Tumgik
#so probably expect a sketch dump sometime during the week?? probably?????
mugiwara--ya · 2 years
Text
Tumblr media
our ideology is "you can do what you want, too much is never enough" we are the life, we are the light, we are the envy of the gods above.
don't repost // support me on ko-fi 💖
1K notes · View notes
Text
Nobody Knows
Hey, so this is my first public fanfic. I have been a Homestuck fan since the early 2010′s but Hiveswap slammed me back into it hard enough to write. Cringe is dead and it is going to be angsty and indulgent with canon treated as a suggestion. I’ve been spamming some of my favorite writers in the fandom with ideas in their inbox and decided to actually do something about some of them. Most of this comes from some future angst with Mallek I sent @clusband a few weeks ago during sad Mallek hours. Constructive advice welcome.
Get some hurt, comfort, fluff, a lot of angst. A lot of background characters.
Summary: MSPA Reader reflects on their current situation and unhappiness at not being able to see their old friends again. They accept that they past they once knew them in no longer exists, but what about the present? 
Chapter 1: Self-reflection and other cool ways to spend the day
Part 1/?
(Word count: 3,085 | Rated T | Past MSPA Reader x Mallek Adalov,  MSPA Reader x Mallek Adalov, Past MSPA Reader x Polypa Goezee, Background DaveKat)
AO3 Links: Part One (This) | Part Two  | Part Three
Being back in your hive after however long it has been brings up memories. Memories that you had spent so long aching for whenever the discomfort of that void inside of you passed. Focusing on that hollowness for too long always made you uncomfortable, but you sometimes would try to understand why that was. You tried, you really did, to the point of feeling that static so hard that your vision would go white and you couldn’t hear anything over the sound of it in your mind, feeling like you were going to pass out. You think one time you did, but it was hard to tell. Fuck.
You thought that getting them back would help, make you more content, fill it even, make you feel whole again? But you just feel even emptier and like an even more monumentally bigger fuck up. You drink your shitty, expired coffee made in the coffee machine Tagora bought you a long time ago in the mug Skyyla made you, thumbing over the Ladyy design on the handle. You smile at the idea of her making such a comparatively small mug for you. Imagining the struggle of her larger hands trying to make something usable for your much smaller ones. You feel the warmth from your drink and your memory. At least your makeshift home was too out of the way to be ransacked, that or too much of a death risk for anyone other than alien refugees to try to make their way into.
You look around you at all of the trinkets your friends had given you. Remembering how at the time, you felt so rewarded, accepted even. Trolls being, well, trolls, had a hard time opening up to others given how much of a hellscape the whole planet was. So every time you made some progress, you felt like you got the neighborhood cat to approach you without getting too clawed up.
You look over in the corner and notice the plastic bag you got when grabbing some oblong meat products for Dieman at Grub-Mart. You had some extra caegars and figured he might be exhausted after doing whatever drug that was at Ardata’s party. You figured that some sweet meat might help with the hangover. You definitely needed it.
Your teal highlighter had been covered in dust, having not been used since you decided to be a good friend and smuggle some snacks into the bookhive to support your favorite legislacerators-in-training late night, er morning, study session. You stayed as moral support, given you know fuck all about the laws of any given planet and also enjoy having your flesh remain unscorched. You feel like you learned a lot. Probably. You mostly shared meaningful eye contact and words of encouragement.
Drawings from clown children and sketches from Amisia cover your walls. So do ticket stubs from Marvus’ and Chixie’s shows. You felt an odd sense of pride in being one of the most normal people there, extraterrestrial status not withstanding. A set of indigo sweatbands from exercising with Nikhee that you would also use with Stelsa during scaerobics classes are hung on hooks. There was a rom-com with a title too long to read in your lifetime that you watched with Polypa and books borrowed from Galekh that you never returned.
You smile, but it doesn’t reach your eyes. You care about all of your new friends, of course you do! It is just that… you feel more like the universe’s least qualified guidance counselor instead of their friend sometimes. You’re older than them, so it is maybe more like a sibling or a sketchy babysitter kind of relationship. They all have kinda weird, hard lives, even the ones on Earth, so you don’t mind being an interdimensional taxi service, or a postman who delivers kids to other kids, but they tend to relate more with each other than with you. Which makes sense, and you're definitely happy they finally get to be with other people their own age, but seeing them hanging out with each other really makes you long for the people you once had the same kinds of relationships with.
