Marinette was having a good day. She was on time for her first class; she asked Adrien, "May I borrow a pencil?" she thinks she aced the trigonometry exam; and now that class has ended for the day she was headed from the lab to the art room, across the courtyard. As she threaded her way among the throng of people headed home or to their after school activities, she was lost in thought about a design she was itching to sketch. She noticed Adrien across the way as he smiled and waved at her. Over the last few years her crush had not abated in the slightest. Today's pencil incident, though, was proof that she was maturing, and didn't have to make a fool of herself around him at every turn. With that thought she smiled, but before she could wave back, a loud unnatural voice rang out over the crowded space, "DODGE THIS!"
Before she could turn to look, a glowing orange ball slammed into her side. She looked down at the point of impact and found herself standing in nothing but the hand-stitched matching set of Ladybug lingerie she put on that morning. They were a simple but flattering cut, with the polka dots at about a third the size and distance from each other as on the actual suit, with a subtle black lace trim on both bra and panties, just for a little extra detail. She could feel her blush building as she looked up at Adrien and found that he was frozen in place with a look of utter shock.
At the sound of screaming, she tore her eyes away from his and looked around to see people being pelted with more orange glowing balls, in rapid succession. At each impact, most of the targets' clothing vanished along with the ball, leaving behind countless mortified people in their wildly varying underwear. Marinette looked toward where the balls were coming from and saw a figure covered in billowing blue fabric that mimicked the school's gym uniform, but it covered her from her neck to her wrists and ankles, and propped under her arm was a glowing orange dodgeball. "IT'S NOT SO FUNNY NOW, IS IT? LET'S SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT! I AM THE HUMILIATOR, AND I NEED LADYBUG AND CHAT NOIR'S MIRACULOUS! IF I DON'T GET THEM, THEN I'LL JUST PLAY WITH WHOEVER I FIND, UNTIL EVERYONE IS OUT." With that she threw a ball hard at a young man who'd already been hit and stripped down to his checkered boxers. Upon impact he crumpled to the floor and didn't move. The ball instantly vanished and reappeared in the angry girl's hands ready to be thrown again.
With that, the akuma's threat level moved from extremely inconvenient, to possibly life threatening. Marinette turned to sprint away to a place to transform and suddenly found herself being scooped up and staring at the side of Adrien's head, as he carried her in another direction. His vibrant pink cheeks were at odds with the look of determination on his face. She squealed, "What are you doing?"
"I'm getting you out of here!" He shouted while weaving his way through the crowd of students and faculty that was becoming increasingly noncompliant with the school's dress code, if they were still standing at all. As she hitched her arms up around his neck for stability, she suddenly became very aware of his warm hands, one splayed around her bare ribcage and his other gripping under her knees, as he carried her bridal style.
Adrien was moving at a surprising speed, for carrying her weight. She decided to let him do what he felt was necessary and carry her away. He'd likely deposit her somewhere with privacy, given the circumstances, and then she could transform. Trying to lose him at this point would probably eat up more time than just going with it. With that thought, she carefully adjusted herself in Adrien's grip and against his chest, trying to be as conveniently portable as possible. He was unfairly comfortable, and she did her best to ignore how good he smelled, with limited success.
Marinette looked around to try to keep her bearings. She watched as a crowd of people surged for the main exit. The Humiliator concentrated her attacks there, unclothing and dropping people by turns, effectively convincing the masses that fleeing that way was too risky. She then looked over Adrien's shoulder just in time to see a ball lobbed straight at Adrien's head. "Get down!" She screamed, as Adrien dove to the ground, caging Marinette so she wouldn't get hit. There was a beat of hesitation while they both waited for the impact, but they heard it on the ground a little further ahead. As Adrien lifted his head to look around, Marinette was surprised to feel a bit of his stubble graze her cheek. The closeness was getting to be really distracting. How the hell is this happening?
Adrien yelled over the cacophony, "Let's get to those bleachers for cover for a bit!"
Marinette nodded as she allowed him to help her to her feet, and they both sprinted to a stack of bleachers just a few feet away. The moment they were out of line of sight from the super villain Adrien peeled his white overshirt off and handed it to Marinette while watching the chaos and trying to catch his breath. "I had no idea you were such a big fan of Ladybug."
