, Chat! I fixed it by undoing the stupid mistake that started all of it! But now, now? Everything...everything is ruined again! You're leaving me...alone..." Adrien felt his heart shatter at the way his love curled in to herself, her slender digits slipping away from his shirt to cover her face, her knees tucked against her forehead and her broken whimpers ransacking her body. Guilt, self-loathing and self-hate devastated his body to the point where he was choking on his sobs, his grip only tightening on her shoulders as his body shook with tears. He did this. He turned her into this. He's nothing but despicable, atrocious, monstrous- "Marinette! Adrien! Watch out!" Tikki's alarmed cries snapped the two out of their state, the former feeling the breath knocked out of her lungs at the sudden revelation of who exactly her partner was. The feeling was then replaced with ten times more pressure when she allowed her eyes to rest on his figure, more than enough evidence that the boy truly was her other half. Her body froze. Agreste on the other hand gaped at the fluttering akuma butterfly that made way towards them, grabbing Marinette instinctively against his chest and spinning them around so that his back was facing the detestable creature. "Adrien!?" Mari gasped against his shoulder but the boy only replied by pressing her closer against him, one hand cradling her neck whilst the other clutching the fabric on her back, a defeated smile resting on his lips. "No matter what, no matter the circumstances, you cannot be akumatised. If me alone managed to do what I did in the future, then the world would be absolutely doomed if you were to be under Le Papillon's control." His never ending tears kept falling, dripping into her hair as he inhaled her sweet, vanilla scent like a soldier going to war. As if this was the last time he was going to see her. "You. Idiot. STUPID!" Marinette tore herself away from him, slapping her hands against his dumb face and bringing it towards hers aggressively, a tiny part of her inside cackling at his bewildered expression. "Neither of us will get akumatised! Not now, not ever!" With that said and done, gaining a hopeful glimpse from her Chaton's eyes, Marinette slammed her lips against his, swallowing down his gasps as she attempted to give him the most passionate, meaningful, desperate kiss she could ever muster. All her feelings, her thoughts and wishes were poured into this one, singular, press of lips. Her soft, chapped pair bruised clumsily against his confused but sweet pair. Their inexperience and befuddled emotions made the kiss sloppy and painful, teeth clicking against each other and noses knocking with one another from time to time, the exhales from their noses causing their faces to tickle uncomfortably. The upcoming akuma was soon pushed to the back of their heads as the pair relaxed, Adrien tilted his head to a slight angle, reciprocating the kiss with more instinct and capturing her bottom lip, feeling Marinette shudder under his touch as his experimentally traced the seams of her lips with his tongue. She in turn pulled on his upper lip, slipping her hands away from his face and trailing them down his shoulders, resting them there and letting her fingers curl into the fabric of his shirt. Their hearts pounded in sync, what seemed like years of unrequited pining turned into heat and more under their skin, swallowing each other's sighs and gasps. Their selfish desires, their yearning wishes, all granted into this collection of intimate kisses that only stole their breaths away over and over again. "Adrien, mon Adrien," Marinette couldn't stop the sweet little whisper that left her lips, brushing his. Her already rouge tinted cheeks simply reddened in full force as the boy gazed at her with so much love and so much admiration, it hurt. His response was to kiss her again, boldly slipping his tongue fully into her mouth as he pushed her down to the ground, one hand tearing off the ribbons in her hair so that they can comb through the silky tendrils and the other clutching her upper back, their legs entangled in a way that one wouldn't know where they started and where they ended. Marinette never felt such heat, such passion, such love in her life, ever. She let herself go, pushing away all logical thoughts and queries as she let herself sink into this wonderful feeling. Her mind rebooted every second, every moment as the duo explored each other's mouths and lips, noting down the silky feel of the flesh and the sensitive points. Adrien felt his heart swell to the point where he couldn't breathe. If being able to kiss Marinette like this forever was possible, he'd have definitely stayed like that. "Stay, Adrien. Stay..." Cheng breathed out, slowing down the kiss to a lazy, softer pace. Her request halted the boy in his movements, his lips which were puckered against her cheek tightened into a grimace. This time, Marinette cupped his cheeks with more softness and sweetness, her lips curling up into a timid, rosy smile. The strawberry complexion in her cheeks brought out the blue in her eyes, making them glitter under the moonlight. Slowly, Adrien took one of her hands off his cheek with his own, never breaking eye contact as he rubbed circles in her finger-bones and then applied sweet, feather kisses along the appendage. He let out an exhale, his lips carrying a bittersweet smile as he tilted his head to the side. He searched for any doubts, any distrust in her eyes but all he saw, much to his ecstatic boyish joy, was her never-ending love for him. Her doubtless trust in him. Like they were soulmates. "Are you...are you sure? That you want me? Even though I'm...me?" He wasn't used to such raw, positive emotions directed towards him. He has been abandoned, neglected and scorned at for so long in his life that the idea that such an incredible, wonderful girl wanted him of all people was unimaginable! Yet, this was his reality. And she kissed him...she kissed him like that. Like they were made for each other. Though, this in turn got him thinking about something else, confusion now printed on his face. His heart scowled, threatening him at gunpoint if he dared to ask the burning question. "Wouldn't...wouldn't you prefer to have the boy you like as your partner?" His question was met with a mischievous smile, an attractive raised brow. Marinette simply tugged his face closer to hers so that their noses shared a gentle kiss, her smirk widening. "Bold of you to assume that he already isn't." For the umpteenth time, Adrien found himself rendered speechless by his Lady, the redness in his cheeks blooming by ten folds as the puzzles and bridges started to connect in his mind. Albeit it took a while but in his defense, the hot kiss which should have been evident enough of Marinette's feelings for him, turned his brain to mush. "M-M-Me? All this time...I was my own rival???" His look of awe and shock then switched to deadpan and annoyance. Adrien groaned, shoving his face into Marinette's hair and wrapping his arms around her body. "I've been cockblocking myself..." "So have I," Mari stroked his hair, eyes closed with contentment and body completely knackered from the roller-coaster of emotions she's gone through. "I tried to set you up with Nino." His tone was dry and beyond done. The boy was so done with life. "And I fixed that by setting him up with my best friend~" "I rejected you for you and got M. Dupain akumatised-" He then shot up, incredulity plastered on his face, eyes narrowed and lips pursed. "Wait a minute. Wa-aaaaait a minute." Marinette gulped under his scrutinising glare. "What was with the whole 'I'm in love with you Chat Noir' thing???" "Let's just say that I come up with the most dumb things on the spot when I think someone's connecting the dots to my secret identity..." "No no no, you are not getting off THAT easily-" "Ehem," The pair paused with their bickering, spotting Tikki who was watching them with an amused smile whilst one of her hands kept the akuma restrained by the antennae. "Maybe get rid of this first before you both get too deep into the flirting?" The little Goddess kept in a shit-eating grin as both teens bursted with red, fumbling to their feet and awkwardly looking at anywhere else but at each other. They couldn't believe they forgot about the akuma entirely! Not wanting to waste anymore time, Marinette transformed into Ladybug, quickly purifying the butterfly and watching it fly away with a soft smile resting on her lips. She wasn't blind to the wonder and astonishment Adrien had on his face, as he took in the entire scene with much pleasure. Ladybug sunk down, picking up the ring that Adrien threw away, rolling the jewel in her palm and then clenching it tight in her fist. She then faced the boy again, the latter looking away as fear still lingered on his body. He bit his lip, peering at her fist below his lashes and rubbing his arm self-consciously. "Adrien?" Ladybug rested her free hand on his, bringing it to her heart, smile never leaving her face. "Will you?" The model's face exploded with red. "H-Huh...?" "Will you be my Chat Noir again? Please?" She spread his hand, stroking the finger that was usually adorned by the powerful mantle. Mimicking his alter-ego's actions, she brought his fingers to her lips, kissing the calloused tips and trailing her soft, kiss-bruised mouth down the palm till it reached the inside of his wrist. She placed an open mouthed kiss, eating up the way he jumped slightly at the sensitivity. "I do! I-I-I mean!" He gulped, embarrassed by his ultra eager response, trying not to jump the girl into another kiss. It's not his fault that this felt like a marriage proposal. "If...if you think it's the right thing...me being Chat..." "You being my Chaton will always be the right thing, Adrien." His Lady smiled so wonderfully, slipping the ring on his finger in a manner that caused his heart to expand and explode on the spot. But then, then, she kissed him again. A saccharine, soft press of lips, the two teens grinning too much for it to be a proper kiss but they didn't care. It felt perfect. It felt amazing. It felt like right. "So is anyone gonna tell me what the fuck just happened???" The heroine and boy parted with a surprise, darting their eyes to the confused dark kwami who darted his head between them both frantically in return. His acidic green eyes then widened and his jaw dropped. "Don't tell me..." "I MISSED THE REVEAL!? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...." . . . ~(x)~ A/N: 6PM me - "Oooo I'm going to make this super angsty and short so that I can do my homework later on!" 10 hours later... 4AM, sleep deprived me - "Hahahah...no UwU" I'm not proofreading till tomorrow. I'm gonna do my homework now. Bye hoes.

Courage My Love// Semi Eita

Pairing: Semi Eita x Reader

Summary: You like Semi and come up with a plan to confess to him, unfortunately it takes a turn. You meet again a couple years later by chance.

Chapter Six: Shape Up

Series Masterlist•<previous•next>

“Alrighty, your food will be ready shorty,” the waitress spoke before leaving with the booklets and you all thanked her.

Semi and you still haven’t had a real conversation since sitting down at the table together, just mumbling some words to get through the night which Taka took notice of. “Are you two nervous or something? It’s alright, I’m not scary and you guys don’t look scary. Enjoy yourselves please, besides this is all our treat to you guys.” Feeling guilty for your behavior you immediately apologized to Taka and his band mates and thanked them again for the invitation. Semi did the same as well. You’re both just gonna have to fake it. “It’s okay! We’re going to be spending a lot of time together so I think it’d be cool if we could get to know each other, where are you from? I’m from Tokyo.”

“Miyagi,” you and Semi answered at the same time.

“Oh! Have you guys met before or anything?”

“We went to the same high school,” Semi answered causing you to internally face palm.

“That’s crazy! Were you two friends?”

“We were. Then we lost touch when we graduated. You know, busy busy,” you spoke up before Semi could. The last thing you want was someone you look up to questioning your past drama. Just seeing Semi was enough to remind you of how things went down all those years ago.

“Yeah, this is actually our first time seeing each other since then.”

“Wow, now I’m the odd man out,” Taka laughed to which you did too. While laughing you felt something poke your side.

Semi was sneakily trying to hand you his phone. Semi started branching off to a different conversation with Taka to distract him which you know he did so you could look at his phone without suspicion since everyone else was having their own conversations. You took a quick glance at the text message he typed to someone but didn’t send.

“Can we talk after this?”

You glided your eyes back onto the two singers, focusing more on the ash blonde. You two haven’t spoken in six years, what could he have to say, you asked yourself. Starting to think out every logical scenario you could, you thought that he just wanted to get the confrontation out of the way so you could both do this tour without any issues. Whatever happens, you know that even if you say no, you’d have to talk to him eventually. Might as well get it over with sooner than later so you typed your response.

“Yeah seriously thank you so much for listening to my band too. I’m so glad you like us. I’m actually a big fan of your music,” you spoke, jumping into the conversation so you could pass Semi his phone back with ease under the table.

“Thank you. I really liked your voices and wanted you guys to join me for the last song on our set list. It’s one of the new songs off the latest album,” Taka explained.

“Which song is it?” You asked excitedly.

“Take What You Want. We made the song with 5 Seconds of Summer but I think you guys would sound really good doing their parts.”

“I’m so down!”

“Sounds good to me,” Semi added, amused by your enthusiasm.

“Here’s your food,” the waitress spoke as she set down your plates with the help of another waiter. You all thanked them for the food before enjoying your meals.

The rest of the dinner was actually quite enjoyable. From what you could tell, Haruka and Jiro were mostly catching up with each other, which you understood since they were close their final year of high school. Tomo and Toru of One Ok Rock seemed to enjoy the stories Izumi was telling them while Ryota and Yui were having fun helping Ranmaru and Subaru practice their English. You loved talking with Taka. He was really easy to get along with and made it much easier to break the ice with Semi. You all finished your meals and left the restaurant together.

“That was the best meal I’ve had in forever!” Izumi announced when everybody was outside.

“Right? I cant way to try more food!” Jiro added on.

“What do you say guys?” You and Semi said simultaneously, crossing your arms and turning from each other.

“Thank you,” Your band members said all together.

“It’s nothing really,” Toru started.

“Yeah, we’re glad we got to meet like this,” Tomo added.

“We had a lot of fun tonight. Can’t wait to see what the rest of the tour will be like,” Ryota continued.

“You’re still very welcome. We’ll see you all tomorrow at the venue. Eita, Y/n, don’t forget, two in the afternoon for rehearsal. We’re heading back to our bus so good night,” Taka finished. The guys in One Ok Rock all waved you guys goodbye before heading off.

“They were really nice,” Subaru spoke.

“Yeah, this’ll be so exciting. It’s your guys first time in the US right?” Yui asked Won’t Regret.

“Yeah, thanks again for helping us practice,” Ranmaru said.

“No worries. You can ask us for help if needed.”

“Do you guys want us to walk you to your bus? It’s dark out,” Jiro offered, looking at Haruka for a response.

She smiled at him before responding, “Jiro you’re funny, our buses are in the same lot. We might as well just walk in a group.”

“Girls, you can head off. I’m gonna talk with Semi so I’ll catch up later.”

Yui was the first one to give you a worried look, wondering if you were fine being alone with him. Izumi and Haruka looked confused and curious. From what they knew, you haven’t been in contact with Semi since high school. Tendou was the one that mostly helped you through grieving the loss of your best friend but they could recognize the look of nostalgia in your eyes when you reminisced on old memories with him. They know you were strong, but it was a pain that never completely went away.

“How long?” Izumi asked.

“It might be a while,” Semi answered. “I’ll walk her back straight to your bus, don’t worry.”

The girls reluctantly let left you with Semi while the rest of boys accompanied them. As the groups walked away they would occasionally turn their heads back to the two of you out of curiosity to see what was going to happen. You were known for having a laid back attitude but stepping up and becoming assertive if need be in less than a second. Semi was typically pretty patient with you but it’s best to be careful since he has a shorter fuse.

“Hi,” Semi started awkwardly once his everyone was out of sight.

“Hey,” you responded in the same tone.

“Wanna go sit on that bench? Also, how’ve you been?”

“Yeah, and I’ve been good. You?”

He started walking across the street after looking both ways. “I’m doing great. How’s Tendou? Congrats on your marriage, by the way.”

“Marriage?” You asked confused.

“Didn’t you and Tendou get married and have a honeymoon in France?”

You let out a laugh before responding. “Tendou and I have been broken up for like three years now dude. I’ve never gone to France with Tendou, he went for his career and now lives there. I’ve only gone if it was for touring. Where’d you get that idea from?” You asked, gradually laughing harder resulting in Semi feeling relief. Half of it being that you might be single and the other part being that the laughing is a good sign that you’re willing to humor him.

“I saw he posted pictures of himself with the Eiffel Tower and stuff so I just assumed,” he chuckled along.

“Yeah but wouldn’t it make sense if I was in those pictures with him? I probably would’ve posted a picture of my ring too.”

“You know I follow you still?”

“Yeah, I pay attention to my notifications sometimes. I’ll be honest though, I did unfollow you.”

“Understandable,” Semi sighed.

You both went quiet after that, getting comfortable on the metal bench. Taking note of his expression, you took the lead for conversation. “What was it you wanted to talk about?”

“Oh uh, I wanted to apologize,” he responded, grateful for the dim lighting so his blush wouldn’t be super noticeable.

“Well, I’m listening,” you said before crossing your arms in a playful manor.

“I’m sorry for calling you a bitch. I’m sorry for raising my voice at you. I’m sorry for saying all that petty shit and hurting you. I’m sorry for all the pain I gave you. You know that saying that’s like ‘you don’t know what you have until you lose it?’ Well I lost you, and that was my biggest regret. All these years-“

“Semi, you can stop-“ you interrupted not expecting him to go on a full on rant for an apology. You were fine with a simple ‘I’m sorry’. Never would you have expected the ash blonde to list out every thing he did wrong. It was high school, that’s when mistakes are meant to be made because you learn from them. After walking the earth for twenty four years, you couldn’t give less of a shit about the things that happened. You grew up, you were over it, you have other things to focus on than hold onto a grudge because someone hurt you.

“Let me finish. Please. All these years I never tried to reach out to you because I think you made it clear that you didn’t want to speak to me and I respect that but oh my god I’m so proud of you. You’ve accomplished so much. You’ve traveled around the world, living your dream. I know we may have ended on bad terms but I have never, not once, ever wished for your life to take a turn for the worst. I’m genuinely so happy for you. I’m just so, so, sor- What? Why are you crying? I’m the one apologizing!” he asked, raising his hands to wipe your tears.

While listening to him all you could think about was how guilty you felt. “Because I’m sorry,” You answered, grabbing his wrists to pull them away from your face so you could wipe your own tears. “I’m sorry for pushing you away. I’m sorry for not reaching out either. I’m sorry for almost starting a physical fight with you.” You were letting all your frustrations out at this point from all the emotions you had built up inside you. While you had to admit you were upset with him, you were the one that started it. “I shouldn’t have said what I said the night of the talent show. I should’ve told you the truth. I started this. I’m the one at fault.”

“Y/n...” Semi wrapped his arms around your back, using one hand to guide your face into his chest to help you calm down. “It’s okay. You’re okay.” His voice was soft, different compared to the way he was speaking before. His task at hand was just to focus on you. “I missed you,” he spoke.

“I hmff ugh oo,” you responded, head still buried in his chest.

“What?”

You pulled away from him and straightened your back. “I said I missed you too.” You took a couple seconds to look at him. He looked almost exactly the same as he did back then. The only differences you could tell were that his hair was longer and he looked more mature, maybe a little buffer. It was somewhat comforting. “I don’t get it. I told myself I should hate you after all that happened but I could never bring myself to accept it. It’s weird that we’re talking with little difficulty right now to each other.”

“Little difficulty? I’m not gonna lie, my heart is beating so fast right now. I was so nervous to even hand you my phone at the table,” Semi laughed, eyes not looking away from your form laughing into your hand. “I don’t get it either though. I honestly thought you were gonna hate me and yell at me like, do you really forgive me?”

“How do I say this?” You asked yourself before taking a deep breath to answer his question. “After graduating and experiencing the real world, I realized I don’t need to focus on high school bullshit. We were so young-“

“Now you’re making me feel old.”

“Shut up! We were just teens. Now we’re adults, ya know? With bills to pay and actual responsibility. I’d rather focus on me, myself now than what happened in high school. Am I gonna forget it? No, it helped build the person I am now. Can I forgive? I may be a petty bitch and say I don’t wanna but what’s that gonna do for me? Nothing so I might as well.” After giving your long explanation you looked at him again and took in his features, old happy memories flooding back to you.

“Do you think we start over?” Semi asked hopefully.

“Yeah.”

“Hey, I’m Semi Eita. I play in a band and I’m a bit of an asshole sometimes. What’s your name?”

