Yep. I've been bitten by the Ladybug. This fandom's got me in it, hard.
This story will be cross-posted on AO3 under the name TropicalSnow.
In the bedroom of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, all was calm and quiet.
The morning sun, just emerging to light up the Parisian skyline, shone against the windows, though its effects were muted as the curtains were drawn.
On the bed, lay a pile of blankets and pillows, which were scatted around it, some barely even on the bed at all.
A pale foot poked out from under the blankets and a faint sound of breathing could be heard if one listened closely.
It was all very serene.
Then, everything changed when the alarm clock went off.
"AAH!" Marinette screamed and kicked the blankets off herself and the pillows went flying across the room.
However, as soon as she attempted to get up, she managed to get tangled in the sheets, tripping and falling to the floor, landing with a loud thud.
"Ow..." Marinette moaned pitifully.
Tikki's voice chuckled lightly from inside a wardrobe with its doors left slightly ajar.
"Only you, Marinette, would make the simple act of getting out of bed such an event!" the Kwami flew out. "You're lucky Hawkmoth hasn't sent a bed sheet themed Akuma after you and Chat Noir!"
"I'd be gone for sure if he did..." Marinette groaned as she extracted herself from the mess of sheets. "My Miraculous would be totally in his hands..."
"We'll just have to make sure that we don't let that happen then," Tikki said sagely. "Now, you have more pressing matters on your hands. Like getting ready for school!"
Marinette groaned. "No..."
"Okay, students. You all have your weekend homework down and I expect to see it completed promptly on Monday morning!" Mme Mendeleiv said as the class packed up.
"There goes my relaxing weekend..." Alya muttered under her breath.
"I'll say..." Marinette glared at the textbook with such venom that if it had been looks that could kill, the unfortunate textbook would have been reduced to ashes.
"Unless..." Alya turned to the boy seated directly behind her, who had been ranting to Adrien about the assignment in a rather lively manner.
Nino abruptly stopped mid-rant and turned to his girlfriend.
"Yes, Alya?"
"This Physics homework is gonna be killer. How about you, me, Marinette and Adrien get together and work on it this weekend?" Alya suggested.
Marinette bit back a horrified scream which threatened to escape from her, her eyes widening as she imagined all the potential opportunities to embarrass herself.
Nino consulted briefly with Adrien, who nodded in the affirmative. "I don't see why not..." Adrien shrugged.
"Okay, sure! When do we meet up?" Nino finally answered Alya.
Marinette actually did let out a small horrified scream at these words.
"Would tomorrow at one PM be good enough for you both?" Alya queried.
"Well I wouldn't expect you to mean one AM..." Nino joked.
Alya narrowed her eyes at him and he shuddered at the look she was giving him.
"One PM is fine with me!" he said in a rush.
"I thought so..." Alya said.
Marinette and Adrien shared a look, the dark-haired girl looking away quickly when she realised what she was doing.
"What about you, Adrien? Is that time good with you too?" Marinette ventured, actually not sounding squeaky-voiced as she had been expecting.
"It's fine with me too. I don't have anything scheduled this weekend..." Adrien smiled a smile that nearly had Marinette swooning (and did have Alya rolling her eyes).
"Okay then..." Alya did something on her phone as the group finally got up and headed for the door.
At the same time they headed out into the main part of the school, other students from the different classes emerged as well.
"We will meet at the library around one tomorrow afternoon, right?" Adrien asked, checking something on his phone. "Just making sure..."
"Yep!" Alya nodded. "Don't be late! Mendeleiv won't let us be late!"
The boys walked away and it was then that Marinette seemed to regain some of her sense.
"I... how could you do that to me?!" Marinette asked of her best friend, looking embarrassed.
"Hey! We get some brilliant minds together to help us with some killer homework and spending time with our love interests..." Alya waggled her eyebrows and was about to speak again when Marinette glared at her.
"Alya..." Marinette groaned exasperatedly.
"Marinette," Alya shot back. "You have to get over this stupid shyness around him! You can't live the rest of your life like this!"
"I know..." Marinette wailed, her hands covering her face.
"Um... Excuse me?" a female voice came from behind them.
Marinette and Alya turned to see a girl who looked slightly younger than them with tightly curled mid-back length turquoise hair pulled into a low ponytail by a black bow, light brown eyes and lightly tanned skin who wore a buttoned maroon vest over a white blouse, a short, pleated maroon skirt and black combat boots with maroon laces.
