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lycorogue · 5 years

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Happy Anniversary, “Peeping Tomcat”!

Found on AO3, on FFN, and on DA

(sorry, I lost the original copy of the cover art, so this is low-res version is all I still have)

Summary: Something called to Adrien, and before he knew it, he was addicted to sitting outside Marinette's window as Chat Noir; just watching her. His voyeuristic habit needs to stop, but things have gotten far too complicated now that he realizes he's growing a crush on her.

Rating: K / General Audiences

Pairing: Adrienette (And kind of MariChat... even though they don’t interact??)

Chapters: 17

Status: Complete. 84,239 words

**Disclaimer: This story is only semi-compliant with season 2 and does not take place within that season aside from post-Collector since that concludes Volpina.

A year ago today, I posted "Peeping Tomcat.”

The previous August (2017), a month after I introduced myself to “Miraculous Ladybug,” I had written my first ever fanfic for the fandom. The one-shot was the original “Peeping Tomcat” (it has since been renamed “Peeping Tomcat - Teaser”). I enjoyed the story so much, I decided to expand this one-shot into a full-blown novel.

I worked on “Peeping Tomcat” during that year’s superhero-themed NaNoWriMo. I made it to 50,000 words, but I wasn’t done with my story. I spent the next few months editing my first draft, and there are large parts in the final product that barely resemble the original version. Even after I posted the first chapter on March 30, 2018, I kept working on edits and reworks for the rest of the novel.

I posted a new chapter every Friday for 3+ months. I officially finished the project when I published the final chapter on July 31, 2018. Nearly a full year after I wrote the one-shot.

This novel has been such a large point of pride for me, and I want to thank all of my fans for reading, faving, leaving kudos, bookmarking, commenting, and even reblogging my promotions for each chapter. A year later, and I’m still getting notifications about a new reader, new comment, or new fave/kudos. You guys all super duper rock!

So, how about a trip down memory lane, or how about a taste for those who may have missed this story’s original run?

Sample of chapter 1 below the break.

She didn't realize I watched her every night, and, frankly, I probably shouldn't have.

A thought pulled at the back of my head as I reflected on the akuma supervillains that had originated at that school. There were fifteen kids in my class, including myself. Fifteen. There were thirteen akuma victims that were my classmates. Excluding myself, that meant only one of my classmates hadn't been akumatized. One kid didn't have a school year punctuated with the guilt of becoming a Paris-attacking supervillain: Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Realizing that Marinette was the lone student, besides me, who hadn't been transformed yet, I had a protective need to check on her home, as if gazing upon the abode was enough to ward Hawk Moth from her. I shifted along the roof of the Collège Françoise Dupont so that I was again facing the Place des Vosges. Nestled between these two key points in my life as Chat Noir was the humble bakery Marinette's parents owned, complete with the apartment the Dupain-Cheng family lived in.

It was a simple home considering the entire first floor made up the bakery, which was still smaller than my bedroom. In fact, my two-story room may have been larger than the entirety of the three-level apartment. Neither Marinette nor her parents ever seemed lacking, though. In fact, part of me envied the small apartment. No one could get lost in there. No one could feel alone. Family was always a good holler away, not that Marinette ever needed to holler to get her parents' attention.

There was a warmth to that building that transcended the ovens Mr. Dupain started up at four every morning. Even at night, long after the bakery had shut down, and despite being across the street, I still felt that warmth. For the first time that day, I felt at peace. Just looking upon the Dupain-Cheng household calmed me the way being Chat Noir normally did, the way running through Paris normally did, the way the Ladybug and Chat Noir statue normally did, the way none of those did that night.

Family. I think that's what pinned me to that spot; what soothed my heart. That transcending warmth I could feel meters away was the idea of family. The idea that Marinette was always surrounded by hers, and how it was obvious that her family was immensely proud of her. Marinette's parents were constantly smiling and visibly beaming whenever they were around their daughter, or at least talking about her. Their pride in the woman Marinette was becoming was palpable. The same was true about Marinette's great-uncle Cheng Shifu. The entire clan radiated with love. Anyone could feel it, even from across the street.

I needed that sensation that night. After all of my failings, and with Father's stern talk of his disappointments in me, I needed a reminder that unconditional love existed. I needed to know that people could love others even with their shortcomings; a way to reassure myself that my father still did love me, and that Ladybug would still need me as her partner.

Like the scent of freshly baked croissants, the pacifying feeling of honest, familial love wafted towards me, and I breathed it in deep. I was no longer on edge as I pictured all the things that made the Dupain-Cheng home so welcoming and loving.

I remembered being Chat Noir in Marinette's home as I assisted Ladybug in hiding Kim from an akuma villain who was hunting him down. While Ladybug discussed her strategy with Marinette's parents and Kim, I had spotted a family photo displayed on a bookshelf in the living room. Marinette had her goofy little grin, and her parents sweetly smiled behind her. While I don't think I have a single picture like that with Father, the photo reminded me of the ones I had with my mom; both of us grinning ear-to-ear. Love shone through the pictures of me and Mom, just as it did with that photo in Marinette's living room.

My mind then wandered to when I helped Marinette by translating for her Chinese great-uncle. She was so nervous about dishonoring the master chef, but the man took to his great-niece instantly. I got to spend the day watching the two of them interact, and it was sweet the care each took to learn about the other. In the end, Cheng Shifu was so proud of his great-niece that he renamed his famous Celestial Soup after her. True, my father uses me as a poster child for his clothing line, but there was something different; something special in Cheng Shifu honoring Marinette the way he did. She was able to be her clumsy, awkward, unsure self and still manage to impress him. I have to be poised, reserved, and refined at all times to avoid disappointing my father. Which is probably why I needed Chat Noir so much.

The thing that brought me the most comfort, though, was remembering when I was at Marinette's house to practice for the Ultimate Mecha Strike III gaming tournament. Marinette may have been embarrassed by her parents, but I thought it was super sweet that they kept popping in to check up on us. The fact that they did so using the pretense of bringing us snacks was a nice added touch. They always had smiles that matched the warmth of the croissants, cookies, or quiche they brought for us. I get that Marinette was like most teenagers who just wanted some space to breathe, but I've had all the space I could want, and then some, since Mom went missing. To have someone check in that frequently, to have parents that so desperately want to be in their child's life; I don't think Marinette realized how fantastic that is, or how jealous I was.

I allowed myself to truly relax. I lounged across the roof of my school, my legs dangling over the edge, as I leaned back on my elbows and imagined what was going on in that warm apartment. What was it like to live there? What was it like to be part of that family? I pictured myself in Marinette's place: Tom Dupain was my father instead of hers, and Sabine Cheng was my mother. I envisioned it was me flailing around during a water balloon fight with my father, or that I was the one being instructed by my mother on how to roll out the dough properly to make the crust for a quiche. I could practically smell the smoky sweetness of a well-seasoned roast and fingerling potatoes being pulled from the tiny apartment kitchen oven and placed on the breakfast counter. I almost tasted the flaky butter of still-warm biscuits topped with a touch of plum jam. The chilled breeze of the night vanished from my notice as I felt snuggled into what would have been my lofted bed; should I have been the one who lived above the neighborhood bakery. I breathed in the sweet lingering smells of the day's baked goods as I pictured them being the cologne from the Dupain-Chengs as they tucked me in and kissed my forehead goodnight. I yearned for Marinette's reality to be mine, and imagined that it was.

I got so lost in that fantasy I nearly fell off the roof when I heard the scream.

Want to keep reading? Check out the full chapter here: Mistake

Want to read the whole thing? You can find it at these three sites: on AO3, on FFN, and on DA

#ML #Miraculous Ladybug #fanfic #LycoRogue writing #Peeping Tomcat #Adrien Agreste #Chat Noir #Cat Noir #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Multiple-chapters #chaptered story #17 chapters #84000+ words #non-sexual voyuerism #adrienette #pseudo-marichat #first anniversary #chapter sample #LycoRogue original

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mikauzoran · 5 years

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Marichat Drabble: Collar

Chat Noir had not been expecting to find Marinette pacing her room wearing a little black dress. It was a snug, off-the-shoulder number that hugged each of her curves just right before flaring out at the knees.

“Hey,” Chat greeted dumbly, stunned at how beautiful the girl he loved was. With fifteen minutes’ prep time, no less.

Marinette chuckled nervously. “Hey.” Her hair was down, and she self-consciously tucked a strand behind her ear, revealing the garnet earrings he had given her.

Seeing his present on her gave him an instant shot of confidence…as if the fact that she had raced home to change into that dress for him hadn’t been enough.

