Two outfits laid side-by-side on a pink and polka-dotted chaise. Marinette Dupain-Cheng stood in front of the outfits, her right hand loosely holding her chin in deep thought. A pink tank top hugged her torso and white lounge shorts rested on her hips, stopping just short of mid-thigh. With a deep sigh, the girl let herself fall to the floor, long legs folding under her bottom.
"Alya, I have no clue which to wear!"
Alya Cesaire, Marinette's best friend, spinned gently around in Marinette's desk chair, her attention drifting from her phone to the now crumpled on the floor girl. The Ladyblog owner clicked her phone to rest, temporarily abandoning an update on said blog.
Alya had not changed much over the years, merely growing into a more mature lady than before… physically anyway. She still was still quite the spitfire and still dancing around the commitment of being with Nino. (Marinette knew they both love each other, but she also understands they both have problems with commitment. However, she takes any and every possibility to help them finally become a couple, often with the help of Adrien.) The only real difference to her best friend with her now short hair, cut in a bob, and the lack of glasses as she now, more often than not, wore contacts.
At the sound of a soft thunk, Marinette slid herself around to face Alya, who had sat her phone face down on the desk. Mari pouted at her best friend, fluttering her eyelashes. Alya let out a laugh as she stood up from the desk chair and walked over to investigate her girl's dilemma.
"Girl, you revert back to your thirteen-year-old self way too easily when it comes to Adrien. For the love of God, you're almost eighteen and have been his girl for almost a year!" Alya complained, but amusement rang clearly in her voice. Marinette could see that sparkle dancing in her friend's eyes, even behind her thick-framed glasses.
"Heeeeelp meeee!" Marinette whined playfully, her hands flying out and grabbing onto Alya's right calf. She jostled her friend's calf repeatedly. "I like the two outfits too much, Alya!"
With a roll of her eyes, Alya glanced at the first outfit.
A blush-colored crop top that buttoned laid with a pair of light jean shorts, a few carefully-placed tears of the jeans on both sides of the legs. A see-through kimono wrapped around them both, tassels hanging from the inside seam of the sleeves and intricate flower patterns sewn all over the piece of clothing. A simple crown sat beside the outfit, made of white flowers and dark twine.
The second outfit had a sweater-like crop top, a tank top. A different pair of light-colored jean shorts sat with this outfit, minus the tears, but they looked as if they were cut to be shorts. A yin-yang necklace laid across the neckline of the crop top, and a thin white-colored sweater with rolled up sleeves laid beside the rest of the outfit.
On the floor was a pair of white All-Star Converse, which Alya assumed Marinette intended to pair with both outfits.
"First one, now hurry up and get dressed for your date, girl!" Alya laughed as she reached down and helped Marinette to her feet once again. With an appreciative smile, Marinette grabbed the outfit and ran to the bathroom to change, temporarily leaving the flower crown and Converse there.
"Alya has good taste, Marinette," a small and musical voice called out to Marinette as she closed the bathroom door. Glancing around, her eyes landed on Tikki. Said kwami laid in a small hammock Marinette had made for her to sometimes stay in while the girl had friends over. Tikki zoomed over to her Ladybug and gently rubbed her head against Marinette's cheek in affection. "But, you also look good in what you wear."
With a smile, Marinette reached up and caressed the top of Tikki's head with the side of her index fingers. "Thank you, Tikki," she murmured with a soft smile.
Tikki headbutted her against the cheek before flying back to her small hammock. Marinette giggled quietly at the very Plagg-like gesture as she pulled her tank top over her head, tossing it into her clothes hamper. Ever since being reunited with him, Tikki has slowly became acting like him and vice-verse for Plagg. Adrien's certainly told her enough stories about the sassy cat kwami to see a difference.
Sliding off her shorts, she glanced at herself in the mirror. Her mind drifting to how she looked physically, five years ago almost, when she had first became Ladybug. She was petite, most definitely looking the part of the child she was. In fact, Marinette had been one of the last girl's in her year to physically go through puberty, which instilled many insecurities she now was over.
Her hair transitioned to a shade darker over the years, her hair held back in a messy bun currently. While untied, it reached nearly to her hips and had taken to a slight wave. She had also grown out her bangs to match her hair.
