#i dont mean to cast shade on fu but we all know tikki is the real boss here | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

miraculoussage · 4 years

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like siblings - under pressure

Rating: G Pairings: Marinette & Adrien, Ladybug & Chat Noir (No romance) Length: ~ 4,180 words Type: Original chapter

(Takes place immediately after Volpina)

♪~ ᕕ( ཀ ʖ̯ ཀ)ᕗ

After the trouble with Volpina, Ladybug rushed back home; school could wait, Tikki’s frantic excitement and worry had infected her. She would have to think hard to come up with an excuse that both her friends and her parents would believe. Her balcony offered refuge from prying eyes, and she slipped quietly into her room to detransform. Hopefully, Gabriel hadn’t already realized that the book was gone. Marinette’s heart tightened with anxiety when she thought about Adrien being in the proximity of Gabriel’s inevitable anger.

Tikki was already inside the chest with the book and the Peacock Miraculous by the time Marinette had unlocked and opened it, and she was flipping through the pages and frowning at the pages. “We have to get this to the Guardian.”

“That sounds like something you’re going to have to explain to me, Tikki,” Marinette said with no emotion. She knew Tikki had to keep important secrets, so important she couldn’t even tell her Chosen, but Marinette couldn’t help the betrayal she felt when Tikki revealed something new. She supposed it wasn’t even directed at Tikki, and instead at the situation itself, the unfairness of everything.

Tikki frowned apologetically at her, and Marinette knew Tikki was unhappy to have to keep secrets as much as Marinette was. “Have a seat, Marinette,” she said softly, flitting up to sit on the backrest of the chaise, “We must hurry to visit him, but explaining some of this to you myself will be more efficient in the long run.”

The two sat and talked, Tikki explaining who the Guardian was, what his duties were, what the Miracle Box was, and finally, what the book was. “It holds the secrets to unlocking more power and potential from the Miraculous, giving us kwami special abilities that we can pass on to our wielders for a short time. If this fell into the wrong hands, Marinette, and they were able to translate it... It could cause devastation to Paris, to the world, even to kwami ourselves.”

“And Gabriel had this, hidden in a secret vault, along with the Peacock Miraculous, who had been missing for quite a while, and is currently broken?” Marinette waited for Tikki’s confirmation that she understood the situation, then continued. “Something tells me that he didn’t only have this book for fashion inspiration... Something tells me we need to make sure Adrien stays safe.”

With Tikki’s agreement, Marinette sent Adrien a text with an open invitation to come over that night, if he wanted to. It may have been a school night, but Marinette lived close to the school, and at least Adrien’s bodyguard trusted the Dupain-Chengs enough to let him stay in their house without a chaperone. An arm wrestling match with Tom had seemed to assure him that someone with at least as much physical strength as himself would be able to protect Adrien, should it come down to it.

Packing the book and the brooch into her school bag and sneaking down the stairs to the back entrance of the house, Marinette got out unseen. She stopped in at the bakery to let her parents know she was okay after the akuma alert; she had hidden in the supply closet, you see, because she got the akuma alert on her phone on the way back to class, and she got stuck until the maintenance worker came in for a step-ladder after classes ended.

Thankfully, her parents bought the excuse. She let them know Adrien might come over tonight, and she explained she was going to check out a meditation lesson (an excuse Tikki had provided her with) and might not be back until it was dark, and she would have to keep her phone off for the lesson. It was good to know her parents trusted her as much as they did, though it broke Marinette’s heart that she had to lie to them.

With explanations done, Marinette left, and let Tikki lead her through streets and alleys to the Guardian’s house.

♪~ ᕕ( ཀ ʖ̯ ཀ)ᕗ

Adrien’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He was in the middle of his piano practice, but his attention had wandered so far from the piece he was supposed to be playing that his muscle memory took over and he had switched to a song he was much more familiar with. The text alert drew him out of his trance, and he was relieved to see Marinette had invited him to come over that night. He checked the clock; his practice was over in a few minutes and then he could go find Natalie to ask her. He hoped she said yes, he didn’t want to have to sneak out and sneak back in very early in the morning as Chat Noir.