“I’m L/n Y/n and I also play in a band and can sometimes be a bitch,” you responded with a laugh.

“It’s nice to meet you. Can I walk you to where you need to be?” he asked, getting up and putting his hand out to help you up.

“Sure, that’d be really nice.”

After he helped you up, you started walking towards your bus with Semi walking right next to you. “Hey I’m actually playing a show tomorrow night, you should check us out!”

“No way, what time?” You asked deciding to play along.

“Like seven but you know how it goes, it’ll probably be more like seven-fifteen.”

“Ugh that’s annoying. Can you come to mine? I think I play at like eight.”

“Sure, dude. Anything for my bestie.”

“Aight I’m done. Bestie is too far, dude.”

“What! I can’t call you my bestie even though we just reunited six years after not seeing each other?”

“Correct. We can be ‘friends’,” you said, using your fingers to put air quotes, “but honestly I’m still on edge. Like after we went our separate ways it was hard for me to reconnect with people because it hurt when we ended things. I don’t wanna go through that again.”

Semi sighed, “I get that. Sorry again. I promise I won’t do that again.”

“It’s okay. And you better. Or else we’re really throwing hands,” you teased.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah!”

“Don’t make me go all WWE on you!”

“Oh my god Semi, is that a threat?”

“Y/n!” Izumi yelled which made you focus on your tour bus. The girls had each opened a window to stick their head out of and wait for your arrival.

“Are you okay?” Haruka asked.

“Do you want back up?” Yui followed up.

“I’m joking, Yui,” Semi said, putting his hands up in defense.

“You better, or else I’m gonna be the one fighting for y/n,” Haruka warned with a glare.

“I guess this is goodnight, Semi. You don’t want to throw hands with Haruka, she’s pretty buff. Thanks again. See you around,” you said as you waved him goodbye and hopped on the bus.

“See ya,” Semi responded. He turned around and threw his head upwards to the night sky and let out a sigh before walking to his bus.

Yui with her head still out of the window took notice of how Semi relaxed after you left him. “Hey, girly,” she started, getting up from her spot after closing the window. “You okay? How’d it go?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. It actually went surprisingly well.”

“That’s good news!” Izumi cheered.

“So are you friends again?” Haruka asked.

“Hmm, I guess so? We’re basically just starting over.”

“This tour is gonna be interesting,” Yui finished.

Getting back onto his bus, Semi immediately felt three pairs of eyes glued on him. Jiro set his Nintendo switch down while Subaru put his phone on his lap and Ranmaru stood up.

“We’ve been expecting you,” Ranmaru started with a straight face.

“Yeah!” Jiro added only to be shushed by Subaru.

“Well... good news?” Semi responded, not knowing what to make of the way his band mates were acting.

“Go on...” Subaru said, this time being shushed by Jiro.

“First, I’m gonna be a guest vocal for One Ok Rock with Y/n during their last song. Second, I told Y/n everything I needed to say. We’re friends again. We’re all good,” Semi said with a smile.

Ranmaru took a few steps closer to Semi before lovingly slapping his back. “Proud of you, bro.”

“Woooo! Go Eita!” Jiro jumped up to hype up his bandmate.

“Awesome!” Subaru finished. “Happy for you man. Now, I hate to be the mom here, but we should get to bed. Tomorrow’s gonna be a long day.”

“Good job guys!” Taka said, patting both of your backs.

“Thank you! Is there anything you want us to change?” You asked.

“Hmm, nah. I know most people say practice makes perfect but I think as the tour goes on we’ll improve the performance each night.”

“Sounds good,” Semi said.

“Can I give some feedback?” You asked. Taka and Semi both gave you a nod to go on. “You,” you pointed to Semi, “are being so stiff. It’s your first tour in the US. Loosen up! I’ll be blunt, if how to act now is how you’re gonna act during your set, which is the first one, you’re not gonna grab anyone’s attention. The majority of the crowd probably haven’t even heard of your band. You gotta draw them in.”

“I have to agree with her,” Taka joined in.

Semi grew wide eyed and turned a little red. You were about to speak up again but he beat you to it. “Sorry, I think I’m just nervous. This is all new to me,” he said, bringing a hand up to the back of his head.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to sound harsh! I just want you guys to grow. Being on tour right now is a big honor so I want you to get the most you can out of it. And-“

And you were rambling. Same old Y/n, Semi thought to himself, letting you ramble while he had a small smirk on his face, amused by the words you were speaking.

“Just perform how you would back then! I think if you brought that energy you’d really get a lot of people hooked!”

“Ya think so?”

“I know so. Can we try again but exaggerate our movements? This dude has to shape up.”

“I’ve heard so many stories about you mentoring the smaller bands, it’s nice to see that you live up to them,” Taka smiled.

“Thank you,” you responded with a blush. “Now Semi, follow our lead. And don’t let us down tonight.”

Taglist: @pluviophilefangirl @yourstarvic @sunaswife @mynscorner @syaziahvg @discountkiyoko

A Moment in Time- Ch 14

MASTERPOST

OH HI THERE LOOK AT THAT IT'S ALREADY JUNE. HOW COULD THAT HAVE HAPPENED???

yes, I know. I disappeared off the face of the earth. forgive me?

important housekeeping- Orthrus is the name of Cerbrus' brother from Greek Mythology. Asclepius is a snake. and doctor dude. so I pulled on that a lil. ok, on with the chapter!

Chloé had been surprised to see the text from Marinette after her friend had gone off to meet an obscure friend earlier that day. Yet, there, blinking on her phone, was a text from her best friend there was only one word, but it was enough. There, blinking up at her was the word TONIGHT. Marinette really wanted to take Gabriel Agreste down on a school night, right before finals week.

Of course she did.

Fuck.

With one last, woeful glance at her open notes, Chloé called her transformation and flew to the Eiffel tower.

When she got there, the blonde was met with both Apate and Lady Tyche.

There, sitting at their feet, was Asclepius. The snake was leaning back, taking in the night air. His dark eyes glittered behind his mask, and the lyre at his side was almost unnoticeable in the darkness. As Princess Meli landed, Apate and Tyche sent her smiles, while Asclepius nodded. Meli gave a weak smile in response.

“Hey A, did you have to choose right before finals? I have to study!” Apate snorted at her best friend’s indignation.

“Sorry, Meli. I just…we can’t let this flaming bastard ruin our lives anymore. He tried to Akumatize me tonight, and I won’t have it.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Apate winced before turning to face her friend.

“I almost got akumatized. It didn’t go well. I am going to take down Hawkmoth one way or another. It is up to you if you want to join me. It has to be now before he can do any more damage. I for one don’t want to spend one more minute in a city where Hawkmoth rules our lives.” As the two newer heroes listened, the sound of someone landing behind them could be heard.

The group turned to find another miraculous wielder there, his long brown hair held back in a low ponytail, and the dark brown suit barely noticeable against the night sky. “ah, good Orthrus, you made it!” the teen nodded to the vigilante, before giving his fellow miraculous wielders a dramatic bow.

“omg. Really? That’s why you wanted me to dye your hair!” Princess Meli’s squeal was met with a dead-eyed stare by her best friend.

“well, why else, but to be completely unrecognizable.” The familiar voice that drawled from the dog vigilante’s mouth had the others quickly connecting the dots and laughing in recognition of Adrien Agreste, now named Orthrus, the vigilante of Loyalty. He strode over, his steps near silent on the tower beam. “now, what are we going to do about my father, Apate? Lady Tyche?” the two smiled at him, before turning back to the group.

“This is a stealth operation. As you all know, the Moth Miracle stone is one of the more flexible jewels. This means that the only identifying part about it is that it will glow when a strong emotion emerges. This means that we will be splitting up into two groups.” Here, Apate paused. Tyche was obviously well informed about what the operation was going to entail. Meli, while not in the loop, was more familiar with their plans and was obviously connecting the dots. The newest two were looking back and forth in confusion. “Meli, you and Tyche will be pulling the public's attention to yourselves. While you two pretend to fight an Akuma, courtesy of Bunnix, the rest of us will be slipping into the Agreste Mansion. Asclepius, you will be on Mayora duty. Keep her contained and be prepared to use your power, remember, it can only go back 15 minutes. Orthrus and I will try to corner Hawkmoth while he is distracted. It is imperative that Meli and Tyche keep the battle going against Bunnix until we are sure that Hawkmoth and Mayora are out of commission.” Tyche nodded.

“Meli and I will keep people distracted, but we need you to be fast, Apate. That means,” she turned to Orthrus and Asclepius, “you two need to get your plan straightened out before you enter the Agreste mansion. If there is anything that goes wrong you inform Apate immediately. Keep your com lines open. I know that you haven’t had as much practice, but Apate has been doing this for years. Rely on her and watch her back. Most importantly though, everyone goes in, everyone goes out. No one is left behind. And kick Hawkmoth’s ass.” The newer miraculous holders were listening with wider and wider eyes as Lady Tyche laid out her instructions. Apate may be the one with the (little known) reputation of being blunt and violent, but Lady Tyche was obviously used to giving instructions and being obeyed, immediately. As the weight of the situation made itself truly known to the newer section of the team, Bunnix alighted on the tower beam with a wild grin.

“ready when you are, Lady. We should be able to mess around for a few hours before things have to get serious.” Here, Bunnix turned her gaze on Apate. “if you need anything, give a shout.” Apate nodded solemnly at her friend, before turning to her team.

“We move now. once we get in position, Tyche and Bunnix will start the battle.” With one last backward glance, Apate led her team off to the lair of Hawkmoth.

“how long do you think this will take, A?”

“Ty, I wish I could give you an answer. Right now I really just want to get this done so I can sleep.”

“A, as much as I agree with that statement, please don’t rush.”

“I’ll be careful, Ty. I always am.”

“Bullshit.”

“rude.”

“but true.”

“I mean…maybe.” A pause, “ok Tyche, we’re in position in Adrien’s room. Whenever you’re ready.”

“see you on the other side, Apate.”

“Stay safe.”

“you too.”

Tim was expecting a quiet night, curled up on his bed with a book Dick had asked him to read ages ago when the screaming started. He bolted up and flung open his door. With shaking fingers, the teen CEO darted across the great room of the hotel room. As he shoved the balcony doors open, Tim’s eyes widened. There, on the street, were two heroes. They were…flying. They were actually flying? He thought Marinette had given him a basic rundown of the situation here in Paris, but as he watched the two flying girls, Tim Drake knew in his gut that tonight was going to get a lot worse before it got better for them. Edging back along the wall of the balcony, the out of costume vigilante watched with wide eyes as the heroes darted in and out of the fog that was at the center of the screaming.

Apate really hated Gabriel Agreste. As she followed Orthrus through the halls of the manor, Asclepius stayed at her back. When they arrived at the library, Orthrus guided Asclepius to the hidden window that would give him a vantage point t look down on the upcoming battle. “wait.” As Apate halted the group's movement, the two others turned to look at her. “Asclepius, once you see Mayora enter the grotto, only then do you start your entry.” He looked at her in confusion. With a small smile, Apate gestured to the window. “this is your entry point. When you find Mayora, you enter here. Keep her contained, and keep her distracted. Orthrus and I will handle the rest.” When the Snake holder had nodded, Apate smiled. “this is it, I know that you both have worked hard recently to take on these roles. That said, we proceed with the utmost caution. Keep your coms in and keep them on. I want constant communication. I know that this is the long game. We are all in. now we need to make sure that we all leave. Understood?”

“understood.”

“Copy”

“good. Now, we enter silence now. Orthrus and I are going to get in position, Asclepius be careful. Now is not the time to show our hand.”

Lady Tyche hadn’t had this much fun in years. As Bunnix sat in the middle of the column of fog rolling down Parisian streets, Lady Luck giggled slightly at Princess Meli’s look of shock. The rabbit holder had placed fog machines in the vicinity of the Grande Paris Hotel. With their careful plotting, Bunnix and Tyche had made sure that the square would be filled with synthetic fog. As it spread, the few pedestrians on Paris’ streets started to scream. The midnight air took on the feeling that only ever came when there was an Akuma attack. With a shout of glee, Bunnix continued to spin herself around on her motorbike. “are we going to attack?” Meli’s question broke Tyche out her musings. It wasn’t uncommon for the hero to stay back and observe the Akumas, and she had been taking advantage of that up till that point. With a sigh, Tyche tore her gaze away from the fog.

“I guess we have to, don’t we?” Meli giggled at her friend’s reluctance."

“only if you want this to work.” Tyche snorted at the Bee’s sarcasm.

“go ahead and ‘sneak’ over to the other end of the square. Once you get there, I’ll dive in and do a few spins with Bunnix. When I come flying out, wait a few seconds and then go into the exact center. Knowing Bun, that’s exactly where she’ll be.” Meli nodded in understanding and started to make her way across the square.

As Lady Tyche watched the other blonde slip away, she took a deep breath. They needed to stretch this out for as long as they could. Apate needed as much time as she could buy.

Apate and Orthrus were settled against a shadowed part of the wall in the grotto when Gabriel Agreste strode in. the blonde man was clutching at this shirt where he had a purple jewel pined there. “is that?” Orthrus’ question mirrored her own thoughts.

“I…I think so.” Tensing slightly, Apate settled further into her perch. Asclepius’ voice came quietly in her ear.

“Apate, you need to take the stone now. once he is Hawkmoth, Gabriel will have a sword. We don’t want to do more damage than necessary.”

“Ascle-“

“Apate you have to trust me. Please.”

“Are you sure?”

“There is no other way, this has to happen before i can take out Mayora.” Apate sucked in a sharp breath.

“how many times?”

“so far? six. It’s about to be seven if you don’t get a move on. Your window is closing.” Before Asclepius had finished his sentence, Apate has risen.

As she lept to one of the beams above the grotto, Orthrus slunk across the ground until he was behind Gabriel. As Apate started her descent towards the villain, Orthrus sprung up, and incapacitated him. in one single move, Apate, Guardian of the Miracle Box, had reclaimed the Butterfly stone of Transmission.

In her ear a moment later, Apate could hear the sounds of Mayora being taken down by Asclepius.

Lady Tyche and Princess Meli were in their fifth rotation through Bunnix’s merry fog funhouse when Apate’s voice cut through their line. “we have reclaimed both miraculous, and the police have been called. It’s finished. Hawkmoth is gone.”

The three heroes let up a cheer and set about putting the square to rights. Once Bunnix had shut off the fog machines, Lady Tyche looked around and smiled. Lifting into the air, Lady Luck threw her yoyo up and called “Miraculous!” as the Ladybugs flew through the night, things started to turn themselves back to what they had been a mere hour ago. When the square had returned to normal, the two heroes took off into the air. It was time to celebrate. Hawkmoth had been defeated at last.

Poor Tim! i wonder what the poor boy thought of THAT show? (also, i keep imagining Alix dressed in her bunnix suit speeding off into the night with that fog machine going... i bet she had a blast!)

TAGLIST

@moonlitceleste @redscarlet95 @ultimatetornshipper @mochegato @liquid-luck-00 @maskedpainter @trippingovermyfeet @nathleigh @m0chick0furan @susiej1118 @t1dwarrior-of-earth @sassakitty @remy-289 @solangelo252 @corporeal-terrestrial @woe-is-me0 @toodaloo-kangaroo @sizzling-fairy-oil

A Stellar Collision (Zoey x Mc)

Summary: Zoey and Bea encounter each other one night in Paris. A stellar collision takes place. 

French Zoey??? I say yes. I nerded the hell out with this fic, but I think it’s amazing and beautiful.

Word Count: 1.9k

Zoey Club: @samanthadalton @penda-bear @robintora @satrinadia @tyrils-star @brycesgirl @gay-dinosaur-banana-milk-carton

Stellar Collision; ‘A stellar collision is the coming together of two stars caused by stellar dynamics within a star cluster’

                                                        ***

Paris, France. Bea never thought that she’d travel alone, but here she was standing in front of the Eiffel Tower under the moonlight. This particular night was more magical than ever, the stars covered the sky like a light show. She gazed up at the celestial bodies that casted a heavenly glow on her face and smiled. France. She was really here.

 “Oh that’s perfect! Stay just like that..”

 A low voice startles Bea out of her thoughts as she yelps at the intruding stranger. “Oh my god you scared me!” The woman in front of her..who is insanely good looking, (very nice observation Bea), clamps her hand over her mouth to stop a giggle. She looked absolutely divine, Bea thought. Nothing compared to the stars. 

 “Forgive me miss! Or...er I didn’t get your name?” Her honey-filled, thick accent reminded Bea of a harmony probably only played at the gates of heaven. It took a few minutes for her to stop staring shamelessly, eyes wandering every inch of the mystery woman until it stopped at the paintbrush in her hand. Her face felt hot as she looked up directly into the stranger’s deep brown eyes, who winked in return. “...It’s Bea...or..honey...darling maybe?” Wow so smooth.

The brunette internally cringed at her attempt to seduce the stranger, but she was caught off guard by the sweet laugh earned in response.

  “Ah..well darling it is. You may have the privilege of calling me Zoey. Zoey Wade.” The darker woman grinned brightly, a pearly white smile contrasting her purple shade of lipstick. She wore a white long sleeve turtleneck which was neatly tucked into a tight, perfect fitting leather skirt. Her beret matched the color of her lips, and a nice pair of Louboutin black patent leather pumps were on her feet. Zoey was drop dead gorgeous, and she knew that. She could tell how attracted Bea was by the way her mouth hung open. Nice job Bea. 

 The brunette raised a single eyebrow in curiosity, “privilege huh? I’ll say…” She cleared her throat and straightened up, “well what I meant to ask was...what were you saying earlier? Before I jumped out of my boots.” Zoey peered down at her paintbrush and back to the woman in front of her amusingly. “Oh yes well, I like to take part in street art occasionally when I’m not in the studio or managing a fashion week.” Oh so she must be a fashion designer? Well of course she is Bea, look at her.

 “...and the way you gaze up at the stars reminds me of a certain love and intensity, I just had to capture it on my aisle.” Zoey gestures towards her setup behind her which went unnoticed by the brunette. In fact, everything was quite a blur for Bea in the moment. Uhhh earth to Bea Hughes? The most beautiful woman in the world is talking to you, the least you could do is respond. Zoey smiles silently, patiently waiting for the flustered girl to ground herself, once more. And when she does, the only word she can muster is, “..wow.”

 “Wow? But I haven’t even begun to paint you yet my darling! I think you would be quite satisfied with the results but only if you listen to my wishes.”

And so Bea did. She looked up at the sky again and relaxed her shoulders, a blissful feeling already beginning to surround her. The stars looked different now, she couldn’t focus as much, but when she did, Bea swore there was a faint outline of the darker woman’s features up in the sky. Maybe she was going crazy. Or maybe she just couldn’t get her out of her mind. The pair stood in comfortable silence as Zoey painted away, stopping occasionally to “study” Bea’s eyes, lips, and volumized curls. It’s all part of the technique. The brunette felt self conscious whenever she caught Zoey staring but it would immediately melt when their gazes connected, a feeling of warmth and affection fluttering like butterflies in her stomach.

 “So... Zoey right? That doesn’t sound very French.”