Her face hadn't changed much, though, with the exception of it becoming more defined. Her eyes had remained the same bright blue as always, her lashes growing a bit thicker; her eyebrows she let grow naturally and only occasionally plucked stray strands, and they too had darkened along with her hair; her nose became ever so slimmer as she grew, her cheeks becoming more defined; her lips remained a soft natural pink that she only put lipgloss over, a plump bottom lip over a thinner top.
Her body changed the most. She now stood around 5'3" (Adrien still towered over her with a whooping difference of ten inches, at 6'1"). Her hips widened quite a few inches, as did her chest. Her waist remained slim, though, so she had an hourglass figure. Due to her life as Ladybug, her arms and legs were quite toned. Her flat stomach held a faint outline of a six-pack, but she could only really see it up close or if she squinted; she didn't mind it not being fully developed at all, honestly.
With a content sigh, Marinette shimmied on the jean shorts to her outfit, her eyes darting around to find where she had placed her bra in the bathroom. After finding the pale bra hanging on the inside knob of the bathroom door, she grabbed it and slid her arms through the loops, doing the clasps behind her back with ease. Taking the step or two back to where she stood before, Mari picked up the crop top. She slid it on with ease, a soft smile on her lips as she glanced at herself in the mirror once again.
"Alya was definitely right," Mari whispered as she put on the short kimono. She quickly finished getting ready. Just as she was about to leave the bathroom, she caught sight of her hair, still in the bun she put it in last night. "Hm."
Her hands went up and undid it, sliding the hair band on her wrist. Grabbing her brush with one hand, she used the other to pick up the brush lying on the sink counter. Humming softly, Marinette brushed through her long locks, trying to decide how to wear it. She smiled and put the brush down, finished. Running her hand through her hair, she tussled it slightly before deeming it perfect. Adrien loved when she wore her hair down.
With a skip in her step, Marinette left her bathroom and walked back into her room, bare feet padding softly on her floor. Alya had taken her chaise as a seat with her phone once again in her hand, the other outfit presumably placed back in her closet (bless her best friend). Socks now sat on top of the white Converse (again, bless Alya).
At the sound of Marinette walking towards her, Alya glanced up and promptly let out a slow whistle followed by a cheerful laugh. Locking her phone and gently tossing it onto the foot of the chaise, the girl got up and went to her best friend.
"Knew it! You look fabulous, girl!"
"Pft," Marinette let out, a tint of pink on her cheeks, swatting at her best friend's shoulders as she walked by, towards the chaise. Plopping down, she proceeded to pull the socks and Converse on. Now fully dressed, she stood up and pointed at her friend. "Now, we can go on the date! Er, double- wait, triple? I don't remember! Do you remember what Nath said?"
Alya hummed in thought, her eyes closing as she did so. Reopening them, she nodded. "Nathaniel said he'd be there with Chloé. Still a bit weird to see them together, but thank whatever God is up there. Chloé has so calmed down."
"She has, we're actually fairly good friends now," Marinette reminded Alya, a smile on her lips once again. "Well, sometimes our personalities still clash, but… yeah, usually we're on good terms."
"I'd say the same, but I still don't think I'd be able to be friends with her, y'know? She was so horrible in collège, and she's still a bit rude now… maybe eventually, Mari," Alya said softly, her hand going up to rub the back of her neck.
Marinette sent her a smile before she walked over to her desk, grabbing her purse. She still carried the same purse as always, even though she mentally, but softly, cringed at it not really matching her outfit. She pointed at the door to downstairs. "Go ahead, I still have to grab something I left in the bathroom."
"Will do!"
After Alya let the trap door shut completely, Marinette called softly for Tikki, clicking open her purse. A red blur zoomed at to her from the bathroom and promptly went into her purse. "Ready!"
With a giggle, Marinette made her way to the trap door, lifting it up with ease. Maneuvering her body down easily to get down a few stairs before she could close the door. After letting it shut, she skipped down the stairs quickly, legs on autopilot. Upon seeing Alya talking to her mother and father, she smiled.
