When entering his final year of school for radio communication, Nino Lahiffe was very prepared to undertake the largest, most involved project under his wing and crush it. The grade would be perfect, he would pass and immediately graduate with four job offers that would increasingly offer him more money with their want for his music mixing talents, and his life would be set. But, as with most things, life does not always work as we envision in our heads.

"Babe, I have to, like, do talk radio. I don't wanna talk. I just wanna play music and then have everyone love me," Nino bemoaned to his longtime girlfriend and budding- yet, already notorious- journalist. Alya rolled her eyes, and through her glasses it only seemed to amplify her annoyance.

"Nino, you should've read the class description better. Even I knew you were going to have to make a talk show. But, it sounds like fun!"

He shrugged. "I mean, it's nothing prestigious. I'll have to run the student station on week nights. Why I got the latest shift, nobody knows..." He took off his cap and rubbed a hand over his hair as he trailed off, glancing sheepishly in the direction of Alya's chuckling.

"You fell asleep in class again and missed the sign up, didn't you?" she teased. She was met with a silent pause, which only made her laugh harder. Her laughter was contagious, and soon after Nino was laughing just as loud. Once he calmed himself down and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, he spoke. "Maybe. But regardless. The talk show that gets the most listeners and the most callers earns the highest grade, and usually gets a job with one of the local stations really quickly. And if I want to have any kind of career in music, which I do, I need to be the best!"

Alya reached out a comforting hand. "I'm sure you will be. But how can I help?"

"At this point? I have no idea. Apparently, my first shift is tonight. I'm not stressing. I think my hairline has receded six inches and my extremities haven't stopped shaking, but it's fine. It's totally fine. But, I also have to get going. Got another class in five minutes across the campus." Nino quickly pecked her cheek, and began sprinting. "Love you!"

Shaking her head fondly, Alya shrugged her messenger bag over her head and began walking in the opposite direction, pulling out her phone to send a quick text.

Marinette turned off the lights in the studio, and hugged her bag closer to her. The walk out to her car was brief, but it never failed to feel like an eternity at the end of a long day. Reaching in her purse for her keys, she unlocked her car and quickly got in. After turning it on, she checked her phone. Alya had texted her and told her to turn Nino's first broadcast on the university's student station. It started at 8 p.m. She glanced at the clock on her dashboard. 7:58 p.m. And with two minutes to spare, she turned the dial and began to drive home. After her long day, she needed time with her friends, and this was as close as she was going to get if she planned to eat, shower, and sleep at a semi-normal hour.

"Hey, whaddup there, peeps! I'm your host for this evening, every evening. The name's Nino- you can call me DJ Nino, or if you're my girlfriend, DJ Bubbler. That one's a bit of an inside joke, but we're all going to be friends here, so you might hear it one day."

Marinette laughed. The "inside joke" was that, on their first date, Nino had taken Alya to the park, where she had then dared him to drink the bubble soap. He had somehow managed to breathe it up his nose, and was spewing bubbles out of his mouth and nostrils after one particularly nasty burp. Apparently, it was hilarious.

"-and I'm gonna be honest with you guys, I have no idea how this whole 'talk radio' thing is supposed to go. I think I throw out a topic and you guys call and talk to me? We'll work out a system for the Nino Power Hour later. Also, that title is subject to change. I thought of it five minutes before I went on air, and I'm not married to it. So, I think subject number one will be how am I doing? Call in and let me know. Or if you just want to chat."

Well, Marinette was nothing if not a great friend. So, despite her long day, she decided to call in to Nino's station. The DJ was relieved someone called. He was not prepared to already be a failure. But, he also did not know how to correctly operate the radio board. "Okay, I see a blinking light on the board. Bear with me as I switch to our first caller. Caller, you're on the air. Tell me an interesting fact about yourself I can use to identify you with before you rate me. We're gonna operate on codenames. I just decided that."

"Hi there, Nino! Um, I really love ladybugs, because they're a sign of good luck. So, you can call me Ladybug. And I think you're doing great!" A smile was brought to the DJ's face. After Alya, Marinette was the second most important lady in his life, and at that moment he was eternally grateful to recognize her high, feminine voice through his headphones. He would have to play a Jagged Stone song just for her as thanks.

"Dudette, Ladybug, thanks for the rating. Anything I can do for you on this fine Monday night?"

Marinette sighed into the phone. What she really wanted was a long bubble bath, a home cooked meal she didn't have to cook herself, and a glass of wine, and she expressed that desire over the radio to her friend. They joked for a few moments, until Nino began receiving another caller. Marinette hung up, and she was pulling into the parking lot of her apartment when she about gave herself a concussion. On the radio following her call, was the most attractive male voice she had ever heard, introducing himself as the black cat lover Chat Noir and saying incredibly kind things about Nino's first broadcast, making some dumb joke about how it was "rad-io."

And hearing that voice, Marinette vowed she would be listening to every broadcast of Nino's, just to hear the voice of that black cat. After he hung up, Marinette grabbed her things and sprinted into her apartment building. Unlocking her door quickly, and nearly tripping over the orange tabby at her feet, she fumbled around for her old CD player that would be able to get the student station playing.

Throughout the rest of Nino's broadcast, he was called by a few different folks who he kept coming up with codenames for: a bossy woman, a soft-spoken teen, a monotone girl, and a man who sounded like a jerk, respectively known as Queen Bee, Illustrator, Rose, and the very pompous Cupid. Their voices kept Marinette company as she went through her night, eventually lulling her to sleep.

Chapter Management

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