You had Karkat ask about your hoodie before you got your memories back and Sollux mentioned Mallek, but you got a little occupied by drones. It had been a bit since then. After taking Karkat back to his hive after a movie night with Dave, you noticed him eyeing your hoodie again.
“HEY. SO YOU NEVER ACTUALLY TOLD ME.”
Told you what?
“DON’T BE OBTUSE, I GET ENOUGH OF THAT FROM ALL OF THE OTHER BULGELICKERS THAT HAVE TRAMPLED THEIR WAY INTO MY EXISTENCE. DID YOU KNOW SOMEONE NAMED ADALOV?”
Oh, yeah the hoodie. After remembering, you were not looking forward to this conversation. You look off and let him know, yeah, you did. You trying not to make a big deal of it has clearly had the opposite impact on him.
“YOU TELEPORTED YOUR HORNLESS ASS INTO MY HIVE. IS THIS WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO BE COY ABOUT? YOU DUMPED ME ON AN ALIEN PLANET AND HAVE THE INEXPLICABLE HOBBY OF TRYING TO GET YOUR FROND STUMPS IN EVERYONE’S PERSONAL LIFE AND I ACTUALLY WANT TO KNOW ABOUT YOU AND FIGURE OUT HOW YOU OF ALL PEOPLE MANAGED TO GET A HIGHBLOOD MOIRAIL AND-”
Matesprit. He pauses and actually looks taken aback. It is odd to see him momentarily speechless.
“WHAT?” Well that didn’t last.
He was my matesprit.
“AGAIN, WHAT? SO YOU HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE AND ARE WEARING A SIGN THAT HASN’T BEEN USED IN FUCK KNOWS HOW LONG? BEING MUTATED CULLBAIT NOT KILLED BY DRONES AND YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE YOU FILLED A QUAD?”
Quads.
This information seems to break him. You see a familiar crease being to form between his brows. You then pause, trying not to get offended.
Wait, hold on, he has totally accepted you being able to travel time and space, but you filling a quad is too much?
“YOU ARE STILL PUSHING IT WITH TIME. BUT EXCUSE ME IF THROUGH THE PANBOGGLING TALES OF YOUR FUCKING ESCAPADES THROUGH SPACE THAT THEY DON’T EXACTLY FUCKING TRACK ON BEING CONDUSIVE TO FILLING YOUR QUADRANTS.”
Fair. You sigh and tell him the story before he can take a breath because as much as you care about him, this boy has one setting and it is very loud.
You tell him about taking a walk, getting abducted. Saying you were a robot and then revealing you were not in fact a robot. You hesitate during the underground river part as you walk the line between Mallek’s privacy and sating Karkat’s curiosity. You smile recounting getting pushed in the river, saved, and how he called you cute and started blushing and trying to backpeddle. How the two of you hung out later and how he made an account just to talk to you. Karkat seems to soften by a modicum at this.
You laughed at how he showed up to tattoo a stranger just because you asked. You wistfully go through the memories that led to an eventual confession and how beforehand how your moirail Polypa was coaching you and Galekh provided you with literature on quadrants. A true bro move, especially since you don’t know how a conversation on them would have gone. You guessed it was since you helped him with his pitch quad and the tattoo. Maybe he felt like there was already something going on when we were both at his hive in matching hoodies, oh yeah he was the guy who got tattooed. His kismesis was your law partner. Karkat’s brow twitched, incredulous. Yeah you don’t know how Gorgor managed that either. Maybe having an alien alive and working for him on Alternia added to his court cred. You also think that that wasn’t the only part Karkat took issue with, but by some miracle, he lets you keep talking.
You kept expecting him to cut you off but he seemed somewhat enraptured by the tales of your romantic antics, despite his efforts to seem more interested in the you part, you were getting a feeling he was more interested in alien dynamics. You knew he was interested in romcoms so maybe this was just some new material for him, especially since quads were a new thing for you and maybe he has strong thoughts regarding the differences in alien ro-
Oh.
Oh you see why now.
