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consumeconstantly · 4 years

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Those Who Are Kind

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Summary: Siblings are the last thing on Marinette’s mind as she begins her frantic search for Tikki. Really, she can’t even consider them siblings, not yet. But they’re along for the ride, whether she wants them to be or not.

Duke doesn’t know what to make of the current situation.

He’s always known that the Waynes are crazy, insane, even, but he loves them all the same, in the begrudging, cautious way he cannot shake. (This approach has served him well over the years, allowing him to avoid multiple schemes that Tim or Jason typically start up to rile up Damian. From there, everything is guaranteed to snowball. The only time things get really bad is when Cass gets involved.) To him, it’s always been a bit uncanny how similar all the brothers looked, despite the fact that none of them shared blood. All of them had the same sharp jaw, piercing blue eyes, chiselled cheekbones and defined bodies. Only Tim and Damian differed slightly, with Tim having a dancer’s figure instead of that of a body builder or demolitions expert, and Damian having green eyes instead of blue. It’s also disconcerting that everybody the Waynes are more intimately involved with have some sort of alter ego. He often joked with other members of the Justice League that heroism ran in Bruce’s blood.

With the new addition of Marinette to their family, he has to say that he’s been proven right.

A girl who had absolutely nothing to do with the Waynes in any capacity other than the fact that she and Bruce share blood becoming a hero. The leader of a team. Fighting supervillains at the age of thirteen.

He’s very, very glad that he was not adopted by or shared blood with Bruce. He doesn’t think he could have handled being a superhero at age thirteen. He can barely handle being Signal now some days, and he’s an adult. The amount of responsibility on Marinette’s shoulders is difficult to understand. To be the sole wielder of magic that can revert an entire city back to its original state. To bring people back from the dead.

Dick is strangely quiet. A car is driving them from a pit stop near a zeta tube to Marinette’s hospital.

Hands down, Dick is the most sane male of the Wayne family, not including Alfred. But there are times when Duke sees the weight that he carries. All the times that he refuses to talk about the burdens that he bears. Moving forward with a smile when he’s in pain. When he gets in a mood like this, he’s hard to read. But given the circumstances, it’s fairly clear exactly what’s bothering him.

“He’s known about her this entire time,” Dick says, tinted windows allowing Duke a glance at his expression, carefully devoid of any telling emotions. “Nineteen years. He kept her a secret.”

“It’s Bruce.” The man is known for keeping secrets.

“Yeah, but Marinette is family. She should have been, at least. And now…”

Now she’s all alone when she should be surrounded by people that love her, praising her for her victory, for how she shouldered so much responsibility at such a young age. But by bringing her to a hospital in America, she’s been cut off from her team, and any support system she should have had is gone.

“You and her,” Duke says, looking for a way to comfort him. “You’ll get along. You’re similar, after all.” After they brought Gabriel and Lila to the a top security prison and sent Emilie to a hospital that couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her, they got two files from Tim. One detailing Ladybug and all of her exploits. The second, detailing Marinette’s life.

Duke has watched the videos. Has watched how Ladybug leads by example, comes up with the plan and begins the execution. How she shoulders more battles than she should.

He’s seen Marinette pull people together with a smile on her face, even while she’s running on empty after a strenuous akuma attack.

Dick and Marinette are alike.

“We’re too much alike,” Dick says. “I suspected for a long time that Bruce had another kid that he wasn’t telling us about, but I thought that if he was keeping her away from us, then maybe she’d have a shot at leading a good life. A normal life. Not the one she got. Sabine’s— Bruce’s biological daughter shouldn’t be somebody like me. She deserves better.”

Duke is acutely aware that Dick’s parents were also murdered, but whatever relation he had with Sabine is something he’s never been willing to talk about. There are pictures in his apartment of a petite Asian woman with a soft smile standing next to him, but whenever asked about her, Dick never gives a straight answer.

“Nobody has the ability to change the past.” Duke claps a hand on his friend’s shoulder. He sags imperceptibly under the weight.

Well— actually, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities, given the fact that magic, aliens, and metahumans all coexisted, supplemented by the fact that multiple members of Marinette’s team do have the ability to travel back in time, but that’s another matter entirely. There’s not a lot of information on the Miraculous, and all of their knowledge is coming from Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Zatara, and even the three of them don’t know everything.

“But you have the chance to do good by her. Be a good older brother, like I know you are.”

A thin smile appears on Dick’s face. “She’s going to need more than just one good influence on her life. And Damian is better, but you saw how he looked at her when Bruce brought her through the Zeta tubes. Tim’s not going to react well either, and Jason is a wild card. She’s not going to get the support she needs if she stays with us.”

Duke crosses his arms, knees brushing up against the back of the car seat. “The only person whose actions you’re responsible for are your own. Don’t worry about them. If they don’t like her, they’ll just avoid her.”

That’s certainly not true— all of the members of the Wayne family are notorious for going hard after all of the things they don’t like. But... it’s comforting to hear. Sometimes temporary and known lies are much nicer than harsh realities.

She’s gone.

All of her belongings are missing, the IV needle is hanging from the stand, the window open, and Marinette is missing from her bed.

At least she left a note?

Be back soon — Marinette

“Great,” Duke mutters under his breath. “Another incredibly vague, cryptic Wayne.”

Dick’s face turns to ash. “Her legs. Her head. She can’t go out so soon. Hold on, maybe Barbara can pull up some footage.”

“On the bright side, there’s no blood,” Duke says.

“That’s not a bright side.”