A familiar but intense pang of emotion hit him, and he rested his forehead on the piano keys, maybe a bit to hard. The resulting discordant noise shocked Plagg awake, and he flew over from under Adrien’s covers to sit on his head. Usually, in situations like these, Plagg would make a snide remark about Adrien moping, or give him some unwanted advice that would probably get him in trouble if he followed it, or complain about a lack of cheese. Today, though, he was quiet, and while Adrien appreciated the silent comfort, he also recognized that this situation actually was as serious and bad as he thought it was.

“Plagg, I don’t know what I’m going to do.” Plagg didn’t answer, just patted Adrien’s hair with his tiny godly paws. “If Father really is... him, what am I going to do? Mother is already gone, and what will happen to Father? What will happen to me?”

Plagg purred, but it wasn’t the kind of purr he made when he was happy. It was the kind of purr he made when Adrien woke up covered in a cold sweat, a scream in his throat, mind reeling in fear from a nightmare. “We’ll get through it together, kid.” Adrien wished he felt as confident as Plagg sounded.

The anxious thoughts running through his head kept coming back to one thing. Custody. If something happened to his father, would Adrien be forced to stay with Aunt Amelie and Felix? Would Natalie or the Gorilla be assigned as his new guardian? While he liked both of them, he wouldn’t want to be put under their care. What about Chloe? She would probably fight to have him live with her, and as much as she was getting somewhat better at being ni- ... well, less intentionally mean, he still would hate to spend the rest of his childhood with her stuck to his side.

Maybe...? No, they probably didn’t... But... In a world where at least some of Adrien’s wishes could be granted, Tom and Sabine would be legally appointed his guardians. Their apartment felt more like a home than his mansion ever had, their food was better than what any of the professional chefs made for him, they even seemed to spend more time with him than his father, or even his mother, ever did. But they wouldn’t want to adopt him...

.... Would they? Marinette always joked about it, or at least he thought they were jokes, but looking back he realized that most of the times she’d said that, it was after Adrien had had a particularly stressful or harrowing day because of something his father had done. He felt tears rise for the umpteenth time that day, and pressed his hands to his eyes to try and stop them.

She had invited him over. He wanted so desperately to go. He had to wash his face, think positively, and face Natalie. With Plagg following him like a lost kitten, Adrien packed an overnight bag with pajamas and clothes for tomorrow, his review homework, and some Camembert for Plagg- sealed securely in an airtight bag. When his bag was packed, he washed his face, practiced his smile in the mirror, and went to find Natalie.

♪~ ᕕ( ཀ ʖ̯ ཀ)ᕗ

Master Fu wasn’t quite what Marinette expected. He was shorter, for one, and wore a more vibrant shirt than she was picturing. He knew who she was immediately, and though it took her a few moments to place it, she was familiar with him from when she brought Tikki in to be healed. Tikki, for her part, seemed to be superior to the Guardian from the way they interacted with each other.

After official introductions and serving tea and snacks, the two humans, along with their kwami, got down to business. When Master Fu explained in more detail what Tikki had already shared, Marinette made careful note of everything. She may forget dates and times, but when it came to important information like this, something she was invested in, her memory was sharp as a tack.

Eventually, though, Marinette had to bring up the bad news. “The book was found by Adrien Agreste in his father’s safe, along with the Peacock Miraculous. From what I know about Gabriel Agreste, he’s never been akumatized, and he’s cruel enough to his employees and his son that I wasn’t even shocked at the idea that he might be Papillon.”

“This is troubling news. I take it you and Adrien are friends, then?”

“Friends is an understatement. He’s more like a brother to me now. I trust him with my life. Oh, but! Don’t take that to mean I’m biased. Well, maybe I am, but I’m willing to look past biases. Sorry, I’m just worried about what this means for him, if Gabriel actually is Papillon.” She broke a wafer cookie in half, and though the baker in her was yelling at her not to waste her now mutilated snack, her appetite had disappeared.

“Regardless of whether he is or not, Gabriel had the book and a Miraculous in his possession. I will personally monitor Adrien’s safety if need be. Do not worry, Marinette, you are not in this alone.”

“Speaking of which... I’d like to share what’s happened with Chat Noir. He deserves to know this too, he needs all the information I can safely share with him to keep himself safe.”