Karkat seemed to pick up on the shift in your storytelling going from your personal life to human romantic customs.
“WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT LOOK FOR?”
What look? There are no looks occurring.
“TRY THAT SHIT ON A MORON WHO JUST HATCHED. THEY MIGHT JUST BE MORE INCLINED TO GLEEFULLY SHOVEL THAT EXCUSE DOWN THEIR CHUTES.” He crossed his arms and squints at you. You knew how sharp his claws were from experience, not that you thought he was going to hurt you. There was just something very endearing about him trying to intimidate you while not subtly trying to glean more information about humans without seeming interested in humans. Or a human. Yeah, this is totally about Dave. You just have to find a way to gracefully skedaddle around that little detail.
I just had a bit of learning curve when dating an alien. So it is totally cool if you don’t know much about human stuff. I know quads can b-
“AND WHY DO YOU THINK I WOULD WANT TO KNOW THAT?” He says this clearly knowing what he thinks you think. You think it would be better if he didn’t think you thinked that, considering how the tips of his ears are turning red. You think.
You have romcom stuff everywhere and seem to really like them? Learning about human stuff might make it easier for you watch human romcoms and see how good or bad they are based on social norms. Kinda like romantic xenoanthropology.
Fucking nailed it. He huffs and rolls his eyes. Or at least enough that your answer plus the sheer amount of not fucking wanting to talk about that got you onto romcoms in general. He seemed to echo Polypa’s taste and you smiled at how animated he was becoming. A few of what you watched were now classics. Others that you didn’t like are prime pitch fodder. It had gotten late (early?) and that led you back to your hive. Just sitting alone and thinking. God you hate self-reflection.
You think of your time with Aradia. How she said you were a little broken. How she said you wouldn’t remember not being able to get to your friends again and being held by whatever the fuck that was. But you did remember, as much as you wish you didn’t. Guess you were more broken than she thought. It would be easier to just think you couldn’t get back because you didn’t try hard enough. But you did, you really did, and no matter what you do you just can’t. You are a shitty meta traveler and an even shittier friend. You thought about trying again but you get the feeling that you can’t access something that longer exists. You’d probably just get stuck in some corner of the universe and be alone all over again until you suffocate.
Can you even really die or be killed in anyway that matters anymore? At least in a way that doesn’t bring up the dull pang of a “bad end” followed by getting slammed dunked back in the past, before your fuck up, by an alarmingly cheerful time goddess?
Yeah, you didn’t think so. That would just add to the conga line of your dead selves letting you know how much of a dumbass you are.
But those people, those times. They don’t exist anymore. You keep thinking back to the way things were and who they were and how you can’t travel to those points anymore. All you have is the relative now and the people who exist now. Mostly.
You finish your terrible, bitter coffee, the cup no longer keeping your hands warm. You deserve this. In some shitty cosmic way, maybe you deserve this for not being better as a friend or partner. You can’t go back to the way things were to only to the people of now. And who even know who or what that even is.
Wait.
Maybe you couldn’t go back to the people they used to be because those were no longer who they were now. That thought sends a pang of hurt through you, imagining what little hope they had crushed. God dammit. But you have to try. Otherwise it is just you babysitting some 13 year olds who are trying to discover themselves and work through their issues with some interdimensional asshole looking over their shoulders. That asshole hopefully just being you.
You put your mug down and stand, closing your eyes, you try to repeat what you did with Aradia again, the memory of them doesn’t work. You know that. But with your new friends, it hasn’t completely been the memory? Maybe more accurate to say it’s them, some part memory sure, but more the idea of the present them, what they look like, who they are. You open your eyes and glance down at the sign on your hood. A sign you have mindlessly traced so many times. A sign that when you forgot it, gave you a dull sense of grief, now that you do remember though, it has sharpened and you are reminded of it whenever you are alone for too long or even slow down. Like the rest of you from other timelines will catch up to you in the current one and you get to experience your failures all over again.
You hold yourself tightly to ground yourself. Self-flagellation won’t get you anywhere, you’ve tried, you know this. So again, you close your eyes. You focus on your hood, the sign on it, the person it belonged to. The Mallek he was when he gave it to you vs. the Mallek he knew he didn’t want to be. The one he would have to be to survive. Your throat tightened at the thought of not being able to find him because he couldn’t do it and what if they got him an-
You slap yourself to stop catastrophizing.
