Don't mind the title, this isn't going to be a "serious" fic. I think. I just suck at titles.
xox
I. Ouverture
xox
"Ehm, excuse me, but this is my practice room."
Marinette looked up from her music sheets to see Chloé Bourgeois entering the room without even so much as a knock. Behind her trailed Sabrina, her accompanying pianist.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see your name on the door or anywhere in the room," the raven-haired composer replied dryly from behind the baby grand. Her face didn't show any apology either.
"Well I don't need to put my name on everything, like you do." Chloé had strutted up to the piano, looking down at Marinette as she spoke. "After all, my dear father is the director of the École Papillon de Musique." Behind her, Sabrina nodded enthusiastically in agreement, looking pointedly at Marinette.
The reminder did nothing to make Marinette any more convinced that the blonde soprano deserved the room, but she decided getting her music done was more important than picking a fight with a spoiled diva and her minion. Sighing, she gathered up her music sheets and her bag.
"Have a nice day," Chloé sang out as Marinette exited the room.
"That Chloé, just because her dad is school director she acts like they own the place," the frustrated composer muttered as she looked for another room. "It looks like that was the last one available, too."
'Yep, last one.' She sighed dejectedly, peeking into the the practice room at the end of the hallway. Inside she saw four strings majors practicing a chamber piece. 'I'll have to find someplace else, someplace quiet.'
'No texts from Alya, but it is only 15:30, so of course her class wouldn't be done yet.' She sighed again, stopping to look out a window. What she saw gave her an idea.
The École Papillon de Musique was a relatively new institution, small compared to the city's numerous other music schools, but it had the special privilege of being owned by Gabriel Agreste, CEO of Agence des Étoiles Montantes, which is just about the biggest celebrity agency around. Being under the same umbrella, one would expect graduates of the École Papillon to be sure bids for the Agence, but while it wasn't the case the link made sure that the school would be a center for excellence, with few but talented students, top-of-the-line facilities, and pristine school grounds.
Occupying perhaps half those "pristine school grounds" was the garden—quiet, practically deserted this time of day, and in perfect view of the window Marinette was looking out of. In a minute she was walking with the soft rustling of grass under her feet. One or two students had about the same idea, lounging on a bench or sitting under a tree with earphones on, but she wanted to find a quiet place to work in peace. She walked further into the deeper part of the garden, until she found a quaint little pavilion by a pond. A deserted little pavilion by a pond.
"Perfect!" Marinette immediately set her bag down on one of the two benches, took out her music, and resumed her work.
"Now where was I?" she muttered to herself as she looked at the assembly of chords and keys. "Let's see, this is where we modulate to the key of F—"
"Oh, you've found my hiding place."
Annoyed at being interrupted once again, Marinette turned towards the owner of the gentle voice. The moment she saw his face, the scowl on hers turned into wide-eyed surprise.
"A-adrien? I mean, euhm," she stammered. "Adrien Agreste?"
"No need to be so formal," he chuckled, and Marinette thought she saw a flash of something oddly like anxiety flit across his features. The blonde boy sat down on the bench across from her.
"Look, I know what everyone knows about me, son of Gabriel Agreste, piano prodigy, blah blah, but I just came here to sleep, okay?" He looked at Marinette with his green, green eyes, and they seemed to be pleading. "I always come here to nap, nobody else comes this deep into the garden so it's perfect for me."
"Euhm, o-okay, I'll get going then, sorr—"
"No, no please." Adrien moved quickly as Marinette stood up, her bag and music hastily gathered. She looked down to find his fingers wrapped around her wrist, and she almost fainted, her cheeks suddenly feeling hot. "You, well, it's not your fault, this is school property after all, it's not like I own this garden, much less this place." He gestured to the pavilion and the pond.
"You're okay with me staying here while you sleep?"
"Yeah, I mean, you found this place too, right?" Adrien shrugged, letting go of her wrist. Part of her was relieved, the other part disappointed. "We can share it. It'll be our little secret." He winked, and she had to sit back down to keep herself from collapsing.
"O-okay, thanks."
"So, just to do this properly, I'm Adrien Agreste, piano major." He held out a hand, which she shook after a moment's hesitation.
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng..."
"Composition major, right? Noticed the scores, you seem pretty prolific."
"W-well, I do like what I do." She smiled shyly, and it was his turn to redden.
"Good," he nodded through his blush, sitting back down as well. "That's important, that you like music.
"Well, I'll just be getting some shut-eye here, don't mind me." Adrien stretched himself out on the bench, using an arm as a pillow.
"Goodnight! For the next half hour or so at least." And with that, he closed his green eyes and everything was quiet again.
"G-goodnight!" Marinette softly and hurriedly replied. She stared at him for a good moment, but it seemed like he had actually fallen asleep in a split second. Quietly she took her scores out again, and got back to work.
"—nette? Marinette?" A gentle voice broke through the dreamy haze.