“It is,” Duke argues. “She fell in the worst places possible, right on top of that broken glass casket. If she’s not bleeding that clearly means she didn’t pull her stitches on her mad escape out.”

When Ladybug fell, they’re not exactly sure what happened, because the screen showed Ladybug collapsing almost gracefully. When they arrived on the scene, she flickered between Ladybug and Marinette as her earrings beeped. Her legs were slashed from falling on the glass with a seemingly unnatural force— simply falling would not have garnered cuts that large— and her head was twisted at an odd angle, debris bloodied beneath her.

Somehow, the Miraculous Cure seemed to be working backwards. Not from the epicenter out, but rather from the edge of the damage, in. It worked slowly, every mile taking minutes instead of mere seconds. It hadn’t happened before in any of the battles.

It was useful in apprehending Hawkmoth and Pavona, who were still knocked out. But Marinette, even after the Miraculous Cure washed over her, didn’t get healed. Her injuries didn’t revert. There was still a gash on her stomach from Hawkmoth’s cane, still muscles exposed on the back of her legs and blood on her neck. When she was first brought in, the doctors feared that she may be permanently incapacitated.

Good at keeping to her word at least. She came swinging through the window with worry on her face and grief in her eyes.

“I need to go back to Paris,” she says.

Dick will undoubtedly say no. He’s a very protective person, and Marinette is the center of his current efforts.

But she doesn’t look injured. He eyes her stance. She’s standing with no effort, walks with no limp. No hospital dress, no blood on her neck, no bruises in all of the places he was expecting them to be. Marinette does not look like she just faced a world ending threat less than twenty four hours ago. She certainly doesn’t look like she’s permanently lost the use of her legs. There’s the familiar Wayne Brand Stubbornness in her eyes— no way she’s not Bruce’s kid— that tells him that she’s going to get to Paris one way or another, and that they’re either lucky they were even notified in the first place or that she wants to use a resource that they have that she does not have access to. It’s fairly obvious what that resource is, considering that Paris is nine hours away by any normal plane and it sounds like she wants to get there in minutes, and not hours. Duke also knows that if they don’t take what she’s offering now, she’ll use an alternative method that definitely won’t be as nice or clear cut.

He jumps in before Dick can say anything. “We’ll take you as long as we go with you every step of the way.”

Oh, he’s going to get in so much trouble for doing this. Dick is looking at him with his Disapproving Dad glare, and he can imagine Bruce going into brooding silence when he hears that Duke allowed this to happen.

Marinette’s lips pinch together, but she nods. “Where’s the nearest zeta tube?”

Barbara gets Dick’s text and sighs in frustration.

She’s already got her hands full with watching Tim, who’s spiralling trying to find information about the Miraculous, muttering under his breath in the way he does when he gets a particularly hard case to crack. He’s gone through six cups of coffee in the last hour, and he kicked off his research with a combination of 5 Hour Energy, Monster, three packets of sugar, and 10 caffeine shots. Soon, she’ll have to start limiting his caffeine intake, but right now it’s clear that any attempt to get him to stop his research now will fail spectacularly. At least she’s not in charge of Damian and Jason. Wherever they are, they’re definitely on the move and not happy.

She never thought she'd be able to say she’s happy about being paralyzed from the waist down, but she certainly doesn’t want to be chasing after one of the two hellions. Cass definitely has her hands full and whoever’s watching Jason— wait, is anybody even watching Jason? Typically Roy gets stuck with Jason-sitting duty, but he’s been out for a while.

Barbara groans. Jason is probably on his own, wreaking havoc.

Great.

She’ll deal with that later, even though she has no doubt she’ll regret that decision, but if Marinette is gone from her room, Dick needs the footage, and somebody needs to find where she is. The nurse put in her latest report that her legs were almost healed and that she didn’t show any signs of a concussion, but Marinette was in bad shape when she got admitted to the hospital. Even though Barbara doubts that there was any misdiagnosis, given that Bruce sprung for a VIP room in one of the pricier hospitals, in a world where magic and aliens are present, who knows what’s true or not.

“Tibet!” Tim jumps up from his hunched over position for the first time in hours. “I’m going to Tibet, the closest zeta tubes are three hours by car away, but I can get somebody to loan Wayne Industries a helicopter while I’m over there.”

“Sit down, Tim.” Barbara takes her glasses off and pinches the bridge of her nose. Why can’t Bruce rein in his children? Why is she the one stuck babysitting? “Marinette left her hospital room.”

That certainly gets Tim to put the brakes on his movements towards the zeta tube in the bat cave.

“What?”

“I said, she left her hospital room. Just sit down while I send the information over. It’s not going to do you any good to rush into things anyways.”

A quick review of the surrounding CCTV shows that Marinette didn’t travel far, just around the hospital. She’s looking for something, calling out for it, too. Barbara grabs that file and slows it down so she can read her lips. “Dickie? Do she and Dick know each other already?”

A quick text back to Dick reveals that Marinette has already returned to the room and—

Oh, hell.

“Well,” Barbara pushes her laptop away from her, letting Tim watch the files she’s pulled up. “It looks like we’re taking a family trip to Paris.”

Somehow, Marinette almost manages to lose all four of them within the first four minutes of roaming around Paris.

Luckily, their family has an almost absurd amount of luck between all of them (not all of it good) and the person Barbara was half sure she could only find in prison, beating up Hawkmoth and Pavona, runs into Marinette on the streets and herds her back to them.

“Lose something?” Jason asks, arm slung around Marinette’s shoulder, the smaller, younger girl looking rather upset at having her plans thrown off.