Focus!
Adult trolls get bigger and their horns and claws grow with them. Their skin hardens and darkens as it does. You can’t tell if them molting was a joke someone told you or if they were serious so you don’t think about that part. Their blood color shows more through their eyes as they age. They wear black with their sign incorporated on it when they get spaced. You think back to the cerulean pirate you saw with Konyyl. Something like that. Okay you were getting somewhere. You could tell by how afraid you were to get there. You begin to get a headache, like your mind is a rubber band that you are trying to stretch to fit around something it shouldn’t.
Mallek said he would be a soldier or a spy and would be stuck ordering around lowbloods. No longer able to use his hacker skills how he wanted to. You imagine him, larger, older, more tired. Probably has more piercings and tattoos. You smile a little, despite yourself and the tension you feel continuing to build. He would likely play along, do what he had to do to do what he wanted to do. But at that point what would that even be? You imagine he would never truly stop messing with the system or hacking. His natural curiosity wouldn’t let him so he would be trying… something quietly on the side. He was sympathetic but you didn’t know how deep he would or if he would go down the rebel route, maybe just try to deal with his own corner of the universe.
Going along with what is expected seems to be the easiest way to keep under the radar. He has always been partial to not getting culled. Even when it was just the two of you, you knew it was a conscious effort to let his guard down around you, often requiring a change of scenery with you jokingly asking about if you would be needing goggles. Jokes often broke the tension of being afraid to be known with him.  
Despite his projected cool, you knew he was an anxious person and preferred to be alone. You could see that being warped to fit the expectations of being a cerulean. You remember from  conversations you had early in the morning, with ordeals approaching, you had some rare moments of verbalized vulnerability, of him exasperatedly going over what ceruleans are supposed to be with the unspoken and mutual understanding of what he was actually like. The coolness that he projected could morph into coldness, him wrapping it around himself tighter than any armor the empire would give him. Put some distance between himself and his team. You couldn’t see him being casually cruel, but definitely keeping people away through attitude and fear of his caste. The band tightens. So does your throat.
He hates having people over him and likely would at that start. Probably would be trying to do well so that he could use his performance and caste to be given his own ship and team so he could get some breathing room away from his superiors. Just be another team that does their job without question or issue in order to keep the space around himself. You realize that at some point during this, you started hyperventilating. You consider doing the breathing exercises Konyyl taught you, but at this point, you were tired of trying to be okay about it. You wanted to let it out in some way or another. You wanted to feel.
You thought of you, your disappearance. How that would have impacted him probably trying to find you, keeping himself up more than usual, blaming himself and then being taken off world. The not knowing would upset him the most you think. Would he even want to see you? What if he mattered to you way more than you mattered to him and you just showing up makes things worse? Another pang of guilt hits you for making things harder for another person again and you taste metal. You grit your teeth and refocus. The whole picture might never actually be known to you, but this is likely as close as it gets. You see this in your minds’ eye, the assumed idea of a person who may or may not exist, based off of who they used to be. Was this accurate, would this even do anything? Your hands clench around the hem of your hood and you drop to your knees and your leggings scrape the wood on the floor of your hive, eyes still screwed shut with tears pricking at the corners, breathing quick and heavy, jaw locked.
You try again.
The bands snaps.
And your head hits a cold, metal floor.
51 notes · View notes
beccalovesdarling · 6 years
Text
Reach for the Stars Part 6
Oh boy. This sucker is long and makes you want to just squish Adrien. 
First
Previous
Adrien was miserable the next morning. By the time he had finally left Marinette’s it was after eleven o’clock. On the nights he patrolled he tended to stay out way later, but the emotional toll of finally admitting to another person that wasn’t Plagg why he was torn between the two girls was more of a burden than a reprieve. Plagg had belched out a few questions about why he wasn’t ecstatic that Marinette liked him. “Both of your lovebugs want you,” he had drawled. But that hadn’t been enough to ease his fears. He had tried explaining all of it after The Tower Incident, but Plagg hadn’t gotten it then so Adrien doubted he would get it now.
“Humans,” was all Plagg had said before Adrien tried to sleep a few hours before his morning workout.