"—huh? Wha?" Her vision came to focus on bright green eyes and blond hair.
"Good morning!" Adrien greeted brightly. He was now standing in front of her, hands on his knees so his face would be closer to hers. "Sorry to wake you up, but your phone's been buzzing crazily for the past minute or so."
"A-adrien?" Marinette was jolted awake by the realization. "How long was I out?" Not waiting for a reply, she looked at her phone screen, reading five missed calls and "16:27" on it.
"Euh, well, I was napping too, so I can't say," Adrien answered with a shrug, his smile just a bit sheepish.
"Oh nooo, I didn't get anything done!" she groaned, looking at the sheets of half-finished scores on her lap.
"Relax, it's not even 16:30 yet, you'll have time—"
"I gotta—I gotta go." She hurriedly gathered up her music. "I have, euhm, yeah I have a part-time job, haha, very busy, you know? Life as a working student, and all that." She chuckled anxiously, standing up with an armful of scores.
"Sure, I'll just get some more shut-eye I think." Adrien sat back down on the bench. "Thanks for keeping me company though."
"N-no, thank you for letting me stay here, and for waking me up!" She checked her phone again, turning to go.
"See you!"
"And with that, she's gone," Adrien sighed, feeling just that bit lonelier as he watched her sprint away, his chin resting on his palm. He unlocked his own phone and idly slid a finger across the screen to dismiss the reminder. Sighing again, he stood up, stretching his limbs and looking around at his now Marinette-free spot of garden.
"Guess it's time for my own part-time job."
"This event isn't anything very big, but they do have quite a few performers lined up," Nathalie Sanscoeur remarked as she ticked off a list on her clipboard. The blonde boy she was talking to readjusted his mask, patting it firmly into place.
'This black really brings out the green in my eyes,' Adrien thought, glancing at his reflection in the nearest mirror, which was at least four feet away and behind the lady who seemed to be talking to him.
"So you are performing one song, with allowance for one more if the crowd calls for an encore, but only one more," she continued. He adjusted the length of his belt, making sure that the tail of leather reached down far enough but not too far, to avoid accidental tripping on it. Then he tapped the toes of his boots against the ground.
"Are you listening? Chat Noir?"
"Yep, most definitely!" He immediately straightened into a salute, before his still naked hand crawled up to poke at a cat ear. "Are they on straight?"
Nathalie sighed, shaking her head. "Yes, they are, but instead of worrying about your outfit, shouldn't you be making sure your guitar is properly tuned?"
"What am I, an amateur?" Chat Noir scoffed. "My Plagg is up and raring to go!" He gestured towards his sleek instrument sitting in a corner, all glossy black except for the glowing green paw print on its body.
"I polished and kissed and tuned him the minute I arrived." He crossed his arms and looked proud of himself.
"Right...well, don't forget to put your gloves on. Someone might, I dunno, recognize you by your hands." She rolled her eyes as he feigned fear.
"Oh no, I musn't let that happen!" He quickly grabbed his fingerless gloves and slipped them on. "What will they say when they find out I'm just a boring stuck-up dweeb in real life?"
"What, indeed."
"Seriously though, Nathalie, that song I gave you the other day, did you speak to my fath—the agency about it?" His tone had gone much more professional now, which is something Nathalie hoped he did more often.
"It wasn't a song, Chat Noir." She involuntarily drew in a breath to brace herself for his response to her news. "It was lyrics, a poem."
"Did you tell them I was still working on the melody?"
"Yes, but M'sieur Agreste won't even look at it until you can give him a complete song." She exhaled and leaned against the dresser behind her, setting her clipboard down.
"...I see." His costume cat ears looked like they were dropping.
"But enough chatting." He perked up, and she could see he was about to make a joke about chat-ting with Chat Noir, but she cut him off before he could even get a syllable out. "Have you decided on a song?"
"Yeah, it should probably be 'Claws Out', everybody loves that one. Encore will be 'Cataclysm'." He strode over to his guitar and picked it up, slinging the belt over a shoulder.
"Good, good." Nathalie nodded in approval. Well, it's Ladybug's turn to perform in a minute, which means you've got a bit more time so—"
"Ladybug?" His whole demeanor perked up. "Ladybug is performing before me? Why didn't you say so?"
"I just did—"
"Okaythanksseeyou!" In a streak of black and blonde Chat Noir was out of his dressing room, leaving his talent manager shaking her head.
"Really, he's got it bad."
"LA-DY-BUG! LA-DY-BUG! LA-DY-BUG!"
Marinette raised her microphone up high as the crowds cheered. Her chest heaving up and down with each exhilarated breath as she basked in the electric heat of the spotlight, smiling at her adoring audience. Her mask felt sticky as it clung to the skin of her face and the sweat trickling down along her back must have been making its mark on her red and black spotted dress, but in this moment she could not bring herself to care.