“Marinette, there is much that we cannot share with Chat No-”

“Marinette.” Tikki cut off Master Fu, who seemed shocked, with a stern look. “We are considering making you the next Guardian, if all goes well. Don’t- I can see you starting to panic, don’t do that. None of that is immediate. Take a few breaths, and listen.” She floated down to the table, resting her paws on Marinette’s hand. “Master Fu has been the Guardian for a long time now, and though he currently shares Wayzz’s power, he is human just like you and he cannot live forever.”

Though the Guardian looked worried, Tikki seemed to pay no mind to him, so Marinette gave the kwami her full attention. “We’ll train you over time, there is no rush for you to learn. You will take over when you’re ready. For now, what you need to know as the next guardian in training, is that it’s your own decision what to share with Chat Noir- to an extent. Sharing your identities is still very dangerous, even more so now that we know who Papillon may be.”

“I wasn’t going to share my identity, just about the book, the Miraculous, and who it was taken from.” Tikki gave Marinette a smile, floating back up to eye level again.

“Master Fu, I take it you have no objections to this?” Marinette couldn’t see Tikki’s face when she turned to talk to him, but she didn’t have to in order to know Tikki was using her Boss face. Master Fu shook his head, and bowed slightly at the small god. “Then it’s settled. Marinette, your meeting with Chat Noir is soon, do you have any other questions?”

Glancing at the clock, Marinette realized her timeblindness had gripped her again, and she nearly cursed. “For now, I think... Just one. You said there are other Miraculous. Papillon uses the Butterfly Miraculous. Are there any other ones missing?”

“The only Miraculous out of the Miracle Box at the time are the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous, the missing Butterfly Miraculous, and Dusuu’s brooch, which I will get to repairing immediately.”

“Are the other Miraculous able to be used?” Master Fu and Tikki shared a look, before Tikki answered.

“We mustn’t leave more Miraculous outside of the Miracle Box’s protection. However, if the need arises, you can take one out to lend to a trusted ally. Marinette, I know your mind went to Adrien immediately, but until we figure out what’s going on with Gabriel, we can’t risk making a link between Adrien and the Miraculous. You should avoid talking to him as Ladybug as much as possible, as well.”

Marinette nodded, disappointed but understanding of the situation. “Well, thank you for tea, Master, but I have an appointment.” She stood up to go and Master Fu stopped her before she left.

“I’d like to talk to Tikki briefly, if you don’t mind.” Marinette got the hint, and glanced at Tikki. When Tikki smiled and nodded at her, Marinette was reassured, and went outside to wait for Tikki.

♪~ ᕕ( ཀ ʖ̯ ཀ)ᕗ

Chat Noir laid flat on his back, sprawled out on the empty viewing platform of the Arc de Triomphe. It felt like he was there for hours with his eyes closed and a breeze cooling his cheeks. Logically, though, he knew it had only been a quarter of an hour or so that he’d waited for Ladybug. When he heard the wind whistle, and her light landing on the stone tiles, he sat up and looked for her. “Nice to see you again, Little Bug!”

“Hey I’m only a few inches shorter than you,” she said with faux irritation, poking him lightly in the forehead. “I’m glad you’re here, Kitty. There’s... A lot to talk about.” She sat next to him on the cold floor, drawing her knees up and wrapping her arms around them. “Get comfortable.”

“So, I guess, to start... You know Adrien Agreste?”

“Yeah?”

“Well. Today, he gave me a book. He gave me a book containing ancient and secret knowledge of the Miraculous, including knowledge to give kwami and their partners special abilities temporarily, but also knowledge to control kwami. He also gave me another Miraculous, one that’s broken and has been missing for a long time.” She didn’t look at him, and Chat put his hand on her shoulder briefly.

“The thing is, Chat, he found it in his father’s safe.”

“Gabriel Agreste.”

“Yes.” She let out a heavy breath, and Chat Noir wished he could do the same without revealing how close he was to the situation. “So I brought the book and the Miraculous to an ally.” This surprised Chat Noir, more than hearing about Gabriel Agreste’s involvement, and he hoped it didn’t show in his body language.

“An ally? Who, another Miraculous user?”

“Yes and no. He once was, but he’s retired from that now. He’s the Guardian of the Miraculous. My kwami introduced me to him today, and we talked about the book and... and the whole situation,” she said, with a vague wave of her hands. Chat knew how she felt- this whole thing was bigger than they’d originally thought.