His mind spun with worry. He never really got to the bottom of Marinette’s lies. She obviously had her own issues and he had not only dumped his problems on her, but also Adrien’s. But, since Marinette didn’t know Adrien was both guys, Chat had seemingly revealed things about Adrien that neither of them had any business knowing. He spent no less than thirty minutes wondering if she would treat Adrien different during class.
Class had him thinking of Alya. Would Marinette mention her meeting with Chat? Probably not. Marinette wasn’t the type of person to go blabbing about other people’s personal stuff. Then again, she had lied to everyone so did he really know her? And Alya was her best friend. Would their trust outrank his trust in her? He groaned as he thought over the next possible post on the Ladyblog and the smack Ladybug would no doubt give him.
Rolling over, he tried to find a comfortable spot. He was burrowed under his comfort and sheets, but he still felt cold. Plagg snored on the pillow beside him and Adrien scowled at the black cat before glancing out his windowed wall.
Staring at the Paris night, he had finally drifted into an uneasy sleep.
That uneasy sleep followed him all through school. When he saw Marinette, he kept hearing her voice from last night asking him what he needed. What Chat Noir needed. He had laid out all the reasons Adrien was bad for her and she had asked about him. He wasn’t sure what to think of that. She claimed to like Adrien, but she still cared for the leather cat. He flushed at his own actions. After he had confessed to her his confusion, he decided it was time to take his leave. He had kissed her forehead before wishing her sweet dreams. Once he was a block away from her mesmerizing scent, he could breathe and think a little clearer.
“You in, dude?”
“Huh?” With a shake of his head, Adrien looked over at his friend. Nino had a brow cocked at him and seemed to be expecting something. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”
Nino shook his head with a chuckle. “You’re so out of it, dude. I said do you want to go this afternoon? The student council is asking for help to set up the spring fling tonight. I’m DJ-ing and Alya is writing a report for the school blog. Marinette’s student president so she kinda has to be there. You free?”
The Spring Fling had totally taken him by surprise. He’d seen the flyers posted, but he didn’t pay them much attention and since he wasn’t in the student council, he never had a reason to be involved. Of course, he also had his responsibilities as Adrien and Chat Noir to distract him. “Sure. I’m free this afternoon. Father was content with the photos from yesterday so we don’t have to do anymore right away.”
Alya squealed behind them. The two boys turned to her. “That means I get my Adrien Agreste interview!” She whooped and elbowed Marinette. “And Madame President over here can give me an interview for the school blog!”
Marinette blinked up from her sketch pad. “Why me?” She asked in confusion. “I wasn’t at the meeting. All I’m doing is basically helping set up.”
Nino hummed. “You did a lot, Marinette. Rose wanted a spring dance and you totally helped in scoring it. The whole class is super excited about it.” He quirked his brows at Alya. “And it gives me a chance to show off my mad skills in front of my lovely lady.”
Alya grinned. “Oh, hush you. We can’t talk about that in front of the children.” She smirked at Adrien. “Sunshine here is too pure to be sullied by you.”
Adrien felt his face heat as Nino snorted. “Oh please. My man is such a closet perv. You weren’t there when Ladybug was at his house. Home boy basically shoved me out of the way to-“
“Okay! Thanks, Nino!” Adrien shrieked as he glanced at Marinette. The poor designer was pale and refused to meet his glance. He cleared his throat. “Anyway, yeah, so where is the dance?”
The blogger grunted as she nodded towards Chloe. “Give you one guess, Agreste.”
“Right. Of course,” he nodded. “And the date?” He assumed it was soon since preparations were tonight. He mentally ran through his schedule for the rest of the week.
“This girl.”
“Alya!” Marinette shrieked, much the chagrin of their teacher. After a swift apology, Marinette glared at her friend. “Adrien meant date of the dance not that!” The reporter shrugged. Timidly, Marinette made eye contact with him. “It’s, um, Friday night. At seven. If you’re free.” She blanched. “I mean free to go. Not that I’m implying you have to go with me. That’s silly. I’ll be a bore. Student council and all. Not that it’s boring or you wouldn’t find it interesting. I-“ She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. “It’ll be fun. You should come.”