“I told them that they could follow me,” Marinette argues without much real bite. It’s not my fault if they can’t keep up, is the clear meaning of her statement.

Again, Barbara is very impressed that the barely nineteen year old somehow managed to shake off vigilantes with decades of experience with ease. But it is, at least, partially due to her disability. Every time she goes out in her wheelchair, her heart aches a little, especially as the civilians she passes eye her with pity. Barbara doesn’t want pity. Doesn’t need pity. She shouldn’t feel anything when people look at her like she can’t keep up, because she can keep up.

Most of the time, anyways.

It doesn’t matter how she uses her tech skills to modify her wheelchair and deck it out with all the equipment she could ever need, or that she can easily get up to speeds rivalling sports cars for short periods of time before the power runs out. When she’s stuck in her wheelchair, she loses the maneuverability she had when she wasn’t paralyzed.

She couldn’t follow Marinette through the alleyways because she was stuck. Barbara was the one who noticed her escape first. If only she were more capable, she could have—

But it’s okay now. Jason ran into her. Marinette is back with them.

“I need to search for something, and none of you can help.” She’s not intentionally being rude when she says it, and if anything, sounds apologetic. Barbara sees the similarities between Marinette and Bruce. It makes a lot of sense that the two of them are father and daughter, when the two of them are so insistent on keeping major issues to themselves. Marinette twists herself out from underneath Jason’s arm, clutching her purse. Her head doesn’t move, but her eyes are wild.

“We can help,” soothes Duke, ever the voice of reason. “You know who we are.”

“And I’m guessing you’ve all either deduced who I am or have been told my identity,” counters Marinette. “Which means you should know why I can’t have you helping me.”

Barbara and Duke exchange pointed glances.

“That’s not really clear to us, actually,” says Barbara. Marinette isn’t moving, but the way her shoulders tense makes her believe that the younger girl is ready to run at the drop of a hat.

A small group of people from the parade on the streets tumbles into the alleyway they’re resting in. They smell like cheap booze and sweat.

“What are all of you doing in this alley?” one says, after he finished vomiting up his last (very colorful) meal. “You should be out there partying with the rest of us! Celebrating Ladybug and her team.”

“Fuck Hawkmoth and Pavona,” says another solemnly, with neon face paint and pigtails with glitter string intertwined. “Their defeat should be celebrated by even the darkest souls.”

Jason, easily amused by their antics, looks very willing to join them. “Yeah Marinette, we should be celebrating Ladybug not—”

As one, everybody looks at the place where Marinette was, just moments ago. The alley is decidedly empty of a small asian girl with blue eyes and pigtails.

“Fuck,” Jason curses.

“Fuck is right,” Duke agrees, placing a hand over his temple.

Marinette manages to disappear for three hours.

Three full hours.

“She’s good,” Tim says, typing into the holographic computer embedded into his sleeve.

Paris’ CCTVs are painfully easy to hack into, though he suspects that the lack of attention to them may have to do with the fact that everybody in the city is celebrating. Policemen, politicians, artists, students, scientists— people from all walks of life are in the streets today, screaming and shouting and being free for the first time in years.

He spies more than just a few dozen people bawling their eyes out within a few minutes. But that’s not surprising, considering how long Parisians have had to suppress their emotions for.

Dick and Barbara are still in the midst of profiling Marinette, trying to determine the most likely places where she’d stop by, either as Ladybug or herself. All of Ladybug’s usual haunts are decidedly devoid of the young heroine, though Tim does manage to catch a good amount of footage of the other young heroes like Carapace and Rena Rouge, who are most definitely in a relationship based on their makeout session on top of the eiffel tower (one of the first places Tim checked), Viperion, who seems to be the only one from Ladybug’s team to be seeking out the crowd which seems rather atypical considering that the hero never frequented interviews or was spotted on news coverage all that frequently, and Chat Noir and Queen Bee who Jason insisted were in a relationship as well, though the rest of them believed they were only embracing each other out of comfort— Chat Noir looks like he’s been crying for hours, and Queen Bee looks like she’s barely holding it together.

Ryuko has not shown up on camera once today. Neither has Ladybug.

The second place Tim checks is the bakery. She is not there either, though another girl is. It doesn’t seem like the girl has any ill intent, but Duke is more than happy to pull up past files to see if she’s been there before, if she has any reason to be there, and who exactly she is.

Just as Barbara and Dick are debating the chances that Marinette would be at Le Grande Paris, she walks past one of the cameras focused on Tom & Sabine’s Boulangerie. Tim has the system rigged up so that any facial matches for Marinette automatically alerts the room. He hadn’t been able to replicate that with Ladybug’s face for some bizarre reason which is why he, Barbara, Dick, and Jason are manually combing through the areas where Dick and Barbar think she may be (magic is why, but Tim has always believed that technology can be used against and with most forms of magic) so it’s lucky that she enters as Marinette.

“Kagami Tsurugi,” Duke says triumphantly. “She visited often when Tom and Sabine were still alive. Potential candidate to represent France or Japan for Sabre in the next Olympics. Definitely friends with Marinette.”

“Thank God,” sighs Dick. “Now let’s get over there.”

It’s truly, truly unfortunate that they set up shop quite a distance away from the bakery.

They take too long to arrive.

Perhaps it was a mistake, telling Kagami first.

No, not just perhaps. It was a mistake. A bad one.