 The darker woman stroked her brush against the aisle skillfully, a light chuckle escaping her lips. “Indeed. My father was actually American, and well being his only child, he did the honours. My mother wanted to name me Zoé, (pronounced zaw-eh) but father already figured I’d have so much of my french roots and he wanted to contribute to at least something.” Zoey concentrates thoughtfully, her eyes softening at the mention of her parents. 

 Bea peels her eyes off of the sky and watches the woman with fondness. “He would be really proud of you...I know I may have just met you, but you have this gift of luring people in. Of...making them want to stay. You’re like home...I- I don’t know how to explain it...”

Zoey stops painting and observes the brunette, whose eyes only cast a shadow of love. 

 Bea looks away at the intensity of Zoey’s stare. Her voice breaks the silence, it sounded more soft and vulnerable, with a hint of that smoky accent. “Look at me.” 

 When their eyes met for the millionth time that night, it felt different. Bea felt complete. Like she was sharing her soul with the woman in front of her. She felt comfortable, with herself, and with everything around her. Zoey started to paint again as Bea watched her closely, formulating the right thoughts in her head. “Hey Zoe?” She subtlety moves her head towards Bea to hint that she’s listening, and the brunette’s eyes twinkle with delight. “Do you believe that we are all connected somehow?” 

 Zoey folds her arms in thought, “Yes...I do. There is...something called a human energy field. And within that field lies the magnetic pull of human hearts.” She looks tenderly at the brunette, “some may feel a strong pull in their hearts even when miles away. And when the two individuals finally meet, their energies combine like a stellar collision.” Bea stares at her with a certain passion she never felt before. Beautiful, incredibly intelligent, and a poetic flirt? Now that’s a woman.

 Zoey sets her paintbrush down and rotates the aisle so it's in full view for Bea. The brunette gasps loudly, her breath catching in her throat. The painting portrayed a stunning image of Bea with the Eiffel Tower behind her, the vibrant golden lights reflecting off her curls and silhouette. In the back, a depiction of maybe a million self-luminous stars painted the sky, and if you looked closely, some were constellations. What stuck out the most was the look on Bea’s face. Her expression suggested that she was looking at something mesmerizing, her eyes sparkling with wonder. And that was true, Zoey was otherworldly. Bea admired the portrait in awe, “It’s perfect Zoey, oh my god.”

 “You have a knack for stars eh? Such a nerd.” 

 The brunette laughs in joy as Zoey teases her. She raises a hand to her chin in thought, “You sound like a natural born American. Who are you and what have you done with my Zoey?” 

 “Oh your Zoey huh?” She smirks when Bea’s face turns impossibly red. Zoey detaches the portrait and struts towards the brunette, holding out the newly finished gift. “For you darling, to remember this night like no other.”

 Bea hesitates to grab it, “Are you sure you don’t want to keep it? I mean what if we never see each other again? I could be the mystery person that you tell people stories about when they come to your gallery one day.” Bea wiggles her eyebrows playfully at the suggestion.

“Well first off, there’s only so much to tell about one night. And a gallery? I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves.”

 “Oh we’re definitely not!”

 Zoey laughs pleasantly at the brunette’s confidence, brushing away a few strands of curls that fell out of place. She looks carefully at Bea and then to the painting, “Darling, the memories of tonight are enough to last me quite a while. I’ll never forget it and I don’t need this to remind me.  I’ll admit, if I kept this then everytime I look at it, it would only make me think of you.”

 “...and that’s a bad thing..?”

 “Yes.”

 “Ouchhh Zoe.”

 She chuckles gently at the pout on the brunette’s face. “Oh you baby I didn’t mean it like that.” Zoey as she takes a deep breath, gathering her thoughts, “It’s just that after tonight, wherever you go in the world, I hope you don’t forget me so easily. I only wish that you would be by my side just one night longer every time I stare at this painting.”

 “Is that what you tell all of your clients?”

 That earned Bea a nice smack to the shoulder. Good job, you deserve that.

 “Whattt I meant to say is that the night doesn’t have to end! We’re just getting started Zoey. I want to have an adventurous night out in Paris with you. You can show me how the French do it. And maybe paint me like one of your French girls next.”

 This time Zoey was the one blushing a deep dark red. She dipped her head away before Bea could catch a glimpse of it. Zoey clears her throat before sitting in thought, “well... I always believed that you should do what feels necessary, and what feels right. Being here with you certainly feels right.” She glances not so discreetly at Bea’s lips, and wets her own in anticipation. The brunette can feel her burning gaze and follows the darker woman’s eyes as they scan every inch of her. A jolt of energy starts forming in her lower belly, her heartbeat steadily increasing while her knees went impossibly weak. There was a literal shift in the atmosphere and Bea swore they weren’t this close before, but the feeling of Zoey’s breath on her cheek told her just how close they became. “...Can I do something that feels right?”

 When Zoey nods, Bea wastes no time in pulling her against her body, one arm wrapping around Zoey’s lower waist and the other caressing her dark bronze cheeks. The kiss felt electrical, a burst of pleasure surging through their chests as they finally connected. Bea let Zoey take control immediately, her tongue pulsating in the brunette’s mouth as they french-kissed. The feeling was so overpowering as they both gasped for air after a few minutes. Zoey placed open-mouthed kisses along Bea’s jaw and neck and she moaned in pure bliss at the feeling. Don’t worry there’s probably nobody around to see them. Maybe. 

When Zoey pulls back and looks at Bea, she smirks at how dilated her pupils have become. Someone’s excited. The brunette doesn’t let her tease any longer, sliding her hand gently across the french woman’s cheek, to the back of her neck, and pulling her hair until her neck is exposed. Their lips connect once more until both are too weak to stand any longer. 

 Through her shallows breaths, Bea smiles over at Zoey who has a dazed, yet look on her face. Yep. Nothing compared to the stars.

                                                                   ***

Part 2 ???

Lukadrien: Your Hands Hold Home: Chapter Eighteen

@lukadrien-june

Read it on AO3: Your Hands Hold Home: Chapter Eighteen: Pastries

“What if she hates me now?” Adrien fretted, pacing the main cabin of the Liberty as he fiddled with the good luck charm Marinette had given him years ago at the start of their friendship.

Luka sighed, looking up from the glass armonica he’d been fooling around with. “Adrien, why would Marinette hate you?”

“Because she’s been brainwashed by those monks she’s been studying with for the past month,” Adrien retorted in a manner that indicated that he thought his logic was entirely reasonable.

Seeing the doubt on Luka’s face, Adrien elaborated. “They hate me. They’re just like Maître Fu, only a hundred times worse. Maître Fu never talked to me about anything. He pretended I didn’t exist and kept me in the dark unless it was absolutely necessary to tell me something.”

Luka dried his hands off on his pant legs and came over to catch Adrien by the shoulders, stopping him in his tracks.

“I’m sorry the previous Guardian treated you like that,” Luka sympathized softly. “I’m sure that felt awful.”

Adrien nodded in affirmation, his gaze lowered. “It certainly didn’t do anything for my self-esteem, being treated like crap by yet another authority figure.”

“Yeah, I bet…. I don’t see what any of this has to do with Marinette hating you, though.” Luka gently pushed them back on topic.

“Because those monks she’s spent the past month with are even worse than Fu, and they’ve brainwashed her into thinking like them, so now she thinks I’m a useless failure who didn’t even notice that his own father was Papillon,” Adrien muttered.

“Adrien, no,” Luka insisted.

“Adrien, yes,” Adrien growled bitterly. “Plagg’s told me about them. They’re awful. They treat him like a monster and a screwup too. I’ll be lucky if Marinette even gives me my ring back now…. Plagg’s going to be stuck in that box forever.”

“Okay,” Luka sighed, seeing that some action was in order. “So, whenever you have a negative thought, what does Doctor Katsuragi encourage you to do?”

Adrien frowned, not seeing the connection between his therapy exercises and his inevitable permanent separation from Plagg and the catastrophic end of his friendship with Marinette.

“I don’t understand,” he confessed, looking to Luka for clarification.

Luka took Adrien’s cheeks in his hands and tipped up Adrien’s chin. “Whenever you have a negative thought, you’re supposed to challenge it, right? Reframe it?”

Adrien’s brows pinched even closer together. “These aren’t negative thoughts, Luka. These are just facts. They’ve turned her against me.”

“…Okay. Well, how about we do an experiment?” Luka suggested, remembering his own therapy sessions about fighting distorted thinking.

Adrien quirked an eyebrow. “Experiment?”

Luka nodded encouragingly. “You have your hypothesis: Marinette hates you and is going to exclude you from all things Miraculous going forward. Let’s go test that hypothesis and see what happens.”

The frown quickly returned to Adrien’s face. “What’s the point?”

“The point is, you could be wrong,” Luka informed.

Adrien rolled his eyes. “Or I could be right.”

“Or you could be right,” Luka agreed, “but at least we’ll know that you’re right. Then, afterwards, we can make decisions about what to do from there based on concrete facts instead of assumptions. How does that sound?”

Adrien stared, considering for a long stretch before he realized that Luka’s reasoning was sound.

“So…you’ll go with me?”

“If you want me there, I’m happy to go,” Luka assured.

Adrien bit his lip. “…Can we take the motorcycle?”

He could really use an excuse to plaster himself to Luka’s back.

“Absolutely,” Luka instantly agreed. “You ready?”

 Luka practically had to drag an antsy Adrien into the bakery.

Thankfully, business was slow, so there were no customers to witness the heroes’ reunion.

Marinette was standing at the register, her eyes buried in an old, dusty tome.

“Good afternoon,” she greeted automatically at the sound of the bell over the door. “Welcome to Tom and Sabine’s. Just let me know if you need help with anything.”

“We’re actually here for you, Chanson, not so much the pastries,” Luka chuckled.

Marinette’s head snapped up, and her eyes brightened like fireworks when she spotted them.

“Luka! Adrien!” she gasped, forgetting her book entirely as she sprinted across the room to catch them both in a crushing group hug. “It’s so good to see you! I’ve missed you so much.”

“R-Really?” Adrien choked on the overwhelming swirl of emotions welling up inside of him.

“Of course,” she scoffed, pulling back to get a good look at her boys. “I haven’t seen you in a month, and I’ve been worried about you constantly!”

Adrien blinked dumbly as his expectations were summarily overturned like so many wheelbarrows of cabbage. “Wait. Me?”

Marinette clicked her tongue. “Of course you. I barely got to talk to you after everything that happened. They practically dragged me off to Tibet immediately afterward, so…”

She studied his face intently, eyes darting from here to there, trying to absorb everything all at once. “…Are you okay?”

Adrien bit his lip and swallowed, preparing to tell the biggest lie of his life. “I’m f—”

His voice broke as tears started to bubble up through the cracks in his flimsy mask.

Marinette looked to Luka.

Luka rested a supportive hand on Adrien’s shoulder. “He’s doing all right. Some days are tough, but I’m really proud of him. He’s doing his best, and he’s doing a great job.”

Adrien shot Luka a look of gratitude.

A thin, faint smile of relief spread across Marinette’s lips. “Good. I’m really glad to hear that. It killed me not being able to be there for you. I mean, I’m your partner. I should have been there, but…”

She trailed off, looking to Luka with gratitude overflowing in her eyes. “…I’m really glad you were here.”

“Me too,” Luka agreed, squeezing Adrien’s shoulder. “I’m happy I could help—At least, I hope I’ve helped.”

Adrien gave a snort. “You know you’ve helped.”

Luka shrugged, smiling noncommittally.

“Oh!” Marinette gave a start, suddenly remembering. “Your ring! I need to give back—”

She pulled a small, octagonal box out of her purse and paused, a frown beginning to form over the bridge of her nose. “—but we probably shouldn’t do this in the middle of the shop.”

Luka and Adrien looked around, taking note of the panorama of windows.

“You could sneak around back for a few minutes,” Luka suggested.

Marinette looked like she was about to agree, but then she glanced back at the cash register with a pout. “But I need to watch the shop.”

“Allow me,” Luka offered.

“Oh, I couldn’t ask you to—” she started to protest.

“—I’m doing this for him,” Luka cut in with a wink.

Marinette blinked, and Adrien blushed, a sliver of a pleased grin peeking out of the corner of his mouth.

“It’s not like this is my first time working the counter,” Luka pointed out.

Marinette was quickly convinced. “Well, if you don’t mind. Thank you,” she responded, taking Adrien by the wrist and tugging him around back.

“Here you go.” She held out the Miraculous box, and he eagerly took it.

He couldn’t get the ring on fast enough, and when Plagg finally appeared, Adrien could no longer contain the tears.

He silently wept, pulling a purring Plagg into his chest and holding him close, determined never to willingly part with him ever again.

“I’m so sorry, Chaton,” Marinette whispered, the guilt that had been building over the last month finally coming to a head. “I never should have let them pressure me into bringing him with me. I’m his Guardian. I should have put my foot down and told them Plagg was where he belonged.”

“It’s okay, Buguinette,” Adrien tried to assure her, but she was having none of it.

“No. No, it isn’t, Adrien,” she insisted, disappointed in herself and angry at the monks who had treated her partner so poorly.

“I knew I was making a mistake the moment I took him from you,” she confessed penitently. “I can’t tell you how many times I almost used Kaalki to open a portal and bring him back, but…”

She grimaced, averting her gaze and shaking her head, determined to do better going forward.

“I’m so sorry, Adrien,” she repeated, forcing herself to meet his gaze to let him see how earnest she was. “They may not trust you or want you to be involved, but I do.”

He gaped at her, jaw descending several centimeters. “You…You do?”

She nodded, smiling tentatively as she hoped he’d forgive her. She desperately wanted the chance to fix things between them and start doing things right.

“Of course I do. You’re my partner, and I couldn’t ask for a better one. There’s no one on earth I trust more than you. I know things between us haven’t always been ideal, but…I want to do better…if you’ll let me?”

He nodded, swiping away tears. “I’d like that.”

Her smile grew in strength at his favorable response.

“Can we meet up for patrol tomorrow night, then?” she suggested, excited to get started repairing their partnership. “There’s so much I need to catch you up on.”

His ears perked up at that.

He’d always wanted to be included, kept in the loop.

“Tomorrow night sounds great,” he agreed. “Nine o’clock at the top of the Eiffel Tower?”

“Yes, please,” she replied eagerly. “And thank you for hearing me out and giving me a chance.”

He rolled his eyes disarmingly even as he wondered if she had been afraid of him hating her as well.

“My Lady…we’re okay,” he informed, gently pulling her into a hug. “We seriously need to talk, but…we’re okay.”

Silence fell between them as they clung to one another, trying to sort out all the feelings raging wildly inside of themselves.

Back in the bakery, Luka sighed, resting his chin in his hand.

He could guess what the silence meant. Either they were hugging or they were kissing. He conjectured that he’d hear if they were kissing, but hugging wasn’t that much more of a cheery prospect.

Luka knew he’d only been kidding himself when he’d daydreamed of Adrien and him ending up together, but…

It hurt to have his fantasies ripped to shreds right before his very eyes.

Likely, Adrien and Marinette would make up, make out, and forget all about Luka.

He took solace in the fact that Marinette sent them home with free pastries and the feeling of Adrien’s arms around him as they drove home on Luka’s motorcycle.

Ladynoir July Day 23 - Chin Scratches

@ladynoirjuly2020

read on ao3!

this was partially inspired by this amazing art by @buggachat! go support her, she’s incredible!

~~~~~

Ladybug couldn’t stop smiling.

She looked down at Chat, his head in her lap, and chuckled a little. Brushing the hair away from his eyes, she leaned down a little to see if he was still awake.

“Hmm?” he hummed, stirring when she touched him. He blinked up at her and inhaled slowly, his eyes wide. She giggled at how cute he was, taking her hand away.

“Nothing, just checking on you,” she said softly, sitting back up and looking out at the view. They’d chosen their personal beam on the Eiffel Tower to hang out that day. It wasn’t near any visitor platforms, and it wasn’t too high up. /But they had a great view of the Trocadéro, and it was finally starting to get warm again in Paris.

They had just wanted to hang out together, but Chat had fallen asleep in her lap before too long. She didn’t mind; the calm and even nature of his breathing helped her think clearly and destress.

“Speaking of that,” he said, turning so that his face was tilted up towards her. She smiled, raising her eyebrows. “How are you doing?” he wondered, and she felt her smile falter a little, thinking of all the things she had to be worried about.

She let out a short chuckle, pushing her cheek against her right shoulder and thinking of an answer to give him.

“I’m...getting by,” she decided, eyeing him and seeing his lips purse in thought.

“That doesn’t sound like a ‘good’ to me,” he said like he always did, and she rolled her eyes lightheartedly, smiling down at him.

“If I were always good, there would be something wrong with me,” she teased, pinching his nose for a second and making him laugh. He watched her quietly, and she let out a sigh, going over the mental list of all the things she needed to complete before 8 am the next day.

“If I started buzzing, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised. I’m pretty stressed,” she admitted, seeing the corners of his mouth deepen into a frown. She tilted her head at him, wondering what his response would be.

“I think what you meant to say was you wouldn’t bee surprised,” he told her pointedly, narrowing his eyes. She laughed, tilting her head back a little.

“I meant like a ladybug,” she told him, gesturing to the spots that covered her body. “You know, like how you purr?” she prompted, watching his cheeks grow pink. She giggled as he pouted at her, crossing his arms over his chest and making his elbow bump her side a little.

“You said you wouldn’t tease me about that again!” he exclaimed, feigning offense. She snickered, flicking his bell playfully.

“You tease me all the time, so it’s only fair,” she said softly, watching him blow at the hair hanging in front of his face. She reached down and used the tuft of hair to tickle his nose, making him cry out and push her hands away. She laughed happily, leaning back as he sat up and scooted away from her.

“That’s not fair at all!” he whined, rubbing his nose vigorously and making her laugh more. She immediately missed the warmth from him on her thighs, watching him and wishing he would come back.

“I won’t do it very often,” she offered lightly, leaning towards him and pouting when he leaned away playfully.

“Yes you will,” he retorted, sticking his tongue out at her. She frowned dramatically, pressing her hands down on her thighs and trying to retain some of the heat that he’d taken with him.

“How about a deal?” she asked, glancing at him and seeing his eyebrows raise.

“What kind of deal?” he wondered, and she chuckled, tapping her chin.

“I get to tease you occasionally, and in return, I’ll scratch behind your ears whenever you want me to,” she offered, grinning when he began to blush again. He opened his mouth to speak but then promptly closed it again, looking away. She giggled at how cute he was, never imagining that he could get so flustered when she teased him.

“Can you include chin scratches too?” he asked quietly, and she laughed, leaning forward and scratching under his chin playfully. He grinned, chuckling with her and catching her hand before she could pull it away. He kissed the back of it, blinking at her with big eyes. It was her turn to blush, and she looked away shyly as he let go of her hand.

“Come lay back down. I’m getting cold,” she told him while she tried to calm her racing heart, wondering how one person could be so cute. He chuckled, laying his head back in her lap and staring up at her.

She smiled down at him, reaching a hand out to begin to scratch behind his ears. A low rumble started to come from his throat, and she giggled to herself, wondering how on Earth that was possible. But she kept going, watching his eyes fall closed and smiling to herself.

It wasn’t long before his breathing evened out again and his lips parted, signaling that he’d drifted off to sleep once again. She took her hand away from his hair, using her fingers to gently trace patterns on his cheek and wishing more than anything that she could feel his skin with her own.

Cupping his cheek gently, she leaned down and placed a kiss on the corner of his mouth. He blinked up at her even though she hadn’t wanted to wake him up, and they both blushed.

“No fair, m’lady,” he whispered softly, placing one hand over hers on his cheek and using his other hand to gently guide her back down to him. He kissed her properly, but before he could really enjoy it, she pulled away. She was smiling radiantly and blushing just as brightly as his hand fell from her neck.

“Go back to sleep, kitty,” she said, beginning to scratch behind his ears again. He opened his mouth to protest, but he couldn’t argue.

Chat curled up against her, wrapping his arms around her waist and making her laugh. She waited until she was sure he’d dozed off again before blushing again and grinning herself silly.