"Yeah?" Alya raised an eyebrow.
"I just wanted to ask Marinette what time her family's bakery opens tomorrow. I've heard so many good things about it and I want to get a cake for..." the girl paused, looking around. "...someone's birthday tomorrow. I'd look it up online myself, but I accidentally left my phone at home..." the girl grimaced and Alya looked at her sympathetically, clutching her phone just a little bit closer.
"You can always stop by today before we close at seven and place the order, then pick it up tomorrow, uh..." Marinette trailed off when she realised that she didn't know the girl's name.
"My name is Liliane," the girl spoke, smiling. "Liliane Lenoir. I am not surprised that you don't know me. I'm in the year below you. I certainly know about you two though. Daughter of the best bakers in Paris who also happens to be the apparent bane of Chloé's existence..."
"Wow. Everyone hates her..." Marinette murmured.
"I'm not surprised at that..." Alya commented.
"...and the lady behind the Ladyblog!" Liliane exclaimed.
"Another Ladybug fan?" Marinette asked.
"How could I not be?!" Liliane asked, seemingly incredulous. "When she and Chat Noir work so hard together to defend us all? Goodness knows, I couldn't do what they do..."
"You know it!" Alya exclaimed.
"Anyway, thanks. I'll definitely be stopping by the bakery later to take care of that cake order. I'll probably end up buying other things to stuff my face with too... See you around!" the turquoise-haired girl waved before jogging off.
"I wonder why we've never noticed her around before..." Marinette thought aloud.
"Especially with that blue hair," Alya agreed, nodding. "Totally loving the shade though! Wait... I think I know her! Or at least, I know of her family in passing. Her parents are lawyers or something like that. Grégoire and Simone Lenoir..."
"Oh." Marinette shrugged. "Oh well. Anyway, wanna come over and get started on this so we can pretend to know something about Physics and not look like idiots in front of the boys tomorrow?"
"Sure! We'd not want to look like an idiot in front of your sweetheart, after all..." Alya teased.
"ALYA!"
Marinette stomped off, exasperated by her best friend, Alya's laughter ringing in her ears.
The next day, Liliane was in her cosy bedroom- decorated in shades of blue, white and silver and with random posters hanging from the walls- bustling around as she packed a large, grey duffle bag with blue straps.
A black and white tuxedo cat with a navy blue collar around its neck watched lazily as the teen girl moved around the room.
"It's my grandfather's birthday today, Lydie! I have to go celebrate it with him! Nobody else will..." Liliane scratched her cat's head lightly behind the ears and said cat closed her eyes and started to purr loudly.
A loud sharp knock on the door startled both girl and cat, sending the feline scampering straight into the open closet.
"EEP!" she squeaked, nearly dropping the bag that she'd forgotten that she was holding.
"Liliane! Are you in there?" a woman's voice queried, sounding impatient.
"Yes, Mother! I am here!" Liliane called back, hoping that she sounded nonchalant.
The door opened and a woman with light brown hair pulled into a chignon, green eyes behind silver-framed, oval-shaped glasses and dressed in a dark green business suit stepped inside.
When Liliane took in the woman's attire, she raised an eyebrow.
"You're going to work today?" Liliane asked in surprise. "But it's Saturday!"
"I have work to do, Liliane. You are well aware that justice doesn't wait. It doesn't do Saturdays off. Ask the criminals." Simone Lenoir spoke firmly.
"Of course." Liliane rolled her eyes. "Justice doesn't wait..."
"Where are you going so early today? You do not have your ballet classes until one PM and you don't normally get up early on weekends unless you absolutely have to..." Simone glanced at the digital clock on the dresser (which showed 8:17 AM) and then regarded her daughter suspiciously.
"Just... going to visit Gramps today, Mother." Liliane turned to a nearby mirror and pulled her hair up into a bun with a pink band with a little pink bow on one side around it. "Has Father left for the airport already?"
"He has. His flight to Switzerland leaves in about two hours or so. You should know this..." Simone said.
Liliane noted (unsurprisingly to her) that her mother failed to acknowledge her own father's birthday.
"You had better remember to get to your ballet class on time, whether you're visiting him or not." Simone turned and left.