But Kagami was pushing so hard, and Marinette was so tired and so alone without Tikki at her side, without the knowledge that her parents would be waiting for her. Kagami pushed and pushed and pushed about why the house felt so empty, why there was dust on the floor, why the bakery was closed for so long, and where were Tom and Sabine? Why weren’t they there for the team yesterday, when the battle was won, when they knew how important it was to be there for Adrien who had just lost all three of his parental figures?

The moment the words fall from Marinette's lips, she knows she shouldn’t have revealed it at that moment, because Kagami draws in on herself, lips turning downwards, hands curling into fists.

Kagami has come a long way from the girl she was in lycèe. The thrill of victory is still something she enjoys, but not something she needs to feel secure in her place in the world. She has trouble expressing her emotions, but when it comes down to it, she communicates everything necessary to understand why.

With the news of Tom and Sabine’s death, she withdraws into herself, shifts back into that thirteen year old Marinette first met. Logic and rationale thrown to the wind in favor of cold anger.

It’s no secret that Ryuko, Ladybug, and Viperion are the main strategists of their team. Viperion, out of his duty of using Second Chance and his ability to keep a level head in the face of constant death. Ladybug out of necessity as her position as team leader and the power of Lucky Charm. Theoretically, the two of them should have been enough. But over the years, Kagami became Marinette's favored confidante; though Ladybug trusts all of her team to keep a tight hold on any information she gives them, Kagami is one of the few who is able to pick apart a given situation and transform the monsters they face into manageable pieces.

Today, it is Kagami who has broken to pieces. Very angry, razor sharp shards that seek to hurt.

“You lie to the media, tell them a pretty tale of how they died due to a break in. Why do you avoid pinning their deaths on Lila as you should? To absolve a quality woman from guilt?”

Marinette can’t look Kagami in the eyes.

Her parents deserved a peaceful death. To pass on in old age, hand in hand. Not looking on as a family member died, in fear of what would happen next for their daughter.

“The police know. The judges know,” Marinette protests weakly, but without much eight behind her words.

Kagami just scoffs. “Tom and Sabine were kind people. To not tell the media what truly happened— that’s preventing Lila from getting the full force of what’s coming to her. What happens if she gets out of prison one day? Without any real deaths to her name, she could just flee to another country to escape it all. And when another person loses their life because of her…”

She doesn’t need to finish her sentence. If somebody else gets injured in any way, shape or form at the hands of Lila Rossi, it’s Marinette’s fault. Marinette gets what Kagami is trying to say. She thinks the same thing, after all.

“My parents would not want their death publicized in that manner.” It’s the truth, but it’s said so weakly that the words come off as little more than a weak defense, and Kagami takes the words and twists their truth.

“You know little of your parents, considering that you’re their daughter.” Kagami stands stock still, not a single extra muscle moving. “Perhaps if you spent more time with them as Marinette instead of unsuccessfully gallivanting around as Ladybug, you’d have realized that Tom and Sabine admire truth above all else, even if it is painful.”

Kagami does not ask a single question about where Marinette was last night, or how Marinette felt over the loss of her parents or when she saw all those she held dear lying still on the ground after Hawkmoth and Pavona’s final attacks. She just purses her lips and sweeps out the door.

And then she’s gone, and Marinette is alone once more.

The bakery is bone-achingly quiet.

Every step Marinette takes creates such a disturbance in the peace that moving hurts.

But she can’t stay here. She can’t stay here. She does not deserve to stay here. Kagami is right. Marinette was a bad daughter. She could have prevented their death, could have given them justice sooner, could have—

And Marinette can’t breathe. She tries to, she tries so hard to, but she chokes.

She kneels down on the floor— Kagami is right again, the place is dusty, because Marinette couldn’t bring herself to use the living room and kitchen without her parents, could barely bring herself to sleep in her bedroom because she knew that her parents were not sleeping soundly in the bed below hers— and scrabbles at her throat, vision coming in and out.

Her legs burn. She knows that during the final battle, her legs were cut towards the end of it, and they should be healed, she should be okay now, she’s better than this, she’s—

Somebody gathers her in their arms. They smell slightly of Lotus flowers, just like Maman, and cradle her ever so gently.

Marinette’s eyes open— black hair, greyish eyes filled with understanding and love and—

She can breathe again.

She falls asleep.

“Cass?” Dick’s eyes widen at her unexpected appearance at Marinette’s home.

“I thought you were on Damian guard duty,” Barbara says, fixating on the red around Marinette’s eyes and the barely dried tear tracks on her face.

“Where’s that Kagami girl?” Jason scuffs his shoes on the hardware floor, silently marking the footprints on the floor and getting a general idea of what occurred before they were able to get here based on Marinette’s current state and the other girl’s absence. “I want to have some words with her.”

Cass inclines her head sharply, eye sparking with anger. Jason’s fists rise unconsciously— Cass rarely gets angry, and whenever she gets angry at a specific person, that means they’ve done something very, very wrong— ready to hunt down Kagami. Marinette sniffles and shifts in Cass’ one armed embrace, to which Cass places a finger over her lip and shakes her head, a universal sign to be quiet.

Jason scowls but settles down.

They’re quiet as they wait for Marinette to wake.