Marinette cleared her throat. “I mean… Hey, Minou. What’s up? Did you need something? It’s kind of late,” she chuckled giddily.

He crossed the room with a fond laugh, taking both of her hands and pressing a kiss to each. “Funnily enough, I do need something, Marinette.” He tugged her over to the chaise and sat her down.

“What is it?” A bit of her excitement faded as she noted the serious expression on his face and in his eyes below the surface of the pure love she also found there.

He released her hands to unzip the pockets of the suit. “I have something for you. Hold out your hands, please.”

She did as requested, and, one at a time, he pressed a small, cold, strangely weighty object into each hand, curling Marinette’s fingers around them.

“Okay.” He blew out a breath slowly. “Open them.”

Marinette found herself with a brooch in either hand. One was a small, violet cabochon. The other was a peacock pin.

“Wh-What…? What are…?”

Chat pointed to the peacock pin. “Peacock Miraculous.” He then indicated the purple stone. “Butterfly Miraculous.”

Marinette stared at Chat, waiting for him to tell her that he was joking.

He didn’t. He just stood there watching her with a neutral expression on his face.

She looked down at the brooches in her hands, felt their weight in her palms.

She looked back up at him. “You’re supposed to tell me that you’re joking now.”

He sat down beside her on the chaise with a bit of an anxious laugh. “Marinette, My Princess, I am not joking.”

Marinette’s eyes narrowed, her brow furrowing as she studied his face. “Oh my God, you’re not joking!” she squeaked. “Oh my gosh.” She set down the Miraculouses on the seat before she could drop and break them. “Oh my gosh, Minou,” she repeated. “H-How? How did you…? I don’t understand.”

Chat shrugged and pointed to the Butterfly Miraculous. “Stealth mission. I’ve been doing recon on Papillon for the past few months.”

He ignored the flummoxed look on Marinette’s face in favor of continuing the speech he had prepared.

“He keeps the Miraculous in a safe in his beside table at night, so I waited for him to fall asleep, snuck into his room, and had Plagg magic open the safe. I mean, I could have opened it the traditional way—I saw him put in the combination…it’s the day he takes off every year to spend with his son…in theory. Sometimes that just means dinner or a movie or a board game before having to work anyway, but—but my hands were shaking too badly to input the combination, so Plagg opened the safe, and…” He met Marinette’s stunned gaze and smiled nervously. “and I stole the Butterfly Miraculous. The Peacock Miraculous was easier. Mayura shut down the security system and stole it from the safe Papillon was keeping it in for me while I was getting the Butterfly Miraculous, so…here we are. Supervillain defeated. I did pretty well, didn’t I?” He bit his lip. “Or are you mad I never mentioned any of this before? If you are, I understand, and I’m sorry. I can explain. I—”

Marinette stretched out her hand and placed it over his mouth. She closed her eyes and shook her head. “You…You broke into Papillon’s house and stole the Butterfly Miraculous, and then Mayura gave you the Peacock Miraculous.”

“I broke into Papillon’s room,” Chat corrected around her fingers. “But yeah.”

“Mayura teamed up with you against Papillon…and gave you her Miraculous…which she had to steal from Papillon for you,” Marinette said slowly and deliberately, trying to sort out her partner’s outlandish tale. “You broke into Papillon’s house with Mayura, and she helped you steal the Miraculouses from Papillon.”

Chat winced as her voice when shrill. “Sort of?”

“Why would she do that?” Marinette asked in exasperation. “Every time we’ve faced her, she’s seemed so militantly loyal to Papillon. She’s like how you used to be for Ladybug. She takes all kinds of risks for Papillon. Why would she help you?”

“I asked her to.” Chat shrugged. “She loves him and wants him to be happy. That’s why she became Mayura to begin with, but she never planned for…” He made a vague, all-encompassing arm gesture. “…for all of this to happen, and she’s regretted it for a while. She wants what’s best for him, even though she knows how much this will upset him, so she’s been wanting to end all this for some time now…she just never had the resolve.”

“And she told you all these things?” Marinette was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that the two missing Miraculouses were sitting beside her on her chaise longue.

Chat nodded.

“And…she just gave you her Miraculous?”

He nodded again.

“Because you asked her to,” Marinette clarified. “Why would she trust you? It would be one thing to steal both Miraculouses and give them to you, but…why? To betray Papillon like that…if she really loves him… She just teamed up with you right away when you asked her?”

“Pretty much?” Chat replied patiently, letting Marinette process the complex situation.

“What would make her do that?” Marinette shook her head, baffled at the sudden apparent change of heart in their adversary.

Chat took a breath and slipped his hand into Marinette’s. “Because it was me asking. I think I’m the only one she would ever betray him for,” Chat whispered, gearing up for the second half of the revelation.

“W-Why?” Marinette could feel herself developing an eye twitch.

“Because she loves me,” Chat replied.

“What?!” Marinette squawked.

Chat forced himself to meet her eyes. “She’s my pseudo-step-mom. Mayura is my pseudo-step-mom.”

Marinette’s mouth fell open, and she sucked in a huge breath.

“And Papillon is my father,” Chat completed. “So we didn’t have to break in. Talk about an inside job, huh?” He tried to smile, but it was hard when she was gaping at him with such horror in her expression.

“Oh my God,” she gasped, barely above a whisper.

“So maybe you can understand why I didn’t tell you right away when I found out.” He gulped. “Hopefully you can understand why I didn’t say anything.”

She was on top of him in seconds, squeezing the life out of him, nuzzling his face and neck and hair, depositing kisses.

“Are you okay? Oh my gosh, how could you be okay? Is this what you’ve been talking to my mom about? Please tell me you haven’t been dealing with this all on your own for months, Minou. Please tell me you talked to someone. Please…” She couldn’t think of what else to say—what did you say when someone’s father was a supervillain?—so she just lavished attention on him and repeated, “Please…”

He leaned back on the chaise, lying down with her on top of him, between his legs. By all estimations, this was going well…better than anticipated.

“I’m okay,” he sighed. “Yes, this is what I’ve been talking to Sabine about. All those times I’ve broken down in tears these past few months and you had to hold me until I calmed down? This is what I’ve been freaking out about. Don’t worry, Princess. Even though I didn’t tell you about it, you’ve been helping me through this the whole time, so…I’m sorry for not telling you, but…thank you for being there for me anyway.”

“Oh, Chat Noir,” Marinette whispered against his collarbone. “Oh, my Minou. It’s okay. It’s…It’s fine. I just…I’m horrified that I had no idea what you were going through. I…wish I could have done more.”

Chat shook his head. “I didn’t want you to know. You would have been worried about me constantly. I never would have been able to escape from it. This way, you were my refuge. When I was with you, I could forget about it all. I think things were better this way…unless you’re mad at me for keeping secrets?”

“No,” she assured, pushing up to look down at him. “No, Minou. You get a free pass for this one. Just…maybe…if it can be helped…no big secrets like this between us in the future?”

“If it can be helped,” he repeated with a serene smile. He sat them both back up on the chaise and retrieved the two Miraculouses from where they had been knocked to the floor. He placed them in Marinette’s hands once more, closing her fingers around them.

“You’re okay?” Marinette sought to verify once more.

Chat nodded, putting on a brave smile for his princess. “For now. I do have a favor to ask of you, though.”

“Of course.”

“Depending upon how my father reacts once he realizes what I’ve done…could we maybe not advertise the fact that my father is a domestic terrorist? I realize that that’s a really selfish thing for me to request, and I know he and my pseudo-step-mom should really do jail time, but…maybe…if they’re on their best behavior from now on…could we not turn them in to the police?” He hesitantly looked at her, his eyes pleading. “I’ll understand if you say no. I know they deserve whatever punishment they get, but… You can say no, Marinette.”

She rolled her eyes, pulling him into a tender side-hug. “Chat Noir, how could I say no to you? How could I make you turn your parents in to the police? How could I rip your family away from you? If your father gracefully accepts his defeat and doesn’t do anything else illegal, I don’t see why we couldn’t just let this all go.”

He breathed a sigh of relief, letting his head come to rest on her shoulder. “Thank God. Thank you, Marinette.”

She pressed a kiss to the side of his temple, giving his hair a comforting nuzzle.

They stayed like that for a minute until they’d both regained their equilibrium. They separated reluctantly.

“So…” Marinette pursed her lips and looked down at the Miraculouses. “What now?”

“My plan was for you to return them to Master Fu, since you’re the one who knows where he lives,” Chat informed, moving on to the third stage of his night of mass-revelations.