Marinette watched the edge of the bleachers from behind him while she pushed her arms into the shirt that smelled like Adrien. "I'm really not that big a fan," she started doing up the buttons, "Sometimes a girl will, uh, wear a nice matching set as sort of a confidence booster, you know? For a feeling of empowerment."
Adrien did not take his eyes off of the figure in blue, still across the court and lobbing orange balls as she cackled. He cleared his throat, "I've heard of that. Does it work?"
Marinette finished up the last few buttons. The shirt was just long enough that it could be a short nightgown on her. "It does, sometimes. I made the Ladybug set to remind, uh, help myself feel like I can do anything. Like Ladybug. With the trig test today, I felt like I could use the extra boost."
Keeping his gaze carefully averted, Adrien reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Wow, you made that. Sounds like a lot of detail work to get the fit right. I mean, you did a great job. You look very..." he blew out a breath, "confident."
The compliment paired with the topic of conversation made Marinette's skin burn from her scalp to her chest, and she decided that now was a good time to change the subject. She walked over to Adrien and touched his back. He turned to her and looked at his shirt on her, and for a moment looked even more tense, before lifting his eyes up to hers and straightening his posture. She did her best to ignore his shoulders that she previously never got to see in just a well fitting t-shirt. "Adrien, thank you for your help, but you need to get out of here. I can find a spot to hide until Ladybug and Chat Noir show up. I promise, I'll be fine."
"Marinette, I appreciate that, but I really can't just leave you here. We're going to get you home where you'll be safe, and not so… vulnerable. You're my friend and I have to make sure you're okay. Then I'll meet my bodyguard wherever he and the car is now."
Marinette sighed in frustration, "Okay, then let's do this quickly so we can both get out of here." They looked to the exit. They had made some progress, but the exit was still more than just a short sprint away, and there were considerably fewer people left standing, so there were fewer people blocking The Humiliator's view.
With a look of grim determination Adrien said, "You run in front of me, and I'll stay between you and The Humiliator. If you get hit you go down, but if I do, I still have some time."
Marinette looked around to think of any alternative ideas, "I don't like this plan, but right now I don't see a better one."
"Alright then, when she's distracted, we'll make a break for it." He peered between the bleachers again, "Ready… Now!"
Marinette ran for all she was worth toward the large exit doors, and she could hear Adrien close behind her. Just when she was about twenty feet away from the threshold, she heard a loud THWACK and Adrien cry out behind her. Her footing stuttered, as she considered looking back, but Adrien cried out, "Don't stop! Keep running!"
Marinette lunged out the large doors and turned quickly around the corner, so she was no longer in The Humiliator's line of sight, then raced down the stairs, followed closely by Adrien. They didn't stop to catch their breath until they had reached the bottom and gone around the other side of the stone wall abutting the steps. It was then that she looked over at Adrien and saw that he was now clad in nothing but a Ladybug patterned pair of boxer briefs. Her eyes were drawn to them like they were the solution to her next problem. She tore her eyes away as fast as she could to look up at his chest - face. She looked at his face, and cleared her throat. "So, uh, I take it you're a Ladybug fan?"
He folded his arms - his arms - in front of his chest and looked to the side, while his already flushed face turned a shade darker. "Maybe I can also do anything."
Marinette looked to the ground and chuckled. She looked back up again - at his face - and said, "Okay, so how about we make a sprint for my place, and find some clothes, and wait this thing out there?" How the hell am I gonna shake him? I need to transform, but I can't just leave him here to fend for himself! That's not just not okay, it's really suspicious!
Adrien looked at her, put his hands on his hips and blew out a long breath, "Um, you know what? I'm just gonna hunker down here and call my bodyguard. It's not a long run, but there is a street with traffic to cross, and I'm worried if the public sees me like this I'll get mobbed again, and that would complicate the whole situation so much worse. So yeah, keep my shirt, and go on ahead. Please."
"O-okay. Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure."
"Alright. It's just, I just feel bad leaving you here."
"It's fine. Go on, you should hurry."
Marinette sighed. "Okay." She started backing away and waved her fingers at him, feeling a little awkward. He waved back, and with that she turned and sprinted toward her house.
Once she was no longer in his line of sight, she ducked behind a remote parked car, and opened her purse. "Tikki, that was insane!"
Tikki giggled at her, "Yes it was. Now let's go!"
"Right. Tikki, spots on!"