"Fine, Mother. Father's on his way to Switzerland, you've got work to do and I have a ballet class to get to. Fine. I get it. I will be there." Liliane rolled her eyes.
"But not before I visit Gramps. Someone's got to celebrate and have fun with him since Gran died and since his own daughter is too heartless to do it or even remember his birthday at all..." Liliane fumed a bit. "...it's up to me..."
With that, she fixed a few stray strands of hair back into the bun, swiped on some lip gloss and was out the door.
An old man, bent slightly and using a shiny, mahogany carved tripod walking stick to help him move around, watered the plants and flowers in the backyard of his ground floor apartment, happily humming an upbeat tune.
His ash grey hair was low cut and as he finished up and removed his gardening gloves, light brown eyes behind rectangular-framed glasses surveyed his work, pleased with what he had done.
"Well then Vincent, you managed to get those new plants that you wanted and they really do look lovely with the others, just as you imagined..." he mused aloud.
The doorbell rang.
"Oh! That must be Liliane! She did say she'd try to come over today..."
Vincent's eyes lit up at the thought as he made his way over to the door.
When he opened it, it was to see Liliane standing there, duffel bag over her shoulder, carrying a cake box in one hand and a potted plant in another.
"Happy Birthday, Gramps!" She beamed as she strode in the door, casually shrugged off the duffel bag, tossing it into a nearby armchair and gently placing both the cake box and the potted plant on a nearby table.
"Liliane! I'm glad you managed to come! And thank you!" Vincent beamed as his granddaughter hugged him tightly and he hugged her back, enjoying the warmth.
"I'm sorry Mother couldn't come. I wanted to at least get her to try, but once again, work got in the way..." Liliane rolled her eyes, even as she hugged her grandfather.
The old man sighed sadly. "I am not surprised. She has been like that for years. Even as a child, she was always a bit... aloof..." he rubbed Liliane's hair lightly as they broke apart from the hug.
"Has Oncle Benoit called at least?" Liliane queried as she moved the plant outside to join the others.
"He has! He called before you even, actually." Vincent said. "He said he would have liked to come to visit me for the weekend, but for him, his wife and your cousins to fly over from Canada only to spend a few days... He's just going to wait until that contract of his is up in a few months..." Vincent spoke cheerfully.
"That's good to hear." Liliane said.
"He wants to Skype with me, but you have to show me exactly how to use this Skype thing though. I understand most modern technology and I can usually work my way around a computer quite fine, but this programme befuddles me for some reason..." Vincent scowled briefly, his expression making the teenage girl giggle.
"It really is not as bad as you make it seem, you know..." Liliane still looked amused, even after she stopped giggling. "You actually used to teach Math at Lycée, so you aren't stupid. Plus you managed to help me bring up grades in that subject and saved me from getting crucified by both parents, which is a miracle right there, I can tell you that..."
Vincent gave her a look over the top of his glasses.
"Don't look at me like that! I will show you later, I promise! For now, do you want to have some of this cake I brought for you? I got it from the Dupain Bakery. I heard that their things are amazing. I tried out their éclairs yesterday when I went to order your cake and they were absolutely divine..."
"Ah!" Vincent smiled. "I've only been there once, but I did enjoy what I bought there when I went..." he headed over to the dining room table as Liliane brought the box over and opened it up, revealing a lovely square-shaped cake, iced with white and various shades of green.
"Do you like it?" Liliane queried, suddenly looking a bit nervous. "It's vanilla, since I know you don't really like the 'fancier' flavours and I know that green is your favourite colour and..."
"This is fine, mon chérie. Merci." Vincent hugged her reassuringly. "Merci beaucoup."
Liliane smiled as she fetched a knife and some plates.
"Oh! oh! Candles! I forgot to buy candles! How are you going to blow out the candles when I didn't buy any?" Liliane suddenly remembered and started to fuss.
Vincent rolled his eyes at his granddaughter's antics. "Liliane, I don't need candles. Spending time with you is enough. Besides, all those candles couldn't possibly fit on this cake."
"Silly Gramps. I'd have gotten the number candles!" Liliane giggled. "Now hush up and eat some cake!" She slid a plate of the sweet food in front of him.
"With an argument like that, how could I possibly resist?" Vincent took a bite of the cake and immediately was in bliss.
Liliane took her own slice as well and soon both were just happy to be eating cake and enjoying each other's company.