“I don’t think he wanted me to talk about most of this with you, but Tikki- my kwami- she overruled him. She said, get this- she said I’m the next Guardian, in training now I guess. I went from having no idea who or what the Guardian was, or even that he existed, to becoming the successor in this line of very important people, with very important responsibilities. I’m- I’m already Ladybug! And I have a civilian life- a BUSY civilian life!” Ladybug was yelling, but Chat didn’t think she realized it.

He put his hand on her shoulder again, turning her gently to look at him. “LB. I’m here for you, I’m here with you. You know that I’ll help you in any way I can, right? Anything you need.” He let her lean into him, giving her a tight hug, and then letting her sit up again.

She sighed heavily. “Thanks, Chat. I think I just needed to have an outburst. That hug helped, too. In any case, Tikki thinks that since I’m going to be the next Guardian,” she still sounded frazzled about that whole thing, “I should be given the responsibility to choose what gets shared with you, and I quote, ‘to an extent’. Identities still have to stay secret, especially with the new information we have.”

“That’s alright with me, Bugaboo. Is there more I should know?”

“... Yes. There are more Miraculous than the ones we knew about, and we have access to them.” Chat Noir took a breath to speak, but Ladybug cut him off. “In certain situations. It’s important that they stay in the Miracle Box, to protect the Miraculous and the kwamis they’re home to. We can’t take a bunch out or give them to allies every battle, we have to be responsible and extremely careful. I don’t think we should both know the identities of any ally we choose, but the people we choose need to be people we trust. We need to take the Miraculous back after the battle, and return them to the Miracle Box.”

In Chat’s mind, there were endless possibilities. How many Miraculous, how many allies? ‘A trusted ally’ immediately brought thoughts of Marinette, but fighting akumas was dangerous, and he didn’t know if he was willing to bring Marinette into the responsibilities and secrets of the Miraculous at all. Especially with Father now being involved. If he gave Marinette a temporary Miraculous, and his father and/or Papillon found out and targeted her? He wouldn’t be able to forgive himself. She was too important to him.

“I understand, Ladybug. It’s good to know we have access to allies, but at the same time, I hope we won’t ever have to use them.”

“Exactly, I’m glad you feel the same. It’s difficult trying to think of someone I trust enough to fight alongside me, that won’t directly link back to me if they were discovered.”

“I know some people... Though, I don’t know if they’re ready yet. I guess we’ll see if it comes to it,” he said, trying to reassure Ladybug with a smile. She smiled back, but he could see the stress weighing her down. “We’re in this together, Ladybug.”

She nodded, and the serious conversation came back. “I guess, to sum up what the Guardian, Tikki, and I talked about... Gabriel Agreste has some connection to the Miraculous and may or may not be Papillon, or an ally of him. The Peacock Miraculous that Adrien recovered is broken, but the Guardian is working on fixing it. Speaking of Adrien, we need to limit our contact with him in order to make him less of a target, and less suspicious to his father in the case of the missing tome. We have other Miraculous within reach and we can, if needed, gain a temporary ally. Our kwami may be able to gain temporary abilities that will affect our powers when we’re transformed. And, last but not least, I’m supposed to become the next Guardian of the Miraculous, some of the strongest forces in the universe, and I’m just a normal person and I don’t know how I’m going to deal with this.” By the end of the sentence, her chest was heaving and she was starting to hyperventilate.

Chat leaned over and gave her another hug around her shoulders, resting his head on top of her shoulder. “Deep breaths, LB.” He waited until her breathing was back to normal before he released her. “Better?”

“Better.”

“Your kwami will help you. I’ll help you too. For now, it’s night time, and you don’t have to think about it right now.”

With another deep breath, Ladybug stood up, and Chat Noir followed. “Speaking of night time,” she said, “I should be getting home. Stay safe, Chat.” She gave him one last hug, and swung away on her yo-yo.

Adrien had gotten permission to stay at Marinette’s house, and his bodyguard dropped him off near the bakery earlier, though he hadn’t actually gone inside. With his duffel bag, he had transformed and went to meet Ladybug. With it getting as dark as it was, Marinette would worry if he wasn’t there soon, so he took one last look at the sky, disappointed by the light pollution blocking out most of the stars, and vaulted away towards the bakery.