Less than a minute later, Ladybug landed on the roof of the school, to find Chat Noir already there. She trotted up to him "Chat Noir, what have you seen so far?"
Chat Noir looked to her, then her suit, then quickly looked back at the edge of the roof. His cheeks were distinctly pink. "Well, more than I should have. This one's called The Humiliator. She throws a dodgeball. If it hits you once, most of your clothes disappear, if she hits you twice you collapse. I can't tell if they're asleep, paralyzed, or um, worse. There isn't anything that stands out on the costume, but the ball glows. It also disappears on impact and reappears in her hands."
Ladybug started to pace in a small circle. "I guess the ball might have the akuma. Even if it doesn't, disarming her would be helpful. Do you think you can catch it with a cataclysm?"
Chat Noir grinned and winked at her. "I'm sure I could, my Lady. I excel at dodgeball."
With that they jumped down into the fray. Chat Noir summoned cataclysm on his way to the ground. The Humiliator called out, "LADYBUG AND CHAT NOIR! GIVE ME YOUR MIRACULOUS OR I'LL STRIP YOU OF THEM MYSELF!" She threw the ball at Ladybug, who casually side stepped. Then she threw the ball at Chat Noir, who disintegrated it the moment it touched his hand. When the butterfly came out, Ladybug snatched it and purified it with practiced ease.
Once the guise of The Humiliator dissolved into a teenage girl sitting in her underwear, Ladybug threw her yo-yo in the air, "Lucky Charm!" Then as soon as the red polka dotted dodgeball landed in her hands, she threw it immediately back up, and called out, "Miraculous Ladybug!" In moments, the little swarm of ladybugs made quick work of waking and dressing everyone.
Chat Noir shook his his head, "That was not a well thought out akuma."
Ladybug squinted and tilted her head at him, "Right? I'm almost concerned. Like, is Hawk Moth doing okay?"
Chat Noir snorted a laugh.
Ladybug went over to the now dressed girl and got her story. It turns out that when her team in gym class lost their much anticipated dodgeball game, they blamed her, and then pushed her out of the dressing room while she was still changing.
"I got this one, Kitty. You get on out of here."
Chat Noir bowed deeply, "Until tonight, Bugaboo." He straightened winked at her, and pulled his baton from behind his back. As he launched himself away, Ladybug yelled after him, "It's just patrol, Chat!"
Ladybug took the girl to Mr. Damocles and made sure the responsible parties were held accountable.
Patrol was sloppy. Try as he might to deny it, Chat Noir was distracted. He could not get the sight of Mariette in red and black polka dots with the little black trim out of his head. The pattern naturally appealed to him for obvious reasons, but the little bit of lace gave it a surprising feminine touch that he did not often associate with the heroine who inspired the design. Sure, she could be feminine, but she tended to lean on the bold, efficient, and no frills side.
When Adrien saw The Humiliator hit Marinette, she was suddenly so vulnerable, while at the same time tapping into the Ladybug centric part of his brain, and he could not possibly think straight without getting her out of harm's way first. He couldn't even recall picking her up. He just remembered holding her and running, and doing his best not to look. Goodness, she was soft. Practically landing on top of her didn't help. She smelled like cookies and girl. Stop that. Marinette's a friend. God, I feel like a perv.
They had stopped at on the roof of Notre Dame, as usual. Chat Noir glanced over at Ladybug. Unbidden, he thought of how Marinette's creation would fit on her muse. Huh, they could wear the same size. Stop it!
Ladybug's wistful sigh brought him out of his own head, and suddenly he realized that he hadn't been the only one distracted that evening. He cleared his throat, and she startled just a little. "Hey, Bug? Do you ever wear skirts?"
"What? Where did that come from?"
"I dunno, I just hadn't ever imagined you in something as girlish as a skirt, and it just occurred to me that you might. Sometimes." He gave her an awkward shrug.
Ladybug gave him a deadpan look. "Yes, Chat. I wear skirts. Sometimes. Now please stop imagining."
He fidgeted a little. "Sorry, I'll do that. Just curious."
She rolled her eyes, "It's fine Chat, whatever." She sat down on the edge of the cathedral's roof, legs dangling, and stared off into the twinkling city.
Chat Noir sat down as well and turned his head to her, "So what is it that has your attention tonight?"
Ladybug blushed and waved a hand, "It's nothing, really. Nothing you want to hear about."