Marinette blinked. “What?”

“Please take them back to the Guardian…My Lady,” he enunciated, turning the nickname into two, distinct, unmistakable words.

Her eyes flew wide, and she slapped a hand over her mouth. A shriek of disbelief came out unintelligible from behind her fingers.

He waited patiently for her to calm down.

He wasn’t expecting her to slap him on the arm and exclaim, “Oh my gosh! You know! You really do know!”

It was typical Marinette, so he wasn’t sure why he hadn’t been expecting it.

He smirked and shrugged. “Yes. Check the shadows of surrounding chimneys before detransforming on your balcony, Buginette. A couple months ago I was just about to call out to you when you dropped your transformation on me like a ton of bricks. I was a mess…even more so than usual.”

“You’ve known for months?!” she scoffed.

He nodded, confessing, “We’re coming up on three months.”

“You didn’t say anything!”

“You didn’t want me to know.”

“Tikki didn’t want you to know! I—I…may have been on the fence about it,” she admitted, looking down at the Miraculouses. “It was complicated. A few years ago, I wanted you to know, but Tikki said no—really, really convincingly with graphic stories about previous holders who had gotten themselves or their partners killed by revealing identities—and then you didn’t like Ladybug anymore, but you were becoming friends with Marinette, and it felt wrong to lie to you, but Tikki still said no, and I waffled, and it would have been awkward, and…I was going to tell you. I’ve been fighting with Tikki recently about it. Like, we stop talking to each other for a few hours at a time because we’re fighting about it. I was going to tell you, though.”

She looked up at him and was met with a gentle smile of affection and acceptance.

He leaned in to nuzzle her hair. “Yeah. I know. You told me you were thinking about revealing your identity not forty minutes ago. I was really banking on it being me you were referring to.”

She gasped. “I told you that I loved you.” She pulled back to gape at him in horror.

He shook his head, still smiling, eyes full of adoration. “No. You implied that you loved me. I am the one that told you that I was in love with you.”

Her hand went to her mouth. “You knew. You knew you were telling me—telling Marinette—when you told Ladybug earlier.”

He nodded. “I kind of wanted to space out the bombshells I was dropping on you. The hypothetical game was supposed to be a bit of a shock absorber.”

“I think it worked. Other than the fact that I had no clue that you really did know my identity and that your father was Papillon and…and that you were in love with me…until you told me in no uncertain terms that you really were in love with me,” she giggled, setting the Miraculouses aside once more to take his hand in both of hers. “Will you say it again? To me this time?”

“I love you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” he whispered. “I’ve fallen for you twice, and I hope to keep falling even deeper in love with you each and every day, if you’ll let me.”

“I’d love that,” she hummed in ecstasy. “This is like a dream.”

She leaned in to kiss him but stopped short, realizing something important just as he said, “Wait” and put a finger on her lips.

They blinked, realizing that they had both stopped.

“What is it?” Marinette wondered, drawing back.

“I’ve got one more bombshell for you, but you go first,” he urged. “You were pulling back even before I interrupted you.”

She pursed her lips. “I still haven’t told you I love you.”

“I inferred that you love me,” he chuckled, delighting in that knowledge after so long spent suffering.

She shook her head. “But I need to say it. You deserve to hear it. I love you, Chat Noir.”

His sappy grin began to slide into a frown. “Why does it sound like there’s a ‘but’ on the end of that sentence?”

Marinette took a deep breath. “I don’t want to keep any more secrets from you. I owe you an explanation.”

“Okay,” he agreed, settling in to listen.

“I owe you an apology,” she added, face filling with shame. “I never gave you a fair chance as Ladybug because I was in love with someone else.”

“The guy you fell in love with in the rain?” he prompted.

She nodded with a sad smile. “You know how I get, Minou. Once I get an idea in my head…and I got it in my head that you weren’t serious, that you legitimately loved something but that that something wasn’t me, not the real me, so I never gave you a chance. It was only after you told Ladybug you were giving up on her and after you started hanging out more regularly with Marinette that I was finally able to see how spectacularly I had screwed up and missed out. I fell for you then when I thought it was too late, so I never said anything, and I tried to keep my feelings a secret so they wouldn’t mess up our friendship. I didn’t want to tell you because…I mean, how stupid am I? I turn down this great guy for three years, and then as soon as he’s not interested anymore I decide I want him. I am objectively the biggest idiot.”

Chat shook his head, giving her hand a squeeze. “Princess, the most important thing is that we’re both on the same page now.”

She bit her lip. “Not quite. I am desperately in love with you, Minou.”

“But?” he prompted with a sigh.

“I’m desperately in love with someone else too,” she groaned. “You have to know that before anything happens between us. My heart is divided directly down the middle, and if he were here now, telling me he loved me, I’d be in his arms in a second. You have to know that. I know I’m awful, and I know it’s not fair to you, but…I’ve been struggling with this for a year now, and I don’t see any way out of it.”

She met his eyes as she promised, “If you decide you want to be in a relationship with me, I won’t physically be unfaithful…but my heart will be. My mind will cheat on you. I’ll still think about him and long for him and dream about him. I don’t think I’ll be able to stop. He’s a close friend, so it’s not like I’d be able to cut him out of my life. I…can’t cut him out of my life; he’s woven into the fabric of it. That’s what I had to tell you. I love you, but I love him too.”

Chat took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he carded a hand through his hair. “Okay.”

“Okay?” She didn’t sound as if she believed him.

He nodded. “Yeah. Okay. I needed to hear that, so thanks for telling me.”

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, looking down in her shame. “I’m horrible.”

“Stop,” he insisted. “You’re not. You’re not, Marinette. I respect your honesty. I appreciate it…even if it really, really…really, really sucks. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she sighed miserably.

They sat with the heaviness of the situation for a minute. Chat squeezed Marinette’s hand, and Marinette squeezed back.

“You don’t have to make a decision right away,” Marinette whispered. “But just let me know if you think you could still be in a relationship with me despite all that…and even if the answer is ‘no’ now, let me know if you ever change your mind. I don’t foresee me getting over you any time soon, so…”

“Answer one question for me, please,” he entreated, cupping her cheek with his free hand. “I know I’m prying, but I have to know: who’s the other guy? I want you so badly, I love you so much that it doesn’t matter if I can only have half of your heart. I won’t say I don’t care, but… My answer is yes, yes, of course I want to be with you, but please tell me now whom I’m sharing you with because I don’t want to find out later and have it catch me off guard. I won’t do anything with the knowledge; I just need to know.”

She nodded with a timid, “Okay”.

She swallowed, took a breath, and announced, “Adrien Agreste. I’m in love with Adrien Agreste…. I have been since he gave me his umbrella to walk home with shortly after we met.”

Chat stared at her dumbly. “A-Adrien Agreste?” he repeated.

She nodded self-consciously.

“All this time you’ve…?” He felt dizzy. There was no way he could be this blessed.

She nodded. “I’m sorry, Minou.”

“No! Don’t be sorry!” he insisted, trying to keep his panic and euphoria under control. “This is perfect! I-I…”

He took note of the concerned, confused way she was looking at him.

“I sound nuts. I can explain,” he assured. “This is the other thing I was going to tell you.” He took a deep breath. “Detransformation.”

The cat suit melted away in a neon green light, and suddenly Adrien Agreste was sitting on Marinette’s chaise, holding her hands.

She gasped, her eyes beginning to sting.

“I love you so much, Marinette,” Adrien whispered, tears coming to his own eyes. “And to think that you love me too…both of me…” His voice faltered at the overwhelming emotions.

“M-Minou?” Marinette whispered, taking her hands from his to reach up and touch his face.

“My Princess,” he sighed, one hand stroking her cheek while the other went to rest on her hip possessively.

“Thank God,” she hiccupped, relief washing over her. “You have no idea how I’ve been torturing myself over you two, and now…”

“I’m yours,” he swore. “Both of me. All of me. Yours. Yours the second you decide you want to slap a collar on me.”

“We’ll go collar hunting as soon as the shops open tomorrow,” she giggled.

They looked at each other, hesitating for a breath before simultaneously leaning in, meeting in the middle for a kiss that was four years overdue.

The next morning, Sabine found Adrien asleep on the couch.

“Marinette’s not up yet, is she?” were the first words he managed to slur sleepily.

“Not yet,” Sabine confirmed. “Who is she under the impression is sleeping on that couch so that I can wake you up to transform if I hear her stirring?”

“Her boyfriend,” Adrien snickered.