@biodad-bruce-month

Maribat tag list(to be added onto this pls send me an ask/dm): @our-precipreciousss @my-dear-friend-anxiety

Who Are You (and what will you become) tag list (to be added here just comment): @anjuschiffer @theunquiet-dead @certainmuffinbagelcalzone @cresentmo0n @allulily @myazael @zalladane @rebecarojas07 @keepingupwiththemalfoys @frieddonutsweets @all-mights-asscheeks @thornalchemist23 @trippingovermyfeet @jiso-lee @redscarlet95 @ira-sairain @screechingflapbiscuitpeach @ramos123 @cutechip @theunquiet-dead @sleep-deprived-aroace @enternalempires @lilkymilky @woe-is-me0 @officiallydarkgeek @miyla-lokidottir @queencommonsense @demonicbusiness @iamablinkmarvelarmy

@emark7 (i will have the edited version of these on ao3 eventually but i think the link to ch 1 on this one works)

where i ended this doesn’t feel very good but ehhhhhhhhhh my writing process is summary then word vomit that barely correlates which means nothing makes sense unless i edit but looking back at my work makes me cringe so at a crossroads yayyy

also can you guys tell which prompts ive written these for because i’m curious

#bio!dad bruce wayne month 2020 #bio!dad bruce #maribat #marinette dupain cheng #bruce wayne #duke thomas #jason todd #dick grayson #damian wayne #barbara gordon #tim drake #cassandra cain #batfam

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babysemi · 2 years

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★ wanted to make a list of quotes about love to encourage me to write a fanfic a day during the month of love! if you end up using, tag me so i can reblog and read! let's make an entire library of love together ★

"He says she is his émerveillement. He says he will never leave her, not in a million years.” All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr

“All this gladness in life, all honest pride in doing my work in the world, all this keen sense of being, I owe to her!” North and South, Elizabeth Gaskell

"...a silly thing he never mentioned to her but caused him to believe that they were bound together.” Unaccustomed Earth, Jhumpa Lahiri

"Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others.” Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen

“Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte

“I have waited for this opportunity for more than half a century, to repeat to you once again my vow of eternal fidelity and everlasting love.” Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez

“Love starts as a feeling, but to continue is a choice. And I find myself choosing you, more and more every day.” Bending the Universe, Justin Wetch

“I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.” The Fault in Our Stars, John Greene

“It is better to love wisely, no doubt: but to love foolishly is better than not to be able to love at all.” Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray

"Every atom of your flesh is as dear to me as my own: in pain and sickness it would still be dear." Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

"I was swallowed up in an abyss of love in an instant. There was no pausing on the brink; no looking down, or looking back; I was gone, headlong, before I had the sense to say a word to her.” David Copperfield, Charles Dickens

"Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night." Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare

"You are sunlight through a window, which I stand in, warmed." The Miniaturist, Jessie Burton

"We've loved each other so long I've never been a man and not loved her." The Essex Serpent, Sarah Perry

"At night I dream of him, all day I wait to see him, and when I do see him my heart turns over and I think I will faint with desire." The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory

“You might not have been my first love, but you were the love that made all the other loves irrelevant” milk and honey, Rupi Kaur

“She is a mortal danger to all men. She is beautiful without knowing it, and possesses charms that she’s not even aware of... Anyone who has seen her smile has known perfection.” Cyrano de Bergarac, Edmond Rostand

"He stepped down, trying not to look long at her as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking." Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

“Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love.” Hamlet, William Shakespeare

"You are my heart, my life, my one and only thought." The White Company, Arthur Conan Doyle

"I've never had a moment's doubt. I love you. I believe in you completely. You are my dearest one. My reason for life." Atonement, Ian McEwan

"I knew it was hopeless, but that didn’t matter to me. And it’s not that I want to have you. All I want is to deserve you. Tell me what to do. Show me how to behave. I’ll do anything you say.” Dangerous Liaisons, Choderlos de Laclos

"My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

“All hopes of eternity and all gain from the past he would have given to have her there, to be wrapped warm with him in one blanket, and sleep, only sleep." Lady Chatterley's Lover, D.H Lawrence

"I wish I knew how to quit you." Brokeback Mountain, Annie Proulx

"You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how." Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

“It has made me better loving you … it has made me wiser, and easier, and brighter." The Portrait of a Lady, Henry James

"It was only when I began to feel actual, physical pain every time you left the room that it finally dawned on me: I was in love, for the first time in my life." Dangerous Liaisons, Choderlos de Laclos

#haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu!!#haikyuu scenarios #haikyuu!! x reader #library of love

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sincerelymarinette · 3 years

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A Recorded Life Sequel (7/10) - Miraculous Ladybug

Words: 1533 Summary: Finally, a day off for Marinette and Adrien. To celebrate, they decide to capture it on video for their fans. Author's Note: domestic adrienette domestic adrienette domestic adrienette!!! my fave. Sorry for missing two weeks, been busy! Only 3 more chapters of the sequel (also there's a hint to the next chapter at the end of this one wink)

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Our Day Off

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Nowadays, Marinette and Adrien rarely slept in. They were constantly going with work and life, but they decided to treat themselves today by getting extra sleep. The rebrand is almost complete, meaning both Adrien and Marinette will get to breathe for a few days. The main stuff was done, like the website, displays, tags, and business cards, among other smaller things.

He was getting a little nervous, but excited, as the final day got closer. They planned a fashion show to truly ring in the new era of Agreste Fashion, now called Emilie's, with Marinette and her team's line as the first official Emilie's line. They also reworked some fan-favorite clothing to make them fit the brand better while getting rid of Gabriel's name. It was going to be an exciting day, seeing the old and the new mix together. But there were still a few weeks until that day; there was still work to be done.

However, it was Saturday, and both Marinette and Adrien decided they could have a few extra hours of sleep. Adrien rolled out of bed earlier than Marinette and went to the kitchen to start breakfast. It was nothing crazy, just some eggs, because they agreed to stop by their favorite bakery to see her parents and enjoy a well-deserved macaron. Or two.