Nino snickered and Adrien side-eyed him. “I’ll check with Nathalie. I don’t think I have anything major.” He dropped his voice. Adrien still should be under the impression that she had a boyfriend. “So, um, is your boyfriend not coming?”
Nino’s snickers abruptly stopped and Alya watched Marinette like a hawk. The girl pursed her lips and tapped her fingers against her desk, her sapphire eyes downcast. “No,” she answered slowly. “But, I think I might have over-reacted. We talked a little last night-“
“Wait,” Adrien interrupted. “You talked to him? Last night?”
Alya and Nino glanced at each other and Nino shook his head at his girlfriend in warning. Alya pursed her lips, but kept silent as Marinette nodded. “Yeah. He stopped by really late. We didn’t talk much about the…thing, but I learned some stuff about him. And, well…” Her cheeks went pink and she looked away from Adrien’s hard stare.
Adrien turned back in his seat. She couldn’t….Surely someone else…Her words from yesterday came back to him. She had to be with this guy. He was her best friend, but she didn’t love him. Adrien’s insides burned and squirmed. Could she have been talking about Chat Noir? But surely he would know if he was involved in some arranged relationship, right? Was Hawk Moth forcing her to pursue Chat Noir? Had he seen their interactions? But why now? Why not target Adrien since Ladybug had shown interest in him? Why target Marinette?
He needed to talk to Ladybug. If Marinette was being used, he needed to protect her. He refused to let Hawk Moth hurt her.
Adrien allowed the self-hatred to burn through him as he laid his head upon his desk. He had been so stupid. If he had just treated her indifferent, Hawk Moth wouldn’t be targeting her. Please, he wanted to beg, target me. I’m Chat Noir. I’m the one you want.
“Adrien?” Marinette softly called. He couldn’t look up at her.
“I, um…” Lifting his head, he waved for his teacher. “I’m not feeling well. May I be excused?”
XXX
Adrien had never ditched school. But he went straight for the boy’s locker room. He locked the door behind him to keep everyone else out before coaxing Plagg out of his bag. The kwami floated lazily before him. “What now?” He whined.
“Hawk Moth is targeting her, Plagg!” His hands dug into his hair and it very quickly began to look like his Chat hair. “I have to let Ladybug know. We have to stop him before her hurts her! She clearly doesn’t want or deserve this!”
Plagg blinked slowly at his Chosen. “I believe she said she was supposedly best friends with this guy. She’s friendly, but I wouldn’t say you’re her BFF. You’re not even at Boo status. Maybe Bae.”
Adrien dropped his hands to his sides and gave him a blank stare.
“Come on, Boo, don’t give me that look.”
“Can you not be serious for one minute?” Adrien asked, exasperated, his arms flapping into the air and back to his sides. “Marinette could be in danger.”
The kwami rolled his eyes. “I doubt it. She handled herself well with the artist. Honestly, I think you’re overreacting. She’s probably just got a crush on both sides of you and is freaking out.”
The model backed against a locker row with a soft thud and slid down to the floor, a heavy sigh rattling his shoulders. “But, she said she had to be with this guy. With me. I don’t even think she likes me. She can barely talk to me. I’m obviously not forcing her, so who is?” He scrubbed his face tiredly. “Marinette could have met with someone after I left, but what are the odds?” He voiced his earlier thoughts. “Father was impressed with her designs, but I’m sure he wouldn’t force her to…to do something like that.”
Plagg drifted to his Chosen’s knee and perched upon Adrien’s stretched out leg. “Relax, Kid. I really don’t think it’s anything serious. This girl has some serious anxiety attacks sometimes. She’s probably just dramatizing or having an attack. She seemed fine today.” Adrien still didn’t seem convinced. “Your Princess is going to be OK. No one is going to hurt her,” Plagg murmured. “Try talking to her as Adrien. See if she tells you more later at the meeting.”
Adrien met his eyes and offered a small smile. “Thanks, Buddy.” He scratched the cat’s ear. He yelped when Plagg abruptly twisted his head and nipped his finger.