~~~~~

okay i adored writing this one asdfghjkl

thank you all for reading! the support i’m receiving never fails to make me feel so happy! thank you!! <3 <3

Let the Sunshine In Chapter 2

AO3

Somehow Marinette made it back to the house without causing mass panic or dropping the boy. Once at home she dragged him onto the couch and detransformed, rushing for a First Aid kit before he bled out. 

Tikki sought out a cookie while Marinette unwound the dirty bandages on the boy, doing her best to wipe away the blood and grime. He had wounds both new and older, but to her relief none of them were too serious, nothing that couldn’t be handled with some disinfectant and gauze. Marinette cleaned him up as much as possible, and before long the kwamis swarmed Marinette to get clothes on the boy. 

“He’s malnourished and dehydrated,” Wayzz said, surveying the boy. “How did he get so far from one of the Lazarus Pits so soon?” 

“The Lazarus Pits? What are those?” 

“You didn’t tell her, Tikki?” Trixx demanded. “She’s the Guardian, she needs to know these things!” 

“But I haven’t been Guardian for very long, especially compared to Master Fu,” Marinette said gently. “There are lots of things that haven’t come up yet. But will someone please explain?” 

It was obvious that the boy wouldn’t wake for a while, so Marinette felt fine having the kwamis out and about, especially when it meant there were more eyes on him. She hoped she would be able to avoid taking him to the hospital, because it would just be a mess all around. 

Tikki sighed, settling into her palm. “The Lazarus Pits were a result of a wish made with both the Ladybug and the Black Cat Miraculous gems. It was a long, long time ago when a man lost the woman he loved. When he found out about the Miraculous, he was relentless in his search, and he even killed that Ladybug to steal the earrings. 

“He wished for his love to be brought back to life, but the world hadn’t recovered from the last Miraculous wish yet. This one ended differently than most. The Lazarus Pits were scattered all over the world, pools of water that could heal people, and in some cases even bring them back to life. Since the world was still recovering from a previous wish, the price was paid by the individuals who use the pits. I was weak from my Ladybug being killed, and so the power of destruction was a lot stronger than the power of creation. All of my energy was used for the healing aspect, but Plagg’s surplus energy had to go somewhere.”

“Tikki, what does that mean?” Marinette asked, growing more and more concerned. 

“The person being healed has to pay the price, usually with their humanity. People react differently to the pits. Some find evil and greed growing in their hearts. Others go insane from the transition from death to life, while a few are filled with overwhelming anger and a need to destroy. No matter what, Marinette, it’s especially dangerous for you! He’ll be able to sense your connection to all the kwamis, but especially me. You and Chat Noir aren’t safe as long as he’s in Paris. We need to take him somewhere.” 

“Can it be reversed?” Marinette asked. 

“What?”

“You said he was seriously hurt--”

Tikki shook her head solemnly. “Marinette, based on the amount of energy I feel on him, he was dead, probably for a few years.” 

“What?!” Marinette couldn’t help but stare at the once-dead boy who was currently passed out on her couch. “He was dead?”

“It’s true. And because he was dead, Marinette, means that there’s going to be almost none of his humanity left.” 

“You said almost. That means there’s some left to foster,” Marinette said slowly. 

“Marinette, no. You can’t put yourself at risk like this.” 

“He didn’t choose any of this. It’s not fair that he has to live a life of pain and anger alone. How do I help him?” 

Tikki blinked, some of the panic and tension draining from her small body. “You’re right, I’m sorry Marinette. You’re my strongest Ladybug yet, and the Guardian, so we can’t lose you. But it also means that if anyone can help him, it’s you. None of this was his fault. I… I need to talk to Plagg. We can probably come up with something together.” 

Marinette watched her kwami fly away, a ghost of an emotion rearing its head when she wondered if this would be easier with the Book of Miracles. But it was easily squashed down. It was habit at this point, and Marinette had things to do.

The boy was concerningly pale. It seemed like his bleeding had slowed if not stopped completely, but he needed nutrients. She’d learned to prepare for all kinds of things in her years as Ladybug, so she’d make do with whatever the situation may be. 

For now she settled for making chicken rice soup, chopping everything small enough to reduce the chance of choking. She couldn’t help but wonder about him -- who was he? How had he died?

She had added the last of the ingredients and left the soup to simmer when she heard a scuffle in the living room. Concerned, Marinette went to investigate. There wasn’t a single kwami in sight, and the boy had an umbrella grasped in his hands like a weapon, stationed at the corner of the room, poised to attack. 

His eyes were… unsettling. If Marinette hadn’t known about the Lazarus Pits, she would have worried that he was an akuma -- the were a toxic green, the same color as Plagg’s and Chat’s. But the entire eye was this color, the whites, the irises, and the pupils. 

His knuckles were white from clutching the umbrella too hard, and if Marinette had to describe his facial expression, she would have said feral. When those unnatural eyes turned on her she could feel the loathing, the hatred that emanated from this boy. 

Seeing him awake like this, Marinette could definitely feel a connection to him. Miraculous magic had definitely touched him, but it was tainted, twisted, even more sinister than Hawkmoth’s akumas. 

Lunging forward with a snarl, the boy moved to attack her, bringing the umbrella down in a vicious arc. Even with the reflexes she’d developed from her years of being Ladybug, Marinette was only barely able to dodge the attack, narrowly twisting out of the way, the umbrella crashing into the coffee table instead. 

The umbrella was a mess of broken wires and torn fabric. Marinette had to dodge the jagged bits of metal swinging towards her. She was fully aware that Tikki would have killed her for sticking around to see how she could help the boy. Logically she should have run away and called the police already. 

But Tikki wasn’t here right now and whoever this kid was, he needed help. Was that -- year, he had reopened at least one of his wounds, based on the blood on his bandages. 

“My name is Marinette,” she said, slowly and softly, the same voice reserved for wild animals and child akumas. “I just want to help you.”

He stared at her as she approached, taking a step back. She continued, “I found you bleeding in an alleyway, and you’re still hurt. Let me help you, please. I just want to make sure you’re okay.” 

On instinct, Marinette took a step forward. It should have proved to be a mistake when the boy lunged forward, snarling. He was really out for blood this time, but Marinette was prepared. When he first reached out, her hand darted out, catching his wrist. 

She was ready to wrench the appendage behind his back to subdue him, but it wasn’t necessary. At the contact of skin on skin, he stilled completely, eyes vacant as the toxic green faded from them, revealing a clear, stunning blue. Marinette couldn’t help when her breath caught. 

“Wha - Who are you? Where am I?” the boy asked in distressed English. He stumbled a step or two forward, nearly collapsing on the ground.

Marinette barely caught him, but she’d been bearing his weight since the moment she’d found him. Maneuvering him onto the couch was child’s play. 

“My name is Marinette,” she said, hoping her accent wasn’t too strong. It had been a while since she’d practiced her English. “I found you bleeding in an alleyway, so I brought you here to try and help you heal up. How are you feeling?” 

“A little like I got the crap beat out of me by a bunch of thugs,” the boy said with the barest suggestion of a smile. “And not to sound ungrateful, sweetheart, but why on earth would you bring me here instead of a hospital?” 

She closed her eyes for a few moments, seemingly deliberating on what to say. “I know this sounds crazy, but I had a hunch that this would be better. I really can’t tell you more than that. But how are you feeling? Why were you in that alleyway?” 

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, and his brain was obviously sorting through optional responses. Finally he simply said, “I don’t remember.” 

It was very obviously a lie, but Marinette took the response without question. She couldn’t share a lot of things with him, it was only fair to allow him secrets of his own.

“What should I call you then?” Marinette asked in response.

“You mean I’m staying?!”

Marinette blinked. “I can’t kick you out! You’re wounded and lost in Paris without your memory! I couldn’t just kick you out!” 

“Wait, I’m in Paris?!” the boy asked, totally blown away. “Like, Paris, France?!” 

“Yes?” Marinette pulled open a curtain, pointing to the barely visible Eiffel Tower that peeked over the nearby buildings. “So, any ideas about what I should call you? I can always make something up, but I’m told that I’m not the best with names.” 

“Just call me Jay,” the boy said, barely suppressing a yawn. “Jay will be fine.” 

“Don’t go to sleep just yet, you need some nutrients in you, Jay,” Marinette said, rising to retrieve a bowl of soup. 

While Marinette carefully fed the boy soup, spoonful by spoonful, unbeknownst to them their every move was watched by a group of kwamis. 

“Are you sure we can’t tell her, Plagg?” Tikki asked, eyes fixated on her holder. 

“He’s got a lot of destructive energy running through his body right now,” Plagg said, uncharacteristically serious. “I’m impressed at how quickly he recovered from this bout of destruction, this kid has a history with controlling his anger. But we need to find something to replace that anger, or it will get worse and worse until nothing is left of the kid.” 

“And what do we replace the anger with?” Pollen asked.

“The destruction is affecting his mind and his emotions, so he needs to create new positive emotions and relationships,” Tikki said defeatedly. “She just has to wait out those fits of rage, even though they’re directed at her.” 

“Lighten up, Sugar Cube,” Plagg said. “He calmed down when she touched him. That means he already trusts her, even though he can feel the Miraculous on her.” 

“Besides, they already kind of know each other,” Trixx pointed out. 

“What?” multiple voices chorused. 

“I’m the kwami of illusion, which means that I can see through disguises and stuff,” Trixx explained. “That boy is the one from three years ago, Marinette’s Robin that died! That kind of explains why she was able to calm him so quickly.” 

“So… what do we tell Marinette?” Kaalki asked. 

“For the boy to truly be healed, Marinette’s actions have to be genuine, with no ulterior motives, however well-intended,” Wayzz said gravely. “I’m afraid we cannot tell her anything. But fear not, Marinette has never let us down before.” 

Murmuring hesitant assent, the majority of the kwamis retreated. Tikki though, couldn’t pull herself away. 

Plagg sighed. “It will work out, Sugar Cube. Besides, when he died, a part of Marinette got locked away as well. This might be what finally brings her back to us.” 

“I hope you’re right,” Tikki said, eyes lingering on her holder. “Because if this ends badly, I don’t think Marinette will ever be the same again.”

*********************************

Note: Hey everyone, sorry for how long this chapter took. I’m a full-time college student with two jobs, so I can’t promise a lot of consistency. But seriously thank you for all of your eagerness and support! If you want to be tagged, just let me know, and let me know if I forgot anyone! 

*********************************

Taglist: 

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Dark Side? Never - pt.2

 Pt1 Next

If someone asked, Adrien would have said that it was a normal night out in the city, patrolling the skies, waiting for a robbery or akuma to rise and getting a chance to run without supervision but the key word being would. Something felt off. Whether it was dark magic or his senses going haywire, something was sparking a feeling of dread inside of him. After a few moments of searching, using patron time as an excuse, he figured that the next best course of action was talking to Plagg. 

Finding a secluded alleyway the black cladded hero called of his transformation, right after informing Ladybug of his detour. He knew for a fact that the spotted heroine would worry too much if she couldn’t find him on the tracker even for a split second. He couldn’t blame her as he would have had the same response. Years of working together taught them to trust each other but sometimes worry got in the way of logic.  

“Plagg did you sense that?”

The god of destruction looked up bored as always, extending his tiny arms for his desired prize. 

With a huff Adrien searched his pockets for some camembert, passing it to his little devil of a karami. “Plagg! This is no time for your nonsense.”    

“Yea, yea. You want to talk about that feeling of yours. So what's up, I don’t sense anything.”

Deflating, he released a breath he didn’t know that he was holding. “So you don’t feel anything.”

“Nope”

“Ok, that makes me feel a little better” 

Sensing the worry of his kid, the karami encouraged Adrien to go to Ladybug. Even after living for an eternity he never mastered the art of comforting another being. Tikki and her bugs were usually the better ones at that. 

--- 

On the top of the Eiffel tower the duo were leaning on each other, observing the bright stars above them. Adrien took this time to reflect on the past few years. So many things had changed. First and foremost Ladybug and Chat Noir had grown into an unstoppable team, they were no longer those inexperienced newbies who tripped on thin air. No now they were a team who took down akumas in record time. Chat had stopped pinning for Ladybug as his civilian side was dating someone else, Ladybug was more considerate of Chat’s feelings, they developed a full-prove routine and so on. They matured together. 

Coming back to reality he was met with his partner’s flashing hands, “Earth to Chat!” 

Shaking off his initial confusion he heard a laugh in the background. “Where have you gone to this time?”

Smirking he leaned in closer, “So bugaboo would want to know where her kitty travels I assume.” Crossing his arms he continued, “but what if I want to keep my adventures a secret from this fair maiden?” 

Trying and failing to keep off the smile from her face, the heroine pushed him back and stood up. “Then leave this fair maiden for the rest of the night. She needs her beauty sleep.” 

“Of course” With that he dramatically bowed and extended his staff departing onto a lower elevation.        

Turning back with the intention of yelling out one last retort, the dark clad hero was met with a sight that will hunt even his darkest nightmares. A light pink butterfly, appearing to shine in the moonlight’s reflection was flying behind the descending figure of Ladybug. In a split second, before Adrien was even able to process what was going on, the insect absorbed itself into the heroine’s uniform. 

His body went on autopilot as he found himself speeding to his partner’s side, who was currently clutching onto her stomach. 

“Ladybug!”

But it was too late. Before his eyes the bug themed hero was surrounded by a bright light as her suit took on a new form. Her once inviting and colorful bodysuit now illustrated a darker vibe, dangerously similar to an assassin. Black dominated her suit as strips of red outlined her figure. Weapons, seemingly sharp were wrapped around her torso, with the handles tinned in bloody red. Her dark hair was pinned into a long ponytail while her black mask perfectly captured her now piercing green eyes.   

Chat stepped back.  

With a dangerous smile and deep voice, the once cheerful bug smoothly greeted her new enemy. 

“Evening kitty.” Who knew that two words could send chills so easily. Oh how the holder of destruction cursed his bad luck this very second.

Tilting her head she placed her hand on her heart, mockingly. “So kitty doesn’t like the new bug?” Releasing a pound, she continued “But I feel like it totally reflects the true me though.”    

Ladybug, ex-Ladybug, Darkbug or the akuma [come on give Chat a break he was still trying to process everything] started attacking. 

How the heck did this happen? 

Ladybug striked with her new staff. Dodging, the destruction teamed hero dipped down and cartwheeled out of the way. 

She's akumatized? 

Pushing forward, the darken figure fixed her stand and once again brought down a strike, this time hitting its intended spot. The suit deflated most of the blow’s impact and he continued fighting without a sign of strain.

How? We were just laughing moments ago. She didn’t even say yes! 

Frustrated at Chat’s omitting she yelled, “Stop dodging and start fighting kitty cat! I don’t have all day” 

“Well I do” 

Gritting her teeth she rushed into another strike, landing a blow into his lower side. “Pass me the miraculous and no one will get hurt”

“Never! Ladybug this isn’t you! You fight against evil, not along side of it” 

Laughter bubbled in her throat, “So it seems that the kitty needs to get his eyes checked. Are cats really colored blind cause I clearly see a shift in design. Newsflash Ladybug isn’t here, its Silentblow now.”

Seeing an opportunity, Silentblow maneuvered herself effortlessly going in with a high strike only to be met with a surprised grunt as she quickly switched tactics and hooked her legs around his ankles. She ended up on top of Chat, holding him with both of his hands above his head. 

It was the perfect opportunity to take off the ring. Silentblow felt Hawkmoth's delightful glee echoed through her body but at the same time felt a sense of wrongness. Her green eyes were flashing with a tint of blue and her head started pounding in pain. As she lifted her hands to grab her forehead, Chat took the opportunity to throw Silentblow off of him. Using the momentum she backflipped and landed gracefully on her legs.   

“Chat leave!”  

“I am not leaving you to fight this by yourself”

Walking backwards she grunted in pain. “Get help” 

‘“How? The Guardian disappeared” 

“Call the league and make sure to get Batman,” green started filling Silentblow’s eyes once again and she gritted her teeth in pain. “Say that its Marianne al Ghul” she collapsed on the floor growling in frustration “he has to listen to his own daughter for once, after all the world is in danger.”

“Milady” 

“Chat leave! I am losing control ” 

With a “I'm sorry that I am not strong enough,” Marinette’s alter ego once again started chasing after Chat. 

----- 

Thank you guys for all the wonderful comments ❤️ I have a busy week planned so the next update might take a while

Tag List of lovely people: @ash-amg @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @angelic-anissa @cutechip @lozzybowe @schrodingers25

t ya’ll i was watching dr who speeches cause i needed a good cry, and i have a take (may or may not be hot idk). If every companion was immortal, they would all turn into the master, i think. 

under the cut, cause its a long boi

Like, the doctor and the master were best buddies, they did everything together, and even to the master, who obviously is also part of the species with the stars in their hands, the doctor could show the master so much more that the master could ever see on their own. So the master formed such an incredible bond to the doctor, and vice versa, but then the doctor left. They grew morals one day and left the master alone (except more complicated ik). And we’ve seen what happened to the doctor when they travel alone, with the whole time lord victorious, the laws of time are mine, i could be so much more thing.

And we’ve also seen what happens to the companions that he leaves behind, the ones that survive. Rose built a whole fucking time machine to drag herself along a dimension to get back to him, amy and rory give up everything so many times to travel with him, once you’re with the doctor its obviously so difficult to do anything else, because they’re so wonderful. 

The master is simultaneously the doctor and the companion in this situation. He has the same power as the doctor, and he uses it to chase the doctor across the fucking universe because they miss them.  The doctor made other friends to fill the hole left when each one leaves, the hole that was created the first time they left someone (the master), but the master never did. The master never traveled with anyone the way the doctor did, they never made another connection like they one they had with the doctor, and it drove them mad. 

they decided that if they can’t have their old relationship back, then an antagonistic relationship would have to do, fueled by the raging anger of being abandoned by the most important person in their lives. So the master hurts people and starts wars and burns planets just to see the doctor again because the doctor left them, the doctor left them alone and now if they have to hurt then everyone else has to hurt too. ‘time lord victorious’. 

but then with missy, the master changes a bit, and she’s sick of the stupid game they have to play, that she invented, she just wants the doctor back. Like with the cybermen in heaven sent (i think) she does all of that, all the death and war and corruption just to force the doctor to see that she isn’t his enemy, she isn’t different to him. she just desperately wants him back, and she’s not interested in the good or the bad of it anymore. And when he takes the bracelet, and tells her thank you, they have a conversation and there’s no malice in her voice, there isn’t any smugness. her aim was never to corrupt the doctor, she didn’t want to hurt him, she just wanted him to see her, properly. that they’re still compatible.

and then on the cyberfarm thing with not-saxon-john-simm, when the doctor does his speech asking her to stand with him there are tears in her eyes, because she desperately wants to. and she was going to! she shot her own previous regeneration just to make sure that she could stand with him with no consequences, they were both finally ready to abandon the stupid rules they had made up, and then she got shot for it. 