Chat grinned wide. "Oh, but I do."
Ladybug looked at him and frowned, "It's about my crush, Chat. Let's just drop it."
Hearing that stung. It shouldn't have by now, but his feelings for her hadn't changed a bit and they both knew it. Still, it was a pill he regularly swallowed, then continued on as her faithful confidant. After all, he got to be the person she talked to. He couldn't help himself. "Please tell me? I like knowing what makes you blush like that."
Ladybug glared at him, and for a moment he thought she had clammed up for the night. However, she was apparently bursting to tell somebody whatever it was that was on her mind about the boy, so she relented. "So, um, he was at The Humiliator attack today."
Chat Noir barked a laugh "Oh no! You're kidding? Did you get an eyeful?"
Ladybug buried her face in her hands and groaned. "So much so. Holy cow, Chat! And the worst? Best? Part was, he was flying my flag!"
He raised his eyebrows at her. "Flying your flag, what do you mean?" Ladybug grabbed his shoulder, in what looked like an effort to ground herself, "Chat. He was wearing Ladybug boxer briefs!" She let go and gestured at the air in front of her, "I didn't even know that was a thing!" She grabbed her head, "I don't even know what to do with that! Ugh!" She flopped backwards onto the rooftop and covered her face with her hands again.
As such, she didn't notice Chat Noir having an internal crisis. There were a lot of people, in a lot of underwear there. He saw most of them. He did not see any guys that were not himself "flying his Lady's flag," as it were. He could have missed a few, but at this point, he had to be sure. "Ladybug? I only saw two people there wearing your spots. One of them was Adrien Agreste, and the other was Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Is Adrien your boy?"
Ladybug muttered something into the hands on her face about everyone having seen Marinette, then she flopped her arms onto the roof and sighed. "Ugh, me and my big mouth. You got me, Chat. It's Adrien. Oh God, please leave him alone. He doesn't even know."
Chat Noir was still for just a moment, collecting himself. Then he turned and pulled one leg up on the roof so he could properly face her, and gave her the most scandalized look he could muster. "My Lady, is he, or is he not a citizen of our fair city?" He gestured grandly to the skyline with his hand, as a grin crept onto his face. "Why I would lay down my life for your devilishly handsome model as swiftly as I would any other Parisian." He placed both hands over his heart, and chuckled. "Because it is my sworn duty as- ouch!" Chat Noir rubbed his head and squinted at Ladybug as her yo-yo retracted back to her hand.
She sat up and scowled at him, "You are so much worse than I expected you to be about this." She hesitated a moment, and gave him a side hug. "And better."
Chat Noir squeezed her back, and then they distangled their arms. "Yeah, well, just don't be too surprised if I hesitate just a little the next time we have another cream pie themed villain, if he happens to be nearby."
Ladybug shoved him lightly, "Oh, shut up."
He giggled, "Oh come on, that one was great! Someday you will admit that The Pieman was hilarious."
Ladybug shook her head. "Well, at any rate, thanks for listening. You're my best friend, you know that?" She stood and unwound her yo-yo.
Chat Noir stood, extracted his baton, and saluted her. "It's an honor, My Lady." With that, she cast out her yo-yo and swung away. Chat Noir blew out a breath, and vaulted his way home. He had a lot to think about.
Minutes later Chat Noir soared through his open window and into his empty bedroom where he detransformed. "Cheese is in the mini fridge, Plagg, help yourself."
The tiny incarnation of destruction went over to the cabinet where the cheese fridge was hidden, and phased through the door, then pushed the door open from the inside holding a wedge. "It's a little low."
"It's more than two thirds full, and you know it."
Adrien dressed for bed, and began pacing. Plagg watched him cross the floor. "Oh dear, this is serious."
Adrien continued pacing. "I know you won't tell me one way or the other, but I'm almost positive I know who she is."
Plagg rolled his eyes, and settled on the back of the couch. "Alright Romeo, who do you think is your Juliet?"
"I was only in the courtyard in my underwear for maybe a total of three full seconds, and no one there was particularly close to me. No one got what would be considered, 'so much' of an eyeful until I was outside with Marinette." He blushed again, thinking back on the look on her face when he rounded the corner to where she had stopped. "Once she left, I almost immediately transformed before anyone else saw me. I also noticed today that they have almost the exact same body type, and come to think of it, their hair is near identical."