XXX
Le Grand Paris was a second home to Adrien. Nathalie had often taken him on playdates to visit Chloe when he was a child. Granted, it had more to do with their family’s social standing and a few shady business deals than any real bonding experience on the children’s parts. Regardless, much of the staff was friendly and familiar to Adrien and finding information about the dance was a snap. Many of the student council members had left school early to begin preparations and he found them in main ballroom. The walls were papered in a velvetlike paper that was a deep red crimson with burgundy spirals meant to look like flowers. The stark grey stone tiles contrasted strangely and Adrien wondered who had paired the two colors together.
Several boxes were piled by the doors he had just entered through and a quick glance showed them to be party and decoration supplies. Several council members were gathered around them and muttering about colors and themes. He recognized a few faces as being in his grade, but none from his class. He also didn’t see Marinette.
He approached the closest boy. He was blonde and maybe a year under Adrien with a red sweater and light jeans. He thought his name might have been Gaige. The boy glanced up from the box he was riffling through and burrowed his brows together, dropping the package of silver foil stars in his hands. “Can I help you?”
Adrien nodded. “Yeah. I’m looking for Marinette. Is she here yet?”
One of the girls snorted and Adrien glanced at her. She too was blonde and wore her long wavy hair in a ponytail. It paired nicely with her sky blue dress. “Of course not. Marinette could never be on time if her life depended on it. She’ll probably show up late after we’ve done all the work.” Adrien frowned as she snooped around in her box. “And of course she skimped and bought all cheap stuff.”
He opened his mouth to retort when a familiar voice called out from behind him. “Of course she did.” The group turned to see Alya standing in the doorway; her arms crossed and her weight popping out her hip to the side. “The budget has to last all year. Marinette thought it would be best to not splurge on this dance, but save some for the end of term dance. Plus, there’s other activities to prepare for on top of the requests she promised a few of the students. If you had read her budget report last semester, Noel, you would have seen how she had planned to use the money.” She cocked a slender brow at the others. “Any more questions?” Alya didn’t wait more than a second before continuing. “Now hang those paper stars. We all agreed to this theme, now get on it.”
Noel’s face was notably red as she grabbed a packet of stars and puttered to the opposite corner. Alya rolled her eyes before shooting Adrien a grin. “Yo, Agreste. Marinette and Nino are running over the playlist with Principal Damocles. They should be here in a few minutes.” She approached the boxes and swiped out a few black packages. “I hope those muscles aren’t just for looks, Sunshine.” She tossed him the packages and he fumbled for them awkwardly. They were plastic table covers. “I need the long rectangle tables moved to the left wall.” The blogger smirked. “I’m sure M wouldn’t mind to see you all sweaty with your muscles bulging.”
Adrien gaped at her like a fish; his pocket shook from Plagg’s silent chortles.
XXX
With the help of three other boys, Adrien moved the tables from the center of the ballroom to the farthest wall. He was smoothing out a table cover when someone clapped him on the shoulder. His friend chuckled at the way he jumped. “Hey, dude. I see Alya has you under her thumb.”
Adrien laughed. “She can be quite persuasive.”
Nino’s smirk grew to a grin. “Yeah, Marinette’s been watching you flex for the past five minutes.”
“What!?” He yelped; his voice embarrassingly loud and high as he sought her out. Sure enough, the girl stood beside Alya in the center of the room. Alya cackled raucously as Marinette attempted to hide her face behind the clipboard she clutched in her slender hands.
Snorting, Nino slapped Adrien’s back again. “I can’t believe you let her slip away.” He nodded towards the council president. “That’s probably why she was so upset yesterday. Alya told me what was said. Chloe’s nonsense aside, she’s probably trying to force herself to get over you and all this added attention to it is probably the last thing she wants.”
“What?” Adrien sputtered again. His head whipped between Nino and the girls. “Get over me? What?”
Nino ruffled his hair. “Dude, you’re so dense.” Adrien scowled as he attempted to fix his hair. It would be bad if someone recognized him with messy hair. “She’s had the biggest crush on you for the past year. And you’ve admitted she’s cute.” He shrugged. “Alya’s grumpy that she’s lost our bet, to be honest.”
“Bet? Crush?” His pocket vibrated again and Adrien wished the floor would open and swallow him or an akuma would distract them or his Father would demand he show up to a photoshoot or-
“Hey, Nino!” The two guys glanced at the girls. Alya waved majestically as all the students turned to her. “Marinette wants to test the sound system!”