♪~ ᕕ( ཀ ʖ̯ ཀ)ᕗ

The spicy-sweet smell of dinner tempted Marinette up the stairs when she got home. Adrien wasn’t there yet, but her parents were setting four spots at the table anyways. There were extra blankets on the couch, a few game controllers out, and a tray of leftover bakery treats on the coffee table. Just knowing that Adrien would be there soon lifted a weight off of Marinette’s shoulders.

“What’s for dinner?” Tom turned around at grinned at his daughter, and gave her an almost-crushing hug.

“Some recipes your great-uncle sent us to try! He told your mother he wanted Adrien’s opinion on them, too,” he said with a wink. “I think he likes Adrien just as much as we do!”

There was a knock on the door, and then Adrien came in- the three residents had always told him he was welcome to let himself in, and after a year of knowing the family, Marinette was glad that he was starting to become comfortable with such casual behaviour. “Hello, everyone!” he said with a wave. Tom gave him just as big of a hug as he had given Marinette, and Adrien let out a laugh as he was released.

“Ready for some new dishes, Adrien? Cheng Shifu is working on a cookbook and sent us some recipes to try,” Sabine smiled, and gave Adrien a comparatively gentler hug. She took his bag from his shoulder and set it beside the couch. “Both of you go wash your hands for dinner, it’ll be ready in a few minutes.”

In the washroom, side by side at the sink, Adrien asked, “Did you just get home?”

“Yeah. I was out at a meditation lesson.”

“They have those? You should teach me some stuff.”

Marinette blushed and let out a laugh, “I don’t know if I would be a good teacher for it. You know how high-strung I get around the beginning of the school year.”

“Oof, yeah, I do. Need help with anything? I brought the review work; I was looking at it earlier and I think I have most of it figured out.”

“I could definitely use some help. The review is a good place to start, but I’ll have to figure out what my next task list is and see who can help with what, and I’ll let you know.”

“Sounds good, Mari,” he said, grinning at her in the mirror. They took turns rinsing the soap from their hands and arms, and soon they were all sitting at the table.

“This is meant to be an appetizer,” Sabine explained, pointing at a dish of finger foods. Next she pointed to a delicious smelling soup and a salad of fresh vegetables, “and these are the main courses. There’s dessert setting in the fridge for later!”

“Dessert?? Maman, there’s already so much stuff brought up from the bakery! How am I going to choose what to have?” Letting out a laugh, Marinette started helping herself to the food, knowing Adrien wouldn’t serve himself until everyone else had gotten some of everything. “I guess I should try Uncle’s dessert, if he needs opinions on it. You both already know that everything in the bakery is great!”

“I second that,” Adrien said with a charming smile. He was almost able to hide the stress he was under, but Marinette could tell, even without knowing what he was going through. She was glad to have him here, to have him home.

♪~ ᕕ( ཀ ʖ̯ ཀ)ᕗ

After a boisterous dinner and dessert, some Ultimate Mecha Strike II, and some quiet work on their review work, Marinette and Adrien were both feeling better. Though they were both still too stressed for a pair of fourteen year olds, knowing this sense of home would be waiting for them every day filled them with hope. With people like this at their backs, the two superhero teens felt more prepared for what was to come.

Meanwhile, Tikki made her way from Marinette’s bag into Adrien’s bag. Even through the plastic and the wrapping, she could smell the Camembert. Before now, she had chalked it up to coincidence, that Adrien just enjoyed the stinky cheese. Now, knowing what the Guardian told her, Tikki understood. “Plagg,” she said, covering his mouth so he wouldn’t shout when he woke up. “We need to talk.”

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous adventures of ladybug and chat noir #miraculous ladybug fanfic #ml fanfic #my first original chapter posted! hooray for me #friendly reminder that Gabriel Agreste is more stinky than Camembert. more cold than the arctic. and more cruel than a dolphin.#yes. dolphins are cruel. dont fight me on this.#like siblings au #no beta we die like prehistoric transitional mammals #-uses sad face emoji instead to denote this one is slightly more angsty than usual-#i dont mean to cast shade on fu but we all know tikki is the real boss here

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