Marinette followed him into the kitchen when she smelled the eggs, her hair still unbrushed and in her pajamas. "Smells good, Adrien," She yawned.

"I'm glad. Time for a quick breakfast so we can go see your parents," He said as he slid the plate over to her seat.

Marinette nodded and took a bite. "You know, I was thinking," She said, carefully. "I wanted to put up a video like we used to do. Maybe we could vlog our day, or at least some of it? One of our first days in a long time that we haven't been so busy with work. Heck, I don't think either of us has had a day out of the office in at least two weeks."

A big smile formed on Adrien's face. "I think that's a great idea, Mari!" He hopped up and walked to the corner of the living room that had Marinette's desk. He grabbed her camera battery off the charger, then her camera bag, and brought it back over. Marinette would have gotten it herself, but sometimes, Adrien beats her to it.

She thanked him for the camera as she got her settings flipped to the right ones, then held it up. "Hi! I'm Marinette!" She waved at the camera, with Adrien waving behind her. "I know I look like a mess right now, but on our day off, we wanted to vlog! It's been so long since I've done a video like this, so I'm excited to give you guys some insight on how we've been recently."

"I made eggs," Adrien held his place up with a big grin when Marinette paused.

"And they're lovely, thank you, Adrien," Marinette admired. He set his plate back down, clearly proud of himself.

"Well, we're going to finish breakfast, then head over to our favorite bakery in the world! I'm sure we'll check back in then," Adrien said, Marinette nodding with him, and she shut the camera off.

Marinette and Adrien finished their eggs quickly and got their morning routines done. They were out the door by eleven o'clock, which to most people meant they barely slept in, but sleeping past eight was glorious for them.

Marinette got the camera back out when they were in the car. It wasn't too far of a drive to get to her parent's, but it was just long enough that the car was needed, and she had some time to talk to her camera. "We're in the car now, and let me just say, my stomach has been aching for some sweets recently. We've been so busy we haven't had time to go get anything other than what's in our fridge or the late-night store around the corner from Emilie's," Marinette rambled.

"Well, when we get to work at six or seven in the morning, and we stay past dinner time, we don't have the time to go there, and most other places are closed when we head out," Adrien said. "Don't get me wrong, I love what we're doing, but it sure is tiring."

"Once the rebrand is done, hopefully we'll have a more normal schedule," Marinette said. "Long days, but it'll be worth it."

Adrien agreed. They continued rambling about work all the way until they parked near the bakery. It had only been a few weeks since she last saw her parents, but it was always nice to see them and talk about life, no matter how long it had been. Her parents tried to stuff them full of all kinds of sweets while listening to Marinette talk about how excited and exhausted she was about her team's line, and Adrien talked about how pleased he is with changing the brand to remember his mom. They had front row seats to the fashion show, and couldn't wait to see it all come alive.

Marinette did record some of her parents and the bakery, but they just talked most of the time. They closed for lunch, so there was all the time they needed before Marinette and Adrien had to leave; well, they didn't want the bakery to be closed for the whole day.

They ran a few errands, like grabbing a few groceries, and Marinette can never resist picking up some swatches when they pass her favorite store. They checked out a few shops that should have received the new displays and were able to see them getting set up.

What was truly special, though, was their evening. They ordered a pizza for a movie night so they could fully relax. Plagg snacked on his cheese while Tikki sat in her little bed on the table so Marinette and Adrien could finish setting up. Marinette walked over to the hidden safe in the closet and opened it, pulling out the special box. She set it on the coffee table and opened it, letting all the Kwamis out to play.

Usually, she tries to let them out at least once a week. But with them being so busy lately, it has been a lot less. The Kwamis love her and Adrien and understand; they're just excited to come out to see them and Plagg and Tikki, and they were even more excited to hear about movie night. A strange idea to their magical creatures, but they all seemed to love it all the same. Though they did miss Trixx, Pollen, and Wayzz, the rest of them knew they were having a good time with their masters, and they were able to enjoy themselves.

Marinette scrolled through the streaming services to find the perfect movie while all the Kwamis got comfortable around the couch and little pet beds. As she waited for Adrien to come back from the kitchen with pizza boxes and their drinks, she pulled out her camera for one last update to their vlog.

"Well, here we are to end the night! Adrien and I are relaxing with a movie and pizza, and it's a great way to end our first full day off. It's a nice break, but I'm excited to get back to work. Can't wait for all of you to see what we've been working on!" She said. Marinette was extra thankful that Kwamis are not visible on camera, because it would have looked crazy with all the little animals sat around her.

"I can't either!" Adrien popped in, setting the food on the table, then kissing Marinette's cheek. "This was fun; we should make more videos when we have time."

"I would love it, and I'm sure they would, too," Marinette gestured to the camera. "But that's it for today. Make sure to follow us in the description and be ready for some more videos, hopefully soon!" Marinette said, and both of them waved as she ended the recording. She would have to find time to edit it, maybe tomorrow before work.

Marinette and Adrien began digging into the pizza as she pressed play on the movie; both she and Adrien cuddled up to one another, all the Kwamis filled in around them.

As always, she was ecstatic to see some of the replies on the video. It was one of the things she missed most about not uploading as often.

I've missed these type of videos so much! I would LOVE more when you guys aren't busy!!