Plagg raised an eyebrow. "Almost exact? Near identical? You don't sound so sure to me."
Adrien stopped and looked at the kwami, "I'm just allowing a margin for error in case there are nuances I somehow missed, but I don't think there are any. I'm going to find out for sure tomorrow." His eyes caught on his overshirt that was currently hanging off the back of the desk chair. He remembered how Marinette looked in his shirt with the bold red and black pattern just barely showing through the white fabric as a light pink and grey. He rubbed his face with his hands. "I had better be right about this."
Early the next morning, when Adrien stepped out of the car in front of school, he went straight to Nino and Alya at their usual spot on the front steps. He flashed his charming grin at the pair of them. "Good morning, Alya. Nino, we need to talk."
Nino looked to Alya, and she shrugged. Nino gave her a quick kiss on the temple, "See you in class, babe."
Alya gave Nino a quick side squeeze, "Go on you two, and keep an eye on the time."
With that Adrien and Nino went into building and found a remote area with some privacy. Adrien turned to Nino and looked at him intently. "Nino, how does Marinette feel about me?"
Nino looked at him, sighed, and rubbed his forehead. "You are going to have to be more specific or explain where that question came from."
Adrien said slowly and deliberately, "Does Marinette have a crush on me?"
Nino covered his mouth with one hand and looked around, then grabbed Adrien by the arms revealing a huge smile on his face. "You finally figured it out! I can't believe it!" He let go to put his hands by his sides. "Adrien, you have been my best friend for a long time, but Marinette has been my friend for even longer, and out of respect and loyalty to her, I have been sitting on that information for years. Yes. Marinette has a painfully large crush on you."
Adrien was already pretty sure, but he was still surprised. "How, how many years?"
Nino raised his eyebrows and clearly enunciated, "All of them. Every available year." He shook his head, "I hardly remember the brief time after I met you before I found out about it."
Adrien could practically hear all the pieces he gathered since yesterday clicking together. He crossed his arms and stared at the empty space between them while he let his thoughts settle in. Ladybug got a good look at him when only Marinette could. They do look a lot alike. Marinette and Ladybug have both had a crush on him for years. That last one wasn't exactly damning evidence, but it definitely made him more confident about the conclusion he had already come to. Marinette was his Lady. "You just didn't want Alya to kill you."
"While true, the respect and loyalty thing did also factor in."
Marinette was chatting at her desk with Alya, while they waited for class to begin. Alya rolled her eyes and lamented, "The actual fight was so short, I barely have any footage of it, and even that is unusable because there are too many half naked people in the background. I had to use a few stills and crop them all to hell to even have images for my post!'
Marinette chuckled at her. "Well, I'm sure everyone you cropped out appreciates the sacrifice. You got some good shots of the super villain, so there's that at least?" Alya shrugged, but still seemed dissatisfied.
Marinette was a little early today, even though she took some extra time to select undergarments that were nice enough, but not particularly showy. She had a feeling most of the school had chosen their underwear a little more carefully that day. While twice in a row did seem absurd, once at all was already bizarre. Chloe sauntered through the doorway. When she saw Marinette she marched right up to her and poked her in the chest. "Where did you get them? I have never seen them before, and I always have my eye out for a find like that, so last night I went home and scoured the internet but I could not find them anywhere!"
Marinette's eyebrows furrowed as she considered Chloe. "What are you talking about?"
Chloe folded her arms over her chest and tapped her foot. "The Ladybug set! Obviously! Where did they come from?"
Marinette straightened in her chair and blinked. "I- I made them. Myself." It was too early for dramatic encounters with Chloe.
"You made-!" Chloe's scowl morphed into a saccharine smile. "You made them?"
"Yes, Chloe. They're handmade." It was far too early for publicly discussing the origin of her flashy undergarments with Chloe.
Chloe fixed her with an intense look. "How much for a Queen Bee set?"
Ah. There it is. Why not? "I really can't say off hand, I'd have to create the design, price the materials, factor in the time, and the stripes would make it slightly more complicated than mine." She tapped her chin. "Or, different complicated, anyway. I'll need to get your measurements, but I should have a price for you by Friday."
Chloe waved a dismissive hand at her. "Whatever, just come to the hotel for the measurements." With that she turned, stepped down to her desk, and sat - visibly in a better mood.