"Merci, Paris!" she yelled into the mic. "Merci, tout le monde!"
With a flourish, she bowed to the audience and marched down the stage exit, still carrying her instrument. Once she was behind the curtains she took a deep breath.
"As usual, bien joué, Ladybug," the event emcee greeted her, smiling and patting her shoulder as he walked past.
"Thank you," was Ladybug's breathless but happy reply. He acknowledged with a nod before stepping up onto the stage himself. She watched him address the crowd as she leaned herself and her instrument against the wall, calming herself down from the adrenaline high.
"Woohoo, well, wasn't that quite the show!"
Ladybug turned her head towards the voice, a voice she knew well.
"Hello, Chat Noir." She had always found him a bit annoying, but the way she was feeling right now, nobody could ruin her good mood. "You up next?"
"Exactly that, milady." He walked up to her with a grin that she thought meant to be charming, but just wasn't quite working for her. "But, while the stout gentleman there preps up the people by talking about my paw-someness"—she raised an eyebrow—"allow me to take this moment to tell you just how lovely you are in red."
Ladybug rolled her eyes. "I'm always in red, minot. Red with black spots, you know? It kinda comes with the Ladybug persona."
"Still, on you that look is spot on, eh?" He winked, waiting for her to acknowledge his wit. She obliged with another roll of her eyes and a shake of her head.
"Alright, fine, thank you, kitty cat." She jerked a thumb to the stage behind her. "I think you should get going."
"Nah, he's not done—"
"—Chat Noir!" came the emcee's voice through the speakers. The stage lights went out, and the "stout gentleman" Chat Noir had mentioned walked in.
"M'sieur le Chat, you're on!" he told the blonde cat-boy.
"—alright, but I'll see you again, milady-in-red." Chat Noir kept his grin as he walked backwards towards the wings, carrying his electric guitar.
"À toute à l'heure~" With a last wink and a two-fingered salute, he pivoted on a boot and ran up to the stage, still veiled in darkness.
"This charity concert is turning out to be quite the party," Ladybug's new companion remarked.
"Yeah, it's been really fun," she said with a smile, watching as the lights came on and Chat Noir started ripping into his song's intro chords. Then she turned to their host.
"So thanks again, but I believe Nathalie told me I can go after my turn? I'm sorry I can't make an appearance for the closing chorus later, but I really need to go." She thought of the unfinished scores stuffed in her bag.
"Oh don't mention it, we're very glad to have the talented Ladybug on our event," the man assured her. "Besides, we have the same arrangement with Chat Noir right there. Everybody knows that the masked idols of Agence des Étoiles Montantes have to maintain their mysterious image, we perfectly understand."
"Yeah, that's right, thanks." Ladybug held out a hand, and the smiling emcee shook it. "Well, thanks again for a wonderful time, and should you need me again you know whom to contact." Then she turned and made her way back to the dressing room. The mask was getting really itchy.
"Aaah, yes, that feels good." Marinette buried her damp face on the very fluffy, very pink towel Nathalie handed to her.
"Good work today, Ladybug," the older woman was saying. "With this, those two singles are gonna sell even more."
"Yeah, isn't that swell?" The young girl's voice came out muffled from behind the towel.
"But you and I both know that rising stars fall hard and quick if there are no waves to ride, so we'll need you to make more songs."
"Oh that's not gonna be a problem, I already have two or three in the works—"
"M'sieur Agreste is going to commission seven more songs from you, for Ladybug."
Marinette looked up from her towel, mouth open in a silent gasp.
"That's right, a full album."
"M-my own...my own album..." The rising idol's voice was small.
"Well, yes, your album, but not just your own."
She looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"As per executive decision, you will be releasing the album with Chat Noir."
"Wait. Wait wait wait." Marinette held up her hand, palm towards Nathalie. "Me and Chat Noir, collaborating on an album?"
"Collaborating on an album, sharing the stage, probably a few music videos," the talent manager clarified, her voice still professional but her face betraying amusement at the young star's reaction. "Basically you two will be a dynamic duo, an idol pair."
Marinette was speechless. Nathalie pressed on.
"Your idol pair will be called: Miraculous."
xox
This was partly inspired by UtaPri, so...it will probably be very silly. Also I watch the French dub, so expect some gratuitous French here and there, but I think they're all phrases you can look up on translate engines. Do let me know if you think a vocabulary index is needed.
Also, I guess it wasn't very obvious for Chat Noir but they're not wearing their typical superhero outfits. The key elements remain, such as the masks, the color schemes, and Chat Noir's leather belt "tail" and the cat ears. I'll elaborate further, in any case.
I already had this series planned out and outlined, but I had a bout of maladresse and accidentally deleted my only copy of the outline. Still I am working on completing the outline again, so I hope to update this regularly—at the very least more often than the last time I attempted a multi-chapter fic *coughLikeVelvetOrCoffeecough*
Reviews and critique are welcome!