Seeing them happy makes me so happy. I'm so glad their lives are turning out great after everything they dealt with as teenagers

did you guys see that those guys who forced them into lb and cn got charged? DESERVED! But I'm so glad you guys are alright after that, it looks like you had a fun day

PLEASE TELL ME YOURE GOING TO RECORD ALYA AND NINOS WEDDING I CANT WAIT FOR THEM TO GET MARRIED ITS GOING TO BE BEAUTIFUL

I can't wait to say I have clothes from Emilie's! Such a beautiful meaning behind the name change and I can't wait to own a Marinette design from Emilie's instead of Agreste Fashion. We knew this day would come! (I know she's been designing for them for a while, but this is different guys)

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@lady-of-the-roses-and-lilies @bookishserendipity03 @avatheexceed @gkz10 @coccinellegirl @kat-thatoneweirdo @strawberryblondish @snow-swordswoman @lilgaga98 @evufries @toodaloo-kangaroo

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thewritewolf · 5 years

Text

Rekindle Chapter 17: Rooftop Save

Marinette meets Emilie Agreste.

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@marichatmay

Enjoy!

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Marinette’s mind was racing as she stood in front of a beautiful middle aged woman clearly visible through the glass of her… life support? Sarcophagus? Who knows. Her eyes lingered on the preserved rose attached to her lapel. Was Emilie Agreste just a pressed flower, preserved against the encroachment of time?

Emilie Agreste. Adrien rarely opened up about her during all the years she had known him. Rarely, she had caught sight of a few pictures, saw her briefly on the movie screen. But she had never met her, never heard her voice. To Marinette, she had just been a ghost that she had known only through Adrien’s fond words.

And yet… Emilie Agreste had been alive all this time. Locked away and hidden beneath the Agreste manor, waiting for the moment Hawkmoth succeeded in his goal to bring her back. But now Hawkmoth had been defeated for good and from what Adrien was saying, she was running out of time. It broke her heart, but she was wary. Now that Adrien was aware of what his father was doing, would he try and continue Hawkmoth’s work?

Adrien was fiddling with the controls to the machine. Despite his lack of understanding, he was moving dexterously and with a purpose. Occasionally he glanced up at his sleeping mother and his expression would become clouded - in regret or anticipation, she didn’t know.

Several minute passes with only the sounds of his tinkering filling the silence before she decided to speak. “Adrien…?” He grunted. “What are you doing?”

He stopped what he was doing to turn back at her in confusion. “I’m waking her up,” he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

She considered not saying anything after that, but decided that getting to the point might be better. “You told me she can’t live for long outside of that thing, right?” He froze and stood there in silence for long heartbeats before going back to pushing buttons again.

In a quiet voice he replied, “I know.”

“What are you going to do when she is awake? We can’t do anything for her.”

“Well, we can, but…” He gave out a long, rattling sigh. “...But helping her would kill someone else. Right?” At her nod, he continued. “So she’ll die. It’ll be like nothing has changed.”

Marinette had been talking with Chat for long enough to know when he was trying to act detached. Despite how calmly he was talking, she could feel the roiling tension beneath the surface. She stepped behind him to wrap her arms around his waist, burying her face into his back.

“I’m so sorry, kitty.” His hands squeezed hers and they stood there unmoving for a few minutes before he began to chuckle. She let go reluctantly to stand at his side, watching him carefully.

He saw her look and coughed awkwardly. “Sorry. It’s just… lately, with the anniversary and everything coming up… I’d been thinking about her more.” He flashed her a sad smile and added, “I had been wishing that she could have met you at least once.” His smile faded and his eyes became downcast again. “I guess I got my wish after all. But at what cost?”

“All we can do now is make the most of it.” She watched him findle with the controls some more. “Do you actually know how to work that?”

“Not exactly. Nooroo told me a little, but the only one who would know for sure is Hawkmoth and… I don’t think he’d approve of this. Besides, I think I’m almost…” There was a hissing sound and flaring lights as the lid covering Emilie started to come off. Utterly entranced with the spectacle, Adrien ended with a whisper, “...Done.”

For a long moment, nothing happened and she continued to lay motionless. Marinette was just about to reach out to Adrien when Emilie’s eyes fluttered. A hand went to her forehead and a pained expression crossed her face as she began to pull herself out. In an instant, Adrien was by her side and helping her out, keeping her steady as she got to her feet.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” came the bright voice, “I seem to be… a little…” Her vibrant green eyes,went from being unfocused to wide and alert as she stared at who was helping her. Her voice was barely above a whisper, panicked and reverent in equal measure, “...Adrien?”

There were tears in eyes that were so like her own as he replied, “It’s me, mom. Its been… so long.” Despite the tears running freely down both of their faces, he smiled. “There’s a lot we need to catch up on.”

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

Emilie, Marinette was learning, is a remarkably adaptable woman. The news of her husband’s transgressions, her own impending death, and being held in stasis for ten years were all taken in stride. Adrien by way of Nooroo had estimated that they would have two hours and it had only taken maybe half an hour to get all of that out of the way.

As they sipped coffee in the dining room, Marinette listened to them talk. It felt like she shouldn’t be here, like she was an intruder on this very personal moment. This was an emotional reunion between mother and son. What right did she have to be there? Maybe she should just-

“I don’t think you’ve introduced us yet, sweetheart.” Emilie turned her full attention on Marinette, resting her chin upon her steepled fingers.

Grinning, Adrien wrapped an arm around Marinette and pulled her closer. “This is Marinette Dupain-Cheng! She is the kindest, bravest, and most talented person I’ve ever met.”