I can’t remember where, but i saw a post that said that the latest master’s anger was the anger of someone who  had been hurt by their own kindness, and i agree with that. I think that Missy finally wanted to be good, not because she believed in it, but because it would make the doctor happy, and that attempt to bridge the gap got her shot, and she lost the chance to be with him again. 

and then he regenerated, and he was not better, he was not good, he was so so angry, because if this is what kindness gets him what’s the fucking point, if kindness hurts this much why should i bother, who’s gonna make me!

so he goes back to being a dick, but even while he’s being a dick he’s still desperately missing the doctor, you can see it because he texts her! what villain who hates the hero decides to text their enemy like their best friends?! I can only imagine how conflicting it must have been for the master to text the doctor, to have a relationship with her again. It must have proved to him that the doctor could love him, that character wise it was in both of them to care about each other, but it was the outside that was the problem. the electromagnetic field of reputation that pushed them further apart while their hearts pulled them together (sorry for the prose). And you can see that he loves her, even without the destruction, even without all of that shit, (a good quote for that is the one on the Eiffel tower ‘when does this stop for you?’ ‘why would it stop, how else would i get your attention?’) because of one thing he does. all the other timelords dress in their traditional dress, the doctor doesn’t look like any of the other time lords except the master. Because the master, despite consistently mocking and ridiculing humans, repeatedly calling them the doctor’s ‘pets’, dresses like humans anyway, just like the doctor does. so either he does that to show the tiniest slither of kinship, even when their fighting his clothes scream ‘look look look, we’re the same’, or he does it because he’s jealous that the doctor spends so much time defending earth, she loves humans even though they hurt each other, even though they’re cruel and mean and spiteful, just like him, so he dresses like them too, because he’s jealous of the affection she gives them. even when they’re not on earth he dresses like that.

i saw another post that said with dhawan!master he was having an identity crisis for the first time, and i agree with that too. I think that missy’s kindness and readiness to join the doctor, as well as the relationship he had with her as o had shaken him, and proved that that the doctor could love him if he was just kinder, and he alternated soft and hard throughout the series. it was like he didn’t know what he was supposed to be, he couldn’t figure out the right answer, he was stuck between his anger and his loneliness. After so long of it simmering away, his need for the doctor has finally bubbled over, and he doesn’t know how to cope with it, because enemies isn’t enough anymore.  

Another thing i think was that I think the master is afraid of the doctor being better than him. they were always equals on Gallifrey, outcasts together, messing things up and bunking off school, always wrong but wrong together. but when the doctor left, all scared of fighting and afraid of killing when the master didn’t have concerns like that, i think it planted the seed that the doctor was better, the doctor was too good for he master. and over time that festered into anger and abandonment and insecurity and everything else, but with everything the master did to hurt the doctor, every planet he destroyed, it was just one more way to prove that the doctor was better. and so he was in so deep into this hero villain dynamic that he never wanted, but he can’t stop now, he cant stop running and making the doctor chase him, because if he stops then he’ll have to face what he’s done and there isn’t a way out, so he has to keep going. if he admits that he was wrong, he would have to ask the doctor for forgiveness and i don’t think the thought of being told, to his face, that the doctor can never forgive him, is one that sits lightly with the master. 

anyway, the point of that paragraph is that’s why he destroyed Gallifrey. he found out that the one person he made a real connection to, the most important person in his life, the person he has destroyed worlds just to see, wasn’t that same as him. It was conclusive, scientific proof that the doctor was actually, literally better than him. It was black and white proof of all the fears he’s had since the doctor left him, because before that point he could have been making it up. but then he saw that and it was all true, that doctor left him because t=he could never be as good. and not only does it ruin any hope of a relationship, it ruins the memories of their old one as well, because a friendship like that among equals an incredible connection, but a friendship like that with such a gaping hierarchy means pity. 

and not only did they ruin the relationship of both the past and the future, but they hurt her. Despite everything, the master loves the doctor, and its up to you whether you think that means romantically or wholly, but he loves her despite everything he’s done, and now he’s found out that they hurt her, they lied to her, exploited her, used her, and he wants them to hurt for it. He’s still so furious, and not even necessarily at her, but she is the only person he has who has ever really cared about how he feels. and now he doesn’t know if that was out of pity or love, and he’s angry at, for, and around her all at once, and he just needs the doctor back but he can’t get to her. he’s being pulled in about eighty different directions, as is the doctor, and he simultaneously wants to hurt her, look after her, ask for her help, protect her, forgive her, fight her, he’s so confused. 

Idk, I’m not saying the master is a good person, and I’m not saying the doctor is either, and I’m not saying that the doctor needs to forgive him, I’m just saying that i don’t think either of them really want to hurt each other, and somewhere down the line they both got confused and took wrong turns and couldn’t figure out how to get back to each other. And the doctor’s response was to keep walking her path and hope to find him again, and the masters response was the bulldoze the walls in between them. and, carrying on this metaphor, when the doctor felt bad for the walls he had destroyed and tried to rebuild them, the master took that completely the wrong way and his abandonment consumed him. kinda like Spinel.  

Princess Justice: Part 6

For those who aren’t caught up...

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

--------------------------------------------- WARNING! THIS CHAPTER DOES CONTAIN SOME VIOLENCE! I MAY BE OVERREACTING, BUT YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! ---------------------------------------------

Adrien raced down the street, his feet pounding into the ground. His breath became more labored with each step. He wanted to slow for a single moment to rest but couldn’t. He had been spotted. And she was gaining on him.

As he turned a corner, his destination within sight, his foot slipped out from under him. His descent to the ground was quick, his left knee slammed against it. A scream was perched on the edge of his throat, desperate to escape. But he didn’t want to alert any more akumas that might have been in the area. One akuma was already too much for him to handle.

As he attempted to stand, a sharp pain shot through his leg, bringing him back down. Realizing he couldn’t get up, he crawled into an alleyway. He did his best to hide amongst the trash littered in the alley, hoping the shadows would help conceal him. All he could really do was pray that she wouldn’t notice him.

He froze as a bright, pale face appeared at the entranceway. When Refleckta walked into the alley, Adrien held his breath. The sound of her red heels tapping against the ground rang in his ears. It bounced off the walls and took over the silence that had once ruled. He could feel his nerves on edge, the sweat dripping down his face. Of all the days he could have been caught, this was by far the worst yet.

“Whatever,” Reflectka scoffed. She turned and left, giving up her pursuit of the boy.

Even as she grew further away, he still couldn’t be sure she had indeed left. When her shadow hadn’t reappeared in the last few moments, the blonde finally moved. His body quivered, adrenaline still rushing through his veins. A sigh escaped from his lungs, he wasn’t out of the clear yet. He needed to get back to his friends.

Using the wall as support, he got off the ground and hobbled out of the alleyway. While the walk would only take a few minutes, it felt like an eternity due to his knee. He had never felt a pain more excruciating in his civilian form. With each slight step came the thousand needles jabbing into his leg. He could hardly bear it. But he had to press on. He couldn’t allow Marinette to suffer any longer.

Eventually, he reached the school and was making his way up to the second floor. However, he hadn’t even made it halfway up the stairs before his left knee caved in. He rolled down the stairs, the booms from his crashing body filled the courtyard. His back hit the floor in an unceremonious bump. He was just lucky that his head hadn’t bashed into one of the steps.

It was ironic that the akuma battle hadn’t even begun, yet Adrien’s body already felt too battered to continue. He could feel his muscles starting to go numb. He didn’t even attempt to get up this time. Instead, he continued to lie on the cold, stone floor.

Plagg zoomed out of the boy’s shirt, a worried expression controlling his face. The cat spoke, “Adrien?” his voice dripped with panic, “Adrien!?”. He wanted to respond, to calm the kwami down, but the aching of his body silenced him. The agony was sucking up all his energy, leaving only the shell of the boy for all to see.

Just as his eyes were shutting, the kwami zoomed to the next floor and into the locker room. It wasn’t long before he could hear the opening of a door, quickly followed by the hushed tones from several voices. Then came the shuffling of feet as they descended the stairs. As someone started to call out his name, the last of his consciousness began to drift away. He didn’t fight it, allowing the world to go dark.

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

Chat Noir strolled through the city, the streets void of any life. There was not a sound to be heard, his own footsteps noiseless as he moved. There were no gusts of wind nor a single cloud in the sky. The world was all grey or white, not a single vibrant color within sight. A sense of isolation crept throughout his body, one he had felt many times before. However, this time was different. When Paris was barren of all its attributes, the joyful city became an eerie desert. 

‘Where was everyone?’ The boy questioned. Then, in the distance, he saw Ladybug. She stood in the middle of the street, a drop of color in the achromatic sea of the city. Her sparkling blue eyes stared into his own, brimming with confidence. The sight eased his mind, knowing that he wasn’t alone anymore.

Before he could call out to her, she ran down the street. Using her yoyo to propel herself, she jumped off the ground and landed on a nearby lamppost.

“Hurry up! You don’t want to fall too far behind, kitty!” She shouted, taking off again. The boy followed after her, a smile forming on his face. The pair leaped across the Paris skyline as he continually chased after his lady. He tried to catch up to her, moving the fastest he could. However, the distance between them only seemed to grow wider. But that wasn’t the only thing he noticed. 

The longer the chase went on, the more of the world would be restored. With each rooftop Ladybug landed on, the color would be returned, dripping down the building’s exterior. The higher she would jump in the sky, a cloud would form in as she fell back to earth. Every avenue she passed over, the cheers of people could be heard once more. Only her presence could restore the city from its dreadful state. And Chat Noir was amazed by it.

Eventually, Ladybug climbed to the top of the Eiffel Tower. When she reached the top of the tower, she didn’t take off again. Instead, she stood on the small platform and waited for him. He was glad that the chase was over so that he could finally talk to her. When he reached the platform, he didn’t find the superheroine he always adored. Instead, there only stood the girl who had become one of his very first friends.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

She leaned her forearms against the railing, her profile facing his way. Her pigtails moved with the breeze. Her figure was framed by the sky, painted pink with the dwindling sunset. Her position was relaxed, at peace with the world around them. It was a sight that made the blonde’s heart pound wildly against his chest. The scene was so simple. Yet, he couldn’t have thought of anything more stunning.

Ladybug and Marinette indeed were one and the same. There was no arguing otherwise. Even if he had only recently discovered the truth, deep down, his heart had always known.

Having caught him in her peripheral, she turned to face him. When her azure eyes stared into his own, a wave of emotions rolled over his entire being. Then she gave him one of her kind, gentle smiles, one that always managed to ease his feelings. He wasn’t able to handle the space between them anymore.

Taking two long strides, he walked towards the girl and wrapped her into a hug. Her hands clutched onto the front of his suit, not returning his gesture. He couldn’t see her face, but he didn’t care.

A few moments of silence passed before Chat Noir could speak. “I am so glad that you’re alright, Marinette.”

“Why didn’t you do anything?” Her response was immediate, her tone laced with the malice. He didn’t blame her for being mad.

“There was nothing I could do.”

She scoffed, “Nothing you could do?! You knew just as well as I who Lila truly was! And yet you couldn’t have done anything to stop her!” She shoved him away, and he finally caught sight of her face. With the heated way she had spoken, he expected to find her consumed with anger. What he didn’t expect was for her face to be blank. It was neither calm nor cold, but bare of all emotions. And it was the most frightening thing that he had ever seen.

Before she could move too far away, he stretched his right hand out and grabbed her left.

“I didn’t know that she was capable of doing that. I didn’t know how much damage she was going to cause. If I had known, then I would have stopped her before she had even started. Please… I’m so sorry.”

The boy closed his eyes, unable to look at her. Sadness burned his soul, tears threatened to spill out of his eyes. He wanted to make things right between them, but he didn’t know-how.

“Adrien,” Marinette whispered, leaning in so that their foreheads touched. She placed one hand on top of his heart, its heat spreading across his chest. Her other hand held his own, fingers fiddling with his ring. If she were doing this at any other time, he might have felt more serene. Instead, a tight knot formed in his gut.

“You couldn’t stop Lila.” She spoke abruptly, cutting through his thoughts. Then, her warm hand was replaced with a cold blade that punctured his stomach. “And you couldn’t save me.”

A gasp escaped the blonde’s throat, too shocked to speak. He stumbled backwards, falling to the floor. When he looked up, he could no longer see Marinette nor Ladybug. The being that stood before him was merely a shell of who they were. Princess Justice.

Her appearance hadn’t changed from their first encounter. The violet dress still adorned her figure. The white sash hung off her shoulder and down to her hip, stained with drops of his blood. Her thoughts were obscured from the world by the blindfold that covered her eyes. There was something different, though. Since the sword she carried was pierced through his body, she now held a black ring in her left hand. His miraculous. In all the chaos, he hadn’t noticed his forced de-transformation. She must have pulled the ring off his finger when he had backed away.

Chat Noir was gone, leaving Adrien Agreste in his wake. Utterly powerless against her.

He scooted away from the akuma. It wasn’t until his back bumped against the railing that he realized how trapped he was. However, she hadn’t moved. She was a statue, completely still as she waited. But for what was she waiting for?

Then, the dark, criminal figure of Hawkmoth stepped out of the shadows and stood behind his akuma. He plucked the ring out of her hand, letting loose a maniacal laugh.

“Excellent work, Princess,” The older man said, “You are the best akuma I have ever created.” The words caused Adrien to stiffen. It disgusted him to hear the villain use the very same nickname he had given to Marinette. And how the villain had said she was his best akuma, when they had been trying so hard to defeat him, it didn’t sit right in his stomach.

Princess Justice slightly turned her head towards the man before replying. “I live to serve you, Hawkmoth.”

“Mari… Lady…” The boy grunted out. He thought that saying one of her names could possibly free her from the akuma, but he couldn’t even muster up the energy to finish either. 

However, he was able to catch her attention. She strolled over to him, each step more menacing than the last. When she reached his location, she seized onto her sword and twisted it deeper into his gut. A scream of pain forced it’s way past his lips, loud enough for all of Paris to hear. But no one could save him.

Princess Justice got down on her knees so she was level with him. She leaned close, feeling her breath fan across his cheek. Her hands held onto the sides of his face, forcing him to look directly at her. The ties of her blindfold came undone, falling down to the ground. His eyes widened as he looked into her own as they were no longer blue, filled with the energy of life. Now they were grey, without a soul in sight.

She whispered, so low that he could barely hear, “I told you before, there is no more Marinette or Ladybug. There is only Princess Justice.” 

Then, the railing behind his back vanished, causing him to fall off the Eiffel Tower. He reached his hand out, hoping that Princess Justice wouldn’t let him plummet to the ground. Yet all she did was stand and wrenched her sword out of his stomach. She didn’t care whether he lived or died.

As Adrien descended to the ground, he took one last glimpse of Paris. The clouds that had started to float in the sky had once again disappeared. The cheers of people were now replaced with the lifeless streets. The color that painted the buildings was now draining down into the sewer. There was truly nothing to behold about the city.

The isolation crept back into the body. The demon had never left, only tamed by the girl he loved.

Just as his boy crashed into the cement, Adrien awoke with a shout. “NOOOOOO!” He sat up to discover he was no longer at the Eiffel Tower, but in the school’s locker room instead. He grabbed his heart, a vain attempt to slow it’s pace down. He could feel the sweat dripping down his face.

He was made aware of the other occupants in the room as one spoke up. “Adrikins… are you alright?” It was Chloe, startled by his yell.

Without looking, he replied, “Yeah… yeah, I’m fine.”

It was just a dream. A terrible nightmare.

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

Hey guys! I know it’s been awhile since I’ve updated this story. To be honest, I didn’t know what to do with this chapter at all. Like, everything that was written down was not in the game plan. But I figure it had been a while since we’ve seen Princess Justice herself, so why not make Adrien angst about it. Also, I wanted to get this out before my birthday, but with all the craziness in the world right now, I frankly lost the time. So I’m uploading minutes before the end of March, lol.

Also, I would like to address something. So I post this story on AO3 as well (I just don’t link because I don’t think it matters) but I’ve gotten some comments about Adrien knowing some of the miraculous users. To be honest, when I was writing this story, I kinda forgot he knew some of them. Like, I didn’t know about Kagami since I hadn’t seen Ikari Gozen until the rest of season 3 got upload onto Netflix. And I’m not sure if he knows about Kim. But I did know about Luka and Max. Sometimes I forget canonical order of the episodes when I’m writing this story, but it is a mistake on my part. However, even if I had remember, I don't think I would have included them. I don't want that many characters know Marinette's secret, I think the core four and Hawkmoth knowing is just enough. Also, I don't feel comfortable writing too many characters. Like, seven miraculous users is a lot and I just want to keep it more simple. But it is still a mistake nonetheless. I just wanted to clear up some confusion.

Anyway, I hope y’all enjoyed!

Tag Squad (If you want to join, all you have to do is ask) @inkshila @aliana6021 @kindastupidbutkindanot @maribug-adrienoir @noire19 @stormysamurott @cumbernuggets @inkyknight @lulema @housekittysden @shinekivi @reyna-avila-ramirez-alreanaldo @chlobos-doodles @thecrazyone42 @mizu4thewin @salsyy301 @hiyyyaaaaahhhh @daydream-wannabewriter @writingishfanonsideblog @sinkingataegina @raventhewitch22 @yamina20-blog @whenforeverwasus @pieclown @blueflyingturtleontheway @darkheartlink @i-dare-say-life-is-a-uhmm-bitch @ambers-corner

In the End, There is New

America travelled down the ruins of the streets of Paris as they were lightly illuminated by the light of the moon with a melancholy feel. France was on her last leg anyway, but he knew she had already come to terms with her death long ago, unlike the rest of them. He finally came to his destination, the place where the Eiffel tower once stood. Canada ran a hand across one of what was left of the tower’s leg, he weakly smiled as he noticed his brother.

“Salut, Cola. Glad to see you.” 

America nodded his response. “The stars are beautiful tonight.” 

Canada followed his gaze before his tone shifted completely. “We could have gone with them-!” The desperation in Canada’s voice was clear.

“No. we couldn't have, it isn't our place.” America tried to hide his own fear. “I’ve accepted this since our first trip to Panga and the other planets.” He gave his brother a sad smile. “Besides, they have the colonies to look after them.”

“But, they’re so young!” 

“And they’ll have Texas and Quebec as guides.” America was glad to finally give them their chance at independence.

“You’re right, I just-” Canada brought a hand to his neck. He had started feeling cracks along his skin a few years back, it had only gotten worse.

“Remember that conversion we had all those decades ago, about whether we’ll go to heaven or hell?”