“Right on!” Nino shot his girlfriend a thumbs-up before scrambling off to his setup in the corner away from the food tables Adrien had just prepared. Adrien watched as Alya snatched the clipboard away from Marinette, who attempted to protest, and then pranced after her beau. The blonde smiled as he watched Marinette shake her head and mutter. Shyly, she met his gaze and waved.
Adrien lifted his hand to return it, but she turned and made for the doors. Afraid she would leave and he wouldn’t get his chance to talk to her as Adrien, he ran after her. “Marinette!” He called a few meters away from her. The girl stiffened before facing him, a sweet smile plastered across her face.
He slowed to a jog and then stopped completely two feet away from her. “Marinette,” he started. “I wanted to ask-“
The thrashing bass, electric rifts, and violent screams of Jagged’s newest song blasted deafeningly in the circular room. The velvet walls did little to soften the metal cries of the music or the heavy thumping of the expensive speaker system the ballroom sported. Marinette yelped and covered her ears with a wince as Adrien mimicked her movements. The duo frantically looked at their friends in the corner. Alya thrashed her head at odd to the heavy metal as Nino steadily bobbed his head to the beat, his fingers dancing across this laptop keyboard. Marinette flew across the tiled room to them; her arms flailing as she desperately tried to stop them.
Adrien made to follow her, but Nino cut the music. The silence of the room left Adrien’s ears ringing. He saw the three talking before the couple waved her off with a shooing motion. Marinette turned on her heel and marched back across the room to Adrien’s side as the next song started up. It was a classical piece Adrien immediately identified. It was called In the Rain and it had been one of the first songs his mother had taught him on the piano. Though he had stopped playing after she had died, he could feel his fingers twitch at his sides to the phantom keys he knew so well. His foot tensed as if he was about to pump and his mind starting counting beats as the music swelled.
Props and decorations were immediately dropped as several council members paired off using any excuse to be near their crushes or dates. Marinette smiled wistfully. “I knew I shouldn’t have let Nino play around with the others here.” Adrien snapped out of his trained mindset and watched as Nino nodded to something Alya said beside him. His fingers flew across his keyboard as his partner seemed to read over the notes on Marinette’s clipboard. Marinette groaned. “Now we’ll never get finished! We’ve still got to-“
Adrien grasped her hand and pulled her along behind him as he moved further out to the improvised dance floor. Marinette stuttered as he paused and pulled her closer to him. His other hand placed her empty one upon his shoulder before resting upon her waist. He turned them in a small circle and, unbelievably, Marinette matched his steps despite her nervous expression. Her bluebell eyes were trained on his as she began to pull her lip into her mouth.
“Don’t do that,” he whispered.
She parted her lips and nodded up at him like an obedient child. He smiled sweetly down at her as they swayed. The familiar notes swelled and he could almost hear his mother humming. His steps slowed and Marinette nearly did trip this time, but his firm hold on her kept her upright. Would his mother be proud of him? Would she understand his motives behind protecting Marinette? Because he honestly didn’t understand them himself. Father had always called her hopelessly romantic and ceaselessly emotional. Adrien knew he took more after his mother than father. Was that why he was chasing two girls?
He stopped and Marinette blinked up at him. “Adrien?” She murmured timidly.
No, he decided, not two girls. He was done with Ladybug. He had finally seen her for who she was that afternoon on the Tower. And despite all his declarations of loving the girl under the mask, he realized he couldn’t completely love her. She was willing to die for a stranger. While it would normally be noble, he had seen the way she had treated Lila beforehand. Ladybug had been harsh and rude with the girl because she carried an obsessive crush on his civilian side. He hated to admit it, but Ladybug was shallow.
How had it taken him so long? She had never been interested in him while this sweet girl in his arms was too nervous to even hold a sentence with him. She had proven last night that she saw beneath his golden boy charm.
And whatever the reason or cause may be, he could never have her and he could not give her up. But he swore, no matter the cost, he would protect her.
Because he loved Marinette.
Adrien released her and stepped away as Nino faded the music out. “I’m sorry, Marinette.” He turned and bolted from the room, leaving a confused girl in his wake.
Buy me a coffee??
0 notes