Which began a round of Adrien talking her up, listing all her accomplishments, big and small, while Marinette’s blush steadily threatened to take over her entire face. To her surprise, he even talked about the milestones that had happened while they had been out of touch. Which set to rest the idea that he had ever been avoiding her. Had they really just been idiots for all these years? Once she finally stopped staring dumbstruck at Adrien, she glanced over at Emilie and realized that she was looking right back at her. There was a pleased smile on her face and she gave a quick wink to Marinette before turning her attention back to Adrien’s rambling.

After a few more minutes, Emilie cut in to say, “Sunshine, could you get us a refill from the kitchen, please?”

“Of course!” Adrien disappeared through the large double doors leading to the kitchen.

“He’s grown up to be such a kind young man. I was worried, leaving him with just Gabriel.” She smiled ruefully.

“I think we have you to thank for that, Mrs. Agreste.”

“Heaven knows I tried, but…” She took Marinette’s hand. “...I don’t think he would have made it this far by himself. Whether you know it or not, he’s better because of you.” A few moments passed with that small contact before she pulled away and frowned at the door he disappeared through. “There isn’t anyone left. He’s alone now.”

The polite smile Marinette had been wearing evaporated. Her voice was barely above a whisper. “I know.”

“Can you… watch out for him… please?” Emilie put a hand to her temple, brows furrowed.

“Are you alright?” She leapt from her seat when Emilie collapsed off of hers. “Adrien!”

While Marinette was crouched over her, Emilie croaked out, “Please. Promise me, you’ll watch out for him.”

The door flew open as Marinette replied, “He's in good hands. I promise.”

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

It is strange, how quickly two hours can pass and yet the rest of a day can drag on forever. They’d startled the poor guard watching the Agreste manor half to death, but Adrien had wanted to be sure there was a proper burial this time. He hadn’t wanted his mother to languish in the manor any longer than she had already. They’d gone home and just found ways to avoid talking about what was really on their minds until the sun was down. Then they’d gone to bed, too drained to dream.

Marinette woke up at midnight thanks to a chill coming in from the partially open window. Even if she hadn’t felt his absence in the bed beside her, she would have know he wasn’t there. On the nightstand, the little kwami bed she’d made for the two of them was occupied solely by Tikki, who was peacefully dozing. After putting on her warmest robe, she open the window fully and climbed up the fire escape to the roof of her apartment.

Just as she suspected, he was sitting there, blonde hair gently tousled by the breeze. He was looking out over the city with a distant stare, his mind clearly somewhere else. She saw his cat ears twitch as she sat down beside him and curled up against him. A strong breeze made her shiver and Chat finally reacted, pulling her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. She nestled herself into the crook of his neck as he settled his chin on her head.

“You should’ve stayed inside, Mari.”

“And leave my kitty out in the cold? Never.”

“This kitty is used to the cold.”

“Doesn’t mean that you need to stay out in it.”

There was a long silence following her words before he spoke again.

“I should probably feel bitter or sad or something right now, shouldn’t I?” She didn’t reply, sensing that he needed to talk this out himself. “But the truth is, I did all my mourning already. If anything, I feel… complete now. Like, I have closure, I know what happened to her. She didn’t abandon us. When she…” He swallowed heavily and started again. “When she passed, I was there for her.”

“But…?”

“Now I’m orphan. Sure, Gabriel is alive, but he might as well not be. Hawkmoth is going to jail for a long time - which is good!” He quickly added. “He deserves it for all the people he’s hurt. But I don’t really have any other family. Excluding mom’s…” he took another deep, steadying breath, “...first funeral, I haven’t really seen any of them since I was a kid.”

“Maybe… but that’s what it was like before, right? Gabriel wasn’t exactly father of the year before his reveal.”

He chuckled. “You got me there. But I also wasn’t in the best place then either. I don’t have many friends, and with Alya and Nino out of country so often, I’m alone most of the time.”

She pulled back enough to look him in the eye and cocked an eyebrow at him. “What about me?”

He rubbed the back of his neck and she was surprised to see a blush peeking out from underneath his mask. “That’s… I wanted to talk with you about that, actually.”

Fighting down the fluttering butterflies in her stomach, she replied, “...Alright. What is there to talk about?”

“I’m so sorry.” He hunched his shoulders and looked down at the ground. “I… I was too much of a coward to keep our friendship alive after school. I just… I thought…” His cat ears flattened on his head. “...I thought you wouldn’t want to see me again after that rejection.”

“Chat… Adrien… I understand. Confessing at graduation wasn’t my best decision, but I just… it suddenly hit me that it might be the last time I would ever get to see you. I wanted you to know how I felt. How I still feel.”

“So… you forgive me?”

She laughed. “Only if you forgive me for rejecting you as Ladybug.”

“How can I refuse such a sweet deal?” He grinned at her in his usual cocky way, just like his old self again, before the nervousness crept back in. “So… where does that leave us then?”

“Where do you want it to leave us?” She looked into his eyes, watching carefully as she waited for his answer.

“I think,” he took her hand in his and gently rubbed his thumb across the back of it, “I want to stay with you.” His gaze flickered to hers. “If that’s alright with you?”

She leaned in towards his face slowly, hesitating at the last moment before he closed the remaining space between them. They shared a tender kiss in the moonlight. She whispered against his lips as they began to pull away, “Sounds perfect to me.”

#MarichatMay2019 #Miraculous Ladybug #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Adrien Agreste #Adrienette #Emilie Agreste #Chat Noir #Marichat #ml fanfiction #my writing #Rekindle

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