Marinette gave a hug to both her parents, a kiss on her father's cheek, as she reminded them she was going to stay at Alya's tonight, after the group date. With warm smiles and parental warnings, Tom and Sabine wave their daughter and her best friend goodbye.
Marinette and Alya were the first two to arrive at the laser tag center. Following closely were Chloé Bourgeois and Nathaniel Kurtzberg. The girl dressed her boyfriend, it screamed loud and clear. His clothes didn't have a single stain from ink, or paint, or even pencil lead. Even more so, his yellow jacket matched flawlessly with Chloé's off-the-shoulder top. Marinette was the first to address anyone. "Bonjour, you two! Chloé, you did a great job dressing this art nerd up." With a laugh, Mari poked Nath in the bicep. Much like Adrien and Nino, Nathaniel shot up over six feet. Marinette wasn't certain his exact height, though. Chloé, however, barely gained an inch or so, dwarfed by her boyfriend and friends, excluding Alya, who stood about the same height as the blonde, and Marinette, who happened to be the shortest of their circle. The blonde chopped her hair into a pixie, but Nathaniel kept his the same as it's always been.
"Thanks, Marinette," Chloé responded, a small smile appearing on her face as she held onto the crook of Nath's elbow. "I had to do some annoying arguing to get him in it, though!"
Nathaniel let out a low chuckle, bending down and blowing a raspberry on the crown of his girlfriend's blonde hair. He still didn't talk much, but he became much more expressive over the years. Marinette wagered that Nathaniel only pretended to not want to change for Chloé to "annoy" her, if only because he's divulged to her that his girlfriend's cheeks turn a bright pink he finds adorable.
"I believe it. Nath's definitely a tough cookie," Alya snickered, a smirk crossing her lips as she sends a wink at the ginger friend. Alya had also been told of his secret.
"Hm…" Chloé hummed softly, blue eyes narrowed slightly at Ayla. After a second, she shrugged and leaned closer to her boyfriend, lips curling into a small smile again. "Tough cookie, indeed."
"Hey, guys!"
All four teenagers turned their attention to the shout. Adrien Agreste and Nino Lahiffe stood across the street, patiently awaiting the change of the pedestrian light. Marinette squinted slightly, then proceeded to let out a loud guffaw at her boyfriend pressing the walk button over and over. The curious glance the other three gave her made her realize she was the only one who noticed. The lights changed and traffic temporarily stopped.
Just as they did, an even wider grin donned on Marinette as her boyfriend began to run across the walkway towards. As Adrien reached her, he easily lifted her into the air and spun her around a few times, eliciting a surprised squeal from her. Mari immediately began slapping her hands onto his shoulder blades, giggling happily. "Put me down!"
Adrien carefully sat her down, head moving down as well to place an obnoxiously-loud-on-purpose smooch on her cheek. Despite her cheeks turning a faint pink, Marinette grinned up at him. A throat cleared, drawing the two from each other.
Chloé smiled ever so slightly at the pair, content her childhood best friend was so happy. Nathaniel's face had tinted a soft red at the very public display of affection, head turned to look away. Alya had a smirk as she looked on the two. Nino, who had walked the crosswalk and now stood beside Alya with his arm over her shoulder, also smirked at them.
"Come on, love birds," Alya teased as she stepped forward, hand moving up to grab Nino's to pull him along with her. "We've got some laser tagging to do!"
Twin wide grins broke out on Marinette and Adrien's face, their eyes immediately glancing to one another. Marinette glanced around at her friends before pointing at the other four in front of her. "Girls against boys!"
The group laughed together, immediately agreeing to Marinette's proposition of teams. The three couples proceeded to enter the laser tag center, empty except for them. Thanks to a certain blonde heiress, the building had been completely reserved for them for the rest of the evening. Despite Marinette's attempt to barter Chloé down from doing so, she relented fairly quickly to her friend. Nathaniel agreed with Marinette at first, but also gave up when his girlfriend told him she would hide his art supplies from him. Very unfair, but also very Chloé Bourgeois.
The girls split from the guys after changing into their designated vests, set to lit up a certain color when hit. Girls, red; boys, blue. The worker at the laser tag droned on the rules of laser tag, much like a robot in Marinette's opinion. No hitting each other with the laser weapons, no tackling or horseplay, no friendly fire. ("The result of friendly fire… uh, I dunno. Keep playing, I guess." Mari and Alya snickered at this while Adrien frowned slightly. They recalled a certain time when Nino had accidentally scared the blond boy and Adrien lit him up.)