“Oh?” Sabine exclaimed, trying to contain her joy and relief. “And whom do I have the honor of congratulating? Chat Noir or Adrien Agreste?”

“Both of us. I told her. Everything.” Adrien burrowed further into the covers.

“Let him sleep,” Plagg urged, flying over to meet Sabine in the kitchen. “He’s had a busy night between stealing the Butterfly Miraculous from his old man, telling Marinette everything, going with Ladybug to return the stolen Miraculouses, and then making out with your daughter for a couple hours. He needs his beauty sleep.”

Sabine pursed her lips, opened her mouth to reply, and then pursed her lips once more. “All right, but I would like the full story at his earliest convenience. I have been waiting for that boy to end up with my daughter for years, and I think I deserve the play-by-play.”

“If you want,” Plagg proposed. “Give me some cheese, and I’ll give you my version.”

Sabine shrugged and went to the fridge. “I still want him to tell me later, though. You know. With all the sighs and the drama and the starry-eyed looks whenever he says Marinette’s name.”

Plagg rolled his eyes. “The sappy version.”

“He’s adorable when he talks about her,” Sabine snickered.

#Marichat #Adrienette #Miraculous Ladybug #Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction #Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Chat Noir #Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Adrien Agreste #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Chat Noir #Adrien Agreste #Mikau's Writings

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lycorogue · 3 years

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Thoughts about episode “Lie”

Okay. Here we are. This is back to the better writing I was talking about the other day. I love me parallel stories, so this was just *chef kiss* in that department.

Before I delve into my thoughts on the episode itself, I want to take a step back and talk about my views of the non-love-square ships Lukanette and Adrigami. (Feel free to skip ahead; I have a header for when I start talking about this episode again)

Lukanette and Adrigami

For me, Marinette and Luka had romantic chemistry from the word go. As much of a Marichat shipper as I am, I knew that if anyone could make Marinette forget about Adrien, it wouldn’t have been Chat Noir. It would be Luka. Chat Noir would then come in at a close 3rd (a bit ironically) when it comes to Marinette’s heart. Meanwhile, Kagami slowly grew to have a crush on Adrien post-Riposte, and then charged forward knowing exactly who she wanted. On the flipside, though, I stand firm that there wasn’t really much romantic interest coming from Adrien. If anyone was going to make Adrien forget about Ladybug, it would be Marinette; not Kagami.

The episode “Frozer” - the one where Kagami makes her crush known for the first time, and Adrien first attempts dating her - practically gives us some foreshadowing of their entire relationship. Aside from clearly finding Kagami attractive (as showcased by the pink-bubbles-vision when Adrien first sees her sans-helmet in “Riposte”), he doesn’t seem to have any romantic inclination towards Kagami until after she cups his cheek and lets him know, in not so many words, that she likes him. Even so, it isn’t until Marinette basically gives the thumbs up that he should pursue this relationship does he give it a try. He’s still very uncomfortable around her, and only gets a bit more comfortable in “Animaestro”; probably because he’s seen his father around Kagami’s mom and just mimics that (as seen in “Backwarder”). Going back to “Frozer” though, Adrien spends most of his time with Kagami watching Marinette, and even abandons Kagami in favor of checking in on Marinette - something Luka could have easily done and probably doesn’t because he sees Adrien already on it and knows Marinette would prefer Adrien’s comfort. So Luka doesn’t push the issue. That whole ice rink interaction shows that, while Luka trumps Chat Noir as a potential alternative love interest for Marinette, Marinette still surpasses Kagami as a potential alternative love interest for Adrien. This, for me, is again hinted at in the episode Heart Hunter where, while enjoying himself seemingly equally with both girls, there’s just these little hints - complimenting Marinette more than Kagami, asking Marinette to choose the ice cream - that, at least subconsciously, Adrien is leaning a touch more towards Marinette over Kagami. His heart just isn’t all that into this relationship. This is again showcased in the New York special when Adrien (at least in the English dub; I haven’t watched it in other languages) asks Marinette to dance with him with an almost pleading tone in his voice. (To be fair, clearly Marinette isn’t thinking of Luka at all during that trip either...)

I think the final Foreshadowing nail in the Adrigami coffin is this dialogue from “Frozer”:

Kagami: “You still keep doing what other people want you to do.” Adrien: “No, I just want him to be happy.”

In the end, Adrien did the same thing with Kagami: he did what he thought would make her happy because he’s a people pleaser to his core.

Adrien of course found Kagami attractive and fun to hang out with. She was a fantastic companion, and I love their companionship so much. However, I feel like he dated her mostly because he knew he had to find some way of getting over Ladybug, and here’s this pretty girl who clearly has a thing for him, so why not???? Their parents were practically setting them up as a couple anyway, between the trip to the royal wedding and the movie premiere. Plus, this “approved” friend meant he could spend more time outside of his father’s house while genuinely enjoying the company. Win-win. He then did all the pseudo-dating stuff he’s clearly witnessed in media; kind of following a play-book as it were.

However, he never did anything even remotely romantic or flirty towards Kagami that was on par with his romantic gestures and flirtations towards Ladybug (or even Marinette, for that matter). His love language is obvious after watching him with Ladybug, and he uses some of that same language (albeit subconsciously... probably...) while interacting with Marinette. Things like leaning in playfully (ending of “Troublemaker” and when asking Marinette for a macaron in “Despair Bear”), sharing a romantic picnic (“Glaciator”) even if it was just to cheer Marinette up, winking (the endless winking in too many episodes to list here), whispering in her ear (“Despair Bear” and one other that I can’t recall right now), Soft SmilesTM (“Chameleon”, pretty much all of the NY special, tons of season 3 episodes), confessing insecurities or secrets (“Gamer” and “Gorizilla”), or asking her to dance (“Despair Bear” and “NY Special”). I’m sure there’s tons more and each example has more episodes it’s showcased in, but you get the idea. Alternatively, Adrien just never used that same love language with Kagami. With her it all felt like calculated moves; it was expected of him to lean in for the kiss in “Heart Hunter” and “Miracle Queen”, or wipe away the smudge of ice cream by Kagami’s mouth, so he did it. Aside from his protectiveness and care for Kagami in “Onichan”, Adrien never really treated Kagami any different than his other friends.

Marinette, on the other hand, does show some of her love language towards Luka. She blushes around him and does that bashful little shoulder shrug. She makes excuses to touch his arms, hands, chest, or back. She literally leans on him. She has an interest in his interests and even goes above and beyond for gifts, such as the necklace (yay; Luka looks so good in a necklace!) and, unofficially, the contract with Bob Roth for Kitty Section.

Granted, she doesn’t flirt with Luka like she does with Chat Noir, but, as someone who also used to flirt with my guy friends without truly realizing the romantic implications (I was a disaster as a teen, okay?), I don’t know if Marinette has truly realized how flirting is part of her love language. If she is anything like I was, flirting is more a fun past-time to see if you could get a rise out of someone in some sort of sextual-tension game of chicken or something. It’s not something you do with someone you have serious feelings for. 😝

Back to Kagami though. I want to stress that, while I didn’t see any romantic future for Adrigami, I do still very much like Kagami and appreciated the character development the writers gave her. I love her as one of Marinette’s potential friends and, as I mentioned, a companion for Adrien. I just never saw any romantic interest coming from Adrien towards Kagami. He never even truly seemed himself around her the way he is around Ladybug or Marinette. I don’t think he’s comfortable enough to not be Textbook BoyfriendTM around Kagami. He even mentions in this episode that him being a clown IS the real him and she calls bullshit (although @gale-gentlepenguin does have some nice commentary on how even that wasn’t exactly truthful and Kagami was right to call him out). Point being, Adrien loves to be nerdy and goofy and playful, and she just doesn’t get that????? A lot of what Adrien likes she seems to dismiss.

I’m sorry, Adrigami shippers. There could have been potential there as these two grew, but as it stood? I just didn’t see it.

The Episode “Lie”

Going back to my thoughts on “Lie” though with all of that above commentary for context. I just feel a bit cheated that Clearly-There’s-Mutual-Pining Lukanette gets ONE kiss lean-in for the whole “love rival” arc they’ve had set up for 1.5 seasons before the relationship implodes, but Clearly-Only-One-Has-Feelings-And-The-Other-Is-Just-Kinda-Going-Along-With-It-Because-Hey-He-Likes-Hanging-Out-With-Her-And-She’s-Cute-So-Why-Not Adrigami has THREE kiss lean-ins in THIS ONE EPISODE ALONE (not to mention the 2 from Heart Hunter/Miracle Queen)!? Like I said, I feel a bit robbed, but... well fed, Adrigami shippers, I guess...