Canada nodded his head, but before he could respond, the two brothers’ attention was taken by the sound of someone stumbling in the area. France had a hand on Britain’s shoulder, using her as support. Britain hid her damage the best, but everyone knew she was just as affected as anyone.

“Maman!”

“Mother.” America drew his eyes to Britain’s.

France managed to stumble a few steps forward. “I just wanted to say a proper goodbye.”

Britain’s eyes widened. “You can’t be serious, France! You- you still have months left! We still have months left!”

France just looked at Britain with sad eyes. “No, I don't. My people have moved on, we were not made to move away from our land, and I want to die in peace and content.” She looked to the ground, emotion leaking into her voice.

“Please, I-I want to die on my terms, not that of whatever deity that cursed us with this existence.”

Britain slowly nodded. “Then I’m going with you.” France stared down at Britain. “I’ll die as I lived, in your arms, whether that’s as friends, lovers, or enemies.”

Britain turned, only to get tackled by her sons. She stood stagnant for a moment, a tear

gathering in her eyes. She returned the hug.

“I just want to tell you how proud I am of you two and your siblings.” A moment passed as the memories came back.

“As am I.” France quickly grabbed Canada. “Je t’aime, mon petit ours polaire,” she mumbled in his ear as tears silently made their way down Canada’s cheeks.

They pulled apart, only for America to trap France in another embrace.

“You were the best investment I ever made, mon fils.” France planted a kiss on America’s forehead.

Britain pulled Canada down. “You are the best thing I ever got out of a war, my son.”

France looked to the shadows of a ruined building. “And Germany.”

The country in question stepped from the shadows, looking bewildered. “I’m- I’m sorry, I didn't want to ruin the moment.” 

“That’s alright, mon ami.” France took her friend’s hand, leaning close to Germany’s ear. “You’ve had to do more than any country just to get to square one, and I’m sorry for that. I hope you know that you have done more than enough to redeem your country.”

Finally, France turned back to her rival, her closest ally, and her lover. They shared a kiss, France taking Britain in her arms.

“I love you, Grande-Bretagne.”

“Et je t’aime, France.”

The sound of quiet cracking filled their surroundings as flakes of skin painlessly peeled away until nothing was left but a pile of forever intertwined dust and the echoings of their promises.

“I-I need a moment.” America quickly turned to an opening in the rubble that stretched to the horizon.

Germany joined Canada’s side. “It’s a shame. I was so close to finding our origins. I had it in my hand.” 

Canada placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure your son will continue your research.” He turned back to the sky.

“It was what he promised his father,” Germany stated back.

“I-I’m sorry about Poland.”

“And I could say the same about the Netherlands, but neither of us could do anything to stop it.” She took a deep breath. “I wish to go the way France and Britain did.”

Canada’s head turned up to her. “Do you want to come with my brother and I?”

“Nein, I prefer spending my last moments in privacy.” She gazed back at the stars. “Perhaps Poland is here, and I just can’t see him.”

“Well then… this is goodbye.”

“Auf Wiedersehen, Kanata.” She disappeared behind a large piece of concrete, out of sight.

Canada made his way to his brother, sitting beside him on the bench. 

���Is… it our time to go?”

“Not yet.”

Canada gave him a look. 

“I want to enjoy the sunrise, one last time.”

Canada nodded. “Alright, then, have fun.  Goodbye, Thirteen.”

America stared at him, then opened his mouth before he responded. “Goodbye, Maple.” He gave his brother’s hand a squeeze before closing his eyes.

He didn't need to open them to know he was alone and nothing was stopping the tears falling down his face, no matter how much he told himself he had accepted it. He knew he could last for quite a time as a superpower. He peeked his eyes open, watching the layer of purple press into the sky as an indication of what was to come. The only one that could last as long as himself was probably… 

“Hello, America.” Russia joined him from behind. America was surprised to see he had accepted the invitation.

America chuckled dryly. “Hey, Commie. Sorry ya had such a short superpower phase.” 

“I’m sadder that I was only sober for a few years.” Russia’s voice held a trained tone of apathy, perfectly designed to hide his emotions behind it.

America sighed, taking off his shades, throwing them away. “You know, Russia, your father would be proud of you.”

Russia’s facade slipped up for a moment.

“I would know, I knew him best.”

“Thank you, America. I’m glad we could end our country’s relationship on something better than war.”

America returned the smile. “As am I.”

The sun rose above the horizon as the two superpowers let the wind blow through them as if they were nothing but dust.

And like that, the sunrise was witnessed for the last time on earth, its rays shining down on the now-empty streets of once-great civilizations with nothing but swirls of dust blowing in the wind.

And somewhere, lightyears away, three new countries retired themselves to their chambers to mourn the pain they felt down in their hearts, knowing they could never go back.

Happy Holidays!

A very sweet and special happy holidays to @pk-freezer-burnt​ ! I’m you’re secret santa from @mlsecretsanta​ !!!! I hope you enjoy your gift, a fic I wrote! <3

                                             Rooftop Romance

Marinette couldn't believe her luck. The morning had started out great! She had woken up to a lovely breakfast thanks to her parents and she miraculously made it to school on time. Granted, she ran the whole way there with a croissant hanging from her mouth, but she was on time and that was all that mattered. Her classes went great; Alya helped catch her up on all the things she missed due to her “extracurricular activity”. Her day was great, right up until the last bell rang for the students to go home. Adrien and Nino were standing by the stairs in front of the school, waiting for Adrien’s driver to pick him up. They were bobbing their heads along to Nino’s new song on a shared pair of headphones . Marinette, however, was hiding in a bush beside the stairs watching Adrien , roses tinting her vision.

“Come on, girl! You can do this. Just walk up to him-” Alya began.

“Walk up to him,” Marinette repeated Alya’s instructions carefully.

“Tap him on the shoulder-”

“Tap him on the shoulder.”

“-and say, ‘Adrien. I like you.”

“‘Adrien. I like you.’ Oh, Alya I can’t! What if he says no? I’ll be mortified!” Marinette buried her face in  her hands. Alya smiled at the girl softly and placed a gentle hand on her back.

“Okay, Marinette. I know it can be scary to put yourself out there,” as she spoke, her words soft and comforting, she guided Marinette out of her  ball of fear and out of the bush.

“However, there's no time like the present!” Alya said with a mischievous look in her eyes. Marinette looked up at her, confused.

“Wha—“ before Marinette could get a word in edgewise, Alya shoved her hard towards the boys. Luckily, years of trapezing around the Parisian skyline as the spotted heroine has made her naturally quick on her feet and she was able to catch herself before falling flat and getting a mouthful of asphalt.

“Hey, Marinette!” smiled Adrien . The sight of his carefree and casual smile made Marinette’s heart flutter like a million little butterflies.

“Adrien, hey! I’m good, how are you? I mean! How are you?” Marinette quickly recovered her irregular speech pattern. She had gotten increasingly better at speaking to Adrien in the few years she had known him but she still stuttered and messed up regularly.

Adrien chuckled and nodded.

“Haha, yeah, I’m good. Did you need something, Marinette? You came over in quite a rush.” Marinette blushed furiously at his question. She couldn’t believe she was this close to doing this.

Nino, who had been standing there quietly for some time, took his leave when he noticed the  furious look coming  from his girlfriend, standing a few feet away.

“I’ll, uh, see you dudes later. Bye, Marinette. Later, Adrien.” The two waved him off as he sped walked to Alya’s side to where he got a light slap on the shoulder for invading a “romantic moment between the two idiots”.

“So, what did you need again?”, asked Adrien. Marinette had gotten slightly lost in his beautiful green eyes.

“Oh, right. Well, for a long time- no, that’s not right. Okay, we’ve known each other for a- no. Alright, here goes…” Marinette took a deep breath and shut her eyes softly hoping to calm down her breathing enough to share her feelings.

“Adrien, I like you.” Without opening her eyes, Marinette finally shared the three words that she had felt since she was fifteen. All sounds fell on deaf ears for Marinette. The only thing she could hear was her own heartbeat drumming painfully loud.

One heartbeat.

Two heartbeats.

Three heart--

“Wow Marinette, I like you too,” Adrien said with too much pep in his voice that it sounded fake. Marinette squeaked an eye open when she heard him speak.

“Really?” Her voice was high pitched and in complete disbelief. She couldn’t believe her ears. Was the boy of her dreams, the one she had literally dreamt of marrying for years, returning her feelings?

“Yeah, of course! I’m so lucky to have you as a friend-” Marinette's world crumbled. The Earth around her cracked and fell apart, until it was only her standing alone in the darkness.

“You’re so kind and you’re always there to help me when I need it. You’re an incredible friend and you mean so much to me. I’m so glad you feel the same way!” Adrien spoke cheerfully. He always had the sinking feeling that Marinette didn’t like being around him, so it made him swell with happiness to hear that she liked him too. However, he noticed Marinette's big, bluebell eyes filling with big , watery tears.

“Marinette, are you okay?” Adrien frowned and felt an immediate surge of worry at the smaller girl. Marinette was feeling worthless. She was honored that Adrien thought of her as such a valuable friend but she always thought she’d be more one day.

She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and gave Adrien an overly bright, closed-eyed smile to convey a shred of happiness.

“Of course, I’m perfectly okay! I’m so glad we’re on the same page. I’ll see you later.” Marinette, without another word to Adrien or Alya, practically ran all the way  home.

Hours later, Marinette was still sobbing into her bed. Tikki had tried to comfort her but Marinette begged to be left alone. Her homework and fashion projects laid untouched as Marinette was curled into a fortress of pillows and blankets. Tikki sat on the desk munching on some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies sadly. She was disappointed that she couldn’t be there for Marinette. The girl was clearly heartbroken.

“Marinette. You’ve been locked in your room all afternoon. You should get some fresh air.” Marinette sat up to the tiny shrill voice of her kwami and wiped her tears, sniffling.

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right, Tikki. I’ll go up to the roof and try to stop crying.” Marinette stood up and climbed up to the roof, pushing open the trapdoor.

“Good, Marinette! I’ll be down here if you need me.” Her voice called as Marinette climbed up to the top.

It was a rather warm evening. Marinette had been crying in her dark room for so long she missed the sunset but she admired the twinkling stars in the dark sky. The lights from across the city dotted the skyline with the lit Eiffel Tower as the star of the show. Marinette was comfortable in the matching pajama set she had put on immediately when she got home. It was dark green with little black paw prints dotting it. It reminded her of her partner in heroics, which is the reason she ended up buying it. Alya thinks she has a huge crush on Chat Noir now but in reality, she enjoyed teasing him as Ladybug about his “smashing hit pajama line”. Of course, this plan backfired because the next evening, Chat Noir arrived at their typical patrol meeting place with tales of the multiple store sections teeming with Ladybug memorabilia and the people picking it apart trying to get their hands on some Ladybug dresses and dolls. The whole thing made her blush furiously which made Chat Noir’s heart flutter.

While Marinette took deep soothing breaths, she began to think more clearly.

Adrien, meanwhile, had finished his homework, his fencing, and his piano practice. He now sat, completely and totally bored, upside down on his couch staring out of the windows.

“Do you think Marinette’s okay, Plagg? She seemed upset when she ran off like that.” Adrien’s voice rang like a crack marring the quiet room. Plagg emerged from his pile of cheese on the coffee table and turned himself upside down to be right side up to his compadre.

“I don’t know, you know how girls are. One minute they're fine, the second they’re calling you a ‘hazard to modern society’.” Of course, this was a direct quote from Tikki. Adrien laughed slightly.

“You are a hazard to society, Plagg.” Adrien replied with a joking tone making Plagg roll his eyes. Adrien sank back into his worried mindset. Marinette had seemed so happy when she walked up to him,  and then her mood changed completely before taking off .

“Jeez kid, if you’re so worried about her, call her or something.” Adrien’s ears perked up as an idea formed in his head.

“Well, it might be Adrien she’s upset with, but Chat Noir however…” Adrien smiled triumphantly.

“Oh, come on! At least let me finish my cheese!”

“Plagg, claws out!” Adrien called. Plagg groaned as he got magically sucked into the ring, complaining about not being able to finish off his delicious cheese.

Adrien transformed into his superhero self and jumped out the window heading towards the now-closed patisserie.  

“Evening, princess. How are you this purr-fect night?” Chat spoke as he perched on the post of the balcony railing. Marinette was surprised to see her partner visit her so late into the night.

“Chat Noir? What are you doing here so late, is everything okay?” Marinette’s Ladybug side shined a little bit as she questioned Chat’s arrival. Chat cocked his head to the side, much like a cat, the familiarity of her voice sparking something within him.

“Does something need to be wrong for me to visit you?” He teased slightly.

Marinette shrugged in response.

“I suppose not but I wouldn’t think a superhero would have the time to visit a lowly citizen like me. I figured you’d be out with Ladybug.” Marinette felt like giggling as she talked about herself as if it weren’t her. This time, Chat was the one to shrug.

“We do patrol separately sometimes in order for us to both get rest occasionally. Besides, you’re no lowly citizen, right Mouse-inette?” Chat teased lightly before giving her a once over. The sight was enough to make him blush profusely. While Marinette giggled at his reference to the time she joined him in super-heroics as Multi-Mouse, he admired the way Marinette’s hair hung loosely out of her twin tails and the way she looked in a Chat Noir buttoned-up short sleeve top with matching pajama shorts, long and athletic legs able to be seen. He admired her strong figure, he had never noticed how strong Marinette looked before but he was certain now that she could bench press him with ease.

He began to feel like a  perv and looked back up to her eyes, which seemed to be electrified bluebells. Bright and vibrant, but full of pain.

“Are you alright, Marinette? You seem downright mew-serible.” He couldn’t stop himself from making a pun, even when expressing genuine concern. Marinette eyed him carefully, sizing him up to protect herself from being made fun of. Ladybug was able to trust Chat Noir wholeheartedly with anything and everything, except her identity of course, but Marinette was a different story. Marinette and Chat don’t have the same rapport as their superhero selves do. Marinette trusted Chat in and out of the mask but did Chat trust Marinette? Did he even like her enough for her to actually tell him what’s upsetting her?

“I’m...fine. Thank you for asking. How are you?” She decided not to risk it. Chat frowned. Her red-rimmed, glassy-eyed expression, and puffy red cheeks led him to the clear conclusion that she was definitely not okay .

“You know, cats have great intuition and I can tell you are not fine. You can trust me, you know.” His voice was laced with concern and genuine care for Marinette’s happiness. Marinette sighed and closed her eyes before opening them again to stare at the big, bold moon.

“Alright, I’m not fine. I’m rather upset actually.” She laughed dryly. Chat made no motion that he was going to interrupt so she kept going.

“There’s this guy I like. I’ve liked him for a long time since we were fifteen. I always stutter my words around him and I can never say what I mean. And, well, today I told him;  I said, “Adrien, I like you” and he said, “you’re a great friend, Marinette”. A great friend.” Marinette frowned as she spoke. Chat felt foolish. So, this was his fault.

“Well, uh, what’s wrong with being a great friend?” He wanted to slap himself immediately after he spoke.

“Well, nothing actually. I find myself to be lucky to be his friend. He’s got a strict father and has only gone to public school for a few years, only for as long as I’ve known him. He’s a really great guy. He’s so kind and well-meaning. He’d move the Earth if someone asked him.” Marinette smiled as she spoke about him. Chat continued to blush furiously- was this really how Marinette saw him?

“He’s a lovely person and a great friend, so I’m lucky and honored he sees me as a friend too, I just wish I could mean more to him. I suppose a model wouldn’t want to be seen dating some common girl. He’d be better off being with a girl like him; a model. Someone super beautiful.” Marinette sighed wistfully after finishing her piece. Chat was feeling downright awful. He made her feel this way. He had ignored her feelings, made her feel less beautiful than she is.

“Marinette, you are stunning. You’re such a good person. There are such few genuinely good people out there and you are one of them. If he doesn’t see how truly beautiful and sweet, and how incredibly amazing you are,” Chat continued to mentally kick himself, unable to believe how incredibly stupid he is.

“Then, he doesn’t deserve you.” Chat’s voice was firm and true. Marinette felt weird being told how amazing she was by Chat. As Ladybug, she had become accustomed to praise from grateful Parisians and as Marinette, her friends and family complimented her fashion designs and video game skills pretty regularly; but there was something different in the way Chat talked about her. For a moment, she felt like the only girl in the world. She looked up at Chat from her position leaning on the railing that he was perched on. She stared into his eyes and the rooftop around her began trickling away into a glittery rainfall leaving only her and Chat watching each other with bated breath, waiting for the other to say something.

“You know, you’re pretty incredible yourself.” Marinette began after a moment of deafening silence. Chat cocked his head to the side slightly. He hadn’t anticipated the conversation to switch to him and he wasn’t sure if he could stand Marinette praising him after he broke her heart so.

“Oh, please. I already know I’m paw-some.” Chat said with a flip of his tail and toss of his hair with a flamboyant flair that hid his insecurities. Marinette rolled her eyes- of course he would make her complimenting him difficult.

“I mean it, you dumb cat. You are amazing. You’re not just “Ladybugs sidekick”. You’re so brave and always ready to jump headfirst into danger to save her or someone else. You are a hero, Chat Noir.” Marinette smiled up kindly at him. She always knew Chat was a born hero. When they were first starting out, it was she who had doubts about her ability of being a superhero. He never wavered about his destiny to be a hero or hers. He always believed in her, since the beginning. Which was why she valued having him by her side during  all their challenges. Of course, she couldn’t reveal any of the depth of her admiration for him without revealing she is Ladybug but she was hoping she was able to convey some of it.

Chat was blushing profusely. Ladybug had said something a few years ago, during Hero’s Day. She had made him feel so special after feeling worthless as a hero and now Marinette was doing the same thing; making him feel special.

“Well, thank you, Princess. And, might I add, you’ve got quite the fur-tastic jammies on.” He covered his bashfulness with light teasing on her Chat Noir-themed pajamas. Marinette looked down and squeaked as she blushed.

“Oh, gosh! You probably think I’m some weird superfan whose in love with you! I got these as a bit of a joke with a friend, I swear I’m not crazy!” Chat was reduced to a laughing fit, which made Marinette get over her embarrassed feelings and laugh alongside him.

Joy and light-hearted fun filled the nighttime air, making the world slip away from the rooftop as Chat and Marinette continued to laugh and joke and, what some would say, flirt. Hours passed quickly and they stayed up late talking. Marinette told him about Alya and how she runs the LadyBlog and how it’s her dream to figure out who Ladybug and Chat Noir are- not to expose their identities but to prove that she is a formidable journalist. She talked about Nino and his dream of becoming the world’s greatest DJ and how his skills were incredible and that he was so talented. And though it made her heart weep, she talked about Adrien and how his skills in piano, fencing, school subjects, and modeling were “just the greatest”. Chat hung on her every word as she described their friends and how talented her whole class was, even though he knew it all already, it was like learning it for the first time hearing her view on things. Even as she described his interests and endeavors as Adrien, he felt enamored.

When Chat’s ring began to blink alerting that he would transform soon, they realized how long they had been out there talking.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to talk your ear off for...five hours!” Exclaimed Marinette, while looking at the time. She was astonished that they had talked for this long.  