The kind of rules that everyone knows to follow when playing a game such as laser tag. The kind of rules all six of them were likely to break this evening while playing. None had a single qualm about it, though. They knew the others well.
The worker sent the respective teams to their respective "spawn area," the areas essentially on opposite ends of the room. After doing so, the guy walked away, pulling out his phone as he left the blacklighted room.
Bright areas blinded their eyes occasionally but the girls finally made it to their starting point. Marinette played idly with her weapon, thinking of a good strategy to beat the boys. Chloé and Alya watched her, already anticipating the girl's master plan to be given any second.
"Okay… so last time we didn't go after our respective boyfriends… er- " Marinette glanced at Alya, "two boyfriends and friends with benefits."
The comment earned Mari a raised eyebrow, but nothing more, so she continued.
"So, this time I will go after Adrien, Chloé gets Nath, and Alya, Nino. Sound good?" Marinette asked the two girls, a slight tilt to her head. The two nodded and Marinette smiled at them, lifting her hand out towards them. "Pile it in, gals"
"I honestly can't wait to shoot Lahiffe down," Alya confessed, a mischievous glint in her eyes. Her hand raised and she rested it on top of Marinette's smaller hand, a content smirk dancing along her lips. "I'm in."
"Hm," Chloé murmured as she raised her own hand to rest on Alya's. "Yeah, I definitely want to make Nath lose this time. He scared the shit out of me last time!"
The trio laughed and counted down to three before shouting, "Break!"
Marinette nodded at her girlfriends before they all scattered from each other. The girl silently thanked her days as Ladybug as she stealthily maneuvered through course built in the room. She hit behind makeshift columns and crouched behind randomly placed crates and boxes. While crouched behind one of the taller crates, she spotted a flash of hair that looked very familiar. With a grin, she quietly shuffled herself towards where she saw the "blur" moving, still in a crouch. Looks like someone just put the cat in the corner.
Upon reaching another hiding place, Marinette stood again, her back leaning slightly against it and her laser gun poised to shoot. Just as she went to move around the column built against the wall, she felt herself be pulled away from it and slammed up against the wall near it. A small gasp left her lips, mind desperately racing to catch up. Just as she went to instinctively hit the person who so roughly grabbed, soft lips crushed against hers.
Marinette blinked rapidly, her grip loosening on the laser gun. It fell to the floor. Green eyes stared unwavering at her for a few seconds, lips still on hers. With a wink, Adrien closed his eyes. She jumped slightly at the feel of his hand moving to rest on her hip, fingers teasing the bottom of her crop top. Her eyes swiftly fell shut and she responded. No longer caring about laser tag, the girl raised her hands and slid them through the soft blond hair of her boyfriend.
The hand on Marinette slid under her shirt, cool fingers just caressing underneath the swell of her breast. A small shiver ran down her back. Her fingers tightened in Adrien's hair, her lips passionately responding to him. A gentle pull of her bottom lip between his teeth pulled a soft whine from the back of her throat, a shock of warmth beginning to pool in her lower abdomen.
"Mari."
Oh God above, please kill me now. Marinette bemoaned mentally, the sound of Adrien's deep voice groaning like it did making her melt. One of her hands slid from his hair and stopped to cup his cheek. Without thinking, she let her lips falling open slightly more. A zing of pleasure flew through her at the feeling of Adrien's tongue meeting hers.
Abruptly, Adrien pulled away and the sound of dinging filled the air.
Marinette blinked owlishly at her boyfriend. A smirk played on his lips, tongue darting out to lick them. Adrien sent a wink at her before turning around and walking away. Her mind slowly reseated itself back into reality, the sound of obnoxious dinging gaining her attention. She looked down.
"I'm going to kill you so hard, you mangy tomcat!"
The sound of Adrien Agreste's laughter echoing in the laser tag room only added to Marinette Dupain-Cheng's anger at being so distracted that she let her boyfriend shoot her.
"So! Fucking! Hard!"