Anyway, my heart hurts so much because yes, Kagami deserves someone who will take the time to be with her (just like how Luka deserves the same), but also, it’s not like Adrien WANTED to abandon her (much like Marinette not wanting to abandon Luka). These poor kids. All four of them. My heart breaks. 😢

I did feel a much stronger emotional gut-punch with this episode, which is surprising because a) we already saw a good 5-10 min of it in “Truth” so this episode was essentially shorter than the premiere, and b) I’m a much stronger Lukanette shipper than an Adrigami shipper (see above). So, bravo to the writers on this episode. I hate that this team broke so many hearts, but this is the caliber of writing I was hoping for.

(I know Marinette is the Guardian, but can we agree to have more Adrien-centric stories, please? They’re just so good).

My final thoughts though: WHY ON EARTH DID THE WRITERS EVEN BOTHER WITH THE “LOVE SQUARE RIVALS” STORY LINE IF THEY WEREN’T GOING TO FOLLOW THROUGH!? ADRIGAMI AND LUKANETTE FINALLY GET TOGETHER AFTER 1.5 SEASONS ONLY FOR THE RELATIONSHIPS TO BE DOA BASICALLY THE NEXT EPISODE!? WHY!? TO RESET THE STATUS QUO THEY WORKED SO HARD TO SHAKE UP!? I already talked Friday about the lost story potential with Lukanette, but there’s also a lot Adrien could have learned from his relationship with Kagami.

Adrien is still VERY vocal about his love, and, while he has learned a lot, matured a lot, and has eased up a lot, Adrien does still semi-burden Ladybug with his feelings; something Luka never did to Marinette. Adrien, possibly due to witnessing his parents - I have theories about the romance dynamic between Emilie and Gabriel - seems to have this view of love being okay even if unbalanced. Ladybug is far more powerful and crucial to the protection of Paris, but they are still partners and equals in their eyes. So maybe he feels the same about love; he may be more romantically devoted to her, but as long as Ladybug loves him even a little, it’s like they’re equals in romance... right???? So... yeah, a more balanced relationship with Kagami could have taught him how important a romantic balance is as well. Plus, if I am right in my assumption that he just kind of went along with the relationship because he thought it was expected, then he could have also learned something about being a people-pleaser. There was a lot of growth potential for both Marinette and Adrien in these non-love-square relationships, and it just feels squandered.

Also, as I mentioned with my review of “Truth”, I’m fearing that the writers are kind of railroading the Ladynoir ship. First, there’s Marinette realizing that she can’t have a boyfriend because he wouldn’t be safe, nor could she be truthful to him about why their time was so limited. The exception being Chat Noir, who can very much protect himself (except for when he’s shielding Ladybug, but she yelled at him for that in “Lie”), and she can be fully honest with him as long as it doesn’t involve their identities, and he very much knows and understands their time restrictions. In fact, he even goes so far as to state that ANY time with her is a gift he cherishes. He’s basically the perfect boyfriend for her in her situation; she just needs to be lonely enough to “realize” it. >3> On the Adrien side of things, Kagami tells him that she can’t trust someone who isn’t honest with her, but there’s Ladybug: fully understanding and completely trusts him even when she knows he’s lying. She also doesn’t fault him for their lack of time together and understands if he needs to run away without a moment’s notice. He’s already in love with her, but this whole situation just paints her even more as the perfect romantic partner for him. I get it, but I also hate it. I hate this feeling of this one corner of the love square being railroaded. It basically dismisses the other 3 corners as possibilities right alongside the Lukanette and Adrigami ships.

All that grumbling aside, I would like to give some applause to how the episode ended. I very much enjoyed that Kagami was like, “nope. You lied to me, and I can’t trust you, so we can’t be friends. I need time away from you. I’ll let you know if we’re ever okay again.” It shows the consequences of playing with someone’s emotions, even if under the best intentions. It also shows that it’s perfectly okay to cut out toxic relationships, even if the other person didn’t intend any harm. Well-intentioned people can still cause toxic relationships, and if you need to step away from them (as Kagami did), then you are completely valid in that decision. It’s an important lesson for kids to learn, I think. I’m just worried that Kagami brushing off even being Adrien’s friend (while justified) might mean not really seeing her in the show anymore, and that would be a shame. 😟 I do enjoy her as a character, and would love to see more of her growth. Plus, she is so limited in social interactions as-is, so I hope we see more Kagami and Marinette friendship growth.

I am also interested in how Adrien reacts to the knowledge that he can indeed ruin his friendships with people if they aren’t in the same emotional space. This is most likely what’s preventing Marinette from confessing: fear that Adrien will reject her so severely that he might not even want to be her friend anymore. So having Adrien now possibly have that fear as well has some interesting story potential (if the writers don’t drop the ball like they did with the Lukanette/Adrigami ships). Meanwhile, having a dejected Luka still offering friendship and support to Marinette - something clearly Adrien assumed would happen with Kagami; once a friend, always a friend - might give her the confidence to confess to Adrien, now trusting that they are good enough friends and he’s a kind enough person that they can still remain friends even if he doesn’t return her feelings.

There’s a lot of potential birthed from these opening episodes, but especially from “Lie” and I’m interested to see what the rest of the season is going to look like now.

Also... ARE WE SURE THAT LUCKY CHARM BRACELET IS ACTUALLY LUCKY!? IT’S BEEN THE HIDING SPOT FOR AN AKUMA TWICE NOW!

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mikauzoran · 5 years

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Marichat Drabble: Need

Chat came barreling through the skylight, leapt down from the loft, and collided with Marinette, knocking her over.

“M-Minou?!” she gasped, grunting as they hit the floor by her chaise longue. “What’s going on? What’s the matter?”

He didn’t reply. He couldn’t reply. All he could do was sob and choke and hold on to her in order to keep himself grounded.

He fell apart anyway.

“Oh my God, are you okay?!” she tried again with similar results.

He sucked in big gulps of air periodically, unable to find his voice to speak. He shook his head in response to her question, burying his face in her stomach.

He was trembling, his whole body shaking as he cried.

His fingers gripped the back of her shirt, tightening and releasing as he rode out the waves of emotional pain.

“Shhhh.” Marinette gave up on problem solving when she saw there was no point. She switched instead to damage control. “Shhh. It’s okay, Minou. Shhh,” she cooed. “Oh, My Minou.”

She bent over the best she could in their awkward position and kissed the top of his head. One hand rubbed up and down the length of his back while the other gently ran through his hair, massaging.

“Shhh, Minou. Shh. Whatever it is, I’m going to make it okay, all right?”

He laughed at that: a high-pitched, hysteric bark of laughter.

“You don’t think I can,” she observed.

He shook his head, his breathing ragged.

“You’d be surprised what I can do,” she muttered, unsure if he could hear her over his own strangled sobs. “I’d figure out how to break all the laws of nature for you if that would make it better.”

It physically made her chest ache to see her partner, her dearest friend, in so much pain, especially when there was nothing she could do about it. She could only watch, and it was excruciating.

She kept petting his hair and rubbing his back with one hand while the other reached for her phone. She texted her mother, “chat is up here in crisis” “what do i do”.

“Is he hurt?” came back Sabine’s reply.

“only emotionally” “come help”

“He came to you, Honey. He might not want to see me. You can ask him, though.”

“Minou, would it help if Maman was here?” Marinette inquired softly.

Chat shook his head and croaked, “Y-You.”

“Okay.” She held in an internal sigh, feeling completely in over her head. She wanted her mother to step in and magically fix everything. “Just me,” she assured.

She sent Sabine a quick text, “he says no what do i do”

“Just hold him and let him cry,” Sabine advised. “Call or text if you need anything. I’ll start on a batch of cookies.”

So Marinette held him.

She made shushing noises and kept stroking and massaging, peppering in the occasional kiss to the top of his head.

Eventually, he calmed down a little and adjusted his position so that his head rested on her shoulder instead of her stomach. “S-Sorry,” he hiccupped.

“Shh.” She gave him a squeeze. “No. There’s nothing to be sorry for. Whatever you need, Minou.”

He lifted his head to really look at her, assessing the truthfulness to her claim.

Marinette gave him a wide, reassuring smile. “Seriously. Tell me what you need, and it’s yours.”

“You,” he thought, knowing she was thinking more along the lines of a head rub or a hug or a half dozen pain au chocolat. She could have no clue what he was thinking.

“Th-Thank you,” he choked, another bout of tears catching him by surprise.