“That’s alright, I enjoyed every second of our time together, purr-incess. You should get some rest, however. You’re a growing girl.” He stood up and stretched his arms above his head. He found that he was having a difficult leaving Marinette’s rooftop, he wanted to stay with her. Walk with her to school in the morning, go home with her at lunch to indulge in some of Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng’s wonderful patisseries.

“You should get some rest too, Kitty Cat. However, we should do this again sometime. I...I had fun.” She smiled at him brightly. Chat felt flushed under her unwaveringly kind look, as if the look that graced her lovely features was  specifically for him.

“Agreed. But for now, adieu, my- princess.” Chat faltered his words slightly as he almost called her the nickname he used only for Ladybug.

“Goodnight, Chat.” Marinette moved towards the trapdoor, opening it rather slowly, finding that she didn’t want to leave this moment in time.

“Goodnight, Marinette.”

And with that, Chat jumped off the roof and headed for his home. Marinette smiled, baffled at where the evening went.

As she lay in bed that night, listening to the quiet snores of Tikki, she replayed the whole evening in her head. Her belly ached from all the laughing, her cheeks hurt from all the smiling and her heart felt so light, she thought it might burst right out of her chest. As she lulled to sleep, she thought about  taking down the myriad of Adrien pictures and memorabilia from her room. It was clear to her that he only saw her as a friend and she felt that she needed to move on.

Adrien, having de-transformed, lay exhausted on his bed after having laid out a fresh pile of cheese for an equally exhausted kwami who complained tirelessly about being overworked and underpaid. Adrien felt lighter than air. He never knew Marinette’s company could be so refreshing as she typically stuttered or was quiet around him but under the guise of Chat Noir, Marinette’s glittering personality shined brighter than a million stars. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to see her at school without blushing.

It seemed hard for the both of them to believe, but as they faded off to sleep, they were both certain that they were looking at the other in a new, brighter light.

                                                 The End

Word Count: 3,378

I hope you enjoyed it! Much love!! xx

so Kat and I were talking on Discord again and you know what that means

Kat [Yesterday at 6:49 PM] bad end where Hilbert subdues Eiffel leaving Minkowski out to die and she either drifts into the star or gets flared before she suffocates and Hilbert gets clobbered by a really pissed off Minkowski 2 possibly accompanied by Lovelace if the DL wanted to indicate how peeved they were that he messed with Their Boy Eiffel: Commander I thought you were dead. And who's that? Minkowski: I have no idea but she also wants to kill Hilbert and right now that's good enough for me.

Gill [Yesterday at 6:53 PM] ...angry alien gfs. I might just have to write that AU.

And so, like most things inevitably do with me, this got out of hand, so:

WOLF 359 SPEEDRUN/FUNHOUSE MIRROR UNIVERSE/ALIEN MINKOWSKI AU:

Eiffel can’t get to his oxygen mask in time and gets KO’d; Hera might be able to cause an electrical fire on her own to activate the loophole in her programming, but not fast enough to let Minkowski back into the station in time. 

Kat [Yesterday at 6:58 PM] Dear Listeners: he's hurting our boy!!!! D : Dear Listeners: unleash the hounds

Minkowski comes to aboard Lovelace’s shuttle while Lovelace is waking up from cryo and getting her bearings. Since she’s understandably disorientated, Minkowski assumes Lovelace must’ve pulled her onboard just in time to save her life - Lovelace knows this isn’t the case, but for now, doesn’t correct her.

Having no idea who each other are, they’re obviously suspicious about one another, but both know the command authentication codes so that at least checks out. Radioing the Hephaestus itself gives the two more evidence to back up their respective stories; Minkowski takes some satisfaction in Hilbert’s shock when he picks up and hears her voice on the line, only to look over at Lovelace and see her expression darken with white hot fury. 

Gill [Yesterday at 7:20 PM] "Minkowski, how the hell did you-" "Selberg. I hope killing off your crew didn't turn into a habit while I was away." And like, as much as Minkowski can just about feel the rage radiating off of the alleged captain, Lovelace is using her calm, measured Menacing Voice, and that plus the way Hilbert's stunned silence turns into disbelieving terror lifts a few of Minkowski's doubts about Lovelace being who she says she is. Kat [Yesterday at 7:20 PM] ofc a wrinkle is that hilbert would've had plenty of time to get in touch with cutter by now

Okay, schadenfreude aside, now they have a problem: there’s no way Hilbert’s about to let the shuttle dock with the station, yet alone open the airlocks for them. 

This might be where Lovelace tells Minkowski “so is now a good time to mention the bomb I have wired to my heart rate?” The details on that plot point are foggy still.  Kat [Yesterday at 7:46 PM] Maybe hilbert overrode Minkowski's command authentication but 'hey Hera if Lovelace is the Hephaestus' commanding officer shouldn't you do what she says' or something

(Personally I’m a fan of this working to get the shuttle docked but not to get the doors open and that’s when Minkowski goes the full Carol Danvers. Doesn’t even realize anything Weird is going on, she’s far too focused on stopping Hilbert and saving Eiffel and Hera to notice she just blasted that door open)

(let me have my superpowered alien space commando chicks ok)

(It is very badass and Lovelace finds herself quite taken with the Commander.)

(I’m gay and I ship it)

Hilbert still wrecks Hera’s hardware but Minkowski has control of the station back, Eiffel is still loopy on laughing gas but largely unharmed, and they have a new potential ally in Lovelace (and the audio files she left on the station plus Hilbert both confirm her story) except tension still rises between them because Minkowski and Eiffel need Hilbert alive to fix Hera (and because Decima virus but they don’t know that yet) and Lovelace is in favor of killing him because he’s too dangerous to leave alive. Once she’s back online, Hera sides with Lovelace.

Hilbert got a message thru to Cutter about the alien transmissions, but may not be able to establish a connection to talk to the crew directly due to stellar interference. Either way, the crew gets to speedrun season 2 because they have every reason to assume a Goddard Futuristics Kill Squad is on it’s way.  

Nobody knows about Minkowski and anything strange about her since getting space-marooned has some reasonable explanation. Lovelace and the rest roll with the explanation that she got the Commander onto the shuttle; Hera might know Minkowski’s vitals flatlined and stayed that way for hours but Minkowski is the only one she tells about it. With no reasonable alternatives, they chalk it up to stellar interference disrupting the signals from her spacesuit. When SI-5 arrives Kepler knows right off the bat that there’s Something Up with Lovelace, but given Hilbert jumped the gun in pronouncing Minkowski and Eiffel dead, he doesn’t suspect Minkowski. 

Maxwell and Jacobi swap a few plot-beats; Maxwell is the one who meets her double in Time to Kill and Jacobi is the one taken hostage by the crew in Desperate Measures, the fallout of which leads to  D a r k   V e n g e a n c e   M a x w e l l . 

However, because Maxwell is smart and figured a few things out, her real aim with her countercoup is yeeting Jacobi’s body into the star to get him back, and shaking sense into Kepler so he doesn’t shoot him once they do. 

She probably also figured out Minkowski’s a duplicate too and so shocks her out of her denial. Probably by spacing her. 

She’ll be fine, don’t give me that look. 

Full chat transcript below ft. WAY more details that haven’t shaken out into something coherent just yet, nonsequitor Adventure Zone jokes, and at least one Spider-Verse reference:

Kat [Yesterday at 6:58 PM] Dear Listeners: he's hurting our boy!!!! D : unleash the hounds

Gill [Yesterday at 6:58 PM] "send in the most competent of More Competent Women we have" my brain is taking this idea and running with it, I'm picturing Minkowski hazily slipping into unconsciousness as her air supply runs out only to very suddenly come to, realizing after a few good deep breaths that she's not back in the station. This craft looks like something somebody put together in their garage, it's too much of a mess even for the Hephaestus. meanwhile Lovelace steps out of cryo to find there is suddenly a stranger in a spacesuit aboard her ship, hyperventilating her way back to proper consciousness. Out the front window is a station that looks kind of like the Hephaestus, but she's probably just been out here too- you're the commander of the USS what now, ma'am

Kat [Yesterday at 7:08 PM] bonus points since Hera monitors their suits so Minkowski gets back on structure and is like I lived?? somehow? and Hera's like Commander your vitals flatlined hours ago

Gill [Yesterday at 7:08 PM] after taking a moment to sort out exactly how impossible the situation they've found themselves in is, back on the station, Hilbert gets an unexpected comms hail from Minkowski, who should've been dead more than an hour ago, and she wishes she could see the look on his face when he hears her voice. Though she does get to see how Lovelace reacts when she hears Hilbert, and if hearing from one dead commanding officer gives Hilbert pause, it's a whole different ball game when Lovelace gets on the receiver.

Gill [Yesterday at 7:20 PM] "Minkowski, how the hell did you-" "Selberg. I hope killing off your crew didn't turn into a habit while I was away." And like, as much as Minkowski can just about feel the rage radiating off of the alleged captain, Lovelace is using her calm, measured Menacing Voice, and that plus the way Hilbert's stunned silence turns into disbelieving terror lifts a few of Minkowski's doubts about Lovelace being who she says she is.

Kat [Yesterday at 7:20 PM] ofc a wrinkle is that hilbert would've had plenty of time to get in touch with cutter by now

Gill [Yesterday at 7:21 PM] hm, maybe the Dear Listeners run interference so the signal doesn't get back to Earth, or at least Cutter can't get a response in which ofc might just make him send a goon squad up there anyway, so Wolf 359 Speedrun My other concern would be "there's no way Hilbert's letting those two onto the station" which may require DL Godmodding anyway

Kat [Yesterday at 7:23 PM] eiffel just strapped to a table the whole time like the damsel in distress he is maybe he can still talk hera through some sort of hack if hilbert didn't bother to gag him

Gill [Yesterday at 7:24 PM] Dear Listeners: /metaphorically playing rock paper scissors to see which duplicate gets to go full Captain Marvel and BAMF her way back onto the station also Minkowski going full Commander Mama Bear and blasting a door or three open is a wonderful mental image Eiffel, half-conscious, strapped to a lab table, extremely sure Minkowski is dead by now and Hilbert is going to dissect him- and then the door is kicked open and there she is, so full of Righteous Fury she's literally glowing. also: Eiffel blabbering something about "oh my god Commander they made you my guardian angel, I am SO sorry, you didn't do anything that warranted being stuck with that job in this life or the next but if it's any consolation it's probably not gonna be a problem much longer" "Eiffel. Eiffel I'm not dead, Hilbert's been deposed, you can stop crying now."

Kat [Yesterday at 7:37 PM] Hera like Commander but you should be dead though.

Gill [Yesterday at 7:42 PM] Minkowski headed up to the bridge, carrying Eiffel over her shoulder (he is still slightly convinced this is his dying dream and now Hera is with them here in whatever afterlife this is, so perhaps he is not, in fact, in Hell) : Well radio transmissions shouldn't come from deep space and my second-in-command shouldn't try to kill me, a lot of very strange things are happening today. "also please tell me Captain Lovelace didn't kill Hilbert while they were alone, I have questions for him." (Hera: no but I wouldn't drag your feet, also who the hell is she and how did she get on this station.)

Kat [Yesterday at 7:46 PM] to preserve elements of using Hera's loopholes to outwit Hilbert though I do like the idea of them finding some hack to let the ship dock. Maybe hilbert overrode Minkowski's command authentication but 'hey Hera if Lovelace is the Hephaestus' commanding officer shouldn't you do what she says' or something Eiffel like you forgot to disarm my only weapon doc and that's my mouth

Gill [Yesterday at 7:51 PM] makes sense, also maybe Lovelace overriding Hilbert's override buys them enough time to cook up an emergency that activates Hera's emergency protocols, since that strikes me as a more secure foothold (Lovelace: I'm overriding your override! Hilbert: Well, I'm overriding you overriding my override!) (meanwhile, Eiffel starts a fire while strapped to a table, somehow)

Kat [Yesterday at 7:53 PM] Eiffel: Hey Hera remember when you ran a cleaning cycle on the something or other on the aft deck to try to be helpful and started an electrical fire? Hera: Yeah? Eiffel: This would be a great time to be helpful

Gill [Yesterday at 7:56 PM] Hera: oops, there's a fire! looks like we gotta open all the airlocks to vent the fire, including the one to the docking bay! He's locked himself into the bridge, Commander. (Lovelace: dibs on punching him first. Minkowski: not if I get there before you do.)

Kat [Yesterday at 8:00 PM] SI 5 gets there at some later point and Kepler is like ah yes, captain lovelace, definitely an alien. surprise bitch. there's 2 ofc hilbert lied in his message and said he'd terminated both Eiffel AND minkowski so maybe Kepler's like... a whole crew... all aliens

Gill [Yesterday at 8:02 PM] Kepler: okay, so what're the odds Hilbert jumped the gun vs I am now walking into a station full of aliens. shitpost brain chiming in with: Kepler: ok, is anyone in this crew not an alien? Hera: Me.

Kat [Yesterday at 8:03 PM] Eiffel's like an honorary adopted alien

Gill [Yesterday at 8:04 PM] alt version that could potentially be serious: Kepler: ok, fess up, I know there's at least one alien onboard. Eiffel: It's me extra meme'd version: Jacobi: She's an alien, she's an alien, he's an alien - I'm an alien! Are there any other aliens I should know about??? duplicate!Maxwell: (^:

Kat [Yesterday at 8:05 PM] Minkowski: Ok, we need to take out Hilbert. We have the element of surprise, but what other assets do we have? Lovelace: Is this a bad time to mention the bomb strapped to my heartrate.

Gill [Yesterday at 8:06 PM] Minkowski: The bomb. Lovelace: Yup. Minkowski: The bomb that is presumably armed. Lovelace: Yup. Minkowski: ...and where in this small, enclosed shoebox of a deep space vessel is this device? Lovelace: Wired into the shoebox's engine. Minkowski: Of course it is.

Kat [Yesterday at 8:09 PM] minkowski: I get launched off the good ship crazy and find the only person crazier within the next 8 light years. Lovelace: That's because I'm the only bitch that can handle it.

Gill [Yesterday at 8:12 PM] also, Minkowski: Could this day get any weirder. Lovelace: Uh ...as a matter of fact, it can. Minkowski: Please don't tell me you have superpowers or anything like that. Lovelace: Well, I don't, but tell me Minkowski, do your hands... normally glow? alternatively Minkowski is just too Righteous Fury to even notice the Dear Listeners trying to get a word in and now Eiffel is convinced she's secretly been an X-Man the whole time

Kat [Yesterday at 8:19 PM] Lovelace like so... cons? woke up back at the Hephaestus. pros? got a hot girl airdropped

Gill [Yesterday at 8:23 PM] Lovelace, initially: who the hell are you and how did you get on my ship and what the hell is happening, explain before my escalating heartrate kills us both Lovelace, watching Minkowski go full Captain Marvel after teaming up with her and the rest of The New Gang to stop her mutinous ex-friend: potential enemies to potential lovers inside of 20 minutes, that must be some kind of land speed record

Kat [Yesterday at 8:25 PM] heart rate is still a problem

Gill [Yesterday at 8:25 PM] better get a handle on those feelings or else my escalating heartrate will kill us both they could keep that ace up their sleeve for when SI-5 turns up early, if only for the irony of having an explosive device that can be potentially triggered by Gay Feelings and Daniel Jacobi in the same space station

Kat [Yesterday at 8:29 PM] gay bomb chicken Jacobi: my bomb was fake Minkowski: My gun was empty Lovelace: My bomb is very real

Gill [Yesterday at 8:33 PM] a concept: Jacobi figuring out Lovelace has a crush because combination of explosives expertise and gaydar, his reaction is something along the lines of "no, no, NO!! Nobody told me there was gonna be relationship drama on this boat ride, what the hell" also, Lovelace: in my defense my gun was also empty but my bomb is still very real

Kat [Yesterday at 8:35 PM] Jacobi you have no room to talk Jacobi like ok we've got the human/alien or maybe alien/alien going on but I misread the human/AI deal so that's one scifi trope we've avoided so far.

Gill [Yesterday at 8:36 PM] Jacobi, probably: I keep my workplace drama and my relationship drama separate, like a professional ought to. Minkowski: why do you people keep saying I'm an alien Eiffel: Honestly Commander I'm still holding out hope for the "mutant" route, do you perchance know a Charles Xavier?

Kat [Yesterday at 8:37 PM] re: your last I'm imagining Jacobi being like 'I'm upset about this for personal reasons but i'm going to be professional about it.' *clocks out* *screams*

Gill [Yesterday at 8:39 PM] (1) I'm laughing and (2) I mean Hera's the one that clocked out for break but that is technically still what happened in Dirty Work

Kat [Yesterday at 8:42 PM] My union contract says when I'm not clocked in I can be as dramatic as I want Kepler: remember rule # 8. No complaints. Jacobi: My shift ends in 30 seconds. They both watch the clock. 30 seconds later Jacobi: Son of a biTCH

Gill [Yesterday at 8:43 PM] Kepler: what union Jacobi: I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you before you could get Cutter's anti-union hitsquad involved

Kat [Yesterday at 8:43 PM] The Jacobi Union

Gill [Yesterday at 8:44 PM] "help my Jacobis have unionized" though Gay Bomb Chicken + Lovelace almost puts me in mind that this AU is like an almost-mirror of canon and so Lovelace is the one who ends up talking Jacobi down somehow and it's Maxwell who does get Xerox'd in Time To Kill

Kat [Yesterday at 8:49 PM] this does raise. Questions about Cutter vs Minkowski and Lovelace can he only control 1 at a time

Gill [Yesterday at 8:51 PM] or they just actually succeed at covering up that one of them (Minkowski, probably) is a duplicate

Kat [Yesterday at 8:51 PM] also if you're saying everything's switched is Maxwell still the one who gets shot in desperate measures

Gill [Yesterday at 8:53 PM] Lovelace: I'll take one for the team, I'll be the alien. Minkowski: you really think they'll buy it /cue season 3 finale

Kat [Yesterday at 8:53 PM] honestly if jacobi got shot and maxwell went feral she'd probably win tbh

Gill [Yesterday at 8:55 PM] hm... Maxwell going full Rage Mode, getting to deal with the tasty dramatic emotions of Genuine Loss AND the consequences of turning on Hera, or Maxwell does still get shot but then a few hours later they find her walking around like nothing happened with no memory of the past two weeks both are delicious

Kat [Yesterday at 8:57 PM] I feel like instead of goading the others into it dark!Maxwell would either take out kepler herself or force Hera to do it Hera like, I'm not particularly morally distressed about this I would've killed him if you'd asked but you're making me so I'm mad

Gill [Yesterday at 9:00 PM] Alternatively Maxwell looks at the situation, remembers the Implications Hera might've let slip that, as far as appearances go, Minkowski came back from the dead to stop Hilbert and protect her crew, and says "okay, no. Not when it's her finger on the trigger and Jacobi's life on the line, let's back off and regroup." Kepler is not pleased with this decision of hers.

Kat [Yesterday at 9:02 PM] alternatively alternatively Minkowski: I'm sorry I killed your friend I guess? Maxwell: Actions speak louder than words. Help me yeet his body into the star. I think I've figured this out.