A moment later a grinning Nino walked in followed closely by Adrien. Adrien's eyes found her immediately, then he kept glancing around the room and back to her again as he made his way to his desk and sat. Oh great. It's going to be weird forever now. She saw him wipe his palms on his jeans, before he turned around to face her. "Marinette, we need to talk."
Oh God, it's going to be weirder than I thought! Marinette could feel her face warming. "O-okay."
Adrien reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Would you mind, going out into the hall with me?"
Marinette nodded her head. "Sure! We can do that. We'll talk out there." She was still nodding when she grabbed her purse and headed for the door, with Adrien close behind. Class was going to begin fairly soon, so the halls were not crowded, but Adrien kept walking until they found a much more remote area where they could talk privately. This did not make Marinette more comfortable.
When he seemed happy with the location, he turned to face her. "Gosh, I don't even know how to say this." He ran his hand through his hair and looked at the floor. "I found out yesterday, um." He looked back up at her. "I found out you're Ladybug."
Expecting him to say something about her crush, Marinette was caught completely by surprise. "What? That's absurd! Is this just because of the underwear? I'm no more Ladybug than you are!"
Adrien chuckled, "Nice try, but you were the only one who had a chance to get a good look at me after I got hit yesterday, and Ladybug said she had."
Marinette felt the blood drain from her face. "That. Mangy. Cat. I can't believe he would do such a thing! What is he even thinking? Oh God, Adrien, you can't tell anyone you know!"
Adrien raised his voice over her panic. "My Lady, he wasn't the one who told me!"
Marinette fell silent and stared at him.
The corners of Adrien's mouth turned up in a small smile. "It was you, on top of the Notre Dame, and you said it to my face." he said quietly.
Marinette's eyes widened, then she slapped her hand over his eyes.
"Ah! What is that for!"
"Hush and be still, I'm trying to see him!" Marinette looked closely at the lower half of his face.
Chat Noir's mouth on Adrien's face grinned at her, "You know it's me, Bug. You'd have never slapped Adrien's pretty face like that to prove a point."
Marinette took her hand from his face like it had been burned. She looked at Adrien again, and he was pleading with his eyes, the same way he did when they were slitted like a cat's. She knew it was him, and it was a thing she could never unknow again. "Kitty? I'll admit, you clean up nicer than I expected." She giggled as he playfully scowled at her.
"Well, considering I know exactly how well you think I clean up, I suppose I'm not surprised."
Marinette blushed hard. "Oh my God, I've been telling you about you for years."
"Not all that often, just when I goaded you. But looking back on those conversations will be a lot more satisfying from here on out."
Marinette groaned and covered her face in embarrassment. Adrien wrapped his arms around her and rubbed a circle onto her upper back and whispered into her hair, "Hey, hey now. So I know how much you like me. Is that so bad? I mean, it's no secret between us how much I like you, after all. I'm just excited to finally level the playing field."
Marinette moved her hands just enough to uncover her face, to look at his, which was now really close. She had started crying. She sniffled. "After everything you heard me say about you over the years, you really feel like we're… even?"
"Well, let's not already start being one of those couples who argue over who loves who more, but yeah. I do."
Marinette turned so she could wrap her arms around him too. She rubbed her face on his chest to dry her eyes. "So does this mean we're a couple now?"
"Yes, please. May I kiss you?"
Marinette moved her arms from around his waist to around his neck with surprising speed, but he's been reacting instantly to her body language for years, so he met her in the middle as she came up for their first(ish) kiss.
When they separated Adrien was grinning like an idiot, and Marinette was feeling a little giddy. She stepped back from him, but wrapped her arm around one of his. "We should get back to class."
The two of them strolled back into the classroom arm in arm, with grins plastered on their faces. At the sight of them, Chloe, the entire girl squad, and Nino all screeched with varying degrees of outrage or delight.
Alya slapped her desk loud enough to redirect the attention of the class. "With results like that, I'm gonna need a quote for one of those sets too!"
Marinette spluttered for a moment at the misunderstanding, but recovered quickly enough, because arguing would mean explaining, and she wasn't ready for that. "Um, alright, I've done a Ladybug set, I'll be doing a Queen Bee set, so maybe one of those, or maybe Rena Rouge, or something else?"
"Alya's face was split in a wide smile. "How about Carapace?"
Nino's coughing fit wasn't settled until after a walk to the water fountain.