She cupped his cheeks in her hands and leaned in to give his forehead a kiss.

His eyes slipped closed, and he felt her kiss each of his cheeks in turn.

Her lips burned his skin, changing the despair inside him to greed.

He opened his eyes and gazed intently at those marvelous pink lips. He looked up and found her staring wide-eyed and curious, concerned, unsuspecting.

Chat angled his face slightly and leaned in.

Marinette blinked in confusion at first, but then realization struck, and, after a brief instant of shock, acceptance and resignation settled onto her face, and she closed her eyes, waiting to be kissed.

She was going to let him.

She was going to let him kiss her.

Everything he wanted, right there, inviting him to take it. Take her.

He could see it playing out. Vividly. All he would have to do would be…

Chat leans in, hesitantly brushing his lips against hers at first, testing the waters.

Marinette puts up no resistance, simply letting it happen, but then Chat opens his mouth, sucking and nibbling hungrily at her lips, entreating entry.

Marinette gasps, parting her lips and letting him inside. At first she is unsure, but her doubts quickly vanish as his tongue slides in and coils around hers, coaxing her into his dance.

She kisses him back.

His hand goes to the small of her back, drawing her closer, pressing every molecule of air between them out of the way.

He does this little thing with his tongue that makes her groan impatiently, and she hooks her leg around his hip, pulling him down to the floor on top of her.

Things deteriorate quickly.

He presses his thigh between her legs, and she arches into him, making his toes curl.

They break briefly for air, and Marinette takes the opportunity to gasp, “Oh, Adrien. Adrien!” because she knows it’s him. She knows it’s him, and she wants him.

She wants him.

Only…Marinette did not want Chat. She did not want Adrien either.

She was only sitting there waiting to be kissed because she thought that it would make Chat feel better. She was doing this out of love, yes, but not the kind of love he wanted from her. She was doing this as a friend. Platonically.

If he kissed her now, he would ruin something between them. She would think he’d kiss anyone just to feel better, just to escape from the suffering. She wouldn’t know how much he meant it. She wouldn’t realize that she was the only one he wanted to kiss—now and until the day that he died.

If he took advantage and seized the opportunity, he would spoil any future kiss, inject misunderstandings into the friendship, and make it harder for her to believe him when he finally did get up the courage to say, “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I am in love with you”.

If he kissed her, it would diminish…everything.

Yes, he desperately wanted to disappear into her lips and forget about the pain, but he had planned how he wanted his first kiss with Marinette to go as both Chat and Adrien, and this was not it.

He angled his head up and pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead. “Thanks, Princess,” he whispered. “Sorry. I’m not feeling quite like myself right now, so thanks for riding this out with me.” Chat rested his head back on her shoulder, nose to her neck.

“It’s okay, Minou,” she whispered, promising, “Anytime.”

“You’re such a good friend, Marinette,” he sighed and then hesitated before adding, “…I love you.”

“I love you too,” she giggled as if it were the most obvious thing, and why did he even need to say it? There was no question that they loved one another.

Chat decided that telling her she was a good friend before telling her he loved her probably obscured the meaning of “I love you”. Oh well. He hadn’t really intended to confess to her that day anyway, so it was okay for the moment.

“You doing all right?” Marinette checked in a minute or two later.

“Yeah,” he assured. “I’m feeling better now.”

“Good,” she sighed in relief, laying her head against his. “You scared me, Minou.”

“Sorry,” he muttered, breathing in her scent and trying to calm down.

“No. It’s fine, really. I’m glad you came to me. I’m really, really glad you came to me…. I was just worried,” she clarified.

There was a beat before Marinette decided to risk prying. “May I ask what happened, or do you not want to talk about it?”

Chat tensed. “I…don’t ask, please. I don’t… I’ll talk to Sabine later. …Sorry. That must be really weird for you.”

“It’s not,” she assured. It wasn’t. That wasn’t the problem.

“It must feel like…you’ve got to be wondering why I can talk to your mom about it but not you,” he continued.

“Yeah,” she confessed in a sigh. “I have to admit I’m a little jealous, but…at least you’re talking to somebody. Even if it can’t be me, I’m glad you’re talking to somebody.”

“Don’t be jealous, My Princess,” he chuckled at the irony. “It’s something I need a mother’s help with. It’s about my father, and my pseudo-step-mom is too close to the situation, so I can’t go to her like I usually do.”

Marinette nodded, feeling slightly better. She hesitated before continuing to press her luck, “…Is it what you talked to Maman about a couple weeks ago?”

“Mmhm,” Chat hummed against her neck.

“Okay,” Marinette whispered, letting go of her confusion and resentment over the issue. “…Do you want to go downstairs? Maman is making cookies, and I bet she saved the bowl so we can eat the dough.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Chat chuckled, pushing himself up.

Sabine was in the kitchen, setting the timer when they came down the steps. Sure enough, the bowl with remnants of cookie dough was sitting on the counter.

Sabine looked up, worry in her eyes. “Chat Noir. Are you okay, Honey?”

He shook his head as he came to a stop by the refrigerator. “You know how a couple weeks ago you said I should wait until I had more concrete proof before I jumped to conclusions about my father?”

Sabine nodded.

“I have more concrete proof,” he muttered down at the floor.

Sabine had him wrapped in a hug in seconds.

“We’ll talk later, okay? Right now, you two should go fight over the cookie dough. Cookies will be out of the oven in ten minutes.”

“Thanks, Sabine.” Chat gave her a quick squeeze before going over to join Marinette who handed him a spoon.

“Or we could use fingers, if you’d rather,” she suggested, waggling her eyebrows in a scandalous fashion.

He laughed as he took off his gloves. “Today’s the kind of day to use your fingers.”

#Marichat #Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Chat Noir #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Chat Noir #Miraculous Ladybug #Mikau's Writings #Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction #Sabine Dupain-Cheng #Imagined Make Out

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mikauzoran · 5 years

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Marichat Drabble: Rainstorm

(This is too long to be considered a drabble. Ugh. -.-;)

“Oh my gosh, Minou, you’re soaked! Get in here,” Marinette urged, stepping out of the way and waving her shivering friend inside.

“Thanks,” Chat Noir muttered. “Sorry,” he added when he noticed the rapidly growing puddle forming at his feet.

“Stay here for a sec. I’ll run and get towels,” Marinette instructed, already dashing up the steps.

She returned and started drying him off herself, ruffling his hair with a fluffy, sunshine-yellow towel that smelled like her.

He stood there and willingly submitted to her fussing, savoring the contact, the feeling of her hands gently gliding over his body. For a minute he could pretend there was no towel or leather suit between them—just her hands and his skin—and it was a nice thought.

He was in sore need of that little daydream just then, as it had been a pretty awful day. (Understatement.)

The toweling-dry motions eventually came to a stop, and Chat opened his eyes to find Marinette staring up at him with those piercing, knowing ice blue eyes.

“Princess?” he whispered with a tip of his head.

Her frown softened slightly, and she pulled away, taking the towel with her. “We’ll talk about what’s bothering you in a minute. Come upstairs. You can detransform in the bathroom and take a shower to warm up while I dry Plagg off and get him something to eat. He’s going to catch a cold if you keep him transformed and wet like that.”

Chat didn’t think to challenge her assertion that kwamis could catch colds and, instead, obediently followed her up to the apartment.

“Chat Noir, you’re drenched!” Sabine exclaimed, leaving a boiling pot on the stove to hurry over and mother him.

“Sorry, Sabine.” He blushed sheepishly. “I’ll clean—”

“—No, no, no,” she insisted. “That is not the problem. You need to get changed out of those things before you catch your death. Leather is not suitable for this weather.” Sabine took Chat from Marinette and started ushering him towards the little bathroom behind the kitchen, to the right of the entrance, herself.

Suddenly a thought occurred to her, and she turned to Marinette. “If he detransforms, does the wet go with it?”

Marinette opened her mouth to answer but then frowned. “Maman, why are you asking me? How am I supposed to know?”

Sabine chuckled at her mistake. “Right. Sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Normally it would,” Chat helpfully replied, “but I’m soaked underneath the transformation too. I sort of ran out of the house without thinking and was walking around for a good ten or fifteen minutes before Plagg got me to transform and come here.”

Chat averted his gaze, knowing he’d get a lecture from both Sabine and Marinette separately later. He could feel their eyes on him, feel them thinking some versions of, “Adrien/Minou, you know you come here. You come here immediately when something happens, and I will personally make it better.”

“Are you okay?” Sabine asked instead, voice gentle and ever patient.