Gill [Yesterday at 9:04 PM] Lovelace comes back but the Dear Listeners decide it's more energy efficient if they drop off the new Jacobi while they hold their Contact Event so in this timeline it's Jacobi who's had enough of Kepler's whamma-jamma. Lovelace: doesn't it freak you out that they can just puppet you around?? Jacobi: yes but I'm very good at compartmentalizing. Also blowing off Kepler's hand? Strangely satisfying.

Kat [Yesterday at 9:08 PM] given the symbolism in play in canon there that's some sort of mobius double metaphor reacharound

Gill [Yesterday at 9:12 PM] canon timeline: "Disarming" = removing Kepler's right hand, foreshadowing his right hand man turning against him and no longer being a weapon in his arsenal Funhouse-Mirror timeline: Jacobi, Kepler's right hand man, can now be controlled by the Dear Listeners, so maybe Kepler gets a Replacement Alien Hand that the Dear Listeners can communicate through via sign language or writing wasn't sure where trying to work out THAT tangle of thought was gonna go but "help my right hand is possessed" is an a-okay destination by me

Kat [Yesterday at 9:13 PM] tbf many ASL signs are two handed, albeit often a doubled similar sign idk about other languages

Gill [Yesterday at 9:14 PM] hey my first thought was "the animatic with the sockpuppets is now a PROPHECY" I'm in full Insane Troll Logic mode

Kat [Yesterday at 9:14 PM] pryce is gonna have a hell of a time lobotomizing everyone depending on how far you want to take this but yeah the robot hand = getting ur robot lobotomy second in command so idk where u go there

Gill [Yesterday at 9:18 PM] hey, you've got so many duplicates walking around now, why save the psi-wave regulator trick for the finale? I mean there might not be enough if the star isn't blue but... I mean they had to test that thing somehow, right do they have a psi-wave generator lying around somewhere?

Kat [Yesterday at 9:20 PM] I assume it goes both ways, since it seems to be an increase that causes the possession, and cutter was essentially doing that to lovelace

Gill [Yesterday at 9:21 PM] or: Cutter challenges the known aliens (Jacobi and Lovelace, if they do successfully keep Minkowski on the down-lo) to a board game, and whoever comes in last place is gonna be the first one to get dissected!

Kat [Yesterday at 9:22 PM] Lovelace: What if you lose

Gill [Yesterday at 9:23 PM] Cutter: Then I throw one of your friends out the airlock while you watch! maybe they still tried to put Jacobi thru Processing first while unaware he'd been alien'd so he broke the neural scanner, and they just restraining bolted Eiffel, Maxwell, and Minkowski. Minkowski's restraining bolt is running but doesn't do shit, and she's stuck putting on the performance of a lifetime while she comes up with a Plan

Kat [Yesterday at 9:28 PM] time to use your acting chops I have another long day tomorrow, I should probably go to bed. Enjoy figuring out which of the like 500 strands of spaghetti we flung at the wall is the one that sticks.

Gill [Yesterday at 9:31 PM] o/ night night, I'll probably be typing at you to get some coherent Ideas out so enjoy THAT wall of text in the morning

Kat [Yesterday at 9:32 PM] I Will

Gill [Yesterday at 9:36 PM] shaking up the Contact Event aside I kinda like the idea of Maxwell's Rampage Of Revenge ending up being just one big gambit to get somebody to chuck Jacobi's body into the star... and then I thought "what if Minkowski has been stubbornly dodging that she got alien-resurrected this entire time and can keep finding explanations around the weird shit happening to her, and Maxwell's plan ALSO has her forcing Minkowski to face the truth?"

Gill [Yesterday at 9:45 PM] "Yes, all of this was a ploy to trap you in the decompression chamber, but it was also a ploy to get you to throw Jacobi's body into the star. I just thought to myself, hey, if I'm gonna go to the trouble of going Dark Vengeance Maxwell, I might as well multitask."

Gill [Yesterday at 9:52 PM] Minkowski: Did we NOT just agree that killing me or Kepler isn't gonna solve anything?? Maxwell: Oh you're right, it won't! Don't worry Commander, you've gotten lucky with airlocks in the past, right? Like how the Captain found you just in time? And that hour you spent with your vitals all flatlined was just a glitch, caused by "stellar interference"? I have a funny feeling your luck hasn't run out just yet.

Gill [Yesterday at 10:00 PM] so Minkowski gets to process that she was An Alien The Whole Time while Eiffel is probably off on his visionquest, Jacobi is Back and having a similar Bad Time, and Maxwell's escaped into the vents to keep Hera from killing her as violently as possible. Kepler and Lovelace are having the least amount of Crisis. slight alteration to this: by some Process Of Events, Eiffel gets to play out the Dramatic Rescue that happened offscreen in Box 953 and that's how he ends up outside and decides to jump into the star, or Minkowski goes on his adventure with him (though not as a frozen corpse the whole time if I can find a way to wrangle it even if I do have to invoke my right as a fanfic writer to jump this shark and say Fuck It, Alien Clones Can Breathe In Space Sometimes)

Gill [Yesterday at 10:26 PM] Minkowski, totally not freaking out herself: Eiffel, you still need to worry about conserving your oxygen supply, so I am giving you a direct order to not freak out. Eiffel, who I must note has not seen The Last Jedi: ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! THIS IS LIKE IF PRINCESS LEIA KILLED JABBA THE HUTT BY FORCE-LIFTING HIM INTO THE SARLACC PITT FROM STRAIGHT OUTTA THE WILD BLUE NOWHERE! yes it did take me getting ready for bed to realize that sound can't travel in space if no air so Minkowski would have to Dear Listener-commandeer his comms channel to talk to him, unless we want to get into my Found Family Psychic Link conspiracy theories additionally a TAZ joke popped into my head and it's not gonna leave til I say it no matter how little sense it makes without twisting the narrative into a logic-pretzel Bob, after witnessing Minkowski just out-stubborn physics: how... what in the world are you? Minkowski: I'm bisexual. Bob: And do all... bisexuals have this power? Minkowski: /glances at Eiffel, raises an eyebrow Eiffel: ...I'm personally partial to the pansexual label myself, sooooo... Minkowski, @ Bob: Yes.

Gill [Yesterday at 10:47 PM] alternatively after a brief and entirely physically impossible conversation about what he's about to do, Eiffel's like, okay, I'm gonna cut my tether while you keep ahold of it, then you push off from me, I push off from you, I go see what our friends want while you go take command of your station. bc then that lets me do this: Minkowski: Okay, on three. You ready? Eiffel: ...no. You? Minkowski: ...not really. But maybe that's all it is, a- Eiffel: A leap of faith, right. Okay, on three. [muffled What's Up Danger playing from the Dorado constellation in the distance]

Gill [Yesterday at 11:01 PM] I still don't know what happens to Hilbert, sorry m'dude

Gill [Yesterday at 11:12 PM] Last thought before I succumb to unconsciousness for the night: I'm just gonna drive a monkey wrench right into those gears and toss out "instead of Hera manifesting a humansona in mental space she gets herself a custom meatsuit 3D printed, made from the DNA of her friends" and then just not think through the implications of that at all right now

Kat [Today at 6:21 AM] "brief and entirely physically impossible conversation" yknow you can't talk in space but you could sign in space I was also thinkin maybe the Lovelace/crew tension is that Hilbert still rips Hera's personality out and they want to keep him around to fix her and Lovelace wants to kill him bc he's too dangerous

Kat [Today at 6:42 AM] Maybe and/or instead of trying to kill him Maxwell's rampage involves trying to convince Kepler that the duplicates still count as people since she's going to all the trouble of getting Jacobi back and he better not just fucking shoot him again. and instead of his heel-face turn getting kicked off by a betrayal making him rethink his entire life it's Maxwell reading him the riot act like 'maybe you've told yourself these aren't real people so you can do more terrible shit to them but I'm getting my best friend back and you're going to like it' Maxwell: Repeat after me: I will not rekill Jacobi. Kepler, droning at gunpoint: I will not rekill Jacobi. Maxwell: And if I'm an asshole Lovelace takes another limb. Lovelace: Oh, I like Dark Maxwell.

Kat [Today at 7:06 AM] Kepler like, You want to invite one of these monsters on board just because it has a face you know. Maxwell: for god's sake, you've been living with the captain for months and you're telling me you really still believe that? (Idk how they'd actually make the delivery once maxwell asks for it, maybe they'd send him back as a peace offering when spitting Eiffel out?) Jacobi, recently returned from the dead in space: what the fuck upon getting back to the Hephaestus and immediately being apprehended by Cutter and co: what the fuck

Kat [Today at 7:14 AM] like Maxwell's real pissed and upset until the funeral and then once she sees Lovelace resurrect she's like Hey she starts off ranting @ Kepler for keeping secrets the same way as Jacobi did but then she's like "don't you get it, that's how we can get him back" Kepler, about 2 exits behind on the freeway: wait what

Gill [Today at 7:15 AM] Maxwell: I'm gonna need some help to get rid of a body Kepler: I mean I'm not following but ok Maybe the Dear Listeners have the presence of mind to just put Jacobi back on the Hephaestus directly He has a few minutes to reboot in peace before Maxwell leaps on him from the vents for Happy Reunion Time

Not Easily Forgotten 2

Mutual Pining

Post-Oblivio Fic (part 3 in the works!)

@melyxan @coccinellegirl @bratayleysdraw @bowser14456 @miiiraculous @writerzblock12 @7701deathlyhalfbloodprincess Thanks for your comments/encouragements on the first chapter!!

And a big thanks to @baelfyre1053 who’s awesome!

Part 1       Ao3

Adrien didn’t need photoshop to be up in the clouds. All weekend, he practically floated to each of his scheduled activities. Marinette was Ladybug, and his world had never seemed brighter. He hadn’t seen Marinette since leaving school on Friday, though. Adrien had started a few texts to her, but was at a loss of what to say. What if he was the only one that remembered? Of course, it would be his luck for that to happen. But it would be the sweetest of torture. At least, he knew his lady’s name.

Arriving at school Monday morning, Adrien wasn’t sure what to expect. He wanted to be as normal as possible since he didn’t know if Marinette knew. Plagg had teased him for practicing greetings in the mirror earlier, and he was suddenly feeling very nervous to see a certain classmate.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped out of the car. Nino waved at him from the steps. I can do this. Just act natural. Cool cat. Adrien greeted his best friend with a fist bump and joined the conversation he was having with Max about the new Ultimate Mecha Strike IV: his lady’s favorite game. Adrien felt himself start to blush.  Cool cat! COOL CAT!

“I’m going to go to my locker!” Adrien barely announced before bolting off. This was going to be harder than he thought.  

After retrieving his books, Adrien settled on waiting in the classroom. Being in the courtyard proved to be too overwhelming as he constantly scanned all the students for a pair of pigtails. Marinette typically arrived with only a few seconds to spare, and even though there were a few minutes left until class began, he couldn’t help but look each time someone entered.

Adrien jumped at the sound of Nino’s voice. “Dude, are you okay?”

Rubbing the back of his neck, Adrien offered a sheepish smile. “Yeah, sorry. Just worried about an upcoming fencing tournament.”

“You’re the best fencer in the league, though! You got nothing to worry about.”

“Thanks, Nino.” Trying to relax, Adrien focused on talking to Nino about their weekends until Ms. Bustier called the class to attention.

As predicted, Marinette entered the classroom without a moment to spare. Adrien’s heart thudded in his chest, but he kept his eyes on their teacher despite the temptation to let his eyes follow her. As Marinette slid into her seat, Adrien thanked the stars that she wasn’t in front of him, else he would never be able to focus.

Behind him, however, Marinette worried her bottom lip as she stared at the mop of blond hair. He hadn’t even acknowledged her when she came in. If he remembered, he would have at least looked at her, right?

Going into the courtyard for lunch, Marinette tried to conceal her disappointment. When she had tried to talk to Adrien in between periods, he treated her as he always had: just a friend. He barely responded to her before taking up a new topic with Nino.

Picking up on her friend’s mood, Alya nudged Marinette. “Hey, do you want to go to the park after school? I heard that someone was going to be making balloon animals today.”

“That sounds fun! As long as we aren’t out too late. I have to work on that history report tonight.”

“Oh, yeah. Me too. I am not looking forward to that,” Alya sighed. They were almost to their favorite bench when a loud voice bellowed above them.

“I am Recyclops, and I will take revenge on behalf of the earth!” The akuma shot a recycle sign at a table causing it to grow vines and come to life. Students screamed as the table began chasing them. Marinette reached out to grab her best friend only to have her hand pass through empty space. Alya was already running closer to the akuma with her phone held out in front of her.

Marinette scanned the area for a safe place to transform, but was tackled to the ground before she could even take a step. A trash can behind her began to sprout leaves. Before Marinette could recover, Adrien was pulling her to her feet and guiding them to an empty classroom.

Once inside, Adrien braced his back against the door, breathing heavily. “That was close. Go find a hiding spot. I’ll chill here and make sure nothing gets in.” The door budged as something hit it from outside.

Marinette hesitated, not wanting to leave him. “There must be something—”

“No. There’s no time. Go!” Adrien urged.

She nodded and moved towards a back door, stealing one last glance at the boy over her shoulder. He’s Chat Noir. He’ll be fine. This would be so much easier if he remembered, though.

Marinette checked that the hallway was clear before transforming into Ladybug and making her way back outside. Landing on the roof of the school, she surveyed the situation. Recyclops must have moved to a new target, but a small, lively forest remained, terrorizing the school grounds. Below her, Chat batted vines away from some students that weren’t quick enough to escape.

Ladybug landed behind her partner. “M’lady,” Chat Noir greeted, “What’s a flower like you doing among thorns like this?”

“Focus, Chat,” she chided, grabbing hold of the students and guiding them towards a nearby open door. Ladybug recognized it as the classroom Adrien had pulled her into only a few minutes ago. He must have transformed as soon as she left and joined the fight while she made her way out through the back.  

Closing the door behind the students, Ladybug turned around just in time to see a leafy vine wrap around her partner—who had been distracted trying to glimpse her reaction to the room they had just been in—and pull him into the canopy.

Hanging upside down, Chat Noir offered her a guilty smile as he swayed.

“Now’s not the time to have to rescue kittens from trees!” Ladybug called as her yoyo collided with the vine and freed him.

“Trunk you for the rescue.” The heroine rolled her eyes. “Let’s stop beating around the bush and get to the root of the problem. He went West.”

Instead of responding, Ladybug jumped to the roof. The akuma had already transformed most of Paris into a giant hedge maze, the streets barely visible below. Finding Recyclops was going to be difficult.

Chat’s tail flicked as he crouched next to her overlooking the city. “Well, I’m stumped. What’s the plan, m’lady?”

“Stay out of the maze and stick together. We need to lure him out without being caught in a trap ourselves.” Ladybug caught Chat’s smirk at her unintentional pun before setting her eyes back on the horizon. A plastic bag drifted through the wind only to be plucked out of the sky by a vine. “I think I have plan. But we are going to have to do some recycling.”

Ladybug had had a lot of strange plans, but none quite as strange as turning Chat Noir into a giant piece of garbage. Her partner was covered in plastic water bottles that she had borrowed from the school’s recycle bin.

“Why do I always have to be the bait?” the cat whined.

“Because you’re cute and sappy. It’s the perfect combination.” Ladybug tried to conceal her smug expression as Chat Noir’s face reddened. She waited for a response, but her partner was still blushing and avoiding her gaze. Ladybug pursed her lips. How am I supposed to flirt with a guy who doesn’t think I’m interested even though he thought I was his girlfriend 3 days ago and just forgot?

“Let’s leaf.” Ladybug resisted the urge to slap a hand over her face. This is where she was at now. Making puns. She shook her head trying to clear her thoughts. Akuma. Focus on the akuma.

Next to her, Chat Noir was trying and failing to steady his heart beat. Be. A. Cool. Cat. Coooool.

The pair set of across the rooftops, careful to avoid any creeping stems until they reached the Eiffel Tower. Ladybug shivered at the unsettling silence. Most akumas could be located through their taunts to the heros. Recyclops, however, was choosing to hide in the shadows. The pair exchanged a nod before Ladybug swung up to the rafters to wait. Chat Noir clanked his baton against the rails as he dropped a an extra bottle on the ground. Just as Ladybug suspected, vines started creeping up and leaves began to rustle.

“Now, I don’t mean to bark up the wrong tree, but why do you care so much about a piece of plastic?” Chat smashed one of the vines trying to wrap around his ankle.

A recycle symbol hit the plastic bottle that Chat Noir had dropped, turning it into a flower.

“Nice to see you branching out,” the hero said as Recyclops emerged. “Let me guess, you want to harvest my miraculous?”

“You have no respect for the planet!” the akuma called floating above Chat Noir. “I speak for the Earth who has no voice. Humans are bad for the environment, and I plan to show them the errors of their ways.”

Ladybug studied their opponent as the duo below her engaged. Recyclops’ yellow boots and gloves were an eye sore against the rest of his blue and green suit, but nothing stood out as a potential akumatized item. The only option was his blue helmet which covered his eyes and featured a white recycling symbol.

“I can be a little rough around the hedges, but I think you’d like me if you got to know me.” Chat leaned on his batton, sending the akuma a playful wink.

“I wish I could recycle your jokes!” Recyclops yelled, hurling a stick at him.

“I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you don’t have a good sense of humor to begin with.”

At that, the akuma sent all sorts of plants towards Chat Noir. Ladybug swooped down, knocking her partner off his feet and barely dodging the torrent of thorns.

She smiled down at him and said, “You know, I never heard you say timber when you fell for me.”

Chat remained sprawled on the floor as she got up to ward off Recyclops. This is it, he thought. I’ve died and gone to heaven.

Despite her distracted partner, it wasn’t long before Ladybug had Recyclops tangled in his own vines and she was cleansing the unwelcomed bug.

“Pound it,” the heroes exchanged their signature fist bump.

“Recycling is really important,” Ladybug said, helping the akuma victim to his feet, “I’ll talk to Mayor Bourgeois about opening more recycling centers around Paris.”

“It’s never too late to turn over a new leaf,” Chat piped in. The heroine rolled her eyes as her partner failed to contain his smug grin.

“Well, bug out!” Ladybug removed her yoyo to return to her civilian life but was stopped by a hand on her arm.

“Ma- Lady,” Chat Noir froze, forgetting what he wanted to say after almost saying her name. Her eyes locked with his, and he could feel himself losing his footing in a sea of blue. He longed to kiss her, but knew that he had to wait until he heard his name from her lips once again. In attempt to satisfy the urge, he swooped down and pressed a kiss to her hand instead.

The world around them stopped. Ladybug didn’t withdraw hand like usual, and Chat Noir was still at a loss of what to say or do. His fingers ached to interlace with hers, but he could hardly move, let alone breathe as he gazed at her.

Think! Adrien’s brain screamed. Say something! Say anything!

“You, uh… You look really pretty today.” Dumbass, she looks pretty everyday!

“Thanks!” Ladybug squeaked, a tint of pink seeping out from underneath her mask.

The boy continued to stare at her unable to function and still holding her hand.

“I-got-to-go-now-bye!” Chat Noir barely caught her string of words before she turned and left. He watched her disappear in the distance, his fingers tingling where hers had just been.