He held out a hand, palm down, and fluttered it. “Meh.”

“Do I need to speak with your father?”

The downside of Sabine knowing his identity was that she could and would have words with his father, and there was nothing Adrien—or Chat, for that matter—could do about it.

“Please don’t,” Chat mumbled.

Sabine stretched up on her tiptoes to give his unruly golden locks a reassuring tussle. “We’ll talk about this later. Go get warmed up in the shower. Marinette?” Sabine turned to her daughter. “Go get some of the clothes you made using Adrien’s measurements. I think Chat and Adrien are about the same size, so those should work well enough.”

“Right.” Marinette gave a nod and flew up the stairs to her room to find a suitable outfit.

Chat watched her go longingly.

“Come along, Adrien,” Sabine chuckled as she tugged gingerly on his arm. “Leave Plagg with me and go take care of yourself.”

His transformation melted away with a word and left a sopping wet, distraught teenager standing in Sabine’s foyer.

Plagg, in an uncharacteristic show of affection, landed on Adrien’s shoulder and gave his chosen’s neck a comforting nuzzle. “Oh, Kid.”

“S-Sabine?” Adrien’s voice cracked, the tears he’d been stuffing down finally overtaking him. “What would your first thought be if you found a secret room in your house full of butterflies? The-The white ones…like the ones Ladybug has purified. That’s…” He made himself continue to meet her gaze even as her expression turned horrified. “That’s not something that you could just explain away as something an eccentric rich person would do, right? That’s…pretty…pretty conclusive, isn’t it?”

She took his face in her hands and wiped away the streaming tears as she cooed, “Oh, Adrien. Oh, Sweetie… I’m so sorry,” she whispered, pulling him into a bone-liquefying hug.

“If you don’t feel safe at home, you can move in with us. Marinette will just have to get over finding out your identity. You’re not alone, Adrien. You’ve always got a place to go. Do you understand me?”

She could feel him nod.

“It’s okay. I don’t feel unsafe. My father would never hurt me, and it’s not like he knows, so…I should be okay. I’ve been okay for four years now…. I just…when people find out about my father…if it’s really true and he really is… When people find out…” He shuddered. “When Marinette finds out… She’s not going to want—not that she ever wanted—but now especially, she’s never…never—”

Adrien choked on a sob, and Sabine pulled him in closer.

Plagg gave Adrien another nuzzle, feeling utterly helpless. This wasn’t a problem that could be fixed with destruction.

“Oh, Sweetie,” Sabine cooed, beginning to rub soothing circles on Adrien’s back. It proved less effective than usual due to the fact that he was soaked. “Adrien, everyone in this house loves you, and they will continue to do so. Irrespective of any possible romantic attachment, Marinette is your friend, and friends stand by one another. What your father has done has nothing to do with you—and we’re not even certain that he really has done what you think. You need to calm down, Sweetheart.”

Sabine pulled back to look him in the eye. “Can you calm down, Adrien?”

Adrien nodded obediently, reaching up to rub the tears from his cheeks.

“Okay,” she hummed, smiling in praise. “Good. We can talk more about this later, but, in the meantime, let’s not jump to conclusions without more proof. Let’s focus on what’s directly in front of us. Right now, we need to get you in the shower before Marinette comes back down. Okay?”

Adrien nodded again, pulling himself together for the moment.

“Plagg, why don’t you come with me?” Sabine held out her palm for the kwami to step onto, but Plagg shook his head.

“I’m going with the kid. Someone’s got to make sure he doesn’t space out and accidentally drown himself in there,” Plagg grumbled, anxiety written plainly in the way he kept glancing at Adrien.

“I’m not that bad,” Adrien mumbled down at his feet.

“Kid. You were catatonic earlier,” Plagg snorted. “You were wandering around for over half an hour before you even seemed to realize that I was talking to you, and then it was another thirty minutes before you could calm down enough to realize that you needed to come here, that it was still okay for you to come here.” Plagg turned back to Sabine. “I’m going with the kid. If I catch a cold, we’ll deal with that later.”

Sabine didn’t argue. She merely nodded and informed Plagg that Marinette would be anxious to fuss over him once she returned.

“She’ll have to drag me out of the shower herself, and, somehow, I doubt she’s got it in her to pull that off.”

Marinette returned a few minutes later with an armful of clothes. “I think I’ve got several options that could work,” she reported.

“Marinette?” Sabine called, a fretful quality to her voice.

Marinette quirked an eyebrow. “Maman?”

“Honey, I know you’re nice to him anyway, but today I need you to be extra sweet to Chat Noir, okay?” Sabine entreated. “Anything you can do to be a little more attentive, a little more affectionate.”

Marinette felt her body go cold. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

Sabine shook her head as she stirred the pot of soup. “Don’t ask, Honey.”

“Did someone die?” she asked anyway. “Is it his father? Did something happen to his pseudo-step-mom? His bodyguard? Is his father taking him out of school to be homeschooled again? Did their company go bankrupt? Did his mother turn back up after all this time? What did Chat say?”

Sabine continued to shake her head. “It’s about his father. He thinks his father has done something wrong, but he’s not completely sure yet. On top of that, he’s worried about what people will think of him if it is true and people find out. Do not ask him about it.”

Marinette pulled in her lips and bit them. “Shoot.”

“Yes,” Sabine sighed. “He doesn’t want you to know, so please don’t ask him about it. Ask him if he’s okay, and ask him if he wants to talk about it, but do not say ‘What’s wrong?’ because he’ll feel like he has to tell you something to explain himself, and he’ll feel awful about lying to you. It’s better if you don’t ask.”

Marinette was silent a minute as she distractedly made her way over to take a seat on the back of the couch. She chewed on her lip as she studied her mother. “…Why doesn’t he want me to know? If he told you…if he talked about it with you, then why—”

“—Marinette, he cares about what you think of him. Your opinion of him is extremely important because he respects and adores you,” Sabine explained.

“And he doesn’t care what you think or respect and adore you?” Marinette snorted. “Maman, he idolizes you, but he can tell you about this and not me?”

“It’s different,” Sabine replied simply.

Sometimes she wanted to shake her daughter for being so oblivious. Sometimes she wanted to shout, “He loves you! He is so miserably in love with you! He’s been slavishly in love with you—both of you, Marinette, first one and now the other—for four years now, and you’ve never been able to see it. He is Adrien, so just kiss him already!”

Instead, she sighed, “Marinette, this isn’t about you. You need to make it about him. He’s not okay.”

Marinette sat with those words a minute before nodding. “Right. Okay.” She took a deep breath and pushed herself up, taking the clothes to the bathroom. She looked over her shoulder and smiled weakly at her mother. “Thanks.”

Sabine returned the smile with a tired one of her own.

Gabriel Agreste was truly the bane of her existence.

Marinette gave the bathroom door two warning knocks and announced, “It’s Marinette.”

There was a muffled, “Come in” from the other side of the door.

Marinette tentatively entered the steamy room. Chat already had the mirror all fogged up. “You’re not boiling yourself alive in there, are you?”

“I like scalding showers,” Adrien muttered in return.

“I’d hate to see your hot water bill,” she snickered, trying to keep things light.

He didn’t respond.

With a frown of concern, she set the clothing down on the counter next to the sink. “I have a couple different outfit choices for you. Hopefully you’ll find something that works.”

“Thanks, Princess,” he murmured, too tired to really put much effort into it, even for her.

She bit her lip. “Are the clothes you were wearing distinctive at all, or can I take them down and throw them in the wash for you?”

“I wouldn’t say distinctive,” Adrien sighed. “You can go ahead and take them. Sorry for the trouble.”

“No trouble,” she assured. “…You wear Gabriel.”

“A lot of people wear Gabriel.” He tried not to sound defensive. He was pretty sure he sounded a little defensive.

“Maybe rich people like you,” she chuckled. “But you forget you’re dealing with a plebian. We of the hoi polloi do not often get to witness such finery.”

He snorted at that, a little humor and emotion seeping back into his voice. “Plebian? Please. You are the first among princesses, and you know that.”

“Says you,” she snorted.

“The next time that Agreste guy invites you to an event, I’m buying you a diamond tiara to wear with whatever dress you make. I could buy you a designer dress too, if you wanted, but I feel like whatever you came up with would be better.”

“Minou,” she groaned, pretending to scold. “Seriously.”

“Is it so wrong to want to make you feel like a princess?” he teased, only he wasn’t teasing.

“You do make me feel like a princess, you goofball,” she giggled. “God. If you weren’t wet and naked right now, I would hug you.”

Adrien forced himself to keep breathing, grateful for the curtain between them that kept her from seeing how red his face was, how much he wanted her in his arms.

“How about after I’m dry and wearing clothes?”

“Deal,” she agreed. “…Can I take Plagg with me now? He really needs to be looked after.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Plagg decreed.

“Go on and go with her,” Adrien urged. “I’m getting out as soon as she leaves.”

Plagg grumbled a little under his breath before asking, “Are you sure you’re getting out? You’re not going to forget and space out and accidentally drown, are you?”

Adrien rolled his eyes and turned off the water. “Go. I’m getting out, drying off, and getting dressed so I can get my hug from Marinette. I need you to go get pampered so you’re ready to transform again so that I can get out of this bathroom without giving away my identity.”

Plagg frowned. “I’m not going to be able to transform for a few hours.”

“What?” Adrien stared in disbelief at his kwami.

“Plagg, are you okay?” Marinette’s voice jumped an octave in concern on the other side of the shower curtain.

“No. I need cheese. I need to be dry. I need rest. I need this day to not be happening. I’m not transforming for a couple hours, so you’re either going to have to suck it up and learn his identity or just not look at him for the foreseeable future, Princess,” Plagg griped.

Marinette opened and closed her mouth several times, but words did not come to her.

She picked up Adrien’s clothes and took Plagg with her to the kitchen where she gently dried him off with a hand-towel and fed him some of the chocolate-covered cheese cubes she had made previously while she explained the situation to Sabine.

“I don’t see what the problem is.”

Sabine’s answer absolutely floored Marinette. “The problem is that we have an unmasked superhero in our bathroom. We can’t keep him in there and we can’t send him home and we can’t let him out either without learning his secret identity. That is vital for his safety!” Marinette stressed, waving her arms wildly.

“Careful with that chunk of gouda,” Plagg reprimanded. “I’d like to eat that, but I’m not going to if you fling it on the floor.”

Marinette set the piece of gouda down.

“Marinette…your father and I already know,” Sabine confessed.

Marinette went very still as she stared at her mother.

“It’s just you,” Sabine continued. “I figured it out first, and then Tom found out a few months later. We’ve known for over a year now.”

Marinette slumped back against the counter and didn’t say anything.

Plagg and Sabine let her be, each going about their own business of munching on cheese or cooking dinner respectively.

Ten minutes later, Marinette tentatively knocked on the bathroom door. “It’s me.”

“Come in?” Adrien gulped, steeling himself. This was not the when, how, where, or why he’d imagined for revealing his identity to Marinette, but…

Marinette smiled awkwardly and held out her hand. “Come on out.”

With a disappointed sigh, Adrien took her hand and gave it a squeeze before looping his arm through hers and carefully guiding her back to the living room.

“Wanna watch a movie?” Marinette suggested.

“How are you going to watch a movie blindfolded?” Adrien snorted.

Marinette grinned. “I’ll be using you as a body pillow like normal. If I have my head on your chest, I won’t see your face unless I look up, right? so I can take off the blindfold to watch the movie.”

Adrien shook his head, looking over to Sabine who shrugged and smiled sympathetically.

“Okay,” he agreed. “Works for me…but I believe I was promised a hug, and I want that first.”

“Can do.” Marinette carefully reached out for him, finding his chest and lightly sliding her hands over it to find the proper position for a hug.

Adrien internally facepalmed at the realization that he liked blindfolds.

She wrapped her arms around him, and he melted into her as she cooed, “Oh, my Minou. It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay. I’ll always be there for you, okay? I’ll always be your friend.”

He nuzzled her hair, her neck, letting himself have that moment.

He wasn’t sure if he just imagined it, but he thought he heard her whisper, “I’ll always be your princess.”

“You’re sure you’re not cheating?” Marinette sighed as Adrien moved Marinette’s game piece an extra square forward.

“Why would I cheat?” he snickered. “I’m not competitive. You’re the competitive one.”

“No, I’m not,” Marinette argued as Adrien took his turn.

“Six,” he announced, moving his piece and shorting himself a square.

Sabine snickered at the children’s antics.

“Remember that time when we played Twister and you almost broke my nose?” Adrien hummed accusatorially.

“…That was an accident,” Marinette murmured, reaching out for the die and carefully rolling it.

It was a one.

“Three,” Adrien announced, moving her piece, audibly tapping it to the board three times.

“And yet you still play Twister with me, so you couldn’t have been too terribly scarred,” Marinette added in her own defence.

“Princess, I will play Twister with you any time you want,” Adrien purred.

Sabine laughed outright.

“Maman, do not encourage this behavior,” Marinette admonished before turning back to her partner (or, rather, turning in her partner’s general direction, as it was hard to be completely accurate with the blindfold on). “Minou,” she warned.

“Princess,” he cooed, letting all the affection he felt for her show plainly on his face and in his eyes while she couldn’t see just how much he loved and wanted her. It was nice to be allowed to look at her and not have to hide how he felt.

“You’re incorrigible,” Marinette sighed.

“You make me this way,” he accused without heat.

“You came this way,” Marinette protested. “I had nothing to do with this.”

Just then, Tom came up from downstairs, breaking in on the scene. He spotted Adrien and smiled, raising a hand in greeting. “Hey, Son. Joining us for dinner? Why is Marinette wearing a blindfold?”

“Tom,” Sabine cut in urgently. “Chat Noir needed to get out of the house, so Chat Noir is going to be with us today. The problem is that Plagg, Chat Noir’s kwami, is feeling a little under the weather, so he’s not able to transform Chat Noir right now. Marinette is wearing a blindfold to keep from discovering Chat Noir’s secret identity.” There was the implication in his wife’s voice that Tom was not to screw this up by accidentally saying “Adrien”.

Tom nodded in understanding, his expression slowly turning into a frown. “How upset is everyone going to be if I accidentally say his real name?”

Sabine shrugged, nodding at Marinette as if to say, “Not on my own account but only because I’ll have to deal with her reaction.”

Adrien matched Sabine’s shrug and tipped his head pointedly at Marinette. The look on his face heavily implied, “I’ll only be upset if she’s upset, and I’m expecting her to be upset, but I really wouldn’t mind too much if you outed me…. Please? Help.”

“Papa, you can’t,” Marinette stressed, completely unaware of the others’ responses. “It’s too dangerous for me to know. What if Papillon finds out and tries to use me against Chat? None of us should know. It’s bad enough that you two do. We’re putting Chat in danger.”

Tom, Sabine, Adrien, and Plagg all rolled their eyes.

“Right,” Tom sighed, coming over to the table where Adrien and Marinette had the game board laid out. “So what are you two up to?”

“Just playing a game,” Marinette informed. “Chat is moving the pieces for me, since I can’t see. Does it look like he’s cheating?”

Tom arched an eyebrow at the board. “Who’s red?”

Adrien raised a hand sheepishly.

“Yes,” Tom snickered, shaking his head at his future son-in-law. “Honey, he’s letting you win.”

Marinette cocked her head to the side. “Really?” she wondered in disbelief.

“Yeah. Really. Marinette, you need to take that blindfold off and look at that boy.”

“What?!” Marinette squawked, hands going up to hold the cloth in place. “No! Papa, I can’t know. It’s not just for Chat’s safety or the safety of our family. All of Paris could be at stake! This is so much bigger than the question of me wanting to know or not.”

“You sound like Tikki,” Plagg grumbled from his towel fortress on the counter beside the board. “How would Papillon even know you knew?”

Marinette did not reply.

“Leave her alone, everyone. Please,” Adrien sighed softly in resignation, accepting that today would not be the day. “She doesn’t have to know if she’s not ready.”

Sabine and Tom both nodded, respecting Adrien’s request.

Tom reached out and patted Adrien on the back with a massive hand. “Hang in there, Son.”

Sabine gave him an encouraging smile, nodding her agreement with her husband.

“You guys make me feel like the bad guy,” Marinette muttered sullenly.

“Never, Princess,” Adrien assured, placing a hand on top of hers.

She flipped her hand over to take hold of his, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Are you really letting me win, Minou?”

“Nah,” he laughed. “You’re kicking my butt fair and square.”

She wasn’t so sure she believed him. “Whose turn was it?”

“Yours,” he lied, handing her the die.

She rolled a three.

“Five,” he announced and moved her piece six spaces.

#Marichat #Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Chat Noir #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Chat Noir #Adrien Agreste #Sabine Dupain-Cheng #Tom Dupain #Plagg #Miraculous Ladybug #Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction #Mikau's Writings #Adrien Knows #Mama Sabine

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